He shrugged. “I got a couple ideas but I’m not ready to talk about them yet. You got the Annals. All you need to follow my reasoning is right in there.” He began giggling, pleased with himself for stumping the Annalist at her own game. So to speak. “Ha-ha.” He spun around, dancing. “Let’s go beat up on Narayan Singh. Whoa. Look who’s here. Swan, you’re too damned old to wear your hair that long. Unless you’re going to comb it all up on top there to kind of cover the thin spot.”
I held a ringer above Goblin’s dome, pointing down. He had not had a crop come in during my lifetime.
Swan said, “Kind of looks like your widow’s peak is sagging back a little, too. Probably comes of banging your head on the bottoms of so many tables.” Swan looked at me, an eyebrow raised. “He been in the ganja or something?”
“No. He just hasn’t gotten over the fact that he went toe to toe with your girlfriend and came out ahead on points.” Swan had suggested a good point indirectly, though. With hemp such a common weed, it was a wonder that Goblin and One-Eye had not gotten in on the entertainment side of that crop.
Goblin understood what I was thinking without me saying a word. He told me, “We don’t have anything to do with it because it screws up your head.”
“And that water-buffalo urine you brew back there doesn’t?”
“That’s pure medicine, Sleepy. You ought to try it. It’s chock-full of stuff that’s good for you.”
“My diet is just fine, Goblin. Except for the fish and the rice.”
“That’s what I’m saying. We take up a collection, buy us a pig... never mind what Sahra says. There ain’t nothing sweeter than some fatback and beans-”
Swan had invited himself to accompany us in our seventy-foot trek to Narayan’s cage. He said, “I’ll kick in on that myself. I haven’t tasted bacon in over twenty years.”
“Shit,” Goblin said. “You’re going to kick in? Man, you don’t even have a name anymore. You’re dead.”
“I could run up to the Palace, dig around under my mattress. Times haven’t been all bad for me.”
“You won’t marry me, Sleepy,” Goblin said, “then you oughta marry Swan. He’s got a hoard put back and he’s too damned old to bother you with any of that man stuff. Narayan Singh. Get your skinny, shit-smelling ass up from there and talk to me.”
Swan whispered, “Survival must be a real powerful drug.”
“I expect it is when you’re Goblin’s age,” I agreed.
“I guess it is at any age.”
“Meaning?” I asked.
“Meaning, I guess, I should’ve headed back north a long time ago. I got nothing going for me here. I should’ve started moseying when Blade and Cordy went down. But I couldn’t. And it wasn’t just Soulcatcher twisting my arm.”
“Umm?”
“I’m a loser. We were all losers. All three of us. We couldn’t even make it as soldiers in the old empire. We deserted. Blade got his ass thrown to the crocodiles for smarting off to the priests back in his home country. We never had no real start-up, any of us. Me and Cordy only headed on down here because once we got to running, it took a long time to stop. Now I don’t have my friends anymore, I don’t have anybody to goose me into doing things.”
I did not enlighten him about the health of Blade and Mather, who were among the Captured, but I did point out, “You can’t be entirely inadequate. You’ve had some kind of commission or other from the Taglian throne practically since you got here.”
“I’m an outsider. I make a great fall guy. Everybody knows who I am and everybody can recognize me. So the Protector or the Radisha puts me out front where I can take the heat for all their unpopular decisions.”
“Now they’ll need to find somebody else.”
“Don’t give me that look. I wouldn’t join the Black Company if you promised to marry me and make me Captain, too. You guys got doom written all over you.”
“What do you want?”
“Me? Since I don’t got the stones or the young body to go home anymore-and home wouldn’t be there when I showed up anyway-what I’d like to do is what we tried to do when we first came down here. Set me up a little brewery, spend my last few years making people’s lives a little easier.”
“I’m sure Goblin and One-Eye would be happy to take on a partner.”
