Mermaid Precinct (ARC)

by Keith R. A. DeCandido

  Torin frowned. “Genealogical affairs?”

  Voran nodded. “Of course. Isn’t there such a person here?”

  “Not that I’m aware of.”

  “Questions of lineage and heredity are important—such things need to be verified in cases of inheritance of lands and titles.”

  “Ah,” Torin said. “Lady Meerka handles such questions. She’s in charge of financial matters.”

  “It’s not always financial, but I suppose it often comes down to that.” Voran sighed. “In any event, Sir Urchan was digging through some of the older royal records, and he came across a medical report from a healer that King Tomsim’s two daughters were both in perfect health. This surprised him, as he thought that Queen Marta was the only child of King Tomsim and Queen Grazia. He investigated further, and discovered that there was an older sister named Lillyana. He even came across a portrait of Marta and her sister, and Lillyana looked exactly like the Pirate Queen. By all the laws of the land, she would be the one to inherit the throne, but there’s no record of her after King Tomsim’s death forty years ago—and very few records before that.”

  “So you were sent to become her cook?” Torin asked. This revelation was one that fascinated the part of Torin that had been trained as a historian back in Myverin, and he was tempted to ask more questions about Sir Urchan’s investigations. If nothing else, the timeline matched, as Tomsim’s death was indeed forty years earlier, and the Pirate Queen started making a reputation for herself about thirty to thirty-five years previous. But it was the Pirate Queen’s death that mattered here, and so he needed to keep the interrogation on track.

  Voran nodded. “The records Sir Urchan was able to find indicated only that she existed, up to a point. We had no idea why she wasn’t made queen, but given that she turned to a life of piracy, we assumed there to be some scandal, and that she became a pirate to enact revenge on her family. And so I travelled south to Treemark and was able to join her crew. In truth, I had only expected to be a deckhand or the cook’s mate, but both the cook and cook’s mate had recently departed, and there was an opening. I made a day’s worth of meals for the crew and was hired.”

  “When did you approach the Pirate Queen with your notion?” Torin asked.

  “I waited a bit. I wanted to get a feel for what she was like. One thing I noticed was that she seemed to be—well, weary. She’d been at sea for the better part of four decades, after all, and while she looked more youthful than her years, she wasn’t getting any younger, either. I thought it would be a good time to let her know that there were those who would restore her to her rightful place.”

  “And how did she respond?” Danthres asked.

  “Laughter, at first. She said she wasn’t interested, but I kept bringing it up with her, and we had a very long conversation one night over a bottle of wine on the subject. She finally agreed to come back to Velessa with me to claim the Silver Throne.”

  There was a long pause, and Torin saw that Voran looked a bit stricken.

  Finally, he said, “The next morning, she turned up dead in her bunk. I can only assume that she told Chamblin or Lisson or one of the other crew about it—or someone overheard our conversation.”

  “So you think one of the crew did it?” Torin knew that was an obvious question with an obvious answer, but he wanted to gauge Voran’s reaction to it.

  “Who else? After all, life under Lillyana was very lucrative. Even my own cut of our profits was not inconsiderable, and I’ve led a well-off life. To have that taken away could drive one to murder, I would think.”

  “Quite possibly.” Torin looked over at Danthres, who had a faraway look in her eyes. He turned back to Voran. “What was the plan for her taking over?”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “You said she agreed to your plan. What was the next step?”

  “We were going to set sail for Treemark, initially. The Cabal members from that city-state would have taken her in, and eventually we would all converge on Velessa. The plan has been in place for over a year now, but it would take some doing to implement it. Lillyana had said that she would take care of things on the Rising Jewel, though I’m afraid she wasn’t specific as to how that would happen. I want to emphasize that I’m coming to you with this voluntarily. I know that I’ve admitted to being part of a conspiracy to unseat the king and queen, and I know that might have consequences, but I feel strongly about the Cabal’s cause, and I would rather it be known that I am involved with that than to have committed murder. After all, who better to poison the Captain’s food than the cook? Besides, Lillyana is—was—the key to our campaign. With her dead, our hopes and dreams have been dashed.” He sighed. “Besides, now that I’m off the boat, I will need to get a message to the Cabal members here in Cliff’s End.”

