Intruder (7 page)

The ministers looked marginally happier, perhaps at their inclusion in high security.

But Machigi frowned. “Still, you ask me to leave matters at a crisis and go off to Shejidan to sign away the West Coast. You are all promises, thus far. You say you bring offers. Let us see them.”

“Indeed, nandi.” He brought his briefcase onto his lap, opened it, and extracted a thick stack of papers, with tabs between. “If one could, with the assistance of your staff, distribute these…”

Machigi snapped his fingers. Servants hurried to assist, and Bren quietly distributed the packets, first to Machigi and then to Machigi’s ministers.

“The copies are identical, for reading at your leisure,” he said. “The original documents Lord Machigi holds in his hands are personally signed by the aiji-dowager, an assurance of intent to complete the agreement, and by Lord Geigi, supporting her negotiations: duplicates exist in the hands of other parties. There are likewise documents from the new lord of Maschi clan and signed letters from the heads of the Edi and the Gan peoples, stating their intent to support the aiji-dowager’s negotiations on their behalf and to support the outcome of the alliance between the aiji-dowager and the leader of the Marid.”

A massive riffling of papers among the ministers. Machigi sat, not examining what he held.

“Such documents are indeed here in facsimile, nandi,” Gediri said.

“The last of the documents, nandiin,” Bren said, “is economic in nature, and it is mine. One proposes that there be a representative of Lord Machigi in Shejidan as quickly as possible to secure a residence, to set up an office, to prepare a safe place, with Guild assistance, for Lord Machigi to do business. One further proposes that as soon as Lord Machigi signs an agreement with the aiji-dowager, the representative of Lord Machigi sign an immediate trade agreement with the Merchants’ Guild in Shejidan—the papers are routine and can be ready within hours—and set up, on the same premises, a trade office in Shejidan. Your porcelains, for instance, have not appeared in the northern collectors’ market in a century.” There had been a boycott, initiated from the south, which, typically, had actually hurt the south more than the north—he did not mention that matter.

“Is this the dowager’s proposal?” Machigi asked

“This is my own idea, nandi. The beauty and the quality of the work I have seen here—not alone the pillars, which of course
one can never forget—are bound to attract interest. Northern museums hold fragments of Marid work. A tea service is highly valued. And I believe an exhibit of state gifts would immediately catch the attention of very influential collectors. The public can be encouraged to view the artistic heritage of the Marid, particularly the southern Marid, which has been very much in the background in recent decades…and this will utterly change the perception many hold of the Marid as more rural. I myself had no idea of the existence of such things until I came here.”

“State gifts, you say.”

“I do not demand, nandi. Far from it. But if one could request a sample of such wares, which can be displayed in the public area of the Bujavid—something representing what can be traded—in the character of a good will gift from the Marid to the people. It will touch popular sentiment. And generate excitement among the wealthy—among the influential and the fashion-setters, the very people who will be voting on further measures—and supporting the first steps in trade.”

“And generating resentments among competitors,” Gediri said. “Is this considered?”

“Porcelains of the north are distinctive, as these are. And desired. And traded. But they are not similar. Within a decent time, when you widen the trade to more common work, those goods, too, will have a name for quality and fashion, so yes, there will be competition, but it is more likely to stimulate interest in collecting. Through this trade, you will form a relationship with the Merchants’ Guild, who will guide you and assure you do
not
come up against such problems—besides providing, in their offices, a place for contact with other districts. They have no enforcement arm, as you may know, and are only advisory.”

“Porcelains,” Machigi said, not enthusiastically. “They are not an immediate economic benefit.”

“Bluntly, they are a good that threatens no one,” Bren said. “A first
step, designed to create a demand for Marid goods. Your porcelains, your craftwork, will open the door and change opinions favorably. Your trade in other things—textiles and foodstuffs—will follow and expand.”

“Where in this is our access to the East Coast?” Machigi asked.

