The Eyes of a Doll (The World of Shijuren Book 2)

by Howell, Rob

  “Exactly. It’s not impossible, but it’s not a given that this person could be working with Ylli.”

  “Are you saying that now you don’t think Ylli’s involved?”

  “No, not at all, only that it’s not clear. Remember, Lezhans working for Gibroz or Katarina would be just as likely to get killed by Ylli and the other Lezhans krals for the same reason.”

  “To keep and hold what they’ve got.”

  “That’s what Gibroz wasn’t telling you yesterday,” chuckled Sebastijan.

  “I think he told me, but I think he’s hoping I’ll get killed.”

  “Get killed doing what?” asked Zvono.

  “Gibroz wants me to visit Lezh and see what Ylli has planned.”

  Kapric raised his eyebrows.

  Zvono sat her tablet on the table. “And you’re doing this?”

  I nodded.

  “That is an insane idea.”

  I shrugged. “Probably. But I need to find out who’s threatening Harald. I can’t leave things like this.”

  “This is not your fault.”

  I grinned at Kapric. “You just want to get rid of me.”

  He started to bluster but I cut him off. “I know that’s not true. I also know it’s not my fault and I appreciate you saying so. But I just can’t leave Harald and his family in such a risky position. It’s not their fault either.”

  Calmed, Kapric returned to his normal, stony demeanor. “In that case, what do you plan to do? Mostly, I’d rather you lived than died.”

  “Thank you, Kapric.” I smiled and unrolled Gibroz’s scrolls. “Gibroz gave me these lists. One is of people working for Ylli that Gibroz knows about. The other is a list of schemes Ylli is involved in.”

  Kapric and Zvono looked in amazement at them.

  “Gibroz gave you these?” Zvono clearly itched to somehow fit all that was in the scrolls into her tablet.

  “Yes, and I think they are purposefully obscure.”

  They questioned me with their looks.

  “I think Gibroz is smarter than he normally looks.”

  “You think he wanted you to get help from us,” mused Kapric, “meaning we would have information we could give to quaesitors in Lezh that might damage Ylli’s organization.”

  “Exactly. He must know I simply don’t understand Lezh enough to get much value out of what’s in these. But you and Sebastijan do, especially working together.”

  Kapric and Sebastijan glared at each other for a moment and then shrugged.

  “Mother will be happy.” Sebastijan was now grinning.

  Kapric snorted. “Ecstatic, more like. She wants you to visit her, by the way.”

  “Radovan told me.”

  Kapric turned back to me. “I don’t want to leave things as they are, either. If this escalates, then we’ll have paperwork to do for all of Honker and his family, and I do not want that.”

  “Is paperwork the only issue, Kapric?”

  He started to snap back at me but sighed. “No, but it’s the way I deal with some of the deaths I see.”

  We looked at each other for a long while. Something had happened there, though I was not entirely sure what.

  “In any case, let’s look at these scrolls. You all pass them around and look at them closely for a bit, and then we’ll compare what we remember.”

  “What we remember, Sevener?”

  I laughed. “Alright, Zvono, what you remember.”

  With small chuckles they started looking at the scrolls. While they alternated between examining the scrolls and staring at nothing, I got up and looked for Ragnar and Zoe.

  Zoe I found walking down steps from the wing of rooms opposite to mine.

  “How is Harald?”

  “I think some ribs are broken.”

  “Should we get one of the Helpers?”

  “I’m sending word to the shrine of Cosmas.”

  “Is that one of the Helpers?”

  Zoe chuckled.

  “You don’t have all of the godlings venerated here memorized yet? I fear you shall not be comfortable here until you do.”

  I smiled. “No, I haven’t, and I have no doubt you are correct.”

  “Yes, Cosmas is one of the Helpers, and he and his twin brother Damian were physicians. We get help from those who serve Cosmas when we deal with broken bones.”

  I nodded, remembering that each of the Helpers had their own particular focus.

  “I will help pay whatever is needed.”

