by Steven Brust
I checked the time. It was just the sixth hour. I waited.
About two minutes later, a Jhereg I didn’t recognize came in, glanced at me without acknowledging my presence, let his eye flick over the rest of the room, and then nodded back toward the door. The Demon came through next, followed by another bodyguard, who closed the door. The Demon hadn’t changed much. I didn’t stand.
He sat down across from me and said, “All right. Talk.”
“Shall we get a drink first?”
“Talk.”
“You don’t want to be sociable?”
He looked at me.
“Damn,” I said. “And here I thought we were friends.”
“Talk,” he said, with a sort of “this is the last time I’m going to say it before I have people kill you and I don’t care what deal we’ve made or what the consequences might be you scum-sucking asshole” intonation to it. I’m good with intonations.
“A bunch of people want the number-one seat on the Council. I—”
“You applying for the job?”
I chuckled. “Thanks for the offer, but I’ll pass. I’m thinking of going into dry goods.”
“Uh huh.”
“Terion’s got the backing of the Left Hand, for reasons we don’t need to go into. You—”
“You did it!” he burst out suddenly.
I raised an eyebrow and didn’t say anything. He grunted. “All right. Go on.”
“I can get you the game.”
“You can, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“How?”
“That’s my business.”
“If you think that’s going to let you off the hook for what you did—”
“No, I don’t. Me getting off the hook isn’t part of the deal. But I do want thirty hours, just so I can finish this.”
“I don’t speak for the Jhereg.”
“Thirty hours from your people.”
“That would not be impossible. Let’s hear it, then.”
“South Adrilankha.”
“What about it?”
“I want it to be hands-off for the Jhereg. All of it.”
“For how long?”
“Let’s say ... until the end of the next Dragon Reign.”
“That could be quite a while.”
“Yes.”
“You are unlikely to still be alive by then.”
I chuckled. “That’s something of an understatement.”
“My point is, Lord Taltos, how do you expect to enforce it?”
“I trust you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Well, yeah, I guess I don’t.”
“So, then?”
“I have friends.”
He look at me and waited.
I said, “I imagine you’ve already heard about who had a shine put on her last night.”
He put a few things together in his mind and nodded slowly. “I see.”
“Yeah.”
“That would do it, I expect. You’re asking a lot, you know.”
“I know.”
“The Organization will grow there on its own, and it will be crying out for someone to run it. There will be a lot of work involved in keeping the Jhereg out of there.”
“That’s how I see it, too. But you know what you get for it.”
“Can you deliver?”
“I think so.”
“You think so.”
I nodded. “And, of course, if you don’t end up in the number-one spot, you don’t pay.”
“And your life isn’t part of the deal?”
“Nope.”
“Okay. What else?”
“As part of leaving South Adrilankha alone, you negotiate with the Left Hand. They’re the ones running it, and—”
“Your wife. That’s the meat of the whole thing, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“All right. I was trying to figure out why you got involved in this in the first place. Now I know.”
“Uh huh.”
“You dived into this whole thing for her.”
“Yep.”
“Like a Dzur hero come to save the maiden.”
“You got it.”
“How does she feel about that?”
“None of your fucking business.”
“That’s what I figured.”
“Do we have a deal?”
“I gotta be honest. I don’t know if I can call off the Left Hand at this point. They aren’t under any authority but their own.”
“No, but if they get, uh, called off, as you put it, I think you can negotiate with them to stay out.”
He gave me a contemplative look. “I don’t know what you have in mind, of course. But that would depend on exactly how they get called off.”
“Yeah.”
“Care to tell me about it?”
“No.”
“Then I can’t give you an answer, can I?”
“I’m negotiating with them.”
“Negotiating.”
“Uh huh. If you want, you can show up for the negotiations.”
“Oh?”
“I’ll be meeting with them around seventh hour, give or take.”
“Where?”
“In South Adrilankha. There’s a district called Six Corners. Not far from there is a house, Number Eleven Stranger’s Road. We’ll be meeting there.”
“And I’m invited?”
“Yes. At least, that’s where we’re starting the negotiations.”
“And when will these negotiations be concluded?”
“Like I said before, I’ll need about thirty hours.”
“Then I can’t give you an answer before then.”
“Sure you can. A conditional answer.”
He nodded slowly. “You’re asking a lot, you know.”
“You’re getting a lot.”
“Yes, I am.”
“And, as I said, feel free to show up.”
“Yeah. I might do that.”
I gave him some time to think it over. A part of me regretted that I wasn’t still in the Organization, working for someone like him. He’d be a good guy to work for. And life would be so much simpler.
After a moment, he nodded. “Okay on the thirty hours. And, yeah, depending on how these negotiations go, I’ll agree that if you get me the position, I’ll keep us out of South Adrilankha until the end of the next Dragon Reign, or until I’m knocked on the head, whichever comes first.”
