that!' An instant too late.
'What do we have?' Gordimer demanded. He glowered at the scores of supplicants and defendants, all of whom leaned toward the scene.
'A head. In melted ice.' The lifeguard lifted a severed head from the box by its hair. His companion retrieved a wooden tube about six inches long and an inch in diameter, covered with wax. He handed that to the Marshal.
Gordimer twisted an end off the cold tube, fished out a piece of paper. He asked er-Rashal, 'What's the matter?' The sorcerer stared at the head. 'You've turned gray.' The Lion unrolled the paper. And read aloud, ' 'To my lord the Grand Marshal of the Sha-lug, Gordimer, called the Lion, and to the sorcerer er-Rashal al-Dhulquarnen. Greetings. A gift. All that remains of the pagan sorcerer Rudenes Schneidel, by whose order my son Hagid was murdered. He was the first to pay. His partners in wickedness will follow.
' 'Nassim Alizarin, once a friend.
' 'In recollection of friendship, O Lion. A courtesy. Be warned. The storm from the north is rising. I have seen it with mine own eyes, and it is of your own construction. Nor even the Almighty Himself shall stand before it. '
Gordimer the Lion closed his eyes. This was the voice of prophecy. Half a minute later, he said, 'Clear the hall. The assizes will resume tomorrow morning.' He roamed his own mind till the hall fell quiet.
He opened his eyes. Er-Rashal was no longer present. The Kaif still slept. Gamel had retired. He addressed the lifeguard still holding the head by its hair. 'Glaid. What do you make of this?'
'That General Nassim disappeared because he heard his son was murdered. But Hagid was supposedly among those Sha-lug lost in Calzir.'
'Where he was not supposed to have been.'
The lifeguard nodded. 'There are evil rumors about what happened over there. About Sha-lug who were abandoned, denied the chance to board ships carrying survivors of the disaster away from Calzir.'
'Is that so? I haven't heard anything like that. Sidiki. You look like you're about to explode. If only you dared. Dare.'
'There is much that you do not hear, sitting here in the Palace, O Lion.' Sidiki carefully avoided the least implication of criticism, though the lifeguard complement were scandalized by the behavior of the Marshal in recent years and even those nearest him thought he had ordered those Sha-lug abandoned to the mercy of the Infidel because of their connection with Else Tage, the once-popular band leader whom Gordimer feared for no reason anyone could fathom.
In the end, the lifeguards, and those Sha-lug who spent much time around the Palace of the Kings, chose to blame all misfortune on the sorcerer er-Rashal el-Dhulquarnen.
'Enlighten me.'
24. Brothe: At the End of the Day
After a week of loafing Piper Hecht started half days at the Castella. Nothing official had come out of Krois. But rumors ran hot and fierce. There would be another invasion of the Connec. For sure. To war against the Night. So staff work did go forward.
Ships were at sea, collecting the troops from Artecipea. Titus Consent made sure those men knew that it was Piper Hecht's fault they were coming home. The Captain-General and Boniface VII had an understanding. The Patriarchy's soldiers would be treated well, henceforth. With a big
Pinkus Ghort visited Anna's house briefly. After losing to her at chess, he told Hecht, 'Take care how forward you are about your soldiers, Pipe. You got people in the Collegium putting you on their shit lists just because you're in a strong place.'
Hecht had seen the signs. Wherever three or more people got together somebody developed a need to drag somebody else down.
He was about to snap defiantly, arrogantly, but caught himself.
'What?' Ghort asked. 'You don't believe me?'
'No. I do. I'm having trouble believing me.'
Ghort gave Hecht that look he reserved for times when he had no clue what Hecht was talking about.
Hecht asked, 'One of them wouldn't be your boss, would it?'
'One of them would. He's developed a hard-on for you.'
'He always had one. I wouldn't be his running dog.'
'He figures you owe him.'
'Really? Because he got us out of Plemenza?'
'Yeah. And some other stuff.'
'Despite the fact that he wouldn't be alive if I hadn't wakened him in the Ownvidian Knot.'
'I won't make excuses for the man, Pipe. I'm just saying. I tell you this, he's gonna push for enforcement of the quartering restrictions.'
Which Hecht had anticipated. Bronte Doneto being consul or not, the city senators would have gotten to that. Maybe just not as soon. No one not part of the Church hierarchy wanted the Patriarch's soldiers stationed in the city.
'I think we're in compliance already.' By sleight of hand. By means of a deal with the Brotherhood of War whereby the Brotherhood claimed those of Hecht's men quartered in the Castella.
'Not with the spirit of the law. You could have five thousand armed veterans here inside four days. And a hell of a lot more handy once the rest get over from Artecipea.'
'And that's a bad thing with the troubles you're having here?'
'Hey, Pipe, I'm not trying to pick a fight. I'm just saying. And I'm wondering. What's your pal Principate Delari been up to? We haven't seen hide nor hair in a rat's age.'
'I don't know. Why?' Hecht smiled at Vali and Bit's daughter, Lila. The kids kept finding excuses to wander through. They were both curious and hoped that Ghort had brought treats. He did that sometimes.
Lila had recovered physically from the attack that had injured her and killed her mother but she was not yet over it inside. Though older and bigger, she had become Vali's timid shadow. She seemed to have put her harsh early years aside, Anna described her as well mannered and industrious around the house, but remote. She was more bookish than Pella. And could bring Vali out of her shell.
Hecht had overheard the girls talking himself. Chattering, even, almost like kids who had enjoyed a normal childhood.
'Doneto is really interested,' Ghort said. 'They aren't good buddies. Were almost enemies back around the time the hippodrome fell down. But they patched it up somehow. They tolerate each other, now.'
'The way Delari tells it, it was all a misunderstanding. Too many people talking when they should have been listening ended up with them squabbling when they were both trying to get the same job done. Which was to destroy the monster that was murdering people.'
Ghort frowned.
Anna said, 'I don't think they got it, Piper.'
'What? Of course they did. Principate Delari…' He stopped. He could not explain.
'Then the monster's little brother came round to take over the family business.'
Ghort was as taken aback as Hecht. 'Anna?'
'The murders started up again. Like before.'
Hecht watched color drain from Ghort's features. 'Pipe. You said Delari dealt with it.'
'That's what he told me.'
'Did he produce a body?'
'Not for my benefit. And I wasn't interested in seeing one. I was dodging assassins and getting ready for a war.'
'You need to find him and see what he thinks.'
'Your boss is a consul. And a pretty potent sorcerer.'
'You're right. It would be his job. But you still might want to consult Delari.'
'I will. We're supposed to have supper at his town house tomorrow night. I assume he'll be there.'