  “Those who serve Cosmas will not accept money in return.”

  I raised my eyebrows.

  “I send over food as a donation. That they will accept, but not pay for service.”

  “That’s good of them.”

  “That is their way.”

  “I didn’t get the sense that those of Panteleimon would turn down payment.”

  “Each Helper is different.”

  I nodded.

  “In any case,” she continued, “I think we’ll have Honker’s ribs mending soon, and I’ve salved his bruises and cuts. He won’t be fully healthy for a while, but at least he’ll be mending.”

  “Good.”

  “It’s not your fault, Edward.”

  “No, it’s not. I can’t help feeling somewhat responsible for him, though.”

  “You’re not so bad a man, for an outlander,” she teased.

  “And you’re not so bad a woman, for an Imperial.”

  We laughed.

  “We’ll be needing lunch soon, and I wanted to check and see if I could help while they’re studying scrolls.”

  “Breakfast in your case, I’m thinking.”

  I laughed. “Yes.”

  “Well, you’re not to be touching my kitchen. I’ll have something out to you and the rest soon.”

  “Thank you.”

  “No, dear, thank you.”

  I left to find Ragnar. He was standing outside the Faerie’s stable door, looking up and down the Fourth Serpent, idly tapping a large stick in one hand. He wore the baldric with his sheathed broadsword as well.

  He had clearly passed on to the neighbors that, at the very least, something was happening, and a number of other men and older boys lounged around the street, clearly on alert.

  “Ragnar.”

  “Yes, me boy?”

  “Zoe says Harald will be alright soon enough.”

  “I’m to be knowin’ that, but it’s to be bein’ nice of you to be sayin’.”

  “You’re waiting on the rest of Honk’s family aren’t you?”

  “You’re not to be bein’ as stupid as you look, me boy.”

  I smiled.

  “Let me get my sword, and I’ll go check.”

  He nodded.

  Before I left, I told the others that lunch was coming soon and that I needed to make sure Honker’s family was safe.

  I did not have far to go. Just before the Fifth Serpent, I saw the large mass of neighbors, warded by Sebastijan’s thugs, start down Medusa’s Way. In their midst I saw Soraya and their older daughter. I assumed Ludmilja was in their midst, hidden from view.

  That assumption was quickly confirmed when Ludmilja came running out of the crowd to hug me, with Nadja held with a firm grasp.

  “Nadja’s friend!”

  I laughed. “Yes, and we are going back to the Faerie for a long party.”

  Ludmilja squealed and grabbed my right hand with the one not holding Nadja.

  I let Honker’s neighbors encircle us, and we walked back to the Faerie.

  I was not sure what I would do if I had to use my sword, but I could not let go of Ludmilja’s hand for the moment. Fortunately, we arrived at the front door before I needed to answer that question.

  Ragnar ushered them in, only pausing to give me a small wink as he saw Ludmilja and me holding hands.

  Once inside I kneeled down to Ludmilja. “Take Nadja and go play with your family. I have to talk with my friends over there.”

  She pouted for a moment but soon nodde
d and went with her mother.

  “You’ll make a great father,” laughed Sebastijan. His men echoed his laughter. He pointed them to the table nearest the door, following that with a gesture to Ragnar, who nodded in return.

  He turned back to me. “In fact, you should go sit with Nadja and Honker for a while.”

  I looked at Sebastijan with an eyebrow raised.

  “Zvono, Kapric, and I still have work to do. You’ll just get in the way.”

  “In the way?”

  “Yes, we’ll find ourselves explaining everything to you as we compare notes.”

  “From each side of the law?”

  He nodded with a smile. “Don’t forget we’re dealing with half-remembered memories that are sometimes years old.”

  “I understand. It’s Lezh, not Achrida.”

  “Yes. Sit over there and work on your fathering skills while we see what we see.”

  I thought about it for a moment, shrugged, and spent the rest of the morning with Ludmilja and Nadja.

  Chapter 15

  Midday, 3 Blommemoanne, 1712 MG

  “Sevener.”

