The Book of Jhereg (52 page)

“Except the one who did it, of course. Hmmm. Is there any way of putting together a list of everyone who
could
have made the suggestion?”

Morrolan looked startled. “Why—yes, that should be possible. I shall look into it immediately.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“It is nothing.”

“How much will that help, Vlad?” asked Aliera after Morrolan had left.

“I don’t know,” I said carefully. “It’s impossible in something like this to tell who’s a willing dupe, who’s an unwilling dupe, and who might be behind it. But if we can find out who made the recommendation, it’ll at least be a start.”

She nodded. “What about the Lyorn?”

“I haven’t spoken to her yet. But look: I was told that the Lyorn was only there to make sure all the forms were followed. Say they were. There isn’t any reason why the Lyorn couldn’t have been taken in by whoever fooled Sethra the Younger about the first examination.”

“True.”

“So, of the people involved, we have: Sethra the Younger, who was duped or involved; the Lyorn, who was duped or involved; Baritt, who was duped or involved and then assassinated; and someone posing as an Athyra, or an Athyra using a false name.”

“In other words, we have nothing.”

“Right. We have to find out who that ‘Athyra’ was; she’s our only clue to whoever is behind it—if, in fact, she isn’t behind it herself.”

“Well, Vlad, don’t you have the name of the Lyorn noble? Why don’t you ask her? She’s liable to remember, or at least have written it down—Lyorns write everything down.”

“Now there,” I said, “is an idea.” I considered for a moment. What would Aliera do if . . . “But Lyorns don’t like to talk to Jhereg,” I said suddenly. “Is there any chance that you can find out for me?”

“What is her name, and where does she live?”

I told her.

“I’ll find out for you,” she said.

“Thank you.”

She bowed to Cawti and me, and left.

“Why did you do that, Vladimir?”

“To find out what Aliera will do about it. If the Lyorn shows up recently dead, we have our answer. If not, we’ll see what Aliera says the Lyorn told her.” I sighed, and settled back to think. Cawti came up behind me and began
rubbing my shoulders. I reached up with both hands and touched hers. She leaned over my head and kissed me upside down, dislodging Loiosh.

“
You two are disgusting
.”

“
Quiet. I’m busy
.”

There was a clap at the door. We sighed and Cawti straightened up.

“Come in,” I called.

Norathar came in, death written all over her face. I stood up and glanced at Cawti, whose eyes were locked with Norathar’s.

“The examination showed you aren’t a Dragon,” I suggested.

“Wrong,” she said.

“Then what happened?”

“I am now confirmed as a Dragonlord—but not as the heir.”

“Oh,” I said. “I’m sorry. If you two would rather—”

“It isn’t that,” she snapped. “They wish to ‘observe’ me for a while before making me the heir. I have to serve a stint in the Phoenix Guard, to ‘prove’ myself. As if I have any desire to be Emperor, anyway!”

I shook my head. “Doesn’t
any
Dragonlord ever want to be Emperor?”

“No,” said Norathar.

“Okay. You’re upset that they don’t trust you enough to make it immediate?”

“Some. But I found out something else. I’m afraid that it isn’t something I can discuss with you, Lord Taltos. But my sister and I—” She stopped, and I guessed that she and Cawti were conversing psionically. After a moment, Norathar turned to me and said, “So you know.”

“About why your attack on me failed? And what it means?”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

“Then you’ll understand why my sister and I must leave for the moment. We have to attend—”

“How did you find out?”

“I was told.”

“By whom?”

“I swore not to say.”

“Oh.”

“Farewell for the—”

“Wait a minute, please. I have to think. There’s something, before you go. . . .”

“Make it quick.”

I ignored the looks of inquiry Cawti was giving me, and reached out—“
Morrolan! Come back here, quick!
”

“
Why?
”

“
No time. Hurry
!”

And then, “
Aliera, there’s trouble. Morrolan’s on his way, you should be here, too
.” Whether Aliera was innocent or not, she would want to stop Norathar—I hoped.

Morrolan came bursting into the room, Aliera following by a second or two.
Morrolan’s blade was at his side, but Aliera was holding eight feet of glistening black steel. They looked at me.

“What is it, Vlad?” asked Morrolan.

