Intruder (19 page)

A retirement.
Then
the vote had gone through.

Cenedi, head of the dowager’s bodyguard, had been in contact with the Guild in Shejidan, and someone had resigned. An office had changed hands inside the dark confines of the Assassins’ Guild, and the whole character of the Guild operation had shifted as if a switch had been thrown, from a determination to take Machigi out and use his territory as a base—to the dowager’s determination to preserve Machigi and create a new regional power in the Marid.

And some influence had been upset when Tabini chose not a bodyguard of the Guild’s choice but only Taibeni clan, his own clan, to run his household and defend him.

“And regarding Machigi,” Tabini said. “This letter.”

God. The letter. From the
other
side of this confused table. “Aiji-ma.”

“How do
you
read Lord Machigi, paidhi-ji?”

“In all that I have just heard—one is trying to reassess, aiji-ma.”

“Personally. How do you see him?”

“An intelligent man. Young. Too young, perhaps, to be wise, but possibly headed in that direction. He has good advisors, one thinks—smart men who have maneuvered themselves into a position and decided to deal with the Guild….but now—now one is not as certain
what
one has observed.”

“Do you have any suspicion that his advisors may have contacted Cenedi in advance of the dowager’s sending you to him?”

That was another thunderbolt.

“One had not remotely suspected such a thing, aiji-ma.”

“These four Guildsmen of his are clever people,” Tabini said. “Certainly capable…but that can go either way. And this young lord they support—is definitely a remarkable young man. One knows he is changing ships, one having begun to leak, so to speak. But what ship was he on in the first place?”

“One has reservations on that matter, aiji-ma. One acquired reservations while reading that letter. Do you think he may have been behind the coup against you? That all prior suspicions were correct that blamed the whole event on him?”

“That does leave out his northern neighbor, who turned out to host the shadow Guild. If Machigi was colluding with the lord of the Dojisigi—he has a talent for the stage. There truly seems deep animosity there.”

“But the Shadow Guild itself could easily have switched patrons.”

“Certainly it could,” Tabini said, with a tight, unpleasant smile. “
Many
things are possible once the Guild itself starts directing politics instead of responding to the interests of the lords and the people.”

Which brought it down to a very uncomfortable question. “Have I made a mistake, aiji-ma? I confess—I thought I was understanding his motives and his reactions until I read that letter. Since then—”

Tabini gave a short, silent laugh. “I most fear stupid people. Stupid people will do anything. Truly smart people will do only what is logical for them to do. That should more often put us on
the same side as Machigi…if he composed the letter himself.”

“It is at least his turn of speech, aiji-ma. And one might add, it is his sense of humor.”

“How much of his opinion do you think represents his bodyguard, and how much is the man himself?”

“He has taken their advice, but if a human can read him at all, he is not at all their puppet. And he shifted from opposition to reasoning responses to my statements, which sounded genuine.”

“This bodyguard of his,” Tabini said, leaning back in his chair. “My bodyguard has had difficulty getting at Guild records until quite lately…in fact, until the resignation I mentioned. But between you and me and the ears of our bodyguards, it is possible the fathers of those four men, his bodyguards, were put there by my grandfather.
Or
by my grandmother.”

“
The aiji-dowager
, aiji-ma?”

“Ilisidi. You may have met her. —Gods less fortunate, paidhi, she is a persistent woman!”

“One is shocked, aiji-ma. Things in what you have told me have astonished me, but this one—I am quite absolutely shocked to think so, but—indeed, she might.”

“This business in the Marid is an agenda predating both of us, paidhi! The woman is following a persistent purpose my father refused and my grandfather before him died cursing. And here she is with me—proposing two new lordships, allying with the Marid, upsetting the entire aishidi’tat, and all this without the least advisement to us what she had in mind. What she has
always
had in mind, from the foundation of the world, for all we can tell!”

Bren drew in a long breath, and braced himself. “Yet—if it brings peace and stabilizes the aishidi’tat, aiji-ma, might it be right?”

“Only one man in the court would dare say that to me.”

