"So - d'ya have it?"

I stared hard at the figure on the other side of the table. His grizzled face was lined with shadows cast by the candle that guttered out its light between us. The shadows did nothing for his looks; nor, I presume, did it do anything for mine. He smiled at me: his mouth all corked teeth and gaps.

"If'n ya got the coin."

I reached under the table for the saddle pouch that lay at my feet. The man's eyes flicked downwards, and his sword arm twitched automatically. It was obvious that he was expecting some treachery on my part. I tried to reassure him. "Hey! No need for that. You picked this place. F'rall I know, you got this place stuffed wi' your gang."

The man shrugged. "So?"

There was no sensible answer to this. I sighed quietly and set the pouch on the table between us. It hit the table top with the satisfying clunk of leather stuffed with metal. "There y'are. Two hunn'erd silver coins."

The man reached out for the pouch, but I put my left hand over the buckled flap and shook my head. "I done my bit. Now it's your turn."

He nodded and reached into a canvas satchel that was slung over his shoulders, and pulled out a dirty wine bottle. I could see something inside it: a flickering glow that moved around, the filth on the inside of the glass smearing the light. I smiled and took my hand off the pouch. The man smiled back at me, and passed the bottle across the table. As I reached for the stopper, the man held up a finger in warning. "I wouldn't do that if'n I were ye. Ye don' wan' her t'get out."

I pulled my sleeve up over my hand and wiped it across the glass, cleaning a small patch so I could look inside the bottle. Through the imperfections of the glass I could see a small, glowing, winged figure darting between the walls. It caught sight of my eye and moved closer, staring pleadingly at me. Her shape, a shadow just visible through the glow of her aura, marked her as obviously female. I hugged the bottle close to my chest and looked at the man. "Deal. You can keep the bag."

The man looked up from counting the coins he had spilled across the table and grunted in satisfaction. I stood up and gathered my belongings. Just as I was about to leave, the man tugged at my shirt. "If'n ye don' min', whatter ye wan'ing her for? Ye're a rogue, and rogues ..."

His voice tailed off as I jabbed my dagger into his side.

"... Do not like having their business discussed by strangers. You got the money you asked for; that's all you need."

The man nodded, slowly and deliberately, to show he understood. I pulled my knife away, concealing it from view, and nodded pleasantly at him. "A pleasure doing business."

Then I walked out of the inn.

I kept the bottle concealed until I was back in my lodgings. Then, I pulled it out from my thieves' pocket and placed it on the table that served as my dining table and workbench. I leaned forward so my face was on a level with the bottle, and spoke as loudly and as clearly as I could. "Can you hear me?"

The glowing figure moved towards me.

"I am going to open the bottle and let you out. You are not going to escape. If you try, it will not go well. Do you understand?"

The fairy bobbed up and down in its prison. I presumed she had understood me, so I pulled the stopper from the neck of the bottle.

There was a sudden whirring of wings, and a cloud of dust flew into my face, blinding me. I stumbled around, wiping my eyes, trying to clear them of the brit the fairy had thrown into them. A whirring noise passed by me, and I tried to recall the spell I had purchased for this eventuality.

"Te adjurato!"

I felt my kremm struggle with the fairy's, then she gave in. I heard the sound of something small hitting the floor, followed by sounds of choking and wheezing. As I cleared my eyes, I could see the fairy kneeling on the floor, her hands desperately tugging at a silver ring that had appeared around her neck. I watched her struggle for a minute before I eased the spell, letting her breathe again. "Now. Let us reason together."

I looked down at her prone form, watching her chest rise and fall as she sucked at the air. This was the first chance I had to examine my purchase. She was small - maybe a thumb's-length in height. A pair of semi-transparent wings lay across her spine. Her flesh was pale, almost to the point of transparency. I had no idea whether this was her natural colour or whether it was a result of her captivity. She had wrapped scraps of cloth across her hips and her breasts, no doubt to protect what little dignity she had left.

The fairy looked back at me in terror, hardly daring to move in case my spell choked her again. I asked her a question. "What is your name?"

