I said, “See that fellow over there?”
He looked. “No,” he said.
“Look again. There. No, where I’m pointing. Just barely around the corner from the door.”
“Oh. Yes. What’s he doing?”
“Same thing I am. The question is, who is he doing it for?”
“Should I ask him?”
I took a breath, let it out again. “That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.”
“Oh. You mean, something more invasive?”
“Yes.”
He paused. “He’s wearing protection.”
“Oh. Does that mean you can’t find out?”
He looked at me, as if trying to see if I was joking. Then he said, “No.”
“Okay, but I don’t want him knowing what happened.”
That earned me another look; which was fine, that’s why I’d said it.
I know, I know; it isn’t nice to irritate someone who is doing you a favor. It probably isn’t smart, either. But if you’d ever met Daymar, you’d understand. Besides, this gave him an excuse to show off, which was what he lived for.
No, that isn’t fair. It wasn’t about showing off for him, it was his fascination with the thing he was doing—it was a chance to use his skill, to do what felt right for him to do. I could understand that; I used to feel the same way when setting up to put a shine on someone. Not the killing, the setting up: that feeling of everything functioning the way it’s supposed to, of your mind going above itself, of—
“Got it,” he said.
I nodded. “What did you learn?”
“That he’s bored, that this is stupid, that nothing has been happening, and that he’s glad he doesn’t have to make the report.”
“Um. Let’s start with the last. He doesn’t have to make the report?”
“No, he’s just helping out some guy named Widner.”
“And he doesn’t know who Widner reports to?”
“Nope.”
I suggested that my patron goddess should take sensual pleasure, though I didn’t put it quite in those terms. “Why doesn’t he want to make the report?”
“I can’t say exactly; I just got the impression that whoever the report is being given to, he wouldn’t like her.”
“Her.”
He nodded.
“Oh.”
I withdrew my suggestions about the Demon Goddess.
Well now, that was all sorts of interesting. “Thank you, Daymar. You’ve been most helpful.”
“Always a pleasure, Vlad.”
There was a “whoosh” of air and he was gone, all abrupt and stuff, leaving me with my thoughts, such as they were.
Her.
If it was a “her” that Widner was reporting to, it was the Left Hand of the Jhereg.
Why was the Left Hand keeping a watch on what happened in that little cottage?
Because the Left Hand was involved in whatever the Jhereg—the Right Hand, I mean—and the Orca were doing. And because having Brinea and her people pushing for the Empire to investigate the massacre in Tirma might mess up the plans.
Okay, fine. Why?
Because the Empire, just on the off chance that they were honest (whatever Cawti might say about that possibility), would, by investigating, undercut the pressure the Jhereg and the Orca were putting on them, and their scheme would fall through.
So, what would they do? They’d stop the investigation, if they could.
How? How do you go about stopping an Imperial investigation? And what did it have to do with some weird group of Easterners gathered in a little cottage in South Adrilankha?
Loiosh returned from his errand and landed on my shoulder.
“Is he gone already, Boss?”
“Yeah, and so are we. I have stuff to do.”
Iorich
12
Q: State your name and House.
A: Aliera e’Kieron, House of the Dragon.
Q: What was your position at the time of the incident in Tirma?
A: As near as I can reconstruct the moment, I was sitting down.
Q: Please tell us your official position with respect to the Empire.
A: Prisoner.
Q: Please tell us your official position, with respect to the Empire, at the time of the incident in Tirma.
A: Warlord, although in point of fact, my respect for the Empire is, at this moment, under something of a strain.
Q: Were the Imperial troops in Tirma acting under your orders?
A: I was the Warlord.
Q: I take that as an affirmative.
A: You can take that and—yes, they were acting under my orders.
Q: What orders did you give with respect to the rebellion in the duchy of Carver?
A: To suppress it.
Q: Were you specific as to the means of suppressing it?
A: I thought perhaps a nice bouquet of candlebud surrounding a bottle of Ailor would do the trick.
Q: The Court reminds the witness that copies of her orders are in the Court’s possession.
A: The witness wonders, then, why the Court is bothering to ask questions to which it knows the answers.
Q: The witness is reminded that she may be held in contempt.
A: The feeling is mutual.
“Want to tell me about it, Boss?”
Just to be unpredictable, I filled him in on what I’d put together. When I’d finished, he was quiet for a while; maybe from shock. Then he said, “Okay, what now?”
“Can you think of any reason for the Left Hand to have that cottage watched, except for what I’m thinking? They’re pushing for an Imperial investigation, and the Left Hand doesn’t want that to happen. Am I missing something?”
“Boss, you don’t know anything about those people. That’s one thing they’re doing. What if it’s something else entirely?”
“Like what?”
“How should I know?”
“You really think it’s something else?”
“No, I think the same as you. But you don’t know.”
“Then let’s run with that for the moment, and see where it gets us. If the Empire investigates, the deal’s off, and the Jhereg, the Orca, and the Left Hand all lose. So, they don’t want the investigation to happen.”
“But it’s happening anyway, having nothing to do with anyone in any little cottage. Where does that leave us?”
“That’s what I’m trying to work out.”
“Work away.”
“Okay. How do you stop an Imperial investigation?”
“You know, Boss, that’s something you neglected to cover in my training sessions.”
“Can’t pressure the Empress directly, we have nothing to pressure her with.”
“I don’t get it, Boss. Why is the Empress doing this, anyway?”
“So she can get out from under the Jhereg; to look good to the nobles, and maybe to the people too, I don’t know.”
“Okay, I’ll buy that.”
“So then, the thing to do is to discredit the investigation.”
“Good plan, Boss. How do you do it?”
“Spread rumors that these Easterners are behind it? Maybe plant some evidence?”
“Possible.” He didn’t sound convinced. Neither was I, for that matter.
“Boss, where are we going?”
I stopped. As I had been thinking and walking, my feet had taken me over the Stone Bridge and were leading me back to my old area—the worst place I could be. The chances of the Jhereg spotting me were too high to make me comfortable anywhere in the city; in my old neighborhood it was nearly certain.