beliefs, having been raised in the high nobility where such things were typically frowned upon. An Arcadian opponent in the House of Lords had once snidely remarked from the floor that power was Everess's only religion. That had gotten a good laugh from the gallery.
Religious types didn't worry Everess, nor did political opponents given to cliche. There were only two in all of Faerie that sincerely worried him: Regina Titania, and Chief Paet. The queen's power was perhaps not what it once was, but that was like saying a dragon's flame was perhaps a bit cooler than it had been; one could still easily be incinerated by it.
Paet bothered Everess because Everess needed him, and Everess did not enjoy needing anyone. But only Paet could do what Paet did. Someday perhaps Silverdun could replace him, but not any day soon.
It was difficult to control someone who cared about nothing save the one thing you dared not take from him. Meetings with Pact were always the low point of any day, and after the Heron affair, Paet was going to be livid. Well, let him come. Paet needed him as badly as he needed Paet.
As if on cue, his amanuensis announced Paet at his office door, and Everess grunted his assent.
'Good morning, Chief,' said Everess. 'To what do I owe the pleasure?'
Paet flopped heavily into the chair opposite Everess's desk; it was a reader's chair from a Resurrectionist tabernacle, and it had cost a fortune. 'You know why I'm here,' he said. 'This Heron business.'
'What about it?'
'When you said you wanted to `borrow' Sela for a `small errand,' I did not imagine that you'd be sending her into a halcyon brothel to murder a ranking member of the Smiths' Guild. A guildsman who also happens to be the husband of one of your chief enemies in government.'
'Your lack of imagination is the stuff of legend, Paet,' said Everess. 'But there is nothing in our agreement that says I require your permission to do ... well, anything.'
'It was stupid, and if you'd asked me I'd have advised strongly against it.'
'Which is precisely why I didn't tell you.'
'What could you possibly hope to gain with such an act? There's going to be an inquiry. And if that inquiry leads the high prosecutor back to the Shadows, we're finished.'
'Well, I should think it would be obvious what I hoped to gain,' Everess said. 'The scandal will drive Heron out of the House of Guilds, and none of her political allies will try to protect her overmuch, not wanting to be painted with the same brush.'
Everess smiled. 'Even if there were an inquiry, it would never connect Sela to the act. She was heavily made up and heavily glamoured before she went out.'
Paet shifted in his chair. Everess knew that despite the chair's attractive appearance, it was hellishly uncomfortable. Which was precisely why he'd picked it.
'What do you mean,' asked Paet, '`even if there were an inquiry?''
Everess smiled, leaning back in his own chair, which was, on the other hand, extraordinarily comfortable. 'Despite the outcry among those in Corpus who might gain from a lengthy scandal, an inquiry would be ... deeply awkward for those who would be in charge of investigating the act. If we'd gone after the secretary of states herself, they'd have no choice. But with her husband, there are limiting factors.'
'Meaning?'
'Meaning that the high prosecutor and half of his staff visit that brothel on a regular basis. Why do you think it happened there?'
'Well. You've clearly thought of everything,' said Paet. 'But why kill the man? That seems excessive, even for you. I was under the impression that we didn't assassinate our own.'
'Because the very ones who oppose us most strenuously, those who will suspect that we were responsible for the act, will see Heron's death as a warning. They'll think twice before being as openly critical as Guildmistress Heron has been.'
'I give up,' said Paet. 'You're going to do what you want despite my objections.'
'Good. I'm glad you're finally figuring that out.'
There was a commotion in the outer office. Everess's amanuensis knocked at the door. 'Milord,' she said, 'I apologize for the interruption, but there's an abbot out here who insists on speaking with you immediately, and-'
'Aba is everywhere, young lady,' said Estiane, brushing past her into the office. 'And as I am his representative in Faerie, I go where he goes.'
'It's fine,' said Everess. 'Come in, Abbot.'
Paet stood. 'I'll leave you to your next happy visitor,' he said.