  “And who might they be?” Danthres asked.

  Voran smiled ruefully. “Nice try, Lieutenant, but I’m not about to allow my comrades to be arrested. You have no authority over Sir Urchan, and I’m willing to accept the consequences to myself by admitting to being part of the Cabal, but I will not put any of the Cliff’s End members in jeopardy.”

  Torin got to his feet. “Very noble of you. If you’ll excuse us a moment, please.”

  Danthres also rose, though she seemed briefly surprised by his ending the interrogation. However, she covered it quickly, and Torin doubted that someone who didn’t know Danthres as well as he did would have even noticed the change in her facial expression, it was so brief.

  They came out into the squadroom, where Aleta and Dannee were going over some scrolls. Torin figured that Aleta was continuing to educate Dannee on the vicissitudes of Castle Guard paperwork. He recalled his own indoctrination in same, and also hoped that Aleta was more patient with Dannee than Danthres had been with him eleven years ago.

  As he closed the interrogation room door behind them, Torin said, “We need to verify Voran’s account.”

  Danthres nodded. “That’s something I’m sure he is not expecting.”

  Dru came out of his office. “What isn’t he expecting?”

  Torin and Danthres filled their captain in on the interrogation. While they did so, a guard showed up and handed Aleta a crystal, and she and Dannee went off to find their perpetrator.

  “Shit.” Dru’s eyes had gone wide as saucers upon learning of Voran’s claims. “How the hell is the Pirate Queen the heir to the throne?”

  “We don’t know that she is,” Danthres said, holding up a hand. “All we know right now is that her cook—who claims to be a noble from Iaron rather than a cook from Treemark—says that she is.”

  “How the hell does a noble even learn to cook?” Dru asked.

  Danthres snorted. “He says that his parents insisted that he learn useful skills beyond counting his gold coins.”

  “A reaction,” Torin added, “to the crash a decade ago, which is also what led to this Cabal forming.”

  Dru shook his head. “Yeah, okay, but still, this sounds nuts.”

  “Which,” Torin said, “is why we need to verify his account. We must go to Velessa and request an audience with the king and queen.”

  “No way,” Dru said. “It’s two weeks to Velessa and back. I need this case put down in the next two days, not more’n a month from now. That ship can’t stay inna docks much longer, or Mannit’s gonna quit in disgust. Bad enough with the overcrowding, an’ that pirate boat’s just makin’ it worse. ’Sides, what makes you think the king an’ queen’d even see you two?”

  “Oh, that part’s easy,” Danthres said. “Remember, we broke Lord Blayk’s conspiracy to have them killed. On the final day of the trial last year, both King Marcus and Queen Marta said that they were forever in our debt, and that they would never forget what we did for them.” She smiled. “Now frankly, I’m sure they were talking out of their asses, but I’m willing to make a nuisance of myself in the palace until such a time as they see the people who, in essence, saved their lives, since if we hadn’t stopped Blayk, he wo
uld have taken another shot at killing them—or, at the very least, declared war on the rest of the human lands.”

  Torin snapped his fingers. “That it!”

  “What’s it?” Dru asked.

  “We don’t need a month, we’ll only need a day, possibly two. We can get to Velessa the same way we did during the trial.”

  Danthres snarled. “No.”

  Dru said, “Boneen teleporting you? Yeah, that’d work.”

  “I will not go through that twice,” Danthres said, hand moving to her stomach.

  “Fine,” Dru said, “then Torin can go by himself.”

  Here it comes, Torin thought even as Danthres whirled on Dru. “Absolutely not! He’ll botch the whole thing!”

  Dru regarded her with a bit of scorn, a look he never would have dreamed of trying on her when they were both lieutenants, but Torin had noted that Dru had more and more grown accustomed to the authority that came with his promotion. “Pretty sure Torin’d be able t’handle it. But if you think it’s such a big deal, then suck it up and teleport with him.”

