I knew many other things as the guard who'd come to collect me led me into a small room nearby, where Drood Juffa waited.
Drood, middle-aged and patriarch of the Juffa family, had come to do his own questioning. Like Birtes Churg, he'd inherited his family holdings from his father. Where he and Churg differed, however, was that Drood was smarter, harder and somewhat fairer than Churg would ever be.
"Leave us alone," Drood waved a hand at the guard, who left the room, shutting the door behind him.
"Please, sit," Drood pointed toward a nearby chair. He'd chosen to stand while he interrogated me—it was meant to make me feel small and vulnerable. I gripped the chair arms when I sat to hide my inner terror.
"Now, what can you tell me about the three servants who died?" He began. "I will know if you lie."
I wanted to laugh—he was passable at best at telling a lie from the truth. "Nothing," I said. "I'd only seen those three once—as they were being hired. We left them behind to take care of our property. As you can see, they ignored our orders the moment we were out of sight."
"Come now, you must be able to tell me something," he coaxed.
"Your guard outside is plotting against you," I said. "He is taking money from Xilva to sell you out. He expects a higher position and Xilva's niece in exchange."
Drood Juffa went completely still for a moment, staring at me in near-disbelief before pulling a communicator from a pocket and barking orders into it. An hour later, the guard outside the door was dead, other guards surrounded Drood to keep him safe and my life as an advisor to the wealthiest criminal on Vic'Law began.
* * *
Le-Ath Veronis
Lissa
"She started a turf war?" I shook my head at Kooper.
"Not started—no. It was already beginning, but Drood Juffa wasn't aware that one of his guards had been paid to assassinate him. Quin pointed that out. Kaldill says she sees Drood as more honorable than Xilva, and suspects one of the Xilvas is behind the drakus seed."
"Did she see anything about Cayetes in Drood?"
"Kaldill says that Drood knows of Cayetes—but doesn't have any dealings with him and doesn't know where he is."
"Do you think Xilva knows where he is?"
"It's possible. I'm becoming very concerned about the cloned Sirenali that seem to be everywhere on Vic'Law. Employing a wizard or warlock is worthless to look into the doings of your enemy if he hides his actions behind a pet Sirenali."
"I'm more concerned about drakus seed," I pointed out.
"I'm worried that Cayetes and the drakus seed may be connected."
"We'll have to let Quin get this information for us—as long as she's on Vic'Law, we know that's where the Orb wants her."
"At least Drood is keeping the others at his compound—to make Quin happy."
"So much for performing a search in secret, huh?"
* * *
Quin
At least we had our own, very large house on the Juffa estate, and there were no whining children asking for wings—Drood kept his family in the main palace. I hadn't seen any of them, yet.
So far, I'd been summoned to his study once—to give advice on business deals.
He was testing me.
"Quin, Drood's bodyguard is here," Caylon announced during Jayna's reading lesson on the third night.
Be careful, Quinnie, Berel sent as I stood. Jayna looked up at me with worried eyes, silently begging me to do the same.
Caylon escorted me to the reception area of the house, where the guard waited. At least this one was loyal to the Juffa family, even if he saw no use in me or any other female.
"I'll come with her," Caylon informed the guard, who nodded curtly and stalked toward the door.
Nice, Caylon grumbled mentally as we followed the broad-shouldered guard out of the house.
* * *
Zephili
"My Lord," Dorgus approached Vardil cautiously.
"What is it?" Vardil's dreams still contained the floating light at times, although medication from his personal physician sometimes prevented him from recalling it. Still, he was on edge, worried every night that he'd be visited by the infernal thing again.
"I may have found a solution for you—to keep a likeness you choose for yourself," Dorgus smiled. He'd worked on the problem quite hard, after all, and wanted Vardil's approval of his efforts.
"What is it?" Vardil barely sounded interested.
"I found," Dorgus' smile widened, "a very rare thing. Mind you, I had to pay a large sum for it and promised it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands, but I've managed to procure a container of the outlawed Lyristolyi drug."
