“What?” asked Rondel.
“Things between the princess and prince are worse than I thought. She’s concerned about what will happen if her brother gets his army and navy from Bratanic. She wanted me to spy on you and report back to her about what you’ve been doing, your true intentions, and the likelihood of you actually granting Prince Minander his wishes.”
“I see.” Rondel rubbed his chin in thought. “Let her know that I’m very interested in the prince’s proposition. A close relationship with the ruler of Bashan, and more importantly the unified ruler of Kindi, would have great economical and political benefits for Bratanic.”
“That will crush her. She’s already worried about the prince going to war.”
“I know.”
Lela frowned. Though she wanted Rondel and Andrasta to succeed, she hoped to avoid hurting Mira more than necessary. “You want to hurt her?”
“No. Nothing like that. But I want her desperate.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Look, the party is less than a week away, and the prince hasn’t invited us yet.”
“He left the city this morning and isn’t expected back for several days.”
Rondel’s eyes widened. He gave Andrasta a look. “Even more to my point. The fact that he didn’t invite us despite all the hints I made about loving the history of the city and the tower itself means he doesn’t want me there. Now, I can take two approaches to this, either try harder to get on the list when the prince returns, or work on getting the princess to invite me instead.”
“Why would she do that?” asked Andrasta. “She didn’t seem enamored with you.”
“She doesn’t need to be enamored. She needs to be desperate. She needs to try and make me hers.” He looked to Lela. “So, you can drop the hint that I’d be willing to meet with her in private to discuss any concerns she might have. Maybe then I can convince her to invite me to the party before the Raivataka festival.”
“And what if that doesn’t work?” asked Andrasta.
Rondel shrugged. “Then we crash the party.”
“Really?”
“Don’t look surprised. This is it. Our best chance to get the information needed. We have to be there. One way or another.”
Andrasta nodded, satisfied.
Lela took a breath. Things were moving fast and every day seemed to add more complications. “I’ll talk to the princess, but first I need to figure out how to tell her I learned all this.”
Rondel tapped his cheek. “If you want to impress her, you can tell her that you engaged us in conversation and weaseled the information out of me.”
“That might work.” Lela noticed two sacks sitting near the window that hadn’t been there before. One of the sacks lay open at the top. A jeweled necklace peeked out. Her eyes widened. “Did you steal that?”
“It’s expensive to keep up appearances.”
“In daylight?”
“People expect it less,” said Rondel.
“Then why is there blood on your clothes?”
Rondel looked down. “We ran into a few idiots from Beladeva.”
Lela gasped.
“What?” Rondel asked with a tilt of his head.
Sweat ran down her armpits. She tried to hide her dismay and worry. “Nothing, it’s just that Beladeva isn’t someone who you want to cross.”
“Neither are we,” said Andrasta.
“I’m serious. He’s one of the most powerful people in Bashan. He has his hands in everything.”
“He can put his hands wherever he likes so long as he stays out of our way,” said Rondel. “That’s twice now we’ve had to deal with his men.”
“Twice? When was the first?”
“On the way to dinner with the prince he tried to send some people after us in an alley.” He paused. “I guess it wasn’t really twice since the first time he thought he was robbing a foreign dignitary and the second time his people thought they were dealing with a couple of thieves. Regardless, if there’s a third time, we might have to take a more proactive approach.”
Gods, I can’t have them getting involved with Beladeva. I’m barely juggling things as it is. If they realize I’m playing both sides . . . .
“You sure you’re all right?” Rondel asked.
“Yes. Why?”
“You just look like your mind is somewhere else.”
“It is. I really need to get back to the palace and report to Princess Mira.”
“All right. You’ll need to leave out the balcony since no one saw you come up by the stairs. We’ve got a rope to make it easier this time.”
They tied off one end of the rope inside, the other around her waist as she went to the edge of the balcony.
“By the way, how’s your uncle doing?”
She tensed. Thoughts of her dream came back to her in a wave. “Why do you want to know that?”
“Just curious. Seems like a good man, and I just wanted to make sure he didn’t need anything.”
Unlike Beladeva’s inquiry, Rondel’s answer seemed sincere. Another reason to side with him over Beladeva. She relaxed a little. “He’s good. Busy with new work. Thanks for referring him to others.”
“No problem. All right, get going before someone sees us talking out here.”
She swung down the drainpipe.
* * *
Andrasta watched the little girl hurry out of sight without a sound. Lela had natural skill the warrior in her admired.
“What do you think?” asked Rondel beside her.
“I think she’s hiding something.”
“I think she’s hiding lots of somethings. You noticed the way she reacted to Beladeva’s name?”
“Yeah. I don’t like it. Why didn’t you ask her about working for him? You said you were going to.”
“I know. Something is still off though. I don’t think she had a hand in what’s happened with Beladeva’s men coming after us, but she is hiding something.”
“Then why not ask her?”
“Because she can always lie or if she suspects we’re fishing for information she might get worried we’ll try to hurt her first. Then she will put one over on us with Beladeva. I’d rather we know what’s going on first and then present her with the information so she comes clean.”
