Liar's Island: A Novel (34 page)

“You fool!” she said. “What are you doing here?”

Nagesh came forward, in his human disguise, his clothes disheveled, his grin wide but his eyes hunted. “I'm here to kill. I knew Rodrick would be brought here eventually, so I hid myself away—I know
all
the places to hide, and I can go unseen at will. I wanted Rodrick, but the daughter of the minister of justice will be good, too. In fact, I believe I can make it look like
Rodrick
killed you—that might be better. Or I could dispose of you entirely, and take on
your
face, and continue to move in the corridors of power … yes, that might be good, they say you have a very promising future.”

“Someone already
had
that idea, worm.” Kalika's voice was imperious and cool, and not at all terrified. “You struck one of my loyal guards, and for that you will suffer, even more than you will suffer for your terrible failure to the Lady of Knives.”

Nagesh hesitated. “What—do you claim—”

“I serve the Knife in the Dark.” She looked at Rodrick with such disdain and hate that he backed away from the bars. “When your failures became apparent, I was sent to step in.”

“You were not at the conclave—”

“Some of us are too
important
for such charades,
ghoshta
.” She spat the word like an insult, and Nagesh flinched.

“I am
darshaka
,” he said, but it was really more of a whine.

Kalika snorted. “Perhaps in
this
life, but your failures will be known, and in your next incarnation you will be lucky if you are not made
pagala
.” Nagesh flinched again. She glanced at Rodrick. “There are castes among the rakshasas, Rodrick. This one before me is not the lowest, but he is far from the highest. All rakshasas have appallingly high opinions of themselves.” She drew herself up—and kept drawing herself up, seeming to grow two feet in height. Her human features melted away, revealing a regal figure with the head of a snow-white tiger, draped so heavily in gold and gems that her rich robes were barely visible underneath. A medallion of the Knife in the Dark was prominent among her necklaces, now. “But in this case, he will bow to a
mere
weretiger, knowing that I am exalted in the eyes of the goddess I serve, and that he
pretended
to serve.”

Rodrick swallowed, but managed not to whimper. Her attention was mostly on Nagesh, at least. Maybe while she was tormenting him a guard would appear, and … and … be knocked unconscious or killed like the other guard. Oh, why had he ever let Hrym leave his hand? Truth was a terrible option.

“I—I am loyal—” Nagesh said.

Kalika snorted. “Rodrick told us all about your plans to take over the cult, fool, not that we ever believed your devotion was true. Rakshasas are loyal only to themselves. Our Lady knows that. She indulged you, though, and why not? To attempt to betray the goddess
herself
is a powerful form of treachery, and she adores betrayal in all its forms. The depths of your vileness only made her stronger.”

Kalika stalked toward Nagesh, who was trying to maintain his composure, but doing a poor job of it. “The plans we have for this island are too important to leave in disloyal hands, so I came from Vudra and slew this Kalika and took her place. I am the new archaka of Jalmeray—the
true
archaka—come to shepherd things to completion, and keep watch over you. But now it's all a shambles. Reveal yourself, Nagesh. You should wear your true face when you face our Lady's judgment.”

The advisor's features shimmered, revealing his snake's head. His snout showed scars from where Hrym had struck him, which gave Rodrick some comfort. Not much, but when you were about to be murdered while defenseless in a cell, you took what comforts you could.

The regal weretiger interlaced her fingers, long claws curving over the backs of her hands. “Do you have anything to say in your defense, Nagesh?”

He knelt, bowed his head, and said, “I … I
do
serve the goddess. Rakshasas respect power, surely you know that. And … none of this is my fault. It's this man, this
Rodrick
—he ruined everything! It would have been such a marvelous thing to kill the thakur's childhood friend. Every rumor would have said the thakur planned the murder, that he summoned this man to the island for that very purpose! The dead man's family would have sought revenge, and chaos would have bloomed everywhere! But he
ruined
it!” Nagesh lifted his snake's head and stared at Rodrick with infinite hatred, forked tongue flickering wildly.

