The Raven Ring (15 page)

“What? Look, no matter how much you think you—”

“Ahem.” The Commander’s cough was not loud, but the sound penetrated the conversation easily. Daner glanced at Weziral and fell silent, though Eleret thought the Commander looked more amused than impatient. Still, it was not the right time for a stroke-by-stroke review of the fight, and she should not have begun one while other, more important questions were unresolved. She was a little surprised that she had let herself be drawn so far off the track.

“Thank you, Lord Daner,” Weziral said. “Now, did either of you”—he indicated the two City Guards—“notice this person in the hooded cloak when you arrived?”

Charis and Sunnar looked at each other and shook their heads.

“Pity, but not really surprising. If he
was
working with the Syaski, he’d have been a fool to stay once it was clear they’d lost. Freelady Salven, you said he was pointing. At what?”

“Let me think.” Eleret closed her eyes, reliving the brief moments of the fight in her mind. An instant later, her eyes flew open. “Daner. He was pointing at Daner.”

“Directing the swordsmen?” Weziral asked.

“In the middle of a fight?” Daner snorted. “Hardly. Things change too fast for outside advice to do any good.”

“That wasn’t quite what I meant,” Weziral said mildly. “He could have been signaling them to pull back, for instance. What happened next, Freelady?”

“Daner stumbled,” Eleret said. “I threw a raven’s-foot at each of the Syaski, but I’m afraid they didn’t do much damage.”

“Mmmm.” Weziral looked at Daner. “You stumbled?” he said in a neutral tone.

“It happens to the best of us, Commander,” Daner said. “And it wasn’t magic, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m no master magician, but I’ve had enough training to tell when someone throws a spell at me.”

“I’m sure you do. Since we seem to have come around to you now, my lord, would you oblige me with your version of the fight?”

Halfway through Daner’s description, Hara returned. He was alone. Daner stopped talking in mid-sentence, and Weziral raised an eyebrow.

“He’s gone,” Hara said disgustedly in answer to the question no one had asked aloud.

“You mean this cod’s-head Maggen’s run?” Sunnar said.

Hara shook his head. “He’s just left for the day. Stelinn’s office boy says he nearly always goes home early.”

“How’d a dead fish like him get a job with the Imperials?” Sunnar asked the air in front of Weziral’s desk.

“I was about to ask that myself,” Weziral said, looking at Hara. “Although I’d have phrased it a little differently.”

“Connections,” Hara said in tones of deep disgust. “Maggen’s one of Lord Ovrunelli’s relations. His
many
relations.”

Daner stiffened. Sunnar pursed his lips thoughtfully, and Charis’s eyes widened. Commander Weziral nodded in evident understanding.

“Who?” said Eleret.

“Lord Ovrunelli is one of His Imperial Majesty’s chief advisers,” Weziral explained. “One of the privileges of that position is the ability to provide one’s family and friends with suitably lucrative posts.”

“I see.” Eleret tried to conceal her shock. If the Ciaronese wanted to let their city be run by people whose only qualifications were greed and a blood tie to a man in power, it was their battle, not hers. As long as they treated the Cilhar fairly and competently, of course.

Her face must have shown some of what she was thinking, for the Commander smiled and said, “It isn’t as bad as it sounds. The important positions have to be earned, and even most of the lesser ones require that the holder have certain skills. Since Maggen is only—”

“Aide to the City Liaison,” Hara supplied smoothly.

“—I assume he is neither capable nor closely connected to Lord Ovrunelli.”

“Third cousin, once removed,” Hara said. “And as incompetent as they come. He trims his sails to suit the wind, though, and I haven’t had an excuse good enough to get rid of him until now.”

“You think that will be enough?” Daner asked, gesturing at the note that still lay on Weziral’s desk. “What if he did it at Lord Ovrunelli’s request?”

“Then Lord Ovrunelli will no doubt find him some other, equally profitable position when he is sacked out of this one,” Weziral replied. “Imperial adviser or not, Lord Ovrunelli cannot force us to keep a man who has abused his post so flagrantly.”

Well enough for you,
Eleret thought,
but what about me
? If Birok Maggen was in league with his powerful cousin, she was in even more trouble than she had thought. She should get out of Ciaron soon, before Maggen discovered that his trap had been sprung and decided to try something else.

