Yendi (18 page)

"I know," I said. Now, would you like to hear something crazy? I wanted, badly, to say something like, "I hope I can take her place for you," or maybe, "I'll be here," or even, "I love you, Cawti." But I couldn't. Why? Because, as far as I could tell, I was going to be dead in a little while. Laris was still after me, still had more resources than I did, and, most important, he knew where to find me, and I didn't know where to find him. So, under the circumstances, how could I do anything that would tie her to me? It was crazy. I shook my head and kept my mouth shut.

I looked up at her and noticed that she was staring over my shoulder and nodding slightly.

"
Loiosh!
"

"
Yeah, boss?
"

"
What are you telling her, damn you?
"

"
What you'd tell her yourself, boss, if you weren't a dzur-brained fool.
" I made a grab for him, but he fluttered over to the windows ill. I stood up, growling, and felt a touch on my arm.

"Vladimir," she said calmly, "let's go to bed." Well, between wringing the neck of a wiseass, know-it-all jhereg, and making love to the most wonderful woman in the world--I mean, the choice wasn't hard to make.

Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.

"Well, what did you think I'd do? Kiss him?"

"
Milord?
"

"
Yes, Fentor?
" I came more fully awake and pulled Cawti closer to me.

"
I've located Countess Neorenti.
"

"
Good work, Fentor. I'm pleased. What about the Athyra?
"

"
Milord, are you certain about her name? Baroness Tierella?
"

"
I think so. I could check on it a little more, I suppose. Why? Can't find her?
"

"
I've checked the records as thoroughly as I can. Milord. There has never been anyone
named 'Tierella' in the House of the Athyra, 'Baroness' or anything else.
" I sighed. Why does life have to be so Verra-be-damned complicated?

"
Okay, Fentor. I'll worry about it tomorrow. Get some sleep.
"

"
Thank you, milord.
"

The contact was broken. Cawti was awake, and snuggled closer to me.

"What is it, Vladimir?"

"More trouble," I said. "Let's forget it for now."

"Mmmmmmm," she said.

"
Loiosh.
"

"
Yeah, boss?
"

"
You are provisionally forgiven.
"

"
Yeah, I know.
"

A few brief, happy hours later we were up and functional. Cawti offered to buy me breakfast and I accepted. Before we left, she wandered around the rooms, looking into nooks and crannies. She commented on a cheap print of an expensive Katana sketch of Dzur Mountain, sneered good-naturedly at some imitation Eastern cut glass, and would have continued all day if I hadn't finally said, "Let me know when you're through with the inspection. I'm getting hungry-"

"Hm? Oh. Sorry." She gave the flat another look. "It's just that I suddenly feel as if this were home."

I felt a lump in my throat as she took my arm and guided me to the door.

"Where shall we eat? Vladimir?"

"What? Oh. Uh, anywhere's fine. There's a place just a couple of doors up that has clean silver and klava that you don't need a spoon for."

"Sounds good."

Loiosh settled on my shoulder and we went down to the street. It was about four hours after dawn, and a few things were just beginning to get going, but there was little street traffic. We went into Tsedik's and Cawti bought me two greasy sausages, a pair of burned chicken eggs, warmed bread, and adequate klava to wash it down with. She had the same.

I said, "I just realized that I haven't cooked a meal for you yet."

"I was wondering when you'd get around to it." She smiled.

"You know I cook? Oh. Yeah." She continued eating. I said, "I really ought to do a job on your background, just to make us even, you know."

"I told you most of it last night, Vladimir."

"Doesn't count," I sniffed. "Not the same thing." Midway through the meal, I noted the time and decided to do some business. "Excuse me," I said to Cawti.

"
Morrolan...
"

"
Yes, Vlad?
"

"
The Athyra you gave me isn't.
"

"
I beg your pardon?
"

"
She isn't an Athyra.
"

"
What is she, pray?
"

"
As far as I know, she doesn't exist.
"

There was a pause. "
I shall look into this and inform you of the results.
"

"
Okay.
"

I sighed, and the rest of the meal passed in silence. We kept it short, because being in a public restaurant without bodyguards can be dangerous. All it would take would be a waiter who knew what was going on to get a message to Laris's people, and they could send someone in to nail me. Cawti understood this, so she didn't make any comment when I rushed a bit.

