Moon's Artifice (24 page)

‘I’m not your friend.’

Sorote tensed at the anger in Narin’s voice. ‘Perhaps not, but a little civility would still be appropriate,
Master
Narin. The look on your face tells me you’re far more out of your depth than you realised yesterday – just how far I wonder ? I smell secrets here. When Lawbringer Rhe himself makes false claims before the Vanguard Council, the stakes must really be high in this game. Just remember that he’s the golden boy of the Lawbringers and a nobleman too – you’re neither. If a wave comes crashing down on you all, might be you want to have a friend able to throw you a lifeline.’

‘And I should trust my future to the good graces of an Imperial prince I barely know ?’ Narin asked. ‘Hoping he’s not just readying me for a fall ?’

Sorote’s smile faded. ‘You’ve readied your own fall,’ he said sharply and rose to leave. ‘I could discredit your investigation right now should I want to, but I’m not your enemy, despite your obvious misgivings about my caste. You would do well to remember that, Investigator. Until we meet again, Master Narin.’

It was not long before Lawbringer Rhe had finished questioning the goshe’s leaders. They left without fanfare ; stiff thanks offered by Lord Martial ald Har and Rhe, curt bows from the goshe – with the exception of the Imperial woman, who merely swept out the door without waiting. The entertainment over, most of those watching from the gallery filed out, discussing what they’d heard in urgent whispers.

Before long there remained only three men in the chamber below : Rhe, standing regally at the Emperor’s end of the table, Law Master Sheven, and ald Har, head bowed and leaning heavily on the opposing end as though old age had rushed upon him. Narin stayed where he was, unsure whether to go or stay, but Rhe’s attention was on the Lord Martial of the Lawbringers alone.

They stayed that way for a long while, long enough for Narin to be sure the room below was empty. Finally, there came a deep rumble from the throat of Sheven.

‘Did they think bringing an Imperial here would cow us ?’ the bearded Law Master growled. ‘Are they so certain of their position ?’

‘It means we must take care before we proceed, my friend,’ ald Har replied wearily. ‘They brought her as a warning and it served its purpose.’

‘What ? You can’t be serious, Lord Martial !’ Sheven said furiously.

Ald Har raised a hand to cut off his colleague’s protests. ‘The warning is what it is ; I cannot choose to pretend it does not exist.’

‘It does not change the law !’

The Lord Martial smashed a fist down on the stone table. ‘Do not lecture me about the law ! You think I could forget it so easily ?’

‘Then this changes nothing,’ Sheven said in a more restrained voice. ‘Lawbringer Rhe’s investigation exists under my purview – you cannot order me to cease matters simply because it may lead to all strata of society !’

‘Have I asked that ?’

Sheven hesitated. ‘No, but …’

‘Then do not put words in my mouth, old friend,’ ald Har advised. ‘Now – this investigation is closed by your name. Rhe will pursue it without providing account to any other than yourself. I will trust you have sufficient reason to do this and I shall not ask why, but the fact remains – this may tarnish Imperials and nobles. The royal family may be vast, but the Emperor values the station even of those he does not know by name. Delicacy is called for unless you would enjoy being summoned to the Imperial Palace. Am I clear ?’

Sheven grunted, his fiery nature blunted by the man’s words. ‘As you command, Lord Martial.’

‘Thank you. Lawbringer Rhe, what resources will you need to pursue this matter ?’

Rhe took a long breath and a brief blaze of scarlet from the stained glass above illuminated his pale face. ‘I could employ every Lawbringer, Investigator and novice we have ; search every Shure and hospital belonging to the goshe without finding the man I seek. And so I ask for nothing.’

‘Nothing ?’ Sheven and ald Har echoed together.

Rhe inclined his head. ‘As you have recognised, it could be damaging to the Emperor and society as a whole if we blindly tarnish the names of all goshe. What is served by acting as though a conspiracy exists when our evidence is a single unverified account ?’

Narin gave a cough of surprise at what his uncompromising mentor had just suggested. He’d always thought Rhe would let the Empire burn in the name of the law.

Are we all prisoners to our caste after all ? Even Rhe ?

The Lord Martial looked from Sheven to Rhe, but neither man seemed willing to provide an explanation for the apparent turn-around.

‘We are all servants of the Emperor’s law,’ ald Har said at last, his tone making it sound a warning as much as a reminder.

‘And I intend to see his justice done,’ Rhe replied with a bow, ‘but how I go about it must be mine alone. The Lawbringers may be better served if I act alone.’

