Tiassa (9 page)

I kept my face straight and said, “If you’d be good enough to tell me, m’lord.”

He blushed and dropped character and said, “He went for it, my lord. It went almost perfectly.”

“Almost?”

“He met my price too easily; I should have asked for more money.”

I chuckled. “Good work. Take a moment to relax, and we’ll go over your next part—it’s the tricky one.”

“Yes, m’lord.”

I stuck my head out of the office and had Melestav send word to Ironstone Manor for the rest of the crew to be here in the morning; then I returned to Omlo and said, “So, how was it?”

He smiled bashfully. “I may change careers, m’lord.”

I grinned. “You like being a confidence artist?”

“An actor.”

“Ah. A bit of a drop in money and prestige, but I suspect you’ll do well. I can probably give you some help with that, in fact.”

“My lord? Are you serious?”

“Are you?”

He hesitated, then nodded.

“Then so am I,” I told him.

“My lord,” he said, “I’d be very grateful.”

“It’s nothing. No trouble for me. Meantime, let’s work up the next part. We have a day to get ready, so let’s be at it. The timing is tricky, but it shouldn’t be
too
tricky.”

He nodded. “I’m ready, m’lord.”

“All right, we’ll start with the transfer. Here’s how it’s going to work.…”

In an hour he had it. In two, he was good at it. So we kept at it for about six, with a break for some food. During the break, Omlo said hesitantly, “My lord?”

“Hmm?”

“Did you mean it? About helping me?”

“With an acting career? Sure. There are two companies that operate in this area, and they both like the idea of me being well disposed toward them.”

He made grateful sounding mutters for a while.

I said, “But you know, the theater isn’t the same as just putting on a role like you did today, or like you’ve been doing. Having a big audience is different.”

“I know, my lord. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, though. Ever since my paener used to take me to the Marketday Players on Settler.”

I nodded. “What House are you, Omlo? I mean, when you aren’t pretending?”

“Chreotha, my lord.”

“I’m surprised.”

“My lord?”

“You said that before, in front of the civilians. I just assumed you were lying.”

“My lord? Why?”

I shrugged. “So, what do your people do?”

“My father does ceramics, my mother works with pewter.”

“And you ended up in one of my brothels.”

“My lord?”

“It’s just a curious thing, that’s all. What do you think our friends are up to?”

“My lord?”

“Blue-boy and Ibronka. What do you think their game is?” He looked blank, so I said, “Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to know; I’m mostly thinking aloud. Wondering what they really want.”

“You think they lied to you, m’lord?”

“I know they lied about some things, so that makes me think they’re lying about more.”

“My lord, what did they lie to you about?”

I started to answer, but stopped before the words were out of my mouth. “What did he lie to you about?”

“My lord?”

“You didn’t ask what he lied about, you asked what he lied
to me
about. I want to know what he lied to you about.”

“Oh. He said he didn’t know anything about the life, my lord.”

“He was lying? You’ve seen him?”

“The two of them, in the house, the Couches.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

The question seemed to surprise him. “My lord, we never publicly recognize a num unless the num invites us to. That’s just, that’s how it works.”

“Hmm. All right. But you did see them?”

“A few times in passing. I never entertained them.”

“When were they there?”

He squinted. “The first time, maybe half a year ago. Then two or three times after that. The last time was last month. Not since then.”

“Who entertained them?”

“Neritha. She was good with threesomes.”

“What can you tell me about her?”

“I think she’s a Tsalmoth. She started there three years ago, just after I did.”

“What’s she like?”

He rubbed his chin. “Nice enough, but kind of hard. Not the kind who was making a career of it, but more like she wanted to get a score together and go somewhere.”

“She’s still there?”

“No, my lord. I haven’t seen her in, I think, about three months. She was just gone one day. I heard she was caught stealing from nums.”

“I’ll bet H’noc loved that. Any word on what he might have done to her?”

“No, my lord.”

“She have a pimp?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Addicted to anything?”

He shook his head.

I nodded. “So, that answers some questions. And asks some more. I’ll total them up later and see which is higher. Just a minute.”

I left him there while I found Kragar, to whom I said, “I don’t think you have enough to do.”

He rolled his eyes. “Vlad, you’ve already got me—”

“This one is easy. Get the story of a tag named Neritha, at the Couches, who was probably caught stealing from nums. That’s all.”

“Any reason I can’t just ask H’noc?”

“No. Yes. Try to find out some other way.”

“Now?”

“Now.”

I went back and worked with Omlo for another hour or two then let him go, confident that he had his part down. I hung around for about an hour after that, until Kragar showed up.

He said, “The most surprising thing is that it really was simple. She was caught stealing, and—”

“How?”

“Num complained, H’noc checked it.”

“Heh. Good for him. What did he do?”

“Broke her arms, broke her legs, gave her a case of the drips, and kicked her.”

“The drips. Nasty. When did this happen?”

“Nine weeks ago. I’m sure she’s fine by now. Do you need me to find her?”

“Set someone on it in case, but don’t put a lot into it. I’m guessing there’s no need.”

“All right. Anything else?”

“Yes. Touch Omlo and let him know I need him here early tomorrow. Real early. Seventh hour.”

“Care to grab some food after I do that?”