They said you could judge a person by the quality of their enemies. Rodrick had made a particularly vile one, which spoke well of him. Perhaps someone would mention that at his funeral, if these two left enough of his body to bury.

“But you chose the tool,” Kalika said. “The fault is yours.” She looked at Rodrick. “I think I've heard enough. Haven't you?” She showed a mouthful of tiger's teeth, and Rodrick put his back against the wall.

26

The Thakur's Justice

“I've certainly heard enough,” a voice said gruffly, and suddenly a dozen men appeared as if from thin air, armed and armored, plus two women in dark robes. One man with gray in his beard wore a breastplate but no helmet, and held a spear that he used to prod Nagesh in the side of the head. The snake-headed rakshasa gaped and trembled, and when he started to rise, several crossbows moved to point at various vulnerable points on his person. “No need to get up,” Kalika murmured. “Every crossbow bolt pointed in your direction has been blessed, and the weapons wrapped with enough spells to penetrate even the defenses of your kind.” Nagesh sank back down, head lowered.

The graybeard walked over to Kalika, who was tall enough to look him in the eye, and then kissed her on her cheek. Rodrick goggled. Were these more members of the Knife in the Dark? How vast
was
this conspiracy? Was anyone in the palace
not
some monstrous beast in disguise?

“Do drop that illusion, daughter,” the man said. “It's horrible.”

“I think the fur's very pretty.” She shimmered, and was a human again. “It's just like that tigerskin rug you used to have in your office, when you were captain of the guard.” She smiled. “See, I told you Nagesh was lurking around somewhere. And I got a confession out of him, as promised.”

Rodrick approached the bars. “Wait. You're
not
a weretiger? This was a trick to catch Nagesh? But how? I thought he could read thoughts!”

She sniffed. “We have some experience dealing with such creatures.” She held up her finger and tapped one of the thick rings there. “This ring shields my thoughts from intrusion.”

Rodrick sighed. “I could have used one of those. But I suppose such things are easier to acquire for wealthy nobles.”

The old man looked at him and snarled, “Quiet, thief.”

“Oh, Father, he's not so bad. A thief, yes, and a liar at times—but it's not as if
we
never use trickery to advance our goals. Pretending to be a high priest of the Knife in the Dark is a fairly big lie.”

“You used me as bait,” Rodrick said. “Me! Bait!” He didn't like that at all. He much preferred using others as bait. “What if Nagesh had killed me?”

“It would have spared me passing a sentence on you,” Kalika's father—ah, yes, the minister of justice—said. “My daughter was well warded, and he would have had trouble harming you. Besides, you were in a cell.”

“Oh, so iron bars provide proof against death by rakshasa magic? How wonderful, I had no idea.”

“You aren't helping yourself, Rodrick,” Kalika said. “Silence might be best now.”

The guards hauled Nagesh away, the crossbowmen keeping their weapons aimed at him as they went, making a strange procession. “Where are they taking him?” Rodrick said. “There are plenty of cells right here. Put him in this one. I'm happy to let him take my place.”

“He's going to some cells that are … less nice,” Kalika said. “These are the ones for prisoners whose spirits we don't need to break, or for nobles. We have other facilities for those who possess the special skills that rakshasas do.”

“I am glad of my accommodations, then,” Rodrick said. “But will be even gladder when I am set free and given a room with a bed. Who has the key?”

“Your trial is set for tomorrow morning,” the minister of justice said. He turned and walked off, followed by the remaining guards.

Rodrick stared after him, gaping, and Kalika shrugged. “You're no longer accused of attempting to kill the thakur. But there are still those other crimes.”

“The
map
?” Rodrick said. “Really? After all my service, after serving as the lure to trap Nagesh, I'm still to be put on trial for
theft
?”

“We believe in justice,” she said, and left him alone with his thoughts, an absolutely terrible place to be.