“Them two? No way. They’d drink up half the product. They’d get drunk and get in a fight and start throwing the barrels at each other-”
He had a point. “You have a point. Though they’ve shown considerable self-control lately.”
“It helps you pay attention if your fuckup will get you killed. I’m always surprised by this guy.” He meant Narayan Singh. “He looks like such a trivial little wart. There’re ten thousand that look just like him out there on the streets right now and not one will ever do anything more important than starve to death.”
“If I thought it would do any good, I’d starve this one to death, too. Narayan. I’m back. Are you going to talk to me today?”
Singh raised his eyes. He seemed serene, at peace. That could be said for Stranglers. They never had trouble with their consciences. “Good morning, young woman. Yes. We can talk. I took your advice. I went to the goddess. And she approved your petition. Frankly, I was surprised. She set down no special conditions for making a bargain. Other than that the lives and well-being of her chief agents remain unimpaired.”
Swan was more taken aback than I was. “You got the right guy here, Sleepy?”
“I don’t know. I figured they’d still try to weasel a little even after they couldn’t stall anymore.” This required a little thought. Or a lot of thought. And maybe some worry. “I’m definitely pleased, Narayan. Definitely. Where’s the Key?”
Narayan smiled a smile almost as ugly as One-Eye’s. “I’ll take you to it.”
“Aha,” I murmured. “I see. The first shoe drops. Fine. When will you be ready to travel?”
“As soon as the girl recovers. You may have noticed she’s been sick.”
“Yes, I did. I thought it must be her time of the month.” A horrible, horrible thought occurred to me. “She’s not pregnant, is she?”
The look on Singh’s face told me that notion was completely unthinkable to him.
“That’s good. But it doesn’t matter, Narayan. As long as we’re conspiring together, Deceivers and Black Company, you two aren’t going to be a team. It’s a sad truth, Narayan Singh, but I just don’t trust you. And her I wouldn’t trust if she was in her grave.”
He smiled like he knew a secret. “But you expect us to trust you.”
“Based on the well-known fact that once it has sworn a thing, the Company always keeps its word. Yes.” A slight exaggeration, of course.
Narayan glanced at Swan for just a second. He smiled again. “I guess that’s just going to have to be good enough for me.”
I pasted on my most scintillating false smile. “Wonderful. We’re in business together. I’ll get some people ready for an expedition. Do we have far to go?”
Smile. “Not far. Just a few days south of the city.”
“Ha. The Grove of Doom. I should have guessed.”
I led Swan away. I rejoined the fellows at the card table. “I want Singh’s son brought in as soon as we can get him.” It could not hurt to have a little extra ammunition.
43
“I don’t know what to do with myself, not having to work,” Sahra told me. She and Tobo were huddled in front of the mist box, sharing what they could with Murgen. I was pleased to see mother and son getting along.
I suggested, “There’s always work for those who want to put out the buttons that’ll remind everyone about us after we’re gone. There’s always something that needs lugging down to the river.”
“To paraphrase Goblin, I don’t miss work so much I’m actually going to volunteer to do some. Was there something?”
“The guys just brought in Singh’s son. Good-looking fellow. They also brought in a couple of rescripts t
hey found posted on the official announcement pillars. Put up since the Radisha went into seclusion.”
“What do they say?”
“Mainly that she’s willing to pay some pretty big rewards for information leading to the apprehension of any member of the gang of vandals masquerading as members of the long defunct Black Company and causing public disorders.”
“Will anybody believe that?”
“If she says it often enough. I don’t care about her telling tall tales. I care about the reward offers. There’re people out there who’d sell their mothers. She puts a couple of no-goods on the street throwing money around and bragging about how they cashed in, somebody who really knows something might decide to bet the long odds.”
“Then why don’t we just go? There isn’t that much more we can do here anyway, is there?”
“We can get Mogaba.”
“Let the world think that. Start a rumor. Start a bunch of rumors about the Great General and about the Radisha. While we evacuate. When are you leaving to get the Key?”