  I looked up from Ludmilja. “Yes, Zvono?”

  “We have some ideas.”

  I nodded and gave Ludmilja back to Soraya. She had been asleep in my lap for the past hour and did not even notice when I handed her over.

  I moved to my table, and we huddled over the scrolls.

  “First, we need to make sure we know what your goals are.”

  I paused to collect my thoughts. “Make sure that Honker and his family are safe.”

  Anything else?

  “Get the information Gibroz wants. Who is shipping what and when on the Kopayalitsa. He also wants to know who had Aca killed and make sure the appropriate message gets sent to others who might attack his people.”

  Kapric and Zvono sighed, though Sebastijan grinned. I looked at the two quaesitors.

  “I need to keep my oath with Gibroz. He needs to know I’ll do what I say.”

  Kapric raised an eyebrow, and I answered his unspoken question. “I know I can’t trust him. I know he’d like to kill me, but he’s not the first. He gave me this information with the agreement that I’d tell him exactly what Ylli is doing. I’m not going to break my word, even to a man like Gibroz.”

  “And that’s why.”

  I looked at Sebastijan warily. “Why what?”

  “Why I’m going to Lezh with you.”

  I shook my head, but he continued.

  “You can’t do this alone. None of the ideas we have will work with one person. You have to have help. Also, I’m not unknown in Lezh.”

  “Gibroz thinks going to Lezh will get you killed almost immediately. And me too, come to think about it.”

  “Was he talking about his people getting killed?”

  I paused and nodded. “Yes, he was.”

  “I’m not his people. I’m not anyone’s people, except those who hire me. Gibroz knows this. Katarina knows this. More importantly, Ylli knows this, and so do the others in Lezh.”

  “So?”

  “So they know I’ll do what I’m employed to do. If I come along, and we have a plausible reason to do business, then they’ll look at us not as competitors but potential partners.”

  “You’re saying because of your reputation, Ylli will at least listen and negotiate. We figure out a business opportunity attractive enough to Ylli that he’ll work with us. We discover the information we want, and we make Honker Harald and his family’s safety part of the deal.”

  I thought for a moment. “Tricky. We have to make sure that whatever information we get to Gibroz does not then make Ylli want to kill Honker in return.”

  They nodded.

  “Yes, we have to separate Honker and his family completely,” said Zvono.

  “How are we going to do that?”

  “Not sure. You’re going to have figure that one out once you’re working with Ylli.”

  I shook my head.

  “I can’t risk Honker and Soraya and the children on something that vague.”

  “I understand your point, but do you have any suggestions that are more specific?”

  I sat back and thought.

  “Anything better at all?”

  I finally shook my head.

  “No, Sebastijan, I can’t think of anything even as good.”

  They sighed and nodded.

  I had a sudden thought. “Do we have to involve Ylli?”

  “Do you think Gibroz sent the thugs to attack Honker?”

  I shook my head. “No, nothing in it for him. He doesn’t care who gets to Aca’s killer, as long as someone does.”

  “Katarina?”

  “Not her style. She’d play with Honker first, probably try to threaten hiring his oldest daughter at Tresinova’s or something.”

  Sebastijan nodded. “The threat of her becoming a whore would keep Honker in line, much more so than a simple beating.”

  “Exactly. Katarina likes to give people bad choices and see which one they take.”

  “What about Pal?” asked Zvono.

  “Pal? Pal Gropa?”

  Zvono nodded.

  “How would he matter?”

  “Katarina is using him,” said Zvono.

  “Of course she is. We knew she would when she saved him instead of letting us take him that night.”

  “How she is using him might be relevant.”

  “Do you know what she’s planning?”

  Kapric leaned in. “There’s some talk that she is giving Pal his own separate kral to run.”

  “Make him a third kraljevic? That doesn’t seem wise.”

  “Depends. If she can make it so there are three slices of pie, and she controls two of them, then she controls more than the half of the pie she has now.”

