The Book of Jhereg (26 page)

I walked down the hall to the stairs and met Morrolan, descending. I nodded to him and started to pass by. He motioned to me. I stopped, and he walked up the hall toward the library. I followed dutifully and sat down after he had closed the door behind me. The situation reminded me unpleasantly of a servant being called in for a dressing down for not scrubbing the chamberpots sufficiently.

“Vlad,” he said, “perhaps you would care to enlighten me on just exactly what is occurring around here?”

“Eh?”

“Something has happened somewhere that I don’t know about. I can feel it. You are preparing to move on Mellar, aren’t you?”

By Verra’s fingers! Did the whole Empire know?

He began ticking off points. “Aliera is rather upset about this whole matter and doesn’t know quite what to do. You were acting the same way, as of yesterday. Today, I am informed that you have been, if I may put it so, snooping around Mellar. I see Aliera and she is just as pleased with life as you can imagine. Then I see you walking up the stairs, I assume to see my cousin, and you appear to know what you’re doing all of a sudden. Now, would you mind telling me exactly what it is you two are planning?”

I was silent for a while; then I said, slowly and carefully, “If I’m acting any different today than yesterday, it’s because we just solved the mystery—not the problem. I still don’t have any idea of what I’m going to do about it. I will say, however, that I have no intention of doing anything that will, in any way, compromise you, your oath, or your House. I believe I stated that yesterday, and I have no reason to change my mind. Is that sufficient?”

“
Go, boss, go!
”

“
Shut up, Loiosh
.”

Morrolan stared at me, long and hard, as if he were trying to read my mind. I flatter myself, however, that even Daymar would have trouble doing that without my noticing. Morrolan, I think, also respects me too much to do so without asking first. And in any case, hawk-eyes should stay on Hawklords, where they belong.

He nodded, once. “All right, then,” he said. “We’ll say no more about the matter.”

“Frankly,” I said, “I don’t know what is on Aliera’s mind. As you guessed, I was heading up to see her when I ran into you. But I don’t have anything planned with her—yet. I hope she doesn’t have anything planned without me.”

He looked grim. “I like that rather less,” he said.

I shrugged. “As long as I’m here, tell me: have you checked over those bodyguards?”

“Yes, I took a look at them. What of it?”

“Are they sorcerers?”

He seemed to debate with himself for a moment. Then he nodded. “Yes, both of them. Quite competent, too.”

Damn. The good news just kept piling up.

“Okay, then. Is there anything else you wanted?”

“No—yes. I would appreciate it if you would keep an eye on Aliera.”

“Spy on Aliera?”

“No!” he said emphatically. “Just, if she tries to do something that she should, perhaps, not do—I think you understand—try to discuss it with her, all right?”

I nodded, as the last piece of the puzzle fell into its place. Of course! That was what Mellar was worried about! He had bodyguards so that he wouldn’t be killed by a non-Jhereg. He had, indeed, heard of Pathfinder.

The solving of this last piece of the mystery put me no closer to its solution; no surprise. I took my leave of Morrolan and headed up the stairs to Aliera’s chambers. I felt his eyes on my back the whole way.

* * *

“What kept you?” asked Aliera.

“Morrolan wanted to have a chat.”

I noted that Aliera did, indeed, seem to be in fine spirits today. Her eyes were bright green and shining. She relaxed against the back of her bed, absently stroking a cat that I’d not been introduced to. Loiosh and the cat eyed each other with abstract hunger.

“I see,” she said. “What about?”

“He seems to think that you have something in mind. For that matter, so do I. Care to tell me about it?”

She arched her eyebrows and smiled. “Maybe. You go first.”

The cat rolled over on its back, demanding that its stomach be attended to. Its long, white fur stood out a little, as it chose to deny that Loiosh existed. Aliera obliged it.

“
Hey, boss
.”

“
Yes, Loiosh?
”

“
Isn’t it disgusting how some people cater to the whims of dumb animals?
”

I didn’t answer.

“For starters, Aliera, the idea we had before won’t work.”

“Why not?”

It seemed that she wasn’t too worried. I was beginning to be.

“A number of reasons,” I said. “But the main thing is that Mellar has no intention of leaving here.”

