by Howell, Rob
“What about the zupans? Do you think Vukasin will know anything?”
Zvono shook her head. “This is beneath Vukasin’s notice right now. He’s focused on keeping a tight rein on the Dassaretae.”
“And Vesela cares even less,” growled Kapric, “After you drove her father into exile with Katarina, she’s busy keeping what the Enchelei still have.”
“But could that not be simply an opportunity for one of their Lezhan competitors to attack them?”
They leaned back.
Finally Kapric muttered, “I suppose.”
“Piri told me she’d come have dinner at the Faerie tonight, Kapric. I’ll check with her and Svetislav and see if they’ve heard anything. If Vukasin and Vesela are worried about the Lezhans encroaching on their prerogatives, especially in murderous ways, then I would guess they’ve warned the leaders of all their companies.”
“True.”
Zvono fiddled with her wax tablet.
“Something wrong, Zvono?”
“I’m not sure, Sevener. This does not feel like the kind of maneuver a zupan would make.”
She dismissed our suspicious looks with a wave.
“No, I don’t mean that any of the zupans would hesitate to murder someone if it truly benefited their tribe. I mean this seems so small in scale. If this involved Vukasin or Vesela, I think you’re right that the hecatontarchs and such would know. But so would a large number of others, including us. Or at least I’d expect to know if Vukasin was worried about some Lezhan threat, and I’d expect Vesela would tell Kapric.”
Kapric shrugged. “I don’t necessarily agree. Vesela and I have never really talked, and she’s distracted. I’m sure she knows about me and my position, but she never had cause to deal with me. Pal talked to me periodically but not her.”
“And anyone can see that the Enchelei are more vulnerable right now. It could be some attack on the Enchelei, subtle and small though it might be now.”
“Either way, Sevener, it’s worth checking. I still think that this does not feel like an attack on either of the zupans,” Zvono tapped her wax tablet with her stylus. “But we simply don’t know enough yet to be sure.”
“I’ll wait for Piri, and I’ll keep my eye out for Svet. I’m not sure he’s forgiven me yet for my part in what happened with Pal. I sure haven’t seen him here since.”
“He’s upset at you? I don’t see why. He let us in and gave you the time to bring Pal down.”
I nodded. “True, he’s a good man. This is just a tough time for him. He may also feel guilty for his part.”
I paused.
“Of course, it may just be that he’s been too busy.”
“The whole family is in an uproar,” agreed Kapric. “Pal led us for so many years. He had been so stable. The idea that he had someone killed to consolidate power still shocks many of us.”
I shrugged and looked into my beer. Kapric and I had butted heads throughout the last month while I had figured out Pal’s treachery, and I had never seen him anything less than a veritable block of lombardic granite. I preferred him snapping at me rather than opening up.
Fortunately, at this point they rose and he growled in his normal curt tone. “Time for us to go, Sevener.”
I nodded. They turned to leave, but Kapric paused and glanced back.
“I’ll pass the word that we’ve worked with Ludmilja and already know everything she could tell us.”
“Thanks. I’ll keep Sebastijan watching them, but hopefully they’ll leave Honker’s whole family alone.”
He tipped his head and they left.
Chapter 9
Late Evening, 1 Blommemoanne, 1712 MG
No scop entertained the Faerie that evening. A group of teamsters from the far south decided to fill the lack with surprisingly good voices, though no one understood a single word they sang. Still, even if every song insulted everyone else sitting there, their pleasant voices relaxed us all.
Well after the summer sun set, Piri finally arrived. Despite the hour and what I knew had been a long day, she looked satisfied as she settled at my table with a mug.
“You’re late.”
“Things to do.”
“Training Maja or Arkady?”
She laughed. “Arkady, tonight. Some of the lads and lasses are pushing Arkady, and I let him beat some sense into those fools. Still, I had to keep an eye on things to make sure he didn’t go too far.”
“That’s probably got to happen.”
