Last Argument of Kings tfl-3

by Joe Abercrombie

  It was a beautiful autumn day in Adua, and the sun shone pleasantly through the branches of the fragrant fruit trees, casting a dappled shade onto the grass beneath. A pleasing breeze fluttered through the orchard, stirring the crimson mantle of the king as he strode regally around his lawn, and the white coat of his Arch Lector as he hobbled doggedly along at a respectful distance, stooped over his cane. Birds twittered from the trees, and his Majesty’s highly polished boots crunched in the gravel and made faint, agreeable echoes against the white buildings of the palace.

  From the other side of the high walls came the faint sound of distant work. The clanking of picks and hammers, the scraping of earth and the clattering of stone. The faint calls of the carpenters and the masons. These were the most pleasant sounds of all, to Jezal’s ear. The sounds of rebuilding.

  “It will take time, of course,” he was saying.

  “Of course.”

  “Years, perhaps. But much of the rubble is already cleared. The repair of some of the more lightly damaged buildings has already begun. The Agriont will be more glorious than ever before you know it. I have made it my highest priority.”

  Glokta bowed his head even lower. “And therefore mine, and that of your Closed Council. Might I enquire…” he murmured, “after the health of your wife, the queen?”

  Jezal worked his mouth. He hardly liked discussing his personal business with this man, of all people, but it could not be denied that whatever the cripple had said, there had been a most dramatic improvement.

  “A material change.” Jezal shook his head. “I find now that she is a woman of almost… insatiable appetites.”

  “I am delighted that my entreaties have had an effect.”

  “Oh, they have, they have, only there is still a certain…” Jezal waved his hand in the air, searching out the right word. “Sadness in her. Sometimes… I hear her crying, in the night. She stands at the open window, and she weeps, for hours at a time.”

  “Crying, your Majesty? Perhaps she is merely homesick. I always suspected she was a much gentler spirit than she appears to be.”

  “She is! She is. A gentle spirit.” Jezal thought about it for a moment. “Do you know, I think you may be right. Homesick.” A plan began to take shape in his mind. “Perhaps we should have the gardens of the palace redesigned, to give a flavour of Talins? We could have the stream altered, in the likeness of canals, and so forth!”

  Glokta leered his toothless grin. “A sublime idea. I shall speak to the Royal Gardener. Perhaps another brief word with her Majesty as well, to see if I can staunch her tears.”

  “I would appreciate whatever you can do. How is your own wife?” he tossed over his shoulder, hoping to change the subject, then realising he had strayed onto one even more difficult.

  But Glokta only showed his empty smile again. “She is a tremendous comfort to me, your Majesty. I really don’t know how I ever managed without her.”

  They moved on in awkward silence for a moment, then Jezal cleared his throat. “I’ve been thinking, Glokta, about that scheme of mine. You know, about a tax on the banks? Perhaps to pay for a new hospital near the docks. For those who cannot afford a surgeon. The common folk have been good to us. They have helped us to power, and suffered in our name. A government should offer something to all its people, should it not? The more mean, the more base, the more they need our help. A king is only truly as rich as his poorest subject, do you not think? Would you have the High Justice draw something up? Small to begin with, then we can go further. Free housing, perhaps, for those who find themselves without a home. We should consider—”

  “Your Majesty, I have spoken to our mutual friend of this.”

  Jezal stopped dead, a cold feeling creeping up his spine. “You have?”

  “I fear that I am obliged to.” The cripple’s tone was that of a servant, but his sunken eyes did not stray from Jezal’s for a moment. “Our friend is… not enthusiastic.”

  “Does he rule the Union, or do I?” But they both knew the answer to that question well enough.

  “You are king, of course.”

  “Of course.”

  “But our mutual friend… we would not wish to disappoint him.” Glokta came a limping step closer, his left eye giving a repulsive flutter. “Neither one of us, I am sure, would want to encourage a visit to Adua… on his part.”

