Tsalmoth (Vlad Taltos, #16)

by Steven Brust

Kragar once told me a joke about a Tsalmoth taking twenty years to get from Little Deathgate to the Hook because he had to take every path to decide which one was best.

Anything coming in from outside the Empire is subject to import duties. Well, when you say import duties, I think smuggling.

I think ours may have been the only two swords in the place. Tell you the truth, being around so many unarmed people made me a little uncomfortable.

I shook my head. “Well,” I said. “This has been a day. Morrolan learned something he didn’t know about necromancy, I learned that it wasn’t the spell that turned me into a demon, and we’ve all had the experience of getting straight, simple answers from the Necromancer. I’m not sure if I can handle any more shocks.”