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Authors: Steven Brust

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BOOK: Dragon (Vlad Taltos)
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It did. “Up the stairs, straight back, last door on the left. Clap and enter.”
I sketched a bow, resisting the temptation to make it overelaborate.
“What are you afraid of, Boss?”
“Shut up, Loiosh.”
The steps were set too high for my comfort, making it a challenge to climb casually with, I assumed, the eyes of the two Dragonlords on my back. I managed as best I could. My footsteps echoed, and the stairway went on for much too long. When I finally reached the top I walked straight back to the end of a hallway longer than the building that houses my entire operation. It ended in a large door which I ignored; instead stopping at the one to my left, as directed. One clap and I entered.
Lokran turned; he had, apparently, been staring out the window. He was young, with bright eyes, and had a faded white scar above his brows—the scar obviously had some sort of sentimental value for him or he’d have had it removed. His hair was dark, straight, and brushed back in almost a Jhereg-cut. He had rings on four fingers of each hand, and the rings all had jewels in them. The room held four stuffed chairs, a sofa, and no desk; a plain grey banner hung above the window. Three or four short, black staves were leaning against the far wall, and a heavy sword in a black sheath stood next to them.
His eyes narrowed briefly when I entered, then he said, “Taltos?” pronouncing it correctly.
I bowed and said, “Lokran?”
He nodded. “Come a little closer.”
I did.
He gestured casually in my direction, as if he were brushing away an insect, and my bowels twisted, and I was in the courtyard of Castle Black, standing, as far as I could tell, on thin air that felt like a hard surface, say flagstones, but looked like nothing was holding me up. Just like that. He could have bloody warned me.
I’ve given a lot of thought to the question of why teleports upset my stomach; why they seem to have that effect on all Easterners, but not on Dragaerans. In between teleports, I’ve often decided it is all in the imagination of the Easterner, but right after a teleport I’ve found that answer unsatisfying. The explanation that sprang to mind as I stood before Morrolan’s castle, surrounded by his walls, towers, and guards, is that teleports also upset the Dragaeran stomach, but Dragaerans just won’t admit it; how can having your innards flop around so violently that you can feel them sloshing not make you queasy? Could natural selection account for it? I don’t buy it; I just don’t think that nature had it in mind for people to get from one place to another without passing through the intervening area.
These thoughts, I should explain, were one way I occupied my mind while I gave my stomach time to settle down. Another way was to observe that the sentries in the towers were watching me, although they didn’t seem especially surprised. Okay, so I was expected. Over one tower floated a single banner, all of grey.
Eventually I risked a look down. There were trees below me that looked like miniature bushes, and the two roads and one stream were lines of brown and blue respectively, meeting and crossing and running almost parallel to form a design that, if I tried, I could convince myself was a mark in some runic alphabet. Maybe it was a symbol that told the castle, “Don’t fall down.” That was a comforting thought.
I adjusted my cloak, ran a hand through my hair, and approached the double doors of Castle Black. They swung open as I approached, which I should have been expecting, because they’d done the same thing last time. I cursed under my breath but kept a small smile on my lips and didn’t break stride—there were Dragonlords watching.
I hadn’t noticed it the last time, but one reason that it is so effective to see Lady Teldra appear when the doors open is that she is all you can see—the entryway is unlit, and except for her you might be entering the void that one imagines as the land of the dead. (The land of the dead, however, is not a void—it’s worse. But never mind.)
“My Lord Taltos,” said Teldra. “Thank you for gracing our home. The Lord awaits you. Please, enter and be welcome.”
I felt welcome in spite of my more cynical side whispering, “Whatever.”
I crossed the threshold. Lady Teldra did not offer to take my cloak this time. She guided me into the hall with all the paintings, through it, up the wide, curving stairway, and eventually to the library. It was big and full of stuffed chairs and thick books; three of the books, sitting just beyond the entrance, were massive jewel-encrusted objects each chained to a pedestal; I wondered but resolved not to ask. As I entered, Morrolan set a book down and stood up, giving me a small bow.
He opened his mouth, probably to make some sort of ironic courtesy, as a counterpoint to Teldra’s sincere one, but I said, “Who died?” before he could get the words out. He shut his mouth, glanced at Loiosh, and nodded toward a chair next to his. I sat down.
He said, “Baritt.”
I said, “Oh.”
Morrolan seemed to want me to say something, so eventually I said, “You know, the first time I met him I had the feeling he wouldn’t be—”
“Do not joke about it, Vlad.”
“All right. What do you want me to say? I didn’t get the impression he was a friend of yours.”
“He wasn’t.”
“Well?”
Lady Teldra appeared with refreshment—a white wine that would have been too sweet except that it was served over chunks of ice. I sipped it to be polite the first time, and then discovered I liked it. The Issola glided from the room. There was no table on which to set the goblet down, but the chair had wide, flat arms. Very convenient.
“Well?” I repeated.
“In the second place,” said Morrolan, “he was an important man. And in the first place—”
“He was a Dragon,” I concluded. “Yeah, I know.”
Morrolan nodded. I drank some more wine. The sensation of cold helps reduce the sensation of sweetness. I bet you didn’t know that.
“So, what happened to the poor bastard?”
Morrolan started to answer, then paused, then said, “It is unimportant.”
