The Book of Jhereg (47 page)

I turned, and saw him this time.

“Damn it, Kragar, stop
doing
that.”

“Doing what, Vlad?”

“Never mind.
Cut it out, Loiosh
.”

“
I didn’t say a thing, boss
.”

“
You were laughing up your wing
.”

I sat down and put my feet up on the desk. “Who’s the new guy?”

“An enforcer. We need another one, and we can almost afford it. He knows he’s staying on subject to your approval.”

“What’s his name?”

“Stadol.”

“Never heard of him.”

“He’s called ‘Sticks.’”

“Oh. So
that’s
Sticks.” I yelled, “Melestav, send Sticks in.”

The door opened and he walked in.

“Sit,” I told him.

He did.

Sticks might have gotten his name because he looked like one, but that can be said of almost all Dragaerans. Still, he was taller and thinner than most, and carried himself as if every bone in his body were jelly. His arms swung easily when he walked, and his knees sagged a bit. He had sandy hair, straight, and worn to his ears. One lock dangled over his forehead and looked like it would get in his eyes. He periodically threw his head to the side to clear it, but it flopped down almost right away.

In fact, the nickname came from his preference for using two three-foot clubs. He beat people up with them.

I said, “I’m Vlad Taltos.” He nodded. “You want to work for me?”

“Sure,” he said. “The money’s good.”

“That’s because things are hot right now. You know about that?”

He nodded again.

“You ever ‘work’?”

“No. No future in it.”

“That’s debatable. I’ve heard of you doing some muscle a few years back. What have you been doing since?”

He shrugged. “I have some connections with a few minstrels, and with some taverns. I help introduce them, and they give me a percentage. It’s a living.”

“Then why leave it?”

“No future in it.”

“. . . Okay. You’re in.”

“Thanks.”

“That’s it for now.”

He made a slow climb to his feet and ambled out. I turned back to Kragar. It took me a moment to find him, then I asked him: “Anything new?”

“No. I’m working on the patron angle, but I haven’t come up with anything.”

“Keep on it.”

“Right.”

“Get Narvane and Shoen here.”

“Right.”

He got hold of them and we sat back to wait. While we were waiting . . .

“
Milord?
”

“
Yes, Fentor?
”

“
You were right. There was someone who provoked the riot. It looks deliberate
.”

“
Pick him up and hold him. I’m going to want to
—”

“
We can’t, milord
.”

“
Dead?
”

“
Yes, milord. In the riot
.”

“
I see. Chance, or was someone after him?
”

“
I can’t tell, milord
.”

“
All right. What about the previous landlord?
”

“
The Jhereg Laris has owned those flats for about nine weeks, milord. We don’t know who he bought them from. The records are confused, and there seems to have been some false names used
.”

“
Untangle it
.”

“
Yes, milord
.”

“What was that?” asked Kragar when I broke the contact.

I shook my head and didn’t answer. He stood, went to my closet, and came back with a box. “You asked for these.”

The box contained a rather large selection of cutlery, of various sorts. Seeing them gathered together like that, I was a little amazed that I could fit it all around my person. I mean, there were—no, I don’t think I want to give the specifics.

I thought about sending Kragar out while I changed weapons, then decided against it. I picked up the first thing I came to, a small throwing knife, tested its edge and balance, and put it into my cloak in place of the one like it that I had there.

It was surprising how long it took to go through all the weapons I carried and replace them. When I’d finally finished the chore, Narvane and Shoen were waiting. As I stepped out of the office, I ran a hand through my hair and adjusted my cloak with the other hand, thus allowing me to brush my arms along my chest, making sure various things were in place. A very useful nervous gesture.

Narvane acknowledged me with a flicker of the eyes. Shoen nodded brusquely. Sticks, flopped all over a chair, lifted a hand, and Glowbug said, “Good to see you, boss. I was beginning to think you were a myth.”

“If you’re beginning to think, Glowbug, it’s an improvement already. Let’s go, gentlemen.”

