14

M’lady: Just got word through your office of the event. I’m perfectly willing to attend and answer any questions the mob has, though I cannot imagine what good H.M. imagines such a thing will do. They’re going to believe what they believe, and I can talk until my voice is hoarse without changing them; nor do I see what difference it makes what they think, unless H.M. is afraid of more disorders like there were a few years ago. Officially, I have no opinion about that, of course (though unofficially a troop of guards will deal with however many of them take to the street). My question is, if I’m going to do this, how do you want me to handle it? I’d rather not have it in writing. Let me know when a good time is, and I can be in your offices, or wherever else you’d like to meet.

—Unsigned (not authenticated)

 

I felt a bit better the next morning. I stood up and stretched again, taking it slow and easy. I was still trying to make my muscles obey when there was a clap outside the door; Loiosh told me it was Kiera, I suggested she enter. She asked how I was feeling, and I lied a little. “Did you find out anything?”

“I learned a few businesses that are covers for Left Hand operations. Here.” She handed me a sheet of paper with some names and addresses.

I held it out in front of her and tapped one. “You sure about this?”

She studied it. “Tymbrii,” she said. “Pre-spun cloth and yarn. What about them?”

“Nothing,” I said. “Except Cawti used to go there all the time. I had no idea.”

“I don’t know who the real owner is, but it’s a good place to go if you want to be listening in on someone who thinks he has spells that will prevent that.”

I nodded. “It’s just odd, is all. The number of times I went in there, and never knew.”

I looked over the rest of the list. There were places spread out all over the City, and I recognized a couple from having walked past them, but there were no others I’d actually been in.

“Now what, Boss? Put the list on the wall, throw a knife at it, and see where it lands?”

“Something like that, yeah.”

“This is liable to get you killed, you know. You’re in no shape—”

“Sit on it.”

He psychically grumbled, but shut up.

“What do you know of these?”

“What do you want to know?”

I hesitated. “I’m not sure what to ask. I know so little of the Left Hand.”

“As do I. As do they.”

“Hmm?”

“Part of the secrecy thing; most of them know very little other than their own business.”

“Oh. Um, how little do they know?”

“What kind of question is that?”

“I guess I’m asking if I were to show up at one of these places, would the individual running it know who I am?”

She considered. “I don’t know. Maybe. My guess is not, except by coincidence. Don’t bet your life on that, though.”

I nodded. “Uh, how do I do this, Kiera?”

“You’re asking me?”

“I don’t mean that part. But say, this one—” I tapped the list. “It’s an inn. Do I walk in and ask for a certain drink? Or—”

“Oh. Sorry. I’d have thought you knew. If you want to reach someone in the Left Hand, ask to see the mistress of the house, and deliver three silver coins, one at a time, with your left hand.”

“Left hand,” I said. “How clever.”

“Imaginative, even.”

I sat on the edge of the bed and considered. I took the knife from my right boot, pulled the coarse stone from my pack, and started working as I thought.

“You aren’t lubricating it,” said Kiera.

“Superstition,” I told her. “You don’t need to lubricate the stone, you just need to clean it when you’re done.”

“I know. I wondered if you did. What sort of edge are you putting on that?”

“Five degrees a side.” I stopped and studied the knife. It was a wicked thing that I’d found in Shortrest, near Tabo. There was a cheap and worthless enchantment on it that was supposed to help it find a vital spot, and the point wasn’t much, but it had a lovely edge and the wrapped antler fit my hand like it had been made for an Easterner. I worked some more, checked the bevel, switched to the other side.

“Where did you learn to do that?” she asked.

“Where did we first meet?” I asked her.

“Oh, right.”

I nodded. “Sharpening knives was what I first learned to do after I learned to wash pots and pans, bring trash to the midden, and clear tables. I had one knife I kept a dual edge on: front three-quarters for slicing, back quarter for cutting. Best knife I’ve ever had.”

“Where is it now?”

“Cawti has it. She still uses it. I showed her how to do the dual edge. She—” I stopped and went back to sharpening, switching to the extrafine stone.

“Sorry,” she said.

“No, no. Don’t worry about it.”

“If you slip and take a finger off, I’ll feel bad.”

I held up my left hand. “That happened once. I’ve learned my lesson.”

I finished sharpening the knife, nodded to myself, and stood up. My rib hurt like—it hurt.

Kiera hesitated, then said, “Do you want me to back you up?”

“Not your skill,” I said. “And it won’t be necessary. This should be pretty easy.”

“As you say.” She didn’t sound convinced.

She followed me out of the room, and walked down the stairs with me. I went slowly. She said, “I’ll be waiting in the courtyard to hear how it went.”