  Danthres hesitated. “I—”

  “Look, goin’ on foot ain’t an option. We gotta close this fast. Couple more days, an’ I want that boat outta here whether or not you found the murderer.”

  “What about this Cabal?” Torin asked. “We cannot simply ignore it.”

  Dru shrugged. “Fine, keep the cook around—we can arrest him on conspiracy or somethin’—but the docks’re crazy enough between what happened in the Seagull an’ the Rising Jewel sucking all the air outta the place.”

  Letting out a very long sigh, Danthres said, “Very well, I’ll teleport with Torin.”

  “Good.” Torin nodded emphatically.

  Danthres grinned. “Oh, so you agree that you’ll botch it without me?”

  “No, but your point before about needing to very loudly remind the monarchs of the debt they said they owe us is well taken. I suspect it will be far easier to convince them of their need to grant us an audience if you’re there to remind them of that debt in your own inimitable style.”

  “So you’re saying I’m better at being a pain in the ass than you are?” Danthres was still grinning.

  Dru rolled his eyes. “We all know that.”

  “Indeed.” Torin chuckled.

  “All right,” Danthres said, “let’s go convince Boneen to take us on a trip.”

  “Not just Boneen,” Dru said. “You’re gonna need to get an authorization from either the lord or the lady—maybe both.”

  Danthres said, “I believe I can get that authorization from Lady Meerka.” Smiling, she added, “She likes me.”

  “I’ll speak with Boneen,” Torin said.

  “All right.” Dru nodded. “Let’s get this done.”

  FIFTEEN

  Aleta was extremely upset to realize that the visage she saw in Boneen’s crystal was one neither she nor Dannee recognized.

  “I don’t see the problem,” Dannee said as they walked down Meerka Way. They were headed to the Lambit residence to see if Ditha recognized the person in the crystal. “I mean, if it wasn’t anyone we interviewed, that’s good—it means that everyone we talked to told the truth!”

  Aleta sighed. “No, that’s not what it means. It just means that none of them did it. I’m quite sure several of them saw what happened, but said they didn’t so they wouldn’t have to testify before the magistrate. And besides, it’s much better if you can catch a witness in a provable lie because it gives you leverage to get the truth out of them. If the murderer was one of the witnesses we already talked to, it would be easy to get a confession.”

  Dannee frowned. “Do we even need one? We have the peel-back.”

  “Not really. I mean, it helps, but the magistrate prefers additional evidence beyond the peel-back since it’s just Boneen’s word as to what it shows.”

  This seemed to shock Dannee. “You mean he doesn’t trust a wizard’s word?”

  “The magistrate doesn’t trust anyone’s word.”

  They crossed Oak Way into Dragon Precinct, and immediately the streets got more crowded. It was harder for the pair of them to walk two abreast, but Aleta glowered at people who considered obstructing them, and they generally stepped aside.

  Aleta continued: “Also if we didn’t interview him, it means he had the wherewithal to get out of the pub before the guards showed up, which means he’s cautious. It’s a lot easier to catch a killer who’s overconfident. Ones who are wary and who think things through are more difficult.”

  “I suppose.”

  They got to the building that included the rooms rented by the Lambit brothers. The box-shaped building had doors on all four sides, and Aleta went to the one with a numeral four on it, which was around the back.

  tenants. Did you find who killed my brother?”

  “Not yet,” Aleta said, pulling the crystal from the pouch on her belt. “But now we know what he looks like.” She held the crystal in both hands, concentrated, and the image of a human male appeared over it. “Do you recognize him?”

  “Yes—but I’m afraid I don’t know who he is.”

  “What does that mean, exactly?” Dannee asked.

  “I mean, I’ve seen him before.”

  “At the Seagull?” Aleta asked.

  Ditha shook his head. “No, on the Dekird. I saw him talking to our boss, and later he was talking to Soza, but when I asked Soza who he was and what he wanted, he just said it was some guy from the boat, and he didn’t say anything else.”

