"I thought a reeve's work to rule fairly and uncover abuses and bring criminals to justice at the assizes was the matter at hand."
"You are so damned naive. You know what they call you?"
Joss glanced at Peddo, but the young reeve shrugged to show he hadn't a clue what the commander was going on about.
"The incorruptible," she said with disgust.
"I take that as a compliment."
"I suppose it is one given your predilection," she said.
The Snake snickered. He was enjoying the free show.
"What I do when I am off duty has nothing to do with-"
She lifted a hand. He shut his mouth.
"I'm stripping you of your position as legate."
"Stripping me-!"
She lifted her baton; she knew how to menace with it, although he wasn't actually within reach. "I have already sent a messenger to Copper Hall asking Marshal Masar to appoint a new legate to Clan Hall. One who will replace you."
He cursed under his breath. Had the wall been close enough, he would have slammed his fist through it-
"Never heard of a legate being stripped of his position like that before," said the Snake. "That must hurt."
– Or into the Snake's face for the second time that day. But, thank the gods, the distance between them saved him from that folly. "This is Master Tanesh's doing, isn't it? You're doing this to placate that bullying, lying, greed-ridden bastard."
"No," continued the commander in the manner of the flood tide, unstoppable, "it's your own doing. You've forgotten that although the law is carved in stone, people are not. People are water, or earth, or fire, or air. They are not fixed and immutable. There must be room to maneuver, especially in an emergency. And this is an emergency."
"But it's just that kind of thinking that's caused us to lose so much ground-"
She thwacked her baton against her desk, cutting him off. "Also, bluntly: You drink too much. You're becoming unreliable."
He indicated the Snake, whose stare challenged him. "Reeves are often unreliable. In many different ways."
The Snake flicked up a little finger. Peddo, seeing the rude gesture, winced.
The commander either ignored the exchange or did not notice it. "Neither I nor the six marshals can unmake a reeve. However, I can ask for a legate to be withdrawn and replaced. As I have done. Because legates cannot be unreliable. Now. Do you want to know why I called you in today?"
"This hasn't been enough?"
"I'm hoping for much worse," muttered the Snake.
"Volias," said the commander in a tone so genial it seemed threatening. "Do not tempt me to start in on you and your manifold faults."
Peddo sucked in a breath, as if in pain. Then, amazingly, he laughed, and somehow his laughter released a bit of the tension in the chamber. Joss wiped his brow, chuckling. Even the Snake cracked a smile.
The commander nodded. "I have a mission of particular importance. It is customary for the merchants' guild to hold its grand conclave in Toskala at the advent of every Year of the Fox. The fox being a cunning animal beloved of those who take to the merchant's craft. And so the merchants and folk associated with the guild convened at the Guild Hall at the end of this last ibex year. Their meeting is now over. The first topic among them, I am reliably informed, was the safety of the roads. Roads are their lifeblood. Without safe passage, a merchant cannot arrange for the transfer of goods."
Joss's attention began to wander during this schoolroom speech. He noted how sparsely furnished the chamber was. Only last week a low couch had stood in the far corner, but now that space was empty except for a thin mat rolled up and tied with red string. The cupboard with its multitude of cubbyholes and small drawers remained, on the other side, but the fine glazed vase, normally filled with flowers and set atop the cupboard to give the room some color, was missing. A large gold-plated hairpin weighed down papers on the desk. The commander had served the Lantern in her youth; her ability to write and read was one of the reasons she had been elevated to the post. Her pen-and-ink case, lid firmly closed, sat by her right hand. A painted chest sat on the matting behind her, so she need only turn to get into it. An enameled tray had been shoved back, to the left; it held an orangeware ceramic pot suitable for brewing khaif, as well as two thin wooden drinking bowls small enough to cup in the hands. No doubt Master Tanesh had been offered the hospitality of the hall. Where had the couch and vase gone?
"According to the delegation who met with me this morning, the guild council in association with the guild of carters and transport compiled a list of roads along which caravans and wagons have been attacked in the last three years. These are attacks, mind you, in which both the attack and its aftermath were at no time witnessed by or in contact with reeves. The list is extensive, the danger widespread, and moving steadily into the southern regions of the Hundred. More importantly, of these attacks fewer than half were then reported to the local reeve halls, and of those reports, only a hand's count were traced to their origin and the criminals brought to the assizes to face trial. The guild, need I say, is not pleased with the reeves. They feel we are not doing our duty. They want reeves assigned to caravans as permanent escorts."
The Snake grunted. "Begging your pardon, Commander, but we're spread so thin patrolling the hinterlands and making sweeps along the roads and tracks that we can't assign reeves to act as guards for the merchants. Aren't the local militias responsible for the safety of the roads within five mey of every town? Can't the guild hire guards, like they do in the south when they travel over the pass into the empire? Or are they just too cheap for that?"
"As for hiring guards, I cannot answer for their quality, cost, or availability. But it seems the worst of the raids are carried out precisely to avoid the local militia, either by means of their speed or via misdirection."
"Ospreys," said Peddo. "That's what they call such outlaws in the south. Dive, and snatch."
Joss shook his head, raising a hand to ask for clarification. "Are you saying that the merchants suspect that some of these raids are carried out in coordination with local militia?"
She shrugged. "That remains to be seen. As a gesture of good faith-for I assure you that we must retain the good faith of the guilds or else the halls will not be able to provision and maintain themselves-I have agreed to assign you as an escort for those merchants departing the conclave who are traveling the main routes out of Toskala."
The Snake chortled. "Aui! That's a pup's chore, first-year reeve duty, escort along the roads. You've had your wing feathers plucked, haven't you?"
"You, and you, and you. All three of you on this escort duty." The commander did smile now, and the Snake choked on his laughter. Her smile was not a pleasant thing, after all. The Snake began to splutter a protest, but the commander's gaze cut him off. He crossed his arms over his chest and scowled.
Joss's head was pounding so badly that he could not taste even a grain of pleasure from the Snake's discomfort.
"How does it happen," asked Peddo mildly, "that even the three of us can be spared just now? Given that we've lost fifteen reeves and four eagles to ambush and fighting in the last two years alone. Not counting the twelve reeves who asked to be transferred out of Clan Hall, and the twenty or thirty who have been recalled to their home clans by their marshals. Or all those lost in all the halls since it became clear many years ago that someone was targeting reeves and their eagles specifically. If you don't mind my asking, Commander?"
Even Peddo was taken aback by the intensity of her cold, frightening smile.