  Jezal’s knees felt suddenly very weak. The faint memory of that awful, unbearable pain nagged at his stomach. “No,” he croaked, “no, of course not.”

  The cripple’s voice was only just above a whisper. “Perhaps, in time, funds could be found for some small project. Our friend cannot see everything, after all, and what he does not see will do no harm. I am sure between the two of us, quietly… we could do some little good. But not yet.”

  “No. You are right, Glokta. You have a fine sense for these things. Do nothing that would cause the least offence. Please inform our friend that his opinions will always be valued above all others. Please tell our good friend that he can rely on me. Will you tell him that, please?”

  “I will, your Majesty. He will be delighted to hear it.”

  “Good,” murmured Jezal. “Good.” A chilly breeze had blown up, and he turned back towards the palace, pulling his cloak around him. It was not, in the end, quite so pleasant a day as he had hoped it might be.

  Loose Ends

  A grubby white box with two doors facing each other. The ceiling was too low for comfort, the room too brightly lit by blazing lamps. Damp was creeping out of one corner and the plaster had erupted with flaking blisters, speckled with black mould. Someone had tried to scrub a long bloodstain from the wall, but hadn’t tried nearly hard enough.

  Two huge Practicals stood against the wall, their arms folded. One of the chairs at the bolted-down table was empty. Carlot dan Eider sat in the other. History moves in circles, so they say. How things have changed. And yet, how they have stayed the same. Her face was pale with worry, there were dark rings of sleeplessness around her eyes, but she still seemed beautiful. More than ever, in a way. The beauty of the candle-flame that has almost burned out. Again.

  Glokta could hear her scared breathing as he settled himself in the remaining chair, leaned his cane against the scarred table-top, and frowned into her face. “I am still wondering whether, in the next few days, I will receive that letter you spoke of. You know the one. The one you meant for Sult to read. The one that lays out the history of my self-indulgent little mercy to you. The one that you made sure will be sent to the Arch Lector… in the event of your death. “Will it find its way onto my desk, now, do you suppose? A final irony.”

  There was a pause. “I realise that I made a grave mistake, when I came back.” And an even worse one when you didn’t leave fast enough. “I hope you will accept my apology. I only wanted to warn you about the Gurkish. If you can find it in your heart to be merciful—”

  “Did you expect me to be merciful once?”

  “No,” she whispered.

  “Then what, do you suppose, are the chances of my making the same mistake twice? Never come back, I said. Not ever.” He waved with his hand and one of the monstrous Practicals stepped forward and lifted the lid of his case.

  “No… no.” Her eyes darted over his instruments, and back. “You won. You won, of course. I should have been grateful, the first time. Please.” She leaned forward, looking him in the eyes. Her voice dropped, grew husky, “Please. Surely there must be… something that I can do… to make up for my foolishness…”

  A peculiar mixture of feigned desire and genuine disgust. Fake longing and genuine loathing. And rendered still more distasteful by the edge of mounting terror. It makes me wonder why I was merciful in the first place.

  Glokta snorted. “Must this be embarrassing as well as painful?”

  The effort at seduction leaked quickly away. But I note that the fear is going nowhere. It was joined now by a rising note of desperation. “I know that I made a mistake… I was trying to
help… please, I meant you no real harm… I caused you no harm, you know it!” He reached out slowly towards the case, watched her horrified eyes follow his white-gloved hand, her voice rising to a squeal of panic. “Only tell me what I can do! Please! I can help you! I can be useful! Tell me what I can do!”

  Glokta’s hand paused on its remorseless journey across the table. He tapped one finger against the wood. The finger on which the Arch Lector’s ring glittered in the lamplight. “Perhaps there is a way.”

  “Anything,” she gurgled, teary eyes gleaming. “Anything, only name it!”

  “You have contacts in Talins?”

  She swallowed. “In Talins? Of… of course.”

  “Good. I, and some colleagues of mine on the Closed Council, are concerned about the role that Grand Duke Orso means to play in Union politics. Our feeling—our very strong feeling—is that he should stick to bullying Styrians, and keep his nose out of our business.” He gave a significant pause.

