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The city is divided into ten administrative units, each one overseen by a Prefect, who, among other things, oversees the Civil Guard in his area. Prefect Galwinius, in charge of Thamlin, is a large, tough individual who wastes no time in informing me I'm in serious trouble. #2 | | |
"We got no time for Private Investigators round here," he snarls at me, again. "Why did you kill Attilan?" #3 | | |
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"Then why were you there?" #5 | | |
"Just taking a short cut." #6 | | |
I'm flung back in my cell. It's stiflingly hot and stinks like a sewer. Out of curiosity I try my standard opening incantation on the door, but nothing happens. This is to be expected. All cell doors are regularly serviced by the Civil Guard Sorcerers using powerful locking spells. #7 | | |
Hours pass. I hear the Crier calling Sabap, the time for afternoon prayer. At this all faithful members of the True Church—in theory the whole population of the city—are supposed to get down on their knees and pray. Pray for the second time, as all true devotees will also have prayed at Sabam, the start of the day. I missed the morning prayers. Didn't wake up in time. I haven't done in years. I decide to pass on the afternoon session as well. #8 | | |
The door rattles and Captain Rallee strides in. #9 | | |
"Don't you know all citizens are legally obliged to pray during Sabap?" he says. #10 | | |
"I don't see you on your knees." #11 | | |
"I'm excepted for official business." #12 | | |
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"Coming down to order you to stop being such a fool and tell the Prefect what he wants to know." #14 | | |
It's some relief to see Captain Rallee, though not much. We've known each other a long time; we even fought in the same battalion during one of the Orc Wars. We were fairly friendly once, but since I left the Palace and set up on my own we've grown apart. He knows I'm not a fool but he doesn't owe me any favours. #15 | | |
"Look, Thraxas, we don't want to keep you here. We've got better things to do. No one thinks you personally stuck a knife in Attilan." #16 | | |
"Prefect Galwinius does." #17 | | |
Captain Rallee makes a face indicating he doesn't think too much of the Prefect. #18 | | |
"We ran a test on the knife. Our Sorcerer reports that your aura isn't on it. Of course some Sorcerers could remove their aura, but you aren't good enough to do that." #19 | | |
"Absolutely, Captain. I'm strictly small time." #20 | | |
"But he picked up your aura in the house. What were you doing there?" #21 | | |
I continue staring at the ceiling. #22 | | |
"You know how serious this is, Thraxas? Attilan was a Niojan diplomat. Their Ambassador is raising hell. The Palace is raising hell. The Consul himself's been down here asking questions." #23 | | |
I'm impressed. The Consul is Turai's highest official, answerable to no one except the King. Captain Rallee stares at me. I stare at him. He's weathered his middle age better than I have. With his long blond hair and broad shoulders he's still a handsome man. Probably still a hit with the ladies, in his smart black tunic and cloak. No fool, though. Sharp as an Elf's ear in comparison to some of the blunderers they've got in the Civil Guard. #24 | | |
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"I don't reckon you killed Attilan," says the Captain. "But I reckon you might have been involved in a little robbery." #27 | | |
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"Stupid? Maybe. Maybe not. I've never known you rob anyone before, but then again, I've never known you owe the Brotherhood five hundred gurans before." #29 | | |
He sees my look of surprise. #30 | | |
"You're in big trouble, Thraxas. Yubaxas will have your head if you don't pay. You need money badly, which naturally makes us suspicious when you're found in rich people's houses where you haven't been invited. So why don't you tell me what's going on?" #31 | | |
"I don't discuss my business with the Civil Guard. Or anyone else. If I did, I'd soon be out of clients." #32 | | |
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"In that case, Thraxas, you'd better reconsider your attitude to prayer. Unless you tell us what we want to know it's going to take divine intervention to get you out of this cell." #35 | | |
He departs. I remain. Languishing, I believe would be the correct term. #36 | | |
Later I bribe a jailer to let me have a news-sheet. #37 | | |
The Renowned and Truthful Chronicle of All the World's Events is one of the various rags published each day in Turai. It's neither renowned nor truthful, being given more to hinting at scandalous relationships between Senators' daughters and officers of the Palace Guard, but it's entertaining. It's a single sheet, poorly printed, and often contains nothing but gossip, but today it has the sensational news of Attilan's death, about which the Niojan Ambassador is indeed raising hell. He has protested to the King about this gross breach of diplomatic privilege. He has a point. You can't have your diplomatic privilege violated much more than being murdered. For our King, always keen to appease the Niojans, it's a tricky situation, and the Palace needs the murder cleared up quickly. Quickly enough to pin it on me, quite possibly. #38 | | |
Thinking it over in my cell, I can't make much sense of the affair. I've no idea who killed Attilan. Or why the Princess sent me to recover some love letters which turned out to be a spell for putting a dragon to sleep. Who needs to do that? There are no dragons around, apart from the King's pet in his zoo, and the new one from the Orcs. I muse about this. It's an interesting tale. This dragon, newly arrived at the King's zoo, was on loan. The Orcish nation of Gzak sent it to King Reeth-Akan last week to mate with the King's dragon as a token of friendship. There is, of course, no friendship whatsoever between Turai and Gzak, or any Human and Orcish nation, peace treaties notwithstanding. Why exactly the Orcs have sent it I'm not sure. I doubt very much that they are overly concerned that King Reeth-Akan's dragon might be feeling lonely. Maybe it's just to fool people into thinking they aren't planning another war as soon as they can get their armies up to strength after the last beating we gave them. Gzak is one of the richest Orcish nations and has its own gold and diamond mines. It won't take them too many years to build up their strength again. #39 | | |
Why, however, Princess Du-Akai might want to put this or any other dragon to sleep is a mystery. #40 | | |
I glance at the rest of the news-sheet. Usual round of Palace intrigue and scandal, and a story about a killer called Sarin the Merciless who's apparently carried out a string of murders and robberies in the southern nations, making her the most wanted criminal in the west. This makes me laugh. I tangled with Sarin the Merciless a long time ago. Ran her out of town, if the truth be known. Just another small-time crook. The news-sheets always like to build up these petty criminals into something they're not. I hope she comes back to Turai. I could do with some reward money. #41 | | |
Under this is a piece about Senator Lodius, the leader of the opposition, who is haranguing the Consul for the outbreak of lawlessness in Turai. Killings and robberies are on the rise, and there's still no sign of the Red Elvish Cloth, for which the Treasury will have to pay the Elves, even though we haven't got it. #42 | | |
What makes this cloth so rare and valuable is its ability to form a total shield against magic. It's the only substance in the world no sorcery can penetrate. Very handy in a world full of enemy Sorcerers. But it's presumably far away from the city by now. If it had been brought to Turai by the hijackers, our government Sorcerers would have traced it by now. In its finished state, the cloth is undetectable, but Elves aren't dumb. Any time they despatch some, they brand it with a temporary sorcerous mark only they can remove. Once the Cloth reaches our King, an Elvish Sorcerer removes it. So someone has spirited the stuff away from the city. It's well known the Orcs have been after Red Elvish Cloth for years. #43 | | |
If they've finally acquired some, it's bad news for us. #44 | | |
My musings are interrupted as the cell door bangs open and the jailer ushers in a young woman. She introduces herself as Jaisleti and flashes an official seal at me. #45 | | |
"I'm Princess Du-Akai's handmaiden." #46 | | |
"Whisper. You never know who's listening." #47 | | |
Jaisleti whispers, "The Princess is worried." #48 | | |
"It's okay. I hid the box before I was arrested. I've kept her name out of it." #49 | | |
Jaisleti looks relieved. "When can she get the letters back?" #50 | | |