She understood it so well, in fact, that she stepped out of the place ahead of me, just to make sure there was no one around. Loiosh did the same thing.

"
Boss, stay back!
" And, "Vladimir!" And, for the first time in my life, I froze in a crisis. Why? Because all of my instincts and training told me to dive and get away from the door, but my reason told me that Cawti was facing an assassin.

I stood there like an idiot while Cawti rushed out, and then there was someone in front of me, holding a wizard's staff. He gestured, and then Spellbreaker was in my hand and swinging toward him before I knew what I was doing. I felt a tingling in my arm and knew that I'd intercepted something. I saw the guy in front of me curse, but before he could do anything else there was a dagger sticking out of the side of his neck. Whatever Cawti was doing, she apparently had time to keep an eye on the door. As I scrambled through, drawing a stiletto, I managed a psionic "
Help!
" to Kragar. Then I saw three more of them. Sheesh!

One was yelling and trying to fight off Loiosh. Another was dueling, sword to sword, with Cawti. The third spotted me as I emerged and his hand flicked out. I dived toward him, rolling (this is not easy with a sword at your hip), and whatever he threw missed. I lashed out with both feet, but he danced back out of the way. There was a knife in his left hand, set for throwing. I hoped he'd miss any vital spots.

Then the knife fell from his hand as a dagger blossomed from his wrist. I took the opportunity to roll up and do unto him what he'd been about to do unto me. I considered his heart an adequate vital spot; I didn't miss it.

A quick glance at Cawti showed me that she was doing all right against her man, who apparently wasn't used to a swordsman who presented only the side. I drew my rapier and took two steps toward the one Loiosh was engaging. He gave Loiosh a last swipe, turned to face me, raised his blade, and took the point of my rapier in his left eye. I turned back to Cawti. She was cleaning her weapon.

"Let's move, troops," I said, as Loiosh returned to my shoulder.

"Good idea. Can you teleport?"

"Not when I'm this excited. You?"

"No."

"How about walking, then. Back to my office."

Cawti cleaned her blade, while I dropped mine where it was. Then I led us back into Tsedik's and out the back door, and we began a leisurely stroll back to the office. If we walked fast, we'd attract even more attention than we already had, but I don't know if there is anything in the world more difficult than trying to stroll while your heart is racing and the adrenaline is pumping through your system. I was trembling like a teckla, and the knowledge that this made me an even easier target didn't help. We had gone less than a block toward the office when four more Jhereg showed up: Glowbug, N'aal, Shoen, and Sticks.

"Good morning, gentlemen," I managed. They all greeted me. I refrained from telling N'aal that he looked well, because he might have thought I was mocking him. He didn't seem resentful, though.

We made it back to the office without incident. I contrived to be alone when I finally lost my breakfast. It hadn't been that good, anyway.

I've known Dragaerans, and I mean known, not just heard of, who can eat a meal, go out and have an incredibly close brush with death, then come home and eat another meal. You might run into one of these jokers an hour later and ask if anything interesting has been happening, and he'll shrug and say, "Not really." I don't know if I admire these types or just feel sorry for them, but I'm sure not like that. I have a variety of reactions to almost dying and none of them involves being plussed. It's especially bad when it comes as the result of an assassination attempt, because such attempts are, by nature, unexpected.

But my reactions, as I said, vary. Sometimes I become paranoid for a few hours or days, sometimes I become aggressive and belligerent. This time, I sat very still at my desk for a long time. I was shaken and I was scared. The sight of those four--
four--
kept running through my mind.

I was definitely going to have to do something about this Laris fellow.

"
Time to get moving, boss.
"

"
Eh?
"

"
You've been sitting there for about two hours now. That's enough.
"

"
It can't have been that long.
"

"
Humph.
"

I noticed Cawti was in the room, waiting for me. "How long have you been there?"

