Thread Slivers (Golden Threads Trilogy) (37 page)

Duke smiled. “Very good. I must admit that the whole bloodline thing is a bit stronger than I suspected. But this is good for everyone. As to my request, and it is a request now, for a shot of that treasure. There are Nhia-Samri agents in the city; they laid a trap for me, robbing me of one of my greatest senses, that of smell. We have garments from one of their officers and I need to track him down. They know all of this and are probably taking actions to cover their tracks. That sharre will give me back my full sense of smell in moments instead of the few days more I would have to wait otherwise. Which means…”

“That we might be able to ferret them out of their hole,” he said, finishing Duke’s sentence while pouring another glass. “The Nhia-Samri are accomplices in the usurpers’ actions and have committed an act of war with the kingdom by killing the last heir.” Walking to Duke carrying the small glass he held it up to Duke’s open mouth. “Excellency, may you make them pay double for their crimes.” Dohma poured the amber liquid into Duke’s mouth and stood back.

Duke swallowed and stood up, shivering. Duke’s whole body started to glimmer and he shook his head and sneezed. When Duke looked at him, his eyes were glowing like twin lanterns; then the light faded and the glimmering stopped. Duke sniffed the air and smiled. “It has been a very long time since I had sharre that old. Boy does it carry a hit.”

“Did I glow like that?”

“Of course, but not as much. My physiology causes it to be a bit more dramatic for me. However, yes, you did, and that is when I realized how old it really was. Originally I only expected it to be a few hundred years old, and let me tell you, even at that age it packs a punch. Now, would you mind letting me out of here? You really don’t want to see how I have to open this door.”

Unsure if Duke was joking, he decided it was indeed time to leave. He needed to talk to his family, find a new Captain for the guard, and start thinking bigger. Looking at the books as he moved to the door, he knew it was time to learn. “What are all these books?”

Duke looked at them. “Records, histories, secrets. You will find them all very interesting reading. First, however, you need to concentrate on that section over there, and this section here,” he said, pointing at two different areas.

Opening the door, Dohma asked, “Why, what are those two sections?”

“The first section contains the instructions for controlling the city. Congratulations! You get to read the owner’s manual. It is really boring stuff, mostly about required maintenance. You will find a few interesting things there though, please pay attention to it all. That second section is untouched noble family trees that were kept accurate, at least until the regents were killed off. We will be able to determine the precise timeline by comparing those to the other records we already have. I bet your sister will be more interested in that than you. You must learn who your nobles are and establish a functional and trustworthy bureaucracy. Nobles with much honor to lose and enough money to be immune from bribery make great heads of offices.”

With the door open, Duke walked out and stopped, and lifting his head high he breathed in deeply. “No, that can’t be!” he said, then he barked and ran.
Can the Nhia-Samri already be here?
Dohma ran after him, calling for more guards. Duke cut through the room, jumping over a couple of surprised clerks and through some doors that lead to the servants’ hall. He slid on the smooth floor and bounced off the far wall, using it to change his direction so he could turn down the hall. Dohma somehow managed to stay not far behind the giant wolf. At the end of the hall were a pair of doors that led to the kitchen. Duke stopped short of them, sitting down and sliding on his haunches through the doors and into the kitchen. Thankfully, they were not locked. Dohma, breathing hard, came up behind.

Duke was sitting there, on the floor, looking at the surprised kitchen staff, a team of Daggers with wide smiles, Duke’s secretary, Ladro, and a beaming head chef. The head chef crossed his arms and tried to look annoyed. “Excellency! I was going to surprise you with this!”

One of the Daggers said, “Well the hound is back, time for that hunt we had planned.” Dohma smiled at that.
Yes, and I suspect they will not be ready for you.

Duke gave a look of retribution to the unrepentant Dagger and then looked at the head chef. “I am surprised! The heavens know, I am surprised! To have my sense of smell return to that odor was like the Gods themselves, descending to reward me for this day’s work.”

Five guardsmen rushed in, weapons ready, as the chef placed before Duke a platter of some kind of pastries which were tall brown spiraled rolls topped with a thick white icing. There were five other trays of these rolls that had just been pulled out of the oven. The Dagger lead waved his hand at the guards. “Put the weapons away boys, this was only a culinary emergency.”

Breathing deeply, Dohma took in the odor of these odd rolls. They smelled like nothing he had known before, yet his mouth watered at the unusual scent. “What are those?”

Duke bent down and shoved the tray over his way with his nose. “These, Lord Dohma, are
cinnamon rolls
.” He said it in such a way as to make the mere name a word of worship. “They are to be treasured by not letting them get cold before being eaten completely. This will be another perk of your new position.” Looking at Ladro, the Daggers and the kitchen staff, he added, “I don’t care how you did this, but thank you. Now, hurry up and give some to everyone and make sure to put some on a plate for me!”

The cooks did as instructed and everyone, including the guards, watched respectfully as Duke bit into one, closing his eyes with delight as he chewed loudly. Breathing heavily to cool the roll, he mumbled around the food, “Ah, they are still very hot! Oh wonderful, wonderful, it has been too long.”

Once Duke had finished the first cinnamon roll everyone took a careful bite of one. Dohma had to admit, they were better than anything he had ever had before, except for the sharre. Truly enjoying the flavors, he watched Duke slowly savor two more;
he sure is an odd creature.