“That works,” I said.
“You know it won’t make any difference, right?”
“Hmmm?”
“I mean, if you’re thinking that you’ll be doing something to help those people—”
“I’m not. If anything, it’ll be worse for them, unless they find someone who knows how to run this sort of operation efficiently.”
He nodded. “She must be some kind of woman.”
“Yeah,” I said.
“It’s too bad things worked out this way, Vlad. I’d have liked to have you working for me.”
I nodded.
“Good luck,” he said.
“Thanks.”
He got up and walked out, taking his bodyguard with him.
“Good going, Vlad,” said Kragar. “Now, can you pull it off?”
“I hope so,” I said. 16. Red Wine
There was a place I passed through when I visited the East a couple of years ago. It was sort of a meadow, extended downward from a bare, rocky slope, and ending in woods. It wasn’t very big; standing on the top of the slope you could see the woods clearly enough. But in that place, there were an odd collection of berry plants and flowers, and I happened to hit it at a time when they were all emitting their specialized scents. There were wild roses, brittleberries, whiteblossom , honeykeolsch, and clover.
I mention this, even though at the time my mind was on other things and I didn’t pay much attention, because, though it was of the type that is called “full” and “deep” and “strongly flavored,
” there were hints of most of those in the wine Mihi brought to accompany the beef.
I set the glass down and opened my eyes.
Mihi winked at me and walked away as Telnan drank some wine and nodded. “Goes good with the food,” he said.
“Got lucky,” I said.
He flashed me a grin. Only one meal, and he was already figuring out my sense of humor.
“I’ll bet there’s a whole art to that, isn’t there? I mean, picking the right wine to go with a meal.”
“There is,” I told him. “I don’t know how they do it, but I’m glad to reap the rewards.”
He nodrlcd. “Think you can really tell the difference, though? I mean, between a wine that goes perfectly with what you’re eating, and wine that only sort of goes with it? Is there, I don’t know, a lot more pleasure, or something?”
I actually had to think about that, for more reasons than to try to figure out what he was asking. “There are a lot of things,” I said, “that you don’t actually notice, but have an effect anyway.”
“Yeah, that’s true,” said the Dzur. He looked lost in thought for a minute. “That really is true,” he repeated, as if I’d said something profound.
I let him think so while I ate some more of the beef.
I said, “They chill it just a bit, for me, even though it isn’t supposed to be served that way. Not chilled like a white wine, but just a little chilled. I just think wine is better when it’s a little bit cold. Unlike brandy.”
“And heroics,” he said, grinning.
“Hmmm?”
“It’s hardest to be a hero when you have to do it cold.”
“I don’t follow you.”
“I was just making a joke.”
“Oh, all right.”
“But it’s true, though.”
“I don’t—”
“It’s one thing to go charging into a fight when you’re outnumbered, and you just, you know, hack away as best you can. It’s another when you have to just sit there, everything against you, and no one to actually attack. All the demons in your head start on you, and, it’s like, you’re giving yourself every chance to be afraid, but you have to keep on anyway. I’m not describing it very well.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been in that situation.”
“It’s not as much fun as you might think.”
I nodded and took another sip of wine. Just a little bit chilled, the way I like it.
“You were there for the whole thing?” I asked.
Kragar shook his head. “I arrived late.”
“I thought you might do that. Were you expecting him to make a play for me?”
“Vlad, you aren’t out of here, yet.”
“True.”
“I’ll go out first.”
“Just like the old days.”
“Sort of.”
“Hey, Kragar, I’m trying to remember something.”
“Yeah?”
“You know, all those times I walked out of a door wondering if someone was on the other side waiting to put a nice pretty shine on my skin, was there ever anyone there?”
“You mean, has anyone come after you when you were looking for it? Not that I recall, but maybe I wasn’t around.”
“This might be the first time, you know.”
“You’re just saying that because you’re a superstitious Easterner, and you think if you say it, it won’t happen.”
“Exactly.”
“Good plan.”
It worked, too. At least, no one took a shot at me when I left the Lantern.
“What now?” he asked. “You hungry? We should have gotten something to eat.”
“Yeah, I’ll just sort of hang out here for another hour or two, that would be smart.”
He chuckled. “Office?”
“Sounds good.”
We made it there with no trouble, but I’d be lying if said I wasn’t nervous during the walk.
The guy running the game nodded to me as I went past. He ignored Kragar.
“How do you do it?” I asked him when we were in my old office, with him behind the desk.
“Do what?”
“Get people to obey your orders, when they don’t even know you’re there.”
“Oh. I write a lot of notes.”
“Dangerous.”
“They get burned. And you know how it is: There’s usually nothing incriminating in them anyway.”