“The Lady Norathar wants to go out Jhereg-hunting.”

“So?”

“So the Dragon Council has—”

“This isn’t any of your business, Lord Taltos,” said Norathar coldly, her hand on the hilt of her blade.

“—accepted her as a Dragon, but—”

Norathar drew her blade. Loiosh hissed and gathered himself on my shoulder. I had a brief glimpse of Cawti, a look of anguish on her face, but then Morrolan’s longsword, Blackwand, was in his hand. He gestured with it toward Norathar, and her blade swung and buried itself deeply into a wooden beam against the wall of the library. She looked at Morrolan, wonderment in her eyes.

“My lady,” he said, “at Castle Black, I do not allow the killing of my guests except under conditions where they can be revivified. Further, you, as a Dragonlord, should not have to be reminded of treatment of guests.”

After a moment, Norathar bowed. “Very well,” she said. She wrenched her sword out of the beam and sheathed it with the plain efficiency of a Jhereg, instead of the flash of a Dragonlord. “I’ll be leaving then. Let’s go, sister.”

“
Aliera, stop them!
”

As I finished “speaking,” Morrolan turned to Aliera. “What did you just do?”

“I put a teleport block around Castle Black,” she said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

Norathar’s eyes widened, then narrowed to slits. “Lord Morrolan,” she said slowly, “I must insist—”

“Oh, for the love of Verra,” I said. “Can you at least give me thirty seconds to finish my sentence?”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

She stared at me, but Dragonlords have been trying to stare me down since I was nineteen.

I said, “The Dragon Council wants to observe her for a while, before officially making her the heir. If she goes running off after Jhereg, that’ll do it. I felt you two should know, and at least have the chance to talk her out of it before she does something that commits her. That’s all. Now, the rest of you argue about it. I’m leaving before someone takes my head off.”

I didn’t quite run out of the library. I went down to the entryway and found a small sitting room. I helped myself to a glass of cheap wine and quaffed it, thinking dark thoughts.

* * *

The bottle was half empty when someone clapped at the door. I ignored it. It was repeated, and I ignored it again. Then the door opened. My scowl died when I saw that it was Cawti. She sat down.

“How did you find me?”

“Loiosh.”

“Oh. What happened?”

“Norathar has agreed to wait two days before doing anything, same as Aliera.”

“Great.”

“Vladimir?”

“Yes?”

“Why did you do it?”

“Do what? Stop her?”

“Yes. Don’t you want someone to take Laris out?”

“She isn’t going to have any better luck finding him than I will. The same goes for you and for Aliera.”

“But, still, with more of us looking . . .” She let the sentence die, and I didn’t pick it up again. After a minute or so, I remembered my manners and poured her some cheap wine, too. She sipped it, delicately, thumb and forefinger around the stem, little finger off in space somewhere, just like at Court. And she kept her eyes fixed on me the whole time.

“Why, Vladimir?” she repeated.

“I don’t know. Why ruin her chances for nothing?”

“Who is she to you?”

“Your partner.”

“Oh.”

She set the glass down and stood up. She walked over to my chair and looked down at me for a moment. Then she dropped to one knee, took my right hand in hers, kissed it, and rubbed her cheek against it. I opened my mouth to make some smart remark about was I supposed to pat her head, or what, but Loiosh brought his head around and smacked me in the larynx so I couldn’t speak.

Then, still holding my hand, Cawti looked up at me and said, “Vladimir, it would make me the happiest of women if you would consent to be my husband.”

About three hundred years later I said, “What?”

“I want to marry you,” she said.

I stared at her. Finally I burst out with “Why?”

She stared back at me. “Because I love you.”

I shook my head. “I love you, too, Cawti. You know that. But you can’t want to marry me.”

“Why?”

“Because, damn it, I’m going to be dead in a few days!”

“You said Laris was bluffing.”

“Maybe he is, but he won’t be if I keep coming after him. And whatever game he’s playing, he
has
to make it real sooner or later.”

“He won’t get you,” she said calmly, and I almost believed her.

I kept staring at her. Finally I said, “All right, I’ll tell you what. When this
business with Laris is over, if I’m alive, and you still want to, I mean, well, um, of course I will. I, oh, Deathsgate, Cawti. I don’t know what to say.”