As if he had overheard her thoughts, the Commander said, “True, Hara, but there’s Freelady Salven to consider.” He hesitated. “I suppose this makes you eager to leave Ciaron, Freelady?”

“It certainly sounds like a good idea. Why do you ask?”

“I hoped to persuade you to stay, at least until we’ve managed to bring Maggen in for a talk. It might be useful to have you there to help sort out what he’s up to; in return, I can provide some protection for you while you’re in the city.”

“Eleret will be under the protection of the Vallaniris,” Daner said with rigid politeness.

“I see. Well, Freelady?”

Eleret looked from the Commander’s carefully blank expression to Daner’s worried one. They were both thinking more about her safety than about the doubtful help she could give them with Maggen, but it didn’t really matter.

Tamm’s things were at the bottom of this mess, and since some of it had spilled over onto the Commander, Eleret owed him her aid if he asked for it, no matter what his reasons. Besides, she couldn’t see heading for home with an unmeasured string of trouble trailing behind her. She needed information, and questioning Maggen would be a start at getting it. The time would be well spent, especially since leaving the city now would hardly be worth the effort. She couldn’t get far from Ciaron in what was left of the day’s light, and somehow she didn’t think Daner would like the idea of traveling after dark.

“I’ll stay the night, at least,” Eleret said. Both Weziral and Daner looked relieved. Eleret thought of the Syaski, and Jonystra Nirandol, and Grand Master Gorchastrin, none of whom seemed likely allies for Maggen and his cousin, and all of whom were somewhere in the city, probably hunting for her. She looked down at the kit bags slung over her arm, and anger swept through her.
Ma, how could you
do
this to me
?

“Thank you,” Weziral said. “Now, Lord Daner, I believe Hara interrupted you. If you would finish your story…?”

Judging from the look on Daner’s face, he would have preferred not to, but courtesy compelled him to resume his tale. The Commander insisted on a far more detailed account than he had asked of Eleret. He was especially interested in the Syaski style of swordplay, and made Daner give a blow-by-blow description of each thrust and countermove.

After a few minutes, Eleret stopped listening. The sword was not her best weapon, and normally she would have paid close attention in hopes of learning, but the terms the Ciaronese used were unfamiliar. She found it impossible to follow the conversation without interrupting constantly for explanations—what
was
the Pirate’s Parry?—and she did not want to break Weziral’s chain of thought. So she let the Ciaronese talk, and considered what she should do next.

Returning to the Broken Harp seemed like a bad idea, even if Jonystra was the only one of Eleret’s pursuers who knew of her presence there. With Tamm’s wages and death fee under her belt, she could afford a room somewhere else, but she didn’t like that idea much, either. Inns were a bad place for a defense if it came to real trouble, and if someone had told other Syaski about her, real trouble was sure to come. Perhaps she could spend the night at Adept Climeral’s school. Safety was more important than a comfortable bed; she could sleep on the floor in the hallway if there was no other room.

Weziral finished with Daner and went on to Charis and Sunnar. Their story took less time than Daner’s, and Weziral seemed less interested in quizzing them about the details. When they were done, he smiled and said, “Thank you both. I won’t keep you from your duties any longer. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you not to mention what you’ve learned here.”

“Then why did you?” Sunnar asked.

Charis jabbed an elbow at his ribs. “Sunnar! Don’t be difficult. We understand, Commander. We’ll have to put some of it in our report, of course, but I’ll see that it goes through the, um, longest possible official channels.”

“Right,” Sunnar said, nodding. “It’ll be weeks before anyone bothers to look at it.”

There was a choking sound from the corner as Hara tried to swallow a laugh. Weziral’s lips twitched.

“Very good,” he said. “Hara, see them to the gate, would you? And make sure you mark them down for a special commendation and bonus.”

Hara paused. “Yes, Commander. Ah, Imperial bonuses for City Guards are normally handled through the City Liaison’s office.”

“Not this time.” Weziral gave his aide a long look. “Handle it yourself.”

“Yes, Commander. This way, please.”

As the three left the room, Weziral turned to Eleret. “Freelady Salven, after what has happened today, it seems unwise for you to go back to whatever inn you have been living in, but I’ll be happy to help you make other arrangements. I wish I could offer you a cot in the barracks, but they’re full right now. Recruits, just before heading out to reinforce the western border.”

