by Steven Brust
I came across some fighting, but mostly I skirted it. At one point I ran into a patrol of four Dragaerans wearing the gold cloaks. I stopped, they stopped. They saw I was an Easterner, and they saw I was a Jhereg, and I guess that puzzled them. They didn't know what to do with me. I was not then holding a weapon, but they looked at the two jhereg on my shoulders and the rapier at my side. I said, "Well?" and they shrugged and moved on.
I saw the fires while I was still a mile or more from my grandfather's shop. I began to run. The first thing I noticed when I got there was that the house across the street from his shop was burning, as was the little grocer's next to it. As I got close enough to smell burning vegetables, I saw that Noish-pa's shop was still standing, and I began to feel relief. Then I saw that the entire front was missing, and my heart sank.
I came up to it, and the first thing I saw was the bodies of three Phoenix Guards. There was no doubt who had killed them eacn bore a single small wound right over the place where a Dragaeran or a human keeps his heart. I dashed into the shop, and when I saw him, calmly cleaning his blade, I almost cried with relief.
He looked up and said, "You should leave, Vladimir"
"Eh?"
"You should leave here. At once."
"Why?"
"Quickly, Vladimir. Please."
I looked back at the bodies, looked at my grandfather, and said, "One got away, huh?"
He shrugged. "I've never been able to kill women. This is a weakness we have from being human."
"You're lucky she wasn't a sorcerer," I said.
"Perhaps. But there is little time. You must leave at once."
"If you'll come with me."
He shook his head. "I have nowhere to go. They will find you."
I chewed my lip. "There may be a place," I said. "Bide." "Morrolan. Funny-talking Dragonlord. Dragaeran witch. Wielder of Blackwand. Morrolan. Morrolan. . ."
"Who is— Vlad?"
"Himself."
"Where are you? Are you all right? The whole city—"
"I know. I'm in the thick of it, but I'm all right. I request sanctuary, Lord Morrolan. For myself and for my grandfather."
"Your grandfather? What happened?"
"Phoenix Guards tried to burn his shop down. He prevented them from doing so."
"I see."
"Where are you now?"
"The Imperial Palace, but I'll be leaving soon."
"What are you doing there?"
"I was preparing to defend the Empress, if necessary. But the siege was broken."
"Siege?"
"Your Easterners, Vlad"
"Oh. Who's with you?"
"Aliera, Sethra."
"Sethra? That must have made quite a stir."
He chuckled. "I wish you could have seen it. What about you? Is everything all right?"
"Yes, as far as the rebellion goes, but I've got Jhereg troubles. That's why I need sanctuary."
"I seem to recall another Jhereg—"
"Yeah, me, too. But we're in a hurry, Morrolan. There may be some goldcloaks coming back, and—"
"Very well, Vlad. You revive sanctuary for at least seventeen days. Probably forever. And your grandfather as well, of course. I'll inform Teldra."
"Thanks. See you soon."
I turned to Noish-pa and said, "It's settled. We can stay at Castle Black." He frowned. "What is that?"
"A floating castle, Noish-pa. It's really quite comfortable. You'll like Morrolan, He—"
"He is an elf?"
"Yes, but—"
"No. I will remain here"
I smiled. "Very well. I know I can't make you leave "
"Good."
I went over and sat down in one of his chairs. He frowned and said, "Vladimir, you should go now."
"No."
"What?"
"If you stay, so do I. You can't make me leave, either."
"They will return in force."
"Indeed. And with sorcerers. But I know some tricks."
"Vladimir—"
"Both of us or neither, Noish-pa."
He looked me in the eye, then a bit of a smile came to his face. "Very well Vladimir. Bring me to the elf castle."
"Be prepared to be sick, Noish-pa."
"Why?"
"Teleport spells do that to humans. I don't know why."
"All right, then." He picked up Ambrus, his familiar, and took one last glance around the shop. "Let us leave at once, then."
