by Howell, Rob
“True.”
“And so I am here.”
“Yes.”
“You have heard my terms. I need proof, absolute proof, that my armrings are shipped past Achrida with no tribute to Gibroz, or I shall withdraw from this arrangement.”
“And if we insist?”
“How alert are your men?”
She cocked her head at me.
“Ask our escort.”
Without turning her head, she said, “Hristo?”
The balding leader of Ylli’s men replied. “We were followed here by trained men.”
“Dassaretae escorting us from the Westering Winds.”
She nodded, accepting the information. “They cannot protect you here.”
“No, they cannot. However, they can make our wergild a heavy price to pay.”
“Wergild?”
“Money paid as compensation from an unjust death.”
She nodded again.
A long moment stretched out.
“Wait here.”
We nodded as the four rose from the table and filed out of the room.
I turned to Hristo with a smile. “I hoped you’d seen them, because I did not.”
He snorted, and Sebastijan shook his head. “You’re not my least exciting employer, Sevener, I’ll give you that.”
We waited in silence for at least an hour before Era returned with a bejeweled, mincing man with perfectly arranged hair. Hristo and the other armsmen stiffened when they saw him. Their focus upon us doubled.
He pranced over and sat before me, with Era at his right in front of Sebastijan. He smelled of roses, and up close his face was impossibly symmetrical. Bedarth had once told me some zokurioi specialized in re-shaping people’s bodies. I had scoffed at the idea of such vanity, but I suspected an example of that art sat before me. No doubt he could afford to pay for any magic.
“I am Ylli,” he said in a sweet soprano.
“I guessed that, the way Hristo and his troop reacted at your entrance.”
“He has been such a favorite for some time now.”
“I don’t blame you. I’d rather not cross blades with him.”
“That’s wise of you.” He smirked.
“Thank you.”
“But such a wise choice makes me wonder.”
“Wonder what?”
“Why you are so unwise to come here with such an implausible story.”
I raised my eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“I have no doubt that Vukasin knows more about my dealings in Achrida than I do. He probably knows to the last brass dinar who is cheating me and who is cheating Gibroz.”
I nodded. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“I am but a silly bird, but given how much he knows, I wonder why he would say such awful things about me.”
“Awful things?”
“Oh, my, yes. He should know I would not cheat Gibroz out of his share of the landward trade. That debate would get so messy, and I like things to remain clean.”
“That makes sense.”
“Yes. And so I again wonder why you would come here with such a story, knowing that I will have to employ Hristo here to eliminate you. With no mess, of course.”
“Of course.” I sat back and thought. Look and look again. I studied both Era and Ylli for a moment.
“Time that is wasted is also messy, in my mind, so please answer.”
I chuckled. “You won’t kill us right now.”
Sebastijan started shaking his head. “You’re a madman.”
“That might be true, but something isn’t right. None of this adds up.”
Now Ylli leaned back.
“I agree something is not right. And that something will be very much less right for you should you not explain.”
“Era’s right. I am complicating a simple business agreement. However, the complication would have made little difference to you in terms of risk but given you a reason to charge a greater percentage and make more money.”
“Go on.”
“So you’re either bluffing us or you’re telling us the truth. In either case what you want is more information.”
“Sevener,” hissed Sebastijan.
“He knows I lied. Or rather Era does.”
Sebastijan sighed.
“She’s talented in some way,” I added, looking at the odd designs in the tapestries again.
“It’s subtle, but I’d guess she a symkurios, a Line magician, and those tapestries help her focus her power.”
“Excellent guess, Sevener. Of course, that deduction makes me more likely to ask Hristo to continue his task.”
“Fortunately, since my lies were woven within a cloak of truth, you don’t quite know what is what. Except, of course, that you know Vukasin is willing to help me and the Dassaretae will be a nuisance when you kill us. This is why we’re still alive.”
“Of course, but there’s a limit to my patience.”
“I would ask which is true. Bluffing or speaking honestly?”
A sly smile slid across Ylli’s face. “And why would that matter, since I’m going to kill you anyway?”
“Because what I have to tell you differs depending upon your answer. If you’re bluffing I’ll ask for a small favor that will help you limit a potential mess. If you’re telling the truth, then I’ll tell you of a threat you don’t even know of.”
“What a fascinating answer.”
Ylli looked at Era, who slowly nodded.
“Very well. As it happens, I was telling the truth. We are currently paying Gibroz his agreed cut of the land trade east and west.”
“On the Kopayalitsa?”
He nodded.
“Then, Ylli, you have a problem. And so does Gibroz.”
“Explain, please.”
“One of Gibroz’s men was recently killed by men with a Lezhan accent investigating your caravans.”
“Yes?”
“He was investigating those caravans because Gibroz is not receiving what he thinks is the agreed amount. He thinks you’re cheating him.”
He checked with Era, who again nodded.
“Interesting.”