This time, Loiosh was the first one out of the door, followed by Glowbug and Narvane. The other two followed me, leaving Kragar behind. We turned left and headed up to Malak Circle. I said hello to a few customers I knew personally, and to some people who worked for me. I got the impression that, in the last day, business had picked up. This was a considerable relief. There was still a feeling of tension in the air, but it was more in the background.

We reached the Fountain Tavern, then the first door to the left. “Sticks,” I said.

“Hm?”

“This is where the trouble started. Laris opened up a small business upstairs, without even dropping me a polite note about it.”

“Mm.”

“For all I know, it’s still going on. Glowbug and Shoen will wait out here with me.”

“Okay.”

He turned and went up the stairs. Narvane followed wordlessly. As they went in, I saw Sticks pulling a pair of clubs out from his cloak. I leaned against the building to wait. Glowbug and Shoen stood in front of me, to either side, casually alert.

“
Watch above, Loiosh
.”

“
I’m already doing it, boss
.”

It wasn’t long before we heard a crash from up and to the right. We looked, and a body came flying out the window, landing in a heap about ten feet from me. A minute or so later, Narvane and Sticks reappeared. Sticks was holding something in his left fist. With the club in the other hand, he drew a series of squares in the dirt in front of me.

I looked at him questioningly, but before he could say anything, I noticed a crowd had begun to gather around the body. I gave them all a smile.

Sticks opened his left hand then, and dropped several stones, some white, some black, onto the squares he’d drawn in the street.

“A quick game, boss?”

“No thanks,” I told him. “I don’t gamble.”

He nodded sagaciously. “No future in it,” he said. We continued on around the circle.

Eventually, I returned to my office; I was pleased to be able to tell Kragar to expect an increase in our take this week. He grunted.

“Do something for me, Kragar.”

“What?”

“Go visit that guy who told us about the setup. Find out if he knows anything more.”

“Visit him? Personally?”

“Yeah. Face to face and all that.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Maybe to find out if he’s unusual, so we can guess if we’re going to get any other takers.”

He shrugged. “All right. But won’t that be putting him in danger?”

“Not if no one notices you.”

He grunted again. “All right. When?”

“Now will be fine.”

He sighed, which was a welcome relief from the grunts, and left.

“
Now what, Loiosh?
”

“
Got me, boss. Find Laris?
”

“
I’d love to. How? If he weren’t protected against witchcraft, I’d just try to nail him where he is
.”

“
It works out even, boss. If we weren’t protected against sorcery
, he’d
nail
us
where we are
.”

“
I suppose. Hey, Loiosh
.”

“
Yeah, boss?
”

“
I feel like I’ve been, I don’t know, brushing you off lately, when I’ve been around Cawti. I’m sorry
.”

His tongue flicked against the inside of my ear. “
It’s okay, boss. I understand. Besides, one of these days, I’ll probably find someone myself
.”

“
I hope so. I think. Tell me something: have I been off recently? I mean, this business with Cawti, do you think it’s been getting in my way? I feel like I’ve been distracted or something
.”

“
A little, maybe. Don’t worry about it. You’ve been doing all right when things get rough, and I don’t think there’s anything you can do about it anyway
.”

“
Yeah. You know, Loiosh, I’m glad you’re around
.”

“
Aw, shucks, boss
.”

* * *

Kragar returned about two hours later.

“Well?”

“I’m not sure if I learned anything useful or not, Vlad. He doesn’t have any idea where Laris is, but he’s willing to tell us if he finds out. He was pretty nervous about meeting me, but that’s understandable. Well, not
nervous
, exactly. Surprised, maybe, and caught off guard. Anyway, he hadn’t heard anything that struck me as useful.”

“Hmmmm. Did you get any feel for whether there might be others like him?” Kragar shook his head.

“Okay,” I admitted, “I guess that didn’t get us anywhere. How about our other sources? Have we found anyone else who works for Laris?”

“A couple. But we can’t do anything about them until we have more funds. Paying for ‘work’ would break us right now.”