I nodded but didn’t say anything; most of my concentration was involved in not moaning with each step. Rocza took off from my shoulder and flew in slow circles overhead; Loiosh remained on my other shoulder and was looking around constantly.

In the wide boulevard in front of the Imperial Wing near the park, there is always a line of coaches; on one side those with markings on the door, on the other those that are for hire, all of which get special exemptions from the ordinance forbidding horses near the Palace. I think there are so many exemptions they might as well not bother with the ordinance, but maybe I’m wrong.

I spent some time studying the coaches for hire, trying to decide which looked like the most comfortable, then picked one and made my painful way to it. The coachman was a young woman, a Teckla of course, with the cheery smile and easy obsequiousness of the happy peasant in a musical satire on Fallow Street. I climbed in and gave her the address. She looked at Loiosh, then Rocza as she joined me in the coach, but merely bowed and climbed up to her station. Then she clucked and the horse started plodding along, a lot like I’d been walking.

“Boss, I don’t care what Kiera says, you’re in no shape—”

“I’m not going to be engaged in any acts of violence, Loiosh, so you can relax.”

“You’re not?”

“No, the plan changed.”

“When?”

“Yesterday, when I was talking to Morrolan.”

I settled back for the ride. It was a good coach—the jouncing didn’t make me scream.

I stepped out and paid the coachman, who bowed as if I were Dragaeran and a nobleman. She probably thought it would increase her tip, and I guess it did at that.

I was now in a part of the City called the Bridges, probably because the main roads from three of the bridges all led to this area and crossed each other at a place called Nine Markets, which was in fact only about a hundred yards from where I stood. Tymbrii’s shop was nestled in among the simple three-and four-room houses of tradesmen, with a few larger rooming houses and an open-air shrine to Kelchor.

“Okay, you two get back in my cloak.”

“Do we have to?”

“I don’t need to walk in there with two instant identifications on me.”

“You think they won’t know you just because we aren’t with you?”

“Something like that.”

“You’re dreaming.”

“In, both of you.”

I felt him start to argue, but he cut it off. The two of them ducked into my cloak as the coach pulled away.

The door itself held a sign that suggested I feel free to enter, so I did. It smelled a bit dusty, and there were oily smells mixed in. It was a single room, well lit, with bolts of cloth and those bunches of yarn that people who use yarn call skeins. There was an elderly gentleman sitting in a straight-backed chair, looking as if he had been doing absolutely nothing until the door opened. Once I entered, he rose, took me in, and did the facial dance I’d come to expect from merchants who don’t know quite how to place me, followed by the polite bow of those who decide coins bring more happiness than snubbing one’s inferiors. That’s the difference, you know, between a merchant and an aristocrat: The true aristocrat will always prefer to snub his inferior.

“May I help you, my lord?”

“I hope so. I’m looking to see the mistress of the house.”

He frowned. “I beg your pardon?”

Clink. Clink. Clink.

“I’ll see if she’s available.”

He vanished through a doorway in back, and I looked around at brightly colored cloth. Exotic. That’s what Cawti had called these colors: exotic. I guess they were at that. Bright blues and searing yellows and some as dark orange as the ocean-sea.

I waited.

He came out of the door again, bowed stiffly again, and said, “She will see you now. The doorway at the end of the hall.”

He stood aside, and I went past him through the open door. I felt uncomfortable as I did, like he was going to bash my head in when I went through. He didn’t, though.

There was a short hallway with a closed door to the side, and another door in front of me. This one was open, so I entered.

She was of middle years for a Dragaeran, say a thousand or so, and dressed in the gray and black of the Jhereg. She was sitting behind a desk looking business-like, and she rose as I entered. Nothing in her expression indicated she might know me, although that was hardly proof.

“May I be of service?” she said, with barely concealed distaste. Now, she was an aristocrat.

“I seek knowledge, O wise one.”

She frowned. “Are you mocking me?”

“Yes, but only in a friendly way.”

She sat down again, looking at me through narrowed eyes. “I’m not your friend. Do you have business for me, or don’t you?”

“I do. I’m after information, there may be some spells to prevent eavesdropping.”

She nodded. “Go on. What are the specifics?”

That set off all sorts of alarms in my head. Was she expecting me to ask her to commit a crime, just like that? I mean, maybe the Left Hand did that sort of thing, but, if so, how did they stay in business?

I looked her in the eye. “I beg your pardon?”

“Before I can accept, I have to know who you want to listen in on. I’ll need to get a dispensation from the Justicers.”

“Naturally, I wouldn’t want you to do anything illegal.”

“Naturally.”

“So of course, you have to go through the court proceedings.”

“Yes.”

“I assume there are special fees for the advocate?”