“Forgive me, aiji-ma,…but—still—”

“You have backed the Edi question, paidhi! You have taken her side—you have spent far more time with her than I have, since she has not seen fit to consult me on such matters. You lived with her for two years…only scarcely in the Bujavid. You have not only represented her—you have represented this Taisigi warlord!”

Dangerous. Dangerous edge.

“Have I indeed erred in my judgment, aiji-ma? One thought—one thought that a peace with the Marid benefited the aishidi’tat and therefore benefited you. One thought—with potential trouble in the heavens—having your administration at peace with all elements was good. One thought, however, that you did not wish to be informed until this had either failed or gotten to a workable state…”

Expressions warred on Tabini’s face, somewhere between real exasperation and anger. Finally he said: “Deniability on my part does not mend things my grandmother may have upset to the
north
of here. Do you know any
less obvious
plan my grandmother has in mind?”

To the north of here…

Northward sat, of most note, the Ajuri. Damiri’s clan. The maternal relatives of Tabini’s heir. With whom Tatiseigi of the Atageini had an ongoing feud. “No, aiji-ma. I do not know of any plan.”

“You agree with the aiji-dowager?”

“I have agreed with her that what solves the long difficulty on the west coast makes the aishidi’tat that much stronger. That was my opinion. —But—”

“You have not yet had to deal with the northwest,” Tabini said glumly. “Ajuri and interests in their district will not be pleased with this: it challenges the arrangement of power within the aishidi’tat, and they view themselves as emergent influences. Nor will the Padi Valley, which has suffered directly from the Marid’s actions. That
covers a considerable portion of the aishidi’tat, and we have not even gotten to the eastern mountains, where no two people hold the same political opinion.”

“Aiji-ma, if I have failed to comprehend, if I should have consulted—”

“You could not consult. The situation within the Guild unfolded as she sent you to Machigi in the first place. And she knows, gods unfortunate, she well knows what Ajuri is up to, and my grandmother is not a patient woman.” A long, deep breath. “Paidhi, I sent my son to the Atageini with her because his life was in danger in the Bujavid; I separated my household so they could not strike us all at once. I sent him to space because it was safer than his being on earth, and because, should I fall, I wanted him taught
revenge
by his grandmother. The Ajuri were irate at his being a guest in Atageini. They were not happy when I removed him to space, completely out of their reach. Now that he is back, they are bent on gaining influence to check the Atageini. There are also those trying to counter any rise in Ajuri influence—I number among them the Kadagidi, who also oppose the Atageini. My grandmother may unite the west coast, yes. But one has to fear that she will also unite the northwest with the north central, and not in a good way.”

“Lord Dur is loyal, of clans in the northwest. The Gan certainly will be. There is lord Geigi’s surrogate in Targai, in the southwest, not to mention the Edi. They are firm beyond any doubt. And there is the East…”

“Where my grandmother proposes to create another raging controversy. One has no doubt she is out there in Malguri at this moment doing far more than marrying off that fool Baiji to that ambitious relative of hers! One is quite certain she is also meeting with the Eastern lords and proposing to overturn order
there!
It is no guarantee the villages of the coast will be grateful to have Marid foreigners sailing into their fishing grounds, if such ships ever survive the southern seas to get there.”

“Yet—if she can cure Marid poverty—and eastern poverty—with
one stroke, then the things prosperity can buy, the technology, all of that comes from the central clans and from the trade with the space station. Such things come from alliance with
you,
aiji-ma, and while Machigi seems worried that you may choose to embarrass him during his visit, one believes he sees exactly where this
must
go, which is toward full participation in the aishidi’tat, or toward his eventual demise as a minor lord in a divided Marid. One believes he hovers between fear this is all a plot to kill him and take over the Marid—and the hope that what the dowager has presented him might work, because it would certainly be hard for Shejidan to rule the Marid. This is a young man who, offered a ship to go to safety during the action down there, instead went overland to confront what was happening on Taisigi land, for the protection of his people. This was not the act of a coward. Or a selfish ruler.”

Tabini listened to him, thoughts flickering in those pale gold eyes. “You hold a good opinion of him.”

“I did, aiji-ma—at least until I read that letter.”

“The letter is interesting. And you say he agreed to my seeing it.”

“One believes he intended you see it, aiji-ma.”