"Lamma."

I nodded. "Well, Lamma, let me put forward my proposition. I have paid a good price for you, so you are mine to do with as I please. I have also put a spell on you so you have to obey me or suffer. Now, you can either do what I ask willingly, or ... ."

I looked meaningfully at the silver ring that was fastened about her neck. Lamma sat up and fingered the metal. "What do you wish of me?"

Her voice, although quiet, was clear enough that I had no difficulty hearing her.

"My name is Rojan. I'm a rogue ..."

"A thief?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Sometimes. And sometimes a bit more. I need your powers to carry out a job."

"You want me to steal something?"

I tried to read her expression, but her face was too small for me to make out anything in the dim light of my lodgings. "I want you to help me obtain something."

"You want me to be a thief?"

"Is it theft if you are taking back something that someone stole from you?"

Lamma was silent, as if she was weighing up what I had just said. I continued. "I need you to help me get back something from someone who shouldn't have it. It's not much, but it's worth a lot of coin to me."

The fairy pointed at me. "But you have magic. Why me?"

I sighed. "I have some magic, but I'm no wizard. So, I need you."

Lamma shifted so she was cradling her head in her arms. "What do I get out of this?"

I almost burst out laughing. Here she was, small enough that I could squash her under my boot and bound by sorcery to obey me, yet she was after a cut of my profits. I kept a straight face. "If we succeed? Your freedom."

She pouted at me. "Is that all?"

This time I couldn't help myself, and I started to laugh. "And what would a thing like you do with coin? You couldn't even carry your share."

She folded her arms. "My freedom, and an equal share."

"Your freedom and an equal share less the coin I paid for you."

Lamma snorted - or coughed. I couldn't tell which. I flicked the ring around her neck with my index finger. "I still control this."

"And I am no good to you dead."

And there she had me. If she was prepared to die, then the ring had no hold over her.

"My offer still stands."

"I agree to your terms, then. Shall we shake on it?"

She held out a small but perfectly formed hand. There was only one way for me to respond: I extended a finger and sealed our bargain.

The bottle that Lamma had come in was filthy. It was obvious that her last owner had kept her in there and not let her out unless he had to. I could have salvaged the bottle and cleaned it out, but I did not think it would be right to have a constant reminder of Lamma's captivity. She thought that she was my partner, and she would be more likely to help me if she believed she was my equal in this caper. It was simpler for me to just throw the bottle away. Maybe someone would find it and put it to a better use.

Lamma, however, was a different matter. She needed cleaning. I went to the communal pump and brought back a pitcher of water, some of which I poured into a bowl that I set on my table. Lamma stripped off her rags and threw them one to side before she slipped into the makeshift bath. The water was cold, but it didn't stop her from fully immersing herself. She began to scrub herself, trying to remove the filth ingrained on her body.

I picked up her rags, and held them between my thumb and forefinger. "Do you still want these?"

Lamma looked up from her ablutions. "They are all I have."

I sighed and put them down. "Then you'll have to wash them."

She looked hopefully at me. "Do you have some cloth? It would be good to have something clean?"

I went to look through the small chest I used to keep my various belongings in. There wasn't much in there that would be of any use, but I eventually settled on an old, tattered shirt that I should have thrown away months ago. The fabric was light enough for my fairy, and, if this job was a success, I would be able to afford another one. I didn't want to think what I would be wearing if the job was a failure.

I ripped a piece of the shirt from its stitches and laid it on the table next to the bowl. Lamma climbed out, shivering as the water ran off her. I watched as she wrapped the fabric around her body, folding it into a makeshift chiton. The bath had restored some colour to her, but it revealed some marks that had been hidden beneath the dirt. I hoped she would be in good enough health to carry out the tasks I had in mind for her.

Lamma finished dressing and sat down on the tabletop, her legs half-crossed. "So, Rojan the rogue, what is the job you have planned?"

