I stood up, bowed low, and turned to leave. He didn’t rise to see me out, which I thought was rude, but understandable, under the circumstances. Just before my hand touched the doorknob, I stopped, and turned around. “Unless—”
“Unless what?” he asked, suspiciously.
“Well,” I lied, “it just occurred to me that there may be something you could help me out with.”
He stared at me, long and hard, trying to guess what kind of game I was playing. I kept my face expressionless. If I’d wanted him to know the rules, I’d have written them out.
“And what is that?” he asked.
“I’m looking for a little information that involves the history of your House. I could find out myself, I suppose, but it would take a little work that I don’t feel like doing. It is possible, I’m sure, for you to find out. In fact, you might even know already. If you could help me, I’d appreciate it.”
He was still suspicious, but he was beginning to sound eager, too. “And what form,” he asked, “will this ‘appreciation’ take?”
I pretended to think it over. “I think I could arrange for a two-month extension for you. In fact, I’d even go so far as to freeze the interest—if you can find this information for me quickly enough.”
He chewed on his lower lip for a while, thinking it over, but I knew I had him. This was too good a chance for him to pass up. I’d planned it that way.
“What is it you want to know?” he said at last.
I reached into an inner pocket of my cloak and removed the small crystal I’d gotten back from Daymar. I concentrated on it, and Mellar’s face appeared. I showed it to him.
“This person,” I said. “Do you know him, or could you find out who he is, what connection he has with the House of the Dzur, or who his parents were? Anything you can find out would be helpful. We know that he has some connection with your House. You can see it in his face, if you look closely.”
Keleth’s face went white as soon as he saw Mellar. I was surprised by the reaction. Keleth knew him. His lips became a thin line and he turned away.
“Who is he?” I asked.
“I’m afraid,” said Keleth, “that I can’t help you.”
The question at that point wasn’t “Should I press?” or even, “How much should I press?” It was, rather, “How should I press?” I decided to continue the game I’d started.
I shrugged and put the crystal away. “I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “As you wish. I’ve no doubt that you have good reasons for not wishing to share your information. Still, it is a shame that your good name must be befouled.” I turned away again.
“Wait, I—”
I turned back to him. I was beginning to get dizzy. He seemed to be struggling with himself. I stopped worrying; I could see which side would win.
His face was a mask of twisted rage, as he said, “Damn you, Jhereg! You can’t do this to me!”
There was, of course, nothing to say to this blatantly incorrect statement of our positions. I waited patiently.
He sank back into his chair, and covered his face with his hands. “His name,” he said at last, “is Leareth. I don’t know where he came from, or who his parents are. He appeared twelve years ago and joined our House.”
“Joined your House? How can one join the House of the Dzur?” That was startling. I’d thought only the Jhereg allowed one to buy a title.
Lord Keleth looked at me as if he were about to snarl. I suddenly recalled Aliera’s contention that the Dzurlords were descended, in part, from actual dzur. I could believe it.
“To join the House of the Dzur,” he explained in the most vicious monotone I’ve ever heard, “you must defeat, in equal combat, seventeen champions chosen by the House.” His eyes suddenly turned bleak. “I was the fourteenth. He is the only man I can remember hearing of who has succeeded since the Interregnum.”
I shrugged. “So, he became a Dzurlord. I don’t see what is so secret about that.”
“We later learned,” said Keleth, “something of his origins. He was a cross-breed. A mongrel.”
“Well, yes,” I said slowly, “I can see where that could be a touch annoying, but—”
“And then,” he interrupted, “after he’d only been a Dzur for two years, he just gave up all his titles and joined House Jhereg. Can’t you see what that means? He made fools of us! A mongrel can defeat the best the House of the Dzur has, and then chooses to throw it all away—” He stopped and shrugged.
I thought it over. This Leareth must be one hell of a swordsman.
“It’s funny,” I said, “that I’ve never heard of this incident. I’ve been investigating this fellow pretty thoroughly.”
“It was kept secret by the House,” said Keleth. “Leareth promised us that he’d have the whole Empire told of the story if he was killed or if any Dzur attempted to harm him. We’d never be able to live it down.”
I felt a sudden desire to laugh out loud, but I controlled it for health reasons. I was starting to like this guy Mellar, or Leareth, or whatever. I mean, for the past twelve years, he’d had the entire House of Heroes by the balls. The two most important things to the House of the Dzur, as to an individual Dzurlord, are honor and reputation. And this Mellar had managed to play one off against the other.
“What happens if someone else kills him?” I asked.
“We have to hope it looks like an accident,” he said.
I shook my head, and stood up. “Okay, thanks. You’ve given me what I needed. You can forget about paying the loan for two months, and the interest. I’ll handle the details. And if you ever need my help for something, just let me know. I’m in your debt.”
He nodded, still downcast.
I left him and picked up my blade from the servant.
I walked out of the castle, thinking. Mellar was not going to be easy. He had outfought the best warriors in the House of the Dzur, outmaneuvered the best brains in House Jhereg, and caught the House of the Dragon out on a point of honor.
I shook my head sadly. No, this wasn’t going to be easy. And then something else hit me. If I did succeed in this, I was going to make a lot of Dzurlords mighty unhappy. If they ever found out who had killed him, they wouldn’t wait for evidence, as the Empire would. This didn’t exactly make my day, either.
Loiosh gave me an Imperial chewing out for not having brought him along, most of which I ignored. Kragar filled me in on what he’d learned: nothing.
“I found a few servants who used to work in the Dragon records,” he said. “They didn’t know anything.”
“What about some that still do?” I asked.
“They wouldn’t talk.”
“Hmmmm. Too bad.”
“Yeah. I put my Dragon outfit on and found a Lady of the House who was willing to do some looking for me, though.”
“But you didn’t get anything there, either?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that, exactly.”
“Oh? Oh.”
“How about you?”
I took great relish in delivering the information I’d gotten, since it was rare that I was able to one-up him on a point like this.
He dutifully noted everything, then said, “You know, Vlad, no one wakes up one morning and discovers that he is good enough to fight his way into the Dzur. He must have worked on that for quite a while.”
“That makes sense,” I said.
“Okay, that will give me something to work with. I’ll start checking it through from that angle.”
“Do you think it’ll help?”
“Who can say? If he was good enough to get into the Dzur, he’s got to have been trained somewhere. I’ll see what I can find.”
“Okay,” I said. “And there’s something else that bothers me, by the way.”
“Yes?”
“Why?”
Kragar was silent for a moment, then he said, “There are two possibilities I can think of. First, he could have wanted to become part of the House because he felt it his right, and then discovered that it didn’t help—that he was treated the same after as before, or that he didn’t like it.”