“Now, I don’t have Era’s skills, but I think you’re telling me the truth. I also think Gibroz was telling me the truth. And if I’m right...”
“If you’re right, then someone is working against both of us. I hate messes.”
I nodded.
“Tell me everything.”
“That will take time, Ylli.”
He motioned. One of his guards left the room, returning after a moment.
“It started when I found the body of a man near Biljana’s Springs.”
Sebastijan chuckled. “Why were you there, again?”
I glared at Sebastijan. “I was there to get a doll left by a friend’s daughter.”
Sebastijan grinned. Era and Ylli shared a small smile. The armsmen chuckled.
I took a breath and was about to continue when the door opened and a small man with impeccable manners placed actual glass goblets before the four of us. He filled our glasses with wine or rakija as we chose, leaving the decanters between us as he bowed and exited.
Ylli sipped his wine with delicate appreciation.
“You were saying that you were retrieving a doll.”
“Yes.”
“A task worthy of your skills, no doubt.”
I sighed. “I suppose. In any case, while there I found the body of a man named Aca.”
“Gibroz’s man?”
I nodded.
“I have heard of him. He was a man of many skills.”
“Not enough, apparently.”
Ylli nodded.
“The girl who owned the doll heard the men burying Aca, and they spoke with a Lezhan accent.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. As much as I can be with a girl of six winters.” I listed all that I had learned from Kapric, Zvono, Piri, and Svetislav. They all finished their glasses and refilled them. I
left my rakija untouched.
“Since it seemed like the murder involved the krals, I visited Gibroz and asked him about the dead man.”
“How did you know about Gibroz?”
“Another long story. Suffice to say I got pulled into the maelstrom that is Achrida. I was not lying when I said I had helped replace Pal with Vesela. I met Gibroz in the midst of that.”
Ylli nodded.
“In any case, when I informed Gibroz he immediately suspected you, stating that you had been pushing at him of late, and that he wanted me to come here and find out what you were doing and why ‘that prissy fucker’ was messing with him.”
A wintry slit of a smile crossed Ylli’s face.
“Recent conflicts with me?”
He turned to Era.
“He is truthful?”
She nodded, and he took a moment to swirl his wine to watch the light shimmer through the glass.
Then he looked back at me. “I can think of no recent conflicts of any great merit. I have been paying the proper fees for work in his area and he has been paying the appropriate dues to me. I for one have had other opportunities to focus upon, lately.”
“He is definitely of the opinion that you are not paying the agreed-upon dues for your trade upon the Kopayalitsa.”
“Hmmm.”
“And as I said, I came here to find out what you were doing and who you were doing it with.”
“Why you?”
“Because I was already involved I guess. Plus, if Hristo throws me into the Middle Sea then Gibroz has not really lost anything. He doesn’t like me too much. He’s not ready to dispense with me either, but he keeps telling me he’ll dump me in the lake.”
“I’m surprised he hasn’t. He’s fairly straightforward about that sort of thing.”
Ylli paused.
“I should have phrased my question better. Why are you still involved? Why are you getting involved in a conflict between two kraljevics? What’s in this for you?”
Sebastijan snorted, and Ylli looked at him. “He’s involved because he’s a trained and blooded swordsman who thinks nothing of retrieving a six-year old girl’s doll.”
“I don’t understand.”
“He thinks he’s Marko reborn, saving the innocent and righteously slaying wrongdoers.”
I turned and snapped, “Thegithu, Sebastijan.”
He looked so confused that I forgot my anger and laughed. “I just told you to shut up in a proper language. I should have said that much sooner.”
Looking back at Ylli I continued. “I’m no hero, but a girl, an innocent man, and his family are in danger. I won’t stop until I know that Harald won’t get beat up again and his wife and children are safe. I really don’t care about you or Gibroz.”
“Marko, just like I said.”
I shook my head as Ylli and Era chuckled, then quickly sobered and looked each other.
“Everything he’s said since you’ve come in the room has been truthful,” Era confirmed.
“As far as he knows it.”
She nodded.
I waited until they turned back to me. “I have part of what I came for. I can tell Gibroz that you aren’t actually involved and that I think someone is playing the two of you off against each other for some reason. But that’s only one of my goals. I need to find who this person is and convince them to stop threatening Harald.”
Ylli leaned back and thought. “How are you going to do that?”
“I’m not actually sure. I don’t think the answer is here in Lezh. I think that whoever is behind this is focusing on getting Gibroz angry. I think they want him to attack you openly. I don’t know what those other opportunities you mentioned are, but I’m guessing they think that you’re distracted and your people in Achrida can be manipulated without you noticing.”
Ylli nodded. “And they seem to have been successful. This is the first I have heard of any of this.”
“It’s possible that messages were sent that you did not receive.”
“What do you mean?”
“I believe that someone intended to waylay us as we came to Lezh. Someone intentionally delayed our trip here for two days by getting Andreas to arrest me.”
“I thought Vukasin liked you.”
