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over-reacted, Master,’ Shalidar continued. ‘I could not have foreseen this. As you know, I have a legitimate business in Mantor, a trading business formed with
the money I earned through my work for the Guild. I’ve hidden nothing of these activities, as there has been no reason to. A couple of the Thrandorian Noblemen were interfering with my
business in Thrandor to the point they were becoming a severe disruption. As I was constrained by the creed from acting independently, I contracted Brother Falcon to travel to Thrandor to deal with
the problem. You should have received my message to this effect.’
    ‘I did,’ the Guildmaster replied coldly. ‘I was not happy with the contract arrangement, but we will talk about that when you have finished your explanation.’
    ‘There is little to tell, Master. Brother Falcon travelled as a servant to Thrandor and carried out his contract, for which I paid him at the agreed rate. Sadly, events then quickly
spiralled out of our control. The Shandese Ambassador was blamed for the deaths. This was unfortunate, for it caused a diplomatic incident that in turn sparked dialogue between the King of Thrandor
and Emperor Surabar. Aside from the diplomatic embarrassment caused by the implication of the Shandese Ambassador in the deaths of two Thrandorian Noblemen, it transpired that the Ambassador was a
spy, sent personally by the Emperor. He, therefore, had a keen personal interest in seeing that his spy was not compromised, as this would have been even more damaging to international relations.
The spy was clever. She managed to find a way of implicating both Brother Falcon and me in the deaths of the two Noblemen. Though her evidence was fabricated, it convinced the King. It was she who
named both Brother Falcon and me as assassins. Whether she knew it to be the truth or not is immaterial. We were compromised and forced to make a break for freedom. I managed to escape. Brother
Falcon was not so fortunate.’
    The story sounded feasible. The Guildmaster reviewed it, looking for anything that sounded false. Shalidar had not tried to hide anything with clever words or fancy language. He had simply
stated a sequence of events, many of which were verifiable. If he was lying, then he was doing so in perfect control and following the best practice of keeping his lies simple. Killing people was
the Guild’s business. Shalidar had arranged to have two people killed. There were always consequences to deaths. The question here was: were the consequences of these two hits foreseeable?
From the stated sequence of events, the Guildmaster did not see how they could be. He would have to verify what he could of the story, but he doubted he would find any holes in it. True or false,
Shalidar would have covered his tracks sufficiently to blur the truth.
    ‘Brother Dragon, you know that you skate on thin ice. I will look to verify your story. If I find you have lied to me, you will die swiftly. I’ll not tolerate those who seek to use
the Guild to their own ends. You’ve done very well from your membership of this elite brotherhood. If I find that greed has corrupted you from adhering to the creed, I’ll show you no
mercy. How did Brother Falcon die? His icon returned here some time ago.’
    Shalidar shook his head sadly. ‘They hung him the day after they caught him, Master. I could do nothing.’
    The Guildmaster fell silent for a moment. ‘That is . . . unfortunate,’ he said eventually. In his head, he continued, ‘but very fortunate for your cause, Shalidar. Had he been
alive, it would have been easy to verify the tale you have just spun. Instead I must waste precious time and resources checking out your story.’ Aloud, he added ‘I’m assuming
you’re aware of the price the Emperor has put on your head?’
    Shalidar nodded.
    ‘Then can I also assume that you intend to reside here in the Guild complex for a while?’
    ‘Yes, Master.’
    ‘Very well. You’ll be given