I put one arm around my grandfather's shoulders and concentrated on the courtyard of Castle Black. When the image was clear, I drew on the power, shaped it, and felt the familiar twist in my bowels. South Adrilankha vanished, and the walls of the courtyard appeared in reality to match the picture in my mind.
Noish-pa looked queasy, but otherwise all right. I watched his face as he slowly recovered, even more slowly than I did, and became aware of the size of the courtyard, of the ground below us, and then of the symbols on the walls and the huge double doors some forty paces in front of us.
"How can this elf know the Art?" he asked.
"He's very unusual for a Dragaeran," I said.
When he was able to, we walked together up to the doors, which opened before us. Noish-pa looked at me but didn't comment. Lady Teldra gave us a courtesy and said, "Lord Vladimir, we are so relieved that you are safe, and delighted that you will be staying with us. And you, sir, your grandson has spoken so much and so highly of you that we were nearly afraid to hope for the honor of your presence here someday. We are delighted that you have come, though sorry for the hardship that forced the journey on you. Please be welcome. I am Teldra."
She is, after all, of the House of the Issola.
He stared at her, his mouth opening and closing, and then his face lit up in a big grin and he said, "I like you," and, for the first time, I think I saw Lady Teldra actually touched.
She showed us in. "The Lord Morrolan requested that you await him in the library," she said. "If you would follow me?"
Noish-pa seemed awed by the display of Castle Black as we made our way down the marble halls and up the wide stairways. Ambrus looked around as well, as if he were memorizing an escape route. I could almost see Noish-pa making notes to himself to study various of the sculpture paintings, and psiprints we passed. Lady Teldra would have been willing to stop and let him examine them then, and would gladly have told all their histories and given brief biographies of the artists, but I badly wanted to sit down.
Morrolan's library is actually quite a complex of rooms so it was helpful to have her show us which one. It says something either about him or about Dragaerans in general that his books were arranged neither by subject nor title, but, primarily, by the House of the author. We awaited him in the largest room, which was, quite naturally, filled with books written by Dragonlords.
We had hardly gotten seated, and Lady Teldra was just pouring the wine, when he entered. We both stood and bowed, but he motioned us to sit. He bowed deeply to my grandfather, rising in time for Loiosh to land on his shoulder. Rocza flew over to Ambrus, who hissed at her and then allowed herself to be licked, which startled me'
We all sat down again, and Lady Teldra poured us all wine, giving the first glass to my grandfather. I said "On behalf of my grandfather, Morrolan, thank you. We—"
"Never mind that," he said. "Of course you're welcome here as long as you want to stay but do you know about Cawti." I stopped with the glass halfway to my lips carefully set it down, and said, "Tell me." "She's been arrested again. This time under direct orders from the Empress. The charge is treason against the empire. Vlad she's facing execution."
Lesson Fourteen
Fundamentals Of Betrayal
I felt my grandfather's eyes on me, but I didn't look at him. I said, "Has a trial been set?"
"No. Zerika says she's going to wait until the troubles are over."
"Troubles? Was that her word for it?"
"Yes."
"I see. Has Norathar done anything?"
"Directing troops? In the city?"
"No, she's putting together an invasion force for Greenaere."
"Oh. That's a relief, anyway."
"Why?"
I shook my head. It would be too hard to explain. "How much have you heard about what's going on?"
He shrugged. "Disorders. I was at the Imperial Palace during the second attack, and throughout the siege, so I mostly know about activities there, but I heard at least some of the rest. Zerika says things should be under control by tomorrow morning."
"Under control," I repeated. I looked at Noish-pa, but this time he was looking away." "Yes" continued Morrolan. "Sethra has established order in—"
"Sethra! Lavode?"
"Sethra the Younger."
"How did she end up in command?"
"The brigadier of the Phoenix Guards resigned yesterday over some dispute with the Empress. I don't know the details."