“Nothing every new decarch doesn’t face.”
“And Maja.”
“Well, that’s a different proposition. I’ve some ideas, but that’s my business right now.”
I shrugged as she shifted topics.
“Tell me everything about this murder.”
I explained the happenings of the last two days to her, concluding with Ludmilja’s recognition of the Lezhan accent.
“Has Vukasin warned you or any of the other company leaders to watch for Lezhans in particular?”
Piri shook her head.
“Then either this murder has nothing to do with the Dassaretae or Vukasin hasn’t warned you.”
“Sloppy thinking, Sevener, you missed a possibility.”
I cocked a questioning eye at her.
“He could have been taken by surprise.”
I chuckled and looked at her, this time with a confident smirk on my face. She chuckled back.
“I’ll admit it’s unlikely, but you need to at least account for the possibility.”
“You’re right, but, as you said, it is unlikely.”
“I agree. Still, it’s unwise to completely ignore the possibility.”
I heard in Piri’s wisdom the echo of Bedarth’s, my former tutor. “Look and look again, boy. If you’re not looking, you can’t see anything no matter how bright sun’s light might shine on something.”
I sighed in defeat. “In that case, let’s break down each possibility, starting with that one.”
“The possibility that Vukasin is surprised?”
I nodded.
“Given that I agree that Vukasin is rarely caught at a loss, if he was surprised then whoever is behind the murder is devious and cunning.”
“And subtle. We do not want to deal with such a person.”
I paused.
“Do we have any hint that this is the likeliest possibility?”
Piri shook her head. “In fact, there is no evidence at all to support the possibility logically. Vukasin is devious, cunning, and subtle himself. We definitely do not want the killer of the man in the copse to be more skilled than he.”
“But you are also right. We need to remember it could happen.”
Piri nodded and continued, “Let’s examine the possibility that Vukasin knows but didn’t tell us.”
“That seems even less likely to me.”
“Me as well, unless my uncle sees some sort of advantage that I do not, which is possible.”
“Your uncle?” A moment later my memory caught up, and I spoke before Piri could tease me. “I had forgotten Vukasin is your uncle.”
She chuckled. “Yes, and even as a lass I could see how smart he is.”
“What advantage could he see in not telling you?”
“I don’t know, actually. He’s not one to put his people at risk needlessly.”
“Then, until we can think of a reason, we’ll assume it is as unlikely as him not knowing.”
“Agreed.”
“That leaves us with the likelihood that the Dassaretae are not facing any threat from Lezh right now.”
Piri snorted. “Any abnormal threat. We’re always poking and prodding at each other.”
“Of course, how could I forget some sort of competition in the Empire?”
We smiled wryly at each other for a moment, enjoying the singing and the ale. I soon sighed.
“Have you seen Svetislav?”
“No, Sevener, I haven’t.”
“Neither have I.”
“I’m sure he’s busy right now. He may not have time to come up to the Faerie. Have you gone down to the Lakewarden docks to visit him?”
I shook my head. “I’m not sure he wants to see me.”
“I doubt he’s upset at you.”
I shrugged.
“Go see him. At the very least, you can ask if Vesela has put out word to watch for Lezhans.”
I nodded. Piri was right, as usual.
“I want to visit Gibroz anyway. I can do both tomorrow.”
“Gibroz?”
“Yes. It’s quite likely this murder doesn’t involve either the Enchelei or the Dassaretae. It’s certainly possible, but Zvono doesn’t think it feels like something the zupans are involved in.”
“So you think the krals might be involved.”
I nodded.
“Evidence from both bodies suggested they might belong to a kral.”
“You’re not going to visit Katarina alone, are you?”
I laughed. “No, I’m a fool, but I’m not crazy.”
“Good. Let me know and I’ll send someone with you.”
“Thanks.”
Piri got up.
“Come back to the barracks tomorrow. We’ll actually work on something instead of letting you pick on Maja.”
I smiled sadly. “I do feel a little bad.”
