“And then the Brotherhood decided to cut to the chase and kidnap his Imperial Highness straight out of his false identity.” Tenri waved his hands about. “It was a fairly good one as well. It took me far too long to see anything amiss with the situation.” Vinsia nodded.
“I cannot deny that. Lem took that opportunity to secure the document, but alas the whole kidnapping and so forth was foiled, and then he crashed the only damn prototype of that machine that has been built.”
“It did not work very well, sir Inspector.”
“Be that as it may, I am tacking destruction of Imperial property onto his assorted crimes. But, that, in essence, is the end of what has happened here. It is a pity that the documents could not be recovered. Lem had them with him when he crashed, and they had burned beyond repair. Regardless, the case is solid even without them, especially as he confessed. There is not much else we can do. Thank–”
“There is another thing we can do.” Esmine had hopped off of his barstool, eyes dark and gleaming. “He may have destroyed one set of papers, but neither he nor Professor Nyx had touched the other. This is what I have found out: the papers in question were a report from the Imperial Council, of which Dimali was a part. They denounced the traitors behind an assassination attempt on the Emperor a few months ago.”
“... Esmine, how do you know all this?” Linna interrupted, unsure if she should have been worried or intrigued. She settled for mostly intrigued. Esmine smiled victoriously.
“I read them. Both of them. The seals were broken anyway, and I had assumed you would read the one I gave you as well. That one declared Tenri to have been the assassin, and that was what Fenin wanted everyone to know, and what he tried to blackmail Tenri with. It was a forgery, of course. The real set was still in his house.
I went back to the manor with Bel after I realized that there was more to the story than the first report I had found let on, but Fenin threw us out, as you already know. I figured out where he had hidden it, though, so I went back to the manor after the Inspector arrested everyone and found it.” He dropped a neatly rolled scroll onto the table in the middle of the room. “Feel free to read it. It’s pretty much the same as the other one, except it explains that Dimali, with Fenin’s backing, was behind the assassination attempt. That will probably resolve unanswered questions, will it not?”
“Yes, yes I do believe it shall,” declared Vinsia after a moment, eying Esmine somewhat worriedly. “I suppose that that is our actual conclusion, unless someone else has anything exciting to add?”
No one did. Linna took a deep breath and looked around, and then Bel fell face-first off of the barstool with a yelp. Yes, that about summed it up.
..................
“With all due respect, dear sir Inspector, you are not dragging him back to the capital now,” declared Linna, her hands on her hips. She was aware of the fact that she sounded less than respectful, formal language or not, but at this point, she just didn’t care.
“He may be your student, lady Professor, but he is His Imperial Majesty’s son, and as such his presence is required in Pansey!” Vinsia’s pleasant mask was slipping slightly. He took another step towards Linna as if he hoped to overwhelm her with his presence. It didn’t work quite as well as he had hoped.
“What for?” she snapped, glaring up at the man. “To make him a further target? Or so that he can attend a trial he will have no bearing on? Or do you just get a kick out of making him ride on the same train as people who want him dead?”
“Vicious, are you not, Professor? I have heard stories that Hazi women bite like the northern winds, but you are really something special.” He meant it as an insult, probably. A part of Linna she did not want to acknowledge heard it as a compliment regardless.
“I am in no way special, Inspector Vinsia. Perhaps I am merely too foolish to grasp the reasons behind your intent to drag my poor Riccio across the continent right now.” She took a deep breath. “So I beg of you to enlighten me.”
“... The simple version is that His Imperial Majesty desires all of his sons to stand before him and be recognized for who they are. Is that too much for you to comprehend?”
“When is he summoning them?” Linna persisted, even though she felt she was grasping at straws. Vinsia sighed.
“Before the Festival of Rebirth,” he admitted. She had won this round. Somehow, remarkably, Linna Nyx had won this round. She smiled cooly at him.
“So, there remains the majority of the year.”
“That is so, however–” She barely even let him start.
“So there is absolutely no necessity for him to be on this train, or the next one, or for that matter on any train heading south before the men I helped you capture are tried and condemned. I see clearly now, dear sir Inspector. Thank you kindly.”
She curtsied with a flourish then turned on her heel and strode to the door. She knew someone was lurking behind it before she opened it, but was still mildly surprised to see both Riccio and Esmine, with Tenri leaning against the wall on the far side of the hallway. How much had they heard...?
“Is the Inspector going to buy us tickets to Pansey, Professor Nyx?” asked Esmine, smiling in a way that would have been innocent on anyone else. Riccio laughed .
“Of course he is. It doesn’t do to impose upon a member of the royal family, right?”
“Right,” said Linna Nyx firmly. A prince would not travel on his escort’s dime. If– or rather, when – Riccio was summoned back to the capital, his path would be as good as paved with Imperial funds. And the Imperial Inspector was just the vehicle for the Emperor’s will. Vinsia opened his mouth, shut it again, shot Tenri a warning glare, then reaffixed the facade of pleasantness on his face.
“Certainly. I shall send you the tickets by post, then, dear lady Professor.” He walked by her and started down the hall. Tenri followed him, a rather obnoxious spring in his step.
“Farewell, then, dear lady Professor. Until we meet again.”
“Farewell, dear sir Doctor,” Linna replied, smiling. “Sir Inspector.” Vinsia paused with his hand on the door.
“I do hope our next meeting shall be under more pleasant circumstances.” Linna could not quite picture worse circumstances than two murders and a kidnapping, though she assumed three murders could do. Still, one would be hard pressed, she thought, to find three related murders in the capital, especially if one was not looking for them.
“I do not doubt it shall, sir.”
And they walked away, leaving Linna alone with her two students. Riccio hugged her tightly. Esmine’s eyes were fixed on the door.
“Professor Nyx?”
“Yes?”
“I should like to be an Imperial Inspector some day, I think.” And with that completely offhand announcement, he turned, smiled briefly at her, and wandered away. And that, Linna knew, was progress.
..................
The Imperial Inspector, Dr. Tenri, and their prisoners left the next morning. Half the town turned out for the spectacle of their departure. Linna stood on the platform watching. She was not even sure what she was looking for. Riccio waved goodbye at the train, indigo eyes bright and a defiantly happy smile on his face. He would be staying with her now, as long as he could remain in Haz Gate.
As the train pulled away, the familiar quiet settled once again over the town. Conversations returned to the usual hum, muted by the flakes of snow that were beginning to fall. Mount Yad loomed tall, stately, and seemingly unsullied beyond the train tracks, and its fellows stretched past it as far as the eye could see. Linna’s students met up in little groups, talking earnestly about this and that as their families turned towards their homes.
The mayor’s twin grandsons were trying to organize a game of netball, and Riccio soon joined them, taking command of his little team with ease. A few moments later, Esmine and Selette joined them, the approximation of a friendly smile on Esmine’s face growing somewhat more real as Riccio wrapped his arms around him. Bel sat
down at the edge of the impromptu playing field and watched, wide lilac eyes following the ball.
“It’s over, then,” said Linna to no one in particular. A few people answered in the affirmative anyway. Everything was, suddenly, back to normal. People would sleep soundly. School would resume. Peacekeepers in white and gray caps would occupy themselves with troubles like runaway dogs and incorrect change.
And Linna Nyx would be waiting for a letter, one marked with the seal of the Imperial Inspector.
In the Snows of Haz Page 7
