Steven Brust - Phoenix

He greeted me with all the warmth I remembered from our previous encounters. "You," he said.

"My dear Paresh," I told him. "How is it that they didn't arrest you, too? No, no, let me guess. They only hauled in the Easterners. Either they decided that a Dragaeran, even if a Teckla, doesn't deserve prison, or they decided that a Teckla, even if a Dragaeran, must be harmless. Am I right?"

"What do you want?"

"My wife back. How do you propose to get her out of prison?"

"We will be giving a demonstration of our strength tomorrow. We expect five thousand Easterners and Teckla, all of them committed to fighting until conscription stops and our friends are released. Many of them are determined to fight until the Empire itself is run by us, and for us. Do you have all that, or shall I repeat it?"

"I'll read it back to you: You aren't doing anything except shouting at each other about how mad you are and hoping the Empress laughs herself to death."

"She didn't laugh much a few weeks ago, when she pulled the troops out of South Adrilankha."

"They are, however, back."

"For the moment. But if we have to shut down—"

"Shut down your mouth, Paresh. I came here to find out if you had any plans for getting my wife out of the Imperial Dungeons. It seems you don't. That's all I wanted to know. Good day."

As I turned away, he said, "Baronet Taltos," and put such scorn into my title that I almost dropped him right then and there. I didn't, but I did stop and turn back to; face him. He said, "Consider how your wife will react if I you find some way to yendi her out of prison, while everyone else stays there. Think it over."

I felt a sneer growing on my face, but I didn't give him the satisfaction of letting him see it. I walked out the door and headed back toward my own side of town, where everyone hated me for reasons I was more comfortable with.

All right, so I couldn't count on them. I hadn't really thought I could, but they deserved to be asked. Where did

that leave me? Nowhere, probably. I stopped my walk long enough to make contact with Kragar. "Any news?"

"Those minstrels sure hear things, Vlad. They're better than the street tags. They play the court, and they listen, and they gossip. That was a great idea. "

"Save the praise, Kragar. Have we learned anything?" "We sure have. The big arrest of Easterners was—urn, I'm not certain you 're going to like this. " "Let's have it. "

"Okay. It was by request of and based on information supplied by the Imperial representative of House Jhereg. " I took a deep breath and, for no reason I'm aware of, my hands went through the automatic gestures that check to make sure my various concealed weapons are in their proper places.

"Okay, Kragar. Thanks. Anything else?" "Nothing out of the ordinary." "I'll be in touch."

I was wearing my usual cloak, but it was clean. The grey tunic I'd put on was in good shape, and my trousers, while not really suitable for court, weren't bad. My boots were a bit scuffed and dirty, so I stopped when I was back in Dragaeran country and had a Teckla clean and polish, them, for which I tipped him well. Then, to keep them clean, I carefully teleported to the vicinity of the Imperial Palace.

I leaned against the nearest wall and counted passersby until my stomach felt well again, then made my way around to the path which led to the Jhereg Wing. There were two old men standing outside it pretending to be guards (who in his right mind would break into the Jhereg Wing?), to whom I nodded as I went by. Inside, a cheerful young man in grey and black was sitting behind a short oak table. He asked my business.

"Count Soffta," I said.

"Have you an appointment, my lord?"

"Naturally."

"Very well. That door, up the stairs, all the way to the back."

"Quite."

"A pleasant afternoon, my lord."

"Yes."

Every inch the nobleman, that's what I am. Heh. The cheerful young man's identical twin was sitting behind the table's identical twin. He asked my business. The table remained mute.

"Count Soffta," I said.

"Have you an appointment, my lord?"

"No."

"What name shall I give?"

"Baronet Taltos."

There was a bit of a twinge to his eyebrows, as if maybe he'd heard the name, but that was all. "A moment, if you please" and he was silent for a few heartbeats. Then he said, "You may go in, my lord."

"Thank you."

There's a saying that goes, "Only Issola live in the Palace," and it may be true. That is, if it were possible for a Jhereg to look like an Issola, Soffta did. His build was a bit chest-heavy, his face was regular, with the narrow forehead and peaked crown, and his movements were smooth and slow, and seemed practiced. No, he didn't really look like an Issola, but about as close as a Jhereg can come. His office had four comfortable-looking chairs and a view of the courtyard. Each chair had its own round, three-legged table on which the guest could set his drink, made from the bar at the far end of the room. All very nice and non-threatening, it was.

He motioned me to a seat. "Baronet Taltos," he said. "A pleasure. Drink? I have some Fenarian wine."

Issola. "That would be nice," I said. I saw the bottle and realized he meant brandy. "Clear and clean," I said. The chair was as soft as it looked. Not very good for getting out of in a hurry. I wondered if that was deliberate, if I had designed the room, it would have been.

He poured me a drink, and the same thing for himself. I wondered if he really cared for it, at least served the right way, or if he was being polite. I'd probably never know. It was Tuzviz, probably the most commonly available Fenarian brandy; good if not remarkable. At least I could tell there were peaches in its ancestry.

When we were both sitting and enjoying the fire on our tongues he said, "How may I serve you, Baronet?"

"The Empire has mistakenly arrested my wife while clearing out some Eastern rabble from South Adrilankha. I'd like to see about obtaining her release."

He nodded sympathetically. "I see. Most unfortunate. Her name?"

"The Lady Cawti. Taltos of course. She's the Countess of, let me see ... Lostguard Cleft, I think."

"Yes. Bide a moment, enjoy the wine. I'll see what I can do."

"Very well."

He left the room. I got up and stared out the window. Off to the side I could just make out the vast hall of the lorich Wing, beneath which were the dungeons. It was completely walled in, dark and solemn, with their banner flying above it and Dragonlords in the gold cloaks of the Phoenix Guards walking along the walls. No, on reflection, it would have been damn hard to break her out.

Directly below me was a rock garden in blue and white, and strips of neatly manicured lawn dotted with stunted trees. Directly in front of me, on a tall, lone flagpole, flew the banner of the House, stylized Jhereg, sinister, wings spread, claws outstretched, black on a field of grey. It filled me with no emotion whatsoever.

Presently Soffta returned and sat down behind his desk again. He was looking very grave indeed. "It seems," he said, "that someone has already intervened on behalf of the Lady Cawti, and she refused release. Do you know anything about this?"

"Mmmm," I said. "What would it take to procure her release in spite of her refusal?"

"Why, I'm not sure, Lord Taltos. Such a refusal is almost unheard-of, and forcing a release, well, I imagine an order of the Empress would do it."

"No doubt, no doubt," I said. I stood up and strolled back over to the window, looked out of it. I paced a bit, and my pacing took me behind Soffta's chair. He let me get behind him, but I saw the tension in his neck muscles. Court representative or not, he was a Jhereg, not an Issola. "A difficult situation," I said. "Perhaps there is nothing to be done."