When they had finished, Duke licked his lips for some time. “Can’t think of a better way to start a hunt. Commander Alpha and Echo, river walk.” The Daggers, busy licking their fingers, as one looked at Duke, smiled and ran out of the room without a word. Duke stood and nodded to Ladro and the cooks. “Thank you again. I will find some way to properly thank you for this. Now, if you will excuse me, Lord Dohma, you need to go read a couple of books and take care of other business as you best can decide. I’ll be back to confirm your position in a more public ceremony later.” Duke looked at the guardsmen. “I name your Captain, and his sister and brother, Regents of the Realm. Their children are named Regent heirs by direct bloodline only. Witness this to all staff immediately; and now I will see about those pests we discussed, Lord Dohma.” Smiling, he turned and trotted out of the room and down the hall towards the front entrance, letting out a chilling howl, announcing a hunt had begun.

“Good hunting my friend.” He said to the empty space where Duke had just been.

He was surprised when Duke’s retreating voice called out, “Thanks… Now get busy!”

Turning, he saw Ladro was trying to stifle a laugh.
Busy doesn’t begin to describe it.
Looking at the guardsmen he saw they all were suppressing deep emotions as they looked on him, some with watering eyes.
I wonder if they are just proud that one of their own has been given so much or if something inside of them knew who I was all along and is now joyous at the confirmation. This whole bloodline thing Duke talks about is a little strange.
Walking out of the kitchens, he headed back to the throne room.
I think I might look at some of those books, after I talk with my sister and brother.

Behind him the guards had formed into a personal escort.

“Two days. We have been cut off from almost every outpost, lookout, and direct operative. We are almost blind and stuck here hiding now for two days! Duke has Daggers out everywhere! The Daggers are watching for us and the guards are answering to the Daggers! This is totally unacceptable! When I told you to see to this personally, I didn’t mean ‘expose the whole operation and get us locked into this backward little city’! One thing! We only needed to get one thing and you missed it! Then you expose us, to kill off a possible witness, who wasn’t even a primary target. Now we are stuck, out of communication, and have no way to continue operations.” Urio-Larne paced back and forth in his library as he continued to rant.

Ossa-Ulla knelt with his head down and back straight. In supplication to his master’s rage, his knives were laid bare on the floor in front of him as the tradition demanded. He was naked from the waste up.
Years of perfection ruined by a deceiving charlatan of a woman who hides behind her appearance of youth to trap men. If I am allowed to continue I will rend her in the old style. She will see her own entrails pulled out slowly over days and used to feed animals while she still lives.
He looked at the knives.
If I get the chance, that is. Urio-Larne is within his rights to demand complete repentance of me.

“The Daggers killed two of our very best, you only just managed to escape, and that was in rags.” Urio-Larne stopped in front of him. There was the sound of snapping fingers over his head, followed by something being handed to Urio-Larne by one of the two men standing at attention behind Ossa-Ulla. Urio-Larne shook the ripped green vest and shirt wadded together within his field of vision. The cloth was stained with blood — some of it his own — and had cuts from the Daggers’ knives. “Rags! Rags! There are whole sections missing from these! This isn’t some stupid hound! This is Duke! Duke, and you left him rags to scent you by! You came here! Rags! This was the worst and most thoughtless action of a cadet. It is impossible to think of anything you could possibly have done worse!” Throwing the clothes on the floor in front of him, Urio-Larne started pacing again.

Two days of this and each day it gets worse. More news or events come because of the start. Yet he does not decide my fate — it is as if he is waiting for something. He hasn’t made up his mind yet. He is trapped and embarrassed. How could I have known she was so good? We didn’t even know we were surrounded by Daggers! I should have guessed that, or at the very least considered it. The first group fell so easily. Ticca, that devil woman, who is she really? That was a trap at the gate and we walked right into it. I am shocked that the Daggers would sacrifice their own to bait a trap. It was very well played. I will never underestimate them again. The group that pinned us against the gate was well prepared. She was the commander though, I am sure of it. She played her part perfectly. She led me to the gate, causing my men to follow, and then as soon as everyone was exactly where she had planned she had Duke close the trap. Very well played. I bet she is in the palace right now helping to determine how to best to hunt us down. Ticca, I swear I will rend you in the old style.

Someone stepped to the threshold of the library and waited respectfully.

Urio-Larne paced back and forth several more times. “What is it?”

“Sir, we have managed to spray every part of the neighborhood and the path Ossa-Ulla took returning here three times now. We shall not be able to do a forth.”

“Why not?”

“Sir, Duke hunts.”

“Not possible! He took a full dose of burned carmine. He won’t be able to track effectively for at least another three or four days.”

“Sir, signal relay reports Duke has begun untangling the scents at the west gate.”

“We must prepare for discovery. I am not sure if three treatments are enough to stop him; two have proven ineffective before, we only know positively that six with time to dry are enough. If he comes on the area before the chemicals finish working he’ll know it has been cleaned, which will give away the general area. After that, this whole area of town will be torn apart looking for us. Damn it! We must execute a complete shutdown.” He spun and walked over to Ossa-Ulla. “This is worse and worse. Do you realize that having such a public fight in an open space which Duke could and did have placed off-limits means he will gain all three scents? Further, you exposed our observation post for the Dolphin. Duke has claimed and sealed that too! There was no chance to clean that! Many of our warriors will be cataloged by him and there will be absolutely no hiding them!”

Urio-Larne stepped to his desk and back. He heard papers being shaken over his head. “Ossa-Ulla, you are given a reprieve.”

Surprised, Ossa-Ulla looked up but remained kneeling.

Urio-Larne shook some papers at him. “Warlord Maru-Ashua commands me to reinstate you as Nhia-Samri. He allows me the privilege of naming your rank. He also suggests that I send you out of the city, to a less conspicuous location.” Urio-Larne paced again and then smiled. “We will evacuate you to outpost Llino Twelve. From there you can take an assistant and proceed to Algan. I want every part of Magus Vestul’s house in ashes before anyone gets the idea to search it. Do you think you can handle lighting a fire in a small city filled with old people and children, Second Lieutenant Ossa-Ulla?”