Марк Ньютон - Drakenfeld

‘Not entirely, but she was a large part of that decision to leave. There was nothing here for me other than the shadow of my father and a woman who wished me dead.’

Veron clapped me on the arm. ‘I guess that explains why you’re in no hurry to find a wife. It’s a fine story, Drakenfeld.’

‘And I wish none of it was true,’ I sighed.

We talked a little more about love, something that Veron and I both admitted was a distant memory. People did not marry for love in Detrata, not unless it was coincidence or the gods smiling upon them. Marriage was to bind families and their businesses, to bring stability where there was none. A happy, loving union could develop from time to time, of course, but generally with luck a good partnership could be formed and a strong bond forged between families. It was, Veron confessed, how he and his own wife had been paired up.

Deciding to change the topic I asked for more details about Lacanta’s dealings with the Senate. Veron mentioned again the king’s desire to influence senators, and that Lacanta was his only effective method of persuading others.

This bold, political Lacanta was the one who everyone knew, but it couldn’t have been the whole picture. Next I intended to explore the Senate, just in case Lacanta’s actions there had caused bitterness to rise up against her. Could she have delved too far into the dealings of others to warrant being killed?

‘Lacanta’s murder,’ I continued, ‘has so far taken me to the lowest regions of Tryum, but that doesn’t feel right. Most murders tend to happen between people who know each other, people of the same class – such as political rivals. Unless Lacanta regularly cavorted with the poor, I feel I’ve been looking in the wrong place. My investigation ought to focus up-city.’

Veron nodded and gave my words some consideration. Somewhere in the far distance I heard a group of people singing.

‘What were your dealings with her?’

‘Oh very subtle,’ Veron said.

‘I’m curious, senator,’ I replied, in good humour. ‘I have little idea who she actually was as a person.’

‘We rarely spoke, if it means much. As I say, I’m not one for tensions. I float around from faction to faction, not committing, not protesting too much. It makes for an easy life. She had little interest in me, since I almost always sided with Licintius. Say what you will about him – and others do – he speaks a lot of sense. For a king he has the common touch.’

‘What do those in the Senate think of her?’

‘Some people called her Licintius’ witch,’ Veron confessed. ‘Not in the same way as Divran being a witch. More metaphorical. Senators are tricky individuals – forming allegiances or groups, but always to further a cause. Sometimes that may even be a good thing, but at other times it can be disastrous. There are those who seek agrarian reform, those against it. I’ve hinted that there are some who would like Detrata to free itself from the laws of the Vispasian Royal Union – laws, as a Sun Chamber officer, you help to enforce – so that we might return to the old days of the Detratan Empire. Some even wish us to turn into a republic, without a king. And some who speak on behalf of certain religious cults, or who represent the interests of bankers. There are as many factions as there are senators.’

‘How did Lacanta fit into this?’ I asked, wondering if he’d provide a similar story to the one that Maxant had told me. ‘Can you give an example?’

‘There was a bill recently, from Licintius, concerning the resettlement of Maxant’s veterans from his campaign in Mauland. A goodwill gesture, and a thank-you from the Senate for the military’s work in enriching Detrata. To you and me that all sounds very reasonable, of course, but a strong faction in the Senate said there was simply not enough land to go around anyway . . . and so on. They suggested that the policy was to do with the king looking to help out his old friend – all the usual excuses, most of which are based on emotion rather than fact. The bill was ready to collapse. What’s particularly strange is that these senators are the very ones who love the military – they were doing it just to spite Licintius.’

‘And Lacanta changed things.’

‘Absolutely. Lacanta worked her powers on some of the key opponents of the bill, and before any of us knew what was going on the bill had managed to pass through the vote. I didn’t think it would, but it did – and I was glad it had done so. Despite my demeanour, I like to think I have some faith in the democratic process, and abhor such seedy influence in the Senate. That’s why many of the senators call her the witch – because it seems like magic had been used by her to control people. Some are convinced that it is genuine witchcraft, too – it’s not merely a word to be used as insult.’

‘Have you seen anything to suggest there were darker forces at work?’ I asked. ‘I keep on hearing about such matters, but I find it hard to believe, despite all I’ve seen over the past few years. When I grew up, the only dark art I could remember was the trade in curses. Some of them even worked too.’

‘There is talk – there’s always talk – but I’ve not seen anything. Well, at least not until the day she was found murdered. If anything could be an act of summoned ghosts, then her murder could be evidence of that. I tell you what, Drakenfeld – I would not like to mess in the affairs of such entities.’

I finished my cup of wine and regarded the night sky. The stars were out, clear and sharp, and there was a pleasant tang of woodsmoke in the air. Closing my eyes, it seemed like I’d never left the city.

‘Veron, can I trust you?’

After a long pause he replied, ‘No, probably not.’ Veron chuckled, acutely aware of his own self-depreciation.

‘Then you’re the most honest politician I’ve met.’

‘But that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.’

And it seemed, beneath the layers of the suave politician and the man who was faintly disappointed with life, I could at least believe that. ‘Could you give me the names of specific senators to interview?’

‘Plenty,’ he replied, ‘but it depends on what you’re hoping to discover.’

‘Who were those closest to Lacanta? Who could she bend around her finger, who was she sleeping with? I don’t care if I have to speak to every member of the Senate and it takes me months.’

‘I’ll write down some names for you before I leave,’ Veron said. ‘Be careful you don’t interfere too far – senators are powerful people. Not quite as powerful as the king, mind you, but we still wield a lot of influence.’

‘I’m sure they will all be aware that if I was killed, that would be the second Sun Chamber officer to die within a month. With two officers out of action so soon, I have no idea what the Sun Chamber might do.’

‘Are they really that sensitive, the Sun Chamber?’

‘Absolutely,’ I replied seriously. ‘We have to write a weekly report – if nothing is heard of us for a month or so, officials would flood Tryum to find out what was going on. So if someone in the Senate tried to get rid of me, we’d come back in droves.’

‘Such power,’ Veron remarked. ‘Such administration. Has your father’s death not created more of a fuss back at your headquarters in Free State?’

‘No, it was declared as natural causes. The priests and pontiffs, and the Pollan physicians, did not suggest otherwise. Just as well really, as the Sun Chamber gets nervous easily, and I would not like to see them so upset.’