“Here is my essential proposal, nandi. A rail link between Koperna and Tanaja, which would bring you direct benefit from our trade with the East, when it comes—a geographical advantage to us both. Even if the Dojisigin were well-disposed, it is Senjin that lies in a direct line between the Taisigin and the provinces of the aishidi’tat, and were that rail line attacked, it involves the interests of the aishidi’tat, and would bring down the very thing Tiajo’s supporters would wish to postpone forever. It is simple common sense. We can forego building warehouses you already have, a savings of materials for us and a profit to you. We can open a direct land trade that will profit both districts and make it clear to the Dojisigin that their profit does not lie in annoying the rest of the Marid, who would be united in one vast association against them. When trade with the east does becomes a reality, we shall both benefit. If it never does, you will still benefit.”
There was quiet for a moment. A muscle worked in Bregani’s jaw. He took several long breaths. “Tiajo has assets that have too much to lose. Were we to make such an agreement, they would immediately move against Senjin, and then the Taisigin would have no roof, sir, because we are not able to withstand incursion by sea and land.”
“And should they make such a move, they will find themselves with far more than Senjin to deal with.”
“And I should trust you . . . why?”
“If for no other reason, trust I will enjoy increased revenue with far less effort, while inconveniencing a regime I detest. I have never sought to harm your interests. Bear in mind, though I had agents in your district during the Troubles, I never ordered sabotage, nor have I ever ordered action against Senjin. I used my agents in Koperna to spy on the sea traffic out of Dojisigi. Admittedly I arranged some actions that may have irritated Jorida and inconvenienced the Dojisigin, but I did not attack you.”
Nomari listened, wisely simply listened, uncomfortable as his position in the situation might be, having been one of those agents.
“You deny attacks against our shipping,” Bregani said.
“I absolutely deny them. It would be impolitic to cast any blame on the newly enfranchised Edi, but they were angry at everybody during the Troubles. And there were resistance forces operating on the west coast. I assure you, nand’ Bregani, we had no interest in bringing down Senjin.”
“And what now? No matter the picture you paint, if I enter into this agreement, we become the buffer between you and the Dojisigin, nandi, and it will not be fighting in the field, but assassins sent against me and my family, my councillors and my clan.”
“I have brought two documents,” Ilisidi said, assuming control. “One of which, if it passes your council, will give you seats in the tashrid and the hasdrawad—as the Taisigin has contemplated signing, but not yet agreed. Their choice has been a trade representative in Shejidan, which you may also choose, certainly. The other document, which we can sign this evening, should you agree, and which is no way contingent upon the first, is a statement of association around the railroad. An association needs a declared point of common interest, and in the railroad, we have it, and because I have certain status firmly within the aishidi’tat, the association thus created can claim Guild protection of its personnel and assets. You will sign in protection of the rail within your province, Machigi will sign in interest of obtaining the benefit of an extension of rail to his capital, and I shall sign as a shipper depending on that rail. I am fairly certain that we can also obtain the seal of Hasjuran and possibly its neighbors, Lord Topari being quite anxious to secure profit for his district. Lord Bren can sign for Najida, also affected by any damage to the railroad, and he can sign by proxy for Lord Geigi, his neighbor, also affected. I can guarantee the signatures of Taiben and Atageini, also served by rail, and my grandson can sign for the interests of the spaceport, and all points remote from the rail, but served by it. Nomari-nadi can at least offer good will and intent to sign if he is confirmed as lord of Ajuri; not to mention my own associations in the East, who will all be affected by this agreement. All these interests would act to protect the rail without your signature, but with your signature our response would require no debate at all—were that asset in any wise threatened.”
Ilisidi’s document was both simple, with ample precedent, and scarily potent. It was the railroad—crossing many clans in its initial operation up north, around which the aishidi’tat had been created. The Guilds. The aijinate. The whole centuries-old questions of Marid independence and relations with the aishidi’tat, the issue of the tribal peoples’ lands and lately their admission to the aishidi’tat. That common dependence had founded the aishidi’tat and established the first aiji in Shejidan. Now—Ilisidi made strong reference to that origin, not, surely, lost on a lord of the Marid.
“We are not Ragi. We are not part of the north.”
“Our own East understands that. Note that my own region operates fairly well as it pleases, including the independent trade agreement we are inviting you to join, and that trade association has negotiated recognition of local guild centers. Lord Machigi found it an important issue. And that concession is written into the agreement.”
Bregani sat thinking for a moment, thinking and frowning. “If I sign—what is the schedule for this?”
“Surveying to progress from both Koperna and Tanaja within the next fortnight. Track will ship, foundation will be laid . . . it all can progress as fast as workers can lay roadbed and track, and from two directions, since I am sure Lord Machigi will work from his end. We would wish Hasjuran likewise to sign, and also his neighbors, making this a regional association.”
“Presided over by—?”
“Me,” Ilisidi said firmly, “since I have no territorial issues. And I have interests involved.”
“And the budget for this project?”
