He staggered and opened his eyes as Brinton's body slid to the bricks beside him. There was no sound from the informer. Gryph thought he was probably already dead.

The man with the blade bow was gone. Gryph knew from experience that it would take a couple of minutes for the effects of the brilliant flash of vapor light to wear off. His assailant was probably reeling blindly down the street, searching for a place to hide until he regained his sight.

Gryph leaped for the alley entrance. His vapor lamp was useless now. It could only be used once in such a maneuver and then it had to be recharged with vapor. Gryph's eyes were functioning normally because he'd closed them during the burst of flaring vapor. There was enough illumination from scattered starlight to search the street outside the alley.

But even as he reached the street he heard the sound of dragonpony hooves on pavement. Not one pony, but two. The man with the blade bow had brought a backup. In the dim light Gryph watched in frustrated fury as two dragon-ponies galloped out of sight around a comer. The man on the first pony was leading the second animal. The slumped figure on the second pony was undoubtedly the man with the bow.

"Damn it to the heart of the Lightstorm," Gryph hissed, swearing futilely at his own stupidity, slowness and bad timing.

He turned back into the alley and felt for Brinton's pulse. The man was dead. Gryph clamped a hand around his bleeding shoulder and started back toward the Avylyns' section of

town. On the way he thought he'd better stop at the home of a medic he happened to know. A man who could keep his mouth shut.

The Avylyns' annual ball was an enormous success. Sariana stood in the shelter of a bay window and sipped a glass of wine-spiked punch while she watched the dancers. She was glad to find herself alone for a few minutes. The ballroom was vibrant with color and laughter and music. The room was a showcase for the most fantastic fashions tonight. Each costume was more outrageous and overdone than the last.

Her own gown was simple and quite plain in comparison to those around her, although it was certainly dramatic by her personal standards. When she had dressed earlier that evening Sariana had been mildly shocked by the low, off-the-shoulder neckline, the tight bodice and the frothy, side-split skirts. The gown

was a shimmering emerald green trimmed with gold. When she walked or danced it revealed a great deal of her legs. It was supposed to represent the costume of a farmer's daughter, but Sariana seriously doubted any fanner's daughter had swept out a stable while wearing such a daringly cut dress.

Lady Avylyn and her daughter had selected the gown for Sariana; having decided on their own that she could not be trusted to come up with something suitable.

They were right, Sariana reflected in amusement as she glanced down at her outfit. Never in a million years would she have chosen anything such as this.

But there was no denying the fact that the moment she had put it on she had begun wondering if it would appeal to Gryph.

She could stop wondering about that. Gryph was nowhere around. She hadn't seen him since the afternoon. Perhaps he was taking seriously his cover job of guarding the Avylyn jewelry collection.

If that were the case, however, he should be somewhere in the room. Most of the best Avylyn pieces were being worn by members of the family tonight. The others were on display in locked cases.

"There you are, Sariana. I've been looking for you. Whatever are you doing in here? I hope you are enjoying yourself. Everything has turned out just splendidly, hasn't it?" Lady Avylyn spoke excitedly as she swept into Sariana's small hiding place. As she entered the alcove the enormous skirts of her golden velvet gown took up most of the available room. A magnificent assortment of jewelry was draped on every portion of her figure revealed by the dress. Pendant earrings, acres of bracelets and a necklace that could have sunk a ship glittered in the light.

"I was just taking a break," Sariana explained. "I'm afraid I'm not accustomed to this much exercise." Lady Avylyn beamed, fluttering her gilded fan. "I saw you dancing earlier with Etion Rakken. Such a nice man. Where is he?"

"Dancing with Lady Tarlana. A duty dance, he said."

"Ah, yes. Lady Tarlana's clan does business with Etion's bank, too, I believe. I do hope Etion will continue to be discreet."

"Believe me, the last thing Etion would ever do is discuss one client's finances with another. Not a word of the Avylyn financial situation has leaked out for the past few months, has it? All the gossip that was starting to grow when I arrived on the scene has been squelched. You can have complete faith in Etion's discretion."

Lady Avylyn smiled brightly, too pleased with tine success of the evening to spend much time worrying about anything as mundane as the Avylyns' financial situation. "Yes, of course we can. It appears we are going to survive our unfortunate situation and as Jasso was saying just the other day, we owe it all to you, my dear. Without you I dread to think where we would be by now. If only we could conclude this nasty business with the prisma cutter."

"I think you can trust Gryph to get it back for you."

"I hope so." Lady Avylyn cocked a gilded brow in a sly expression. "Do you know, I believe the Shield is quite fascinated by you, Sariana."

Sariana felt oddly flustered. "Not at all. Lady Avylyn. I'm sure you're wrong." "Trust me. I am more familiar with the many interesting manifestations of romantic attraction than you

are, Sariana. I hate to say this, but in some areas your education has been lamentably weak."

Sariana grinned. "You needn't name the areas of concern, my lady."

"Very well, I won't. But I still think you should be made aware of the fact that the Shield is attracted to you." The older woman's dark eyes grew momentarily more serious. "If all he wants is an affair, that is one thing. It would probably be good for you to engage in a wild, passionate fling with a man, any man. We have all been hoping that you and Etion might - "

"Lady Avylyn!"

"Never mind," Lady Avylyn said hastily. "I just wanted to warn you that if you should decide to become involved with the Shield, you ought to know that they are - well, different. I think I said something to that effect once before. They have their own rules and customs, as I've tried to explain."

"They conduct their love affairs differently than other men?" Sariana asked dryly. "Well, no, not their love affairs. In that regard, they are quite, uh, normal, I imagine. That is, I have

never heard anything to the contrary."

"Lady Avylyn," Sariana finally said, amused and exasperated, "what exactly are you trying to warn me about?"