“I’m not sure. Soon. I’m stalling for time. So a message can get through to Slink.”
Sahra nodded. She smiled. “Good thinking. Singh will have something up his sleeve.”
Willow Swan suddenly invited himself to join us. “The girl is having some kind of a problem.”
I scowled at him. Sahra did the same but was polite enough to ask, “The Daughter of Night? What kind of problem?”
“I think she’s having a fit. A seizure, like.”
“Perfect timing,” I grumbled. At the same time, Sahra yelled for Tobo to get Goblin. I growled, “What were you doing anywhere near her, Swan?”
He showed some color and said, “Uh...”
“Aw, you dumb mudsucker! Lady did you in. You panted after her for years. Then you put the screws to a dozen million people by letting Lady’s baby sister threaten to blow in your ear. Now you’re going to let Lady’s brat put a ring in your nose and make an even bigger idiot out of you? You really are stupid and pathetic, Swan!”
“I was just-”
“Thinking with something that isn’t your brain. As though you’re some dopey fifteen-year-old. This woman isn’t some cute little virgin, Swan! She’s worse than your worst nightmare. Come here.”
He came. I moved suddenly, violently, the way I had wanted to do so many times with my uncles. The tip of my dagger penetrated the skin underneath his chin. “You really want to die a really stupid, humiliating, pointless death? Let me know. I’ll arrange it. Without the rest of us having to pay the price again.”
One-Eye’s cackle filled the air. “Ain’t she a wonder, Swan? You ought to think about her instead of your usual black widows.” He was in Do Trang’s spare wheelchair again but getting around under his own power.
“I could arrange something pointless and humiliating for you, too, old man.”
He just laughed at me. “You invited this soldier Aridatha down here to meet his long-lost daddy, Sleepy. You ought to be dealing with him instead of here flirting with Swan.”
He could be maddening at times. And he loved it. If he could find any kind of lever at all... I told Swan, “You explain to One-Eye what you mean about the girl. One-Eye, deal with it. Solve it. Short of killing her. Singh won’t give me the Key if we kill the skinny little... witch.”
44
Darn. Aridatha Singh was almost enough to make me change my mind about swearing off men. He was gorgeous. Tall, well-proportioned, a beautiful smile that showed magnificent teeth even when he was under stress. His manners were perfect. He was a gentleman in every sense but condition of birth.
I told him, “Your mother must have been a marvel.”
“Excuse me?”
“Nothing. Nothing. Around here, I’m called Sleepy. You’re Aridatha. That’s enough of an introduction.”
“Who are you people? Why am I here?” He did not bluster or threaten. Amazing. Few Taglians ever recognized that as a waste of time.
“It isn’t necessary for you to know who we are. You’re here to meet a man who is also our prisoner. Don’t mention the fact that you’ll be released after your interview. He won’t be. Come with me.”
Moments later Aridatha Singh remarked, “You’re a woman, aren’t you?”
“I was the last time I checked. We’re here. This is Narayan. Narayan! Get up! You have a visitor. Narayan, this is Aridatha. As promised.”
Aridatha looked at me, trying to understand. Narayan stared at the son he had never seen and saw something there that made him melt, just for an instant. And I knew that I could reach him if I could keep it from looking like I was asking him to betray Kina.
I stepped back and waited for something to happen. Nothing did. Aridatha kept glancing back at me. Narayan just stared. Out of patience at last, I asked Narayan, “Shall I send people to collect Khaditya and Sugriva as well? And their children, too?”
This threatened Narayan and told Aridatha that he had been abducted because he belonged to a particular family. I recognized the instant the truth occurred to him. There was an entirely different look in his eyes when he glanced back at me again.
I said, “Not much good can be said about this man, from my point of view, but you can’t call him a bad father. Fate never gave him the chance to be good or bad.” Except to the girl, for whom he had done everything possible, to her complete indifference. “He’s very loyal.”
