Steven Brust - Phoenix

"Okay. Who else?"

"There's a fellow named Phent who doesn't lie quite as much, but he's about as incompetent and he charges twice what everyone else does. He's got a lock on the low-life places. They suit him."

"I might need him. Where can I find him?" "Number fourteen Fishmonger Street." "Okay, who else?"

"There's Greenbough. He's not too bad when he isn't drunk. D'Rai will keep you working, but she'll also get a hold on you and try to keep everything you play sounding the same. Most of the musicians I know don't like that." "Blood of the goddess, Sticks, isn't there anyone good in the business?"

"Not really. The best of the lot is an outfit run by three Easterners named Tomas, Oscar, and Ramon. They have South Adrilankha and a few of the better inns north of town."

"How do I reach them?"

"About a mile and a half up Lower Kieron, behind the Wolves' Den, upstairs."

"I know the place. Okay, thanks."

"Mind if I ask why you're interested, boss?"

"I'd rather not say, at the moment."

"All right. That all?"

"Yeah. Have Melestav send Kragar in." As he shut the door, Kragar said, "Mind if I ask why you're interested, Vlad?"

I jumped, stared at him, and said, "Were you here the whole time?"

"I didn't know it was private."

"It doesn't matter. I'm after a couple of things. One is to see if I can help Aibynn find work. The other is to get another source of information in South Adrilankha. Musicians hear almost as much gossip as whores."

"Makes sense."

"Since you've already got the information, why don't you go make contact with that group behind the Wolves' Den?"

"What, you want me to do something safe and easy for a change? Sure. What about this Aibynn? Will they need to hear him?"

"Maybe. I'll talk to him and send him by. But first see if they're interested in making a little money on the side, without needing to know who's paying them."

"Okay. Anything else?"

"No. Anything here?"

"Tevyar got excited again."

"Oh?"

"Some lorich owed him money and started acting tough, and Tevyar tried to handle it on his own, got enthusiastic, and killed him. You know how he is."

"Yes. He's an idiot. Revivifiable?"

"No. Crushed his head."

"Double idiot. Is it likely to cause any trouble?"

"Not as far as I can tell. He didn't leave any traces."

"That's a relief."

"Should we do anything about it?"

I considered for a moment, then shook my head. "Not this time. Having to cover the loss ought to teach him something. If not ..."

"Right."

Loiosh flew over to my shoulder from the coat rack. I scratched under his chin. "What about Kelly's people? Anything to report?"

Kragar shifted in his chair and his normally expressionless face fought with itself for a moment, as if uncertain how to settle down.

"The Empire has begun conscription in South Adrilankha." "So soon?"

He nodded. "Only Easterners, too." "Interesting. Have Kelly's people done anything about it?"

"They had some sort of parade. About a thousand people, give or take."

I whistled. "Anything happen?"

"No. It looked like they were going to send in press gangs, but they didn't."

"With a thousand crazed Easterners, I'm not surprised."

"There's supposed to be some sort of meeting or rally tomorrow evening."

"Okay. Anything else?"

"Routine stuff. It's on your desk."

"Fly, then, and let me know what happens."

When he was gone, I looked at the scribbled notes he and Melestav had left. I okayed credit for a couple of good customers, agreed that we needed some new furnishings in one of my gambling places, refused a request for additional manpower at another, and made a few notes on my calendar for business meetings. None of which I really needed to attend. In fact, I wasn't really needed for much of any of this. Things had reached the point around the office where it would practically run itself. I suppose I could have been bothered by this, but actually I was pleased. I had worked very hard to get it to this point. The irony was that it came just when I had the additional problem of South Adrilankha to worry about, so I couldn't really enjoy it. It crossed my mind that I would probably never reach the point where I could just sit back and watch the money roll in, and only deal with major problems.

But, on the other hand, maybe if that ever happened, I'd have too much time on my hands.

Loiosh shifted on my shoulder and I scratched his chin. Conscription in South Adrilankha. Why? Was war with Greenaere really imminent? Was the war scare an excuse to harass Easterners? If the war was real, had I caused it? If so, why had Verra sent me to shine the King? Well, that part was easy: because she wanted the war. Why?

I called out to her, just to see if she felt like responding, but she didn't. I wished I could ask her directly. I'd like to be able to find out what was going on in the strange, non-human mind of hers.

I entertained sacrilegious thoughts for a while, but they got me nowhere, so instead I considered the war. If you looked at a map of the Empire, the notion of war with Greenaere would seem laughable—this huge monster of a landmass next to a little splotch shaped like a banana. It made no sense. They must know that. The Empire must

know it. What was going on? Who was pushing whom, to try to do what? What sort of intrigues were being played out in the Imperial Palace? What sort of lunacies on Greenaere? What sort of machinations in the Halls of Judgment?

"You know, boss, it might not matter. You might be out of it, now that you've done what you were hired for."

"Do you really think so?"

"No. "

"Neither do I."

I spoke to Aibynn that evening while waiting for Cawti to come back home. I told him about that group behind the Wolves' Den. He nodded, his eyes focused on something else.

"Why don't you go in and see them?" I said.

"What? Oh. Yeah. I'll do that."

The conversation faltered, and he went back to the blue room. I chewed my lip, wondering. Loiosh stopped chasing Rocza around the flat long enough to echo my own thoughts: "What a strange fellow, boss."

"Indeed," I said. "But just strange, or does he have a game of some sort?"

Cawti hadn't come home when I went to sleep that night, and she still hadn't when I left the next morning. A year ago I'd have been frantic. Half a year ago I'd have attempted to reach her psionically. Things had changed.

When I got to the office, Melestav said, "Heard the news yet?"

I sighed. "No. Do I need to be sitting down?" "I'm not sure. Word is out that Greenaere has made an

alliance with Elde Island." "Ah. Yes. I knew that." "How?"

"Never mind. Has anyone actually declared war?" "I've heard that the Empire has declared war, that the

island has declared war, that the island has apologized, claiming it was all a mistake, that Elde has come over to our side, that they have some great new magic that will destroy us all, that the Empire is surrendering and the islanders will be occupying the mainland, that—" "In other words, nothing official." "Right." "Okay, thanks."

I went into my office to consider. Presently Kragar arrived and said, "I spoke with Ramon and he went for it, Vlad. Jumped at it like a dzur after dinner." I frowned. "Too eager?"

"I don't think so. I think they just need the money." "All right. We can afford it, anyway. We'll need to set up someone to stay in touch with them, unless you want to do it yourself."

"No, thanks," he said. "I have enough to do as it is. I hardly have enough time to—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. How about Sticks?" He nodded. "That makes sense. I'll talk to him. Any suggestions for the information exchange?" "What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you want it all going through Sticks, or through Sticks and me, or Sticks and you, or what?"