He grunted and went back to milling grain between his sneer.
‘What can we do for you?’ Hroudland asked, splitting the difference in attitude between his two subordinates.
‘I need to whisper to the man.’
‘Tell me what it is – I’ll take it to him.’
‘Won’t cut it. I need a face-to-face.’
‘The commander’s got a lot going on at the moment, what with the speeches about to start.’
‘I got a bum leg. You think we can skip the song and dance?’
‘How’d you get gimped, Lieutenant?’ Rabbit piped in.
‘Fell out of bed with Roussel’s mother.’
‘Mom’s dead,’ Roussel answered, without much in the way of emotion.
‘I hope she lived long enough to see her son make good.’
The back and forth had given Hroudland enough time to make the decision we both knew he was going to. ‘Fall in,’ he said, ‘but this better not be a waste of his time.’
‘I am an awful boring person, so no guarantees.’
The commander sat alone in a back corner of one of the surrounding establishments, beneath a covered awning on a raised patio. A few solid men stood guard at the entrance. Hroudland knocked off to talk to them, leaving me alone with his superior.
‘Good morning, Lieutenant,’ Joachim said. ‘What’s got you all the way out here?’
‘You’re gonna get hit,’ I answered.
His eyes were dark and sad. You could have dropped a live snake in his lap and they wouldn’t so much have flickered. ‘You live long enough and that’ll happen.’
‘You live a little longer, you learn to try and dodge it.’
He nodded vague agreement, then waved at a spot next to him. I slid into it. ‘Can I dodge this one?’
‘Maybe. If you’re quick.’
‘And who’s looking to add my scalp to their collection?’
‘A whole bunch of folk, I imagine, though the only party I can say with certainty works out of a restaurant in the Old City.’
‘The Giroies?’
‘Got it in one.’
‘I’m starting to feel like I’ve had this conversation already.’
‘Last time I was passing on a rumor. This time I’m tipping you tomorrow’s broadsheet.’
‘I didn’t realize you were a soothsayer.’
‘Nothing soothing about it.’
‘I’d think puns beneath you.’
‘There’s very little that’s beneath me, Commander.’
That didn’t seem to encourage him. ‘Look, Lieutenant,’ he began slowly, laying it out for me. ‘We went through this. The Giroies and the Association have been quits for ten years. Until I see proof otherwise, I’m not going to do anything to stir the waters.’
‘You think I enjoy these go-rounds so much that I’d come up here if I wasn’t sure what I was talking about?’
‘Nobody’s right all the time.’
I drew myself up from the chair. ‘Enjoy the speeches.’
‘Sit down,’ he said, a command.
I didn’t follow it, but I stopped moving.
‘Sit down,’ he repeated, softer, and this time I took the suggestion. Pretories drummed his fingers against the table, considering. A waiter came over, poured out some water, then left. The square below us was filling up rapidly, near packed, the dull roar steadily forcing our own conversation to be conducted at a volume inappropriate to its substance.
‘What’s your source on this?’ he asked finally.
‘A little bird alighted on my shoulder.’
‘That’s not good enough, not for this. I need specifics.’
‘You know everyone I know?’
‘Try me.’
‘Scratch is his street name. Half-Islander, freelance muscle.’ I knew three separate people who fit this general description, and I didn’t imagine any of them would be easy to find. ‘He tells me the Giroies have been adding men to the rolls, double quick.’
‘Why would he tell you that?’
‘Either because we’re best friends, or because I pay a premium for relevant gossip.’
‘And what does your man say is coming down the pike?’
‘You must have outposts apart from headquarters.’
‘Of course.’
‘Double their guard.’
He cracked one finger against another, then shook his head. ‘We’re stretched to capacity as it is, preparing for the march.’
I waved a hand at the crowd. ‘Five thousand men here, you telling me you can’t detail anyone to stand outside of your joints and look tough?’
‘There’s a difference between paying dues and strapping on steel. These men are my constituency. I work for them, not the other way around.’
It was nice to know Pretories was back on his heels. ‘Conscript someone then. It worked for the Crown, didn’t it?’
‘Volunteers are more reliable.’
‘Numbers matter, when you’re going to war.’
‘We’re at war now? I don’t remember receiving a declaration.’
‘I’ll make sure and register a complaint with the relevant authorities. You’ll be a corpse by then, but at least it’ll comfort your kin.’
He swiped his tongue across his teeth. I must really have been getting to him. ‘The Giroies,’ he began finally. ‘They’re serious?’
‘Well, they’re not the Dren,’ I responded. ‘But you don’t have to be to stick metal in meat.’
I stood up for a second time, and for a second time the commander stopped me. ‘Aren’t you sticking around?’
‘I was five years in the service. I don’t need a monologue to remind me of it.’
‘Just thought it might interest you, what with your friend being our first speaker.’
‘What?’
Pretories nodded to the stage. A half-dozen men sat behind a podium, awaiting their chance to speak. Stationed at the far left, notable by virtue of being twice the size of any of the others, Adolphus shuffled his feet nervously.
What I got for not paying Wren proper attention. I pointed myself back at Pretories for the parting shot. ‘I get it, Commander, you don’t quite trust me. That’s fine, I’m not quite a trustworthy person. But I’m right about this – the Giroies are coming. Prepare yourself today, or lament your lack of faith tomorrow.’
Pretories was a tough one to read, and I wasn’t sure which way he’d go. For my purposes it didn’t really matter. ‘I’ll take it under consideration,’ he said.
I padded off the verandah, past Roussel’s sneer and Rabbit’s corpse-grin, down into the sea of flesh surrounding us. Once engulfed it was hard to make out the stage. I angled myself as best I could and started toward it, brushing my way through the throng. The role of master of ceremonies was played by the same speaker I’d ignored the last time I’d been at headquarters, and his loquaciousness gave me time to elbow my way to the front. I had a pretty decent view of the podium by the time Adolphus stepped up to it.
He was sweating more than the heat strictly demanded, but other than that he looked good, for an ugly man deep into middle age. He uncreased a sheet of paper and set it against the podium, hands fumbling. His mouth
