Sarai had not thought of it in those terms. She had sent a soldier because he was handy-most of the officials of the overlord's government used the city guard for their errands outside the palace.
To an ordinary citizen, though…
Well, she saw Shirt’s point. And perhaps it was just as well; she had wanted to impress the witches with the severity of the situation, after all.
"Do you know why you're here?" Sarai asked. She knew the more skilled and powerful witches could hear the thoughts in people's heads, if they tried, and Shirith was undoubtedly skilled.
"Do you want me to?" Shirith countered. "Ah, I see you do, if only to save time. I'm sorry, Lady Sarai, but I'm afraid that… oh."
She paused, then said, "The killings. Poor Kelder."
Sarai nodded.
"If you could tell me more, Lady Sarai…" Shirith began.
Lady Sarai explained quickly, well aware that Shirith was filling in missing details with her witchcraft.
"I'm afraid," Shirith said at last, "that I can't help you. We in the Sisterhood are naturally concerned, even though Kelder was obviously not one of our members. I can attest that I am in no way involved in these killings, nor is any member of the Sisterhood with whom I have spoken in the past month. Your theurgist will confirm that I speak the truth; I don't know what the wizard's spell will show, but if it tests veracity, then that, too, should support me."
So much, Sarai thought, for secrecy.
"Well," Shirith said apologetically, "once I start listening to what lies behind your words, I can't always help hearing more than you might want."
Sarai waved that away. "It doesn't matter," she said, "and I didn't really suppose that the Sisterhood was behind the murders. Can you vouch for the Brotherhood, as well?"
"Not as definitely," Shirith admitted, "but I can send their leaders to you for questioning."
Sarai nodded. "That would be useful. Do you have any other suggestions? Anything you would advise me to do to track down these killers who use both wizardry and warlockry?"
Shirith shook her head. "No," she said, then added, "it's odd, that combination; wizards and warlocks have distrusted each other since the Night of Madness, and from what I've heard, warlockry fits better elsewhere."
"What do you mean?" Sarai asked. Then she remembered something Kelder had said, when the two of them were studying Serem's corpse.
"Well," Shirith said, "it appears, from all I've heard, that witchcraft and warlockry are much more closely related to each other than either one is to wizardry."
"I've heard that, too," Sarai admitted. "Do you know who you might want to talk to?" Shirith suggested. "Tendril of Fishertown, from Ethshar of the Spices. The word in the Sisterhood is that she's made some remarkable discoveries about connections between witchcraft and warlockry- especially remarkable, since she's still only a journeyman."
"Thank you," Sarai said, making a mental note of the name. "I'll do that."
In the three days that followed Sarai spoke to a four-man delegation from the Brotherhood and removed that group from suspicion, as well. She sent a messenger by sea to Ethshar of the Spices, to fetch this Tendril of Fishertown. She had notices circulated to demonologists, sorcerers, and other magicians of various kinds that she sought any information they could provide about whoever was responsible for the recent murders.
But she received no reply from either the Council of Warlocks or the Wizards' Guild, nor did she learn who had killed those men, women, and dogs.
CHAPTER 18
There had been no killings for three sixnights, but Sarai did not believe anyone was safe. The conspirators, whoever they were, might just be lying low, or perhaps the phase of the greater moon might be related, in which case the next murder could occur at any moment.
And during this lull there had been some very curious break-ins. No one was harmed, nothing stolen, but several magicians of different sorts, alerted by Sarai's far-flung inquiries, had reported signs that they had been spied upon, their workshops entered, their books read. What's more, the signs left by these strange invasions had included traces of wizardry, warlockry, and even witchcraft. This last had prompted further questioning of Shirith and several other witches, but again, all swore to their innocence, and other magicians said those oaths were truthful.
Sarai was convinced that these break-ins were the work of the murderous conspiracy, but she still had no idea what the conspirators were up to. Furthermore, she still had not met with the Council of Warlocks or the representatives of the Wizards' Guild.
With all this going on, she really did not much care that Lord Tollern, Minister of the Treasury, was not happy with her. Finding the killers and unmasking the conspiracy was more important than money. Money was only worth what it could buy, and when she hired magicians and sent ships to Ethshar of the Spices and so forth, Sarai was buying information.
"That's all very well," Lord Tollern told her, "but you can't spend the city's entire treasury on this."
"Why not?" Sarai demanded.
"Because we need it for other things, as well. Oh, I don't deny that this conspiracy is dangerous, Lady Sarai, I don't deny it at all, not for a moment. But it isn't the only danger that old Ederd has to worry about. What good will it do to stop these mysterious magical murderers, if it allows common thieves to run amok, or we let the walls fall into ruin, or the harbor silt up so that no ships can dock?"
"I'm not spending that much!" Sarai protested. "No," Tollern admitted, "but this isn't anything we've budgeted for, you see. My dear, can't you find some way to settle this whole matter quickly?"
"How?" Sarai asked. "I'm doing the best I can, but I can't even get the Wizards' Guild to talk to me."
"My dear Lady Sarai, you're Minister of Investigation and Acting Minister of Justice; surely you can order them to talk to you, in the name of our beloved Ederd the Fourth. Even the Wizards' Guild would not be quick to refuse a command from the overlord himself. Defy one of the triumvirs of the Hegemony? That's a risky business, even for a magician."
Sarai hesitated. She knew the treasurer was technically correct, but she hadn't dared to directly invoke the overlord's name before. Any power used too often was power wasted, and she knew that Ederd did not take kindly to those who called upon his authority too freely. Up until now, people had cooperated willingly-or had been intimidated much more easily; as Shirith had pointed out, most citizens did not care to argue with soldiers sent by one of the government ministers. "I'll think about it," she replied.
The following day she sent not a lone messenger, but a squad commanded by a lieutenant, to order the Council of Warlocks, in the name of Ederd, Overlord of Ethshar, to wait upon the Minister of Investigation in the Great Council Chamber, at a time to be mutually agreed upon.
The reply arrived that same evening; the meeting was held the following day.
She prepared for the meeting in her family's apartments, gathering her wits and her notes, trying not to look at her father as he lay unconscious in his bed. This time, acting in the overlord's name, there would be no pretense of privacy or informality; she wore the attire of a Minister of Justice.
It occurred to her, as she made the turn into the broad marble passage that led from the outer apartments into the central mass of the palace, that she should have arranged for attendants to accompany her-when she entered the justice chamber in her lather's place she was always preceded by Chanden the bailiff and Okko the theurgist and a couple of guardsmen and followed by the door guards. The overlord himself, when entering a room on official business, might have a retinue of anywhere from a handful of bodyguards to a parade of a hundred soldiers and officials. As Minister of Investigation, Sarai realized, she was surely entitled to bring a couple of guards and her chief of staff, Captain Tikri.