“He does. Andreas ignored his directions.”
“I find that difficult to believe.”
“And yet, that’s exactly what happened.”
“Strange.”
“We think they were going to kill Sebastijan and me on the road here. It’s possible other couriers could have been eliminated on Crownstreet too.”
“How did you elude them?”
“We came past the Bardheküülle.”
“What?”
“We took the Bujerruge past the Bardheküülle.”
Ylli and Era dropped their jaws and turned to each other and back to me.
“No one takes that road,” whispered Era.
“We had help.”
“Who could help you with that?”
“Katarina.”
“The kraljevic? She’s not sane.”
“No, Ylli, she’s not, but in any case she helped us avoid the trap and get to Lezh.”
“Why would she do that?”
“How much do you really want to know about how she thinks? I can tell you that she did not help me to harm you, or to help me at all, for that matter, but for a completely different reason.”
Ylli glanced at Era, who confirmed my truthfulness again.
“I suppose I know enough about her already.”
“In any case, if they were going to ambush Sebastijan and me, it’s possible they could have ambushed your couriers.”
“Not all of them, but if the messages were important enough, my people would prefer to send them as quickly as they could. My faster couriers are more vulnerable, so you might be right. I haven’t heard from all of them, but it’s possible that I would not have.”
“Do you have any enemies in Achrida?”
“Aside from Gibroz, no person comes to mind. Katarina and I have a fine working relationship. In fact, much of the caravan trade is devoted to shipping products for her.”
“Could Katarina want to take more control of the stuff crossing the Kopayalitsa?”
“It’s hard to tell with her. It’s certainly possible. There’s more profit if she owns the shipping routes.”
“But?”
“But it’s tedious work for people with lots of abaci, mostly.”
“Which is definitely not fun for her.” I finally took a sip of my rakija. “What does she ship with you?”
“Is that relevant?”
“I don’t know, actually. I’ll admit part of me is just curious, but it could matter. My tutor trained me to collect all of the information I could and let it teach me.”
“A wise man.”
“Yes.”
Ylli paused and shrugged. “Most of her elixirs and drugs require ingredients found in exotic places. Many come from the east.”
“Elixirs and drug?”
“She provides substances that make people happy for a short time, or at least think they’re happy.”
“She enjoys corrupting people.”
“Exactly.”
“So you provide those things to her?”
“Generally speaking, yes.”
“Do you enjoy corrupting people?”
“Quite the reverse, actually. Many gods and godlings suggest that wealth corrupts people. I feel I am providing a service to these people by taking their wealth and holding it myself.”
“That’s kind of you.”
“I think so.”
For a moment, he leaned back comfortably but shook his head and focused on the topic again. “I may dress nicer and use better language than Gibroz, but make no mistake, I will deal with whoever is creating this mess.”
“If I don’t get to them first.”
“I doubt you’ll deal with those involved as permanently as I will.”
“Maybe. My goal is merely to protect my friends, but that’s one way to do so.”
“We have commonality of interests, and we have different resources that could complement each other.”
“Again, to a point. I don’t necessarily want to kill them.”
“And if I paid you to do so?”
“I am not an assassin.”
“But you’ll kill people.”
“To protect someone, yes. If I’ve sworn to a lord and he requires it to fulfill his oaths to his people. To defend myself. Not for pay. Not for you.”
Ylli nodded. “I accept these terms.”
I looked at him curiously. “What do you mean?”
“I believe you were correct earlier. From what you describe, I believe that whoever is behind these actions is working in Achrida, not in Lezh. I believe they were hoping to prevent anyone in Lezh, especially me, from knowing anything.”
I nodded. “That’s the only thing that makes sense to me.”
“Exactly, which leaves me in a bit of a quandary.”
Sebastijan laughed and turned to me. “Sevener, I do believe you’ve just been hired by Ylli to solve the problem Gibroz already hired you to do.”
Ylli smiled. “He is correct. I need someone who can work in Achrida that I can trust. I believe I can trust you, at least in this task. None of my people can work as effectively as you can there. I need you to serve as my representative in this.”
I sighed. “What do you want me to do?”
“Nothing you are not already planning to do. I want to find out who is trying to get Gibroz and me to fall to open warfare. I want to stop them, and at the same time I want to make sure your friends are safe.”
I thought for a moment or two until Sebastijan nudged me. “Just say yes, because we both know you’ll do it.”
I glared at him.
“What did Gibroz offer you in payment?” asked Ylli.
“A favor.”
His eyebrows rose. “Indeed? An open favor? He is not usually so generous.”
“I believe he expected you to kill me.”
“I almost did.”
“Hristo almost did,” I snapped.
Ylli laughed. “True enough. I suppose in that case I must match Gibroz. Should you find those behind this action, I will grant you any favor that does not actively harm my organization.”
Sebastijan started shaking his head. “I suspect Katarina feels she owes you too. Soon, every criminal in the Empire will be in your debt.”