Intelligence

She and Klein stared at each other. Klein could not help asking, "If you get a bounty put on your head, can I collect the reward?"

"?" Neph looked as though she had seen a ghost. "You really are something."

Klein gave a restrained smile, glanced around, then asked Neph:

"I told them I was in the habit of taking a forty-five-minute nap at this hour, and that they shouldn't disturb me during it.

"Do you think we can get back before my nap is over?"

Neph said nothing, merely holding out a hand to Klein.

Acquiring a new marionette was a delight, but Klein had little time to savor it. Neph took a ring from Ludwell's hand and left, leaving Klein to stage the scene by himself so his servants would not notice anything amiss.

"So this is the Death God's ring..." Neph toyed with the ring she had taken from Ludwell as she walked through Backlund's North Borough, looking thoughtful.

The fact that Admiral of Hell Ludwell was still alive had surprised her somewhat. She thought she should perhaps find somewhere to learn what had happened while she was in the Forsaken Land of the Gods. Before that, though, she ought to deal with this ring.

As one of the keys to opening the Death God's mausoleum, its best destination was Azik Eggers. Clearly, however, Neph had no intention of simply handing it over. Otherwise, she could have left it with Klein.

After toying with it briefly, Neph put it away. She planned to find somewhere to turn the ring in directly later. Before that, since she happened to be in Backlund, she could find out what had changed in the city recently.

As for where to go, she already had somewhere in mind. She casually hailed