Iorich (25 page)

“Got it,” he said.

I nodded. “What did you learn?”

“That he’s bored, that this is stupid, that nothing has been happening, and that he’s glad he doesn’t have to make the report.”

“Um. Let’s start with the last. He doesn’t have to make the report?”

“No, he’s just helping out some guy named Widner.”

“And he doesn’t know who Widner reports to?”

“Nope.”

I suggested that my patron goddess should take sensual pleasure, though I didn’t put it quite in those terms. “Why doesn’t he want to make the report?”

“I can’t say exactly; I just got the impression that whoever the report is being given to, he wouldn’t like her.”

“Her.”

He nodded.

“Oh.”

I withdrew my suggestions about the Demon Goddess.

Well now, that was all sorts of interesting. “Thank you, Daymar. You’ve been most helpful.”

“Always a pleasure, Vlad.”

There was a “whoosh” of air and he was gone, all abrupt and stuff, leaving me with my thoughts, such as they were.

Her.

If it was a “her” that Widner was reporting to, it was the Left Hand of the Jhereg.

Why was the Left Hand keeping a watch on what happened in that little cottage?

Because the Left Hand was involved in whatever the Jhereg—the Right Hand, I mean—and the Orca were doing. And because having Brinea and her people pushing for the Empire to investigate the massacre in Tirma might mess up the plans.

Okay, fine. Why?

Because the Empire, just on the off chance that they were honest (whatever Cawti might say about that possibility), would, by investigating, undercut the pressure the Jhereg and the Orca were putting on them, and their scheme would fall through.

So, what would they do? They’d stop the investigation, if they could.

How? How do you go about stopping an Imperial investigation? And what did it have to do with some weird group of Easterners gathered in a little cottage in South Adrilankha?

Loiosh returned from his errand and landed on my shoulder.

“Is he gone already, Boss?”

“Yeah, and so are we. I have stuff to do.”

Q: State your name and House.

A: Aliera e’Kieron, House of the Dragon.

Q: What was your position at the time of the incident in Tirma?

A: As near as
I
can reconstruct the moment
, I
was sitting down.

Q: Please tell us your official position with respect to the Empire.

A: Prisoner.

Q: Please tell us your official position, with respect to the Empire, at the time of the incident in Tirma.

A: Warlord, although in point of fact, my respect for the Empire is, at this moment, under something of a strain.

Q: Were the Imperial troops in Tirma acting under your orders?

A: I was the Warlord.

Q: I take that as an affirmative.

A: You can take that and—yes, they were acting under my orders.

Q: What orders did you give with respect to the rebellion in the duchy of Carver?

A: To suppress it.

Q: Were you specific as to the means of suppressing it?

A: I thought perhaps a nice bouquet of candlebud surrounding a bottle of Ailor would do the trick.

Q: The Court reminds the witness that copies of her orders are in the Court’s possession.

A: The witness wonders, then, why the Court is bothering to ask questions to which it knows the answers.

Q: The witness is reminded that she may be held in contempt.

A: The feeling is mutual.

“Want to tell me about it, Boss?”

Just to be unpredictable, I filled him in on what I’d put together. When I’d finished, he was quiet for a while; maybe from shock. Then he said,
“Okay, what now?”

“Can you think of any reason for the Left Hand to have that cottage watched, except for what I’m thinking? They’re pushing for an Imperial investigation, and the Left Hand doesn’t want that to happen. Am I missing something?”

“Boss, you don’t know anything about those people. That’s one thing they’re doing. What if it’s something else entirely?”

“Like what?”

“How should I know?”

“You really think it’s something else?”

“No, I think the same as you. But you don’t know.”

“Then let’s run with that for the moment, and see where it gets us. If the Empire investigates, the deal’s off, and the Jhereg, the Orca, and the Left Hand all lose. So, they don’t want the investigation to happen.”

“But it’s happening anyway, having nothing to do with anyone in any little cottage. Where does that leave us?”

“That’s what I’m trying to work out.”

“Work away.”

“Okay. How do you stop an Imperial investigation?”

“You know, Boss, that’s something you neglected to cover in my training sessions.”

“Can’t pressure the Empress directly, we have nothing to pressure her with.”

“I don’t get it, Boss. Why is the Empress doing this, anyway?”

“So she can get out from under the Jhereg; to look good to the nobles, and maybe to the people too, I don’t know.”

“Okay, I’ll buy that.”

“So then, the thing to do is to discredit the investigation.”

“Good plan, Boss. How do you do it?”

“Spread rumors that these Easterners are behind it? Maybe plant some evidence?”