Vardil was on his feet immediately, blinking at Dorgus in hopeful surprise.
* * *
Quin
"What about this one?" Drood handed a sheaf of papers to me. The papers contained information on a medicine being developed in the Campiaan Alliance to combat an unusual infection—the disease was a mutation of a very old bacterium, which in effect became pneumonitis at first, and then drowned the victim when their lungs filled with fluid because there wasn't any drug available to destroy the infection.
"Don't invest in this one—it will seem promising at first, before side effects appear later. Another drug is being developed, which will be much better and won't end up killing anyone."
"Do you have information on the other drug?"
"Do you have a list of drug manufacturers?" I countered.
"Here." Another sheaf of papers was shoved across his desk. I leafed through them before pulling out the proper one and handing it back.
"Your life may depend upon the accuracy of this information," Drood's eyebrows drew together as he frowned at the information on the paper.
"I understand that, Master Juffa," I replied.
"How long—before the other drug is proven faulty?"
"It may take a year, Master Juffa."
"So this is something of a long-term investment?"
"You'll reap the benefits in two years."
"I fail to understand how you came to be here on this world," Drood lowered the paper and stared at me.
"That is easy enough to explain," I said. "Vardil Cayetes destroyed my home world. I managed to see his intentions and save the inhabitants. However, he managed to spread the poison infecting Siriaa across the universe, as I'm sure you're aware."
"My question still stands," Drood said.
"Then you must understand that it is my intention to destroy Cayetes," I shrugged. "I am following his trail, wherever it leads. I've noticed you do not have any of the pet Sirenali that many are keeping throughout Der'Vek."
"Sirenali?" He'd never heard that word before.
"There is one at the sweet shop," I said. "I saw it when we went there not long ago."
Quin, Caylon voiced a warning in my head.
He doesn't know about them, I said. Second tier families are circling like carrion eaters. He has no knowledge of the drakus seed, either, and wouldn't allow it if he knew.
"Why are you telling me this?" Drood snapped. "This could connect you to those three who were killed near there."
"I understand that," I said. "But I worry for you, Master Juffa. Cayetes was allowed to set up a compound on Vogeffa I. In short order, he took control of that world. Recently, he has left it behind because the poison infected it. I don't believe he is here, yet, but that doesn't mean his eye isn't on Vic'Law."
Drood cursed before standing and stalking away from his desk. A wide window was his destination, where he looked upon the lawns surrounding his palace and cursed again.
I detected the unease and suspicion rolling off him as he gazed out the window, considering desperate measures to maintain his grasp on Vic'Law. I knew then that the decisions he made from that point forward would determine his fate—and the fate of those around him.
* * *
"What about the bodies missing here?" Caylon demanded, once we were dismissed by Drood and back inside Kaldill
's suite. He'd asked Sal, Kaldill and Justis to come before he began to interrogate me. He saw my words to Drood Juffa as a betrayal. I wanted to tell him that Drood could be the one thing standing between Vic'Law as it was and a direct takeover by Cayetes.
"I told you what I thought about the disappearances. Someone here is funneling them away. Cayetes may be involved, but we need to look here for the one or ones cooperating with him to take the victims away."
"Do you believe that those responsible here may have direct contact with Cayetes?"
"No idea—and I won't know until I see them," I admitted. I couldn't help hugging myself—Caylon thought I'd done wrong. That never failed to frighten me—I'd been struck too many times in my past for real or imagined errors.
"It's done," Kaldill snapped. "Never forget we can leave if we want," he added. Kaldill's eyes were hard and narrowed as they grazed Caylon's face.
"You can leave," I pointed out as my voice and body trembled. "I can't. I have to see this through."
"There—are you happy now?" Justis growled at Caylon. "All you've done is scare her to death."
