Steven Brust - Dzur

“A little.” He frowned and stared at the writing, then he nod­ded. “I can make this out.”

“Good. If you’re back in less than two hours, I’ll make it two imperials.”

He set off at a walk, just to show me how independent he was. I’m sure he broke into a run the instant he was out of sight. I liked him.

“I could have saved you a few imperials, Boss.”

“I know. But I want you around me right now.”

“Expecting trouble?”

“No. I’m just ... I want you around.”

“Okay.”

I returned to the room, put all that was Vlad, at least exter­nally, into a sack, and said good-bye to the room. Whatever hap­pened, I wouldn’t be back there. That part didn’t make me sad.

I returned to Six Corners and bought a pear. I took my time eating it. I rinsed my hands off at the market pump and left a copper for the poor, because it would have looked funny if I hadn’t.

I spotted the kid about a minute before he spotted me. He handed me a note. I glanced at it, verified the signature, and gave the kid two imperials. He gave me an odd look.

“You’re wondering what someone like me has to do with the Jhereg.”

He nodded.

I smiled. I was briefly tempted to have him watch while I turned back into Vlad. Strange. Why would I want to impress the big comfortable chairs. It was a good place for me, because Jhereg stand out there; mostly you’ll find Dragonlords, Dzur, Lyorn, and Tiassa. I stood out, but so would the Demon, as well as anyone placed there with unfriendly intentions toward me. Also, killing someone there was liable to bring on a lot more heat from the Phoenix Guards than the Jhereg would like.

I got looks from everyone there when I came in. That was good. I’d have been worried about anyone who didn’t give me a glance or two. I walked straight to the rear, where there were two doors back-to-back. I glanced at the host. He pointed to the right-hand door, and I took it.

It was a private little room, well lit, with no windows, and, above all, no one in it. I left the door open and took a seat around to the side, where I could see the only door well enough, but without ostentatiously placing myself in an ideal defensive position. Loiosh and Rocza sat on my shoulders, unmoving, waiting, like me. I caught the faint psychic whispers that indicated they were having some conversation with each other. There was a steady, quiet hum of conversation from the next room. No one was loud at the White Lantern.

I checked the time. It was just the sixth hour. I waited.

About two minutes later, a Jhereg I didn’t recognize came in, glanced at me without acknowledging my presence, let his eye flick over the rest of the room, and then nodded back toward the door. The Demon came through next, followed by another bodyguard, who closed the door. The Demon hadn’t changed much. I didn’t stand.

He sat down across from me and said, “All right. Talk.”

“Shall we get a drink first?”

“Talk.”

“You don’t want to be sociable?”

He looked at me.

“Damn,” I said. “And here I thought we were friends.”

“Talk,” he said, with a sort of “this is the last time I’m going to say it before I have people kill you and I don’t care what deal we’ve made or what the consequences might be you scum-sucking asshole” intonation to it. I’m good with intonations.

“A bunch of people want the number-one seat on the Coun­cil. I—”

“You applying for the job?”

I chuckled. “Thanks for the offer, but I’ll pass. I’m thinking of going into dry goods.”

“Uh huh.”

“Terion’s got the backing of the Left Hand, for reasons we don’t need to go into. You—”

“You did it!” he burst out suddenly.

I raised an eyebrow and didn’t say anything. He grunted. “All right. Go on.”

“I can get you the game.”

“You can, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“How?”

“That’s my business.”

“If you think that’s going to let you off the hook for what you did—”

“No, I don’t. Me getting off the hook isn’t part of the deal. But I do want thirty hours, just so I can finish this.”

“I don’t speak for the Jhereg.”

“Thirty hours from your people.”

“That would not be impossible. Let’s hear it, then.”

“South Adrilankha.”

“What about it?”

“I want it to be hands-off for the Jhereg. All of it.”

“For how long?”

“Let’s say ... until the end of the next Dragon Reign.”

“That could be quite a while.”

“Yes.”

“You are unlikely to still be alive by then.”

I chuckled. “That’s something of an understatement.”

“My point is, Lord Taltos, how do you expect to enforce it?”

“I trust you.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Well, yeah, I guess I don’t.”

“So, then?”

“I have friends.”

He look at me and waited.

I said, “I imagine you’ve already heard about who had a shine put on her last night.”

He put a few things together in his mind and nodded slowly. “I see.”

“Yeah.”

“That would do it, I expect. You’re asking a lot, you know.”

“I know.”

“The Organization will grow there on its own, and it will be crying out for someone to run it. There will be a lot of work in­volved in keeping the Jhereg out of there.”

“That’s how I see it, too. But you know what you get for it.”

“Can you deliver?”

“I think so.”

“You think so.”

I nodded. “And, of course, if you don’t end up in the number-one spot, you don’t pay.”

“And your life isn’t part of the deal?”

“Nope.”

“Okay. What else?”

“As part of leaving South Adrilankha alone, you negotiate with the Left Hand. They’re the ones running it, and—”

“Your wife. That’s the meat of the whole thing, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“All right. I was trying to figure out why you got involved in this in the first place. Now I know.”

“Uh huh.”

“You dived into this whole thing for her.”

“Yep.”

“Like a Dzur hero come to save the maiden.”

“You got it.”

“How does she feel about that?”

“None of your fucking business.”

“That’s what I figured.”

“Do we have a deal?”

“I gotta be honest. I don’t know if I can call off the Left Hand at this point. They aren’t under any authority but their own.”

“No, but if they get, uh, called off, as you put it, I think you can negotiate with them to stay out.”

He gave me a contemplative look. “I don’t know what you have in mind, of course. But that would depend on exactly how they get called off.”

“Yeah.”

“Care to tell me about it?”

“No.”

“Then I can’t give you an answer, can I?”

“I’m negotiating with them.”

“Negotiating.”

“Uh huh. If you want, you can show up for the negotiations.”

“Oh?”

“I’ll be meeting with them around seventh hour, give or take.”

“Where?”

“In South Adrilankha. There’s a district called Six Corners. Not far from there is a house, Number Eleven Stranger’s Road. We’ll be meeting there.”

“And I’m invited?”

“Yes. At least, that’s where we’re starting the negotiations.”

“And when will these negotiations be concluded?”

“Like I said before, I’ll need about thirty hours.”

“Then I can’t give you an answer before then.”

“Sure you can. A conditional answer.”

He nodded slowly. “You’re asking a lot, you know.”

“You’re getting a lot.”