Father Obilade teetered on the brink of his fiftieth year but a lifetime of self-abuse had him looking seventy. He ate only unleavened bread and drank nothing but water. On holy days he rewarded himself by fasting.
Shagot considered him a madman. He rumbled, 'You said your boss would pay well. So we came.'
Svavar asked, 'Have you found out anything about the man we're seeking?'
The priest was puzzled momentarily. Then, 'Oh. The mystery man from the orient. No. Not yet. No one knows anything. But Brothe is big and the search is of no urgency to anyone but you. And the hunt has only just begun.'
Shagot grunted, tormented by the alien urgency coiled within him. He forced it down. 'You have work for us or not?'
The smelly old man twitched. He had moral qualms about what he had been told to engineer.
The Grimmssons did not yet realize that they had been retained only because the Bruglioni family could deny them. And because they could be used up in some scheme down the road, where deniability would be particularly appetizing.
Father Obilade had spent a lifetime deluding himself. But he was not stupid. He knew Paludan Bruglioni did not intend to exploit these foreigners for the glory of God. But it might be possible that what served the Bruglioni could benefit God as well. This was the mission Sylvie Obilade set himself daily, to weave his day into the grand tapestry of God's master plan.
It is an easy intellectual step to the conviction that whatever you do must be part of God's plan. Justification for villainy knows no intellectual constraint.
Shagot said, 'It reeks in here, old man. Why don't you clean this shit out?' And, before Father Obilade could respond, 'What do you want? You woke me up. So get to the point.'
'The Patriarch plans to rectify his weakness in the Collegium by creating new Principatй positions disguised as the presentation of honors to stalwart defenders of the faith.'
Shagot snorted. He did not understand Episcopal politics.
'Sublime will nominate three men of three apparently diverse viewpoints: one enemy of Sublime, one ally, and one disinterested outlander unlikely to assume his seat. These seats won't be permanent.' Most Principatйs served only in their own names, for life. But the Five Families colluded to make sure each clan held at least one seat at all times. You had to be a Principatй to be elected Patriarch. 'They'll pass away when these individuals go to their heavenly rewards.'
Again, Shagot snorted. 'Why should I care about that shit?'
'Rodrigo Cologni has made a secret agreement with Sublime. After his confirmation he'll change sides and vote with Sublime's party in return for castles and estates he can distribute to his children.'
The purportedly celibate fathers of the Church could be fathers in the literal sense. They failed to admit the hypocrisy.
'Once these nominations go through and Bronte Doneto returns, Sublime will have a three-vote advantage in the Collegium. But Sublime's plans aren't in the best interest of God's Church. Therefore …'
Shagot suspected that the Chadarean god was old enough to look out for himself. 'You want somebody killed.'
'Crudely put, but, yes. Though it isn't as simple as that. There'll be a clamor if Rodrigo Cologni is murdered. That can't be connected with the Bruglioni.'
Shagot was not brilliant but he was a cunning villain. Things fell into place instantly.
He and Svavar would kill this Rodrigo Cologni and, somehow, before they could be arrested and questioned, brave Bruglioni household fighters who arrived too late would kill them while supposedly trying to save Cologni. Or some variant on such a scheme.
'How much time do we have to get ready?'
'It needs to happen within the next twenty days… Before Bronte Doneto returns.'
'I'll sleep on it. I'll see what the physical situation is. Do you have somebody inside the Cologni household?” Shagot thought it likely that the Five Families all had spies inside the others' houses.
Father Obilade was exasperated. These outlanders were too clever, by half. But he had to use the tools at hand.
'Why is that of concern?' the priest asked.
'Because we need to know the target's movements. His plans. We can't just march into the Cologni compound to get him.'
'Access won't be a problem. Rodrigo Cologni is a whore-master. He's determined to enjoy as many women as he can before it's too late to futter another. He goes looking for new whores at least three nights a week.'
'Good. Good. That'll make it easier.' Rodrigo did not sound bright. Far safer to have women brought to him. 'How big a mob follows him around?'
'There haven't been any family wars for a generation. The Five Families want to avoid the excesses of the past. So Rodrigo only needs to worry about robbers. He'll have four bodyguards. And maybe a few friends. None of those have to die. But the Cologni bodyguards may be a challenge.'
'Uh. Like I said. Let me sleep on it. Let me look it over. Find out whatever you can about Rodrigo Cologni. Be ready to say yes when I name our price.'
Once they left the crazy priest, Svavar observed, 'They plan to use us up.'
'They mean to try. But they don't understand our luck. Let's have a little fun with them.' Clever evil was Shagot's sole remaining pleasure.
The Walker himself strode through Shagot's dreams that night.
Father Obilade, of course, wanted Shagot to wait till after the job to get paid. Shagot laughed. That after Svavar spent dozens of hours studying Rodrigo Cologni and the Cologni compound. Which, like the homes of all of the Five Families, was a fortress. Literally.
Shagot replied, 'I'm inclined to go along, old man. I mean, why would a priest try to cheat me? But my brother Asgrimmur, he says he didn't just fall off the turnip cart. He's naturally suspicious. Especially of anybody who chooses to live in these southern cities, where honor and the value of a man's word are considered trivial. Well, he's my brother. I've got to keep him happy. So what we're gonna do is, we're gonna take a third for each of us right now, then we'll pick up the rest afterward.'
Father Obilade had not yet recovered from hearing Shagot's price for Rodrigo Cologni's life, six hundred gold Patriarchal ducats.
Nor did he like the demand for two-thirds payment up front. He could not make that deal, anyway. Paludan Bruglioni had not put that much specie at his disposal.
Paludan had a powerful desire to turn loose as little money as possible because he might not get it back.
Paludan had a reputation for squeezing a ducat till the Patriarch thereon squealed like a eunuch undergoing his signature procedure.
Father Obilade confessed, 'I can't go with that. I wasn't given the power. Your fee is … I suppose excessive isn't the right word. You pay the most when you buy the best. Meet me here same time, night after tomorrow night. I'll warn Caniglia that you're coming.'
'We'll be here,' Shagot promised cheerfully. 'I'm looking forward to taking your money.' And he was. He had found a Deve who would invest it at an excellent rate of return. He had no idea what he would do with his wealth, but that did not concern him. He was enjoying life as much as he ever had.
He did not sit around. He sent Svavar out to dog Rodrigo.
Father Obilade wanted the attack to take place in the Madhur Plaza, as near Basbanes's Fountain as could be managed. In response to questions about why, the priest shrugged and said the location had personal meaning for Paludan.
Shagot examined the plaza personally, and had Svavar do so repeatedly, by day and by night. The site seemed ideal for what the priest wanted done. There were numerous excellent lurking places where heroic rescuers could wait to charge out and, to their eternal sorrow, be just moments too late to save Rodrigo Cologni.
Rodrigo Cologni was an assassination begging to happen. He was predictable in the extreme. He left the Cologni compound at the same time every time. And he followed the same route to the same whorehouses.