  “How do I—”

  “You will go to Talins. You will be my eyes in the city. A traitor, fleeing for her life, friendless and alone, seeking only a place for a new beginning. A beautiful yet wretched traitor, in desperate need of a strong arm to protect her. You get the idea.”

  “I suppose… I suppose that I could do that.”

  Glokta snorted. “You had better.”

  “I will need money—”

  “Your assets have been seized by the Inquisition.”

  “Everything?”

  “You may have noticed that there is a great deal of rebuilding to do. The king needs every mark he can lay his hands on, and confessed traitors can hardly expect to keep their chattels in such times as these. I have arranged passage for you. When you arrive, make contact with the banking house of Valint and Balk. They will arrange a loan to get you started.”

  “Valint and Balk?” Eider looked even more scared than before, if that was possible. “I would rather be in debt to anyone but them.”

  “I know the feeling. But it’s that or nothing.”

  “How will I—”

  “A woman of your resourcefulness? I am sure that you will find a way.” He winced as he pushed himself up from his chair. “I want to be snowed in by your letters. What happens in the city. What Orso is about. Who he makes war with, who he makes peace with. Who are his allies and his enemies. You leave on the next tide.” He turned back, briefly, at the door. “I’ll be watching.”

  She nodded dumbly, wiping away the tears of relief with the back of one trembling hand. First it is done to us, then we do it to others, then we order it done. Such is the way of things.

  “Are you always drunk by this time in the morning?”

  “Your Eminence, you wound me.” Nicomo Cosca grinned. “Usually I have been drunk for hours by now.”

  Huh. We each find our ways of getting through the day. “I should thank you for all your help.”

  The Styrian gave a flamboyant wave of one hand. A hand, Glokta noticed, flashing with a fistful of heavy rings. “To hell with your thanks, I have your money.”

  “And I think every penny well spent. I hope that you will remain in the city, and enjoy Union hospitality for a while longer.”

  “Do you know? I believe I will.” The mercenary scratched thoughtfully at the rash on his neck leaving red fingernail marks through the flaky skin. “At least until the gold runs out.”

  “How quickly can you possibly spend what I have paid you?”

  “Oh, you would be amazed. I have wasted ten fortunes in my time and more besides. I look forward to wasting another.” Cosca slapped his hands down on his thighs, pushed himself up, strolled, somewhat unsteadily, to the door, and turned with a flourish. “Make sure you call on me when you next have a desperate last stand organised.”

  “My first letter will bear your name.”

  “Then I bid you… farewell!” Cosca swept off his enormous hat and bowed low. Then, with a knowing grin, he stepped through the doorway, and was gone.

  Glokta had moved the Arch Lector’s office to a large hall on the ground floor of the House of Questions. Closer to the real business of the Inquisition—the prisoners. Closer to the questions, and the answers. Closer to the truth. And, of course, the real clincher… no stairs.

  There were well-tended gardens outside the large windows. The faint sound of a fountain splashing beyond the glass. But inside the room there was none of the ugly paraphernalia of power. The walls were plastered and painted simple white. The furniture was hard and functional. The whetstone of discomfort has kept me sharp this long. No reason to let the edge grow dull, simply because I have run out of enemies. New enemies will present themselves, before too long.

  There were some heavy bookcases of dark wood. Several leather-covered desks, already stacked high with documents requiring his attention. Aside from the great round table with its map of the Union and its pair of bloody nail-marks, there was only one item of Sult’s furniture that Glokta had brought downstairs with him. The dark painting of bald old Zoller glowered down from above the simple fireplace. Bearing an uncanny resemblance to a certain Magus I once knew. It is fitting after all, that we maintain the proper perspective. Every man answers to somebody.

  There was a knocking at the door, and the head of Glokta’s secretary appeared at the gap. “The Lord Marshals have arrived, Arch Lector.”

  “Show them in.”

