Assassin's Price

by L. E. Modesitt Jr.

  Charyn rose and went to the single small bookcase in the study, from which he extracted a single volume. He stood by the bookcase and began to leaf through the pages. It took him almost a third of a quint to find what he was seeking. He nodded and marked the page with the miniature letter knife Howal had created, then set the volume on the desk. “Sturdyn! I need Minister Sanafryt. Now!”

  “Yes, sir!”

  Charyn looked to Kaylet. “Do you know where the stablemaster keeps his ledgers?”

  “No, sir.”

  “I imagine you can find them. Would you mind doing so?”

  Kaylet looked to Alastar.

  The Maitre nodded.

  “I can do that, sir.”

  “And if you, Dylert, could find Churwyl’s ledgers, with Maitre Alastar’s approval of course, I’d very much appreciate it.”

  “Now, sir?”

  “If you would. I need to discuss a few matters with the Maitre. Howal, would you tell Lady Chelia that it’s likely to be a while longer before Maitre Alastar will be there?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Charyn returned to the conference table and sat down, waiting until the three junior maitres had left and he and Alastar were alone. “You realize that it’s a little unsettling to be in a room with four imagers who could destroy me in a moment if they desired.”

  Alastar smiled warmly. “You seem to be the first rex in generations who’s worried about that.”

  “It could be because I’m the first to escape three assassination attempts, except I guess it’s actually two and a warning. And I still have no idea who might be behind it all. It has to be someone who has great wealth and resources and no compunctions about killing anyone who might reveal who he is.”

  “Wealthy, brilliant, skilled, cunning, and ruthless, with great knowledge of the chateau and the regial family,” offered Alastar almost blandly. “That’s quite a combination.”

  Charyn knew he was missing something. “You have an idea?”

  “There are only a few individuals like that in all of Solidar. You or your mother would know far better than I who they might be.”

  “Until I can figure this out, might I have the loan of Dylert, Kaylet, and Howal?”

  “That might be for the best, but it wouldn’t be wise for you to drag this out, if you can possibly discover who is behind it all.”

  “I understand that.” Charyn frowned. “I think all the members of both councils should be apprised of Churwyl’s attempt at assassinating me.”

  Alastar nodded. “How would you inform them?”

  “I should write a letter informing them of what happened, and that Churwyl admitted, just before he set off the explosion, and in front of witnesses, that he had been paid to kill me, and that he had also been paid to arrange my father’s assassination.”

  “Do you think that would be sufficient information for the council members?”

  “Probably not,” replied Charyn. “I could tell them that I am restructuring matters at the Chateau D’Rex and looking into the evidence and seeing where it may lead.”

  “That would seem a good first step.”

  “And what might be the second?” asked Charyn.

  “It might be useful to mention that you reserve the right to call another meeting of the councils before the next scheduled meeting in Fevier.”

  “Depending on what I discover, I presume?”

  “Or if you need to see how any of them react.”

  He’s definitely hinting at something. But before he could pursue the thought, there was another knock on the study door.

  “Minister Sanafryt, sir.”

  “Have him come in.” Charyn remained seated.

  “You summoned me, Your Grace?” Sanafryt looked uneasily around the study, his eyes going from the empty desk to the conference table, taking in the Collegium Maitre before returning to Charyn.

  “What are the limits to the power of the rex with regard to those in regial service?”

  “Your Grace?” Sanafryt appeared confused, for the very first time ever, at least when Charyn had been around.

  “If a member of the regial staff commits an act of theft or appropriation of regial property, what punishments might I visit upon him under the Codex Legis?”

  “That depends on the amount of the theft. Thefts of more than a gold can be punished by loss of a hand. More than a hundred golds, you could order an execution.”

  “What about the selling of favors, granting of regial privileges not approved by the rex?”

  Sanafryt’s lips tightened for a moment before he replied. “Dismissal and flogging, if the value of the favors cannot be quantified. If the value can be quantified, then in addition to dismissal and flogging, the same penalties as for theft or wrongful appropriation.”

  Charyn smiled pleasantly. “Thank you.”

  “Might I ask…?”

  “Keithell, the stablemaster. He appears to have done both. I’m getting very tired of people who have abused their position.”

  “Yes, sir. Is there anything more I can do?”

  “No, thank you. Not at the moment.”

  When the study door closed, Alastar actually grinned. “That was a rather politely delivered warning without ostensibly being a warning at all. You didn’t trust that he would answer truthfully, did you?”

  “I thought he would, but without checking, how would I have known?”

  Almost another quint passed before Dylert and Kaylet returned, along with Howal, who, Charyn suspected, had been waiting for them in the north corridor.

  It took Charyn less than half that time to see that Churwyl had been guilty of great theft, as well as extorting part of the wages of those he had supervised by simply docking each guard a copper a week for “gear maintenance.” In Keithell’s case, the ledger numbers didn’t really add up, and he had put in a weekly “adjustment” number to get the entries to balance. That also suggested that Norstan had either been sloppy or tacitly complicit.