“I don’t know, Kragar. All it takes is one that—”
“You want the job back, Vlad?”
“No, thanks.”
“Then shut up.”
“Right. Shutting up.”
“What happens next?”
“The Left Hand comes after me.”
“How are you avoiding them?”
“I’m not.”
He studied me. “You’re going to let them find you?”
“I’m going to them.”
“Mind if I ask why?”
“Because I can’t have them chasing me. Having the Jhereg chasing me is bad enough; having the Left Hand—”
“Wait. You don’t want them chasing you, so you’re going to give yourself up to them? I mean, in one sense it’s logical, but—”
“I probably shouldn’t have tried to explain.”
“Yeah, that was a mistake. Where is this happening?”
“There’s a house in South Adrilankha where the Left Hand has set up shop.”
“Where exactly?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“A house full of sorceresses, and you’re going to just walk into it?”
“Pulling them out of it, actually. And there aren’t as many of them as there were yesterday at this time.”
“Ugh. Need backup?”
“You can’t help with this one, unless you’re a better sorcerer than I think you are.”
“You aren’t that much of a sorcerer yourself, Vlad.”
“I have help arranged.”
“All right. But if you want a spare knife, I don’t mind—”
“No, thanks.”
He nodded. “I knew you were going to say that. That’s why I didn’t mind asking.”
“Uh huh. You hungry? I’m buying.”
“How about if I send someone to pick something up?”
“Embarrassed to be seen with me in public?”
“Wouldn’t you be?”
“Well, yeah.”
He arranged for seafood soup with sour bread from the Locket. It showed up and we ate it. I’d never eaten at the Locket, though it wasn’t far from the office. I don’t know why I’d never gotten there. Too bad; they made a good soup.
While we were eating he said, “Aren’t you going to ask me about that name you wanted?”
“You mean, you have it already?”
“Yeah, that’s really why I showed up there. Finding a shoemaker in South Adrilankha seemed like too much trouble.”
“Okay, I’m impressed.”
He bowed.
“So, who is it?”
“Nylanth.”
“I’ve heard that name. Who is he?”
“He’s on the Council. He controls part of South Adrilankha anyway, so I guess he figured—”
“What part?”
“Shipping.”
“Shipping? What is there to control with shipping?”
“Vlad, not everything shipped is exactly legal.”
“Oh. Don’t the Orca handle that?”
“Yeah. He buys Orca as he needs them. And he also runs some gambling by the piers.”
I nodded. “Okay, makes sense, then. How is he reacting?”
“To you messing up his plans? Well, if he wasn’t already trying to kill you, as was the whole rest of the Organization, I’m sure he’d start trying now. As it is, nothing much has changed.”
“Yeah, that’s the nice thing about the position I’m in: It’s hard to make it any worse.”
“I don’t think that’s true. You could make it
worse. You could put yourself in the hands of a bunch of sorceresses who want to kill you; that would be worse.”
“I’d never do anything that foolish.”
“Oh. Good, then. Any steps to be taken?”
“Steps?”
“Regarding Nylanth.”
“Oh.” I thought about that.
“No,” I finally said. “Let him keep chasing me around South Adrilankha; I don’t think he has much of a role to play anymore.”
“Okay.”
We finished up, and left the crockery on Kragar’s desk. I said, “Okay, I think it’s time for me to move.”
“Just a minute.”
He closed his eyes for about a minute, then said, “I wouldn’t go out the front, Vlad.”
“Someone waiting?”
“My people didn’t see anyone, but said they can’t promise anything. Too much street traffic.”
“Oh. If there is someone waiting, the back will be covered, too.”
“Yep. Take the tunnel.”
“Excellent. Good. Perfect. What tunnel?”
“I’ve made some changes.”
“Why? I mean, why you of all people? You could walk out the front door and no one would notice.”
“I figured you might be back, and I know you aren’t teleporting much these days.”
“So you put in a tunnel?”
“Just a short one.”
“Where does it come up?”
“Behind the haberdasher’s just this side of Malak Circle.”
“Okay. Where does it start?”
“There was the room in the basement where an ancient people used to practice their heathen rites.”
“My lab?”
“I had no use for it.”
“I guess not. All right, lead the way.”
“Oh, Vlad—”
“Hmmm?”
“Nice boots.”
He lit a lantern and led the way down the stairs and into the basement. The musty smell and the feel of the dirt floor brought back a lot of memories. Most of my old gear was gone, but the brazier was still there, on its side up against the far wall. I didn’t see any doorway, so I looked a question at him.
He smirked and gave one of the sconces on the wall a twist. Nothing changed, but I heard a faint “click.”
“A secret entrance with a hidden passage with a secret latch,” I remarked. “I don’t hardly believe it.”
