Saber & Shadow — S.M. Stirling; Shirley Meier

WELL MET IN ILLIZBUAH

In the Fifth Millennium there was no city larger, wealthier or more corrupt than Illizbuah: Queen of the Lannic Ocean, home to the mad immortal God-King of Fehinna, metropolis of the continent of Almerkun. The intrigues of its priests and lords, wizards and merchants and thieves, were ancient and inbred and formal as a dance. Yet two homeless wanderers would set all their plans at naught.

One was tall and red-maned, as ruthlessly honest as her sword. The other was small and dark, a creature of knives and magic and shadows. In Illizbuah they would meet. After that, the city, and the world, would never be the same.