Kate Novak - Masquerades

"Why hasn't she come to me with this information?" Luer demanded. "That's what I hired her for."

"Why hasn't she?" Victor parroted. He shrugged. "Perhaps consorting with Jamal and her little troupe has given her a flair for street theater dramatics. Will you reconsider coming tonight?"

Luer shifted uncomfortably in his seat, remaining silent as he considered his options. After a few moments, he shook his head. "Send for her. She must tell me first. I can't have half the nobles up in arms if she is wrong."

Victor frowned down at his father. "She can tell you in private at the ball," he argued.

Luer's face clouded with anger. He rose to his feet and shouted, "I will not attend this cursed ball! Send for Abas now!"

A look of rage spasmed across Victor's face, but the croamarkh was not unaccustomed to his son's temper.Luer held his ground. In a moment, the younger Dhostar mastered his emotions, and his face transformed back to a mask of civility.

Victor lowered his eyes to the table and whispered,

“I’m sorry, Father. It's over now."

"I should think so," Luer snapped. These tantrums are beneath you. Now do as I ask, please."

Victor shook his head sadly. "I mean it's over for you. We know that you're the Faceless."

Luer's face turned scarlet, and for several moments, though his mouth moved, he seemed unable to reply. Finally, the words exploded from him. That's preposterous! If that's what this cheap sell-sword thinks, I want her here now, before she does any more damage!"

That's what she will think, and she has proof." Victor produced the key he'd shown to Alias and explained, "I found this among your possessions. It's the key to the former lair of the Night Masters and the Faceless." "I never saw that key before," Luer declared. "So you say, but I do not think that Alias will believe you."

"We'll see about that," Luer growled. He reached out and yanked on the bellpull. Almost immediately Kimbel appeared in the doorway.

"I want you personally to fetch Alias and bring her here immediately," the croamarkh commanded the servant.

Kimbel looked at Victor. The younger Dhostar shook his head. Kimbel entered the room, closed the door behind him, and stood before it, silent and still.

The veins in Luer's face throbbed visibly. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded.

"Tonight," Victor explained, "Alias, under my direction, will identify you as the Faceless, leader of the Night Masks. Enough evidence will be found among your possessions to offer proof of this accusation." The young noble slid around the desk and put a hand on his father's shoulder. "There is still a way out for you. A ship to Mul-horand is putting out to sea tonight just before the ball. You can take passage on that ship, leaving a document behind that will abdicate leadership of House Dhostar to me and recommend me for the post of croamarkh. I, in turn, will ensure that these awful revelations are never made public."

"If you believe me guilty, why would you do that?" Luer Dhostar asked with a laugh.

"To preserve the power of the nobles and the power of this family," Victor retorted. "There will be talk, naturally, but nothing will come of it. Then, in a few years, when the Night Masks are under control and all of the rumors have died, I will send for you. You can return as an elder statesmen." He gave his father's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"You think I will leave this house, this city, in your hands, knowing you have allied yourself with these criminals?"

Victor's brow knit in confusion. While he hadn't expected his father to accede readily to his demands, he was not prepared to meet with a counteraccusation. "It is not I who've aligned myself with the Night Masks, but you," he insisted, throwing his hands up in the air.

"I know about the smoke powder," Luer said. "Smoke powder? What about it?"

"It occurred to me when Alias noted how much more common smoke powder is. She thought perhaps we weren't able to stop it from being smuggled in. She didn't know how efficient the sniffer dogs at the customs check are or just how much we've confiscated. It's all been recorded in the customs records. There should be quite a stockpile." The croamarkh poked a hard finger in his son's chest. "A stockpile I entrusted to you," he growled. "A stockpile I have since discovered has been seriously depleted. You've been selling it to them, haven't you? You've been supplying the Faceless with the smoke powder he uses in his evil schemes. You've made yourself his pawn."

Victor snorted derisively. "I am no one's pawn, old man. I control this game, and when it is through, Westgate will no longer be a squabbling collection of petty nobles, but a powerful kingdom-something I might have already accomplished if you had supported me as croamarkh. We might have avoided this whole ugly mess if only you had given me a chance to prove myself."

Luer's features softened for a moment, and he put his hands on his son's shoulders. "Whatever you've done," he said, "whatever hooks the Faceless has in you, I can put things right again. Escape yourself on that ship to Mul-horand, and I'll sort matters out on this end. Gods know, you're not the first noble scion I've had to pull from the mu-"

Luer's voice faltered, and he gasped and looked down at his chest. A dagger jutted from between his ribs, and Victor, who held the blade's handle, thrust it in deeper.

The green ichor in the blade's groove sizzled as it came into contact with the croamarkh's blood, and a black stain spread across the croamarkh's tunic.

Father looked at son with an unbelieving stare. His lips tried to issue the word "Why?" but the sound was blocked by a bloody foam pouring from bis mouth.

A moment later, Lord Luer Dhostar, Patriarch of Clan Dhostar and Croamarkh of Westgate, crumpled to the floor in a heap.

“I’ll pull myself out of the mud, Father," Victor replied coldly. "It is too bad you wouldn't do as I asked. It would have been so much more convenient for both of us." He looked up at Kimbel. The servant was grinning.

"I fail to see any humor in the situation," Victor snapped.

"It's the irony," Kimbel retorted. "Where the warrioress has been led astray, an accountant comes to the truth."

Victor sniffed in recognition of Kimbel's point, then ordered, "Get the body to the new hideout. When you finish that, begin to search and mark all the books with references to smoke powder so I have evidence of the former croamarkh's pilfering."

"And may I inquire as to your plans, Your Lordship?" the former assassin queried as he opened the library door.

"I have to get ready for the masquerade ball," Victor said with a laugh as he strolled from the room. "You know us merchants. Banes of the dance floor and dessert tables."

Alias returned to Blais House in the late afternoon, lugging a red velvet I gown made from so much fabric it weighed nearly as much as the adventurer's sword. Jamal accompanied her, | carrying the baldric and the masks. Alias had chosen for herself and Drag-onbait. The saurial had gone out, but he returned just as Jamal was buttoning up the side of Alias's gown.

To Alias's questioning look the paladin explained in Saurial, "I've been to see Mintassan about a few matters."

"Anything in particular?" Alias asked as she slipped the diamond-patterned baldric over her head.

Dragonbait shot a glance at Jamal. The actress was beginning to fuss with Alias's hair. "It would be better in private," he answered.

On the pretext that Dragonbait was too modest to change with the actress about, Alias asked Jamal to excuse herself. The actress agreed, promising Alias she'd be waiting in the hotel lobby to see them off. "Well?" Alias prompted once she'd closed the door behind Jamal. "Olive was here earlier," the paladin explained. "And?" Dragonbait shifted uncomfortably. He didn't really know that he credited Olive's story, which made it very difficult for him to present it at all. Of course, if he actually believed the halfling, the truth would be even harder for him to reveal. "She doesn't trust Victor Dhostar," the saurial said.