XV.



      A  single  knock on the heavy, crossbarred  door  resounded
loudly in the underground corridor.  "Alun?  It's me.  Can I come
in?"  Her normally calm and level voice held a note of urgency.
      Alea  heard  the distinctive creak of the old, wool-stuffed
chair  that the Guildmaster kept behind his desk.  It was one  of
the  few  luxuries he allowed himself in the small but functional
office.   "Just a minute."  Light footsteps moved closer  to  the
door,  and  it swung open.  "What can I do for you,  Alea?"   The
short,  stocky  Human settled himself back  into  his  chair  and
invited her to seat herself with a broad gesture.
     She remained standing.  "I'm worried about Kelain," she said
flatly.   "There's  a freelancer after him, and  from  what  I've
heard,  he's  pretty  good.  He wants to  be  the  Guild  Weapons
Master."
     "Who is it?"  The Guildmaster's face revealed nothing.
     "Quorl Freewind.  He's an Elf, if that matters."
      Alun  sighed.   "It doesn't, but I know the man;  and  he's
definitely trouble.  He has the face of a god and the morals of a
dog, with the temper of a devil thrown in for good measure."   He
looked at her soberly.  "There isn't a thing we can do about  it,
Alea.  Kelain's gone renegade."
     She fixed him with a penetrating stare.  "So I heard.  But I
don't believe that for a minute, Alun.  The Guild is his life."
      "You're right,"  Alun conceded with a sigh.  "He's involved
in  something dangerous right now, and he chose to go his own way
for  awhile to protect the Guild.  He'll come back to us when  he
can."   The Guildmaster looked at her searchingly, wondering  how
much she already knew, and how much he could wisely tell her.
      "Something to do with my Guild, perhaps?"  She  tapped  her
fingers lightly on his desk.
      Alun  winced.  Alea was the Mages' Guild liaison, sworn  to
keep  faith with both of her Guilds, and to keep relations smooth
between them.  She had never hesitated to put her special talents
at the Guildmaster's disposal, sometimes even before he needed to
ask her.  But Alun had never doubted that Alea had loyalties that
were older, and perhaps more binding, than her oath to his Guild.
"Something like that."  His wry expression told her that she  had
hit on the truth.
      "The  Black Robes are up to something, aren't  they?"   She
confronted him directly.
      He  decided  to be open with her.  "That's apparently  what
Kelain  thinks, and I'm starting to believe him.  What  have  you
heard?"
      "That  the  Head of the Order's been trying to  revive  the
science  of  making illegal 'Morphs, and that  she's  buying  the
knowledge from a renegade mage with drugs.  We can't be  sure  at
this stage, but that's the rumor.  Are we right?"
      After the 'Morph Wars, all mages blood-bonded to the  Guild
had consented to have their minds wiped clean of the knowledge of
how  the complex, animal-human crosses were engineered.  None  of
them  wanted  any  more of the powerful and  unpredictable  First
Breed  in  existence, and they were willing to go to  almost  any
lengths to insure that.
      Only  mages  from Schools that had no link to formal  Guild
magick, such as shamans, hedgerow wizards and hearthwitches, were
unaffected by the great Unpatterning.  However, few of  them  had
ever  been  interested  in the scholar's  Path  of  studying  and
altering  living creatures.  Only full mages of the Guild  School
would have ever had knowledge of the 'Morph's creation, and  only
a  renegade  who had never had a link to the Guild  itself  could
have retained it.
      Alun nodded slowly.  "That would make sense."  Quickly,  he
told  her  what  he  knew.  "But none of that  is  our  business.
Kelain's only involved because of a 'Morph slave.  She's  a  Vul,
formerly owned by the Painted Lady, and her name is Cheltie.  His
best  friend's in love with her.  She was apparently  part  of  a
drug shipment that was supposed to go to a mage named Vasht."