“That begins in the hour of the signing of that agreement,” Bren said. “Immediately after that signing, a representative of Taisigi clan whom you will also appoint will fly to the East Coast with the cachet of the aiji-dowager and yourself to meet with representatives of the aiji-dowager in Malguri district, and guides from there will enable a safe journey to the coast. Included, one would suggest, should be Merchants’ Guild officials, in an advisory capacity. They can serve as fair brokers between yourselves and the inhabitants of the East Coast. You will be proposing the building of a new port, and you will be establishing a trade office. There will be no rail link. How long will it take a ship to appear in those waters?”

“A ship has to be outfitted, paidhi. It has to have a port when it gets there.”

“What would be the one-way trip, however? One has no idea.”

Machigi thought about it in silence. “Say—thirty-three days, with felicity. Given the cooperation of the weather. Given some sort of port facility.”

“The first ship should carry construction supervisors and skilled workmen. The dowager will provide the financing. She will negotiate with you on what items are to be supplied locally and what must be imported; the general notion is to hire locals, which will put money into their economy, buy food from them, more money, and buy local materials. These are not rich villages. The appearance of textiles and goods that they will be able to afford with their new found money will bring favorable opinions. Fair work. Fair wages. Fair trade. They in turn will offer trade in leather, in furs, in wood, and in fuel for your ships—it
will have to be sent in. The details are yet to work out. But that is the generality of it.”

There was a lengthy silence. “Of what nature are these people, nandi?” War asked. “Are they civilized?”

“They are much like the smaller villages of the Marid, nandi—hardworking, generally honest, a little suspicious of outsiders. Hence the representatives from Malguri district. The dowager is well-reputed on the coast.”

A further silence.

“Dreams,” Machigi said. “Hinging on this meeting in Shejidan.”

“Even so, nandi. And one urges this go forward with all speed. Your representative first, then yourself.”

“One just walks in,” Machigi said. “And there is security at the train station.”

“Let me outline what is proposed, nandi: you may come by train or by air—let me suggest Najida Airport, with your own security. At whatever facility you arrive, the dowager will provide a bus and additional Guild security to take you and your company to the residence your representative has established. You will be under the Guild’s close protection in that house and in every venture to the Bujavid, and every other venture you may choose, until you are safely back in Tanaja.”

“And the aiji’s opinion of this?”

“One does not speak for him, at present, nandi, only for the aiji-dowager, who has his assurance he will not intervene. One senses he will prefer to watch from a certain distance, and my sense is that he hopes for a good outcome for his grandmother. He regards certain of the reputations at stake as his personal assets, and he would by no means wish to see this go badly for her. He has extended himself that far.”

“Indeed.” Machigi rested his chin on fist. “We shall read these papers you provide. We shall talk together. We shall see you at dinner, nand’ paidhi.”

“Nandi.” That was a dismissal, and a reasonable one. He had
time to go upstairs, settle in, try to get his nerves together, and dress for a formal dinner.

It wasn’t going badly. There was no guarantee it wouldn’t. There was no way to know what the ministers were going to argue in private, but they had to have that chance. He stood up, the ministers all rose and bowed, he bowed, collected his bodyguard, and left, on a familiar route, with two of Machigi’s servants leading the way.

It was surreal to be back in the suite he had occupied before the Guild action. The white, ornate furniture was entirely familiar, and the phone they had asked for was still on the table. The bed in which he had spent very uncomfortable hours had the same ornate coverlet. He might never have left.

And of all things—his lost shaving kit was sitting on the bureau. His clothes, recovered from luggage left behind in a desperate escape, were all in the closet.

He was particularly delighted about the shaving kit, which he could not replace this side of Mospheira, and about the personal items: his mother’s locket, a pocketknife his brother Toby had given him, an informal and very comfortable coat, and a well-broken-in pair of dress boots. It was a very welcome surprise.

Similarly, his aishid found items, all cleaned and proper. They met in the hallway to compare notes, and indeed, everything they had left behind in the van on the road was here.

“A kind gesture,” Bren said, and his bodyguard avowed themselves uncommonly pleased and, for once, surprised.