“Why not? Nothing else to do. You paying, what with all the bonuses I just gave you?”

“Keep dreaming, Vlad.”

I didn’t see Cawti that night; she was spending time with her ex-partner, Norathar, who—no, skip it, it’s too long a story. So without her there, I passed a bitter night alone with my guilt for all the evil I’ve done. Okay, not really; I had two glasses of Fenarian brandy (because Dragaeran brandy tastes like the stuff you use to clean the klava press), read a chapter of Devin’s
Trial of the Bell Ringer
, and went to sleep. But I did miss her.

I got to the office very early the next day, but Omlo was there before I’d finished my second cup of klava. I had extra klava brought in for him.

“Run through it all,” I told him. “Just words. Talk it.”

He nodded, sipped his klava, and spoke in a slow, measured stream. When he was finished, I said, “Good. That’s good. You have it.”

He bobbed his head.

I had some more klava and said, “You want to make some extra money?”

He looked suspicious; it was like he was getting to know me or something.

I said, “I’ll lay it out for you. You don’t have to do this, but if you decide to, we have to go over it fast, because you need to be solid with it before the rest of the crew shows up.”

“Is it dangerous, my lord?”

I took a moment to decide how to answer; but as the Shereba players say,
if you’re going to hesitate that long, pass.
“Yes,” I said.

“How dangerous?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“M’lord, may I wait until you know before deciding?”

I chuckled. “That’s only fair, I suppose. The trouble is, we don’t have that kind of time. Foxy and Ibronka will be here in a couple of hours, and if you’re going to do this, you need to be solid on it by then. I don’t think the heat will go to you, and if it does, I think I can protect you. But I can’t promise. Tiassa are almost as unpredictable as Tsalmoth, and Dzur are as bad-tempered as Dragons. Do you understand?”

“Yes, m’lord.”

“So take all the time you need to decide, up to five minutes. The job pays one hundred imperials.”

His eyes widened at the amount, but greed did not instantly overcome him, the way it would have a Jhereg, or an Orca. He sat and thought about it. After about four minutes, he nodded.

“Good,” I said. “Now, let me run it down.”

When he had it, I still had a little time, so I had him wait while I spoke to Kragar about the rest of it. He listened quietly as he always does. When I’d finished, he didn’t say anything. After a bit, I said, “Well?”

“I’m just trying to remember if I’ve ever heard of anything stupider. I think I have. I’m pretty sure I have. I just want to see if I can—”

“Okay, okay. What would you suggest instead?”

“You want me to—”

“Cut it out. Come up with a better suggestion, help me fill the holes in this one, or at least tell me what they are, all right?”

“I didn’t mean to say you shouldn’t do it, just that it’s stupid.”

“Not as stupid as getting married to the girl who killed you.”

“Well, yeah, that would be … wait. Are you serious? You mean that girl who—”

“Yeah.”

“You want to marry her?”

“She asked me. I said yes.”

“Vlad, have you lost it completely?”

“Pretty much.”

He was quiet for a long two minutes. Then he cleared his throat and said, “Uh, congratulations, I guess.”

“Thanks, I think.”

“Feel like telling me about it?”

“Not really. I’d rather we go back to talking about the other stupid idea. You’re saying we should go with it?”

It took him a moment to recall what we’d been talking about, but then he said, “I can’t come up with anything better.”

“All right, then.”

“Who do you want me to grab for this?”

“We’ll need a sorcerer who specializes in light extraction from candlebud, a smith who can fabricate a four-foot surgical-quality needle, an acrobat who can do both wide-spar and high-rope, a swimmer who is fluent in Serioli, a—”

“You can stop now, Vlad. I saw that play, too.”

“Good. I couldn’t remember the other two.”

“Who do you need?”

“You. Me. Omlo. Enough muscle to keep me alive during the fun part if things go wrong. Sticks, Shoen, and two others who are reliable.”

“If we add a couple more, can we keep me alive, too?”

“We could, but I don’t want to spend that much. Get on it. I have guests arriving soon.”

4

They all arrived on time—a small miracle—and took seats.

“How are things so far?” asked Foxy.

“Good. Today we do the swap.”

He looked at Omlo. “Is he ready?”

“Omlo, are you?”

“I think so.”

“So, what do we do next?” asked Kragar.

We all looked at him. I cleared my throat and said, “Three of them are practicing their parts. You’re going to run out and bring us back some breakfast. Steamed sweet rolls stuffed with kethna. Make sure they’re hot.”

“I should have seen that coming,” he said.

“Don’t forget one for Loiosh.”

He shook his head and walked out.

“Boss, you’re the best.”

“Don’t ever forget it.”

I went over things with them, then did so again, by which time Kragar was back with breakfast. Everyone enjoyed the food—Blue-guy exceptionally so. I liked that; it’s always a pleasure to introduce someone to a delicacy he hadn’t been aware of.

We ate, went over things once more, then I said, “All right. Unless there are questions, the Runner and the Dog-man might as well get started.”

“No questions here,” said Ibronka.

I studied her. “Sorry,” I said.

“About what?”

“The lack of action for you.”

“Sorry? I assumed you’d done it just to annoy me.”

“I probably would have, if I’d thought of it.”

She made a sound somewhere between a sniff and a snort.