"That wasn't my intention," Caylon huffed and stalked out of Kaldill's suite. Kaldill must have sent mindspeech—Berel, Yanzi, Bel Erland and Terrett arrived to pull me away. Truly, all I wanted was to hide somewhere until my trembling subsided.
Instead, I was ushered into the spa—without a swimsuit this time. The others dropped their clothing and climbed in with me.
* * *
"My love?" A gentle kiss was laid against my forehead. I couldn't recall getting in bed with Justis, but Bel Erland had employed his warlock talents to bring in a bottle of something that tasted faintly of berries while we sat in bubbling water the night before. Everything else was a blur after that.
I didn't want to wake. I wanted the numbing effect of the alcohol I'd consumed the night before to keep doing its work. It didn't. Instead, I had a sour taste in my mouth as I drew in a deep breath and snuggled farther into Justis' embrace.
"My love, we must rise and go to breakfast, or you'll be late for your training session. Sursee Caylon will not be pleased if you are late."
"Fuck Sursee Caylon." I was surprised to hear those words drop from my lips. I hadn't even opened my eyes, yet.
"No. You will not fuck Sursee Caylon. I demand the honor of loving you."
Weak sunlight burned across my brain when my eyes flew open. Justis' nose was nearly touching mine. I blinked to bring his face into focus. A corner of his mouth curved into a wry smile.
"I'm afraid," I buried my head against his shoulder.
"I know," he soothed, a hand stroking gently down my side to rest on my hip. "I think I can talk you through this if you'll let me—when the time is right. Come now, you need to clean your teeth before going to breakfast. You smell like a winery."
It was my turn to smile.
* * *
I worried that Caylon would take his anger out on me during our time in his newest dojo.
He didn't. The training session was no different from any other, except that I had a pounding headache throughout most of it. As he'd said before, an enemy wouldn't care that I had a headache from drinking too much the night before. I wasn't about to complain about it, either. My lips were pressed tightly together as I forced myself to block blows.
Before we were done, Drood and his personal bodyguard arrived to watch. My headache forced me to concentrate on Caylon's teaching instead of our audience. Jayna, who trained with Sal across the room, was also under scrutiny but didn't care. Jayna's disguise had worked wonders for her—she no longer worried that she'd be ogled for the wrong reasons.
One look at Drood's face before I left to take a shower told me that Caylon was better than anyone in his employ at hand fighting. I wasn't surprised, either. Caylon was an elite warrior, who'd only met his match once.
Sal was also better than anyone Drood could bring against him. I had a feeling Justis and Lafe would also hold their own against anything Drood could throw at them. Drood was beginning to realize that.
He was also beginning to realize he might need an army against the growing threat of rebellion by those in the Second Tier. After all, there were six families in the First Tier and twenty in the Second. Third tier contained hundreds of families, but they hadn't begun the plot to destroy Drood Juffa. Drood's dark thoughts troubled me; the criminal in him was showing more and more.
I think we'll be summoned to a meeting after lunch, I informed Kaldill in mindspeech as I walked the hall toward my suite. The ball is coming and Drood wishes to be ready in case he's attacked.
Then we should have a meeting at lunch, Kaldill replied. To discuss what we should do when Drood asks us to protect him.
* * *
"Churg doesn't know anything," I said. "He'd be ineffective anyway."
"True—he is weak. He allows his son to make most of the family decisions, now," Caylon agreed. I blinked at him—his face was as inscrutable as it usually was, but on this matter, he agreed with me.
"What did you see about the Xilva family in Juffa's guard before he was killed?" Justis asked.
"He didn't know much—he was being paid and he imagined that he'd have a legitimate position in the Xilva family if he married into it."
"Do you believe they'd follow through and allow him to marry into the family?" Berel asked.
"I don't know. He believed it, so that's all I saw. Without seeing someone involved from the Xilvas, I can't say for sure."
"You have to understand that most of the crime families aren't native to Vic'Law," Sal observed. "The guard was from here. I find it highly unlikely that he'd be offered a place in the family."