      Alea gave a visible start at the name.  "Vasht?  The Mages'
Guild  has been wanting to take him down for years, but we  never
had  enough  of  an excuse.  He's a renegade; his teacher  was  a
disaffected  Black Robe who retired off-continent.   He  got  his
revenge by never registering his students, so there would  be  at
least  a few full mages out there with no possible Guild controls
on  them.   Kind of like unleashing a Summoning with no  Binding,
but a little more permanent."
     Alea grimaced.  "Vasht was the worst of that crew.  We can't
read  him  and  we can't discipline him because he's  not  blood-
bonded.   He  doesn't  tap into the Guild  overmind  to  set  his
spells, so no one's completely sure of what he's doing.   He's  a
damn   pedophile;  that  much  we  know.   He's   got   extensive
connections  with the wharf rat gangs.  Rumor has it that  lately
he's been trading in 'Morphs as well as drugs -"
     She shut her mouth and opened it again.  "Oh, Goddess.  He's
the  renegade Tavane's been dealing with.  He's been  giving  her
back  the  spells  for creating First Breed in exchange  for  the
drugs  that  she  can make.  I heard there was quevas  involved."
She  let  the statement hang delicately in the air, not  quite  a
question.
     "You heard right."  Alun crossed his arms over his chest and
exhaled  deeply.  "And Kelain's in the middle of this, gods  help
him."
      "I don't think we can afford to wait for the gods, Alun.  I
have  a feeling they aren't planning to intervene."  There was  a
determined look on her face.
      Alun  leaned  forward  in  his  chair.   "Alea,  he's  gone
renegade.  We can't help him."  He looked piercingly at her for a
long  moment, and then his face softened.  "Look, Kelain can take
care of himself.  He's one of the best fighters on the continent.
He's the Weapons Master of our Guild, for Ashara's sake."
      "And  he's up against an assassin, a renegade mage and  the
head of an Order."  Alea shot back at him.  "He needs help.   And
I  intend to give it to him, even if I have to go renegade myself
to do it."
      Alun  looked  at  her  with frank disbelief.   "You  can't.
You're the Guild liaison."
     "Try me, Guildmaster."  Her stare was challenging.
     Alun sighed.  "Never mind, Alea.  I can see you would."  His
gaze  was thoughtful.  "Are you on orders from the Mages'  Guild?
If so, I understand and I'll do my best to cooperate.  But I hope
you  realize that I can't have any member of my Guild  helping  a
renegade.   And  as  far as the rest of the Guild  is  concerned,
you're fully one of us."
      At  Alea's specific request, no one save Alun was aware  of
the  fact  that  she  was  the Mages' Guild  liaison.   She  felt
strongly  that she could do a better job if people felt  free  to
speak of how they felt about mages and the Mages' Guild when  she
was around.
     "No."  Alea looked at him frankly.  "The Council told me the
same  story you did.  The robes don't want anyone to move against
Vasht until it's official, and they don't dare accuse Tavane yet.
It's  just a matter of time until they get proof, but until then,
the word is to stay clear."
      The  Guildmaster noted that she used the popular and mildly
derogatory  slang term for Guild mages when she spoke.   Popular,
that  is, among anyone but the mageborn.  Along with the way  she
walked  and  carried herself, it told him a lot about  where  her
allegiances lay.  She thinks of herself as a fighter or a  thief,
not  a  mage.   He filed the bit of information away  for  future
reference.   "Alea, this is a delicate situation.  I don't  claim
full  jurisdiction over you because I respect the needs  of  your
other  Guild.  I suspect that Guildmaster Ardath feels  the  same
way.   But according to your own report, you're being ordered  by
both  of  your Guildmasters to stay put.  I hate to put  it  this
way, but are you planning to disobey?"
      Alea  sighed heavily.  "I suppose I could lie to  you,  but
that  would  serve no purpose.  Yes, Guildmaster.  I'm  going  to
help  Kelain  in  any  way I can.  I can't let  him  get  himself
killed."
      Alun  had not risen to the positi