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had thought that I would wait a couple of weeks and then fence the thing, so that we could then split the loot. Sixty-forty, as we agreed.”
    “I look at it like this,” Anders said. “You promised that, if I happened to fight the demon, I should get three gems, and you should get two. To put it another way, I should get one more of the rubies than you. Since we have in our possession only one ruby, then it seems clear to me that I should keep it. Thus, I would have one more gem than you.”
    “What you propose is completely intolerable!” Jack protested. “I would see no reward at all for weeks of exhaustive planning, endless nights of scrying and spying, and of course the sheer physical peril of the adventure itself! I cannot be left empty-handed!”
    “You are correct, friend Jack,” Anders said thoughtfully. “We must sell the gem and split the proceeds. I will take
    sixty percent in lieu of my three gems, and you may have forty percent in place of your two.”
    Jack fidgeted in his seat. The five Kuldath rubies together would have fetched thousands of crowns. Now he stood to gain less than a tenth of that!
    “I shall sell the gem at once, then,” he said wearily, “and I will deliver your due share by the end of the tenday.”
    “Perhaps I’d better attend to it,” said Anders. “I wouldn’t want you to be troubled with remembering exactly how much you sold the ruby for. It might damage our friendship if you accidentally reported that you’d sold the gem for, say, six hundred crowns when you’d really sold it for seven or eight hundred.”
    “I would never—”
    “I’m sure. Give me the gem, and I’ll make sure you don’t.” Anders held out his hand.
    Jack thought things over for a moment, fuming over the fact that Anders didn’t trust him. The fact that he’d entertained the exact scheme suggested by the Northman was entirely beside the point. On the other hand, he could generally count on Anders to do exactly what he said he was going to do. The Northman was about as honest a cutthroat as you could find. In any event, Jack had several other prospects for success, and he never knew when he might need a big, strong swordsman close at hand.
    “Very well, then,” he said with a sigh. He reached into his vest pocket and pulled out the small, hard bundle wrapped in black cloth. “In all seriousness, I think you would be well-advised to wait a few days before you try to sell it.”
    Anders grinned. “I’m surprised, Jack. I thought I was going to have to beat you severely in order to make you see things my way.” He scooped up the silk-wrapped ruby with one big, callused fist, then stood and tugged his cowl in place over his face. “Don’t worry about the gem. I’ll ride up to Tantras first thing tomorrow to dispose of it.”
    Tantras! What that really meant was that Anders was riding out of town with the entire sum of their take from the previous night, and it would take days before Jack knew if he was coming back or not. Trust of that sort was generally foreign to Jack. He managed to paste a feeble smile on his face and nodded.
    “That sounds like a good idea,” he said weakly. “I’ll expect your return in four or five days then.”
    “Might be a little longer, depending on the spring mud,” the Northman said over his shoulder as he left.
    Jack watched him go, frustrated by the completely unacceptable way things had turned out. He was so preoccupied that he didn’t notice the two men sitting in the opposite corner rise to their feet and casually meander toward him until they stood shoulder-to-shoulder, towering over him.
    “Would you be Jack Ravenwild?” said the first. He was a short, stout fellow with a round, sallow face and a small, pointed goatee. His voice purred like a well-fed cat.
    “Don’t bother lying,” said the second. “We already know you are.” This one was tall and lean, with long hands and a longer face. His yellow eyes stared out of deep, dark sockets like