"About two hours."

"It can't--have you been talking to Loiosh? Never mind." I took a couple of deep breaths. "Sorry," I said. "I'm not used to this."

"You should be by now," she remarked dryly.

"Yeah. I've got that to console me. How many people do you know who have survived..."

"Yes, Vlad? What is it?"

I sat there thinking for a very long time indeed. Then I asked the question again, in a less rhetorical tone of voice. "How many people do you know who have survived even two assassination attempts, let alone three?"

She shook her head. "There are damn few who survive the first one. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone surviving two. As for three--it's quite an accomplishment, Vladimir."

"Is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Look Cawti, I'm good, I know that. I'm also lucky. But I'm not
that
good, and I'm not
that
lucky. What does that leave?"

"That the assassins were incompetent?" she said, raising an eyebrow. I saw it and raised one. "Are you?"

"No."

"So what else does it leave?"

"I give up. What?"

"That the attempts weren't real."

"What?"

"What if Laris hasn't been trying to kill me?"

"That's absurd."

"I agree. But so is surviving three assassination attempts."

"Well, yes, but--"

"Let's think about it, all right?"

"How can I think about it? Damn it, I did one of them myself."

"I know. All right, we'll start with you, then. Were you actually hired to assassinate me, or were you hired to make it look like you were trying to assassinate me?"

"Why on Dragaera--?"

"Don't evade the issue, please. Which was it?"

"We were hired to assassinate you, damn it!"

"That's admissible at Court, you know. Never mind," I said quickly as she started flushing. "Okay, you say you were hired to assassinate me. Suppose you were given the job of making it look good. How--"

"I wouldn't take it. And get myself killed?"

"Skip that for the moment. Just suppose. How would you deal with the questions I've been asking, if your job was to make me think Laris wanted to kill me?"

"I--" she stopped and looked puzzled.

"Right. You'd answer just as you've been answering."

"Vladimir," she said slowly, "do you actually think that's the case?"

"Uh... not really. But I have to allow for the possibility. Don't I?"

"I guess," she said. "But where does that leave you?"

"It means that, for the moment, we can forget about you and Norathar."

"You still haven't said
why
he'd want to do this."

"I know. Skip that, too. Let's take the attempt outside the office. I've told you about it, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay. I got out of that because I'm quick and accurate and, mostly, because Loiosh warned me in time, and took care of one of them so that I was free to deal with the other."

"
I was wondering if you'd remember that, boss.
"

"
Shut up, Loiosh.
"

"Now," I continued, "how could Laris, and therefore anyone he hired,
not
have known about Loiosh?"

"Well, of course he knew about him--that's why he sent two assassins."

"But they underestimated him?"

"Well--forgive me, Loiosh--but he didn't do all that well against Norathar and me. Also, you reacted better and more quickly than Laris could have expected. As I told you before, Vladimir, you have a talent for making people underestimate you."

"Maybe. Or maybe he gave the job to a pair of incompetents, hoping they'd bungle it."

"That's absurd. He couldn't
tell
them to bungle it, that would be suicide. And he couldn't
know
they'd fail. As I understand it, they almost got you."

"And, maybe, even if they had, they wouldn't have made it permanent. We can't question them. Which reminds me, you could also have been told not to make it permanent. Were you?"

"No."

"Okay, skip that. Maybe he figured I'd survive, and, if I didn't, that I'd be revivified."

"But you still haven't said why."

"Wait for it. Now, about today--"

"I was wondering when you were going to get to that. Did you see what the one threw at you?"

"The sorcerer?"

"No, the other one."

"No. What was it?"

"A pair of large throwing knives, with thin blades. And they were perfectly placed for your head."

"But I ducked."

"Oh, come on, Vlad. How could he know that you'd react that quickly?"

"Because he knows me--he's studied me. Deathsgate, Cawti. That's what I'd do--what I've been trying to do as best I can."