  Sometimes, when old friends meet, things are instantly as they were, all those years before. The friendship resumes, untouched, as though there had been no interruption. Sometimes, but not now. Collem West was scarcely recognisable. His hair had fallen out in ugly patches. His face was shrunken, had a yellow tinge about it. His uniform hung slack from his bony shoulders, stained around the collar. He shuffled into the room, bent over in an old man’s stoop, leaning heavily on a stick. He looked like nothing so much as a walking corpse.

  Glokta had expected something of the kind, of course, from what Ardee had told him. But the sick shock of disappointment and horror he felt at the sight still caught him by surprise. Like returning to the happy haunt of one’s youth, and finding it all in ruins. Deaths. They happen every day. How many lives have I wrecked with my own hands? What makes this one so hard to take? And yet it was. He found himself lurching up from his chair, starting painfully forwards as if to lend some help.

  “Your Eminence.” West’s voice was fragile and jagged as broken glass. He made a weak effort at a smile. “Or I suppose… I should call you brother.”

  “West… Collem… it is good to see you.” Good, and awful both at once.

  A cluster of officers followed West into the room. The wonderfully competent Lieutenant Jalenhorm I remember, of course, but a Major now. And Brint too, made a Captain by his friends swift advancement. Marshal Kroy we know and love from the Closed Council. Congratulations, all, on your advancement. Another man brought up the rear of the party. A lean man with a face horribly burned. But we, of all people, should hardly hold a repulsive disfigurement against him. Each one of them frowned nervously towards West, as though ready to pounce forward if he should slump to the floor. Instead he shuffled to the round table and sagged trembling into the nearest chair.

  “I should have come to you,” said Glokta. I should have come to you far sooner.

  West made another effort at a smile, even more bilious than the last. Several of his teeth were missing. “Nonsense. I know how busy you are, now. And I am feeling much better today.”

  “Good, good. That is… good. Is there anything that I can get you?” What could possibly help? “Anything at all.”

  West shook his head. “I do not think so. These gentlemen you know, of course. Apart from Sergeant Pike.” The burned man nodded to him.

  “A pleasure.” To meet someone even more maimed than myself, always.

  “I hear… happy news, from my sister.”

  Glokta winced, almost unable to meet his old friend’s eye. “I should have sought your permission, of cou
rse. I surely would have, had there been time.”

  “I understand.” West’s bright eyes were fixed on his. “She has explained it all. It is some kind of comfort to know that she’ll be well taken care of.”

  “On that you can depend. I will see to it. She will never be hurt again.”

  West’s gaunt face twisted. “Good. Good.” He rubbed gently at the side of his face. His fingernails were black, edged with dried blood, as though they were peeling from the flesh beneath. “There’s always a price to be paid, eh, Sand? For the things we do?”

  Glokta felt his eye twitching. “It would seem so.”

  “I have lost some of my teeth.”

  “I see that, and can sympathise. Soup, I find…” I find utterly disgusting.

  “I am… scarcely able to walk.”

  “I sympathise with that also. Your cane will be your best friend.” As it will soon be mine, I think.

  “I am a pitiable shell of what I was.”

  “I truly feel your pain.” Truly. Almost more keenly than my own.

  West slowly shook his withered head. “How can you stand it?”

  “One step at a time, my old friend. Steer clear of stairs where possible, and mirrors, always.”

  “Wise advice.” West coughed. An echoing cough, from right down beneath his ribs. He swallowed noisily. “I think my time is running out.”

  “Surely not!” Glokta’s hand reached out for a moment, as if to rest on West’s shrunken shoulder, as if to offer comfort. He jerked it back, awkwardly. It is not suited to the task.

  West licked at his empty gums. “This is how most of us go, isn’t it? No final charge. No moment of glory. We just… fall slowly apart.”

  Glokta would have liked to say something optimistic. But that rubbish comes from other mouths than mine. Younger, prettier mouths, with all their teeth, perhaps. “Those who die on the battlefield are in some ways the lucky few. Forever young. Forever glorious.”