  When he finished his quick survey, Charyn looked up. “I’m going to need some help to get things straightened out here at the Chateau D’Rex. Maitre Alastar has kindly agreed that, if you three are willing, I may keep you here for a fairly short period to assist me.”

  The three looked to Alastar.

  He nodded.

  “Then we’re willing,” said Dylert.

  “I’d like you to take over the Chateau Guard, to work with the guards, and determine who would be the best guard captain to succeed you, and who might be the best second. Kaylet, you may have the toughest task. From what you’ve said, everything handled by Keithell needs to be tightened up and improved.”

  “I’d like to do that, sir. I really would.” He grinned. “Then I could match Petros’s tales.”

  “Howal … Norstan has been sloppy at best, possibly worse than that. Do you want that challenge?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Dylert, Kaylet, you can start right in with what needs to be done. Do you need me to say anything to anyone?”

  The two exchanged glances, then grinned.

  “No, sir,” replied Kaylet. “I think word has gotten around.”

  “Then go.”

  Dylert quietly picked up the poisoned box.

  As they left the study, Charyn looked over at Howal. “You and I will deal with Norstan tomorrow morning. While the Maitre and I are talking to Lady Chelia, I’d like you to write down any suggestions, any suggestions at all, for improving the functioning of the chateau.”

  A few moments later, Alastar and Charyn walked from the study along the north corridor.

  “You’ve set yourself some ambitious tasks, Charyn,” observed Alastar. “Especially so soon after becoming rex.”

  “The ones around the chateau are small compared to dealing with the factors.”

  “I wouldn’t count out certain High Holders. They’re just as opposed to higher tariffs as the factors are.”

  Charyn nodded. That’s all too true.

&n
bsp; When the two reached Chelia’s sitting room, they found Charyn’s mother having a serving maid stack books into piles.

  “Go and take a rest, Delya,” said Chelia. “We’ll continue later.”

  The maid hurried out, inclining her head politely to both men and closing the door.

  “Please do sit down. I apologize for the clutter, but I thought I might as well start to prepare for my move to my new rooms.” Chelia’s voice was sweet. “Did you have a good meeting?”

  “Good? I don’t think so,” replied Charyn. “Largely successful, yes. Keithell’s locked up, and Maitre Alastar has agreed to lend us Maitres Dylert, Kaylet, and Howal to clean up the way the guards, the stables, and the chateau have been run, while, of course, helping to keep us safe. That’s while we figure out who might be behind all this. I can tell you all about that later. I believe you wanted to talk to us about something … Aloryana, perhaps?”

  “That would be lovely, dear, Maitre.” She seated herself in her customary armchair and brushed back a stray lock of blond and silver hair.

  Charyn could tell that the conversation would be about Aloryana, and only about Aloryana.

  42

  While the conversation between Alastar and Chelia lasted less than a glass, Charyn spent most of the rest of the afternoon with Howal, discussing what might be necessary in dealing with both Norstan and the structure and duties of the rest of the chateau staff. After that, they finished up the final drafts of the tariff letters to the High Council and the Solidaran Factors’ Council, a task that had been sidetracked by the morning’s events. Howal then arranged for their dispatch.

  Then Charyn wrote a second letter to each council member, detailing the events of that morning and adding that he might be required to call a meeting earlier than the next regularly scheduled meeting. After reviewing that draft and changing it, Howal went to work on individual letters to each councilor. They didn’t finish until well after sixth glass.

  Dinner was quiet. Even Bhayrn was subdued, possibly, Charyn thought, because Churwyl’s treachery and the explosion in the armory emphasized just how dangerous matters remained.

  After dinner, Charyn lingered outside the dining room, then asked his mother, “If you wouldn’t mind, could we go up to your sitting room and talk over the matter of your moving to new rooms?”

  “I don’t see that there’s all that much to talk about, but if that’s what you wish, we certainly can.”

  Charyn looked to Bhayrn. “Do you want to join us?”

  “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not.”

  “Then I’ll say good evening,” replied Charyn.

  “Good evening to you, and to you, Mother.”

  Charyn and Chelia made their way up the grand staircase and to the sitting room without talking.

  Once Charyn had closed the sitting room door, Chelia seated herself in her armchair and smiled pleasantly. “I do hope you had something else in mind besides the moving of garments and furnishings.”

  Charyn took a straight-backed chair and moved it closer to the armchair before seating himself. “I had a rather interesting exchange with Maitre Alastar this afternoon. I asked if he had any ideas about who might have put Churwyl up to all that he did. He never answered me directly. From my few conversations with him, that seemed very uncharacteristic. Am I mistaken?”

  “No, that kind of indirection is very uncharacteristic of him.”

  “I had the definite feeling that he was offering hints as to who made the threats and suborned Churwyl.”

  “What exactly did he say that made you think that?” asked Chelia.

  “As I recall, he said that whoever it was had to be wealthy, brilliant, skilled, cunning, and ruthless, with great knowledge of the chateau and the regial family. Then he said that it was quite a combination that only a few individuals in Solidar possessed, and that you or I would know who that might be far better than he would.”

  Chelia said nothing for a moment that stretched out.

  “Mother?”

  “What else did he say?”