*   *   *

Breakfast was another egg and a lump of bread, and then he was shackled and dragged through the palace, back to the room with the circle of truth, though this time he was shoved onto a stone bench. The room was filled with Vudrani—all eager to watch the show, he supposed. He didn't see Kalika, nor did he see Dhyana and Lais and Hrym, so it seemed a daring last-minute rescue wouldn't be forthcoming.

The thakur sat in the central chair, the minister of justice on his right, the priest on his left. “We have heard Rodrick's testimony,” the minister of justice said. “He admits to stealing from the library, and selling what he stole to our enemies the Arclords.” Murmurs of outrage filled the room, and Rodrick hunched his shoulders.

“We have questions,” the minister of justice said. “Put him in the circle.” A guard grabbed him by the arm and roughly shoved him into position. No djinn guardians, this time. He supposed as an accused thief he didn't rate as many precautions as an accused assassin.

“Some have suggested that Nagesh coerced you into stealing the map for his own reasons, as he coerced you into other crimes, from which you have been absolved,” the minister of justice said. “Did he?”

It was a pretty lie. They would believe anything of Nagesh today. But he was in a circle that allowed no falsehood to be spoken, and he could think of no circumlocution to suggest that the minister of justice was right without saying it straight out. In a strangled voice, he said, “No.”

“Then you undertook the theft solely because you were hired to do so by a servant of the Arclords of Nex?”

It was more nuanced than that, but he said, “Yes,” hoping he'd be given a chance to explain.

“Very well. Does the accused have anything to say in his own defense?”

He cleared his throat. “I do. I did steal the scroll, in exchange for gold. But I didn't knowingly sell it to an enemy of the island—I didn't know she was working for the Arclords, as I believe I mentioned once in this circle before. After I realized she was an agent of the Arclords, I did my best to keep her from
getting
the scroll.” Technically true. He hadn't tried to keep it from her
because
she was associated with the Arclords, but a lot of people heard “after” and mentally replaced it with “because,” so the statement would probably serve.

“Your motives don't matter, or your later misgivings,” the minister of justice said. “If you were from this island, your conspiracy with an Arclord agent would count as treason, but as an outsider, the crimes don't rise to
that
level. For that, you are fortunate.”

Was he? What could they do to traitors that was worse than death? Actually, never mind. He didn't want to know. There were probably many things. “The scroll was a treasure map, and I have offered to return what we found—”

“Ah, yes, this so-called Scepter of the Arclords.” Another murmur in the crowd, this one surprised, perhaps even a little worried. The minister held up his hand for silence, and was obeyed instantly. “The staff you found is trash, a mere stick enchanted to seem wondrous. One of many such false treasures. Confidence tricksters—much like you, Rodrick—sometimes hide such things away and sell false maps to the treasure. Many fools have been tricked that way.”

Rodrick kept his face impassive, but had to suppress a groan. The map had seemed genuine, certainly very old, and it had fooled Grimschaw, too. How long had people been perpetrating this scam? The scepter had seemed quite eerie and remarkable, but it could have been an illusion. After all, it hadn't
done
anything particularly magical. He'd enchanted enough ordinary swords to look like Hrym to know how convincing such illusions could be.

The crowd made sounds of relief. Good for
them
; Rodrick had lost one of the few bargaining chips he'd expected to have.

“Anything else?” the minister of justice said.

“I exposed Nagesh!” Rodrick said, unable to conceal his irritation. “I helped bring down the Knife in the Dark! I—”

“Not relevant to the charge,” the minister of justice said, cutting him off. “Those actions do not bear on your theft.”

The thakur cleared his throat, and the minister of justice nodded, not taking his eyes off Rodrick. “However, since you brought it up, you may as well know: You are to be awarded a medal for your services to Jalmeray, one of only three foreigners to ever receive such an honor. There will also be a bust of you, cast in gold and placed in a suitable location in the palace, perhaps in the room where you stayed as the thakur's guest.” His voice was as flat as if he'd just delivered an execution order.

Indeed, his voice was just that flat when he said, “In light of your confession, and your failure to provide any useful mitigating testimony, the situation is clear. You are guilty of stealing from the thakur, and you will be executed at dawn.”