“That is correct.”

“How much.”

“One hundred.”

“That’s a lot,” I said.

“Yes.”

“All right,” I said. “I’ll give you a draft on Harbrough.”

She nodded. She’d certainly know Harbrough: he didn’t use names, which made him very popular among the Jhereg—both sides, presumably—and was the reason I still had money available.

She passed over pen and ink and blotter, and I wrote out a standard dispensation then passed it to her. She studied it carefully, I imagine sending the image to someone who’d make sure the funds were there to cover it.

“All right,” she said. She moved the draft to a place between us and put the inkwell on it; there seemed to be something almost ritualistic about the act, although maybe my talk with Kiera had me imagining things. Then she bowed her head. “What’s the job?” All business; just like the Jhereg.

“What if I said Sethra Lavode?”

She snorted. “I’d give you your draft back and point you to the Nalarfi Home.”

“Just making sure you didn’t belong there.”

“Yes, there are things I won’t do. Quit wasting my time. What’s the job?”

“There is a house at number eleven Enoch Way in South Adrilankha—”

“Are you jesting?”

“Why would I be?”

“You think a house in South Adrilankha has protections against eavesdropping?”

“I don’t know that they do, but they might.”

“They have the resources for that?”

“If they’ve gotten support from tradesmen, functionaries, or any of the minor nobility.”

“And what makes you think they have?”

“It’s a possibility. I’ll pay to hear what’s going on in there. If there’s no protection from eavesdropping, then so much the easier for you.”

She hesitated, then nodded. “All right.”

“Uh, how does this work?”

“How does what work?”

“How will I know what’s said?”

She looked disgusted. “How would you like to know?”

“I’d like to be able to listen myself, but I don’t think that’s possible.”

“Why not?”

“Try casting a listening spell on me, and see what happens.” Her eyes narrowed, and her right hand twitched, and she said, “Phoenix Stone?”

“Yes.”

“Well, if you aren’t willing to remove it—”

“I’m not.”

“Then we can provide you a summary, or a transcript.”

“How long does that take?”

“You can have it within a day.”

“Boss—”

“Is there any way you can, uh, have my familiar listen instead of me?”

“I beg your pardon?”

I opened my cloak. Loiosh poked his head out, then climbed up to my left shoulder; followed by Rocza, who climbed up to my right. I smiled apologetically.

“See, Boss, you could have saved us all a lot of trouble if—”

“Shut up.”

“I’m not sure what you are asking me to do.” She looked like I had offered to share my meal of fresh worms with her.

“Loiosh is fully self-aware, and trained to, well, if you can manage to connect him to the spell, he can tell me what’s said.”

She didn’t much like the idea, but I pulled out my purse and set a nice stack of imperials in front of her. Money that clinks and glitters always has more of an effect than money that exists only in theory.

“All right,” she said. “I’ll need to, ah, to touch him.”

“Ewwww,” said Loiosh.

“Yeah, well.”

Aloud I said, “How long will this last?”

“If he is aware enough to accept the spell, it will end when he wants it to, or it will fade on its own over the course of the next year or so.”

“All right.”

Loiosh flew down onto her desk in front of her; she almost managed not to flinch.

“Oh, one thing,” I said.

She had started to reach toward him; now she stopped. “Yes?”

“If anything you do causes him any harm, there is no power in the world that will keep your soul safe.”

“I dislike threats. If you don’t want—”

“I just had to make sure you were informed.”

She shrugged. I really don’t make threats very often, so I resent it when I do make one and it doesn’t impress the threat-enee. But to the left, that’s probably why I don’t make many.

Her hand was steady when she put three fingers on his back.

“I need a bath.”

“Feel anything?”

“Sorcery, pretty mild.”

“All right.”

“You should begin to get sound by morning.”

“All right. Be careful, the place is being watched.”

“By whom?”

“The Jhereg. That is, the Right Hand, if you will.”

She snorted. “That won’t be a problem.”

“All right,” I said. “Anything else?”

“Yes. One question: Who are you?”

“You think I’m going to tell you?”

“You think I can’t find out?”

“If it means that much to you, feel free,” I said. Then I turned on my heel and left.

The gentleman who sold cloth ignored me as I left, and I gave him the same courtesy, though it wasn’t a deliberate snub on my part—I was busy asking myself why I hadn’t thought to have the coach wait. Loiosh, as was his custom, wasted no time. “So tell me, Boss, if the whole idea was for her to be able to identify you, why couldn’t we be there?”

“It would have made it too obvious that I wanted to be identified.”

“So, instead, it just matters that you walk into one of the businesses of people who are trying to kill you? Is this what you call high strategy?”

