Steven Brust - Hawk

Time passed. I stood up to pace, changed my mind, sat down again. Several times. You take your excitement where you can get it.

Below, four men in Jhereg colors appeared in front of the door. I recognized one as the Demon. I also wondered who knew this place well enough to teleport to it, and if that would be a problem. I still don’t know, and no it wasn’t, so never mind.

I stood up, brushed myself off, and walked down to meet him.

Of course, one of the Demon’s people spotted me and said something I was too far away to hear. The Demon stopped, looked around, saw me, and waited.

“Good precaution,” were his first words after I was in earshot.

“It disturbs me how well you know me.”

He shrugged. “I’ve been trying to kill you for several years, you know.”

I nodded. “True enough. And you, m’lord, are punctual as always.”

“Shall we?” he said, then politely went in first, and even more politely had his bodyguards go in front of me, thus sparing me a lot of itching between the shoulder blades. It didn’t actually prove anything, but, like I said, it was polite.

“Okay, Loiosh.”

“Boss-”

“See you in a while.”

Loiosh and Rocza left my shoulders and flew away.

I followed the Demon into the place. We stepped into a long hallway. The first door on the right was to an antechamber with an oversized fireplace and a door. Past the door was the room we were to meet in. If you’re paying attention, you’ve noticed that, with windows facing the ocean-sea, the antechamber should have been on the left . Sorry, can’t help you with that.

The Demon opened the door and went into the antechamber, while his bodyguards took positions against the wall opposite the fireplace. If there were as many bodyguards coming as I expected, or even half as many, it was going to get awfully crowded in there.

The Demon cleared his throat.

“Right,” I said. I flipped the cloak aside and moved my arm out of the way, hating it. But if that’s what it took, that’s what it took.

One of the bodyguards pulled out what looked like a piece of silver cord, and approached me. He licked his lips. I suspect he wasn’t enjoying this much more than I was. He glanced at the Demon, and I could see him brace himself. I could also see him reminding himself of how much extra he was getting for this.

He wrapped the cord around Lady Teldra’s hilt and around my belt, and made a tight knot. Then he made a gesture, and backed away quickly. He stank of fear, which I admit gave me a certain satisfaction.

I didn’t feel anything, except that, maybe, there was a vague sense of something missing, as if I were in a room in which the light was just the tiniest bit dimmer than it had been a moment before. Only it wasn’t sight, it was, well, something else.

“One hour,” said the Demon. “As agreed.”

“As agreed,” I agreed.

I followed the Demon into the room itself.

“Anyone else here yet?” asked the Demon over his shoulder.

“I don’t think so, m’lord. But I wasn’t waiting that long.”

That earned me a quick glance. I looked back at him, and he barely shrugged.

The room we were in was the one I’d picked out-the only one possible. There was a long, lacquered table, set with several more chairs than we’d need. One thing I hadn’t been able to determine in advance was where I’d be sitting, but I’d decided it shouldn’t matter too much. Or, at any rate, I hoped it wouldn’t.

The Demon indicated that I should sit at the head of the table, and he put himself by my right hand. I wondered if it were a courtesy, a gesture of respect, or if he just wanted to be able to reach my right hand quickly. Maybe some of all of those. But it put me with my back to the window, and it couldn’t get much better than that. If things kept going like this, I might actually survive the day. I removed the euphonium case from my shoulder, set it next to me, and sat.

Poletra came in next, nodded to the Demon, looked at me, then gestured with his head to his bodyguards, who were standing outside the doorway. Poletra sat down almost across from the Demon, on my left, but with a chair between us. He looked around. He had this long, skinny neck, so when he looked around, he reminded me a little of a lizard. I tried not to let the thought form so Loiosh wouldn’t be insulted.

“Nice place,” said Poletra, looking around.

I said, “Are we getting the whole Council here?”

“No,” said the Demon. “Just enough of us to make a decision.”

“How many is that?”

“Six. Three members of the Council, and of course we have each hired our own sorcerer. Not, you understand, that we don’t trust each other.”

I chuckled a little because it was expected. “And these three can speak for the Organization? You’ll forgive my being a little nervous on the subject, but it is the whole point of the exercise.”

“Is it?” he inquired. “I had thought the point was to get me money, and that part was just a convenient bonus.”

“Sorry to disenchant you. Figuratively, I mean.”

A woman came in, alone, nodded to Poletra, and bowed respectfully to the Demon, who rose and returned the salute. Three sorcerers, he had said. He’d neglected to mention that at least one was from the Left Hand. But if I’d been paying attention, I’d have assumed it. The Jhereg-that is, the Right Hand-had precious few of them.

This particular sorceress looked at me and nodded as well, politely. Having a Dragaeran, not to mention someone in the Left Hand of the Jhereg, act polite toward me makes me suspicious, in spite of my too-trusting nature. But I nodded back anyway.

“This,” said the Demon, “is my lady Radfall, sorceress.”

I decided that saying, “Never heard of you” would be a bad idea, so I contented myself with one of those gestures between nodding and bowing your head that I’d practiced in front of a mirror back when I was young and forcing myself to learn to be diplomatic instead of being, you know, me. She returned the gesture exactly; maybe she had learned to not be her.

She said, “This room is enchanted.”

The Demon looked at me, eyebrows raised. I kept my face neutral, and he turned back to her. “What sort of enchantment?”

“It’s subtle. It’s part of the room. Anyone in this room is less inclined to act, more inclined to cooperate. There’s a sort of lethargy.”

“Can you get rid of it?”

She frowned, then closed her eyes. “Done,” she said.

“Nice try, Taltos,” said the Demon.

I shrugged.

The next to arrive was someone else I didn’t recognize; a compact guy in Jhereg colors who reminded me a lot of Shoen, even to the slicked-backed hair. He wore several rings, and at least three chains about his neck holding things that vanished under his jerkin. He stopped just inside the door and his eyes narrowed-at Radfall.

“Well,” he said, before any introductions could be made.

Radfall, who had sat facing the door a couple of seats away from Poletra, stood up and glared back at him. “Illitra,” she said, like the name was a curse.

“What,” he asked, “are you doing here?”

The Demon coughed. “I hadn’t realized you two were acquainted.”

Illitra answered him without taking his eyes off Radfall. “We’ve met,” he said.

“Yes,” said Radfall. “Murdered any children, lately?”

“No,” said Illitra. “Why? Did you have some suggestions?”

Radfall sniffed disdainfully, something it seems everyone in the Left Hand gets training in.

“Tell me,” said Illitra. “Do you still-”

“That will do,” said the Demon quietly.

Illitra shrugged, something it seems everyone in the Right Hand gets training in.