Harvest of Rubies (20 page)

“The oddest thing about these records,” I told Bardia, Pari, and Shushan eleven days after I started my search, “is that there is no change in the amount of money being spent on Lord Darius’s estates since Teispes’s coming. Same incomes. Same expenditure. He’s not saving any money by his drastic …
industry
, shall we say?”

We were in the herb garden working. “Industry?” Shushan lifted her head and made a rude noise with her tongue that startled several birds into flight. “I give that for his industry.” Everyone laughed.

“He is a clever man, that one. But not so clever that he can outwit me.” I stopped for a torturous pause. My audience straightened from their various tasks.

“Well, what is it?” Pari burst. “Have you solved this puzzle?”

“Not solved it, exactly. No. What I have discovered is that the money he saves by impoverishing this estate is being poured into another of Lord Darius’s properties. A textile factory that his lordship owns in Ecbatana. It is run by an
arassara.”

“Isn’t that some kind of female overseer?” Shushan asked, squinting her good eye.

“Precisely. The royal family uses them often. The
arassara
supervise a variety of factories, particularly those that require child labor. These women are skilled in management and earn good wages, sometimes as much as a man, though they remain unmarried. When I worked for Queen Damaspia, I supervised the payment of allotments to several such
arassara
. So I’m familiar with the range of their rations.”

“And this one is getting paid more than she should, is that it?” Pari asked.

“A lot more. The first year Teispes arrived here, the records show that Mandana, that’s the name of Lord Darius’s
arassara
, gave birth to twin sons. As you know, mothers of newborns receive larger rations according to Persian law. They receive even greater rations when they give birth to boys. Imagine the tidy raise when it’s twin boys. Here things become interesting. Mandana’s raise in rations and wages were ten times above that which would normally have been given to a woman in her position.”

“Wait! I thought you said she was single,” Pari interjected.

“Never met an
arassara
who wasn’t.”

“You can forget thinking those children belong to Lord Darius, right now,” Bardia said, shoving his earth-crusted finger on one of my favorite theories. “If my lord had twin sons, never mind by whom, he would acknowledge them publicly rather than sweep them under the carpet, and supporting them on the sly. This is not a family to deny its children.”

His objection rang true. The aristocracy was not too fastidious about where its sons came from as long as it produced them. Nothing pointed to a man’s virility, outside of his achievements in combat, more than the number of his sons.
Having sired twin boys was a cause for public pride, not something to be hidden in a dark corner.

“Teispes, then?” Shushan said.

“It’s not impossible,” I said. “Mandana’s rations have gone up with each year so that according to the records she now receives the equivalent of twenty honored
arassara
. It’s unnatural.”

“That worm of a steward has been beggaring this estate in order to support his paramour?” Shushan burst out.

“Support in style,” Pari said. “She must be as rich as a satrap by now.”

I straightened a crooked sleeve. “Suppositions and conjecture. We cannot prove any of it. And though it sounds reasonable, there could be ten other explanations. Lord Darius might be behind this arrangement.” I held my hand up as a peace offering before Bardia could object. “Not because he has sired the twins, but for reasons unknown to us.”

“My master wouldn’t allow this estate to fall into ruin on purpose. It was his mother’s favorite and he bears a tender regard for it.”

“Then why would he allow this? Why would he not stop it for three years?”

“He doesn’t know. Those of us who have been around since his childhood did not wish to burden him with our complaints. The newer servants would have been afraid to approach him. Besides, Teispes always hires temporary servants during his visits. He makes sure that the areas most often visited by Lord Darius are in good order.”

“Bardia, it’s in the records. Can he not read?”

“My lord can read and write. He can even speak three languages. But keeping up with accounts is not one of his strengths. You said that the income and expense of his estates have not changed since Teispes came. I doubt if his lordship
would have examined more than that. You are a scribe and it took you days to find the source of the problem. He would not have seen it.”

Aggravated because his reasonable argument poked holes into my own theories, I raked my hand through my hair, a movement impeded by the combs Pari had stuck there. I was hampered at every side: by Darius’s absence, by Teispes’s dishonest secrecy, by my inability to travel, by my lack of access to royal messengers. Now even my hair was tied up. I sent Pari a grumpy glance.

“We need more information. If only I could get my hands on a royal courier.” Every answer we needed resided in Ecbatana. And we were stuck here. A courier, however, would be able to go where we could not.

Royal messengers had special permission to travel on public roads. Though Persia had some of the most intricate road systems of the world, they were vigilantly guarded. Travelers needed special visas, something I no longer had access to without my former employer’s power or my husband’s influence. Teispes was the one who acted in my husband’s stead. He had Darius’s seal. If I wanted to travel, or even send a messenger, I would need Teispes’s permission, which would not be forthcoming any time soon.

“You need to send a message?” Bardia asked, his face brightening. “I can help with that.”

The next morning started with some excitement. Pari, the dog, and I were clattering down the stone steps leading to the garden when one of the stones became inexplicably loose. I had my whole weight on it when it went flying under me, twisting
my right ankle in the process. My balance gone, I went over, headfirst. Caspian somehow managed to place himself where I landed, breaking the worst of my fall.

“Are you all right?” Pari and I shouted at the same time, she addressing me, and I addressing the dog. The dog had miraculously escaped injury, but my ankle ached with a persistent throb that prevented me from attempting to move for some time.