I explained our deductions about Mellar’s plans and motives. Surprisingly, her first reaction was similar to mine—she shook her head in admiration. Then, slowly, her eyes turned a hard metallic gray. I shuddered.

“I’m not going to let him get away with this, Vlad. You know that, don’t you?”

Well, I hadn’t actually known, but I’d been afraid of something like it. “What are you going to do?” I asked softly.

She didn’t say anything, but her hand came to rest on Pathfinder’s hilt.

I kept my voice soft, even, and controlled. “If you do, you are aware that Morrolan will be forced to kill you.”

“So what?” she asked, simply.

“Why don’t we find a better way?”

“For example?”

“Dammit, I don’t know! What do you think I’ve been racking my brains about for the last few days? If we can find some way to convince him to leave, we can still follow the original idea—you trace him with Pathfinder, and then we take him wherever he ends up. If I just had more time!”

“How much time do you have?”

That was a very good question. If we were very, very lucky, the news wouldn’t get out for three more days. But, unfortunately, I couldn’t count on being lucky. And, what was worse, neither could the Demon. What would his next effort be like? I asked myself again. And how much of a chance would I have to stop it? I didn’t like the answer I got to that last question.

“Today and tomorrow,” I told her.

“And what,” she asked, “happens then?”

“Deathsgate opens up. The matter is taken out of my hands, my body turns up somewhere, and I miss out on a fine Dragon-Jhereg war.
You
get to see the war. Lucky you.”

She gave me a nasty grin. “I might enjoy it,” she said.

I smiled back at her. “You might at that.”

“However,” she admitted, “it wouldn’t do the House any good.”

I agreed with that, too.

“On the other hand,” she said, “if I kill him, there’s no problem. The two Houses don’t fight, and only the Dzur are hurt, and who cares about them, anyway? Well, maybe we can think of some way to intercept the information about them before it gets out.”

“They aren’t the problem,” I told her. “The problem is that you end up dead, or having to kill Morrolan. I don’t consider either possibility to be an ideal outcome.”

“I have no intention of killing my cousin,” Aliera stated.

“Great. Then you leave him alive, with his reputation dead.”

She shrugged. “I am not unconcerned about my cousin’s honor,” she informed me. “It’s just that I’m more concerned with precedence than Morrolan.”

“There’s another thing, too,” I added.

“Oh?”

“To be honest, Aliera, I’m not convinced that you can take Mellar. He’s got two experts guarding him, both of them good fighters, and both good sorcerers. I’ve already told you who trained him as a swordsman, and remember that he was good enough to fight his way into the House of the Dzur. He’s determined that only a Jhereg is going to get him, and I’m afraid he may have what it takes to back that up. I’m not at all sure that you’ll be able to kill him.”

She listened patiently to my monologue, then gave me a cynical smile. “Somehow,” she said, “I’ll manage.”

I decided to change the subject. There was only one other thing I had to try—and that was liable to get me killed. I didn’t really feel like doing it, so I asked, “Where is Sethra, by the way?”

“She’s returned to Dzur Mountain.”

“Eh? Why?”

Aliera studied the floor for a while, then turned her attention back to the cat. “She’s getting ready.”

“For . . .”

“A war,” said Aliera.

Just wonderful. “She thinks it will come to that?”

Aliera nodded. “I didn’t tell her what I plan on doing, so she’s assuming it’s going to happen.”

“And she wants to make sure that the Dragons win, eh?”

Aliera gave me a look. “It isn’t our custom,” she explained, “to fight to lose.”

I sighed. Well, now or never, I decided.

“
Hey, boss, you don’t want to do that
”

“
You’re right. But it’s what I’m paid for. Now shut up
.”

“One final thing, Aliera,” I said.

Her eyes narrowed; I guess she picked up something from the tone of my voice. “And that is . . .?”

“I still work for Morrolan. He pays me, and I therefore owe him a certain amount of loyalty. What you propose doing is in direct violation of his wishes. I won’t let you do it.”

And, just like that, even as I finished speaking, Pathfinder was in her hand, its point level with my chest. She measured me coolly with her eyes. “Do you think you can stop me, Jhereg?”