After a long pause it was clear from the Lord Martial’s face that he recognised the sense in Rhe’s words. They all knew the death-sentence that awaited any Lawbringer abusing their position, so ald Har chose not to speak further. Trusting the judgement of his long-time friend, he turned and left without another word.

‘And now ?’ Sheven asked, looking up at the gallery.

Narin glanced around, automatically guilty at having witnessed such a scene though he knew they had all been aware of his presence. From his position, Narin could see the gallery was clear and gave Sheven a nod to confirm they were alone.

‘Now I must go,’ Rhe said evenly. ‘I have prisoners to see to.’

‘Is there nothing I can do ?’

Rhe’s grey eyes levelled at the Law Master. ‘Pray our suspicions do not come true – but even that, I fear, will do no good.’

Narin trotted down the stair that led to the ground floor of the Palace of Law. He emerged into a busy corridor that ran all the way around the circular council chamber and for a moment watched the flow of humanity. Men and women of all ages crossed his path, unmindful of the graceful vaulting and ornate clerestory windows above their heads. Stone carvings of a sun with four golden rays extending from it were all around. The iconography of Imperial service that could be seen through this district was nowhere more heavily repeated than here.

The Palace of Law contained several distinct wings, including a large walled-off section that housed courtrooms and a small corps of Imperial-sanctioned lawyers, bolstered by a contingent from the Great Houses. That lay to the east of the Hall of the Vanguard, with the gaol and execution ground toward the shore of the island, facing the high towers of House Eagle across the waters of the Crescent.

As he started off down the corridor, Narin found himself glancing out towards the great open doorway at the Noble Courts. They were a pair of square buildings four storeys high and surrounded by flying buttresses in the alternating shapes of four Gods ; Lord Lawbringer, Lady Magistrate, Lady Pity and Lord Monk, all presided over by a towering statue of the God-Empress.

Despite the time he had spent here over the years, Narin had never lost that slight thrill of the grandeur of these white stone buildings. The temple-like courts and chambers that demanded quiet reverence, the statues and carvings throughout – all in the unearthly presence of the Imperial Palace, as imposing and unchanging as a mountain. Today, however, Narin found himself hunching his shoulders, the presence of all the Gods more than he wished to bear. He felt them watch him with hawk-like scrutiny and wondered – how long any man could endure the attention of Gods ?

Passing through a hall lined with Imperial flags, he was woken from his thoughts by an unexpected yank on his arm. Narin flinched, half-reaching for his stave, before he realised who had caught hold of his arm – Diman, his neighbour at the compound.

‘There you are !’ the younger man gasped, ‘I’ve been looking all over for you.’

‘What’s wrong ?’

‘Nothing,’ Diman said hurriedly. ‘Quite the opposite I’d guess. Got you another visitor, and not a bad-looking one either !’

Narin scowled at the Investigator and the young man’s face fell. ‘Right, yes. Anyways, she’s waiting at the shrine on the second floor – under escort of course.’

Narin felt a flood of relief. ‘Gods, Kesh’s mother !’

He clapped a hand of thanks on Diman’s shoulder and broke into a run for the stairs. Wide stone staircases flanked a central block at the heart of the palace wing that looked out over Lawbringer’s Square. Broad enough for seven men to ascend together, the staircases led from opposing directions onto the first floor hall and similarly grand steps took him up to the upper floor ; a less public area of the palace where half of the city’s Lawbringers shared offices.

He skidded around a pair of clerks and almost collided with a tall Lawbringer, drawing a cut-off curse from the woman as Narin clipped his ankle on the steel-shod end of her scabbard. Half-limping, he called an apology as he turned the corner and continued on towards the shrine to Lord Lawbringer that stood at the end of the upper hall. Three arched doorways separated off the space, but it was all open to the traffic of passing Lawbringers and Investigators as they went about their daily duties.

Ahead of him Narin saw a pair of elderly Lawbringers bow respectfully to the statue of Lord Lawbringer facing down the hallway towards him. At the sight he clattered to a halt, remembering the level of respect required for the shrine, whether or not it occupied a through-route for all the offices on the south face of the palace. He paused at the arched doorways, bowing to Lord Lawbringer then scouting around for his new visitor among the dozen or so people within the shrine’s bounds.

