Steven Brust - Dzur

“Yes, I am.”

“And, as I said, feel free to show up.”

“Yeah. I might do that.”

I gave him some time to think it over. A part of me regretted that I wasn’t still in the Organization, working for someone like him. He’d be a good guy to work for. And life would be so much simpler.

After a moment, he nodded. “Okay on the thirty hours. And, yeah, depending on how these negotiations go, I’ll agree that if you get me the position, I’ll keep us out of South Adrilankha un­til the end of the next Dragon Reign, or until I’m knocked on the head, whichever comes first.”

“That works,” I said.

“You know it won’t make any difference, right?”

“Hmmm?”

“I mean, if you’re thinking that you’ll be doing something to help those people—”

“I’m not. If anything, it’ll be worse for them, unless they find someone who knows how to run this sort of operation efficiently.”

He nodded. “She must be some kind of woman.”

“Yeah,” I said.

“It’s too bad things worked out this way, Vlad. I’d have liked to have you working for me.”

I nodded.

“Good luck,” he said.

“Thanks.”

He got up and walked out, taking his bodyguard with him.

“Good going, Vlad,” said Kragar. “Now, can you pull it off?”

“I hope so,” I said. 16. Red Wine

There was a place I passed through when I visited the East a couple of years ago. It was sort of a meadow, extended downward from a bare, rocky slope, and ending in woods. It wasn’t very big; standing on the top of the slope you could see the woods clearly enough. But in that place, there were an odd collection of berry plants and flowers, and I happened to hit it at a time when they were all emitting their specialized scents. There were wild roses, brittleberries, whiteblossom , honeykeolsch, and clover.

I mention this, even though at the time my mind was on other things and I didn’t pay much attention, because, though it was of the type that is called “full” and “deep” and “strongly flavored,” there were hints of most of those in the wine Mihi brought to accompany the beef.

I set the glass down and opened my eyes.

Mihi winked at me and walked away as Telnan drank some wine and nodded. “Goes good with the food,” he said.

“Got lucky,” I said.

He flashed me a grin. Only one meal, and he was already figuring out my sense of humor.

“I’ll bet there’s a whole art to that, isn’t there? I mean, picking the right wine to go with a meal.”

“There is,” I told him. “I don’t know how they do it, but I’m glad to reap the rewards.”

He nodrlcd. “Think you can really tell the difference, though? I mean, between a wine that goes perfectly with what you’re eating, and wine that only sort of goes with it? Is there, I don’t know, a lot more pleasure, or something?”

I actually had to think about that, for more reasons than to try to figure out what he was asking. “There are a lot of things,” I said, “that you don’t actually notice, but have an effect anyway.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” said the Dzur. He looked lost in thought for a minute. “That really is true,” he repeated, as if I’d said something profound.

I let him think so while I ate some more of the beef.

I said, “They chill it just a bit, for me, even though it isn’t supposed to be served that way. Not chilled like a white wine, but just a little chilled. I just think wine is better when it’s a little bit cold. Unlike brandy.”

“And heroics,” he said, grinning.

“Hmmm?”

“It’s hardest to be a hero when you have to do it cold.”

“I don’t follow you.”

“I was just making a joke.”

“Oh, all right.”

“But it’s true, though.”

“I don’t—”

“It’s one thing to go charging into a fight when you’re outnum­bered, and you just, you know, hack away as best you can. It’s another when you have to just sit there, everything against you, and no one to actually attack. All the demons in your head start on you, and, it’s like, you’re giving yourself every chance to be afraid, but you have to keep on anyway. I’m not describing it very well.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been in that situation.”

“It’s not as much fun as you might think.”

I nodded and took another sip of wine. Just a little bit chilled, the way I like it.

“You were there for the whole thing?” I asked.

Kragar shook his head. “I arrived late.”

“I thought you might do that. Were you expecting him to make a play for me?”

“Vlad, you aren’t out of here, yet.”

“True.”

“I’ll go out first.”

“Just like the old days.”

“Sort of.”

“Hey, Kragar, I’m trying to remember something.”

“Yeah?”

“You know, all those times I walked out of a door wondering if someone was on the other side waiting to put a nice pretty shine on my skin, was there ever anyone there?”

“You mean, has anyone come after you when you were looking for it? Not that I recall, but maybe I wasn’t around.”

“This might be the first time, you know.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re a superstitious East­erner, and you think if you say it, it won’t happen.”

“Exactly.”

“Good plan.”

It worked, too. At least, no one took a shot at me when I left the Lantern.

“What now?” he asked. “You hungry? We should have gotten something to eat.”

“Yeah, I’ll just sort of hang out here for another hour or two, that would be smart.”

He chuckled. “Office?”

“Sounds good.”

We made it there with no trouble, but I’d be lying if said I wasn’t nervous during the walk.

The guy running the game nodded to me as I went past. He ignored Kragar.

“How do you do it?” I asked him when we were in my old office, with him behind the desk.

“Do what?”

“Get people to obey your orders, when they don’t even know you’re there.”

“Oh. I write a lot of notes.”

“Dangerous.”

“They get burned. And you know how it is: There’s usually nothing incriminating in them anyway.”

“I don’t know, Kragar. All it takes is one that—”

“You want the job back, Vlad?”

“No, thanks.”

“Then shut up.”

“Right. Shutting up.”

“What happens next?”

“The Left Hand comes after me.”

“How are you avoiding them?”

“I’m not.”

He studied me. “You’re going to let them find you?”

“I’m going to them.”

“Mind if I ask why?”

“Because I can’t have them chasing me. Having the Jhereg chasing me is bad enough; having the Left Hand—”

“Wait. You don’t want them chasing you, so you’re going to give yourself up to them? I mean, in one sense it’s logical, but—”

“I probably shouldn’t have tried to explain.”

“Yeah, that was a mistake. Where is this happening?”

“There’s a house in South Adrilankha where the Left Hand has set up shop.”

“Where exactly?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“A house full of sorceresses, and you’re going to just walk into it?”

“Pulling them out of it, actually. And there aren’t as many of them as there were yesterday at this time.”

“Ugh. Need backup?”

“You can’t help with this one, unless you’re a better sorcerer than I think you are.”