Drakenfeld (26 page)

‘Such power,’ Veron remarked. ‘Such administration. Has your father’s death not created more of a fuss back at your headquarters in Free State?’

‘No, it was declared as natural causes. The priests and pontiffs, and the Pollan physicians, did not suggest otherwise. Just as well really, as the Sun Chamber gets nervous easily, and I
would not like to see them so upset.’

After another cup of wine, which we drank in a pleasant, companionable silence, Veron bid me farewell and left me with his list of names. With a good amount of alcohol inside
him, he shambled back through the evening streets a relatively happy man. I headed indoors, whereupon Bellona handed me a scroll of messages and another tube, apologizing for not handing them to me
earlier.

When Bellona left for her sleeping quarters, I headed into the study and opened up the scroll. Bellona had written the note and I marvelled at how neat and precise her handwriting was. It was
heartening to know she had received a good education and I wondered if my father had helped her in any way, perhaps to give her more of a chance, or to aid him in matters of administration. In that
moment it occurred to me how little I knew about the woman.

The messages largely consisted of more people asking for help. The owner of a local gem store claimed he had been robbed and wondered if it was possible for me, instead of the cohorts, to
investigate the matter.

A priest had tried to speak with me, apparently for the second time. He said he would visit me again. What could a holy man want with me? Since it could have been a matter of a spiritual nature,
I made sure to inform Bellona to take a full message from him should he call again, lest the gods get angry with me.

A clerk’s daughter had gone missing late last night and not come home in the morning; and three youths had been spotted harassing a senator and the official in question wondered if I might
be able to do something about it.

I shook my head despairingly. Any other month and I would perhaps be in a position to try to help these people, but these were rather trivial matters and I could not afford to lend my time to
them. These were issues for the cohorts.

Finally I inspected the tube, which was sealed in wax and stamped with the emblem of the Sun Chamber. I opened it up with a knife and was relieved to see a letter in response to mine. The roads
around Detrata were in a good state and a reliable messenger could travel for dozens of miles in a day without much trouble. My initial correspondence had been with the Sun Chamber station at the
Three Nations border post, situated where the territories of Detrata, Theran to the east and Maristan to the south all meet, and which is at the other end of the country from Tryum.

The reply had come from a senior official, who acknowledged the importance of my case, approved of my summary and my intentions, and asked whether or not I would like military assistance to be
brought closer to the borders, given that the case dealt with the senatorial classes. I exhaled deeply and stared into the distance, contemplating my options.

In no mind to answer such matters, I decided to lay down my head and get some much-needed rest.

I woke with the sun, having enjoyed a pleasant night’s sleep, and spent my first moments thinking entirely of Titiana.

The way she had moved on that platform seemed to have left an echo in my mind, a sight that simply would not shift easily. I began, as always, to over-analyse her gestures and her second
glances, weighing up the meaning behind what may well have been utterly without purpose. Long ago I’d realized that I did not expect answers from such mental anguish, but it was good to
exercise such old emotional muscles once again.

The clarity of daytime did little to assuage my concerns of her having chosen this lifestyle. There was no shame in what she was doing – dancing was a celebration of the body, after all
– but I had seen many times just how badly people could be treated in that profession, and I worried for her safety.

Even though I had absolutely no right to do so.

After consuming a light breakfast I set to work, first examining the list of senators’ names that Veron had provided for me, and later combing through the witness statements again. Leana
joined me and confirmed that she had made the payment via the gang leader, who had given her no trouble. In fact, they were too pleasant; they wanted her to stay longer, to buy her drinks, but she
wisely decided not to hang around too long and instead absorbed the sights and sounds of the city.

‘Did you have a good night?’ she asked.

I wanted to tell her about Titiana, who I had once mentioned to Leana when we were out working on a case in Venyn. At the time the conversation was purely to take our minds off the gruesome task
of cleaning up after a smuggling crackdown had gone wrong, to open up to Leana and show her I was not an emotionless soul. Not that she particularly cared either way.

‘I bumped into Senator Veron,’ I said, ‘who was his usual lively self. We now have a list of senators with whom Lacanta was involved – and possibly intimately
so.’

‘This is good,’ Leana replied. ‘But I do not understand him. He seems too friendly, no?’

‘I wouldn’t worry,’ I said. ‘He’s just a politician, hoping to discover gossip or to bank a favour for future usage, but he’s opening doors for us to expand
the investigation.’

‘It could be that he is guilty – he comes to find you on the night of the murder to put you off the scent.’

‘I’ve thought about that, but he has witnesses that can vouch for his presence before the incident. A good few people within these statements talk about how he was causing a great
deal of fuss because he didn’t like the wine.’

‘Hmm. Will today be as busy as yesterday?’ Leana asked.

‘I hope not. First I’d like to visit the money temples. We need to book an armed escort to accompany the large payment of cash to Veldrum Hecater, and I also need to cash in the
remains of my credit note from Venyn – all of it, in fact. Then I will have finally cleared my father’s debts, which should then guarantee we don’t receive further
attacks.’

‘Good. That is one less thing to worry about.’ Leana grabbed an apple from the table and bit into it.

‘And after that,’ I continued, ‘it’s straight to Optryx, where—’

There was a banging at the door. Bellona came shuffling through the hallway, wide-eyed, but seemed hesitant to open it to such a vicious pounding. Leana strode over to see what the matter was
and, with Bellona, they both unbolted and drew back the heavy door.

I stood up, hearing voices in loud discussion. Presently, three men marched into the room, two of whom were hefty-looking fellows carrying a large trunk; another, much older man followed and he
promptly began to order them about.

‘Place it down there, lads,’ he said, gesturing to the middle of the room with his polished walking cane. He was taller than me, at least two decades older, with long grey hair, thin
lips and sunken eyes, and he walked with a slight limp that he tried to disguise with his cloak.