“Just two days until Endweek. Maybe we’ll be able to do something then. Leave me alone for a while now. I want to think.”

He made an exit. I leaned back, closed my eyes, and was interrupted again.

“
Milord?
”

“
What is it, Fentor?
”

“
We found out part of it. The flats had belonged to a Dragonlord who died, and they’ve been sort of kicking around since then
.”

“
How long ago did he die?
”

“
About two years ago, milord
.”

“
I see. And you can’t find out who got possession after that?
”

“
Not yet, milord
.”

“
Keep working on it. Who was the Dragon, by the way?
”

“
A powerful sorcerer, lord. He was called Baritt
.”

Well now. . . . By all the Lords of Judgment, how was I going to fit
this
into my thinking? Coincidence came to mind, was thrown away, and kept coming back. How could it be coincidence? How could it
not
be coincidence?

“
Milord?
”

“
Fentor, find out everything you can about that, right away. Put more people on it. Break into Imperial records, bribe recordsmiths, whatever you have to, but
find out.”

“
Yes, milord
.”

Baritt . . . Baritt. . . .

A powerful sorcerer, a wizard, a Dragonlord. He was old when he died, and had made such a name for himself that he was no longer referred to by his lineage. Rather, his descendants referred to themselves as “e’Baritt.” He had died only two years ago, and his monument, near Deathsgate Falls, had been the site of the bloodiest battle since the Interregnum.

Baritt.

It was easy enough to imagine him involved in some sort of conspiracy within the House of the Dragon, but what could he have to do with the Jhereg? Could
he
be Laris’s patron? Or could one of his descendants be? If so, why?

What’s more, if there was a relationship between my problem with Laris and Norathar’s problem with Baritt, that meant a deep intrigue of some kind, and Dragonlords simply
aren’t
intriguers—with the possible exception of Aliera, and then only within a limited sphere.

Was I really going to have to visit Deathsgate Falls and the Paths of the Dead again? I shuddered. Remembering my last visit, I knew that those who dwell there would not take my coming again at all kindly. Would it do any good if I did? Probably not; Baritt had certainly not been well disposed toward me last time.

But it
couldn’t
be coincidence. His name turning up like that, owning the very flats that had been used by Laris. Why hadn’t they merely passed to his heirs? Because someone had played with the records? Maybe, which would explain why Fentor was having so much trouble tracking down the ownership. But then, who? Why?

I reached out for contact with Morrolan.

“
Yes, Vlad?
”

“
Tell me about Baritt
.”

“
Hmmph
.”

“
I already knew that
.”

“
Precisely what do you wish to know, Vlad?
”

“
How did he die?
”

“
Eh? You don’t know?
”

“
If I knew—no, I don’t know
.”

“
He was assassinated
.”

Oh. That at least explained some of the remarks he’d made to me.

“
I see. How was it done? I’m surprised a sorcerer as skilled as Baritt would allow himself to be cut down
.”

“
Hmmm. As I recall, Vlad, there is a saying among you Jhereg
. . .”

“
Ah. Yes. ‘No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife between the shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style
.’”

“
Yes
.”

“
So it was a Jhereg?
”

“
What other assassins do you know of?
”

“
There are plenty of amateurs who’ll knife anyone for five gold. A Jhereg will hardly ever ‘work’ on anyone who isn’t in the House; there usually isn’t any need to, unless someone is threatening to go to the Empire about something, or
—”

I stopped dead.

Morrolan said, “
Yes, Vlad? Or . . .?
”

I let him hang there. Or, I had been about to say, unless it’s done as a special favor, set up by a Jhereg, for a friend from another House. Which meant that maybe,
maybe
it hadn’t been Baritt behind the whole thing, after all. Maybe he’d been working with whoever it was, and this other person then needed Baritt taken out. And this other person was Laris’s patron. And, since Laris had helped out with Baritt, his patron was ready to help Laris get rid of me. A simple exchange of favors.