"Maybe he didn't like the idea of slaughtering thousands of helpless Easterners."
"Helpless? Vlad, weren't you listening? There were attacks on the Imperial Palace. They laid siege to it. They actually threatened the Empress—"
"Oh, come now. She could have teleported out anytime she wanted to."
"That isn't the point, Vlad. Threatening the sanctity of-"
"Can we change the subject?"
"You asked," he said stiffly.
"Yeah. Sorry." Loiosh flew back to my shoulder and nuzzled my ear. I said, "What about the war?"
"Are you sure you want to hear about it?"
"I'm trying to figure out how to get Cawti out of there. The first thing I need to know is what's going on with the Empress, so I can decide how to try to influence her. Does that make sense?"
He seemed startled; I guess that sort of thinking wasn't what he expected of me. Then he said, "Very well. The Empire is still trying to put together an invasion fleet to attack the Greenaere and Elde alliance"
"Trying?"
He looked grim. "A task force sailing from Adrilankha Northport in preparation for an attack on Greenaere was itself attacked by several alliance warships, and three of them were sunk. I don't know how big they were, or how many were lost, or—why are you smiling?"
Why was I smiling?
I took a sip of wine without tasting it. I had never particularly cared about the Empire one way or the other; that is, it was there, I lived in it and ignored it. Even the onset of war hadn't inspired any particular feelings in the sense of who I hoped would win the conflict. But now, I realized, I wanted the Empire to be hurt. Very much I wanted them to be hurt. I would love it if the Empire was tumbled, inconceivable as that was. I wanted to see the Ob rolling, broken, on the ground. I wanted to see the mighty Palace, with all its pillars of silver, and its walls cut of black marble, rooms in which ten Eastern families could live, burned to the ground.
I remembered only flashes of the last two days in South Adrilankha, but there were looks on faces that I knew I'd remember as long as I lived, and if the only way to ease the pain was the destruction of the Empire, then that's what I wanted. In a life governed by hatreds, this hatred was a new one. Maybe it was what Cawti had felt all along. Maybe now I could understand her.
I tossed aside dreams of the Empire fallen; such dreams would not win my wife's release. In fact, the best would be if I could find a way to...
If I could ...
"Nothing," I said. "I think I know how to save Cawti, though."
My grandfather looked at me sharply. Morrolan said, "Oh?"
"Do you think you'd be willing to help? I will also need Aliera's help, and, I think, Sethra's. And possibly Daymar's."
"What do you have in mind?"
"I'll explain when we're all together. Say, this evening-I should warn you, it will be dangerous."
He me a look of contempt. I'd only said it to annoy him anywav. "I will help you," said Morrolan.
"Thank you" I said.
My grandfather spoke for the first time. He said, "Vladimir, will you travel again through the fairy-land?" "Excuse me?"
"Travel through the fairy-land, the way we did to come here."
"Oh Yes, I expect so."
He nodded thoughtfully and spoke to Morrolan. "I see that you practice the Art."
"Yes," said Morrolan. "I am a witch."
"Have you devices I might use? All of mine are lost."
"Certainly," said Morrolan. "I'll have Teldra bring you to my workshop."
"Thank you," said my grandfather.
Morrolan nodded and said, "Aliera is here. Shall I make contact with Sethra and Daymar?"
"Yes," I said. "Let's get started."
A few minutes later he reported that everyone would be assembled for dinner that evening, which gave me several hours to kill. I realized that I was desperately tired and asked Lady Teldra to show me to a room. I gave my grandfather a kiss, bowed to Morrolan, and stumbled to the chambers I'd been assigned.
Before I fell asleep, I got hold of Kragar and said, "What's the news from Jhereg center?"
"You are, Vlad."
"Do tell."
"Three more offers, all refused. Whether they'd have been refused if anyone knew where you were, I don't know."
"Okay. Do you have the information I wanted?"
