Glen Cook - Cruel Zinc Melodies

‘‘That happens with witnesses.’’

‘‘Yes. The dwarf claimed her family was attacked by a monster. Tick-Tack says he was minding his own business. The dwarves ambushed him.’’

‘‘Five levels underground, where they were being paid to keep intruders out?’’

‘‘Jack does think he was in the right. Says we can get the answer from his boss. Who, according to him, was down there, too, but must’ve ducked out when the red tops turned up.’’ Relway resumed pacing. ‘‘He can’t explain how.’’

‘‘He claimed to be a red top himself, earlier in the evening.’’

‘‘Um?’’

I told him about Urban Jack’s cautionary visit to The Palms.

‘‘Felhske again.’’

He was worried. And began dropping hints that he was having interesting thoughts. ‘‘A curious thing happened just before I left to come here. Urban Jack was transferred to the custody of Prince Rupert, too.’’

‘‘That is curious. What does it mean?’’

‘‘That’s what you’re going to tell me.’’

‘‘I don’t think so. I’d need some idea of what you’re talking about, first.’’

‘‘Of course you would. Wouldn’t you?’’

Now he’d come at me from some unexpected direction, to get me off balance. And to give me time to get worried about what he might already know.

‘‘You fired one of my people here. I’m not happy about that, Garrett.’’

‘‘Tough. He was an asshole. Trying to provoke rightsist shit. We’re building a theater. That political crap, and your games, are just ignorant bullshit.’’

‘‘On the whole, I’m not pleased with you, Garrett.’’

‘‘On the whole, I don’t give a damn, Relway. You need somebody to please you, get yourself a wife.’’

He produced a smile just thick enough to be noticed. ‘‘You were at a tailor shop yesterday afternoon. Prince Rupert was there, too. What was that about?’’

Thanks to a nugget found in Lurking Felhske’s head, him knowing didn’t surprise me. ‘‘You’d be in the know if the prince wanted you to know. Right?’’

Deal Relway didn’t bluster or threaten. He preferred either a direct approach, or something very subtle, when he thought intimidation was appropriate. Too, he liked knowing his footing was safe before he laid the intimidation on heavily.

I said, ‘‘I wish there was some way to get this through. We’re on the same side. But I don’t see that meaning I have to kowtow for us to get along.’’ I controlled a temptation to observe that his rightsist provocateur wasn’t the only asshole involved with the Unpublished Committee. I suffered another maturation spasm. ‘‘Gently put, it’s not all about Deal Relway and his demons. It’s a bigger world and in that world most people don’t give a rat’s ass about Deal Relway’s personal happiness. They might applaud what Deal Relway does but figure he ought to stick to rounding up bad guys. He should forget about sculpting the realm to feed his own obsessions.’’

What maturity spasm was that? I was taking a two-hand yank on the king’s beard. Some mad part of me must be totally confident that Rupert would bail me out the way he had Tick-Tack and Belle Chimes.

Rupert wanted his own necromancer, eh?

Relway said, ‘‘Did we know each other in a past life where we were deadly enemies?’’

‘‘What?’’

‘‘This friction. I came here with good intentions. Meant to talk a little, swap some information, try to find out what’s going on behind my back. But the second I see you my hackles go up. I want to smack you around till you develop a case of basic manners and civilized behavior. And I have the feeling that I’d shred your nerves if all I did was stand here in silence. I should’ve asked Block to come. He’s able to deal with you.’’

I had so much antagonism yearning to be free I could’ve yammered for ten minutes. The new and improved Garrett stepped up. ‘‘It’s the way you treat people.’’ I had to say something.

He had an answer right there, ready to go. He saved it.

I didn’t have to hear him say it to know he believed he gave people what they’d earned.

And there stood the nature of the chasm. I cherished the individual. He cherished society. He was willing to chunk anybody down a well if that would make this a better world for the survivors.

I caught movement from the corner of my eye. I spun to face nothing. Relway told me, ‘‘I’ll be watching.’’

‘‘I won’t let it bother me.’’

Saucerhead, over there trying to look small in the doorway, must have gotten a better look at what I thought I’d seen. He made a frightened noise and broke trail for Relway as the little terror left.

I muttered, ‘‘Head, that must be some brutal bad memory you have.’’ Hard to imagine a tough guy like him not being able to hang in there against what he knew was mostly inside his head.

It was like Dean felt me coming. He had supper ready. Singe had me a spot set up in the Dead Man’s room. The beer was perfect and plentiful. The downside was, Dean had made stuffed cabbage.

I’m not a cooked cabbage fan. A raw cabbage heart can be tasty.

John Stretch’s efforts today proved gratifying. We have fulfilled that part of our commitment. No bugs were found. A handful of live grubs and pupea were, too few to mean anything negative. No viable eggs were discovered.

‘‘None?’’

The dragon appears capable of protecting itself from the younger forms. John Stretch’s rat encountered their ghost counterparts doing the same work while ignoring the nutritionalopportunities.

‘‘Ghost rats wouldn’t need to eat a lot. You’re sure?’’

They had no odor.

Which would mean a lot to the rats.

Miss Penny made herself invaluable again today, too. She acquired a great deal more information on the previous awakenings.

‘‘The little witch seems able to charm her way in anywhere.’’ Sourly. That was my specialty. ‘‘She identify any eyewitnesses? Or find out what became of the dragons after they broke out?’’

No eyewitnesses. But a lot about the sort of places where dragon awakenings happen. And about what happens once they do.

I forced cabbage down. I wouldn’t taste it now. But, for sure, I’d be tasting it later.

Because of their restrictions on information, what we can learn about the Venageti incidents is limited. But Penny did determine that the Venageti sites resembled those in Oatman Hwy and Florissant. All four lay beside broad bends in wide, slow rivers where there are vast deposits of deep, rich silt laid down atop limestone. Each roll-up exposed rich metals deposits. Silver in the more recent Venageti incident. Tin that they’re still exploiting in Oatman Hwy, where they also had traces of silver, copper, and lead. In Florissant they got lead with traces of tin and silver. The first Venageti roll-up probablyincluded a lot of copper with some silver and gold.

I can make some remarkable connections sometimes. ‘‘Given that, maybe they caused the Great Roll-Up on purpose.’’

Old Bones closed in on himself. I ate cabbage and tried to smile when Dean came to see how I was doing.

Given the essential tropes of the dragon hoard story, that could well be the case.

Close your eyes. I need the use of your mind briefly. And I need it undistracted by outside visuals.

I didn’t get a chance to argue.

My eyes closed, like it or not. A frighteningly detailed three-dimensional picture of the world beneath the World coalesced inside my head. I don’t know how I managed to grasp it. It took all his minds to shape it. It was built of everything he had been able to dig out of John Stretch. Which was an amazing lot.