‘What’s going on?’ I demanded. ‘And what in Polla’s name is that?’

‘You’re the Drakenfeld boy?’ he snapped.

‘My name is Lucan Drakenfeld, and I haven’t been called a boy in over fifteen years.’

‘Means nothing to me, boy.’ He tapped the trunk with his cane. ‘You can keep your father’s shit here.’

The trunk was similar to the one from the rented office, which I had not yet had the opportunity to revisit. ‘We were legal tenants—’

‘Who have not kept up repayments. I don’t care what deeds you have, or whatever legal terms you folk like to throw around, you’re no longer welcome in my property. Everything
that was in those offices is in this trunk – books, papers, and other bits and pieces – the lot.’

‘Now, just wait a moment,’ I began.

‘What? Don’t tell me you actually want to keep renting? Not on your life, sir! I’ve had enough of your family to last me a lifetime. Consider your contract to be
terminated.’

I decided not to pursue the matter. Another office was such a waste when I had more than enough space in this house. ‘Why do you hate my family so much?’

‘Your father did not exactly set the best example,’ he grunted. ‘Now, out of here, lads. We’ve much to do today.’ He turned to leave and the other two men scuttled
out of the room.

‘Wait.’ I stepped forward to casually block the man’s path, cautious that it did not appear to be a threat. ‘I know so little about what happened with my father, let
alone what concerns his debts.’

‘Just as well if you ask me,’ the man snapped.

‘Why?’

‘Got into gambling, didn’t he? A bad habit, that.’

‘Gambling?’ The word seemed to physically hit me and I sat down on a wicker chair, dumbstruck.

‘Aye, one of his sons led him down that dark road some time ago, though he’s long cleared out of the city.’

‘My brother?’

‘Probably. Don’t you keep an eye out for each other?’

‘Not my brother, no.’ Marius kept himself to himself, and life was all the better for it. He loathed our father. ‘Did he mention what my brother had done?’

He shrugged, before continuing as if he was now enjoying himself: ‘Opened up old wounds, so I understand. Gambling. Women. Drink. Didn’t just happen right away, but over time. Lad
had his own debts and came scrounging from his father. Calludian did a grand job of keeping it quiet, but not from the likes of me. Pleaded with me, you see. Explained his problems. Tried to tell
me to hang on, that he’d deliver the money sooner or later, to have a heart and all that. Very poor form.’ The man jabbed his cane in my direction. ‘Even had the money to pay it
off, so he eventually claimed – pay all the debt in one go. So he did for most of it. But he was still in arrears. Never trusted him after that. If you’ll excuse me, Tryum is only just
waking up and I’ve several other matters to see to before people leave for work. Too many scroungers and people in debt for my liking. City didn’t build itself on scroungers. Put the
lot of them in the army.’

The bitter man limped his way out into the hazy daylight, and Bellona closed the door behind him.

I called Bellona over, and she froze on the spot. ‘Please, there is no reason to be shy. Have I offended you?’

She shook her head. ‘You are highborn . . .’

‘Don’t think me somehow better than yourself.’ I could just about recall my mother once reminding me about that fact, that I should always remember I had been born into
privilege, and not to abuse that position.

It didn’t do much to soothe Bellona, but Leana guided her to the table. I took this opportunity to ask her if she knew anything of my father’s debts and his gambling habits. Despite
my soft tone, she was visibly distressed. Leana, even though she was hesitant, did a better job than me in soothing her. Eventually all Bellona managed to say was that, from time to time towards
the end, my father had difficulties making ends meet, which is why there was now only the one member of staff. Eventually she calmed down, and her words came with considered clarity.

‘He never spoke of money. Sometimes he said to buy cheaper bread, sometimes no meat or fish. He never said why. I’m just the cook. It is not my place to know these things.’

‘And my brother Marius?’

‘I didn’t really see him. He took the master out from time to time, into town at night. Those nights they came back late and drunk, but your brother never stayed in the city for
long. I overheard once that he was on the run from debt collectors himself, and didn’t like to settle in one place.’

So my brother’s gift for my father was to lumber him with debts and bad old habits. My family’s past, my father’s old misdemeanour, once again echoed through my mind. Perhaps
some people never forget their old ways.

Bellona clearly didn’t like being involved in such affairs, so I took her hand between my palms, looked her firmly in the eye and told her that no harm would come to her while she was
under this roof. She offered me a warmer smile than before and then stood up.

‘I must get back to work. Big houses don’t clean themselves.’

As she left the room, Leana turned to me with a look of surprise. ‘Your father gambled?’

‘Apparently so. My father – who everyone in this city speaks of like he was a god – turns out to be human after all. No doubt my brother played some role in leading him down
such a path, for the few nights he decided to hang around.’

‘You never mention him.’

‘For good reason. He’s never had respect for any of us, and rejected anything of a proper lifestyle. Polla knows what he’s up to now, other than getting people involved in
gambling.’

‘Not a good start to the day.’

‘No, it is not,’ I sighed. ‘But at least that provides more of an explanation for the debts.’

‘Be positive,’ Leana said. ‘You have your father’s possessions back, do you not? In Venyn this would have been opened long ago, the contents for sale in some
market.’

‘You make a good point,’ I sighed, stepping over to the trunk.

I levered it open and stooped to peer inside. Several heavy ledgers lay underneath writing instruments, an abacus, three or four ornaments, and a smaller, polished wooden box. I lifted the
latter out, opened it up. Inside were a couple of peculla coins, and a small stone that could have been used as a paperweight. What caught my eye, however, was the empty blue glass vial, which was
no bigger than my thumb, and shaped with a long, thin neck. A tiny cork was stuck in the end.