Melissa McShane (14 page)

she said.

Alestiou smiled, weary but compassionate. “I have very little time left,” he said. “I think you know this. I’ve given you what I can. I ask you now to return the favor.”

Her lips parted. “I—”

“Do not say no, daughter. This is between me and your god. You are merely His vessel.”

She took his trembling, parchment-skinned hands in hers. “May Atenas’s blessing be upon

you,” she whispered, bowing her head. She felt the illusory folds of her hood fall heavy around her.

“Thank you,” he said, his voice barely more than a whisper itself. She felt tears come to her eyes.

“And thank you for your warning,” she replied. “I think you have told me more than you

know.”

Alestiou pressed the tips of his left middle and index fingers against her forehead. “Kalindi’s blessing, for what good it may do you,” he said. “Clarity and vision in the dark days ahead.” He was gone before she could move again. She stood facing the wall, willing her eyes to dry before anyone could see.

“Are you all right?” Gerrard said from behind her. She smiled. Trust the
sentare
to know when she was in distress.

“No,” she said. He put his hand on her shoulder, and she reached up to cover it with hers. “I

—we can’t talk about it here. Later.”

“Do we need to leave?”

“I’m not done here. I’ve found a thread and I’m going to pull it. How are you doing?”

“Finding that there’s a certain kind of young woman who appreciates a tall, muscular, thick-headed Northerner who speaks with a strong accent. It remains to be seen whether their

conversation means anything.”

She felt the ache in her chest again. “Keep talking, then,” she said with an effort. Her eyes were dry, her voice steady.

“Mind if I steal her away,
sentare
?” Dakariou asked. Zerafine turned, but Gerrard merely nodded and walked away. She felt deflated, though she couldn’t have said what she’d expected.

Dakariou offered his arm and a dazzling smile, and Zerafine linked her arm with his. If her heart was heavy, she could at least pretend to enjoy herself.

Mingling with the crowd proved to be the right medicine. She had another glass of wine and felt her sorrow for Alestiou, and the ache in her heart over Gerrard, subside enough that she could laugh and converse and even flirt a little, mostly with Dakariou. He was easily the most handsome man she’d ever met, his close-cropped black curls framing that wonderful face, his eyes even bluer by lamplight than by day. And he kept smiling at
her
. Part of her mind worried that she was falling under his spell, but the part of her ruled by wine and excitement wanted to believe otherwise. Conspirator or not, this evening she was going to accept him at face value.

Even so, she wasn’t so dazzled as to forget her true purpose. Gently steering Dakariou

herself, she spoke first to Vidinou Akennos, then to councilor Vidannos—she couldn’t remember his first name, but it was the surnames, and the estates they represented, that mattered. It was a wild guess, but it paid off: both men told her that they’d called on Genedirou often, and both gave her counts of apparitions that were far higher than those reported to the Council. Their numbers, and Castinidou’s, were also far higher than any other single location she’d investigated.

Three out of the five--let’s just call them “ruling houses” and forget about the democracy
pretense--underreported? Something’s not right here.

She needed to talk to Alita or Gordou, preferably not together. It took some doing to locate Alita on her own, but there she was, chatting with four other women. Gordou was nowhere in sight. Zerafine would have preferred to tackle him, since he seemed to be the weaker personality, but Alita it would have to be. Making her excuses to Dakariou, she maneuvered through the crowd until she was behind Alita. Then she backed into the woman with a solid bump.

“Oh, excuse me—why, councilor Talarannos, I do beg your pardon!” Zerafine felt the wine

bubble up inside her. She’d have to keep it from running this interrogation. “How lovely to see you again. Ladies, I’m Zerafine of Dardagne, it’s so good to meet you all.”

The women exchanged glances, then politely made up reasons to be elsewhere. They

definitely recognized her name. Zerafine kept her lazy, hopefully drunken smile on her face. “I was so pleased to be invited to this party,” she said. “I’ve been so busy with my investigations that I haven’t had time to simply relax, you know?”