"Yes, indeed. And someone knows I'm collecting it. "
"Oh"
"I was offered twenty thousand to convince you to collect it in person."
"Twenty thousand? Why didn't you take it?"
"I didn't think I could talk you into coming for it without getting you suspicious."
"Hmmm. You're probably right. Can you send it by messenger to Castle Black?"
"Easy."
"Good. Any, um, disturbances in the area?"
"Not to speak of. Everything pretty much passed us by. We were lucky. "
"Yes," I said. Lucky. Images came bubbling up like Teckla to a feast, but I shoved them back down. No, now was not the time for thinking about that. Maybe there'd never be a time for thinking about that, but now I was tired.
"How are things on your end?" said Kragar.
"Working their way toward resolution."
"Good. Keep me informed."
"I will. Have the messenger ask them to wake me when he gets here."
"Okay. See you later, Vlad."
"Don't count on it, Kragar." Before he could ask what I meant by that, I was asleep.
Kragar's messenger was too quick for me to get enough sleep, but the two or so hours I got, along with the klava supplied by Lady Teldra when she woke me, put me in good enough shape for the moment. I sat up in bed, sipped klava, and studied the sheaf of documents giving all the significant details of Boralinoi's life and personal habits. He was another of the Council members who got there by being in the right place when Zerika returned with the Orb ending the Interregnum. He was considered good at arranging compromises between rivals, but he was not, himself, a compromiser. He'd done a few very nasty things to secure his position, and since then his reputation ha protected him. There had been no known attempts on his life, and his habits didn't indicate that he was terribly worrjed about such things. On the other hand, he knew I was after him, so it could be tough.
On yet a third hand, he had a mistress, so it could be pretty easy. Given a couple of weeks to set it up, it should be no problem. But, of course, I didn't have a couple of weeks to set it up. I wouldn't have an Organization in a couple of weeks. Still, it might be possible to do it more quickly. I could do what they'd done to me, set up outside his mistress's flat and wait for him to emerge. Not very professional, not the kind of sure thing I liked, but it might work.
I shook my head. The business with Cawti was more urgent, but I had a handle on that. It bothered me that it might not get Cawti released even if it worked, and it bothered me that if things went bad, the business with Boralinoi would remain unfinished. And I owed that son of a bitch one. I considered the matter an
d kept considering it as I dressed, then put it out of my mind. One thing at a time.
The front dining room, with its huge glass windows overlooking the courtyard, blackwood chairs and table, and hanging brass lamps, was just big enough for Morrolan, Aliera, Sethra, Daymar, Noish-pa, and me. Daymar was on his best behavior; that is, he sat in his chair, between Morrolan and Sethra, instead of floating cross-legged as was his wont. My grandfather was clearly uncomfortable; I doubt he had been so close to so many Dragaerans ever in his life, but he did his best to pretend he was at ease. When he tasted the Bazian pepper stew, he smiled m amazement and no longer had to pretend. Morrolan smiled at him. "Your grandson gave my cook the recipe," he said.
"I hope he left nothing out," said Noish-pa.
Aliera nibbled daintily and said, "What's the plan, then? My cousin"-she indicated Morrolan, perhaps for Noish-pas benefit-"said it would be exciting."
"Yes," I said. "We're going to end the war."
"That will be pleasant," said Daymar "You aren't in it, I'm afraid." "Oh?"
"Except, of course, for getting us there."
"Where?"
"Greenaere."
"You wish to journey to Greenaere?" said Morrolan "Explain."
"The Phoenix Stones prevent psionic communication and they prevent sorcery. Daymar was able to temporarily punch through the one, and I suspect that with Sethra's help he could punch through the other long enough to get us in. Perhaps even to get us out again after."
"After what?"
"After we have forced a truce on them."
"How?"
"Leave that to me. Your job is to keep me alive long enough to get the truce into our hands."
There was considerable silence at this point, then Morrolan said, "Several things need to be discussed, I think "