  “Not much, except it wouldn’t be wise for me to drag the matter out. It was almost as if he expected me to know who it is.”

  “He doesn’t expect you to know, dear. He expects me to know.”

  “But why wouldn’t he be more clear?”

  “I’d judge that he has a very good idea, but that he has no proof. In some ways, the Maitre is bold, in others very cautious.”

  “Why would he be cautious about this?”

  “Because if the person is who I think he meant, the Maitre would be accused of having concealed the other wrongs done by that person. He did that for the good of Solidar. He and your father agreed on that. Now, if the Maitre is the one to mention who it is, he cannot claim he did not know of the past evil that he concealed. Also, since your father was part of that concealment, it would weaken your position as well. The only way in which your position is not weakened is if you are seen to be the one who discovered the malefactor and dealt with him.”

  “Would anyone care?”

  “The factors would. Some High Holders would. All would regard both the rex and the Collegium with even greater suspicion.”

  “As if I’m not dealing with enough of that now.” Charyn paused. “Since you seem to know, who is it?”

  “Who is the most powerful, wealthy, cunning, and untrustworthy person we know?”

  Charyn swallowed. “But … he was threatened as well.”

  “Was he? Your father never saw any evidence. Did anyone else? Even if he received a written threat, he certainly wasn’t above arranging that in order to misdirect everyone. He was the one who persuaded the High Council to oppose your father, and then for your father’s brother to throw his lot in with the rebelling High Holders. We all knew it, but there was never any proof. Is there any proof right now of who is behind all the threats?”

  “He’d do that to you? His own sister?”

  “You have no idea what he has done … or what he would do.”

  Charyn just sat there for several moments. Finally, he said, “You’re saying that he’s so cunning that he’s left nothing of physical proof and so ruthless that no one will say anything against him.”

  “If there’s even anyone left alive who knows enough to be able to say anything.”

  “What does he gain by this? He’s already the most powerful High Holder.”

  “Revenge … and more power.”

  Doesn’t he already have enough power? Charyn dismissed that thought. His uncle would likely never feel that he had enough power. “With all the emphasis on the factors in the notes … that’s where everyone is looking.” Charyn shook his head. “But I can’t say anything. Everyone would think I was the one to blame somehow and that I’m willing to sacrifice my own long-suffering uncle who has been trapped in L’Excelsis for the past six years heading a High Council he just wants to leave. That’s why he agreed to the tariff increase … or allowed me to impose it without actually agreeing to it.” He paused. “Or did he tell the others that, under the circumstances, I might not even live to actually impose it?”

  “He wouldn’t have said that. He would have said something that, only in context, would imply that, but something that, if repeated, would sound harmless or mean something else entirely.”

  “Like … this tariff will only be imposed if the current conditions persist?”

  Chelia merely nodded.

  “So … to save my life and Solidar as we know it, and most likely your life and Bhayrn’s, I have to stop the most powerful High Holder without a shred of proof while imposing a tariff no one likes and proving I can actually rule?”

  “You don’t have to conquer three other lands the way the first Rex Regis did,” Chelia pointed out dryly. “You don’t have an armed rebellion, either.”

  “Yet. I have my doubts as to whether I can ever get all of these things straightened out.” Charyn shook his head. “I don’t know where we’d be if Malyna hadn’t
been there at the ball. Looking at all of this, I have to wonder why Father even allowed any imager inside the chateau.”

  “I told him that I’d leave and throw myself on the mercy of the Maitre if your father didn’t at least protect Aloryana because she didn’t deserve to be killed because of his stubbornness.”

  “Then you saved the rest of us.”

  “You’re making a good effort to take advantage of that opportunity. You did manage to get your tariff increase without setting off a rebellion. That’s a beginning.”

  At the moment, that beginning looked very insignificant to Charyn.

  43

  When Charyn entered his study at just before seventh glass on Samedi morning, after nodding to Maertyl, Howal was already at the conference table, making notes as he went through the seneschal’s account ledger.

  “Did you get the letters dispatched to the councilors?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Thank you. Does Norstan’s journal look as bad as I feared?”

  Howal looked up. “He doesn’t add all that well … and then he just makes up entries so that the numbers balance. It doesn’t look like he’s actually taking silvers so much as covering up mistakes. At times, they almost cancel out.”

  “I caught him taking bribes from factors and growers. If what you’re finding holds, it would seem that Norstan’s light is honest by his own candles. That is, he thinks he can’t take silvers from the rex, but he can take them from those who sell to the rex. There aren’t any hints that he accepts damaged goods or short measures, are there?”

  “From the ledgers, it would seem that way.”

  “What about Keithell?”

  “Whatever he was doing doesn’t show in Norstan’s ledgers. I didn’t think it would from what Kaylet told me. Norstan just reports disbursements to those who supply the stables, and he shows the stablehands’ pay on a weekly basis.”

  “Keithell was extorting coins from them right after they were paid, and accepting those of the factors in return for letting them short-measure the grains and hay. I’d call the taking of wages theft, and the accepting of short measures misappropriation, but I’d best check with Sanafryt before I decide on punishment. What about Churwyl? Have you gone through his ledger?”