Part 45 (1/2)

'Please, Caalador,' Stragen said, 'spare me the folksy ebie. Get to the point.'

''Taint really natch'ral, Stragen.'

'Do you mind?'

Talen, Stragen and Caalador were meeting in a cell near the waterfront. It was mid-morning, and the local thieves were beginning to stir.

'As you've already discovered, the brotherhood here in Matherion's afflicted with a caste system,' Caalador continued. 'The thieves' guild doesn't talk to the swindlers, and the beggars guild doesn't talk to the wh.o.r.es-except in the line of business, of course-and the murderer's guild is totally outcast.'

'Now that there's realnt on-natch-ral,' Talen observed.

'Don't do that, Talen,' Stragen told him. 'One of you is bad enough. I couldn't bear two. Why are the murderers so despised?'

'Because they violate one of the basic precepts of Tamul culture,' Caalador shrugged. 'They're paid a.s.sa.s.sins actually, and they don't bow and sc.r.a.pe to their victims before they cut their throats. The concept of courtesy overwhelms Tamuls. They don't really object to the notion of someone murdering n.o.blemen or hire. It's the rudeness of it all that upsets them.' Caalador shook his head. 'That's one of the reasons so many Tamul thieves get caught and beheaded. It's considered impolite to run away.'

'Unbelievable,' Talen murmured. 'It's worse than we thought, Stragen. If these people don't talk to each other, we'll never get any information out of them.'

'I think I warned you not to expect too much here in Matherion, my friends,' Caalador reminded them.

'Are the rest of the guilds afraid of the murderers?' Stragen asked.

'Oh, yes,' Caalador replied.

'We'll start from there then. What's the general feeling about the emperor?'

'Awe, generally, and a level of adoration that hovers right on the verge of outright wors.h.i.+p.'

'Good. Get in touch with the murderers' guild. When Talen brings you the word, have the cutthroats round up the heads of the other guilds and bring them to the palace.'

'What are we a-fixin' t' do here, m' friend?'

'I'll speak with the emperor and see if I can persuade him to make a speech to our brothers,' Stragen shrugged.

'Have you lost your mind?'

'Of course not. Tamuls are completely controlled by custom, and one of those customs is that the emperor can suspend customs.'

'Were you able to follow that?' Caalador asked Talen. 'I think he lost me on that sharp turn right there at the end.'

'Let's see if I've got this straight,' Caalador said to the blond Thalesian. 'You're going to violate every known propriety of the criminal culture here in Matherion by having the murderers kidnap the leaders of the other guilds.'

'Yes,' Stragen admitted.

'Then you're going to have them all taken to the palace compound, where they're absolutely forbidden to go.'

'Yes.'

'Then you're going to ask the emperor to make a speech to a group of people whose very existence he's not even supposed to know about.'

'That's more or less what I had in mind.'

'And the emperor's going to command them to suspend aeons-old custom and tradition and start cooperating with each other?'

'Is there some problem with that?'

'No, not really. I just wanted to be sure I had it all down straight in my mind, that's all.'

'See to it, would you, old boy?' Stragen asked. 'I'd probably better go talk with the emperor.'

Sephrenia sighed.. 'You're being childish, you know,' she said.

Salla's eyes bulged. 'How dare you?' he almost screamed. The Styric elder's face had gone white.

'You forget yourself, Elder Salla,' Zalasta told the outraged man. 'Councillor Sephrenia speaks for the Thousand. Will you defy them? And the G.o.ds they represent?'

'The Thousand are misguided!' Salla bl.u.s.tered. 'There can never be an accommodation between Styric.u.m and the pig-eaters!'

'That's for the Thousand to decide,' Zalasta told him in a flinty tone.

'But look at what the Elene barbarians have done to us,' Salla said, his voice choked with outrage.

'You've lived out your whole life here in the Styric quarter in Matherion, Elder Salla,' Zalasta said. 'You've probably never even seen an Elene.'

'I can read, Zalasta.'

'I'm delighted to hear it. We're not really here for discussion, however. The High Priestess of Aphrael is conveying the instruction of the Thousand. Like it or not, you're compelled to obey.'

Salla's eyes filled with tears. 'They've murdered us!' he choked.

'You seem to be in remarkably good condition for a man who's been murdered, Salla,' Sephrenia told him. 'Tell me, was it painful?'

'You know what I mean, Priestess.'

'Ah, yes,' she said, 'that tiresome Styric compulsion to expropriate pain. Someone on the far side of the world stabs a Styric, and you start to bleed. You sit here in Matherion in protected luxury feeling sorry for yourself and secretly consumed with a gnawing envy that you're being denied martyrdom. Well, if you want to be a martyr so badly, Salla, I can arrange it for you.' Sephrenia was coldly angry with this babbling fool. 'The Thousand has made its decision,' she said flatly. 'I don't really have to explain it to you, but I will-so that you can convey the decision to your followers-and you will explain it, Salla. You'll be very convincing about it, or I'll replace you.'

'I hold my position for life,' he declared defiantly.

'Precisely my point.' Her tone was ominous.

He stared at her. 'You wouldn't!' he gasped.

'Try me.' Sephrenia had wanted to say that to someone for years. She found it quite satisfying. 'It goes like this, Salla-feel free to stop me if I start going too fast for you. The Elenes are savages who are looking for an excuse to kill every Styric they see. If we don't a.s.sist them in this crisis, we'll be handing them that excuse on a velvet cus.h.i.+on. We will a.s.sist them, because if we don't, they'll slaughter every Styric on the Eosian continent. We don't want them to do that, do we?'

'But-'

'Salla, if you say ”but” to me one more time, I'll obliterate you.' She was startled to discover just how enjoyable it was to behave like an Elene. 'I've given you the instruction of the Thousand, and the Thousand speaks for the G.o.ds. The matter is not open for discussion, so quit trying to snivel or wriggle your way out of this. You will obey, or you will die. Those are your options. Choose quickly. I'm in a bit of a hurry.'

Even Zalasta seemed shocked at that.

'Your G.o.ddess is cruel, councillor Sephrenia,' Salla accused.