“Ten percent of profit until repayment of my loan is complete: warehousing and operational charges to be in line with the rest of the railroad. The same terms are in Lord Machigi’s agreement. You already have Transportation Guild within your borders who can handle the surveying, construction, and operation. Might we suggest, considering the threat from the Dojisigin, that you add the Assassins to that list. Tonight. That agreement can be relayed to Guild Headquarters in Shejidan tonight, and once it is received, you will be under their protection.”
There was a moment of silence.
“You say you cannot trust your own bodyguard,” Ilisidi, “and we would strongly suggest that you not return to Koperna without the Assassins’ agreement in place—for your safety, nandi. They will be under your orders. They will not take actions you disapprove.”
Silence still. Bregani took a sizeable drink of brandy, and Bren watched his face. Bregani and his wife had held on to the notion of returning tonight, but the man had not trusted his own bodyguard enough to commit his safety to them in this venture. He might have told himself he could answer the dowager’s summons, hear what she had to say, and still go back to business as usual, such as it was, still holding off both Machigi and Tiajo—but he had come here with his wife’s bodyguard, all cousins to her, and not, perhaps, the people Tiajo’s backers had set in place to keep him in line. He was already committed, perhaps with a ready set of excuses such as—needing his bodyguard to protect the residence, and going to Hasjuran to find out what the dowager was up to—but fairly clearly he had come up here because he feared something was going on with the dowager’s agreements regarding his neighbor to the south that might put him in a hard place, something he might argue with, but he had also had an apprehension that his Dojisigi allies might threaten his family. He had not planned on meeting Machigi, not planned on being offered an alliance with him, and not planned on opening his province to the Shejidani Guild tonight . . . a decision that could, to say the least, unsettle members of his own clan who had made their own deals with the Dojisigi, complete with trade connections and business offices.
But
if he returned without signing, he would be on his own with Tiajo, who might or might not get rumors of what had gone on up here. He had had peace with the Dojisigin because he was useful and his whole regime was useful, a bridge to supply that otherwise had to come all the way from Cobo by sea. The Dojisigi had found it a great convenience to have a somewhat law-abiding member of the Transportation Guild system, gateway for the Marid as a whole. And now—
“I have no choice,” Bregani said.
He was atevi. He was in a leader’s position. He held responsibilities for lives, not only his wife’s and his daughter’s, but the lives of Senjin folk even down to the untrustable bodyguards, who might be advised, if they were advised at all, to head for Dojisigin territory, and still might die if Tiajo took the overnight defection of Senjin personally. Bregani’s burden reached all the way to the shopkeepers and the fisherfolk of the townships, and to his own local branch of Talidi clan and its several subclans, some areas which had had a long, long feud with Machigi’s Taisigin over land and fishing rights.
Everything came down to—I have no choice—and a human could only imagine the inner turmoil. It was something the man had to decide in his own way. Bregani was, one sensed, a man who felt his responsibilities keenly. A good leader.
“There is no choice,” Bregani repeated. “There was none, the moment I received your invitation to take the train. I will go back to Koperna. I will not abandon my office. I will not step aside. But I shall not change my position on issues between Senjin and the Taisigin.”
“Sign,” Machigi said, “and I will accept your position on the several matters. Including Osego Bay.”
One had no idea where that stood. But it surprised Bregani.
“We advise you,” Ilisidi said, “accept the Assassins, tonight. They are in position to act, if Tiajo should move in your absence, and I promise you, I shall not delay your return, but I wish to see that protection in place. I spoke of stalled traffic. There was, in fact a train that preceded us, that sits at this hour in Koperna, ostensibly awaiting repair. It will sit there until you return, assuring that the Dojisigin make no moves against you. I would not call you here to conference and leave your city and people to the displeasure of that child in Dojisigin. But if you sign with the Guild tonight, and authorize them to deploy in Koperna, they will do so, and extend operations to the port at Lusi’ei.”
There was a lengthy period of silence.
“And if I do not?” Bregani said.
“They will leave your city as you return. There is nothing the matter with that train.”
Bregani stared at the dowager, at Machigi, at Bren, last. “You have the means to know the situation in Senjin.”
“Peaceful, at this hour,” the dowager said.
“My staff is not infallible. I cannot say there is not gossip flying wherever it can. I have been obliged to accept spies in my household. Her spies. And I cannot rely on my own bodyguard.”
“Are you sure of all of the ones with you?”
“The youngest of my wife’s guard,” Bregani said, “I do not trust to be discreet. But I do not think he is disloyal.”
“If you ask the Guild in,” Ilisidi said, “you may ask the Guild to investigate and sort that matter out. At your discretion, and by your own judgment, nandi. Should you wish to sign the agreement, an order from the Guild Council can temporarily assign two units now with me to your personal protection, to cooperate with the units waiting in Koperna. Should you wish to authorize any specific actions in Senjin, to prevent harm to persons and property, those actions can happen. Understand that due process would follow any arrest.”
“I would wish it to. Let me read the document,” Bregani said. “In its entirety. I will not sign what I have not read.”
“Of course,” Ilisidi said, and signaled Nawari, who pulled a leather document case from a built-in cabinet. The document inside was a single page with two seals and the ribbons of Malguri and those of the Taisigin Marid. Nawari laid that on the table in front of Bregani, who flattened it on the table, took out a reading-glass, and began to go over it, taking occasional sips of brandy.
