—Private note in the handwriting of Desaniek
(not authenticated)
I ducked into the doorway in front of me without waiting to figure out where it went. I was in a narrow hallway with a flight of stairs at the end. I went up without stopping, swallowing the acidic panic that comes with only having one direction to go when you know someone is after you. If Sethra had been sober, she’d have thought of that, dammit.
There was a door at the end of the hallway. I opened it without clapping, my right hand brushing the hilt of Lady Teldra.
The Warlord seemed to have been napping; her head snapped forward and she stared at me. If she’d gone for a weapon, which wouldn’t have been all that unthinkable, there would suddenly have been a lot more people than the Jhereg looking for me—or else no one at all.
She blinked a couple of times as I caught the door and shut my breath, or whatever I did.
“Vlad,” she said.
I stood there, trying to neither pant nor shake. “Hi there,” I said.
Her office was tiny; just enough room for her, a chair, and a small table. There was another door to her left.
“I must have dozed off,” she said. “Sorry.”
“It’s nothing. As you see, I came in anyway.”
“Shall we find somewhere more comfortable to talk?”
“I don’t mind standing. Thanks for seeing me, by the way.”
She nodded and looked up at me—an unusual experience for both of us. “Last I heard,” I said, “you were Dragon Heir. I guess congratulations are in order.”
She gave something that could have been a laugh. “I guess.”
“Are you addressed as Warlord, or as Your Highness now?”
“Depends on the subject.”
“Is there a story there? I mean, in how it is that you happened to become Warlord?”
“Not one I’m inclined to talk about.”
“Is your becoming Warlord related?”
“To what?”
“Eh, I thought you knew why I was here.”
“Sethra said you wanted to see me about Aliera.”
“Yes.”
“To that.”
“What is it you wanted to see me about exactly?”
“Aliera’s situation.”
She hadn’t answered my question. Just wanted to let you know I caught that. Can’t get one past me.
“I’m not sure how much I can tell you,” she said.
“Lack of knowledge, or are there things you aren’t permitted to say?”
“Both. And maybe things I could say but choose not to.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Well, I’ll ask, you tell me what you can.”
“It isn’t that I don’t care about Aliera,” she said.
I nodded, feeling suddenly uncomfortable. It wasn’t like Norathar to feel she had to justify herself to me. I leaned against a wall, trying to look relaxed. When she didn’t say anything, I cleared my throat and said, “In my own way, I have some understanding of duty.”
She nodded, staring past me.
“So, what happened?”
She blinked and seemed to come back from wherever she was.
“Aliera was caught practicing Elder Sorcery, which is illegal. For good reason, by the way. It was used to destroy the Empire. By Aliera’s father. The Empire frowns on being destroyed. It tends not to like things that can do that.”
“Yeah, I know. That adds a certain—uh. Wait. How much of this is because of her father?”
“I don’t know. That’s probably what made her the perfect—I mean, that may be why. . .”
She trailed off.
I should have thought of that sooner.
“And how does she—I mean the Empress—feel about it?”
“Beg pardon?”
“She’s Aliera’s friend. How does she—?”
“You know I can’t give you personal details about Her Majesty.”
Since it was exactly the personal details I was looking for, it was a little sad to hear that. “All right,” I said. “Did you hear about Aliera’s arrest before it happened?”
“I don’t understand.” She was giving me a suspicious look, as if I might be mocking her but she wasn’t sure.
“Oh,” I said. “You were given the order.”
She nodded.
“I don’t know how these things work, but that seems unusual. I mean, arresting criminals isn’t what I think of as the Warlord’s job.”
“It usually isn’t,” she said. Her lips were pressed tightly together.
“But—?”
“With someone like Aliera, I can’t see it happening any other way. She wasn’t going to dispatch a, a constable to do it.”
“It would be disrespectful to her position.”
She nodded. I need to work harder on communicating irony.
I said, “Who carried out the arrest?”
“I did.”
I grunted. “Must have been fun.”
She gave me a look.
“Sorry,” I said. “Was she surprised?”
“Is this necessary?”
“I want to know if she had any warning.”
“Oh. Yes, she was surprised. She thought I was joking. She said—”
The wall over her head was blank, a pasty color. She should put something there. I resolved not to tell her that.
“Sorry,” she said.
“How long was it from the time you were given the order until the arrest?”
“Ten minutes.”
“Had you expected the order?”
She studied me carefully. “No,” she said. “I was told I was now Warlord, and ordered to arrest Aliera, and to deliver the communication relieving her of her position.”
I tried to imagine that scene, but I couldn’t do it. I was glad I hadn’t been there to see it.
“Had you expected something like this to happen?”
“What do you mean?”
“Aliera was arrested to distract attention from something the Empress doesn’t want people thinking about. Had you expected—”
“That’s your theory,” she said, as if refuting it.
“Uh, yeah. That’s my theory. Had you been expecting Zerika—”
“Her Majesty.”
“—Her Majesty to do something like this?”
“I don’t concede your premise,” she said.
“Um. Okay.” I looked around the room. Maybe one of the walls had secret writing that would tell me how to pull the information I needed from Norathar. Nope, guess not. “I’d have thought the Warlord would have a bigger office.”
“This isn’t the office, it’s more of a private retreat. The office is through there.” She indicated the door to her left.
“Is this a temporary position for you?”
An eyebrow went up. “Well, it certainly won’t last longer than the next Dragon Reign.”
“I meant more temporary than that.”
“I don’t know.”
“How did it happen in the first place?”
“How did what happen?”
“The incident that started it all. You’re the Warlord now, you must have access to—”
“I can’t discuss that.”
“I don’t mean the details.”
“Then what? Getting philosophical on me?”
“Sarcasm aside, yes.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“How does it happen? I’m told you served in the army, in wartime, in the line.”
“Briefly.”
“In combat.”
“Briefly.”
“And you need to ask how something like that happens?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
She shook her head. “Pay no mind. If that’s all, Lord Szurke, I’m rather busy.”