“Get him, Thraxas!”
Copro turns towards me. Makri stabs him in the back. He slumps to the floor with a surprised look in his eye.
I struggle to my feet. Makri is looking sadly at the body.
“You should’ve stuck to the beauty trade. You were good at it.”
She sighs.
“Lisutaris isn’t going to be pleased.”
She looks more cheerful.
“On the other hand, I suppose this ends the case? I mean, we’ve killed the bad guy. That usually does it.”
“We’ve killed one bad guy. Covinius is still around and we don’t have any proof it was he and not Lisutaris who killed Ramius.”
I’m bleeding. I rip a length of cloth from a towel and wrap it round my head. The villa is in chaos, with servants running around and screaming.
“Furthermore, I don’t have any proof that Copro killed Darius. He confessed to us, but who’s going to believe it?”
“When Samilius and the Sorcerers come down to investigate, won’t they find things? You know, auras and such like?”
“Maybe. Quite probably Old Hasius and Lasat might find enough here to link Copro to the Avenging Axe and the death of Darius. There’s still the matter of this remaking spell, though. If I knew how that was done, life would be easy.”
“Let’s take the sword,” suggests Makri.
I reach down, but before I can grasp the hilt it vanishes.
“I guess we weren’t worthy.”
I tell the servants that the head of the Civil Guard will be here soon to take care of the crime scene and if they touch anything they’ll all be in big trouble. Having no more time to waste, we depart into the cold and make our way back to the Assemblage.
“Do you have any thazis?” asks Makri.
“You need to calm down?”
“No, I just want some.”
We light some sticks as we ride back to the Royal Hall.
“Lisutaris has better thazis,” says Makri.
“Is she planning on cutting down when she’s Chief Sorcerer?”
Makri doesn’t think so.
“She did say she might be able to get some excellent plants imported from the south once she had better contacts in the Guild.”
“You’re far too keen on thazis these days, Makri. And dwa. You used to be a pain in the butt when you were studying and working all the time, but at least you got things done. What happened to you?”
“I got sad about See-ath,” she says.
“Any chance of cheering up?”
“I’m feeling a bit better after the fight.”
[Contents]
Chapter Twenty
Though the main room at the Royal Hall is crowded with Sorcerers awaiting the confirmation, there is little sign of celebration. Fatigue has set in, and dismay at the death of Sunstorm Ramius has sobered them up. Losing one Sorcerer was bad enough, but the death of a second makes this the most unfortunate Assemblage since the infamous episode in Samsarina twenty years ago when three drunken apprentices burned down a tavern in a dispute over a game of cards, killing themselves in the process.
They huddle in their delegations, discussing the various rumours that circulate through the building. As Lisutaris is about to become the new head of the Guild, few Sorcerers want to come right out and accuse her of killing Sunstorm Ramius. That might be a very bad career move. But there are plenty of whispered comments, and much talk about foul tactics by the Turanians.
My report to Cicerius and Direeva is brief and to the point.
“Copro the beautician turned out to be Rosin-kar, onetime apprentice to Darius Cloud Walker and now secretly transformed into a powerful Sorcerer. He’s dead in his villa. If Praetor Samilius gets some of his people down there quickly enough they can probably find evidence linking him to the murder of Darius. As for Ramius, I’m nowhere, and since his body was hauled out of the magic space the Sorcerers are starting to talk. I still think that Covinius was the most probable killer, but I don’t have any proof.”
“We have proof,” says Cicerius.
I’m stunned.
“What do you mean, you have proof?”
“A witness saw Covinius emerge from the magic space.”
“What witness?”
“A man called Direxan, who’s here with the Matteshan delegation. Not a Sorcerer, he’s a Matteshan Tribune.”
I don’t understand this at all. Cicerius explains that Direxan was minding his own business outside the Royal Hall when a green portal of light suddenly opened and the notorious Covinius appeared. He dropped a knife, and disappeared into the snow. The knife had a fragment of cloth on it, which has been matched with Ramius’s cloak.
“Is this true?” I demand.
“Absolutely. Direxan has already made a sworn statement in front of Kalius and Lasat, Axe of Gold. It will shortly be announced to the Assemblage that the notorious Assassin Covinius was the killer of Sunstorm Ramius. Lisutaris is in the clear.”
“But how did this Direxan identify Covinius? No one knows what he looks like.”
“Direxan does. He was present three years ago when Covinius assassinated his superior, the Deputy Consul of Mattesh.”
“It’s extremely fortunate that such a good witness was available,” adds Tilupasis.
“More than fortunate,” I say.
“Presumably it was an internal affair involving Simnian politics,” says Cicerius. “It was my opinion all along, you will recall, that we did not have to worry about Covinius. Our concern is Lisutaris, who is now close to triumph. Have we enough evidence to now clear her name with regard to Darius?”
“No.”
“Why did you kill Copro before gaining such evidence?”
“He attacked me with a vicious magical sword.”
“You must find evidence. The confirmation is in one hour.”
Two apprentices knock and enter, with Charius the Wise in their wake. He regards Cicerius and Tilupasis with cold anger and struggles to control his manners.
“Are you still planning to have Lisutaris put forward as head of the Guild?”
“Certainly,“ says Cicerius, in his friendliest manner. “After all, she won the test.”
Charius’s long moustache sways slightly as he draws himself to his full height to stare down at the Deputy Consul.
“I am well aware of the tactics employed by Turai to gain this post. In my twenty years as master of the final test, I have never witnessed such a shameless display of illegal behaviour by any nation. You have used every underhand means at your disposal to unfairly influence the outcome of the election.”
Cicerius and Tilupasis, being politicians, are taking this calmly enough, but I can’t resist butting in. After all, it was me that had to struggle round the magic space in a snowstorm.
“Come on, Charius. Are you trying to say that other nations weren’t doing exactly the same? And as for that final test, whose novel idea was it to set some mathematical problem? Lisutaris could have beaten Ramius in any test of sorcery. Smart idea, setting a problem she couldn’t do, then sending in a Simnian mathematician. Whoever thought that up was sharp as an Elf’s ear.”
Charius looks like he’d like to say a lot more on the subject of Turai’s infamous behaviour.
“You went too far with murder, Deputy Consul. You may have cleared Lisutaris of the death of Ramius—though I am not the only one with doubts about the veracity of your witness—but she still stands accused of killing Darius Cloud Walker. I will not allow her to be confirmed. Unless she immediately withdraws I will expose her to the Assemblage. The pictures of her stabbing Darius will be made available to all.”