Bardia must have heard our cries of alarm, for he hurried over to us after a few minutes, a young man I had never seen before trailing in his wake.

“My lady! What happened?”

“She fell down the stairs and bruised her ankle,” Pari said.

Bardia bent to examine the injured limb. “Doesn’t look broken. Shall I send for a physician?”

“No. I merely need a few moments to catch my breath.”

Pari shook her head. “One of the stones came loose. This place is falling apart from lack of proper care. It’s dangerous.”

The young man moved to examine the stone. He crouched next to it for several moments before straightening. “Odd,” he said.

“I should introduce this young lout,” Bardia said. “This is my grandson, Gobry. When he was a boy, he helped me here, but now, he is a royal messenger.”

Several things fell into place at the same time, making me forget the discomfort in my ankle. First, Bardia’s grandson was a courier, the very person I needed in order to further my investigations.

Second, Gobry was short for Gobryas, a name familiar to me in my study of Darius’s records. To my puzzlement, I had discovered that for a number of years, the majority of Bardia’s income had been directed to one Gorbyas, presumably the
same young man who stood before me. And now I knew why.

By theory at least, every man in Persia was free to receive the education afforded a lord’s son. In practice, however, financial matters made this an impractical dream. Most families needed their young men in the workforce as early as possible in order to augment their income. There was the further complication of cost; educating a young man required additional funds—food, drink, horse and saddle, feed, stable fees, armor, weapons—all this cost money. It was an expensive undertaking. No wonder Bardia had so little. He had poured most of his wages into the education of his grandson for years. Now Gobry could ride like a nobleman and be entrusted with the speedy delivery of the secrets of an empire.

The third thought that came into sharp focus was the realization that Gobry had pronounced my upturned stone
odd
. “Pleased to meet you, Gobry. What is odd about the stone?”

“My lady,” he said, making a credible though brief obeisance to me. “That stone was not loosened by accident.” He picked up the flat slab and showed me its underside. “See here, this dent? This comes from repeated beating by a blunt instrument. Someone beat this stone out of place.”

“I see,” I said.

“Do you mean someone broke it on purpose to cause a fall?” Pari asked, her cheeks bright red, whether from anger or self-consciousness at addressing a comely young man, I could not tell.

“This is my handmaiden, Pari,” I said.

Gobry turned grave eyes upon my blushing servant. “It would seem a reasonable assumption.”

I bent to play with the ribbon on my shoe. “Teispes may have discovered his missing parchments, I fear. This could be his warning to us to stay out of his business.”

“The steward?” Gobry said. “I will knock his head off. It’s enough that he has mistreated my grandfather, but when he starts plotting to harm the lady of the house—”

I cleared my throat. “We cannot prove it. Not this, not any of it. But you could help us find the truth, Gobryas. Then we could present our case to Lord Darius and leave him to decide the matter.”

He laid his hand flat upon his chest. “I live to serve, my lady.”

Quickly, I explained the tangle of our situation to Gobry. “What I need is someone who can go to Ecbatana and unearth this mystery.” I couldn’t send a royal messenger on a personal errand for myself, of course. I hadn’t the authority. “Is it possible that you might be given a mission in Ecbatana soon? That way, while there, you could perhaps do a bit of extra reconnaissance for Lord Darius’s household?”

“Easy to arrange. With most of the court at Ecbatana, messages are sent there almost daily. What is it that you would like me to do, once I am in the city, my lady?”

I needed no reminding that the court resided in Ecbatana; but for my marriage, I too would be there now.

“We have to find out if Mandana is truly involved with Teispes,” I said. “Does anyone in town know who the father of the twins may be? Bring me back whatever news you can, even if it is only town gossip.

“And meet with Mandana face-to-face. Take the measure of her. Sometimes direct questions are the best way to find information.”

Royal messengers were trained to be discreet as well as fast. While spying was somewhat outside the purview of Gobry’s usual work, I felt certain that he could manage it. But I had also seen that our resident fox had sharp teeth. “Be careful,
Gobry,” I said. “This might be more dangerous than we bargained for.”

He flashed a smile. “My lady, that would only improve my journey.”

“Nonetheless, you must promise that if you sense any threat, you will seek out Lord Darius in the palace and tell him everything we have told you.”

I managed to rope the young man into helping me back to my chambers though I had no real need for his assistance. He held me by one arm and Pari by the other as I limped my way forward. I had my reasons for this devious dependency.

I was certain that the steward had watched us from the moment we had left the house. He could not have heard our conversation, but no doubt he had positioned himself where he could see the result of his mischief. He must have been disappointed that I hadn’t landed on my head. Now, I wished him to believe me more hurt than I actually was. The more helpless he thought me, the safer he would feel. Criminals, like wild animals, preferred safety; they proved less dangerous while they felt secure.

I had another reason for drawing Gobry away from his grandfather. I didn’t want Bardia around while I gave his grandson my final missive. In my chamber, I unearthed my modest bag of gold and silver coins, payment from the queen for my years of service. It had been her idea to pay me in royal coins rather than in rations as was common, for she said it would be wiser to have financial resources that required no dependence on others. Three years’ worth of rations needed storage space, connections for a fair exchange, letters, meetings, all of which would have required a steward. Damaspia could have had no notion of Teispes’s dishonesty, yet her instinctive cautiousness had proven indispensable.