The Masterpainter

Author: Diana L. Paxson
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine Issue #25
Fall, 1994
Art by Jill Bauman

Lalo shook his head and took another sip of wine, carefully, because the tankard was almost empty now.
   'She used to be beautiful...' he said sadly. 'Would you believe that she was like Eshi, bringing spring back into the world?'
   He peered muzzily through the shadows of the Vulgar Unicorn at Cappen Varra, trying to superimpose on the minstrel's saturnine features the dimly remembered image of the golden-haired maiden he had courted almost twenty years ago.
The Rhinoceros and the Unicorn - Diana L. Paxson

The story has it that "The Masterpainter" was originally written for a Thieves' World "Origins" volume that was never published, so was rewritten as a stand-alone piece. It seems to be the tale of how Lalo came to "win" Gilla's hand in marriage.

Of course, the names and places have been changed, but you can still see the obvious similiarities between the town of Neri and Sanctuary. As you read, just substitute:

Tomar = Lalo
Dergalla = Gilla
Bindir = Ranke
And so on…

The story mentions the birth of the Emporer's new son (Kadakithis?) so the time of the story is set about twenty years previous, as per the statement from "The Rhinoceros and the Unicorn" above.

[ ...in my humble opinion anyway. And my thanks to the Thieves World Mailing List where I found out about this story - go and sign up now! - Mic]

[Click here to download the story in PDF format.]

^top

Last Revised: April 2000.