  I nodded at that logic and then chuckled. “Plus, the idea of Pal to create conflict between himself and Gibroz would seem quite fun for her.”

  “Are you saying this might be Pal’s style?”

  “What do you think?”

  I thought for a moment. “No, I don’t think Pal would do anything to Honker. He doesn’t care too much what Honker does or says now. He already knows he’s wanted for Marija’s murder. Aca’s murder matters nothing compared to that.”

  “That leaves either someone we don’t expect here in Achrida or someone from out of town. Ylli is the only powerful person from out of Achrida that we know might be involved.”

  I nodded. “So, we’re back to where we started a few minutes ago. Sebastijan and I go to Lezh. We start working with Ylli. We find out what we can and use that knowledge as leverage to protect Honker from both Ylli and Gibroz.”

  They nodded.

  “So how are we going to do this?” I asked.

  Zvono turned her attention back to her wax tablet. “We think we have two good methods to get close to Ylli. What you get from him will be up to you at that point.”

  I nodded.

  “First, look at this goldsmith Timoshenko. He has been putting out some fine works decorated with gems not normally found around here. Gibroz thinks he’s getting those gems and some of his metals from east on the Kopayalitsa.”

  “And?”

  “And I know you have some armrings that might attract him. They’re of different designs than he’s likely to have ever seen. He could help us sell them.”

  “Sell my armrings?” I could not imagine ever giving them up. My lord Penwulf, his father Cynric, and my father had given me those rings when I had earned them.

  Yet…

  I had planned to use some of them as money while I got settled here in the Empire. If I could use them for money, then I could use them to save Honker.

  “You misunderstand, I think,” Zvono was saying. “We use the armrings you have to get Timoshenko to look at them. Then we see about creating a trade route from Brunanburh to Lezh.”

  “But that will come by sea, and even if they were shipped overland they’d be comin
g from the north, not the east. How would we find out how Ylli is getting items across the Kopayalitsa?”

  “You’re assuming the rings would stop in Lezh.”

  “Oh. You’re thinking that we set up a trade route from the Seven Kingdoms through Lezh along the Kopayalitsa to Ylli’s factor on the other end at Anzhedonev and then to places farther east.”

  “Exactly.”

  “And we make Ylli or Timoshenko tell us who Ylli’s factor is.”

  I paused, thinking it through.

  “I wouldn’t need to smuggle them. It’s a legitimate idea.”

  “That’s the beauty of it,” smirked Zvono. “It is a legitimate idea, it could make you money, but it would mean that Gibroz would have to get his cut if you shipped it the normal routes.”

  “Ah.”

  “Ah, indeed. You can easily point out the problems you’ve had with Gibroz. Few will doubt that you don’t want to share your wealth with him.”

  I thought about that for a while.

  “Will that get us to Ylli?”

  “Timoshenko is a craftsman. I’ve met him,” said Sebastijan. “He doesn’t really care about anything other than making beautiful things. He’s part of Ylli’s organization because it provides him protection and resources. Ylli, in turn, takes a part of his profits.”

  “So if we convince Timoshenko there’s a potential trade route, he will ask Ylli, or one of Ylli’s lieutenants, to organize the route itself.”

  “Exactly.”

  “What was your other idea?”

  “This Besnik here. Did you look closely at how he’s described?”

  “Yes, but I didn’t see anything particular about him, other than another of your odd Imperial names.”

  Zvono smiled. “That’s not surprising, but did you see what he does?”

  “Yes, he organizes caravans from Lezh to Achrida and back on Crownstreet. So?”

  “So think about how guarded Gibroz is about his realm.”

  “Yes?”

  “This list of names refers to Besnik as a ‘useful man.’ None of the other names have any kind of reference that is similar. Why would he call Besnik that?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Because I’ll bet that Besnik actually helps Gibroz smuggle small items of his own through Lezh.”

  “Why didn’t he tell me that?”

  “Because he is protective of his contacts. If you spot the clue and use it, he can console himself that you had to work for it.”