Lindsay Buroker - Deadly Games

“Have you noticed any men coming and going,visiting this flat?” Amaranthe asked.

“You mean the other miners?” Velks asked.

“Yes. How long has that been going on?”

The brother lifted his feather duster. “Whyshould we answer all these questions? What’s in it for us?”

“I could restrain myself from punching youagain,” Maldynado said.

“Now, now, no need to be brutish,” Amaranthetold him while considering the thieves thoughtfully. “If the flatis cleaned up and everything is put back, I don’t think there’s aneed to tell the enforcers you were here. If you answer myquestions.”

“You were going to tell the enforcers?” Velksasked. “You’re thieves, too, aren’t you?”

“No, we’re investigators.”

Both brothers’ brows furrowed. She imaginedthem trying to figure out if “investigators” were people who werelegally on the premises or not. She decided not to clarify.

“About these miners,” she said, “how longhave they been visiting?”

“Seen some of them before,” Velks said, “butthey only started coming all the time last week.”

“Did they stay here when they met, or didthey start here and go someplace else?”

Velks shrugged. “How should I know? We didn’tsit up here with our ears pressed to the door.”

The brother snapped his fingers. “But thatone time, when we were sitting on the steps, hoping to get a lookup girls’ dresses when they went up, we did hear them saysomething, remember?”

“Don’t tell people about that,” Velkshissed.

“About what they said?”

“About the dresses, you idiot.”

Maldynado leaned a hand against the wall andshook his head. “Not too bright, are they?” he mouthed toAmaranthe.

“You never tried that tactic?” she asked.

“I never had to resort to such desperatemeasures. Women couldn’t wait to lift their dresses when I wasaround.”

Amaranthe kept from rolling her eyes-she had encouraged him by asking after all-and turned back tothe thieves. “What’d you hear them say?”

“They were going with Raydevk to meet a girlat a fountain,” Velks said.

Oh, yes, that was a priceless gem ofinformation. Still, if the men had all been going together, maybeit had been more than a tryst. “What fountain?” she asked.

Velks glanced at his brother who onlyshrugged. “They didn’t say.”

Amaranthe asked a few more questions, hopingshe might tease more out of the would-be burglars’ heads, but theyproved feeble resources at best. While they finished cleaning, shesearched every last nook of the flat, even going so far as to thumpat floorboards in case any covered a hollow storage niche.

She knelt, doing a last check of the areasbeneath the beds, when Velks spoke again. “Can we go?”

“We cleaned everything and put everythingback that we took,” his brother said. “We even got rid of thosegummy food stains that we were not responsible for.”

“We even did the windows!” Velks added.

Maldynado snickered. He was lounging on thesofa, playing with a sliding puzzle block in which one had to findappropriate niches for various war implements. Apparently thethieves had not made an escape attempt in a while.

“Yes, you may go.” Amaranthe returned thedagger she had taken from them and surveyed the flat. It sparkled.Huh. “Gentlemen?” she added, stopping them in the middle of asprint for the door.

“What?” Velks asked, shoulders hunched.

“You do good work. Perhaps you shouldconsider a career in the cleaning services.”

“ Cleaning services?” Their mouthsgaped open.

“Men don’t clean, they fight!” one said.

“And they run over imperial enemies withgiant steam trampers and they tear down massive fortifications withthose brilliant new rammers.” Velks sighed longingly.

“Are you two planning to join the military?”Amaranthe asked, thinking they appeared old enough-Akstyr’s age atleast.

Maldynado yawned and gave her awhy-are-we-spending-so-much-time-here look as he thunked a puzzlepiece into place.

“Maybe.” Velks shrugged.

Probably a no then. “Madame Rawdik on Fourthruns an industrial cleaning outfit. They have a steam pressurewasher as big as a tramper. If you worked for her, you couldprobably ride it.”

Two sets of eyes grew round. “Really? Ididn’t know there was such a thing.”

“If you decide to apply for a job, tell herthat her old school friend Amaranthe says you do good work.”

Their eyes remained wide, and they exchangedgapes with her. It wasn’t that much of a favor. Had nobodyever vouched for them for anything before?

“Thanks,” Velks said, and his brother noddedand scampered out the door. Velks hesitated, his face screwed up inconcentration. “I don’t know if it helps, but those miners alsosaid…the girl they were seeing had…fire hair? Fiery hair. Andshe was worth pounding like a steam hammer. I listened to thatpart, on account of, well-it was about a woman.”

“I see,” Amaranthe said. “Thank you.”

The young men left, and Maldynado thunked afinal piece into the puzzle before tossing it onto a chair. “How’dyou know?” he asked.

“Know what?”

“That they had more information.”

“I didn’t.” She winked. “I just like toreform wayward youths whenever possible.”

“That’s very noble. I bet Deret likes noblewomen.”

“Don’t start with that again, or I’ll try toreform you.”

“I’m hardly a youth.”

“But you don’t argue against needing reform?”Amaranthe headed for the door.

“Not really, no.” Maldynado opened it forher. “What’s next?”

“We have Akstyr update his search. He’s notjust looking for that powder at the apothecaries; he’s askingclerks if they remember a sexy red-headed woman coming in and doingthe shopping. That’s far from a normal hair color in theempire.”

“Ah, Akstyr will be doing the work?Excellent.” He followed her into the hallway.

“Oh, no, we’ll be searching the neighborhoodand contemplating all the fountains within a two miles radius.”

Maldynado stopped walking and flopped againstthe wall. “ All the… This is Stumps! There are almost asmany fountains in the city as there are headless statues.”

“There aren’t that many,” Amaranthesaid.

“There’s one at every intersection.”

“Every other intersection, at the most.”

“That’s still a lot . And just becausethese people met at a fountain the other night doesn’t meanthey’ll be loitering nearby now.”

“I know. It’s not much to go on. I’ll thinkon it while we watch Basilard compete this afternoon.”

“Yes.” Maldynado snapped his fingers. “And weneed to get there early. No fountain searching on the way. What ifsomeone tries to kidnap him?”

“I doubt anyone knows who he is,” Amaranthesaid, amused at how quickly Maldynado could start scheming his wayout of work. “He entered with his Mangdorian name, didn’t he?” Evenif people knew a “Basilard” ran with Sicarius, nobody in the citywould know his real name.

Maldynado snickered. “Not exactly.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll see.”

Basilard hopped up and down and swung hisarms. He was one of six athletes left in the staging area, and hedid not think anyone else appeared as nervous as he. Though it wasthe first day of events, and only a third of the benches in thestadium were filled, Basilard could not help but feel as ifthousands of eyes watched him. Already, he had visited the washoutsbeneath the stands three times, both to urinate and to throwup.

He remembered being nervous before the pitfights, but not this nervous. Strange, considering his life hadbeen on the line there, and people had shouted and jeered fromabove, calling out for bloodshed. Maybe it was because he had moreto win here. It wasn’t just an extension of his own existence, buta visit with the emperor and a chance to speak for his people. Ifhe did not get himself killed trying to take out Sicarius first. Hegrowled at himself, annoyed with the situation. He never shouldhave gone to visit that priestess.