Everyone who really cared had, of course, been aware of his approach for days.
The Principat gave his people just time enough to eat, clean up, change clothing, and take a few minutes to relax. Then he summoned them to the central hall of his home. That structure was a minor fortress constructed of dirty old limestone less than a bow shot from the larger Benedocto citadel. The Benedocto home was a true castle.
The Five Families all had their true fortresses within the city — despite being denied the forces to defend them. The Benedocto castle was the biggest family stronghold.
Else arrived to discover that Doneto had wasted no time on his own comfort. He wore what he had worn on the road. He was as dirty as he had been when he entered the city. He carried a wooden bowl containing olives, pickled garlic, and onions, plus bite-size chunks of sausage and cheese. He ate as
he moved around.
Else presumed that the people he did not recognize — everyone but Doneto and Pinkus Ghort — were Doneto's own people who had stayed behind when their master had gone off to salvage the Connec.
The Principatй's staff had done a superb job of keeping the household ready for its master's return.
'Or somebody warned them that he was on his way home,' Ghort said. 'Like maybe the guy who paid his ransom. Meantime, it looks like we've lost a friend and gained a boss.'
'Must you always be cynical?'
That process — the one where Doneto returned to old form — had begun before their exit from Plemenza.
'Look out,' Ghort cautioned.
Doneto was headed their way. He said, 'Affairs here are tailor-made for us, Hecht. There's so much confusion that nobody really knows what's going on or who is who. Originally, I planned to set you up inside the Arniena family, so we could keep them steering close to the Patriarch's course after they revealed themselves by voting with us in the Collegium. But with Rodrigo Cologni dead there'll be one less vote against Sublime to negate so we won't have to leverage the Arniena into backing him. They can go on pretending to be against us. So we can employ you even more daringly. You are, by the way, in Arniena service now, have been for months, and don't even know me.'
Else asked Ghort, 'Who is this handsome stranger, Pinkus?'
Doneto showed a flash of irritation, then a moment of amusement.
Else said, 'But I do know who you are. Anybody who got out of the Connec will know that. And that includes all those Brotherhood types who ran away to Brothe. And everyone who knows about our stay in Plemenza. Hansel can trip us up anytime he wants. Remember, I'm supposed to be an imperial spy, now.'
Doneto scowled. 'I suppose you're right. So here's what I'm thinking now. Because of the disaster that hit the Bruglioni they're desperate for competent help. If Inigo Arniena tells Paludan Bruglioni that he can give him a couple of his best men…'
Else nodded and smiled but also rolled his eyes. 'This is getting hard to follow. I'll be writing reports and sending them to me keeping track of what I've been doing and offering suggestions on how I can influence me to behave in ways that I'll find more useful toward accomplishing my goals where spying on
me is concerned.'
Doneto smiled thinly. 'There's a country folksong about a man who was his own uncle and brother-in-law. Hecht, I want to seize this opportunity before people have time to think. Come with me. There's somebody I need you to meet.'
Else went, reluctantly. 'You're the boss.' He had hoped to ease into the Brothen scene gradually, quietly. But if he could get inside one of the Five Families …
Bronte Doneto led him to a shadowed corner. There they found an old man in a wheeled chair, alertly watching the Principatй's guests. Doneto said, 'Piper Hecht, this is Salny Sayag. And his son, Rogoz. They represent the Arniena family. You might have run into Rogoz before. He worked in your line for a while, in the north.'
Else considered the younger man who stood behind the wheeled chair. 'I don't think so. Not that I recall, anyway.' He offered his hand. 'Have you seen me before, Rogoz?”
'No.'
Rogoz was definite. And a man of few words. His grip was firm and confident. His coloring and appearance were not local. He was darker and uglier than was common in Firaldia. Else asked, 'You aren't Brothen either, are you?'
'My father came over from Obrizok.'
'I don't know Obrizok.'
'It's a town in Creveldia. Creveldia is famous for its horses. He was an exile. This isn't the time for personal histories. Collect your possessions.'
Else sighed. He was glad he was used to living on his own.
The Plemenzan captivity had been his longest settled passage in the past ten years.
'Where're you headed?' Pinkus Ghort wanted to know.
'New job. The Principatй wants me on it right now.' He shrugged. 'I'll see you on the streets.'
'Don't smack me too hard.'
“Take care of Bo and Joe. Keep Bo out of the brothels. He'll catch his death.'
Else feared he would miss Pinkus Ghort as much as he did Bone and the others from the Andelesqueluzan adventure. Which now seemed like a story he had heard a long time ago instead of something he had lived himself.
The Sayags exited Bronte Doneto's establishment through a tradesmen's postern. Rogoz Sayag pushed his father's chair. A blanket covered the elder Sayag's lower body. It might have concealed tools or weapons. Two armed men joined them outside the gate. Rogoz Sayag explained, 'Brothe is a dangerous city. There are a lot of hungry people on the streets.'
Else carried everything he wanted to take along. He was accustomed to carrying his whole life and fortune on his back. Like he was some nomadic desert tortoise.
Else talked and pretended not to examine his companions or the surrounding city. It took the efforts of both Sayags and their escorts to generate enough return chin noise to qualify as a conversation.
At one point, Else protested, 'I need to know something about this city. I've never been here before,'
'I understand,' Rogoz replied. 'But you aren't going to be part of our house. You don't need to know anything about us.'
Else understood. Rogoz did not want him picking up anything he might pass along when he moved on to the Bruglioni citadel. 'On the other hand, if I don't know anything about the Arniena, after supposedly having been with them for several months, the Bruglioni will wonder why.'
Salny Sayag agreed. “Talk to him, Rogoz. All of you, talk to him. Don't hold back. Fill in the details. Let him take something with him when he goes. You. Doneto man. The one thing you aren't going to tell anyone is that the Arniena have an understanding with Principatй Doneto.'
'Of course not.'
Else spent nine days with the Arniena family, learning what they were willing to be let known, and about the Mother City. They gave him work to do. It was not overwhelming. He had several opportunities to go out and get the feel of the city.
The essence of Brothe was elusive. It seemed to be more than one city. In one sense it was almost parochial, with the intense focus of the native-born on family politics, petty feuding, and Colors. On the other hand, Brothe was cosmopolitan in the extreme. It swarmed with foreigners. Else heard dozens of unfamiliar languages. People from all across the world came to immerse themselves in the recollections of what once was the heart of the civilized world.
The glories of yesterday lay in ruins, some looted for building stone, overgrown, haunted by the poor and fugitives or, some said, by a thousand lingering recollections of the Instrumentalities of the Night. There were great sorcerers in Brothe everybody knew. And not just the tame Principatйs of the Collegium.
