“We have no need to declare it,” Ilisidi snapped. “ Theydid. Sit down, grandson! We have a stiff neck this morning.”
“We shall be reasonably brief,” Tabini said, not sitting down, “since we are assured rumors of your ill health are exaggeratedc”
“Entirely.”
“So—having set in motion this interesting chain of events on the coast, will you now fly off and resume your affairs in the East? Or have you quite done with matters in this province?”
“Oh, we are not yet satisfied, grandson. Wedo not leavea situation to ferment for five decades!”
“You tried to push this establishment of the Edi lordship on my grandfather! Andmy father!”
“Their half-measures produced this situation!” Ilisidi snapped. “If they had listened to us in the first place, we would not havethe difficulties that now present themselves!”
“Ah, so you havetaken account of the difficultiesc which are, of course, the same local difficulties that presented themselves in my grandfather’s lifetime: a little smuggling, occasional piracy, and a thorough desire to see the aishidi’tat broken apart! The Edi program is not that different from the aims of the Marid!”
“Your grandfather was wrong then, he is stillwrong, and I am right about the Edi, grandson! And if you will use good sense we shall come out of this with the arrangement we should have had fifty-three years ago.”
“Ha!” Tabini gave a shove at the mantel. “This is no venue in which to debate the matter, honored grandmother. Say that ourregime owes responsibility to alldistricts of the aishidi’tat. Say that we are determined to maintain the balance of powers within the aishidi’tat, and as usual, youhave set a finger on the scales. You came here to see to my son, who has been reckless. But do you restrain his career? No! First you send him and the paidhi off to a meeting with Southern agents and a fool! Did you intend that? I think not! So do not pretend you are infallible!”
Ilisidi’s jaw set. “ Whoseadvisors made excuses for Baiji the fool when he failed to come to court this last session? Whoseadvisors, when we contacted your office regarding him beforewe thus dispatched the paidhi-aiji and my great-grandson, assured us there was nosecurity problem in Kajiminda?”
It was the first Bren had known that Ilisidi had phoned the capital before sending her great-grandson on that ill-starred visit. It made him feel not quite so bad about walking into the trap himselfc since the dowager’s accesses were highest level, and outside the capital, and his were not.
Tabini retorted: “Things on this coast were under surveillance!”
“Ha!”
“And quiet, until you came here! We cannot solve every problem in the aishidi’tat in one legislative session. We have important measures coming before the hasdrawad and the tashrid!”
“While the Farai camp in a sensitive area of the Bujavid and attempt to take the whole west coast! How would the paidhi’s assassinationaffect your session? One would consider that a certain embarrassment!”
“So now,” Tabini retorted, “after meeting with a hostile clan on your own, you present me a new province and an unsettled condition, not just in two estates, but on the entire coast! Gods less fortunate, woman! We do not want a war with the Marid at this juncture!”
“When better? What will provoke you, if not this situation? When are your enemies to judge the aiji willact?”
“When he pleases. Wheneverhe pleases, woman, and do not push me.” A small silence descended. One could not be sure of Ilisidi’s expression, but it was probably smug. Tabini’s was a scowl.
“So you singlehandedly removed Baiji’s titles,” Tabini said quietly.
“Do you wish to restore them?” Ilisidi asked sweetly. “You can, of course. He would not be the only fool in the legislature. He might even show up for court this year. In gratitude to you, of course.”
Tabini scowled back. “The fool’s distinguished uncle is on his way back from the space station.” A glance toward Bren. “Lord Geigi will land in Shejidan on the fourteenth and fly directly here.”
That was tomorrow. Bren had not heard. And where in hell were they going to put Geigi, with Geigi’s estate swarming with Tabini’s agents?
“Well,” Ilisidi said. “ Thatwill be a pleasant visit. Another reason for us to remain. We long to see Geigi.”
“Have you other adventures in mind for my son?” Tabini asked, sharp turn of subject; and not. “Or shall I take him back to his mother? His great-uncle has arrived, and is highly agitated. He is threatening to come here.”
God, Bren thought. Tatiseigi. The old man, central clan lord of the prickliest sort and by no means an asset in negotiating with the west coast Edi, had arrived in the capital. Lord Tatiseigi, who would have been beyond upset to discover his great-nephew was not in the capital to meet him, now had to be told his great-nephew had nearly been killed while in the paidhi’s care.
Upset? Oh, yes, Tatiseigi would be somewhat upset.
“You will simply have to keep Tatiseigi in the capital with you,” Ilisidi said to Tabini with a casually dismissive wave. “As for the boy, we have need of him.”
“Need of him!”
“It is useful,” Ilisidi said, “for him to attend these events.”
“It is usefulfor him to stay alive!” Tabini retorted.
“You have sent your two guards to watch over him,” Ilisidi retorted. “These two children!”
Everybody under thirty was a child in Ilisidi’s reckoning. The two children in question were twentyish and reputed, Bren’s own bodyguard informed him, to be quite good in the Guild, if notoriously arrogant.
“They may at least keep up with him.” Tabini struck his fist against the stonework. “If you take responsibility for my son, honored grandmother, you know what you are taking on.”
“None better,” Ilisidi said, and added: “At least weknow where he is.”
The aiji’s own guard had lost the boy. Repeatedly. It was a remark calculated to draw fire.
It drew, at least, a furious scowl from Tabini. And Tabini’s guard had to be wincing inside.
“Do not be overconfident, woman,” Tabini muttered ominously. “Nobody has been faultless in overseeing this inventive child.”
“The boy is remarkably prudent,” Ilisidi said, “where the danger is clear to him.”
“He is a year short of felicitous nine, and mostly at home in the corridors of a spaceship! A number of dangers in the world do not seem clear to him!”
“He has comprehended the ones in this locality,” Ilisidi said smoothly, “even the ones emanating from the Marid, and he will now employ his cleverness in good directions. It is usefulfor the heir to form associations in this uneasy district.”
“And to observe his great-grandmother meddling in affairs that do not remotely concern the East?”
“Affairs that doconcern the East,” Ilisidi shot back, “since we have in mind an excellent solution for Baiji the fooclass="underline" a marriage, heirs for the Maschi that Baiji will nothave a hand in rearing!”