“It’s barely a party,” Alita drawled. “At best, a gathering with drinks. But I’m sure it must seem fabulous to you, what with traveling the dusty roads and all.” Her smirk showed clearly what she thought of people who didn’t have the decency to stay put in a gracious home the way the gods intended.
Good
, Zerafine thought.
The more you look down on me, the less likely you’ll
be to see through my ploy.

“Oh, most definitely,” she said. “But small or not, it’s surely a relief to simply mingle and chat and not have to think about all the apparitions running all over the place. Madama, I’ve heard how beautiful your home is. I simply can’t bear thinking of Genedirou doing his little ritual all over your garden.” A calculated guess; Alita had to live in the nicest estate in the city.

“Genedirou is an upstart,” Alita sneered. “He’s only been to my estate three times, but every time he comes, I die a little inside. Still, one can’t have these things on one’s property. The man is a necessary evil.”

“I
completely
agree,” Zerafine said, finding, to her surprise, that she didn’t agree at all.

“How many apparitions have been? Forty? Fifty?”

“Only about fifteen. We’ve been lucky, I suppose.”

“Sintha does seem to watch over some families more than others.” Only fifteen? That was

exactly the number in her notes. What was Alita up to? “Was that what brought you and Gordou together? Luck? Your families must have been so happy to approve the match.”

“Gordou and I have known each other since childhood. Falling in love was simply the next

step. I don’t believe men and women can ever really be friends without physical attraction stepping in.” She flicked her eyes in Gerrard’s direction. And
that
was a deliberate insult.

Zerafine decided she’d had enough of the woman.

“I have to say that hasn’t been my experience, but I am so happy for both of you. Daring to fall in love like that, I mean, without considering how powerful your two families would

become. It’s nice to meet someone for whom political considerations come second.” Zerafine fixed Alita with her eye and watched the woman’s face blanch. She’d meant only to needle her, but it seemed she’d struck a nerve. Too bad she didn’t know which one.

Alita took a deep breath as if to speak, then turned and walked away without another word.

Snobbish
and
rude. So, her number matched the one in the reports, did it? Something was wrong there, and Zerafine’s instincts told her that Alita, not the other three Councilors, was lying. But she had no way to prove it.

Zerafine finished her glass of wine and realized she couldn’t remember how many she’d

had. At least three. That was more than her limit. She looked around for Dakariou, intending to make her goodbyes, and instead found Genedirou holding court just inside the front door,

wearing his ceremonial robe and a typically smug expression. She was going to have to walk past him to get out, and Atenas knew how he’d react to her presence.

But—maybe she didn’t want to walk out unnoticed. If she dared risk making him angrier

with her, he might have an answer for her. Alita claimed only three banishments; Genedirou knew whether or not that were true. The question was, would he even talk to her? Maybe he would, if she could arrange the right conditions. She could only hope that Gerrard was paying attention, because she would have to leave immediately, whether or not it worked.

She moved through the crowd at an angle, judging that Genedirou’s audience was thinnest

on the side near the front door. Perfect. She slid forward until she stood at the front of his ring of listeners, and waited for him to notice her. It didn’t take long. Genedirou had no trouble recognizing her without her robe. She held her breath, hoping she’d judged him properly and that he wouldn’t risk his dignity by starting a fight in public, and that his pride wouldn’t allow him to ignore her. She wasn’t disappointed.

“Madama
thelis
,” he said, coldly, grandly.

“Sirrah
tokthelos
,” she replied.

“Still conducting your investigation? Why don’t you lay down your robes and rest? Oh, I see that you already have.” The audience tittered, but only here and there. They sensed that he’d tried to insult her, but couldn’t quite work out how. It was clear that most of them didn’t realize who she was.

“No, I came to congratulate you, sirrah,” she said, a look of perfect sincerity on her face.

She saw his certainty waver. He was probably wondering where the attack would come from.

“I had no idea what a busy man you are, until tonight,” she continued. “Councilor

Castinidou told me how often you’ve been at his estate, banishing apparitions.”

