As she had thought, they had doubled backed and were in the servants' quarters once again, only on the inside, as it were. Tazi realized that every small portal was a diminutive window into a different chamber. The one they were spying in was furnished similarly to theirs. Tazi could see two women seated near their dressing table, rifling through the various sundries that were littered about the table like children in a toy shop.
"Try this one," the blonde-haired woman said to her companion. She held out a blue, crystal perfume bottle and, before the other girl could reply, spritzed her with the contents. The blond then took in a long breath and sighed appreciatively.
"I'm sure that Zulkir Lauzoril will find you irresistible, smelling like that," she giggled.
"I'm sure he would, if he ever took his mind off of finding a way to best the lich long enough to notice me," she replied in a low voice. Both women looked around after that and sobered up some.
"Still," the fragrant girl added, "I wouldn't mind if the zulkir turned his green eyes toward me once in a while. And that blond hair…" she sighed.
While the two servants discussed various paramours and dalliances from their past, Tazi and Justikar crawled to another portal.
"I still can't believe Zulkir Mythrell'aa fell out of favor with Szass Tarn," a black-haired youth said in sotto voice to the two other young men that sat around the table in their room.
A brunette nodded, "Yes, and I understand that she'd love to see him fall. I think she's considering throwing in with Aznar Thrul." Tazi noted how knowledgeable he was trying to sound and deduced he was probably a new purchase trying to prove his worth to his peers.
"That's not what I heard," the third interjected. "I heard it on the best authority that she's going to side with Lauzoril. And everyone knows he and Aznar Thrul hate each other like fire and water."
The first youth slapped the third on his arm and corrected him. "How can you say that? Didn't you see how well they got along at the Spring Festival? You've got it wrong."
"Do you think we need to help with the morning meal?" the brunette interrupted their banter, and he seemed suddenly concerned with the time.
Tazi took that as a cue for them to keep moving, too. She and Justikar peeked in a few more of the windows, but the conversations were almost identical to the others they had already overheard, and they learned nothing useful from them. She signaled to the dwarf to follow her, and they made their way carefully back to the metal shop. As they exited the passageway, Justikar flipped the brick back into place, and the panel sealed shut, without a trace that they had been there.
"I'm surprised this country even functions at all," she told the dwarf disgustedly.
"When I passed through there the first time," the dwarf agreed, "the talk was much the same. It seems like they all want to make an alliance, but don't trust one or the other of their neighbors enough to forge a strong one."
"It makes no sense," Tazi said shaking her head. "Though," she added thoughtfully, "I think I can see now why they haven't been more successful in their attempts at conquest. Their hierarchy is so fractured because of their personalities, it can't function effectively. It's almost like they do need just one, strong leader."
"What would happen if they did have just one? " the duergar asked.
Tazi shuddered. "I don't care to dwell on that thought too long. Let's get back," she told him, "before we're needed to polish Naglatha's toes or some other mundane chore." Justikar snorted, and they walked back to their chamber.
When Tazi opened the door to their room, she was momentarily surprised to see Naglatha seated at the dressing table. The Red Wizard was combing her thick hair languorously, one long stroke at a time. She glanced at Tazi through the reflection of the mirror, and Tazi saw how black her eyes were.
"Where have you two been?" she asked them angrily, continuing to regard Tazi and the dwarf by means of the mirror as if they weren't worthy of more direct contact.
"You want me to* steal for you, don't you? Well, I need to know the layout of the place. How else am I going to find that out without some reconnoiter-ing? That's what we were doing," she told Naglatha, seizing the beast by the horns. She cast a sideways glance at the dwarf. He gave the wizard a curt nod of agreement.
"Hmm," Naglatha murmured and appeared somewhat mollified by Tazi's quick answer. "Be careful, though. We've come too far now to tip our hand prematurely."
Tazi shifted uncomfortably at Naglatha's use of the word "we." She didn't like to think that the Red Wizard believed they were anything other than unwilling partners, each with a different desire and goal.
At that moment, Naglatha managed to tear herself away from the mirror to actually look Tazi in the eye. It was not lost on her that the wizard didn't give the bearded dwarf a second glance. "I have to admit, I appreciate your initiative." Naglatha gave Tazi a measured smile.
"You saw an opportunity to get a feel for the place and gather information. So you took it. Those are the kind of qualities I look for in a useful spy, you know," she told Tazi and swiveled back and forth on the padded stool slowly.
"In fact, those are the kinds of skills I like to cultivate in potential associates. You never know," she said slyly, "you might have a future in this sort of thing. I was only a little younger than you when I started," she added, casting an appraising eye on Tazi. "If you carry this off like I expect you will, you should think carefully about your next step." Then those same obsidian eyes froze over.
"Step out of here again without my express directive, however, and you won't be taking another step ever again. Do I make myself clear to you both?" she asked and took in the dwarf as well with her threatening glare.
"Understood," Tazi agreed.
The dwarf grunted.
"Good," Naglatha replied and rose gracefully to her feet. "Tonight, the two of you will accompany me to the evening meal."
"As what?" the dwarf demanded.
Naglatha continued to look only at Tazi as if she couldn't be bothered to lower her gaze for Justikar. "Because it suits me for people to think Milos and Heraclos are other than they are, you will act as my personal bodyguard for the duration of our stay.
"I expect that you will act accordingly. I was going to have you change your attire to match mine more closely," she told them, "but I think I will leave you as you are, presuming, of course, you both clean up."
"Of course, right away," Tazi replied sarcastically, though Naglatha did not seem to notice.
"You two will more than likely cause a bit of talk, and I rather like the idea of being the center of attention for the evening." She brushed past them, only pausing by the door.
"And sometimes," she added thoughtfully, "the best place to hide a secret is out in the open."
After Naglatha left, Tazi turned to the dwarf and said, "This should be interesting."
On the way to dinner, Tazi once again had the opportunity to marvel at the construction of the Citadel. She marched down a corridor a few hundred feet long that was devoid of any decoration except for the imposing figures of armor displayed in niches every ten feet on either side of her. Some of the plate mail and designs Tazi was familiar with, but others were completely unrecognizable to her and bordered on the fantastic. Suits stood anywhere from three to ten feet tall, and some of the weapons were so exotic, with blades curving and twisting in every direction, Tazi wondered where on Toril they would have come from. The duergar was even more enamored than she was, and she could tell he was just as eager as she to touch some of the metalwork. A sharp word from Naglatha stopped them both, though.