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river guards and caravan guards are coming to blows over who gets to guard what sort of merchants. It's endless."
    "All of that is going on?" Alto asked.
    "Hard to say. It's possible. Those were examples I've heard of in the past. Perhaps some exaggeration, but the fact remains that in this heat, tempers flare more quickly than elsewhere."
    "All right ." Alto accepted Kar's explanation. "What about the wizards. Are there any of them that could find out where Sulim went?"
    "Unlikely . They're sure to be guarded, both from being followed or magically spied upon," the wizard said.
    "Namitus, do you know anyone who might now?" Patrina asked.
    "How would he know? He hasn't been here in years," Alto said.
    "Because our friend is more than he seems," Patrina said.
    "What?" Alto frowned and looked at the slender man guiding them. "What does she mean?"
    Namitus shrugged. "She means the time I've spent on the streets. I know the Shadows because when I was here , I had to work with them or be branded an outcast. Outcasts don't live long."
    "I still don't understand."
    Namitus sighed and turned so that he faced them but was walking backwards. "I was a thief," he said. "I mean, I wasn't just a thief and I didn't do anything all that bad, like stealing from a needy old lady or anything."
    Alto frowned. It made perfect sense but he'd never really thought about what Namitus had done before they'd become friends.
    "I had a talent with people. Usually I could keep someone distracted while others robbed them blind. I have a talent for the dramatic."
    Kar snorted as they walked. "Con artist," he muttered.
    Namitus shrugged and spun back around to walk facing forward again. "I've been gone long enough few people, if any, will remember me. Even fewer are still around, I expect."
    Alto scowled. His friend was an admitted criminal. Former criminal, he supposed, but still. He felt Patrina's hand brush his, drawing his attention. She glanced at Namitus and shook her head just enough to deliver her message. She didn't want him blaming Namitus.
    Alto nodded. What was behind them was just that—behind them. He'd done some bad things in his past, too. Maybe he hadn't stolen from anybody but he'd killed when he didn't need to. Better to be robbed blind than to have your life taken away, he figured.
    "It's okay," Alto said to his friend. "I don't hold your past against you."
    Namitus turned enough so he could look back at Alto. He chuckled and said, "I'm glad, but it's not like either of us could do anything if you didn't. There's naught I can do about it now, nor would I change being who I am because of it."
    Alto nodded . Practical wisdom from a former thief. He smirked and followed the rogue through the dusty streets towards the River district.
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 6
     
    "The Seventh Djinni," Kar mused as they gathered around a large table in the common room of the inn they'd decided upon.
    "Seems like a decent place," Garrick said as he drank the chilled ale in front of him. "How do they get the ale so cold?"
    "Magic," Kar said. "How else in a desert land?"
    Garrick sprayed his mouthful of ale across the table in front of him. He put the mug down and stared at it, his eyes wide with horror. Mordrim was the first to react, slamming his hand into the table and bursting into laughter loud enough it sounded like it came from a man four times his size.
    "Magic ale?" Garrick whispered.
    "The ale's not magical, you dolt," Kar snapped at him. "They probably have blocks of ice created magically in a cold room where the ale is stored and it's pumped through tubes from there. Or perhaps an intra-dimensional portal is kept open to allow it to be stored on a mountaintop. No, probably not. That wouldn't be practical when it came time to change the keg. Ah well, there are many ways to do it and few, if any, of them involve the food and drink being magical."
    "Cold food?" Alto asked, scowling. Garrick reached for his ale and stared at it, and then risked another