“I shall sign it,” he said finally. “It is simple. It is straightforward, and I find no objection. And I shall sign with the Guild, for our defense.”
Bren softly let go a breath. It was not settled. It was only the beginning of problems. But it ensured Guild in position to deal with those problems.
“The Guild will provide its own document,” Ilisidi said. “Cenedi?”
“In short order,” Cenedi said, and withdrew to speak to someone remote.
Meanwhile, from storage near the side door, a waxjack was brought and lit, ribbons chosen from the same cabinet: the dowager had come prepared—the whole business had been set up from the outset, one copy for filing in Shejidan, one for Ilisidi, one for Machigi, one for Bregani.
Bregani’s ring seal went into red wax, fixing the ribbons; so did Bren’s, with a white ribbon, as witness to each, as paidhi-aiji.
“We shall file this,” Ilisidi said, “and you shall take your copy, for your own archive. Along with the Guild agreement, if you wish to sign it.”
“Bring it,” Bregani said, and in very little time, Cenedi was able to hand the requisite documents to him.
Signature required another arrangement of red and blue ribbon, and this time, Cenedi’s seal as witness, and a black ribbon. This original also stayed, to be filed at Guild Headquarters, and Bregani took the copy.
“Nawari,” Cenedi said, “pass the order. Deploy.”
“Yes,” Nawari said, and went as far as the passage door to send that message on.
There was a prolonged quiet then, as servants extinguished the candle and returned the document kit to its storage beside the rear bench. Bregani finished his brandy in silence, with the two documents on the table before him, while Nawari, having sent his message, stood talking quietly to someone through communications. The stalled train would send small groups out into the dark to deal with any surveillance, establish their perimeter—Bren envisioned that much, typical of such operations. Protection came first, protection of certain premises, certain individuals.
Then—whatever was necessary, as limited in noise as possible.
“So we are associates,” Ilisidi said, “and you are at peace with Malguri, with the Taisigin, the Sungenin, and the Dausigin, with Najida, Taiben, and Atageini, and by tomorrow, at peace with Lord Topari and his association in Hasjuran, small though it be, but holding a very important pass which is in our mutual interest and under our mutual protection. You will not regret this document, nandi. If you wish to communicate with your household in Koperna, that can be arranged shortly. I would expect that to come within the hour. Should you wish to leave tonight, that can be arranged.”
“Our advice,” Cenedi said quietly, “is to wait for morning, nandi. Guild operations are now in progress, and will continue through the night. For the safety of your people, nandi, we do not want to engage in a firefight.”
Bregani frowned. Said, after a moment’s hesitation. “I am concerned for my cousin.”
“Plain-clothes Guild will approach him and deliver a report, if you wish to send it. Are you sure of him, nandi?”
“He is in Lusi’ei, in the broadcast center, which is his post. I can provide a code which will indicate the message is from me, that I am well, and beyond that . . . protect him. Advise him. He has codes of his own which can move people who I am relatively sure can be trusted.”
Cenedi nodded solemnly. “We can work with this, and the sooner the better for everyone. Aiji-ma?”
“Go,” Ilisidi said.
Things began to move. And would move rapidly.
Bren watched the departure and let go a pent breath, while Nawari moved closer to the dowager.
“A man who has kept his independence from both the fool girl and the Shadow Guild f
or years,” Ilisidi said. “Not a fool, himself. Do you think he will keep his agreement? Shishogi did give him several of his finest, who will have to be removed tonight down in Koperna, first of all operations. But that man may know quite clearly who they are.”
“Not a fool, indeed,” Machigi said. “I have preferred him as a neighbor, in spite of his inconveniences. And I kept the harbor controversy alive only to keep Dojisigi spies at a distance, and give my own agents access.”
Nomari, spy, provider of Machigi’s information, sipped his brandy very, very slowly, meanwhile, and avoided looking at Machigi or the dowager at the moment.
Bren took another brandy himself, still with a charge of adrenaline, and wondering whether they would see war broken out by morning—or a long slip toward it, after a seamless, silent takeover of the Dojisigi lord’s only remaining ally.
23
It was night. The whole household was quiet, only the few nightlights aglow so that staff abroad by night would not misstep. Boji was quiet, which said that nobody was moving in the outer room.
But Cajeiri was awake, and Jegari was. They settled on the immense bed to talk as they sometimes would, and within very little time Lucasi, and Antaro and Veijico all came quietly from their rooms and joined in, the way they had done all their lives together. They sat in near total darkness. They sat in night-robes, in the chill, and tucked folds of the coverlets over bare feet. They had done it when it had been just himself and Antaro and Jegari. They had done it when Lucasi and Veijico added themselves to the household.
They had begun to be a little old for such conferences, Cajeiri thought, recalling himself and his human associates sitting as children in the icy dark of the ship’s service passages, learning to talk to each other, sharing food, sharing stories, sharing what they had. But he still felt comfort in talking like this in the dark, less stupid, perhaps, in an association they still kept apart and private, insulated from his senior aishid and their different, grown-up ways.
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