Stenwold Maker had returned; Stenwold Maker would now come before the Assembly full of dire warnings. He had conditioned them to it, over the last ten years and more.
Only now perhaps they’ll believe me, he considered, and the thought gave him a strange feeling of anxiety. Did I think I was safe, back then: was I secretly glad that, no matter what I said, nobody would pay any heed? Now that my words have consequences, I must be careful what I say.
His gaze caught that of Teornis. The Spider-kinden was here by right, as an ambassador, but he seldom bothered to exercise that right unless he knew that something of importance would be said. He nodded coolly to Stenwold. We know, his look seemed to say. You and I, only we two know fully what we are about here.
Stenwold had spent a long time countering the machinations of the Empire. The Wasps were almost like old friends now, for he knew them and their ways. The Aldanrael, however, were unknowable and subtle. For all Arianna’s assurances, he had not discounted a direct attempt on his life. He wore his sword, and a tunic of hide and steel plates beneath his robes.
‘My fellows of the Assembly, Masters and Magnates of the city of Collegium,’ he addressed them, ‘as you hear my voice, I would ask you to consider another voice that has been strangely silent of late. The man I refer to was not shy of disturbing our councils here with his worries, and yet where is he now? I speak of Rones Failwright. Who of you here has asked himself where that man has gone? Not one of you?’
He allowed them the pause, then took up again before they could start discussing with their neighbours.
‘Perhaps you are simply glad that the old ship-handler is no longer nagging us all about his lost profits?’ An undercurrent of mirth, and Stenwold frowned at them thunderously, for all he had engineered it himself. ‘Master Failwright has disappeared. He has not been seen for near three tendays now. I believe he is dead. I believe he was murdered.’
That quietened them, and Stenwold took a deep breath. Now that he was under way he did not so much as glance at Teornis of the Aldanrael.
‘Should I not take this to the militia, you ask? Is this a matter on which to try the patience of the Collegiate Assembly? Well, Masters and Magnates, I have undertaken my own investigation into the issues that Master Failwright would so often raise before us. Why kill such a man, unless he had uncovered a truth amidst all his complaints? You will recall his grievance, of course: he claimed that the shipping of Collegium was under attack, that there was some force or pattern behind the loss and pillage of ships, something more than mere chance and independent brigandage could account for.’
They were shuffling a little, shifting on their stone seats, wondering where he was going with this. Only a handful of merchants still actively involved with the sea-trade were listening attentively.
‘I took the liberty of conducting an experiment, as a good College Master should,’ Stenwold told them all. ‘I had, stashed aboard a trader bound for Everis, a hidden cargo of swords, just to see what might befall.’ He had them again, with that revelation. ‘As it happened, there was a pirate vessel out there that took an interest in my cargo. A vessel going by the name of the Very Blade overhauled our ship and tried to board her. Our crew and our marines threw them back and took their ship. It lies in the harbour even now.’
There was a cheer at that, which surprised him. Perhaps they thought that was all: old Maker playing War Master on the waves for his own amusement, striking a few little blows for Collegium against the lawless. He raised a hand to hush them.
‘There was evidence aboard the vessel to suggest that Master Failwright was correct in his beliefs,’ he told them. ‘There was a hidden hand behind the actions of this pirate ship – and who knows how many others?’
He had his silence, at last. It was a rare thing in the Amphiophos, that stillness.
‘What documents were recovered suggests an involvement from the Spiderlands, and I am sad to say that the family Aldanrael is named.’
It was like dropping a stone on to clear water: the moment’s graceful fall, and then chaos. Fully half the Assemblers there were trying to say something: to each other, to him, to the chamber as a whole. Many were horrified, protesting that he could not possibly be right, for the Aldanrael had proved themselves firm friends of Collegium. I can only agree. I cannot see why they would do it, but here we are, nonetheless. Others, especially the shipping men, were calling down shame on the heads of all Spider-kinden, demanding justice and reparation.
Stenwold’s eyes sought out the Imperial ambassador: Aagen was expressionless, but behind him there was a curious look on Honory Bellowern’s honest face – a man given an unlooked-for gift of incalculable value.
Jodry stepped in just then, selecting someone at random from the crowd simply to shut the others up. Stenwold saw a solid, greying woman he could not put a name to rising to her feet.
‘This is preposterous!’ she snapped. ‘The Spiderlands? What gain is in this for them? Since the siege, we’ve been getting along famously with them, so why would they start robbing us?’ There was a fair amount of support for her, and yet a lot of muttering, too. Because they’re Spiders and you can’t trust them, seemed to be the meat of it.
Jodry singled out another, but his finger drifted too close to Helmess Broiler, and his old adversary stole the moment, standing and holding his arms up for quiet. He had enough supporters still that he got it, or at least a semblance of it. ‘My fellows!’ he called out, and Stenwold braced himself for more opposition. What Helmess said instead, though, was, ‘We should not dismiss this just because we laughed at Failwright.’ This was sufficiently surprising that the rest of the Assembly started listening. Helmess looked left and right, his gaze stern. Stenwold had to admit that the man had a fine debating manner, crammed with authority.
‘We will see Maker’s evidence, of course. Master Maker and I are old friends in this chamber. We have crossed swords often and, although the admission must be wrung from me with pliers, he is a man who always has the city’s interest at heart, whether his suspicions are true or false.’ He smiled slightly, just for Stenwold’s benefit. ‘Surely it is time that we turned to the accused, Master Speaker. What do the Spiders say?’
What is he after? Finding himself apparently on the same side as Helmess Broiler made Stenwold feel very uncomfortable indeed, and Jodry was obviously thinking the same thing. Nevertheless the Speaker nodded and waved towards Teornis. ‘What say the Aldranrael?’
The Spider Aristos stood up smoothly, utterly untroubled. ‘These are grave words, Master Speaker. By all means, let us examine Master Maker’s papers, for I cannot think he would raise such a storm over nothing. Perhaps one of my family’s rivals seeks to drive a wedge between us. Our mutually profitable friendship has drawn envy in many quarters, I am sure. Perhaps it is some enemy of yours that seeks to plant the seed of conflict. Perhaps my own family has kept some plan from me.’ He spread his hands, seeming the soul of reason. ‘I place myself at the Assembly’s disposal, so that we may divine the truth in all of this.’ Teornis now looked Stenwold directly in the eye. ‘I’m sure that we would all prefer to explore every possibility before we commit ourselves to something unwise.’
Fourteen
‘I have had word from Everis,’ Stenwold informed his co-conspirators. They were all in his study again: Arianna, Jodry, Danaen, Laszlo and Tomasso. Cardless had just poured the wine and absented himself.
‘Not encouraging word, I take it,’ Tomasso put in.
‘Well, I know at least that the Migrating Home was able to dock, unload and leave unmolested, which I suspect is part of how this Spider “good form” business works. However, my eyes in Everis say that a fleet is being assembled: warships, supply ships, troop carriers. A fleet in its infancy, as yet, but there are a lot of new sails along the Silk Road coast, and Everis is where they’re all bound.’
‘An armada, they’ll be calling it,’ Tomasso supplied.
Stenwold nodded. ‘That they do. There’s precedent, then, for this?’
‘Oh, it’s a rare honour,’ the bearded Fly replied. ‘A whole load of Spiders have to be facing in the same direction at the same time to get an armada together, and none of them putting knives in the backs of the others, either. You’ve fired up the Aldanrael, Stenwold, and sounds like they’re putting most of what they’ve got into this one. Normally it takes a rebellious satrapy to kick up this kind of response. Of course, we know what hasn’t helped.’