“All right,” I agreed. “It is unimportant to me, in any case.” I had met Baritt, or, more properly, his shade, in the Paths of the Dead. He had taken an instant dislike to Morrolan because Morrolan had the bad taste to be traveling with me, which should give you an idea of how Baritt and I had hit it off.
I continued, “I assume it isn’t a request for sympathy that led to your invitation.”
“You are correct.”
“Well?”
He turned his head to the side and looked at me quizzically. “What is it you gave me, Vlad?”
I laughed. “Is that it? Is that what this is all about?”
“Actually, no. I’m just curious.”
“Oh. Well, remain curious.” I had, in fact, injected him with the blood of a goddess for reasons too complicated to explain
now, and, at the time, I was in no condition to explain anything.
“As you wish. Baritt, as I say, died. In going through his possessions—”
“What? Already? He can’t have been brought to Deathgate yet.”
“And—?”
“Well, that seems awful quick for you long-lived types.”
“There are reasons.”
“You’re just full of information, aren’t you?”
“Were I to tell you matters pertaining to the internal politics of the House of the Dragon I should only weary you. And I should then have to kill you for knowing. So my thought was not to trouble you with such information.”
“A good thought,” I said.
Loiosh shifted on my shoulder, evidently getting restless. “As I was saying, in going through his possessions, certain items were discovered.”
He stopped. I waited. He resumed.
“He had a large collection of Morganti weapons. A large collection. Hundreds of them.”
I repressed a shiver. “I suppose the reason he had them is none of my business, too.”
“That is correct. And, in any case, I don’t know.”
“Well then, what about them?”
“I spent a good portion of yesterday inspecting them. I have an interest in such things.”
“Figures.”
His eyes narrowed for a moment, then he evidently decided to ignore it. “Such weapons,” he went on, “represent power. Some covet power, some are threatened by others coveting power.”
“Which are you?”
“The former.”
“I knew that,” I said. “I didn’t expect you to admit it.”
“Why not?”
I couldn’t answer that so I didn’t. “Go on,” I said. “Who’s the enemy?”
“You are perspicacious.”
“Yeah, but my physicker says it can be treated.”
“
He means you’re perceptive, Boss.”
“I know that, Loiosh.”
“Yes,” said Morrolan. “I believe that I am likely to come into conflict with someone over possession of these weapons.”
“Who might that be?”
“I don’t know. There are several possibilities. The likeliest is—well, it doesn’t matter.”
“That’s helpful.”
“For what I want from you, you don’t need to know.”
“That’s fortunate. Well, what do you want then?”
“I want you to arrange for the stolen weapons to be traced.”
“Some weapons have been stolen?”
“Not yet,” he said.
“I see. How certain are you?”
“Reasonably.”
“Why?”
“That, too, is unimportant. I will be protecting them, as will various others. Whoever wishes to steal one or more will have to hire an expert thief, and that means the Jhereg, and that means—”
“I might be able to find out what’s become of it. I see.”
“Boss, this could get you into trouble.”
“I know.”
I sat back and looked at Morrolan. He held my gaze. After a moment I said, “That isn’t at all the sort of thing I’m any good at, Morrolan. And, to tell you the truth, if I did find out, I don’t believe I could bring myself to tell you. It’s a Jhereg thing, you know?”
“I believe I do, yes.” He frowned and seemed to be considering. “On the other hand,” he said, “if I understand how you—
that is, how the Jhereg—work, whoever did the stealing would be unlikely to be more than a tool, hired by someone else, is that correct?”
“Yes,” I said, not terribly happy about where this was going.
“Well then, could you find out—”
“Maybe,” I admitted.
“What would it take?”
“Money. A lot of it.”
“I have money.”
“I still want to think about it. It could put me.into a situation I’m not certain I’d like.”
“I understand. Do think about it, though. I can offer you—”
“Don’t tell me. I’d rather not be tempted. I’ll let you know.”
He nodded and didn’t press the issue, which earned him some points with me.
“There’s another matter,” he said.
I bit back irony and waited.
“The circumstances of Baritt’s death—”
“Which are none of my business.”
“—have, among other things, made me aware of the vulnerability of Castle Black.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“The circumstances of—”
“I heard you, I just don’t understand. How is a castle floating half a mile or more in the air vulnerable? Other than to falling down, of course.”
“That isn’t likely.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Which reminds me, why don’t my ears pop when I teleport up?”
He looked smug but didn’t tell me. “Obviously,” he said, “the castle can be penetrated by anyone who can teleport and conceal himself from my guards.”
“You don’t have any security precautions?”
“Some, but not enough. It seems to me you could be of some assistance in telling me where to improve them.”
I thought it over, and realized that I knew exactly how to go about it. “Yes, I can do that.” I considered asking about payment, but on reflection calculated that it would be more profitable to do a good job and allow him to display his generosity.
He frowned for a moment, and seemed lost in thought.
“Psychic communication, Boss.”
“I knew that, Loiosh.”
“You’re
a
liar,
Boss.”
“Well, yeah.”
At about that time, a Dragonlord entered the room and bowed to Morrolan. He was short and rather stocky for a Dragaeran, with short, light-brown hair and pale eyes; he didn’t strike me as a fighter, but he wore a blade, which meant he was on duty in some capacity.
BOOK: Dragon (Vlad Taltos)
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