* * * * *

We sat on the roof of a building that looked down onto the courtyard of a nearby dwelling. It was dark; the moon hadn't risen yet and the streets below were lit with torches. We could see the people below thronging the thoroughfares as they went about their business. Even if they had bothered to look up from the street, they would not have been able to see Lamma and myself. However, we were not interested in them. No. We were interested in the courtyard.

The dwelling before us belonged to a fence who went by the name of Black Jordan. He was well known in the city as someone whose business you did not interfere with. As a result, he felt that he could pay whatever he wanted for items that were brought to him for disposal. I had made the mistake of bringing him an item that I had recovered during an expedition to the Barrow Road. Black Jordan had offered me what was a fair price, but had only given me half the coin he had promised to me. I had given him enough time to come up with the rest of the payment, but he refused, claiming that he had already paid what the item was truly worth. My protests had earned me a savage beating from his guards - a beating that had cost me more in healing magic than I had earned from him. I was determined to make Black Jordan pay - one way or another.

In the courtyard I could see a pair of guards: trolls of some kind, wearing metal plates riveted to leather vests and carrying studded clubs. This was Black Jordan's first line of defence. Anyone entering the courtyard from the street would be asked their business. If their answer didn't satisfy the troll thugs, then they would be on the receiving end of a sound beating and would end up back on the street outside. The trolls enjoyed their job.

Lamma fluttered up and landed on my middle shoulder.

"So, Rojan, are you ready?"

I pulled out the eagle's feather from the pouch on my belt, and pointed across to line of darkened windows. "We try for the middle one when those trolls are not looking."

We watched, waiting to see if the trolls' attention would wander. One of them began to scratch under its cap and pulled out something that it displayed proudly to its companion. While they were engrossed in their exploration of trollish personal hygiene, I whipped the feather through the air to form a complicated glyph and leapt from the roof. The Fly Me spell took hold and buoyed me up - money well spent! Together, Lamma and I glided above the street and into the shadows above the courtyard. There were no cries from below us, no shouts of astonishment, not even a "Did you see that?" Now we just had to get inside Black Jordan's dwelling and find his treasure room.

The windows above the courtyard were blocked by an arrangement of metal bars,both decorative and functional. I had seen them when I had been scouting the building, and I knew that I would have to get past them if my plan was not to be stalled. Now I was close to the bars, I could see that they were mounted on hinges and secured from inside with locks. The Fly Me spell would not give me enough time to defeat the lock - not from the wrong side! - and I could not fit through the bars. Lamma, however, could.

I passed Lamma a set of picks that were perfect for the job. The picks were small and needle-like in my hands. In her hands they were like bizarrely shaped pikes. I whispered to her, hoping I would not be heard by the guards below. "As you practiced!"

Lamma darted between the bars and began to work at the lock, pushing and pulling at the mechanism with my picks. I could see she was concentrating on the job by the way her tongue stuck out of the side of her mouth. It took her a few minutes as I hung above the courtyard, suspended by the magic of the eagle's feather, but the lock eventually succumbed. I grabbed at the lock, twisting it round so I could undo its hasp. Then I rubbed some tallow onto the hinges to ease them as I pulled at the bars and floated inside. I stopped the spell, and my feet fell to the floor.

That was the second obstacle dealt with. Now we had to find the treasure room. Kneeling down in the nighttime gloom of the corridor behind the bars, I extracted a small plumb bob from my pouch. The lead weight at the end of the wire was marked with sorcerous runes corresponding to different metals and gems. I let the weight settle at the end of its wire before stroking my fingers down its length.

"Seek gold."

I felt the kremm flow out of me and into the plumb bob. The rune for gold began to glow, and the weight began to swing back and forth, pointing the way to the nearest concentration of gold. I turned left and right, trying to judge which way to go. Then, I made up my mind and beckoned Lamma to follow me.

We crept through the upper corridors of Black Jordan's dwelling, keeping to the shadows wherever we could. Lamma dimmed her glow until it was no brighter than the moonlight coming through the windows. The plumb bob led us on, pointing the way. I tried to guess where Black Jordan might have his gold. Perhaps it would be in a vault underground, or maybe it would be in a strongbox in some cunningly concealed room. I was surprised when the bob led us into a lit wing of the dwelling.