“Don’t. The bruises will fade, but she’s needed a lesson and hasn’t always listened to us.”
With that, Piri walked out to cheery waves from Ragnar, Zoe, and even Karah.
Chapter 10
Midday, 2 Blommemoanne, 1712 MG
Even on a sunny afternoon, the area of Achrida called the Stracara stood threatening and dark near the lake docks. At night, its angry energy turned to rage as desperate people fought those even more desperate for the city’s scraps.
I had seen a man executed here a few weeks before, but his murder was extraordinary only for its organization and precision, not for the blood that was shed.
Few came here unless they had to, but this is where Gibroz kept his hours.
I wound my way through streets nearly roofed in by the overhanging buildings that creaked alarmingly overhead. After fending off hands grasping for my wealth or offering their virtue, I entered a small foyer that possessed all the charm of a burned-out stone keep.
“I need to speak with Gibroz,” I said to the doorwarden, a gaunt man with a ravaged face.
He led me into a small sitting room, but rather than waving me to a chair as he had done every other time I had come here, he brought me directly up the stairs to Gibroz’s office. He knocked once.
“Yeah.”
“The Sevener is here.”
The door opened, and I went into Gibroz’s office. He sat behind his large desk, as he always did when I visited. His assistant Gabrijela leaned on the desk, as she always did when I visited. His four most prominent associates sat around a table playing a game and drinking rakija as they always did when I visited.
A triptych of unfamiliar figures hanging over the gaming table provided the only decoration. Yet the unchanging tableau of the room and its denizens was almost painted art in its own right.
Gibroz looked at me coldly. One of his associates leaned back and ostentatiously crossed his feet on the table. He wore shoes he had stolen from me when the four of them had attacked me in the street a month before. The other three snickered.
“Why the fuck are you here?”
“Because someone got killed.”
“So?”
“So I think you might know something about it.”
“What? Am I the only one in this fuckin’ city that fuckin’ kills people?”
I smiled. “No, but I’d rather talk to you than Katarina.”
“Crazy fuckin’ whore.”
“That she is. So I’m here to talk to you.”
“Just as fuckin’ well, I was about to fuckin’ send Markov for you anyway.”
The man wearing my shoes twitched his toes at me arrogantly.
“Here I’ve saved you the trouble. Now why are messing with me?”
“Because you’re fuckin’ messing with me.”
“I am?”
“What the fuck were you doin’ at Biljana’s Springs anyway?”
“You won’t believe me.”
“Then you better fuckin’ make me.”
I sighed. This was not going to go well. “I went there for a lost doll.”
“The fuck you say. A doll?”
Everyone in the room but Gabrijela and I burst out in raucous laughter. Gabrijela merely chuckled.
“You’re right, I don’t fuckin’ believe you.”
“It’s true.”
Gibroz shook his head.
“Fuckin’ koryfoi are all mad.”
They laughed again.
“Mad I may be, but a friend asked me to help, so I did.”
“You do fuckin’ stick by your friends, Sevener, I’ll fuckin’ give you that.”
I thanked him by way of a nod, but his condescension gave me back all the anger I had left on the field with Maja.
“So you fuckin’ went there and found a body instead of a fuckin’ doll?”
“Found both actually,” I growled.
“And fuckin’ gutted some fuckin’ blade too.”
I leaned over his desk and snarled in his face. “Busy day. And so is today. I don’t have time if all you want to do is to fuck with me. I’ll just fucking go and find it out myself.”
Gibroz laughed, though his thugs started to get up at my anger. He waved them back. “Still fuckin’ stupid, I see.”
“He might still be useful.”
Gabrijela’s smooth, soft voice calmed everyone, and I took a deep breath.
“Maybe we could be useful to each other,” I muttered.
“She’s always fuckin’ right. Fuckin’ annoying, she is.”
“So let’s start this conversation over.”
Gibroz shrugged.
