“You think they’re being bribed?”

Tarlak glanced at Brug, who seemed disgusted with the prospect.

“I hope that is the case. If it is, Haern can get us new contacts. I’ve got a more worrisome idea, though.”

“Which is?”

Tarlak frowned at the multicolored districts, representing the territory of Veldaren’s thief guilds. “That somehow the guilds have developed plans that make feeding me information no longer worth the copper.”

Brug scratched at his beard, thinking over the idea.

“Can’t be planning something that big without us knowing,” he said. “Besides, Haern’s the Watcher. Any one of them guilds gets out of line, and he’ll come and set things right. A scary thought, though, the guilds working together.”

“I hate thieves,” Tarlak moaned, pulling his tall yellow hat down past his eyes.

“Half our business is keeping them in line,” Brug said, hopping from the chair. “You’re like a miner saying he hates the mountain but loves the gold inside.”

“That’s why I prefer to pay others to mine for me,” Tarlak said with a grin. “Have you finished the pendants for our new members?”

Brug shook his head.

“Had trouble deciding the animal. Figured Harruq’s would be a scorpion. Saw that one on his chest, so that makes sense. What about Qurrah, though?”

“Make it a scorpion, as well,” Tarlak said. “They’re brothers.”

“And the elf?”

The wizard shrugged. “Go ask her. She seems a bit friendlier.”

Brug half-saluted, then left. Tarlak leaned over the map, pondering schemes that might simultaneous earn every thief guild higher profits. Any that came to mind were either too farfetched, or too frightening. Brug popped his head back in five minutes later.

“Strange girl, that elfie is,” he said.

“What animal did she pick?”