The next morning after visiting Dermin, Jaheira again passed through the red door in the false tavern.
Unlike Edwin and Viconia, she never slept at Assassin's Run; her assigned cot remained empty. She'd even taken to staying at other places besides the Seas' Bounty or the Copper Coronet. Not necessarily because of the Harpers; no one else had accosted her since Reviane. Maybe Dermin had convinced the High Heralds to stay their justice, and for that, she was grateful. But she also suspected that one of Mae'Var's lackeys would kill her if any of them perceived her as a threat to their position. In any case, it never hurt to keep herself unpredictable.
Staying alert and aware of her surroundings, she passed through a long hallway to its end, took a set of side stairs down a dark hallway, and paused briefly in front of the door in front of the left. This particular door was heavy and thick, but one could hear screaming on the other side.
She shook her head in disapproval and took a right towards one more door.
A single Shadow Thief — wearing the customary jack-of-plate but finer quality and almost entirely black — guarded this entrance. This Thief, Mae'Var's regular guard and an assassin, was vaguely shaped like a man, but the armor and the scarf wrapped around the face made it difficult to tell.
The guard gave her a curt nod, stepped aside, and opened the sturdy door. Jaheira was expected.
As soon as she crossed the threshold, the creaking floorboards seemed to alert the whole building that she'd stepped inside this room. She felt the hum of magic in the air within her teeth. She did not doubt that Mae'Var had this place enchanted — for what, the gods only knew.
She almost — almost — regretted not bringing Edwin along, as he would probably know what spells were at work and how to counter them. Edwin's company was as enjoyable as a scrubbing from acid-dipped pumice, but he had his uses.
In any case, even if Mae'Var had some way to spy on her thoughts, nothing seemed to concern him more than his business at the moment.
Mae'Var was a small, wiry man who smelled faintly of oil, and his slicked-down brown hair glinted as though wet in the magelights above his massive oak desk. He wore the same jack-of-plate the other Shadow Thieves did, with nothing to mark his standing as the leader of Assassin's Run.
He didn't acknowledge her entrance and stayed hunched over his papers, resting his narrow chin in his hand. Of its own accord, a thin reed moved over a parchment, scratching something out.
She decided to wait until he finished; she had time. There was plenty here to distract herself with, in any case: artwork, no doubt obtained through illicit dealings, covered the walls in his large office. She chose one piece and stopped in front of it, letting her mind absorb it as a shield around her thoughts.
This painting depicted a cosmic battle between Selûne the Moonmaiden and Shar the Nightsinger. The depiction of the two sisters' perpetual war was striking: the goddesses' forms were barely sheathed in flowing dresses, and their bodies were elongated, nearly white, and almost inhuman-looking, but they were expressive as their arms swept out, wielding their magic in midair. The sky surrounding them was turbulent, filled with dark blue and misty grey clouds tangled together in struggle.
As she contemplated the painting, the only sound in the room came from the scratching quill and a dog the height of her knee, jangling as it sprung from a small bed in the corner.
The dog sprang upon his back legs and set his front paws upon Jaheira's hip, panting and grinning as its long, fluffy tail wagged. It was lean and well-fed with a long, glossy, tawny brown and white coat that lay in ruffles throughout its body. Instead of a collar, around its neck hung the Weathermistress's necklace, clinking with every move the dog made.
Jaheira scratched the dog behind its long, floppy ear. This beast was the first thing she'd met in Assassin's Run that she liked.
Mae'Var followed his pet from behind his desk and stood next to Jaheira in front of the painting.
"You take a fancy to this painting?" he asked her. "Do you know much about art?"
Jaheira had to admit that she did not.
"It's called The Eternal War in Heaven. A piece by Dumuzid of Calimport, an emancipated djinn. There's little like it elsewhere, likely a mark of the artist's extraplanar heritage. I acquired the piece from House Basadoni. Supposedly it once belonged to Sharlotta Vespers herself."
He turned back to her. "Art is a useful yet overlooked little tool for outmaneuvering my rivals — in Calimport and elsewhere. If you understand someone's art, you understand them: their preferred tactics, their strengths, their weaknesses."
Whatever the shortcomings in her knowledge were, Jaheira had some trouble believing that. But, on the other hand, maybe she could take his words at face value if she were dealing with someone who was more action than talk.
In any case, she wasn't looking for insight into Mae'Var's character, and she wouldn't find it here. She glanced back towards his desk littered with papers and curious trinkets, some of which seemed alive and moving of their own accord. A little stone statue, once a guard of Talos the Stormbringer, was still frozen in horror as it stood atop and weighed down a stack of papers.
An empty display case hung on the wall above Mae'Var's chair. The case was made of finely polished wood, save for the glass cover, and small wooden pegs in the back indicated that it had once held a greatsword.
She and Mae'Var exchanged some pleasantries. Jaheira slid into the chair in front of the heavy desk as Mae'Var resumed his place behind it.
He folded his thin, deft hands. "Edwin has been telling me you are, at the very least, competent, fairly good at the sneaksman's trade. Exactly what I need, in other words. You mentioned in your message that Dermin wished to disclose his true purpose to me. I also believe that time has come. Now, tell me, girl. Why are you truly here?"
Jaheira said, "Renal recruited us to bring your guild down and end you." She leaned forward — people liked him lapped up small scraps of drama. "We intend to aid you instead."
"Aid me, hm?" He thought about this. "You are one of many tools to do my bidding, like the other thieves in my service. But if you have Renal's ear…"
A long pause passed between them. "I will need some time to consider what other avenues of attack Renal would use against me and prepare accordingly. Several uses for you immediately come to mind, but I will choose which might be most profitable. You are dismissed for the moment. Rest assured, however, that we will speak again."
Jaheira got up from the chair, bowed slightly, and turned to leave. Mae'Var was halfway down his path of thought again when Jaheira remarked, "You have quite a collection, but something seems to be missing." She pointed to the empty case behind his desk.
Mae'Var waved it off with his hand. "There was a sword there not too long ago," he said. "A mere trifle. I discarded it, as I do with anything useless. Do keep that in mind."