‘Was that a joke? How droll. I thought you’d be on my side with this. Weren’t you the one bugging me to get him a teacher? I get him one and my return is nothing but hassle.’
‘He’s scared,’ she said evenly. ‘You could see that if you weren’t up to your ears in whatever mess you’re making.’
‘The world is a scary place – the sooner he learns to fear it the better off he’ll be.’
‘Is that why you put bruises on him? To teach him some caution?’
‘Mostly it’s just because he gets on my fucking nerves.’
I was trying to goad her, but it didn’t have that effect. ‘Your nose is bleeding,’ she said finally.
I put two fingers against my upper lip. She was not wrong – I hadn’t realized I’d been hitting the breath so hard.
‘Did you bump it against something?’
I’d rolled a cigarette for after breakfast, and figured this was a solid time to start on it. ‘You know me. Clumsy as an ox.’
‘What the hell is going on?’
‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘Agents coming by the Earl? You and Adolphus huffing at each other? What con are you running, and where is it gonna leave us? The last time you pulled something it almost got Wren killed, do you remember that? What trouble are you bringing down on us now?’
‘You want me gone? Is that what this is? All you gotta do is ask. Course, you might find things ain’t so easy out from beneath my coattails. Not like the Earl is some great moneymaker. How much have I sunk into this place over the years, bridge loans during the dry seasons? It must be nice, drifting so far above it, hands clean as buttermilk and a conscience to match. I imagine it’s quite an embarrassment having someone like me in your house, a common criminal.’ Smoke streamed through ruptured nostrils. ‘But you take my coin, don’t you, Adeline – and you ask my favor, when you need it.’
She recoiled into silence. Her mouth shuttered up and down, silently weathering the blow.
Nothing like striking a saint to buff your self-image. It was time to get going, ten or fifteen minutes past time. By now Artur Giroie would be aware that his shipment had been smashed and his boys killed. He’d be angry, and he’d be looking for a direction to aim that anger. I figured I might be of some service to him.
‘You have a nice morning,’ I told Adeline, yet to recover from my abuse. ‘I gotta ride a man off a cliff.’
28
When I came in Artur’s tantrum was trailing off, his muttered profanities the light mist left by the storm that had just leveled the room. One of his crystal paperweights was lodged in the wood paneling beside the door. The painted canvas above his desk had been stripped from the wall, a rent down the middle defacing the dull pastoral scene. Junior stood next to the line of windows overlooking the neighborhood he owned, or pretended to. His hair was mussed.
I righted the visitor’s chair and set myself into it, untying my tobacco purse and shaking out a sheave.
Blind fury takes its toll on a man. Junior sat down after I did, but it was a while before he stopped breathing heavy. I was kind enough to wait before beginning.
‘Rough morning?’
He had taken a spiced cigarette from an ivory box on the table, but was having trouble getting it started, a mass grave of used matches lining the glass. I lit mine with a quick pass, then leaned over and did the same for him.
He took a stuttering drag and blew clove and tar into the air. ‘Someone hit a shipment of ours last night. Killed the guard to a man, made off with the merchandise.’
‘That’s not very friendly.’
He slammed a fist down against his desk, setting what bric-a-brac had survived his conniption rumbling. ‘A hundred ochre gone. Would have made five times that on the street.’ He ran a hand through his long, blond locks. ‘Not to mention the loss of my guards.’
‘Not to mention.’
‘It’s the veterans, isn’t it? First the Savages, now this.’
‘Could be.’
He folded his arms and ducked his head down into them. ‘I’m going to tear Pretories a new hole. Then I’m going to pull his intestines out of it.’
‘Sounds painful.’
‘Thinks he can fuck with the Giroies, he’s gonna learn clear otherwise.’
‘Blessed are the teachers.’
‘Him and all his men. They got no idea what’s coming for them.’
‘Make the Dren look like milkmaids.’
He’d been too lost in revenge fantasies to hear me, but this last seemed to have broken through. ‘You find this humorous?’
‘It’s all we’ve left, in these times of tragedy.’
‘Easy for you to take things light. I’ve got responsibilities. The entire family waits at my word, and falls if I fall.’
‘The burden of leadership,’ I agreed.
His face bloated scarlet. ‘When I get my hands on that son of a bitch . . .’
As keen as I was to hear the remainder of Giroie’s hypothetical torments, the day was getting long. ‘It’s too early to start picking your targets, Artur, let alone getting flushed. You don’t even know who it was for a certainty.’
‘Don’t be daft – you yourself said they were coming after me, in that very seat, not three days ago!’
‘I was passing on a rumor, not handing you testament from the Firstborn.’
‘I didn’t think you the sort to go soft in the belly when things got hot,’ he snorted, some portion of his faded ardor quick to return and happy to find a new target.
‘Is that what I’m doing? Going soft?’
‘Damn it, Warden! A few days ago you’re a perfect oracle, now you sit there like a half-wit, spouting stale lines and repeating my words back to me!’
I didn’t answer. A droplet of sweat had crawled down from his forehead, languishing on the tip of his nose. He brushed at it and looked away.
A quarter inch had burnt off my smoke before I started again. ‘If my presence here is a nuisance, I’ll shuffle off directly.’
He mumbled something that wasn’t quite an apology. ‘I suppose there are any number of players that would be interested in acquiring my merchandise.’
The toy pikeman lay on its side. I picked it up and wound it, then left it to pace across the desk. ‘Any number,’ I agreed.
‘Perhaps . . .’ He seemed almost to be searching for permission. ‘Perhaps it would be wise to make further inquiry, before committing my forces.’
‘Makes sense. And anyway, even if it was the vets – maybe you’re better off letting it go. They’re well supplied with muscle, and they won’t be slow to press the advantage.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘What did you say to me last time I was here? That the family is a business, like any other? No profit in blood. Write it off and move on. So your rep takes a hit, so what? Nobody ever comes out of a war in the black.’
‘Is that what you think?’ His glance would have withered a daisy. ‘Is that what they think? That I’m weak? That my name is dust? That the Giroies can’t even look after their own interests?’
‘Nobody’s saying nothing, Artur. Even your father didn’t go up against the Association lightly.’
He cocked his head, as if catching something. ‘Even my father?’
‘I just meant—’
‘I know what you meant,’ he snapped. ‘You presume too far, Warden.’
