“She’s already here, Uncle Rhenn.” They both smiled slyly, enjoying calling me ‘uncle’ even though I was married to their cousin, not their aunt; but then, they’d always thought of Seliora as an aunt, and now that she had a child, the age difference seemed even greater, although the twins were seventeen and looked older.
“And you’re not with Diestyra?” I stepped into the foyer, and Hanahra closed the door.
“Bhenyt is. She wanted ‘Uncle Bhenyt,’” Hestya said dryly. “She’s already flirting. She’s good at it.”
That was something else I’d have to worry about in years to come.
Since the sole inside exit to the foyer was the polished oak staircase, I followed them up the steps. The ample staircase, with its gleaming brass fixtures and elaborately carved balustrades, opened out at the top into a large entry hall, a good ten yards deep and eight wide. Light golden oak comprised the paneled walls. A lush carpet of deep maroon, with a border of intertwined golden chains and brilliant green leafy vines, largely covered an intricately patterned parquet floor. Set around the foyer were chairs and settees of dark wood, upholstered in various fabric designs. There were, however, far fewer than there once had been, because many of the pieces, which had been samples of the work of NordEste Design, had found their way to our house on Imagisle. At the south end of the hall was a pianoforte, well-kept, if seldom played, I had discovered.
Bhenyt sat in a chair on the left side of the hall, several yards away, his legs crossed, with Diestrya riding on his boot while he held her hands. My daughter never glanced in my direction, although Seliora, wearing a light green dress with a dark gray jacket, certainly did, and she smiled. Standing beside her were her father, Shelim, and her brother Shomyr, broad-shouldered, black-bearded, and half a head shorter than I was. Shomyr’s wife, Haelya, with short orange-flame hair, was turned facing Seliora. She was expecting their second child in Avryl.
From the far side of the group, Betara walked toward me. Dark-haired and wiry, wearing blue silk trousers and a matching jacket, at a distance she could easily have been Seliora’s older sister, rather than her mother. Her smile was identical to Seliora’s. “How was your day?”
“Not terrible,” I replied, “but I have to say that I’ve had better.” I didn’t see several members of the family. “Where’s Methyr?” I asked.
“He’s upstairs with a fever,” replied Seliora as she joined us. “Father just checked on him and Grandmama Diestra.”
With her words, I realized I hadn’t seen Grandmama. Betara, understandably, often called her Mama Diestra. I didn’t see Odelia and Kolasyn, nor Odelia’s mother Aegina, but Aegina was often in the kitchen when we arrived. I wasn’t looking forward to seeing Odelia.
“Mama Diestra would like a word with you, Rhenn,” Betara said. “She’s upstairs in the plaques room.”
“She won’t be joining us for dinner?”
“Her legs are bothering her more than usual.”
I looked to Seliora and Betara. “You two should come.” I knew Betara would, but Seliora should know what ever Diestra had to say as well.
I followed Betara and Seliora up the stairs, which had a large landing halfway up, and then across the upper hall. As the three of us entered the upstairs plaques room, Diestra looked up from where she sat in front of an array of plaques, then swept them up, shuffled, and stacked them with a fluidity that remained amazing. As I well knew, for all her age, she was a master player of both life and plaques. “You’re looking well, Rhenn.”
“And so are you.”
“The flattery is transparent, but it is welcome, as is your presence.” She smiled and waited for us to sit down around the circular table. Her hair had turned from a heavy gray to a silvery sheen over the years since Seliora and I had been married, but it was still thick and well-brushed, and her eyes were bright, if circled by a blackness that suggested increasing frailty.
“The greener or fresher elveweed is appearing all over L’Excelsis,” Diestra finally said. “It’s stronger than the dried weed from Caenen and Tiempre. One of my contacts said it was like the weed that came from Stakanar years back, before the Stakanarans rooted it all out.”
“They’re still getting the dried weed in Rivages and Touryl,” Betara added.
“That means the supply of the stronger weed is limited,” I mused.
“They can charge more in L’Excelsis,” Diestra said dryly. “It’s a question of golds.”
“Can you find out if any other city is getting the fresh weed?” I asked.
“You have an idea?”
“I have several,” I temporized. “More information might help.”
“There is one other matter,” offered Diestra.
I tried not to stiffen. Whenever Mama Diestra brought up something, it was important.
“Several Pharsi families in Solis, Kherseilles, Estisle, and Westisle have had their eldest sons killed over the past month. The men were all married and had children.” She looked to me.
“Do you have any idea how many?”
“We know of fourteen.”
“I haven’t heard about that. It sounds like the killers don’t understand Pharsi ways. Someone who’s not Pharsi is trying to make trouble.”
“That’s what we think, but…it hasn’t happened here.”
“Because I’m a Patrol Captain?”
“Can you think of another reason?” countered Diestra.
“The Collegium and the Council are here.”
“There are smaller collegia in both Estisle and Westisle,” Betara said.
“Every city you named is a port,” I pointed out. “L’Excelsis isn’t.”
Betara and Diestra exchanged glances. Clearly, they hadn’t thought about that. I hadn’t either. The idea had just popped into my head.
“Do you know if any of the families have businesses or factorages that supply the Navy? Or deal with grain?”
“We’ll have to see.” Diestra picked up the deck of plaques and shuffled them, then began to lay out a pattern of cards on the felt surface of the table.
The three of us rose and left the chamber.
“I need to check on dinner.” Betara hurried down the stairs ahead of Seliora and me.
As we walked down the last few steps and then moved from the staircase to the main hall, Odelia appeared. “You were talking about elveweed with Grandmama?”
“We were,” I said. “There seems to be a stronger version that’s causing deaths.”
“Can’t you do something about it, Rhenn?”
I could sense a tightness behind her words.
“I’ve suggested to the taudischefs in my district that they warn people against using it.”
“Suggested? Warned?”
Seliora shot a glance at Odelia that I wouldn’t have wanted to receive.
Odelia ignored it and stared at me.
“Odelia…I have slightly fewer than four hundred patrollers assigned to Third District. Third District comprises roughly four square milles. It’s the eastern quarter of the old city of L’Excelsis, plus the newer areas to the north. If the blocks were regular, and they’re not, but it’s close enough to calculate that there are somewhere over 1,000 blocks in Third District. At any one time, I have no more than 150 patrollers on the streets. That’s one patroller for every seven or eight blocks. Now, we know we don’t have to patrol some areas heavily, and we don’t. But even in the taudis, which is heavily patrolled, especially in the late afternoon and evening, we can’t do better than having a patroller for every third or fourth block on average at any one time. I have managed to keep the dealers out of Third District, but I can’t catch all their runners, and runners are a penny a score. We brought in two this afternoon, one dead.”
“With all that explaining, I’m surprised you have time to catch anyone.” Her tone was scathing.
“We catch people because the people come to us and tell us, and because the taudischefs let me know things. We also catch people because we vary patrol times and routes, so that common criminals don’t know when a patroller might be around. We also catch people because many aren’t too bright. The elveweed dealers are not common. They’re traders in illegal goods, and those who survive are anything but stupid. That’s why they don’t get anywhere near me, and I can’t patrol everyone else’s districts, either practically or legally.” I paused, then asked,
