“Thank you.” I stood as well.
“And keep on distrusting Cydarth. He’s tied up in it all somehow as well. I don’t know how, but…” He shrugged, then smiled. “It is a pleasure to see how well you’ve done after so much adversity has come to your family.”
“Friends help.”
“True friends help,” he replied.
I couldn’t disagree with that.
After I walked Veblynt to the main doors of the administration building and made my way back to my study, I thought about his last words. I’d always distrusted Cydarth, and Veblynt had always been right, if often veiled, in his assessments. Yet Geuffryt had tried to get me to attack Cydarth. Why? If…if Geuffryt happened to feel himself a “patriot” who was out to destroy the influence of the Collegium, was the idea to show that Cydarth had been spitefully wronged by Artois’s allies, such as the Collegium? That seemed rather frail. Yet…if Cydarth did happen to be getting Ferran funds through the Banque D’Ouestan, and Geuffryt had discovered that through Kearyk, was there any connection at all between Geuffryt and Vyktor? Or was Geuffryt trying to expose Cydarth as a Ferran plaque through me, because he couldn’t reveal how he’d found out about the transfers? Much as I disliked and distrusted Geuffryt, that appeared the most likely possibility…and that bothered me greatly.
59
For the remainder of Mardi, I did my best to concentrate on duties that would not lead to greater consternation with the Council and the Collegium. That meant, among other things, that I read a number of reports, said little at the midday meal in the dining hall, and ended up going home through an ice fog more than a little dissatisfied.
Exercise on Meredi morning helped…somewhat.
I was still stewing and trying to determine what else I could do when Beleart knocked on my study door at a quint past eighth glass and carried in a large envelope, marked in the stripe that indicated urgent private delivery. He slipped away, closing the door.
I opened the envelope. Inside were a single sheet of paper, printed on both sides, and a folded note card. The document was also signed and sealed at the bottom. I read through it twice. It was a loan and a secondary lien on Glendyl’s engine works, executed by Viktor D’Banque D’Ouestan on behalf of the bank for 25,000 golds, and it was dated almost a year earlier, the thirty-second of Fevier. The provision that interested me most was the one allowing unannounced inspections of the subject property by designated agents of the lender.
I opened the note card and read the two lines written there.
“Obtaining this last year was far too easy. Be most careful.”
Under the words was an ornate “V.”
The package raised yet another question. How had Veblynt obtained it? For what purpose? And why had he sent it? What role was he playing in the swirl of intrigue? The warning suggested he’d been “allowed” to take or steal the document, but he’d obtained it before I’d left the Civic Patrol, and that suggested a different agenda. What that was, I didn’t know, but I didn’t want to do anything with the document until I knew why.
Instead of straining to figure out items about which I hadn’t enough information, I decided to try to tie up another loose end and go find Maitre Jhulian. He was in his study and welcomed me in.
“What can I do for you, Rhenn?”
“You’re the expert on law and water rights, and I’m hoping that you can clarify exactly what’s going on between the eastern High Holders and the freeholders around Piedryn.”
“The law is clear. Nothing else is.” His smile was wintry. “Precedence in water rights is based on seniority. The oldest right rights come first, regardless of where they are exercised on the watercourse. This creates a practical problem when a junior rights-holder is located upstream of a senior rights-holder and there is insufficient flow to satisfy both rights. The historic manner of resolving the claim has been through the courts, but courts do not move so fast as water does. So the justicers in the area have taken to issuing preemptive allocations based on flow levels.”
“And since the senior rights-holders are mainly High Holders, the allocations are considered as favoring them?”
“Exactly. There’s one complication. In peak flow years, or at times when water can’t be used, some can be diverted under ancillary rights. Broussard bought a single hectare-foot of absolute water-rights on the Piedra River, at a point just before it flows into the Chela, and then applied for ancillary rights. He was using those ancillary rights to fill a storage lake, and in dry years, he was irrigating crops from it.”
“At a time when others couldn’t and crop prices were high, I presume.”
Jhulian nodded. “So Haebyn applied for ancillary rights, which he’d never needed before, and Broussard brought the matter up to the Justiciary, pointing out that his ancillary rights preceded Haebyn’s, and, since excess water couldn’t be diverted near the headwaters without prejudicing other rights-holders, Haebyn shouldn’t be allowed to divert until Broussard had exercised his rights. The justicer upheld Broussard, pointing out that the law was clear on precedence and that precedence applied to ancillary rights as well.”
“That was probably the reason why Broussard’s impoundment dam ‘failed,’ then?”
“That was effective for this year, but Broussard still holds the rights and will doubtless have the dam repaired before the spring run-off.”
“What’s the situation before the Council? Will Haebyn attempt to change the law?”
“He’s been working hard to persuade Councilors. It’s a very bad idea, especially now, because what it would do is send the message that the law is only immutable when it benefits High Holders and will be changed if its precedents can be used against them.”
When I left Maitre Jhulian, I understood the political and legal implications of the water issues. To me, the question was whether the Ferrans had gotten involved there as well. Had Broussard borrowed from Vyktor to rebuild the dam and impoundment? Or to build grain ware houses? Or had he steered other freeholders to Vyktor? Would I ever know?
I was beginning to doubt that I’d ever find out everything about anything, and I still had nothing truly linking Cydarth to Vyktor or the Banque D’Ouestan-except Geuffryt’s note written by Juniae D’Shendael. Perhaps I would pay a courtesy call on Subcommander Cydarth. It might provoke a reaction of some sort. Then, too, I realized, it might make me more of a target. Yet, I probably was anyway…or, more properly, I still was.
As I was about to step into my study, Kahlasa came down the corridor. “Rhenn…do you have a moment?”
“For you, always.” That was true, because Kahlasa never wasted my time or anyone else’s, and she was always effective. I held the door for her, then followed her in and closed it.
She set a folder on the desk and sat down.
So did I. “What is it?”
“Most of the explosions in Solidar over the past months have been on piers or near water. Your questions about the tugs and the barges got me thinking. I’ve made more inquiries, and the regionals have helped. I’d like you to look at the charts there and tell me what you think.”
It didn’t take long to figure out what she’d determined. In more than half the cases, two transport factors were involved. One was Cholan Freight and Transport, and the other was Mahrun Barge and Cartage. “Did you find out anything about these two?”
“There aren’t any records of any contracts older than four years. They always paid in advance, and their funds were always transferred from the Banque D’Ouestan through another banque. They also never defaulted, and always returned leased equipment in good condition. According to Eslyana, the regional in Solis, Cholan Freight rented a building in Solis. It was largely a ware house with one clerk. He sent all invoices and remittances to a Vyktor D’Cleris.”