“Possible.”
He didn’t sound convinced. Neither was I, for that matter.

“Boss, where are we going?”

I stopped. As I had been thinking and walking, my feet had taken me over the Stone Bridge and were leading me back to my old area—the worst place I could be. The chances of the Jhereg spotting me were too high to make me comfortable anywhere in the city; in my old neighborhood it was nearly certain.

“Uh, nowhere. Back to the Palace, I guess.”

I changed direction; Loiosh kept his comments to himself.

I made it to the Palace without incident, entering through the Dragon Wing just to be contrary, and because I was in a
mood to glare back. I found some food, then crossed to the House of the Iorich.

I clapped, and, once again, he opened the door enough to peer out, then let me in. One of these days, I was going to have to ask him why he does that.

I sat down and said, “The Empress is launching an investigation into the events at Tirma.”

“Yes,” he said. “I seem to remember telling you that. What about it?”

“Do you think it’s a real investigation?”

He frowned. “As opposed to what?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “A bunch of running around, closed-door testimony, followed by whatever result the Empress wants.”

“I doubt it’s that, not from this empress. I should find out who is in charge of it. That might tell us something.” He stood up. “I may as well do it now.”

“Should I wait here?”

“Yes, but relax. This might take a while.”

I nodded. He slipped out. I leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes. I guess I fell asleep, or at least dozed. I had some vaguely disturbing dream that I can’t remember, and woke up when Perisil came back in.

“Were you sleeping?” He seemed amused.

“Just resting my eyes,” I said. “What did you learn?”

“It’s being run by Lady Justicer Desaniek.”

He sat down behind his desk and looked expectantly at me. “Sorry,” I said. “I don’t know the name.”

“She’s one of the High Justicers. I trust you know what that means?”

“More or less,” I said.

“I know her. She isn’t corruptible. She’s a little fast and
loose with her interpretations of the traditions, but completely unimpeachable when it comes to judgment and sentencing.”

“So you’re saying that the investigation is straight.”

“Probably. She’d be an odd choice if the Empress didn’t want to actually learn what happened, and why.”

“Might there be other pressures on her, less direct than orders to rig it?”

He hesitated. “Maybe.”

“So then, how would someone stop it?”

“Stop it?” he said. “Why would you want to do that?”

“Not me. There are others.”

“Who?”

“Let’s say powerful interests. How would they go about stopping it?”

“I can’t answer that unless you give me more information. What interests? Why do they want to stop it? Powerful in what way?”

“All good questions,” I said. I paused to consider just what I could tell him. It was frustrating: he could almost certainly tell me useful things if I didn’t have to worry about what he might be made to tell.

“Just suppose,” I said, “that there existed a large criminal organization.”

I hesitated there; he watched me, listening, not moving.

“And suppose,” I said, “that they had come up with a great idea for changing the law in such a way that they made a lot of money, and that they were working with certain other very powerful interests.”

“How powerful?”

“As powerful as you can be at the bottom of the Cycle.”

“Go on.”

“And suppose that this idea for changing the law required putting pressure on the Empress, and that this investigation had a good likelihood of relieving that pressure.”

“I’m with you.”

“How would such a hypothetical organization go about stopping or sabotaging the investigation?”

He was silent for a minute or two; I could almost hear his brain bubbling. Then he said, “I can’t think of any way.”

“Heh. Suppose they killed Desaniek?”

“Would they do that?”

“They might.”

“It wouldn’t work anyway. The Empire would find someone else just as good, and make sure it doesn’t happen again, and hunt down whoever did it.”

“I suppose so. In any case, I apologize; I understand this is outside of your usual line of work.”

He shrugged and a wisp of a smile came and went. “It’s a welcome break from thinking about rules of evidence and forms of argument.”

“Oh? You don’t enjoy your work?”

“I do, really. But it gets tedious at times. This whole case has been a bit out of the ordinary for me, and I appreciate that.”

“A pleasure to be of service,” I said. “I can’t imagine doing what you do.”

“I can’t—that is—never mind.”

“Do you care whether the person you’re defending is actually innocent or guilty?”

“Innocent and guilty are legal terms.”

“You’re evading the question.”

“You should be an Iorich.”

“Thank you, I think.”

“The House has decreed that, whatever a person may or may not have done, he is entitled to be defended. That is sufficient for me.”

“But if he tells you he did, doesn’t that—”

“No one would tell me that, because I’d have to testify to that fact.”

“Oh, right, I knew that. But if, say, the person implies it, or hints at it—”

“I still give him the best defense I can, because that’s what the House dictates, and what Imperial law decrees as well.”