Samma might be a more tractable trouble. I owed her goodwill, for what I’d done to her over the matter of the Eyes of the Hills. Turning that thought over, I said, “We know where Mother Vajpai is.”
“Was,” Mother Argai corrected me.
“Was,” I admitted grudgingly. “Where is Samma, though?”
“Now you want to return for her?” Something hard and shrewd burned in her eyes.
“I would have gone for her before,” I said, exasperated. “We were pressed for time.”
“You will hardly get in there again.”
“I promise you they have sewers.” Though in truth I still thought that a most unlikely avenue.
That gave her a moment’s pause. Then: “Your eagerness to roll in shit is commendable. You might have the beginnings of a plan. But I doubt even your ability to make this happen.”
“Where is she?” I kept my voice mild. There was no threat I could bring against Mother Argai, nor cajoling.
“Locked in an attic of the house, I believe.” Another long stare. “Not convenient to the sewers,” she added helpfully.
If they’d put Samma in the basement, we would have a chance. Fighting up three floors against an enemy already disturbed was another question entirely. And there was no way over the roofs into the Velviere District, as I knew far too well.
“Fine,” I said angrily. “It does not matter where she is. We’ll get her out when we rescue Mother Vajpai.”
“You are the leader.” Mother Argai’s tone was simple, final.
And she had the right of it. Under Blade discipline, on a run specifically, the leader was the sole authority. Every handle belonged to one woman and one woman only. If this wasn’t a Blade run-albeit overextended, badly understrength, beleaguered and troubled-then I didn’t know what was.
The discipline applied to me as well. I was responsible. Solve what could be solved, run from what could not be fought, and always clean up the mess afterward.
Besides, most things could be fought.
“We need to find you a robe or some such,” I said as I reached a decision. “I want you to join the men I have outside the gates of the embassy. They’re not likely to be reliable, especially if Surali goes on a rampage. But even the weather will be driving them away before long.”
Mother Argai snorted with amusement. “You are setting a rabble on her and the Prince of the City?”
“I had nothing else to put there. My stones on this board are poor.”
“You play Prince-and-Assassin without either your warriors or your walls.”
It was my turn to laugh. That game relied on two basic strategies-fast-moving attacks, or stolid defense. The handicap she described would be like baking without an oven or a pan. “Indeed. I am asking you to be a wall for me. There are other worries, other tasks, but you do not have enough Petraean to perform them. And I don’t want to be having you drag some stranded sailor around for a translator.”
“I will do as you have bade me.” She rose from her crouch.
Touching her arm, I stopped Mother Argai for a moment. “You are needed. Badly. This is where I need you, until I find you again. You know the Tavernkeep’s place?”
“I have heard of it.”
“If you must leave the area of the embassy, meet me at the tavern. We will find our way from there as required. Otherwise I will return to you.”
“And Samma.” There was that grim set in her eyes.
“And Samma. And Mother Vajpai.” My feet ached in sympathetic pain at the mere mention of her name. “And Corinthia Anastasia.” Most of all.
Mother Argai grabbed my wrist with her hand, then leaned low for a kiss. It was long and slow, with probing tongues, as we had done when we had been lovers back in the Temple of the Silver Lily. After that she was up and gone without asking further directions.
She’d come here from the embassy. She’d find her way back. Still, I wondered a moment how she’d fare among the streets of Copper Downs. I wondered a moment more how the streets would fare with her loose upon them.
I was no longer the single most dangerous human in this city. Not with both Mother Argai and Mother Vajpai around.
Even considering all that troubled me, the thought made me smile.
Climbing down, I went to make some purchases. I found my funds once more depleted except for a pair of corroded copper taels. That would not do. It was a serious problem, in fact.
Walking slowly, I considered my options. This was the last of the money I’d been given by Mr. Nast and his clerks. A private subscription, so to speak. In the past here in Copper Downs, what little I had needed had flowed from the Dancing Mistress, and thus ultimately from Federo when his writ had still run in the city. Jeschonek was unlikely to help me further at this point. That meant additional funds from the Interim Council were out of the question.
Chowdry might give me money, if I asked, but already he was chronically short of resources with his construction project and the general busyness of running a temple. And besides, I would be forced to listen to a long lecture about this thing or that if I approached him so.
I didn’t feel up to a simple mugging. It wasn’t my style. Besides, too much could go wrong. Housebreaking was more in it for me if I needed money in a hurry. With that thought in mind, I stole a robe from the rack just inside a tavern entrance and made off before anyone realized what I’d done. My borrowed clothing cloaked, and my body rather more comfortably warmed, I turned my feet toward the Velviere District. I didn’t want to visit the Selistani embassy, or even approach too near it, but if I was to steal outright from someone, I’d much rather it be someone who could afford the loss.
I toyed with being ashamed of my decision. My life was too busy for such emotions just then. Someday soon I’d concern myself with turning an honest tael, but this didn’t seem to be the time to begin.
Ghosting through the Velviere District, I soon realized how many optimists believed themselves protected by an eight-foot wall. Mindful of my earlier experiences breaking into the Selistani embassy, once I’d selected a likely residence I was very careful going over the top of my target.
Within, it was the work of twenty minutes to slip into the house, find the bedrooms, and liberate a modest amount of jewelry. On further deliberation, I took some silk smallclothes from the rooms of the lady of the house, and also a cut rose from a crystal vase on her dressing stand. That would save me the trouble of shopping for what I planned next.
On the way out I was forced to kick a butler, hard. I leaned over and whispered that the household should apply to Councilman Jeschonek for reparations. After that I strode through the garden and passed over the wall once more.
The hit had almost been easy. The effort and thrill put a bounce into my step. My spoils safely tucked away, I patted the baby bulging ever more and hummed a happy tune until I’d reached the Temple Quarter.
Sometimes, it was good just to be at work.
Marya’s ruined temple was even more forlorn under the night’s slush and ice. Older snow had lingered here as well, now glazed in glittering, frigid armor. Ragged offerings of food and children’s clothing had been scattered by weather, dogs, and scavengers. The place had already taken on the air of a midden.
I climbed over the masonry chunk that had hosted me before and leaned against it. From one of my robe’s inner pockets I removed some of the jewels, along with the flower and the silken smallclothes, and laid them out before me. Desire was a woman’s goddess. Her greatest power lay within Her name. I had before me the conventional trappings of desire-wealth, beauty, sex.