There’s more, you just don’t want to say it. You see this as another opportunity to do one of your good deeds. Andrasta kept that to herself rather than make the point. She knew it would be a waste of breath.
She tried a different approach instead. “You’re really going out of your way with her. If we were still in Erba and working with someone like her, we’d find out what’s going on by any means necessary.”
“Yes, but we’re not in Erba and the people we were working with were scum, not little girls who’ve probably gotten in over their head.”
Just what I thought.
She grunted. “Still seems like we’re taking a big chance.”
“Maybe. Feel like keeping an eye on her tonight? We’ve been so busy we haven’t had a chance to tail her since we got back to the city. And you’re right, we do need to resolve this issue sooner rather than later.”
Andrasta moved toward the edge of the balcony. “You’re not coming?”
“I’ll just slow you down.”
She snorted. “I think you’re just lazy.”
“There is a bit of that. However, someone’s got to start going through the stuff we hauled in today and getting rid of it. Better if we move it before people notice it missing.”
“As long as you’re doing something,” she said as she began lowering herself down the drainpipe. “Might want to practice the flute again too.”
“Don’t worry about the flute. It’ll be fine.” He paused. “Be careful, dear.”
He gave her a wink before disappearing back into their room. Andrasta contemplated that wink and the use of ‘dear’ for a moment, and then hurried down to the alley floor.
* * *
“
So you see again, I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I really wanted to come back to the palace sooner when I knew you’d be waiting in the library. However—”
Mira placed her hand over the girl’s mouth. She had been trying to get a word in for several minutes, but Lela would not cease talking. She had never seen her so flustered or excited before. “It’s fine. Just calm down and tell me what you learned.”
Lela relaxed as Mira moved her hand away and sat in her favorite chair.
“Well, I tried following Lord Rickar, but he and Yumna kept talking in a language I wasn’t familiar with. I realized the only way I’d get the information you needed was by engaging them.”
Mira blinked in surprise. “You spoke with the foreign emissary for Bratanic?”
That takes guts from someone of her station.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I know it wasn’t what you wanted me to do, but it was all I could think of.”
“You did fine. Go on.” Mira tried to hide the desperation in her voice but after her meeting with Brahma, any chance of winning his support boiled down to a meeting with Lord Rickar.
Lela gave a summary of the conversation and Mira marveled at the girl’s cunning. It was a blessing she fell into my lap.
Lela finished her retelling of the conversation with a deep breath. Mira bobbed her head and leaned back in her seat. “So, Lord Rickar isn’t completely enamored with my brother. However, he does want to build a relationship with Bashan. He also feels slighted that he was not offered an invitation to the party before the Raivataka festival because he desperately wants to study the tower.”
“That’s the gist of it, Your Majesty. I got the impression he would be more than willing to speak with you in private about any concerns or ideas you might have.”
Then let’s make the most of that meeting. “Why wait for the party? I’m going to open up the tower for him and him alone. That should get his attention. Then we’ll see what Bratanic is really willing to do.”
CHAPTER 19
Andrasta swore incessantly in not only her tongue, but also in the smattering of other languages Rondel had taught her in their time together. Swear words always seemed to be the ones she remembered easiest.
She did her cursing while running through the darkened city, chasing after a wagon that barreled down the lit, busy streets of Bashan. She tried to follow after the wagon discreetly at first, but the jostling crowd hampered her ability to keep up with it, and before long she found herself barely able to spot it ahead.
The moving wagon had picked Lela up just outside the palace’s gates. One of the men aboard threw the girl into the bed while palace guards averted their gazes from the suspicious activity.
Under normal circumstances, she would have easily caught up to the wagon, but because it all happened in front of the palace, she could not position herself as close as she would have liked lest she draw undue attention.
She tried to keep up with the wagon, but the crowds only thickened.
She took a gamble and veered sharply to the right down a dark alley. It emerged onto another street that ran parallel to where the wagon rolled. The street was less busy and she moved more freely, certain she would catch up just ahead.
She reached an intersection, stopped, and waited.
The wagon wasn’t there, nor could she see it in any direction.
She cursed again.
Backtracking a bit, she cut through a different alley and re-entered the street the wagon vanished from. No sign of the wagon.
It makes no sense. Why would it turn off so soon?
* * *
Of all the places Lela thought someone might try to harm her, the area she least expected was just outside the palace’s walls. However, she had barely taken twenty paces out of the gate when someone lifted her from the ground and flung her into the back of a passing wagon. She landed hard, wincing at her shoulder.
Her struggling ceased with the voice of Chand in her ear. “Be still.”
This is wrong. Aren’t I one of them now? They didn’t do this last time.
She swallowed dread, whispering a question. “Is something wrong?”
A hand slapped the side of her face. It had been a long time since Chand had struck her. The familiar sting quickly brought back memories of the previous times. He did not answer her question. The slap said enough.