“Thank you, lord.”

“By the Lords of Judgment, get off the floor! You’re making me feel like—I don’t know what.”

She calmly got up off her knees and stood before me. Then she broke into a grin, jumped, and landed on my lap. The chair went over backward and we ended up on the floor in a tangle of limbs and clothes. Loiosh barely escaped in time.

* * *

Two hours and three bottles of wine later, we staggered back up to the library. Morrolan was alone there. I was just sober enough not to want him to know how drunk we were, so, somewhat regretfully, I did a quick sobering spell.

He looked us over, raised an eyebrow, and said, “Come in.”

“Thank you,” I said. I turned to Cawti, and noticed that she’d given herself the same treatment. A shame.

“Will you two be staying this evening?”

Cawti looked at me. I nodded. “I still need to check over that list of Baritt’s descendants. Which reminds me, did you find out who might have recommended the Athyra?”

“One of my people is compiling the list. It should be ready by this evening some time.”

“Good. I asked Aliera to find out about the Lyorn. Do you know if she did?”

“She is speaking to Norathar at the moment; I think they’re attempting to determine how to locate this Laris person.”

“Oh. Well, tomorrow, maybe.”

“Yes. I’m having my dinner brought to me in the small dining room. I believe Aliera, Sethra, and Lady Norathar will be joining me. Would the two of you care to also?”

I looked at Cawti. “We’d be delighted,” she said.

“Excellent. And, afterwards, you can join the party in the main dining room and continue your investigation.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “Maybe I can even avoid having any words with your Athyra friend.”

“Athyra friend? I don’t believe there have been any Athyra nobles present for some time.”

“You know who I mean: the Sorceress in Chartreuse, or whatever.”

Morrolan smiled. “The Sorceress in Green. I’ll admit she looks like one, though.”

Something went off in the back of my head. “She isn’t?” I asked. “What is she then?”

“House of the Yendi,” said Morrolan.

“W
HAT IS IT, VLAD
? Why are you staring at me?”

“I can’t believe what I just heard. A Yendi? Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. What is it?”

“Morrolan, how many Yendi does it take to sharpen a sword?”

He looked at me through slitted eyes. “Tell me,” he said.

“Three. One to sharpen the sword, and one to confuse the issue.”

“I see.” He chuckled a bit. “Not bad. What has that to do with our situation?”

“I don’t know exactly, but—wherever you find a Yendi, you find a plot. A devious plot. Twisted, confusing, just the kind of thing we’re facing. I don’t know what it’s about, but she—the Sorceress in Green—has been hanging around all of us since things started. She’s been near you, near me, near Aliera, and indirectly near Norathar and Cawti and Sethra. All of us. This can’t be an accident.

“And if that weren’t enough, she looks like an Athyra. We’re sitting here trying to find an Athyra who doesn’t exist, and now we find a Yendi who resembles one and who’s been around the whole time. And you don’t think she has something to do with all this?”

“I see what you mean,” he said. “I think I shall speak to her, and—”

“No!”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Don’t speak to her. Don’t let her know, yet. The only advantage we have is that she doesn’t know we’re suspicious. We don’t dare lose that until we know what she’s after.”

“Hmmm. It is axiomatic that no one but a Yendi can unravel a Yendi’s scheme.”

“Maybe. But to paraphrase Lord Lairon e’N’vaar, maybe I use different axioms.”

He thought about it for a while, then said, “All right, Vlad. What’s your plan?”

“I don’t have one yet. First, I want to think over what we know and see if I can make some sense of it.”

“All right.”

“Cawti, why don’t you find Norathar and Aliera?”

She nodded. Morrolan said, “You might need help,” and the two of them went off.

I sat pondering for about half an hour, until the four of them returned, along with Sethra.

“Well,” said Aliera, “what have you figured out?”

“Nothing,” I said. “On the other hand, I haven’t given up, either.”

“Great,” said Norathar.

“Sit down,” I suggested. They all pulled up chairs around me. I felt like I was back in the office, with my enforcers sitting around waiting for orders.

“
Vladimir?
”

“
Yes, Cawti?
”

“
Morrolan told Aliera about the Sorceress in Green. I didn’t think to warn him not to
.”