“That’s a Dragon term. I never use it.”

“Boss, won’t they figure out that you wanted them to identify you?”

“Maybe.”

“So, how is it that what you just did wasn’t stupid?”

“The business of convincing your enemies to do what you want them to is a tricky matter, Loiosh. I wouldn’t expect a jhereg to understand the subtleties.”

“I trust an education in the subtleties will begin shortly.”

“You’re starting to sound like Morrolan.”

I had to walk to the market to find a coach—a run-down thing that found every rut and hole in the road. Served me right for lack of forethought, though. Things like not thinking to have the coach waiting might seem small to you, but if I went ahead and executed plans without seeing to all the little details, I was going to make what was already a tricky operation downright impossible. I gave myself a stern talking-to about it; my cracked rib and various bruises emphasized the point.

Kiera was, as promised, waiting in the courtyard. “Well?” she said.

“Well enough,” I said. “Maybe. Have to see.”

She frowned. “What did you do?”

“Started a delayed-action explosive spell.”

“Uh, let’s go up to your room.”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

“What?”

“Forget it.”

I made my slow painful way to the room. I stretched out on the bed, Kiera took the chair.

“Interesting noise,” she said.

“Hmmm?”

“As you lay down. Somewhere between a groan and a sigh. I don’t think I’ve heard anyone do that before. Are you sure you don’t want to be fixed up?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Unless you have to move fast.”

“When have I ever needed to move fast?”

She didn’t even bother to give me a look for that one. “What did you do?”

“I hired her.”

“To do what?”

“I need to know what’s going on in a certain little cottage in South Adrilankha.”

“And that was the only way to find out?”

“The best way, under the circumstances.”

“Why?”

“I’m trying to do two things at once.”

She nodded. “I once tried to steal two things at once. Want to hear what happened?”

“Only if it worked.”

“I won’t talk about it, then.”

“There are two things going on, Kiera. They’re probably related, but I can’t know that.”

“Aliera’s prosecution, and the effort to set you up.”

“Right.”

“And the cottage in South Adrilankha?”

“It’s a long shot, as far Aliera’s prosecution, but it’s all I can come up with. My thinking is this: If the Jhereg wants to blame the killing on one of these people, they’ll—”

“Wait. What?”

“The Jhereg is planning to kill the Imperial investigator, a certain Desaniek, and blame it on a group of Eastern and Teckla rebels.”

“How did you put that together?”

“When I asked Cawti if she were still giving reading lessons, she said, ‘until lately,’ which got me to thinking—never mind. It’s a long story. The point is, if they want to kill the investigator, and blame it on this group of rebels, they’ll need to know what the group is up to. If I know what they’re up to, maybe I’ll be able to figure out where they’ll move.”

She looked doubtful. “That doesn’t seem likely.”

“I agree, but it’s all I’ve got.”

“What about the other reason? How does this help you get out of a setup?”

“It might not, but if she takes the trouble to find out who I am, and I did everything but beg her to, it’s going to stir up the Jhereg, and maybe throw them off their game.”

“That is really thin.”

“Not as thin as you think. Something unexpected happens when you’re after someone, you slow down and make sure you know what’s going on. All I need is for them to slow down long enough to let me finish this business and get back out of town.”

“That is very thin.”

“Like the other, it’s what I have. Do you have any better ideas?”

“This is bigger than you seem to realize, Vlad.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Eh? It’s the Left Hand of the Jhereg, the Jhereg, and the Orca manipulating Imperial politics. How much bigger—?”

“No, what makes you think I don’t realize how big it is?”

“You aren’t acting as if you do.”

“Kiera, after you’ve been in battle with gods, you get to the point where the affairs of mere mortals—”

“Can you be serious for two words?”

“Not without effort,” I said.

“Apply yourself.”

I shrugged. “What do you want from me? Okay, it’s serious. It’s big. I get that. But I came back here to help Aliera. If you can show me a better way to do that, I’m listening.”

“I’ll never understand this passion you have for making yourself a target.”

“It isn’t a passion, it’s more of an avocation.” She started to say something, but I cut her off. “I didn’t create the situation, and no one was doing a damned thing about it, either because they didn’t want to offend the Empress, or because they didn’t want to offend Aliera. You couldn’t fit the hair of a norska’s tail on how much I care about offending either one. There’s a problem, I’m fixing it.”

“You’re stubborn, Vlad.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Sometimes. Usually. Right now, I’m not sure. How can I help?”

“You probably can’t, but I’ll let you know if something comes up.”

She sighed, started to say something else, then just shrugged and left me with her Kiera smile and soft kiss on the cheek. I lay on my back and tried not to move too much, and eventually got some rest.