I matched her gaze. “Probably not,” I admitted. What the Hell? Looking at her, I could see that she was prepared to kill me at once. “If you do, Aliera, Loiosh will kill your cat.”

No response. Sheesh! Sometimes I think Aliera has no sense of humor at all.

I looked down the length of the blade. Two feet separated it from my chest—and my soul, which had once been her brother’s. I recalled a time, it seemed like ages now, when I had been in a similar position with Morrolan. Then, as now, my thoughts had turned to figuring out which weapon was closest. A poison dart would be a waste of time. My poison works fast, but not
that
fast. I’d have to hit a nerve. Fat chance. I was going to have to go for a kill—anything else wouldn’t do. My odds that time had been poor. This time they were worse. At least Morrolan didn’t have his weapon out.

I looked back to her eyes. A person’s eyes are the first things that let you know when he is about to make a move. I felt the hilt of the dagger up my right sleeve—point out. A sharp, downward motion would be required, and it would be in my hand; an upward motion after that would have it on the way to her throat. From this range, I couldn’t miss. From this range, neither could she. I’d probably be dead before she was, and they wouldn’t be able to revivify me.

“
Just say the word, boss. I’ll be at her eyes before
—”

“
Thanks, but hold, for now
.”

That last time, Morrolan had changed his mind about killing me because he’d had a use for me, and I’d stopped just short of mortal insult. This time, I felt sure, Aliera would not change her mind—once she decided on a course of action she was as stubborn in pursuing it as I was. After all, I thought bitterly, in an odd sort of way we were related.

I readied myself for action—I would have to get the drop on her to have any chance at all, so there was no point in waiting. It was odd; I realized that everything I’d been doing since I’d spoken to the Demon had been directed either at finding a way to kill Mellar, or risking my life to prevent someone from solving my problem.

I timed my breathing and studied her. Ready, now . . . wait . . . I stopped. What the Hell are you doing, Vlad? Kill Aliera? Be killed by her? What, by the great sea of chaos, would that solve? Sure, Vlad, sure. Good thinking. All we need now is for you to kill a guest of Morrolan’s—and the wrong one at that! Sure, all we need now is for Aliera to be dead. That would—

“Wait a minute!” I said. “I’ve got it!”

“You’ve got what?” she asked coolly. She wasn’t taking any chances on me—she knew what a tricky bastard I was.

“Actually,” I said in a more normal tone of voice, “you’ve got it.”

“And what, pray tell, have I got?”

“A Great Weapon,” I said.

“Yes, I certainly do,” she admitted, not giving an inch.

“A weapon,” I continued, “that is irrevocably linked to your soul.”

She waited calmly for me to go on, Pathfinder still pointed straight at my heart.

I smiled, and for the first time in days, I actually meant it. “You aren’t going to kill Mellar, my friend.
He’s
going to kill
you!
”

T
HERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO
question about it: I was doing too much teleporting these last few days. I forced myself to take a few minutes to relax at the teleport area for my office building, then went charging up the stairs like a dzur on the hunt. I skimmed past my secretary before he had time to unload mundane business on me and said, “Get Kragar up here. Now.”

I stepped into the office and plumped down. Time for some hard thinking. By the time my stomach had settled, the details of the plan were beginning to work themselves out. Timing would have to be precise, but that was nothing new. There were a few things I would have to check on, to make sure they could be done, but these I’d make sure of in advance, and maybe I could find a way around any problems that turned up.

I realized that I was also going to have to depend a lot more on other people than I was at all comfortable with, but life is full of risks.

I started ticking off points, when I realized that Kragar was sitting there, waiting for me to notice him. I sighed. “What’s the news today, Kragar?”

“The rumor mill is about to explode—it’s leaking from several directions.”

“Bad?”

“Bad. We aren’t going to be able to keep this under our cloaks for very long; there’s too much going on. And the bodies didn’t help either.”

“Bodies?”

“Yeah. Two bodies turned up this morning. Both sorceresses, Left Hand.”

“Oh. Right. One of them would be the one we discussed before.”

“Yeah. I don’t know who the other one was. My guess is that the Demon found someone else who was spreading too many rumors.”