Smoky lanterns glimmered in wall niches, lighting the corridor we found ourselves in. At the far end I could see an archway leading to a well-lit room. I caught glimpses of rich fabrics and fine belongings through the archway. I could also hear laughter: the deep voice of Black Jordan and the lighter voices of women. I looked down at the plumb bob and cursed quietly, blaspheming against at least three gods. If the gold was not in there, then we would have to go through the room to find it. Still, I had an idea of what to do.

I looked up at Lamma. "Can you fill a room with your dust?"

"How big a room?"

I pointed towards the arch. "Big as that?"

"Perhaps."

"If not, we're going back with empty pockets."

Lamma flexed her wings and sped across the corridor into the room beyond. The sounds of laughter changed to cries of astonishment, and then to shrieks of panic. I steeled myself and rushed into the room, my dagger ready.

The occupants of the room were reeling and stumbling blindly, their eyes filled with the dust from Lamma's wings and their minds filled with strange hallucinations. Two of them, women dressed in flimsy silks and jewelled harnesses, were rolling around on the floor and clutching at each other's finery. A third, an elfin woman, was lying in a nest of cushions and stroking herself as she crooned and stared at the ceiling. Black Jordan was crouched on his bed, stabbing maniacally at the mattress.

I looked at the bob. The weight on the end was swinging towards the bed. I circled the room quickly, watching the bob as I did so, all too aware that the household guards would be on their way soon. If they caught me now, I would be begging for the beating they had given me before.

I called out to Lamma, "Watch the door!"

I flipped the mattress off the bed, along with Black Jordan. The bedstead beneath was a wooden platform with a locked lid set in the top. This was no time for subtlety! I pulled the crowbar from my belt and heaved at the lid. The wood cracked loudly, then broke. Through a gap in the planks I could see leather bags. I reached in with a gloved hand to pull out one of the bags, spilling its contents on the bed.

Coin! Golden coin! Fresh and unclipped! The gods were smiling on me. I reached for another bag. I was a rogue, not a thief, and two bags would be enough to compensate me for being cheated and beaten - with a little over to cover my expenses.

I felt a sudden blow against my side, and something sharp cut through my leathers and into my flesh. Black Jordan had recovered enough form the effects of Lamma's dust to take notice of me, and was now crouched on the floor, ready to hack at me again with his knife.

"Oh, Rojan! You should have been satisfied with what I gave you! You ... !"

He did not finish his speech. I whipped a bag of gold across his face, knocking him back in a stupor. I may even have broken his jaw. I didn't care. Not now.

"Fair payment, Jordan. Remember that in the future."

Lamma screamed from the door, "Guards!"

Together, we made for the window.

* * * * *

I had to leave town after that. Black Jordan would have had to punish me, to set an example for anyone else thinking of raiding his treasure. I just hoped that he had learnt a lesson and would think twice before dealing unfairly with any more of his customers. Every man has the right to make a profit, but promises must be kept - otherwise where would we be?

Lamma and I fled the city, and didn't stop until we reached a hostelry about two days' ride away. We felt safe enough there that we had time to divide the spoils from our night's work. With a gesture, I broke the spell binding Lamma to me. The silver ring shattered and lay at her feet. Lamma rubbed at her neck and giggled to celebrate her freedom. However, when I put a bag full of coin in front of her, she stopped and looked thoughtful.

I pointed at the bag. "There. As I promised. Your freedom and an equal share, bar my price for you."

Lamma walked up to the bag and ran her hands over it. The bag towered above her. I had no idea what she would do with her share of the profits, but that was not my concern. I had kept my part of our bargain.

She looked back at me and shook her head. "No."

I was puzzled.

"Don't you want it? I'm sure even a bottle fairy could find something to do with that coin."

"Yes. But ... ."

She lifted off the table and hovered in front of my face. I frowned at her. "But what?"

"I am going to need someone to carry it for me, and that would have to be someone I can trust."

She flew forward and gave me a small peck on the cheek. I nodded.

"Really?"