“Very busy,” he replied, looking confused. “I have to force myself to enjoy gatherings such as this one, so I will not exhaust myself.”

Zerafine wanted to roll her eyes, but she continued to smile as though she meant it. “Six banishments at the Rodennos estate, seven at Vidannos, what a
busy
man you are,” she cooed, trying to make the inoffensive numbers sound as insulting as possible. Genedirou bristled, but still couldn’t figure out where she was going with this.

“And only three at the Talarannos estate—are they lucky, or are you slipping?” she said, and was rewarded by a slow, dismissive smile.

“How uninformed you are. There have been no banishments at the Talarannos estate,” he

said. “Perhaps you should spend less time at parties and more in your...
investigations
.”

Zerafine stared at him in genuine astonishment. All around her, Genedirou’s listeners

laughed, but she pushed through them and left the Rotunda. Letting Genedirou embarrass her in public might be a long-term blunder, but he’d given her what might be the key to the problem.

She touched the spot where Alestiou had pressed his fingers against her forehead. Kalindi’s blessing? Or simply her expert manipulation of Genedirou’s pride? No banishments at

Talarannos. Alita had lied, but not the way Zerafine had expected. The apparitions were linked to four of the five most powerful families in Portena. Zerafine just had to figure out how.

“Please,
please
let me hit him,” Gerrard said. He took her arm and steered her toward the chair. “Why did you let him laugh at you? He’s going to make you a figure of ridicule all over the city. No one’s going to respect you after this.”

“It will pass,” she said. “Let’s get home and I’ll tell you what I’ve learned.”

It was almost impossible for her to keep her mouth shut on the journey home. Probably they could trust the bearers, hired from an independent transportation company, but the fewer ears heard this, the better.

Rodennos, Akellos, Vidannos—all underreported. Talarannos—not only over reported, but

completely without banishments. Would Gordou’s estate be over or under? She’d bet the former.

But why? What possible benefit was there in misrepresenting the numbers?

She dragged Gerrard into the house almost before he’d finished tipping the bearers. He said,

“You’d better have learned something impressive, because you’re going to look like a fool once it gets around that Genedirou showed you for the arrogant upstart you are.”

“I—that’s not what happened!” She dropped onto one of the couches and began to massage

her feet. Walking all day was one thing; standing for hours was another.

“That’s what’s going to be said. These stories grow in the telling. And I know Genedirou

can’t make you look foolish, so you have to have done it to yourself.”

“I had to get him to talk to me. After this afternoon there’s no chance we’ll get anything more out of him. Besides, half those people didn’t know who I am.”

“What was so important that you had to ruin your reputation to get it?”

“Don’t exaggerate. I have confidence in Dakariou’s ability to spin any story coming out of that party to our advantage. Just listen. Genedirou said there haven’t been any banishments at the Talarannos estate.”

Gerrard sat across from her. “So?”

“So Alita told me there had been three. That’s the number that was in the report. All five of the, so to speak, ruling houses had totals between two and five in the report and no more than twenty-five apparitions. But Castinidou and the heads of Vidannos and Akennos told me they’d each had something closer to forty-five or fifty apparitions and six or eight banishments.”

Gerrard scratched his beard. “So three of them are underreporting and one is boosting her numbers. Why?”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know if they’re doing it or if some clerk employed by the

Council is trying to make the numbers match. But it’s suspicious, don’t you think? You want to bet if we asked Gordou, we’d find the same pattern?”

“Given how lock-stepped he and his wife are, I don’t see how it could be otherwise.”

“Alita reacted oddly when I suggested her marriage might have been politically motivated. I thought it was strange, given that it’s no secret she and Gordou support one another’s political careers.”

“I think there’s something odd about their relationship, period. Speaking of Gordou, I had an interesting conversation with him. Which is to say that it was a boring conversation that had interesting implications. He kept asking questions about the investigation, how it was going, that sort of thing. And he had all this “information” for me, most of it outdated, some of it

improbable. I think he was trying to send us off on the wrong trail. I just played stupid and nodded and thanked him.”