“He is no fool,” Tabini said, nodding slowly. “So you have presented us with the Edi, the Gan, and the Marid. Perhaps we can hold the aishidi’tat together until my grandmother deigns to show up and tell us the rest of her plan. I hope for that hour!”

“I have written, aiji-ma, to Lord Tatiseigi, with some diffidence—but attempting to make a delicate approach to him, thinking perhaps to maintain this action of mine as a private approach. I acquired a porcelain in the South. Another, to display to the Merchants. But one for him, not in the character of a bribe. I do owe him. And I wish to let him see something I saw, that quite changed my view of the Marid as only fishing boats.”

“Before my grandmother returns,” Tabini said. “She has left you with this problem. Left
you
to court Tatiseigi and the committees and guilds.”

“One was attempting, aiji-ma, to better relations with nand’ Tatiseigi before he should take a public position against it—which one hoped would be moderated by his high regard for the dowager. But this still, at your order, aiji-ma, could be finessed.”

“He took a position eighty years ago and has not changed it since.”

“One still—was his guest, aiji-ma. One hoped, in that consideration—”

“You are going to vote
against
the cell phone bill.”

He drew in a breath. Total change of direction. But intimately connected to the topic of Tatiseigi, who opposed the bill. As Tabini supported it, in theory.

He nodded. “Aiji-ma, for reasons. For reasons. Which are neither here nor there in the current matter.”

“To him they are. He will believe he has had influence. That you have bent to that influence.”

“If you could postpone the bill, aiji-ma—”

Tabini muttered, then waved a deprecatory hand. “The Guild has approached me on this matter, and we are in discussions already. This may not be the year to consider the matter. But let me urge you to caution with Tatiseigi. There
is
the situation we have already discussed, that in the north. It is delicate.”

The Ajuri. God.

“It is delicate enough,” Tabini said, “and this I say in confidence—that my wife is being put in a difficult position. Her father wants influence through her. And if she chooses to become a vessel for Ajuri influence—she and I may not continue this marriage.”

“Aiji-ma.”

“Say nothing of it to my son.”

“Of course not, aiji-ma.”

“One expects the lord of Ajuri will object to
anything
that promotes Lord Tatiseigi’s interests. The jealousy involved there is extreme.”

“Regrettably, —aiji-ma, I have already sent the porcelain to Lord
Tatiseigi and asked for a meeting with him. And he
is
a key ally of the aiji-dowager. I regret not having waited for her, however. Now I
greatly
regret it.”

“Finesse it. Finesse it. That is all I will say, if you must meet with him. Business of the aishidi’tat cannot stop because Ajuri threatens. One is not sanguine about your chances of converting Lord Tatisiegi to a regard for Lord Machigi, however.”

“One felt the need to try to approach him, aiji-ma, for fear he would take offense to be put off by her absence.”

“Nand’ paidhi, between Geigi’s feud with him and Ajuri’s feud with him, one fears you are stepping into deep water, but go to it, go to it. But do not attempt to convert him to a regard for Lord Ajuri.
That
is due, one fears, to get worse very quickly.”

“Aiji-ma, if one is accidentally stepping into a private situation, one can delay—”

“The one in the most delicate position in this matter is my
son,
paidhi-ji. My son is not to be informed of this situation with his mother’s clan. And one is certain you will respect that.”

“Absolutely, aiji-ma.”

“Baji-naji, fortune and chance, where it regards Lord Tatiseigi. Understand, the Ajuri may be a small clan, but they are very influential in the collection of small clans that constitutes the north, and they have long had a certain influence in the Guild. Their marriage to my house once made sense. Now it makes them a far greater problem than their size would indicate, and the impending birth of a second child has the old rivalry between Ajuri and Atageini quite—lively at the moment. Ajuri seeks every opportunity to find fault with the Atageini”

One could
not
ask where Damiri stood on the matter. She was the one in the worst position, with man’chi to her clan at issue. Pregnant to boot. And the whole thing having blown up into a Guild crisis, with little Ajuri clan wielding a hidden influence in that body—or having had influence; who
knew
what was
going on within that body, or how much antihuman sentiment within that guild his own bodyguard was trying to shield him from either knowing—or meeting head-on, disastrously…