“Thanks.”
“It’s not bad.”
“So, the investigation is rigged after all?”
“Of course not. It doesn’t have to be rigged. It just needs to be run by someone with a good sense of justice. But not too good.”
“All right.”
“When it’s over, I’ll ask Aliera to be Warlord again. That way, she can have the pleasure of refusing. I owe her that much, at least.”
The cheese really was good.
“I can’t do anything for you, you know.”
“Your Majesty?”
“The Jhereg. The Left Hand. They’re going to be after you, and after your wife. I can’t help you.”
I swallowed and nodded.
“I’ve done what I can,” she went on. “I’ve made some threats, but I can’t carry them out. They probably know that.”
“Thanks, though.”
She nodded. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. If Cawti’s in danger, I can’t really leave town.”
“I’m sure she finds that very endearing.”
“As much as you would,” I said.
“Or Aliera.”
“Or Aliera.”
“It isn’t that they’re ungrateful.”
“I know. It’s just that no one wants to be the one being rescued, we all want to do the rescuing.”
She nodded. “And this job is all about making everyone else do the rescuing. Which is why you’re here right now.”
“You want me to rescue someone?”
“No. I just know that Aliera can’t thank you, and if she could, you couldn’t hear it. So I’m saying it. Thank you.”
“I’ll have some more cheese.”
“Please do. It’s where your taxes go.”
“I’ve never actually paid much in the way of taxes.”
“Then you should enjoy it even more.”
“And the Teckla in Tirma are still dead.”
“Yes, they are. Do you care?”
“No. Do you?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“The Empire has compensated the families, of course.”
“Good work. We used to do that sort of thing in the Jhereg.”
“How’d it work out?”
“Not bad, but people trust the Jhereg, so we had an advantage.”
She poured some white wine out of a tall, elegant bottle into a simple blue ceramic cup. She passed the cup to me, and I drank, then passed it back.
“I’ll let the Imperial Advocate know to hurry up the case, so you can get out of town fast,” she said.
“I just said—”
“I know what you said. Don’t argue with your Empress.”
“Yes, Majesty.”
“That’s better.”
I leave town for a few years, and when I come back, everyone I know starts drinking to the point of semi-incoherency. Was it that everything was too boring when I was gone? I somehow doubted that. On reflection, I decided it was a good idea not to ask Her Majesty if she was drunk. I put the plan into action at once.
We passed the cup back and forth a couple of times, and she refilled it. “You can’t do anything to protect Cawti?” I said.
“Norathar has promised to watch out for her, I can’t do better than that.”
“All right.”
“You know the difference between a decadent Phoenix and a reborn Phoenix, Vlad?”
“Is this about to be a joke?”
“No. Or maybe yes, but no.”
“Go ahead.”
“A reborn Phoenix knows to get out before the bad decisions start, that’s all.” I nodded. She said, “I’ve spent much of the last few days consulting the Orb, looking at memories. As far as I can tell, that’s the only difference. Once you start making bad decisions, one things leads to another, and then there are more dead Teckla that you don’t care about.”
“Do you think you made bad decisions?”
“No.”
I nodded. “Good, then. The idea of the Empress making bad decisions worries me. What about the Jhereg, the Left Hand, and the Orca? Are they going to get away with it?”
“No, I think you stopped them.”
“Me?”
“I should give you another Imperial title, but what would you do with it?”
“Yes, and how would you explain it?”
“Good point. There’s still some cheese left.”
“Zerika, are you planning to abdicate?”
“That isn’t the proper word. I’m thinking it may be time for the Cycle to turn.”
“I doubt it.”
“Why?”
“It would look bad.”
“Do you think I care?”
“You should. The Empire is all about appearances.”
She was quiet for a long time after that, then she seemed to sigh. If I had just talked the Empress out of stepping down, then I had just added to my tally on doing good for the world, and subtracted from my tally of helping friends. How would the Lords of Judgment weigh these things? I’d probably never know.
I decided that, whatever the Empress decided to do, my words made no difference. It was easier thinking that.
I cleared my throat. “The fact is, I’m safe enough if I stay at the inn—”
“As if you will.”
“—but that says nothing about Cawti. Can Norathar protect her and the boy?”
“I hope so. Norathar wants to protect her just as much as she wants to not be protected. And you may recall, she isn’t exactly helpless.”
“I know.” I sighed. “The more I do what I have to, the more barriers I put between me and everyone I care about.”
She nodded. “And now you know the other reason I asked you here. Welcome to my world. It’s better with company. I’m going to ask Laszló to keep an eye on her, too, but I’d rather you didn’t mention that to her.”
“All right. And thank you. Who is Laszló?”
“An Easterner. A witch. He’s very good at what he does.” A ghost of a smile crept over her features and I didn’t press the issue.
“I’ll look forward to meeting him,” I said.
She nodded. “Are you planning to say farewell to Norathar as you leave the Palace?”
Actually, I hadn’t thought about it at all, but I nodded.
“Don’t,” she said.
Right. Add her to the list. “All right.”
A little later she said, “The cheese is gone.”
I nodded, rose, bowed, took five steps backward, turned, and left her alone.
Iorich
EPILOGUE
It was no surprise to anyone that, when the investigation concluded, everyone was cleared of any wrongdoing, except maybe the peasants, who were convicted of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was no surprise to anyone that there were riots in South Adrilankha in response. It was no surprise to anyone that there was a lot of blood involved in suppressing them. The only surprise was that Aliera agreed to become Warlord again a week or two later, but I think that was as a favor to Norathar.
Aliera has a strong sense of obligation.
Perisil moved out of his basement office and returned to a private office in the City itself, where he’s already doing much better than his first attempt. Reputation matters almost as much to an advocate as to an assassin or an Empress.