Aridatha realized that this was not about him at all. That he was a lever meant to get some kind of movement out of Narayan Singh. The Narayan Singh, the infamous chief of the Strangler cult.
Aridatha won my heart all over again when he squared up his shoulders, stepped forward and offered his father a formal greeting: There was no warmth in it but it was absolutely proper.
I watched them try to find some common ground, some point at which to start. And they found it quickly enough. We had not found any evidence, ever, to disdain Narayan Singh’s affections for his Lily. Aridatha thought quite highly of his mother.
“The man’s a piece of work, isn’t he?”
I was startled. I had not heard a sound. But Riverwalker was behind me. River did not have much talent for light-footing it. Which left me with the perfectly scary notion that Aridatha Singh really was having an effect on me. “Yes. He is. And I don’t quite know why.”
“Well, I’ll tell you. He reminds me of Willow Swan. A bedrock-decent guy. Only smart. And still young enough to be unspoiled by life.”
“River! You should hear yourself talk. You’re halfway intelligent.”
“Don’t mention it front of the guys. One-Eye will figure out why he can’t cheat me at tonk more’n half the time.” He considered Aridatha again. “Pretty, too. Better keep him away from your librarian. They’ll elope on you.”
Another broken heart. “You think? What kind of clues...”
“I don’t know. I could be wrong.”
“When does he have to be back? Can we keep him all night?”
“You figuring on testing him out?”
River did not usually rag me much, so I knew I had to be asking for it somehow. “No. Not that way. The villain in me came up with an idea. We introduce him to the Radisha before we turn him loose.”
“Now you’re matchmaking?”
“No. Now I’m showing a four-square guy that his ruler isn’t in the Palace. He can make the rumors credible. Because he can tell the truth.”
“Couldn’t hurt.”
“You keep an eye on those two here. I’ll go talk to the Woman.”
Riverwalker raised an eyebrow. Nobody but Swan used that term to describe the Radisha anymore. “You’re picking up bad habits.”
“Probably.”
45
I found the Radisha lost inside herself. Not asleep, not meditating, just wandering around inside, probably feeling immensely guilty about having been relieved by her recent lack of stress. I felt a moment of compassion. She and her brother might be our foes but they were sound peop
le at heart. Rajadharma had been bred into them.
“Ma’am?” She was due respect but I could not use princely titles. “I need to speak to you.”
She raised her eyes slowly. They seemed to be knowing, caring eyes even in despair. “Were all of my household staff my enemies?”
“We didn’t choose to become your enemies. And even today we honor and respect the royal office.”
“You would, of course. To remind me of my folly. Like the Bhodi and their self-immolations.”
“Our quarrel with you won’t ever be as great as our quarrel with the Protector. We could never find a path to peace with her. You’d never unleash the skildirsha on the city. She would. And the depth of her evil is such that she doesn’t see the wickedness in what she’s doing.”
“You’re right. Do you have a name? If she was safely a few hundred years in the past, we might consider her a goddess. A power capable of smashing kingdoms out of whimsy, the way a child might kick over an anthill just to see the bugs scramble.”
“I’m called Sleepy. I’m the Annalist of the Black Company. I’m also the villain who plans most of your misfortunes. This situation wasn’t an intentional part of the master plan but the opportunity presented itself. Now it looks like we might’ve outmaneuvered ourselves.”
The Radisha had become focused. “Go on.”
“The Protector has chosen to cover up your disappearance. Officially you’re in your Anger Chamber purifying yourself and asking the gods and your ancestors to calm your heart and give you wisdom in the coming troubled times. You have taken breaks to issue some fairly bewildering rescripts, though. My brothers brought back these two. My brothers are illiterate, so they couldn’t select for content. But these are probably representative. I’ll have more brought in if you like.”
The Radisha read the announcement of rewards first. It was straightforward and sensible. “This must make you uncomfortable.”
“It does.”
“She doesn’t have the money. What is this? A ten-percent reduction in the rice allowance? We don’t have a rice ration. We don’t need to ration rice.”
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