Presently, the door opened and Bajinok came in along with another Jhereg I hadn't seen before. I stood up before they could sit down.
"Good morning," I said. "I hope I didn't disturb you."
Bajinok scowled a little. "What?" he said.
"A man of few words," I told him. "I like that." Loiosh hissed, which he might have thought was agreement.
"What do you want?"
"I thought we might continue our discussion of the other day."
The Jhereg who was with Bajinok rolled his shoulders and scratched his stomach. Bajinok wiped his hands on his cloak. I checked the clasp of my cloak with one hand and brushed my hair back with the other. I didn't know about them, but all of my weapons were ready.
He said, "If you have something to say, say it."
"I want to know why Herth wanted that Easterner killed."
Bajinok said, "Drop dead, whiskers."
I gestured with my right hand as if I were about to say something important. I suppose in a way I was. The gesture produced a dagger that went straight up under the unknown's chin and into his head. He crumbled, fell against me and slid to the floor. By the time he hit, I had taken another dagger from my cloak and was holding the point of it directly in front of Bajinok's left eye.
I said, "The instant anyone appears in this room, or opens the door, or you even look like you're in psionic communication with someone, I'm going to kill you."
He said, "Okay."
"I thought you might want to tell me a few things about Herth and why he wanted that Easterner killed."
Without moving his head, he glanced down at the corpse. Then he looked back up the blade of the dagger. "You know," he said, "I just might at that."
"Good," I said cheerfully.
"Mind if I sit down?"
"No. Go ahead."
He did, and I moved behind him and held my blade against the back of his neck. He said, "This is going to get you killed, you know."
"We all have to die sometime. And we Easterners don't live that long anyway. Of course, that's a good reason not to rush things, I suppose. Which brings us back to Franz." I increased the pressure against the back of his neck. I felt him flinch. I stayed alert for any attempt to teleport out. I could kill him before he was gone if I was quick.
He said, "Yes. Franz. He was a member of some kind of group—"
"I know about it."
"Okay. Then there isn't much more I can tell you."
I pressed the knife against his neck again. "Try. Were you told to kill him in particular, or just some member of the group?"
"I was given his name."
"Have you been keeping tabs on what these people have been doing?"
"Herthhas."
"I know that, idiot. I mean, are you the one who's been watching them?"
"No."
"Who is?"
"A fellow named Nath."
"Where can I find him?"
"Are you going to kill me?"
"Not if you keep talking."
"He lives above a carpetmaker way to the west, just north of the Easterners' area. Number four Shade Tree Street."
I said, "Okay. Do you plan to tell Herth about this talk?"
"Yes."
"You'll have to tell him what you told me."
"He's very understanding that way."
"In that case, I need a good reason for leaving you alive."
"You said you would."
"Yes, that is a good reason. I need another one."
"You're a dead man, you know."
"I know."
"A dishonest dead man."
"I'm just in a bad mood. I'm usually a very honest dead man. Ask anyone."
"Okay. I'll keep my mouth shut for an hour."
"Would you keep your word to someone who lied to you?"
He considered that for a moment, then said, "Yes."
"Berth must be a very understanding fellow."
"Yes. Except when his people are killed. He doesn't understand that at all."
I said, "Okay. You can leave."
He stood up without another word and walked out. I replaced my dagger, left the one in the body and walked back out into the main room. The host didn't give me a second glance. I made it onto the street and headed back toward my office. I could feel Loiosh's tension as he strained to look into every corner of every alley we passed.
"You shouldn't have killed that guy, boss."
"If I hadn't, Bajinok wouldn't have taken me seriously. And I'm not certain I could have controlled two of them."
"Herth will be after your head now."
"Yes…"
"You can't help Cawti if you're dead."
"I know."
"Then why—"
"Shut up."
Even I didn't think that was much of an answer.
…klava stain from upper left…
I teleported to a place I knew in Nath's neighborhood, so I wouldn't have to waste any of Bajinok's hour. Then I wasted a good fifteen minutes white my stomach recovered from the teleport.
Shade Tree Street must have been an old name. There were a few stumps in the ground to the sides, and the hotels and houses were set back quite a ways from the crude stonework curbing on either edge of the street itself, which was as wide as Lower Kieron. The width indicated that the area had once had a lot of shops and markets, and that later it had been one of the better sections of town. That was probably before the Interregnum, however. Now it was a little on the low side.
Number four was right in the middle, between number fifteen and number six. It was of brown stonework, two stories tall, with two flats in it. The one on the bottom had a chreotha crudely drawn on the door. I went up the wooden steps and they didn't creak at all. I was impressed.
The door at the top had a stylized jhereg on it, etched on a metal plate above the symbol for Baron. "Was I quiet enough, Loiosh?"
"I think so, boss."
"Okay."
I checked the spells on the door, then checked them a second time. I'm a lot sloppier when I'm not actually about to kill someone, but there's no reason to be too sloppy. The door held no surprises. The wood itself was thin enough that I could handle it. I let Spellbreaker fall into my left hand, took a couple of careful breaths, then smacked the door with Spellbreaker and, at the same time, kicked with my right leg. The door flew open and I stepped into the room.
He was alone. That meant it was likely that Bajinok had actually kept his word. He was sitting on a low couch, reading the same tabloid that Cawti had been reading. I kicked the door shut behind me and crossed to him in three steps, drawing my rapier as I did so. He stood up and stared at me, wide-eyed. He made no effort to reach for a weapon. It was possible he wasn't a fighter, but it would be stupid to count on it. I held the point of my weapon up to his left eye and said, "Good afternoon. You must be Nath."
He stared at me, his eyes wide, holding his breath.
I said, "Well?"
He nodded.
I gave him the same speech I'd given Bajinok about not leaving or trying to reach help. He seemed to find it convincing. I said, "Let's sit down and chat."
He nodded again. He was either very frightened or a good actor. I said, "An Easterner named Franz was killed a few days ago."
He nodded.
I said, "Herth had it done."
He nodded again.
I said, "You pointed him out to Herth."
His eyes widened and he half-shook his head.
I said, "Yes. Why?"
"I didn't—"
"I don't care if you suggested the killing or not. I want to know what it was about Franz that you told Herth. Tell me quickly, without thinking about it. If I get the idea that you're lying, I'll kill you."
His mouth worked for a bit, and his voice, when he spoke, was a squeak. "I don't know. I just—" he stopped long enough to clear his throat. "I just told him about them. All of them. I said what they were doing."
"Herth wanted to know names?"