Steven Brust - Yendi

I shook my head, which hurt like blazes, but I knew trying to talk would hurt more. He hefted his dagger, hilt up, and swung his arm back for a good windup . . .

I don’t know how long the whole thing lasted. It was certainly one of the worst I’d been through, but if they’d chosen to take me back to their barracks it would have been worse. Phoenix Guards are never ordered to beat up Jhereg, or Easterners, or anyone else, but some of them don’t like us.

This beating was peculiar. I’d been bashed around before; it was one of the prices I paid for living according to my own rules instead of the Empire’s. But why this time? The two dead men were Jhereg, and the usual attitude of Imperial Guards to such things is: let ’em kill each other off, for all we care. It could have been just another excuse to beat up an Easterner or a Jhereg, but they’d seemed genuinely angry about something.

These thoughts came to me through a thick haze of pain as I was lying on my office floor. I was concentrating as hard as I could on figuring out the reason behind the beating so that I could avoid thinking about how every inch of me hurt. I could tell there were people around me, but I couldn’t open my eyes to see who they were, and they were talking in whispers.

After a time, I heard Melestav say, “Here she is, move back,” followed by the sound of a long garment dragging across the floor. This was followed by a gasp. I decided I must be quite a sight.

The newcomer said, “Get away from him.” I recognized, with surprise and some relief, Aliera’s voice. I tried to force my eyes to open, but they wouldn’t.

I heard Kragar say, “How bad is he, Aliera?” but she chose not to answer him. That didn’t necessarily mean that I was in bad shape; Aliera so utterly despised Kragar that she preferred not to speak to him whenever possible.

“ Kragar . . . ”

“ Are you all right, Vlad? ”

“ No, but never mind that. They seemed mad about something in particular. Any idea what? ”

“ Yeah. While they were . . . while they were here, I got Daymar to do a mind-probe. ”

“ Kragar, you know I don ’ t like Daymar to know—never mind. What did he find out? ”

We were interrupted by Aliera saying, “Sleep, Vlad.” I was going to argue, but I discovered that she wasn’t just making a suggestion. I saw a pale green light, and I slept.

Aliera was there when I woke up again, as was the picture of the dzur and the jhereg. This led to the realization that I could see again. I took stock of my various body parts, and found that, while I still hurt, it was mostly dull aches instead of flaming agony. Aliera is a very good healer.

“I might as well move in here,” I said.

“I heard what happened, Vlad,” said Aliera. “On behalf of the House of the Dragon, I apologize.”

I grunted.

“The one who beat you—his name is Menthar? He is off duty in four months.”

I felt my eyes trying to widen. I studied her. Her lips were pressed tightly together, and her eyes were gray. Her hands were in fists, at her sides. “Four months,” she repeated, “and then he’s fair game.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I appreciate the information.”

She nodded. Dragonlords were Dragonlords, and usually hated Jhereg and Easterners both—but they didn’t approve of attacking people who couldn’t defend themselves, and Aliera knew enough about how the Jhereg operated to know that if a representative of the Empire wanted to knock around a Jhereg, the Jhereg would just have to take it. But, I suppose, there’s something about being in the guard, and watching us get away with everything we get away with, that frustrates them. For my part, I didn’t feel any moral outrage at what had happened to me. I just wanted to tear that guy’s arms off . . . Four months.

“Thank you,” I said again. “I think I want to sleep now.”

“Good,” she said. “I’ll be back in a while.”

She left and I got in touch with Kragar. “ You were saying? ”

“ Vlad! How are you? ”

“ About how you ’ d expect. Now, what did Daymar find out? ”

“ The guards were pulled out the other day because they were needed somewhere else. There was a riot in the Easterners ’ Quarter. That may explain why those two took it out on you. I suppose they aren ’ t happy with any Easterners now. There have been other beatings of Easterners in the last few days. A few have been beaten to death. ”

“ I see. It can ’ t have been very big or we ’ d have heard about it. ”

“ No. It was small, short, and pretty bloody, from what Daymar could tell. I ’ m checking into it, just on general principles. ”

“ Okay, so that mystery is solved. Now: who set off the riot? Laris, I suppose. We need to find out how he has influence around there. That ’ s quite a bit farther south than anything else he has. ”

“ Okay. I ’ ll see if we can find out. Don ’ t expect much, though. ”

“ I won ’ t. Anything yet on that other business? ”

“ A bit, but not enough to help, I don ’ t think. Her name is Norathar, and she ’ s of the e ’ Lanya line. I ’ ve found references to her being expelled from the House, but no details—yet. ”

“ Good. Keep working on it. Next point: how can Laris afford to keep assassins sitting outside the office? ”

“ Well, didn ’ t you say the Sword and the Dagger had returned their payment? ”

“ Yeah. But that begs the question. How could he afford to hire them? Plus pay whatever it must have cost to start trouble in the Easterners ’ Quarter? ”

“ Uh . . . I don’t know. I guess he has more cash than we thought .”

“ Right. But how did he get it? ”

“ Maybe the same way you did? ”

“ That’s just what I was thinking. Maybe he’s being supported by someone who’s rich .”

“ It could be, Vlad .”

“ So, let’s look into it .”

“ Sure. How do we do that? ”

“ I don’t know. Think about it .”

“ Check. And, Vlad . . . ”

“ Yeah? ”

“ Next time you come back here, warn us first, okay? ”

“ Yeah .”

After breaking that contact, I got hold of Fentor at Castle Black, gave him the information about the riot, and asked him to find out what he could about it. Then I really did sleep.

“ Wake up, boss! ”

It was like the drumbeat that sends a squadron into alert status. I was sitting up, holding a dagger under the blanket, looking at—

“Good afternoon, Vladimir. Is that a knife in your hand, or are you happy to see me?”

“Both,” I said, sheathing the blade. She tapped my side and I moved over to let her sit down. We exchanged a light kiss. She drew back and studied me.

“What happened?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got nothing but time.”

I told her what had happened. She shook her head and, when I was finished, held me.

Wow.

“What now?” she asked.

I said, “Do you and your partner ever give friends a bargain?”

“Do you?”

“I didn’t think so.”

She held me a little tighter.

“ Would you two rather I left, boss? ”

“ Maybe in a bit .”

“ Hmmph. I was being snide, if you didn’t notice .”

“ I noticed. Shut up .”