“Um. No, I imagine not.”
“There are worse cases. Around the Korlaph, north of the Pushta, they discovered tin, and had a real labor shortage. The Count went on a statute rampage, and by the time he was done, he not only owned all the mines, but had made up the most absurd laws to have a few thousand locals arrested, and then sentenced them to work the mines.”
“He can do that?”
“Once in a while, someone has enough family with enough money to bring a particular case to the attention of the Empire, and a particular law gets overturned.”
“And I thought the Jhereg was corrupt.”
“Law is a reflection of society, justice is a reflection of an idealization of that society.”
“You’re quoting someone.”
He nodded. “Yurstov, Iorich Emperor of the Fifth Cycle, who tried to create an actual justice system. He failed, but he did some good.”
“And you stay with Edicts because they aren’t as bad?”
He frowned. “I guess that’s part of it, though I don’t think of it in those terms. I had a client once who annoyed someone, and the someone set him up to look like he’d committed a crime. I got him off. That felt like justice.”
“Was it? I mean, what had he done to annoy the guy?”
Perisil shrugged. “I don’t know. As I said, the deeper levels I leave to others. But that’s justice to me. Suppose some poor fool of a Teckla steals a chicken from his landlord because he’s hungry. And some high-and-mighty Orca manages a scheme to cheat his crew out of half their pay. If the first guy gets off with a couple of cuts, and the second goes to the Star, well, to me that’s justice.”
“How often does that happen?”
“I don’t know; I don’t deal with those sorts of cases. Those have to do with traditional law, and I work with Edicts. More often it’s the other way around, I should think. Is there a point to all this, Lord Taltos?”
“I’m a curious guy, is all. And you’re—odd.”
“You’ve met advocates before.”
“Yes, but only the ones interested in money.”
“Oh,” he said. “Yes, I suppose so.”
I stood up. “Sorry, I’ll let you work.”
“And you?”
“I need to think like a Jhereg.”
“I imagine that comes easier to you than thinking like an advocate.”
“A little,” I said. “Oh, one other thing. Desaniek. Where do I find her?”
His eyes narrowed. “Why do you want to know?”
“I’m not sure. But I have no intention of killing her.”
“If you even talk to her—”
“I doubt it will come to that.”
He hesitated, then said, “While she’s conducting the investigation, she’ll be working out of the Office of the Imperial Justicer in the Imperial Wing.”
“What does she look like?”
He frowned again. He clearly didn’t like the way this conversation was going.
“Really,” I said. “I don’t intend to kill her. Or beat her. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but it could end up that I’ll be saving her life, depending on how things shake out.”
“All right,” he said. “But I’m not very good at describing people.”
“What’s the first thing you notice about her?”
“Um. Her face?”
“Anything special about how she dresses, or what she wears—”
“She keeps her hair up, and she always wears a stickpin in it with a lot of little diamonds.”
“Thanks,” I said. “That should do it. And don’t worry about it too much.”
I took myself out of the office and back up to the main floor of the House. I needed to think, and I needed to find a place to do it. I crossed over to the Iorich Wing, stared for a moment at the sculpted thing and wondered what it symbolized, then ended up letting my feet carry me toward the prisons while I tried to put the pieces together.
I hadn’t gotten anywhere when I reached the big gates; the same guard was there. He said, “You want to see Aliera?”
“Yes,” I said, though I hadn’t actually formulated the idea.
I just had to sign and seal one paper, affirming that everything I’d signed before still applied. Someone I’d never seen before guided me in.
I clapped at the door before the guard could; she opened the door and let me in, saying, “One hour.”
Aliera was in the same place, the same position she’d been in before. I had the impression she hadn’t moved since I’d left. On the table next to the couch were several wine bottles, all empty.
“Well,” she said, glaring at me.
“Verra!” I said. “First Sethra, now you. Great.”
“Huh?”
“When I spoke with Sethra, she was drunk, too.”
“Is there something I should be doing instead?”
“Answering my questions.”
“Ask them.”
“First question: Did you know the Empress is starting an investigation into the events in Tirma?”
“First answer: Why should I care?”
“Because it was not wanting to run that investigation that led to you being arrested.”
“So you say. And by the way, yes I knew. Some Iorich came in here and wanted to ask me questions about it.”
“And you were in just the shape you’re in now, right?”
She shrugged.
“Perfect,” I said. “Can you remember what she wanted to know?”
“Sure. She wanted to know if I enjoy slaughtering innocent Teckla.”
“Did she ask that in so many words?”
Aliera made a vague sort of dismissing gesture.
I said, “You’re probably too drunk for this to do any good, but I need to point out that if the Empire is investigating the real thing, then there’s no need for them to press fake charges against you.”
“And yet,” she said, “here I am.”
“Yes. I’m trying to fix that.”
She yawned. “Let me know how that works out.”
“If I come back tomorrow, will you be sober?”
“If I stay drunk, will you stay away?”
I could have pointed out that she wasn’t helping, but I was beginning to get the idea that this wouldn’t be a powerful argument. There needs to be a better word than “stubborn” to describe a Dragonlord whose pride has been offended, and then a better word than that to describe Aliera.
“So tell me,” I said. “Do you enjoy slaughtering innocent Teckla?”
She stared at me for a minute, then burst out laughing. Since I’d figured it was either that or she’d kill me, I was just as pleased. She laughed for much longer than it was worth, but I attributed that to her state. Eventually she wiped her eyes and said, “Yes, but not by proxy.”
“I doubt the Iorich would accept that answer.”
“You never know,” she said. “They might. I’ll ask my advocate if we should base our defense on it.”
“Do that. I’ll ask the Empress what she thinks.”
“Do that. I’m curious about what’s behind all of this.”
“Me too. That’s what I’m doing here.”
“What, you think I can tell you something?”
“Almost certainly. And you might even be willing, if I knew what to ask.”
She swirled the wine in her glass and stared at it. “Maybe I would. What exactly is the problem you’re trying to solve?”
I gave her a quick rundown about things as I saw it.