Machigi’s servants arrived to help them dress for dinner, and this time Bren did not decline the help. He had professional assistance with the dress coat and with the braid, which had wilted a bit from the weather, and he changed to the comfortable boots.

It felt a little chancy, having Machigi’s servants about, but there was not a single item with them this visit that they had to
hold in secret—all of the sensitive items were already sent on to Shejidan.

And with the staff’s help, they were very quickly in order for a formal dinner. Banichi and Jago to go stand dinner duty, while Tano and Algini nominally to guard the room—but one doubted they would only be sitting and watching the furniture. They would very likely, Bren thought, have Guild visitors in his absence, people with things to report and to ask—conversations in which no civilian was welcome and which had very much to do with the future of the Marid, from quite another viewpoint and involving quite another power.

So downstairs he went with Banichi and Jago, this time into the dining hall, where he met, immediately, Gediri, the one minister he knew, the four other ministers he had just met, and relevant spouses, to whom he was introduced. There were, besides them, several notables, with spouses, to whom he was also introduced, all this quite properly accomplished before Machigi arrived. They were a table of twelve as they took their seats.

Twelve became felicitous thirteen as Machigi came in alone, filling the last chair. The mood was light over an excellent pastry, as Machigi chatted easily with the ministers and the other guests.

“The paidhi,” Machigi said, somewhat violating the no-business rule, “has brought us interesting proposals and, more, a signed intention of the aiji-dowager and several others of interest. We are well on track this evening to see this bargain completed.”

That definitely produced a happy mood at the table—not least in the paidhi-aiji. The advisors were not frowning. A decided plus.

It was small talk, then, chatter about impending weather, shipping to the Isles, the seasonal ban on hunting and the consequent rising price of the better fish…which happened to be the menu of the evening.

Then there was a quiet invitation to after-dinner discussion, which
included only Gediri and the minister of trade without his spouse. That meant serious business about the agreement. They repaired to an adjacent sitting room and settled to talk over brandy.

“So. We are down to the actual agreements,” Machigi said. “We are definitely to assume, nandi, that the dowager will return within the month?”

“Easily within the month, nandi,” Bren said.

“And you assure us that we shall be welcomed in the legislature.”

That was irony.

“You will meet some opposition, and I know who will lead it. But, nandi, I know this man quite well, an elderly gentleman, very, very traditional—a staunch ally if you can gain his approval. A respectful approach, a personal approach—that would be a good beginning with him.”

“One closely associated with the aiji-dowager?”

“Indeed, nandi.”

“Tatiseigi.”

“Indeed. Lord Tatiseigi.”

“There is no dealing with him!”

“Yet you have things in common, nandi.”

“Do we? Enlighten us!”

“You are both patrons of the arts—you, from a region which produces extraordinary works in porcelain. He is a collector, a great admirer. And an expert. If anyone will be looking at the exhibition with a knowledgeable eye, it will be nand’ Tatiseigi. And his sense of kabiu is quite respected.”

A moment of silence. Machigi rested his chin on a crooked finger, running it over the old scar, and his eyes sparked with thought. “You are suggesting—”

“It is an avenue of approach. I have a specific plan, nandi.
I
am in a situation of personal debt to Lord Tatiseigi—who sheltered me during the Farai occupation of my apartment. Granted it was a favor to the aiji-dowager. But one is still indebted. He is
head of a group that is most likely to oppose this agreement. And
if
one, with great delicacy, chose just the right gift—”

“Porcelain.”

“—then opening a conversation on Marid imports
and
the agreement with the aiji-dowager would be so much easier. Enlist him regarding trade with the Marid, in precisely this commodity…and we might sway his opinion on other matters, even in a face-to-face meeting.”

Machigi heard this, gave an almost silent snort, and took a sip of brandy. “Gods unfortunate, paidhi, you can put a fine gloss on the most amazing situations. You want my agents to scour up a second exhibition piece. A gift for this man.”

“At my expense, nandi. Though I have no shortage of funds, it should not be embarrassingly extravagant. I am not of his rank. And one wishes to keep these pieces attainable in trade.”