“I want to fuckin’ know what you fuckin’ know. What do you fuckin’ want?”
“I want to fuckin’ know what you fuckin’ know, too.”
“Well, then, you fuckin’ tell me.”
“I found a body hidden in the copse of pine trees above Biljana’s Springs. Nobody knows who the dead man is. I killed one of two men who attacked me after I found the body.”
“We both know I already fuckin’ know all that.”
“Yes, but did you know Kapric’s mages found that both bodies suggested criminal backgrounds from near here?”
He grunted.
“And did you know the people burying the body spoke with a Lezhan accent?”
“Lezhans! I knew that prissy fucker wanted in. Didn’t think he was so fuckin’ stupid as to fuck with me like this, though.”
He sat back and ranted. Gabrijela calmly watched him. His thugs readied themselves to kill whoever needed killing.
I started to speak, but he waved me down. He stared at the triptych above the table. In a tense room filled with people who both want to kill you and can do the job, time slides by like a small cut oozing a single drop of blood onto a stone floor. I could hear every person breathing, but not so much as a rustle of clothes.
Finally, Gibroz shifted and looked at me.
“There’s this fuckin’ guy in Lezh.”
“A kraljevic?”
“Yeah. His name’s Ylli. He’s been fuckin’ cheating me lately.”
“I’m sure.”
Gibroz chuckled harshly at my tone. “Yeah, well, as to that, I been fuckin’ with him some, too.”
“I’m sure of that, too.” I grinned.
“We’ve been working at each other for a long fuckin’ time, keeping within the fuckin’ boundaries, ya know?”
I did not, but I nodded anyway.
“We both fuckin’ know we have to work around each other but it’s all fuckin’ business. We even sometimes fuckin’ work together.”
I nodded again.
&
nbsp; “Ylli’s been fuckin’ with me. More than ever lately. He must be the one who fuckin’ killed Aca.”
“Aca is the guy I found?”
“Yeah, he’s the fuckin’ guy you found. Who the fuck else would I fuckin’ be talking about? I had him trying to figure out exactly what the fuck Ylli is doing right now. I’m tired of him fuckin’ annoying me.”
Gibroz glared at me.
“He’s even more fuckin’ annoying than you, and that’s fuckin’ annoying enough. Still not sure why I didn’t drop your body in the lake.”
“Doesn’t matter now.”
He shrugged. “Not now, no, but the lake’s always a fuckin’ option for you.”
“Why haven’t you dropped Ylli in the fucking lake then?”
“You’re just one fuckin’ guy. Ylli’s got a crew of fuckin’ guys.”
“So do you.”
“Yeah, but neither of us can really fuckin’ get at the other. Taking Ylli out in his own fuckin’ town will be expensive. Bad fuckin’ business.”
“And the same here for him.”
“Fuckin’ right. He don’t fuckin’ want to fuck with me here.”
“Except he’s been fucking with you lately.”
“Stupid fucker thinks he can take money out of my fuckin’ lake trade by using the Kopayalitsa.”
“It can’t hold big wagons anymore.”
Gibroz snorted. “Yeah, but it’s not the big fuckin’ cargos that make the big fuckin’ money. I had Aca looking into exactly what Ylli was fuckin’ shipping and where he was fuckin’ getting it from. I know he’s not been fuckin’ giving me the cut he’s fuckin’ supposed to.”
“Gabrijela said I might be useful. How?”
Gibroz leaned back and looked at me for a long moment.
“You’re just one fuckin’ guy, but you’re fuckin’ different, I’ll give you that.”
“So?”
“So Ylli knows my fuckin’ guys, he don’t know you.”
“You think I can talk to him where your guys can’t?”
He laughed harshly.
“You’re so fuckin’ stupid. No, I think my fuckin’ guys get killed right as they fuckin’ get to Lezh. You’ve got a fuckin’ chance to stay alive for a few fuckin’ days and find out what I fuckin’ need to know.”
“Before they find me and kill me.”