“I understand,” Eleret assured him. “I’ll stay at Adept Climeral’s school, if they’ll let me.”

“Nonsense,” Daner broke in with great firmness. “You’re coming home with me.”

Weziral’s eyebrows rose almost to his hairline. “
Is
she now, Lord Daner?”

Daner’s cheeks reddened slightly. “To my
family’s
home. My mother and sisters will be happy to have her, and it’s one of the safest places in Ciaron if Lord Ovrunelli has his nets out.”

“Ah, yes.” Weziral looked suddenly pensive. “That hadn’t occurred to me. You’re quite right. But—forgive me for asking, Lord Daner—why are you willing to do this?”

To Eleret’s surprise, Daner glanced at her and hesitated. “I promised Climeral I’d do my best to see that El—that Freelady Salven stayed safe.”

“I see. We’ll leave it there.” Weziral looked at Eleret and smiled as if his thoughts amused him. “I’ll send word tomorrow morning when we’ve gotten hold of Maggen. Would you care for an escort as far as the west castle road, my lord? No, I thought not. Well, you shouldn’t have any more difficulties if you stick to the main streets. Give you good day, my lord, Freelady.”

TEN

O
NCE THEY WERE ON
the street again, Daner shook off his preoccupation and led her west, toward Castle Hill. The Emperor’s palace was a blurry patch of black against the shifting glow of the setting sun, and the people who filled the streets moved less briskly but with more purpose than they had earlier in the day. The salt-scented breeze off the Melyranne Sea had diminished, allowing the strong odors of cooking fish and warm horse dung to take over the city air. Eleret wrinkled her nose, wondering once again how the Ciaronese stood it.

“You get used to it after a while,” Daner said, and for a moment Eleret was afraid she had spoken aloud without realizing it. Then Daner smiled and added, “I always notice the smell when I come back from a trip, but after a day or two I’m not even aware of it anymore.”

“It would take me more time than that, and I don’t plan to stay so long.”

“After the way things have been going today, I can’t blame you.” He gave her a sidelong glance that she could not interpret. “I wasn’t lying to Commander Weziral, you know. My mother really does enjoy having visitors.”

Daner seemed to expect some sort of reply, but Eleret had no idea what. She nodded without speaking, hoping he would interpret the gesture as the right response.

“No, really,” Daner said. “And I’m sure my sisters will like you.”

Still confused, Eleret nodded again. Daner sighed. “Look, it won’t be that bad! Father doesn’t like formality, so you won’t have court manners to deal with. Toricar and Uncle Panasci are with the Emperor’s delegation to Brydden, so you won’t even meet them. And my mother and my sisters will be happy to have you.”

Eleret looked away to hide her smile. Daner thought she was worried about meeting his family! She could not resist saying in a mournful tone, “I’m sure they will.”

“It’s only for one night!”

“I know.”

“Maybe you’d feel more comfortable if you went back to that inn you were staying at,” Daner said in tones that made it clear how much he doubted it, “but it isn’t safe. You must see that.”

“Of course I see that,” Eleret said, frowning. “What I don’t see is why you’re sure your family’s home will be so much safer than the Imperial Guard barracks or the school of the Island of the Third Moon.”

“It’s politics,” Daner said, as if that was all the explanation she would want or need.

“That’s plain enough,” Eleret told him. “What I want is a detail or two.”

“Oh. Right. Well, it’s because of Lord Ovrunelli…”

Daner’s explanation took nearly the whole of the walk, and Eleret had to keep prompting him with questions whenever his summary became too general. What it amounted to was that Lord Ovrunelli couldn’t or wouldn’t interfere directly with another noble household unless he went through a complicated procedure that sounded as if it would take weeks. The Imperial barracks had no such immunity, and, since it was run by foreigners, neither did the Islanders’ school. It all reminded Eleret of the sword-sanctuary customs in the mountains, except that those made sense.

As they drew nearer to the palace, the street grew wider and less crowded, and Eleret breathed a little easier. Litters went by several times, all of them with drawn curtains. There were more men in brightly colored cloaks and hats with long feathers, more women in shin-length silk dresses and finely tooled leather boots. Twice, Daner paused to make invisible adjustments to his cloak, though the few disapproving looks Eleret noticed seemed directed more at her than him.