  “I see.” Aleta sighed. It obviously wasn’t anyone from the Dekird crew because they set sail two days ago—Aleta and Dannee verified that before coming back to the castle—and so the murderer couldn’t have been crew.

  Or, at least, not crew anymore. “Do you know if he was a sailor on the Dekird, or just another cargo hauler like you?”

  “Cargo hauler, I think. I mean, I’m pretty sure I saw him carrying boxes.”

  “Who hired you for that job?”

  “There’s a broker on the docks, name of Palnitt. Still waiting for him to pay us, honestly.”

  “I see. Thank you, Mr. Lambit. We’ll let you know if we find the perpetrator.”

  Ditha nodded and closed the door.

  Dannee sighed after the door shut. “I don’t know this Palnitt person.”

  Aleta smiled. “Oh, I do.”

  “Is he reputable?”

  “As reputable as anyone on the docks.” Aleta held up her hands, palms-up. “Which means, not reputable in the least. But he also is someone I can have a conversation with.”

  Staring at her quizzically, Dannee asked, “I don’t understand. Can’t you have a conversation with anyone? I mean, the whole point of the Castle Guard is that we can talk to anyone, especially when a crime’s involved.”

  “That’s—that’s not quite what I mean. C’mon.”

  Aleta led Dannee through the crowded thoroughfares to the River Walk, specifically to a white shack at the corner of the River Walk and Darnay’s Pass.

  As they approached, Aleta rolled her eyes as she sighted a troll standing in front of the door to the shack, huge arms folded over huger chest. In truth, she smelled the troll long before she saw him, which was not surprising, as hygiene wasn’t something trolls ever really considered.

  “Is that a troll?” Dannee asked.

  “Apparently.” She approached the troll, looking up at his scowling face, accentuated by the two tusks that jutted upward out of his mouth toward his cheeks. He stood half a head taller than Aleta, who carried the great height typical of elves, but this creature still towered over her. “I need to see Palnitt.”

  “Palnitt not see no one,” the troll rumbled.

  “We’re lieutenants in the Cliff’s End Castle Guard, and we’ll see whoever we want. Step aside, please.”

  “Palnitt not see no one,” the troll said again.

  Aleta sighed. It had been a while since she’d had to subdue a troll, and she wasn’t particula
rly looking forward to it.

  Then Dannee said, “Effga tenk so vin kel.”

  Shooting her a look, Aleta asked, “You speak troll?”

  “The language is called Hargit, and I don’t speak it very well, I’m afraid.”

  The troll said something in the same tongue that Aleta couldn’t make out, though it sounded like a lot of harsh syllables thrown together.

  “What did he say?” Aleta asked.

  Dannee looked resigned. “He basically said ‘Palnitt not see no one,’ only he said it in Hargit this time.”

  “Explain to him that we’re Castle Guard.”

  “Okay.” Dannee cleared her throat, and then said, “Asgo so tenk el hak ma rak.”

  The troll responded the same way.

  Resigned to the next course of action, Aleta turned and took five steps away from the shack, turned around, and took a deep breath. She was going to need a running start for this.

  Dannee just stared at her, confused.

  She broke toward the troll, running as fast as her boots and cloak would allow. Briefly, she lamented the Castle Guard uniform that required those, as they hampered movement, though she took solace from the fact that this job required far less physicality than her role as a Shranlaseth agent.

  The troll looked first befuddled, unfolding his arms, then surprised as Aleta leapt into the air.

  Pulling back her right arm, she struck the troll in the side of the throat with the tips of her fingers.

  Bouncing off the troll’s massive form, Aleta landed in front of the creature into a crouching position.

  For his part, the troll’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he fell to the ground in a heap.

  Several people had gathered ’round to watch this tableau, which Aleta hadn’t given much mind until now, when they broke into applause.

  “That was amazing!”

  “Troll smells like shit anyhow!”

  “How’d she do that?”

  “Go home, Cloaks, we don’t want you here!”