"My question is this—if Cayetes is behind the Second Tier rebellion against the First Tier, what do they hope to gain from this?" Bel Erland spoke up.
He'd hit upon the question I wanted answered. Would those Cayetes had chosen take over everyone in the First Tier? Had he promised them that? In my wildest imaginings, I couldn't see a master criminal like Cayetes offering anything unless he were in charge, somehow. That meant he was lying to them. He'd take Vic'Law in his fist and crush it, reshaping it into something he wanted.
Second Tier stood to lose everything if they'd made a deal with that devil. Therefore, other questions popped into my head. Where was Cayetes now? Vic'Law was the only candidate Kooper had found where people had regularly come up missing, and I doubted that Cayetes had arrived on Vic'Law, yet.
Perhaps the ones doing the kidnapping on Vic'Law had a close relationship with Cayetes and had allied with him for the promise of money, elevation in status or another, unknown reason. I'd know if I saw the ones involved, but so far, that hadn't happened. As for Cayetes, somewhere, perhaps far away, people were disappearing and nobody had noticed.
"Here's the crux of the situation—do we agree to stand with Juffa or not," Caylon said.
"I say yes—for now," I responded immediately.
"Tell me why," Caylon shot back.
"Because he wants membership in the Campiaan Alliance," I said. "And in the past, he was willing to do what was necessary to get it." I didn't add that recently, Drood Juffa didn't bother to hide his darker side. If he strayed farther down that path, my mind would change about helping him.
Caylon, his dark eyes enigmatic and his face expressionless, studied me for several moments before nodding. "Very well," he agreed. "We stand with Drood Juffa—for now."
* * *
The expected meeting with Drood happened shortly after lunch; all of us were asked to follow two of his guards into his study, where extra chairs had been placed so we could sit. Even Jayna, Pellen, Jeslin and Mell were asked to come.
"I hear rumblings from time to time," Drood began. I studied him as he hesitated. He wasn't a handsome man, but he had a presence about him that drew others. On any other world, he'd be a successful politician. I imagined that if he were to study with Edden Charkisul, he could learn everything he needed or wanted to know in a sh
ort amount of time. For now, he was only concerned with keeping Vic'Law and his life intact.
"Through the years, I've had six attempts on my life," Drood continued. "Before, I never had reason to distrust any of my guards or servants—they are paid well enough not to carry tales or plot against me. That changed recently." His eyes turned to me.
"I've investigated the guard—I'm sure you understand he was killed after admitting he'd been paid to assassinate me. His connection to the Xilva family has been verified, although they lied to him about his marrying into the family."
My chin dropped in a half-nod—we'd suspected as much.
"Xilva is unaware that we know these things," Drood said. "He is the unofficial head of the Second Tier; it doesn't surprise me that he'd attempt a coup. If I find he's had dealings with Cayetes," he stopped for a moment before shaking his head.
I knew he'd kill the entire family. I didn't think they all deserved death and resolved to bargain for some of those lives.
My love, allow us to take care of that situation, Bel Erland inserted gently in my mind. Again, he was using the gift he had to read others.
I wanted to let my shoulders sag in relief, but I didn't—that would send a signal to Drood that I preferred he didn't have. I was also beginning to understand that Bel Erland was a diplomat of the highest order, like his father and grandfather before him. I imagined that his ability to read others was something of a gift, however, and somewhat akin to what I held.
"I can accelerate your acceptance into the Second Tier, and perhaps pave your way into the First if I find any of them have a hand in this," Drood said, "if you agree to stand with me and act in the defense of my family and me should it become necessary."
"We have some stipulations," Kaldill began.
"I expected as much. Tell me." Drood steepled his fingers and waited for Kaldill to explain.
"We will only deliver a death if it is deserved."
"I agree," Drood nodded.
"We chose our servants carefully. I'd prefer to question them if they commit infraction in the future, rather than hearing they were killed outright for wandering into the wrong areas."
BlackWing: First Ordinance, Book 3 Page 10