For a moment he didn’t see her, but then a figure in a dark blue dress stepped out from behind one of six stone tablets that bore the Lawbringers’ oaths. From her stance as much as anything, Narin recognised the woman as Kesh’s mother – hands clasped anxiously, but back straight and face rigid in defiance of the world. He hurried over and fear flashed across the woman’s face until he bowed to her and spoke.

‘Mistress Hinar ?’ Narin inquired as gently as he could. ‘Teike Hinar ?’

A wave of relief seemed to break across her face. ‘Merciful Gods. It’s true – my daughter’s here ? She told you to expect me ?’

‘She did – your daughter’s safe,’ Narin said as calmly as he could.

‘Take me to her !’ Teike demanded. ‘Please, I must see her !’

‘Mistress, please, we must talk first.’

‘What ? What about ?’

Without warning the woman took a step forward and looked about to grab Narin by the throat as bristling indignation took her over. Behind her, a novice assigned to attend her drifted forward, anticipating a confrontation, but Narin gave him a look and he backed off, retiring to a discreet distance.

‘Mistress Hinar,’ Narin continued, ‘matters are not so simple – please, trust me and spare me some time first.’

‘Are you a bloody fool ?’ Teike snapped. ‘I’ve just spent the night in hiding – one of my daughters has been murdered ! You expect me to wait and listen to you ? I want my daughter,
right
now – I need to know she’s safe. Kesh said there were people looking for us, that they’d killed Emari and were looking for us too !’

She took a deep breath, one that threatened to shake loose the tears of grief and fear that threatened beneath the surface.

‘I don’t know what’s happening,’ Teike continued quietly. ‘The message gave no details, but right now I do not care. Do you hear me ? I came here thinking I would be murdered in the street ; I almost didn’t come at all. Whatever’s going on, whatever’s happened, I don’t care. The city can burn for all I give a damn until I see my girl’s safe and well.’

‘She’s safe,’ Narin insisted, ‘under guard by a friend of mine, but I can’t take you to her.’

‘Why in Jester’s name not ?’ she snapped, almost shouting directly into his face. ‘What’s going on ?’

‘Please – lower your voice,’ Narin said stonily, well aware of the looks they would be receiving from every Lawbringer nearby. ‘I am trying to help you, but my power to help Kesh is dependent on my position here and creating a disturbance in the shrine of Lord Lawbringer hampers that.’

Teike flushed with rage and glared around her, but managed to get control of her emotions and nodded.

‘Very well,’ she said, and allowed him to guide her past the shrine towards the long bank of thin windows beyond, where the sill running all along the wall was deep enough to sit.

‘Now first – I don’t believe you are in any danger now, but your daughter still is,’ Narin said in a quiet voice. ‘I cannot take you to where she is hiding because almost certainly it is being watched and once inside you will not be able to leave again. She’ll be vulnerable out on the street. There is a band of professional killers after her.’

‘Why ? What in Pity’s name could she have done to deserve that ?’

‘Nothing,’ Narin said with feeling. ‘It was just bad … terrible luck, for Emari and then for her.’

‘What happened ? How did Emari die ?’ Teike gasped, doubling over all of a sudden as though Narin had punched her. ‘How did my little girl die ? Where is her body ?’

‘I don’t know,’ Narin admitted, ‘but I will tell you everything I can. Now, do you remember your guest who went missing ? Master Tokene Shadow ?’

Behind the tears, her face hardened. It was no different to the look he’d seen on Kesh’s face the previous night – just as she stabbed a man in the throat. Narin took a long breath and began to recount her daughter’s story.

*

The big man sidled down the street towards her, a long battered coat down to his knees. He squinted and frowned at the ground as he went, chancing only brief glances up to navigate before lowering his head once more to let greasy strands of hair hang across his face. It only accentuated the stoop Kodeh often seemed to walk with, burdened by the weight of his massive arms and fists the size of hams.

The black-skinned Dragon drew no curious glances here in Tale, but still the man felt vulnerable, Synter could see. Without armour or mask, without most of his usual weapons or the cover of night, Kodeh clearly felt exposed within the foot-traffic of the Fett Canal towpath.

Too stupid to realise his clothes are his protection,
Synter joked to herself, scanning his appearance to ensure there was nothing that would give him away. A grubby black neckerchief was tied around his bull neck, almost invisible against the man’s dark skin, while on his feet Kodeh wore hempen sandals rather than his usual heavy boots.

At least he remembers his roots well enough,
she thought, smiling inwardly.
I don’t have to worry about him being too proud to look peasant caste and get noticed by some observant Lawbringer.