Time passed slowly with only the noise of the rattling wagon wheels and the chatter of passersbys to keep her company in the back of the bouncing wagon. She tried to catch snippets of conversation when she could, but not because she expected to learn anything useful. Instead, doing it provided her a distraction from the smell of fish guts rising off the wagon’s bed.
Of all the luck.
Eventually, they stopped. Chand yanked her out. A quick look around told her she was in the old warehouse district, an area full of rundown buildings, home to most of the city’s illegal drug production.
Ushered inside with three of Beladeva’s goons flanking her, Chand led her through one of those production areas. Despite the time of night, dozens of men, women, and children worked around long tables, mixing chemicals. A scent of hot tar lingered in the air. She knew the smell well and because of it actually longed to reacquaint herself with the fishy wagon bed.
Opium.
She grew angry just thinking about the likelihood that all those years Kunal had struggled with his addictions, the product had come from the very person she worked for.
Just past the tables, off in a corner, rested two chairs. Beladeva sat in one. The other was empty. Chand directed her to it.
“I’m disappointed in you,” the crime boss began. “You’ve been lying to me. Or at the very least withholding truths. You have information that I think you know I’d be interested in. And to me that’s the same thing as lying. What do you have to say for yourself?”
She swallowed her nervousness, but it got hung up in her throat, causing her voice to quiver as she answered. “If I’ve withheld information, it wasn’t on purpose. Can you tell me how you think I lied? Then I can better explain myself.”
“Lord Rickar and his bodyguard.”
She waited until realizing she’d get nothing more. She didn’t know how to respond so she simply began her report, retelling Beladeva about why they were visiting the city, how they met with the prince, and once more about what the prince hoped to gain from the emissary of Bratanic. Lela planned to stop there, but could tell by the look on both Beladeva and Chand’s faces they expected more. She added that Princess Mira also planned to meet with Lord Rickar in private tomorrow night in the hopes of convincing him not to support the prince.
Beladeva studied her for a moment, then grunted. “Several weeks ago, a promising young girl stole some money off a merchant and a banker. She was overly ambitious but managed to use her head and escape the guards chasing her. That is, until they later cornered her in an alley.” He paused. “At the time, this girl said these guards never cornered her. But that doesn’t make sense given that eye witnesses saw her go into an alley around the same time bank guards were supposedly jumped by a couple dozen men. Witnesses say that two foreigners ran from the area shortly before they saw the same little girl leave.”
Lela tensed.
“Several days ago, I sent some of my men after Lord Rickar. He was spending money like it was his last day alive. I paid off their driver to set up an ambush in a secluded part of the city. Eight men, including the driver. More than enough for a prissy foreigner and a woman bodyguard.” He paused. “They all died.”
Though Lela knew Rondel and Andrasta had a confrontation with the organization, she didn’t have to feign surprise at Beladeva’s news. She hadn’t known how many men they fought or that Rondel and Andrasta had killed them.
He continued. “Today my men discovered two freelancers encroaching on my territory, breaking into homes, and stealing. These two took down five of my people, including a minor sorcerer, like they were nothing.”
“I don’t understand
.”
Beladeva leaned forward. “They thought they killed everyone. But one survived long enough to describe the two foreigners. That’s when I began piecing things together. Now, the male foreigner from today could have been mistaken for anyone visiting the city. But the woman? How many large women with Juntarkan features do you know in Bashan? Especially one that can fight? I’d venture to say only one.”
“Do you mean that Lord Rickar and his bodyguard were breaking into houses today?”
Beladeva sighed. “Still trying to play me, aren’t you, Little One? Chand suspected you would. That’s why I brought some motivation for you to cut through all the nonsense.”
He nodded to two men who disappeared into a side room. They returned dragging a groaning figure. Her stomach churned in anticipation. Head drooping, clothes battered and torn, Lela didn’t recognize who it was until they dropped the man on the floor and rolled him over.
“Kunal!” She jumped from her seat, moving toward him.
Chand blocked her path. A fist slammed into her gut. She fell hard. “No one told you to get up.”
Bile rushed into her throat. Her hand went to her stomach. Still, she managed to croak, “What did you do to him?” she asked, already knowing.
“Sit down.”
Lela frowned, but obeyed. She stood and stumbled back to her chair, all the while staring at Kunal who breathed shallowly on the ground. “You gave him opium?”
“Yes,” said Beladeva. “Surprisingly, he didn’t accept the drug at first. I believe he had actually turned a corner this time. However, he realized it was in everyone’s best interest, namely yours, to listen to me.” He clapped his hands and smiled. “Now, let’s continue. Lord Rickar and his bodyguard are not really emissaries from Bratanic, are they?”
Lela looked to Kunal, fought back tears, and then turned to Beladeva. She shook her head.
“Finally. Do you know who they really are?”
“Yes.”
“Rondel and Andrasta?”
She blinked, taken aback.
“Don’t be surprised. The stories of what they’ve done in Iget, Erba, and everywhere in between are spreading. Who else would fit the description of the Juntarkan but Andrasta?” His eyes narrowed. “When did you start working with them?”
The Tower of Bashan Page 17
