“There is,” I told him. “I don’t know how they do it, but I’m glad to reap the rewards.”
He nodrlcd. “Think you can really tell the difference, though? I mean, between a wine that goes perfectly with what you’re eating, and wine that only sort of goes with it? Is there, I don’t know, a lot more pleasure, or something?”
I actually had to think about that, for more reasons than to try to figure out what he was asking. “There are a lot of things,” I said, “that you don’t actually notice, but have an effect anyway.”
“Yeah, that’s true,” said the Dzur. He looked lost in thought for a minute. “That really is true,” he repeated, as if I’d said something profound.
I let him think so while I ate some more of the beef.
I said, “They chill it just a bit, for me, even though it isn’t supposed to be served that way. Not chilled like a white wine, but just a little chilled. I just think wine is better when it’s a little bit cold. Unlike brandy.”
“And heroics,” he said, grinning.
“Hmmm?”
“It’s hardest to be a hero when you have to do it cold.”
“I don’t follow you.”
“I was just making a joke.”
“Oh, all right.”
“But it’s true, though.”
“I don’t—”
“It’s one thing to go charging into a fight when you’re outnumbered, and you just, you know, hack away as best you can. It’s another when you have to just sit there, everything against you, and no one to actually attack. All the demons in your head start on you, and, it’s like, you’re giving yourself every chance to be afraid, but you have to keep on anyway. I’m not describing it very well.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been in that situation.”
“It’s not as much fun as you might think.”
I nodded and took another sip of wine. Just a little bit chilled, the way I like it.
“You were there for the whole thing?” I asked.
Kragar shook his head. “I arrived late.”
“I thought you might do that. Were you expecting him to make a play for me?”
“Vlad, you aren’t out of here, yet.”
“True.”
“I’ll go out first.”
“Just like the old days.”
“Sort of.”
“Hey, Kragar, I’m trying to remember something.”
“Yeah?”
“You know, all those times I walked out of a door wondering if someone was on the other side waiting to put a nice pretty shine on my skin, was there ever anyone there?”
“You mean, has anyone come after you when you were looking for it? Not that I recall, but maybe I wasn’t around.”
“This might be the first time, you know.”
“You’re just saying that because you’re a superstitious Easterner, and you think if you say it, it won’t happen.”
“Exactly.”
“Good plan.”
It worked, too. At least, no one took a shot at me when I left the Lantern.
“What now?” he asked. “You hungry? We should have gotten something to eat.”
“Yeah, I’ll just sort of hang out here for another hour or two, that would be smart.”
He chuckled. “Office?”
“Sounds good.”
We made it there with no trouble, but I’d be lying if said I wasn’t nervous during the walk.
The guy running the game nodded to me as I went past. He ignored Kragar.
“How do you do it?” I asked him when we were in my old office, with him behind the desk.
“Do what?”
“Get people to obey your orders, when they don’t even know you’re there.”
“Oh. I write a lot of notes.”
“Dangerous.”
“They get burned. And you know how it is: There’s usually nothing incriminating in them anyway.”
“I don’t know, Kragar. All it takes is one that—”
“You want the job back, Vlad?”
“No, thanks.”
“Then shut up.”
“Right. Shutting up.”
“What happens next?”
“The Left Hand comes after me.”
“How are you avoiding them?”
“I’m not.”
He studied me. “You’re going to let them find you?”
“I’m going to them.”
“Mind if I ask why?”
“Because I can’t have them chasing me. Having the Jhereg chasing me is bad enough; having the Left Hand—”
“Wait. You don’t want them chasing you, so you’re going to give yourself up to them? I mean, in one sense it’s logical, but—”
“I probably shouldn’t have tried to explain.”
“Yeah, that was a mistake. Where is this happening?”
“There’s a house in South Adrilankha where the Left Hand has set up shop.”
“Where exactly?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“A house full of sorceresses, and you’re going to just walk into it?”
“Pulling them out of it, actually. And there aren’t as many of them as there were yesterday at this time.”
“Ugh. Need backup?”
“You can’t help with this one, unless you’re a better sorcerer than I think you are.”
“You aren’t that much of a sorcerer yourself, Vlad.”
“I have help arranged.”
“All right. But if you want a spare knife, I don’t mind—”
“No, thanks.”
He nodded. “I knew you were going to say that. That’s why I didn’t mind asking.”
“Uh huh. You hungry? I’m buying.”
“How about if I send someone to pick something up?”
“Embarrassed to be seen with me in public?”
“Wouldn’t you be?”
“Well, yeah.”
He arranged for seafood soup with sour bread from the Locket. It showed up and we ate it. I’d never eaten at the Locket, though it wasn’t far from the office. I don’t know why I’d never gotten there. Too bad; they made a good soup.
While we were eating he said, “Aren’t you going to ask me about that name you wanted?”
“You mean, you have it already?”
“Yeah, that’s really why I showed up there. Finding a shoemaker in South Adrilankha seemed like too much trouble.”
“Okay, I’m impressed.”
He bowed.
“So, who is it?”
“Nylanth.”
“I’ve heard that name. Who is he?”
“He’s on the Council. He controls part of South Adrilankha anyway, so I guess he figured—”
“What part?”
“Shipping.”
“Shipping? What is there to control with shipping?”
“Vlad, not everything shipped is exactly legal.”
“Oh. Don’t the Orca handle that?”
“Yeah. He buys Orca as he needs them. And he also runs some gambling by the piers.”
I nodded. “Okay, makes sense, then. How is he reacting?”
“To you messing up his plans? Well, if he wasn’t already trying to kill you, as was the whole rest of the Organization, I’m sure he’d start trying now. As it is, nothing much has changed.”
“Yeah, that’s the nice thing about the position I’m in: It’s hard to make it any worse.”
“I don’t think that’s true. You could make it worse. You could put yourself in the hands of a bunch of sorceresses who want to kill you; that would be worse.”
“I’d never do anything that foolish.”
“Oh. Good, then. Any steps to be taken?”
“Steps?”
“Regarding Nylanth.”
“Oh.” I thought about that.
“No,” I finally said. “Let him keep chasing me around South Adrilankha; I don’t think he has much of a role to play anymore.”
“Okay.”
We finished up, and left the crockery on Kragar’s desk. I said, “Okay, I think it’s time for me to move.”