Steven Brust - Jhereg

Morrolan shot me a look of disgust, but, fortunately, was not otherwise affected. I noticed that Sethra was gently stroking the hilt of Iceflame. I shuddered. Aliera’s eyes had turned gray. Morrolan was looking grim. He stood up and began pacing in front of us. Aliera, Sethra, and I held our peace. After a couple of trips, he said. “Are you certain he knows that the Jhereg is after him?”

“He knows.”

“And,” Morrolan continued, “you are convinced that he would have been aware of this when he first contacted me?”

“Morrolan, he planned it that way. I’ll go even further; according to all the evidence we have, he’s been planning this whole thing for at least ten years.”

“I see.” He shook his head, slowly. His hand came to rest on the hilt of Blackwand, and I shuddered again. After a time, he said, “You know how I feel concerning treatment and safety of my guests, do you not?”

I nodded.

“Then you are no doubt aware that we cannot harm him in any way—at least, not until his seventeen days are up.”

I nodded again. “Unless he leaves of his own free will,” I put in.

He looked at me, suspiciously.

Aliera spoke, then. “You aren’t going to just let him get away with this, are you?” she asked. There was just the hint of an edge to her voice. I suddenly wished that I had Kragar’s ability to be unnoticeable.

“For today, my dear cousin, and thirteen more days after, he is perfectly safe here. After that,” his voice suddenly turned cold and hard, “he’s dead.”

“I can’t give you the details,” I said, “but in thirteen days he will have irreparably damaged the Jhereg.”

Morrolan shrugged, and Aliera gave me a brushing-off motion. So what? Who cared about the Jhereg, anyway? But I noticed Sethra nodding, as if she understood.

“And in thirteen days,” she put in, “he’ll be long gone.”

Aliera gave a toss of her head and stood, flinging her cloak to the side and bringing her hand down to Pathfinder’s hilt. “Let him try to hide,” she said.

“You are missing the point,” said Sethra. “I’m not doubting that you and Pathfinder will be able to track him down. What I’m saying is that with all the time he’s had, he’ll be able to, at least, make it difficult for you. It could take you days to find him if, for example, he goes out East. And in the meantime,” her voice took on a cutting edge, “he’ll have succeeded in using a Dragon to hide from the Jhereg.”

This hit the two of them, and they didn’t like it. But there was something else that was bothering me.

“Aliera,” I said, “are you sure that there isn’t anything he could do to prevent you from finding him with Pathfinder? It doesn’t make sense that he’d work for this long on such an intricate scheme, only to let you and Morrolan track him down and kill him.”

“As you may recall,” she said, “I’ve only had Pathfinder for a few months, and it’s hardly common knowledge that I have a Great Weapon at all. It’s something that he couldn’t have counted on. If I didn’t have it, he could have figured on escaping us.”

I accepted that. Yes, it was possible. No matter how carefully you plan things, there is always the chance that you could miss something important. This is a risky business we’re in.

Aliera turned to Morrolan. “I don’t think,” she said, “that we should wait the rest of those seventeen days.”

Morrolan turned away.

“ Here it comes, boss. ”

“ I know, Loiosh. Let’s hope Sethra can handle it—and wants to. ”

“Don’t you see,” continued Aliera, “that this, this Jhereg is trying to make you nothing more than a bodyguard from his own House?”

“I’m quite aware of this, I assure you, Aliera,” he answered softly.

“And that doesn’t bother you? He’s dishonoring the entire House of the Dragon! How dare he use a Dragonlord?”

“Ha!” said Morrolan. “How dare he use me! But it’s rather obvious that he does dare, and equally obvious that he’s gotten away with it.” Morrolan’s gaze was fixed on her. He was either challenging her or waiting to see if she would challenge him. Either way, I decided, it didn’t much matter.

“He hasn’t gotten away with it yet,” said Aliera, grimly.

“And what exactly does that mean?” asked Morrolan.

“Just what it sounds like. He hasn’t gotten away with anything. He’s assuming that, just because he’s a guest, he can insult you as much as he wants, and no one will touch him.”

“And he is correct,” said Morrolan.

“Is he?” asked Aliera. “Is he really? Are you sure?”

“Quite sure,” said Morrolan.

Aliera matched stares with him for a while, then she said, “If you choose to ignore the insult to your honor, that’s your business. But when an insult is given to the entire House of the Dragon, it’s my business, too.”

“Nevertheless,” said Morrolan, “since the insult was delivered through me, it is my right, and my duty, to avenge it, don’t you think?”

Aliera smiled. She sat back, relaxed, the very picture of one who’s just had her worries removed. “Oh, good!” she said. “So you’ll kill him after all!”

“Why certainly I shall,” said Morrolan, showing his teeth, “thirteen days from now.”

I glanced at Sethra to see how this was affecting her. She hadn’t yet said anything, but the look on her face was far from pleasant. I was hoping that she’d be willing and able to mediate between the two of them if things started to get pushed too far. Looking at her, however, made me wonder if she had any such inclination.

Aliera wasn’t smiling any more. Her hand gripped the hilt of Pathfinder, and her knuckles were white. “That,” she explained, “is doing nothing. I will not permit a Jhereg to—”

“You will not touch him, Aliera,” said Morrolan. “So long as I live, no guest in my house need fear for his life. I don’t care who he is, why he’s here; so long as I have extended him my welcome, he may consider himself safe.

“I have entertained my own blood enemies at my table, and arranged Morganti duels with them. I have seen the Necromancer speaking quietly to one who had been an enemy of hers for six incarnations. I have seen Sethra,” he gestured toward her, “sitting across from a Dzurlord who had sworn to destroy her. I will not allow you, my own cousin, to cast my name in the mud; to make me an oathbreaker. Is that how you would preserve the honor of the House of the Dragon?”

“Oh, speak on, great protector of honor,” she said. “Why not go all the way? Put up a poster outside the Jhereg barracks, saying that you are always willing to protect anyone who wants to run from their hired killers?”

He ignored the sarcasm. “And can you explain to me,” he said, “how it is that we can defend our honor as a House if each member does not honor even his own words?”

Aliera shook her head and continued in a softer voice. “Don’t you see, Morrolan, that there is a difference between the codes of honor, and of practice, that have come down from the traditions of the House of the Dragon, and your own custom? I’m not objecting to your having your little customs; I think it’s a fine thing. But it isn’t on the same level as the traditions of the House.”

He nodded. “I understand that, Aliera,” he said. “But it isn’t just a ‘custom’ I’m talking about; it’s an oath that I’ve sworn to make Castle Black a place of refuge. It would be different if we were at, say, Dzur Mountain.”

She shook her head. “I just don’t understand you. Of course you want to live by your oath, but does that mean that you have to allow yourself, and the House, to be used by it? He isn’t just living under your oath, he’s abusing it.”