Steven Brust - Yendi

“ Aliera, stop them! ”

As I finished “speaking,” Morrolan turned to Aliera. “What did you just do?”

“I put a teleport block around Castle Black,” she said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

Norathar’s eyes widened, then narrowed to slits. “Lord Morrolan,” she said slowly, “I must insist—”

“Oh, for the love of Verra,” I said. “Can you at least give me thirty seconds to finish my sentence?”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

She stared at me, but Dragonlords have been trying to stare me down since I was nineteen.

I said, “The Dragon Council wants to observe her for a while, before officially making her the heir. If she goes running off after Jhereg, that’ll do it. I felt you two should know, and at least have the chance to talk her out of it before she does something that commits her. That’s all. Now, the rest of you argue about it. I’m leaving before someone takes my head off.”

I didn’t quite run out of the library. I went down to the entryway and found a small sitting room. I helped myself to a glass of cheap wine and quaffed it, thinking dark thoughts.

The bottle was half empty when someone clapped at the door. I ignored it. It was repeated, and I ignored it again. Then the door opened. My scowl died when I saw that it was Cawti. She sat down.

“How did you find me?”

“Loiosh.”

“Oh. What happened?”

“Norathar has agreed to wait two days before doing anything, same as Aliera.”

“Great.”

“Vladimir?”

“Yes?”

“Why did you do it?”

“Do what? Stop her?”

“Yes. Don’t you want someone to take Laris out?”

“She isn’t going to have any better luck finding him than I will. The same goes for you and for Aliera.”

“But, still, with more of us looking . . . ” She let the sentence die, and I didn’t pick it up again. After a minute or so, I remembered my manners and poured her some cheap wine, too. She sipped it, delicately, thumb and forefinger around the stem, little finger off in space somewhere, just like at Court. And she kept her eyes fixed on me the whole time.

“Why, Vladimir?” she repeated.

“I don’t know. Why ruin her chances for nothing?”

“Who is she to you?”

“Your partner.”

“Oh.”

She set the glass down and stood up. She walked over to my chair and looked down at me for a moment. Then she dropped to one knee, took my right hand in hers, kissed it, and rubbed her cheek against it. I opened my mouth to make some smart remark about was I supposed to pat her head, or what, but Loiosh brought his head around and smacked me in the larynx so I couldn’t speak.

Then, still holding my hand, Cawti looked up at me and said, “Vladimir, it would make me the happiest of women if you would consent to be my husband.”

About three hundred years later I said, “What?”

“I want to marry you,” she said.

I stared at her. Finally I burst out with “Why?”

She stared back at me. “Because I love you.”

I shook my head. “I love you, too, Cawti. You know that. But you can’t want to marry me.”

“Why?”

“Because, damn it, I’m going to be dead in a few days!”

“You said Laris was bluffing.”

“Maybe he is, but he won’t be if I keep coming after him. And whatever game he’s playing, he has to make it real sooner or later.”

“He won’t get you,” she said calmly, and I almost believed her.

I kept staring at her. Finally I said, “All right, I’ll tell you what. When this business with Laris is over, if I’m alive, and you still want to, I mean, well, um, of course I will. I, oh, Deathsgate, Cawti. I don’t know what to say.”

“Thank you, lord.”

“By the Lords of Judgment, get off the floor! You’re making me feel like—I don’t know what.”

She calmly got up off her knees and stood before me. Then she broke into a grin, jumped, and landed on my lap. The chair went over backwards and we ended up on the floor in a tangle of limbs and clothes. Loiosh barely escaped in time.

Two hours and three bottles of wine later, we staggered back up to the library. Morrolan was alone there. I was just sober enough not to want him to know how drunk we were, so, somewhat regretfully, I did a quick sobering spell.

He looked us over, raised an eyebrow, and said, “Come in.”

“Thank you,” I said. I turned to Cawti, and noticed that she’d given herself the same treatment. A shame.

“Will you two be staying this evening?”

Cawti looked at me. I nodded. “I still need to check over that list of Baritt’s descendants. Which reminds me, did you find out who might have recommended the Athyra?”

“One of my people is compiling the list. It should be ready by this evening some time.”

“Good. I asked Aliera to find out about the Lyorn. Do you know if she did?”

“She is speaking to Norathar at the moment; I think they’re attempting to determine how to locate this Laris person.”

“Oh. Well, tomorrow, maybe.”

“Yes. I’m having my dinner brought to me in the small dining room. I believe Aliera, Sethra, and Lady Norathar will be joining me. Would the two of you care to also?”

I looked at Cawti. “We’d be delighted,” she said.

“Excellent. And, afterwards, you can join the party in the main dining room and continue your investigation.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “Maybe I can even avoid having any words with your Athyra friend.”

“Athyra friend? I don’t believe there have been any Alhyra nobles present for some time.”

“You know who I mean: the Sorceress in Chartreuse, or whatever.”

Morrolan smiled. “The Sorceress in Green. I’ll admit she looks like one, though.”

Something went off in the back of my head. “She isn’t?” I asked. “What is she then?”

“House of the Yendi,” said Morrolan.

Fifteen

“I imagine he’s being well paid.”

“What is it, Vlad? Why are you staring at me?”

“I can’t believe what I just heard. A Yendi? Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. What is it?”

“Morrolan, how many Yendi does it take to sharpen a sword?”

He looked at me through slitted eyes. “Tell me,” he said.

“Three. One to sharpen the sword, and one to confuse the issue.”

“I see.” He chuckled a bit. “Not bad. What has that to do with our situation?”

“I don’t know exactly, but—wherever you find a Yendi, you find a plot. A devious plot. Twisted, confusing, just the kind of thing we’re facing. I don’t know what it’s about, but she—the Sorceress in Green—has been hanging around all of us since things started. She’s been near you, near me, near Aliera, and indirectly near Norathar and Cawti and Sethra. All of us. This can’t be an accident.

“And if that weren’t enough, she looks like an Athyra. We’re sitting here trying to find an Athyra who doesn’t exist, and now we find a Yendi who resembles one and who’s been around the whole time. And you don’t think she has something to do with all this?”

“I see what you mean,” he said. “I think I shall speak to her, and—”

“No!”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Don’t speak to her. Don’t let her know, yet. The only advantage we have is that she doesn’t know we’re suspicious. We don’t dare lose that until we know what she’s after.”

“Hmmm. It is axiomatic that no one but a Yendi can unravel a Yendi’s scheme.”

“Maybe. But to paraphrase Lord Lairon e’N’vaar, maybe I use different axioms.”

He thought about it for a while, then said, “All right, Vlad. What’s your plan?”