That may take some explaining. Glokta winced at a cramp in his leg and forced it out straight under the table. May I speak entirely honestly with you, your Worship?
Marovia stroked thoughtfully at his beard. The truth is a very rare and valuable commodity. I am astonished that a man of your experience would simply give it away. Especially to someone on the other side of the fence, so to speak.
I was once told that a man lost in the desert must take such water as he is offered, regardless of the source.
Lost, are you? Speak honestly, then, Superior, and we will see if I can spare something from my canteen.
Hardly a promise of succour, but the best I might have hoped for from a man so recently a bitter enemy. And so my confession. Glokta turned over the memories of the last couple of years in his mind. And a filthy, a shameful, an ugly set they are. Where to begin? It is some time ago, now, that I began to examine irregularities in the business of the Honourable Guild of Mercers.
I well remember the unfortunate affair.
During my investigations I discovered that the Mercers were financed by a bank. A very wealthy and powerful bank. Valint and Balk.
Glokta watched carefully for a reaction, but Marovias eyes did not so much as flicker. I am aware of the existence of such an institution.
I suspected that they were implicated in the Mercers crimes. Magister Kault told me as much before his unfortunate demise. But his Eminence did not wish me to investigate further. Too many complications at a complicated time. Gloktas left eye twitched and he felt it beginning to run. My apologies, he muttered as he wiped it with a finger. Shortly afterwards I was dispatched to Dagoska, to take charge of the defence of the city.
Your particular diligence in that matter was a source of some discomfort to me. Marovia worked his mouth sourly. My congratulations. You did an extraordinary job.
I cannot entirely take the credit. The task the Arch Lector had given me was impossible. Dagoska was riddled with treason and surrounded by the Gurkish.
Marovia snorted. One sympathises.
If only anyone had sympathised then, but they were busy here, trying to get the better of each other, as they always are. Dagoskas defences were in a state entirely inadequate for the task. I could not strengthen them without money
His Eminence was not forthcoming.
His Eminence would not part with a single mark. But an unlikely benefactor stepped forward in my time of need.
A rich uncle? What a happy chance.
Not entirely. Glokta licked at the salty space where his front teeth had once been. And the secrets begin to spill like turds from a draining latrine-pit. My rich uncle was none other than the banking house of Valint and Balk.
Marovia frowned. They advanced you money?
It was thanks to their generosity that I was able to keep the Gurkish out as long as I did.
Bearing in mind that powerful people have no friends, what did Valint and Balk get in return?
In essence? Glokta gave the High Justice an even stare. Whatever they wanted. Shortly after returning from Dagoska I was investigating the death of Crown Prince Raynault.
A terrible crime.
Of which the Gurkish ambassador who hung for it was innocent.
Marovia registered the tiniest hint of surprise. You say so?
Undoubtedly. But the death of the heir to the throne created other problems, problems relating to votes in the Open Council, and his Eminence was happy with the easy answer. I tried to pursue the matter, but was prevented. By Valint and Balk.
You suspect that these bankers were involved in the death of the Crown Prince, then?
I suspect them of all manner of things, but proof is in short supply. Always too many suspicions, and not enough proof.
Banks, grunted Marovia. They are made of air. They spin money out of guesses, and lies, and promises. Secrets are their currency, even more than gold.
So I have discovered. But men lost in the desert
Yes, yes! Please continue.
Glokta found, to his surprise, that he was greatly enjoying himself. He was almost tripping over his own tongue in his eagerness to blurt it all out. Now I begin throwing away the secrets I have hoarded for so long, I find I cannot stop. I feel like a miser on a spending spree. Horrified, yet liberated. Agonised, yet delighted. Something like cutting your own throat, I imaginea glorious release, but one you can enjoy only once. And like cutting my own throat, it will very likely end in my ugly death. Ah well. It has been coming some time, has it not? And not even I could claim I dont deserve it ten times over.
Glokta leaned forwards. Even here, even now, I somehow need to speak it softly. Arch Lector Sult is not happy with our new king. Most particularly, he is not happy with the influence that Bayaz exerts over him. Sult finds his powers much curtailed. He believes, in fact, that you are somehow behind the whole business.
Marovia frowned. Does he now?
He does, and I am not entirely sure that I discount the possibility. He has asked me to find some means of removing Bayaz His voice dropped almost to a whisper. Or removing the king. I suspect, should I fail, that he has other plans. Plans which somehow involve the University.
You would seem to be accusing his Eminence the Arch Lector of high treason against the state. Marovias eyes were bright and hard as a pair of new nails. Suspicious, and yet terribly eager. Have you uncovered anything to use against the king?
Before I could even consider doing so, Valint and Balk quite forcibly dissuaded me.
They knew so quickly?
I am forced to concede that someone close to me may not be as reliable as I have always hoped. The bankers not only demanded that I disobey his Eminence, they also insisted that I investigate him. They want to know his plans. I have only a few days to satisfy them, and Sult no longer trusts me enough to share the contents of his latrine with me, let alone the contents of his mind.
Oh dear, dear. Marovia slowly shook his head. Oh dear, dear.
To add to my woes, I believe that the Arch Lector is considerably less ignorant of what occurred in Dagoska than he at first appeared. If somebody is talking, it may well be that they are talking to both sides. If you can betray a man once, after all, it is not so very difficult to do it twice. Glokta gave a long sigh. And there we are. The secrets are all spilled. The turd-pit is emptied. My throat is slashed from ear to ear. That is the whole story, your Worship.
Well, Superior, you certainly find yourself in quite a pickle. Quite a fatal one, in fact. Marovia got up and wandered slowly around the room. Let us suppose, for the moment, that you truly have come for my help, and not to lead me into some manner of embarrassment. Arch Lector Sult has the means to cause a most serious problem. And the towering self-obsession necessary to try it at a time like this. Youll get no argument from me there. If you could obtain compelling evidence, I would, of course, be willing to present it to the king. But I cannot move against a member of the Closed Council, and the Arch Lector in particular, without firm proof. A signed confession would be best.
Sults signed confession? murmured Glokta.
Such a document would seem to solve some problems for both of us. Sult would be gone, and the bankers would have lost their hold over you. The Gurkish would still be camped outside our walls of course, but one cant have everything.
The Arch Lectors signed confession. And shall I pluck the moon from the sky while Im about it?