Peacemaker (7 page)

Damiri greeted that astonishing information with raised eyebrows, but no greater pleasure.
She
was Cajeiri's link to Tatiseigi, who was
her
uncle. And her distaste for Lord Tatiseigi's well-known conservatism had sent
her
back to Ajuri clan. “Indeed.”

“The paidhi-aiji,” Tabini said, “witnessed the Kadagidi situation first-hand. He has hurried here directly to reassure us. They clearly traveled quickly and silently, to get here with no noise.”

“Indeed,” Bren said.

“There was an assassination attempt,” Tabini said, “as we understand it, launched by the dissidents in the Dojisigin Marid, aided by the Kadagidi as a staging point, and aimed at Lord Tatiseigi.”

“At my
uncle,
specifically?”

With her father just assassinated.

Her maternal great-uncle, Tatiseigi, had come under threat—with the added choice of her son and her husband's grandmother on the premises. One could see what her focus might be, in trying to parse
that
equation.

“Daja-ma,” Bren ventured to say, “the mission was launched specifically at Lord Tatiseigi—set for his return, whenever it might happen. The Assassins had no foreknowledge that he would arrive with such guests. The Assassins themselves were caught in a bind. They surrendered, confessed the situation—and we—Jase-aiji and I, went by bus to the Kadagidi estate to protest the action and receive an apology. But Lord Aseida's bodyguard did not bring Lord Aseida to the conversation. They fired on us.”

“Which we are sure is not what the Kadagidi will say,” Tabini muttered.

“But
we
,”
Bren said, “have a record of the event, aiji-ma. Jase-aiji's men recorded the action in video and sound, with every movement, every word leading up to the exchange of fire.”

“Recorded.” Tabini was more than interested. “Will this recording be in our hands?”

“It will be by tomorrow, aiji-ma. Jase-aiji promises it, for whatever use we wish to make of it. He can process it for our machines. One cautions—one has not seen the record yet. But so far as my memory is accurate, and Banichi says the same, Lord Aseida's Guild senior fired first.”

“Haikuti,” Tabini said with distaste.

“Haikuti is dead, aiji-ma. Along with two Guild units besides, and whoever fired from the window at Asien'dalun's upper corner. We then took tactical positions in the house and grounds. My bodyguard and the aiji-dowager's prevented servants from destroying records. We arrested certain persons we believe are plain-clothes Guild, and we dismissed the rest of the domestic servants to the township, everything by Guild regulations. It
was
a legitimate Guild operation, taken in a legitimate action on my part, and their firing initiated our response.”

“And where was Lord Aseida during all this?”

“Within the house, aiji-ma. He was brought out from hiding under our escort. We took him to Tirnamardi, where he asked protection of Lord Tatiseigi, who flatly refused him. In leaving Asien'dalun, we gave place to Taibeni clan who were
also
guesting on Tirnamardi estate, who were
also
offended by the operation launched from Kadagidi soil. They are holding the Kadagidi estate, in alliance with Lord Tatiseigi.”

Tabini slightly pursed his lips. Tabini himself was half Taibeni. His aishid—excepting the dowager's men—was Taibeni. And this morning's turn of events now had Taibeni clan working with Taibeni clan's old enemy Tatiseigi against their other old enemy the Kadagidi. It made a very interesting turn of events.

“And Aseida?”

“Lord Aseida resides in the aiji-dowager's keeping.”

“Here?”

“Yes, aiji-ma. Along with the two Dojisigi Assassins.”

“On this floor?”

“I have no idea, aiji-ma. But, cooperative though the Dojisigi have been, and deeply indebted as they are to the aiji-dowager, they will surely
not
be set at liberty yet, one is quite certain of that. And one is equally sure Lord Aseida will not be. They traveled in a separate rail car and at no point has this situation been near the children.”

“I leave the Dojisigi to my grandmother's discretion,” Tabini muttered with a wave of his hand, “but Aseida is mine to deal with. You will remind her of that.”

“Without a doubt he must be, aiji-ma, nor does one believe she would say otherwise.”

“Of course not. —With a notable dearth of candidates for the Kadagidi lordship, of
course
she will not object. There will be a
firestorm
among the Conservatives, and
we
shall have to deal with the mess.”

“Ajuri,” Damiri said unhappily, regarding her clan, now lordless, with her father's death, “and now Kadagidi must have new lords. And there will be
more
troubles for the north.”

Damiri herself was one candidate for the lordship of Ajuri. She was the very last candidate Tabini wanted in that frequently-vacated office. There was clearly subtext in the aiji-consort's uncommon statement on politics in the paidhi's hearing.

Subtext, too, in Tabini's sideways shift of the eyes, in his wife's direction.

“When shall we see our son?” Damiri asked sharply.

Angry. Yes. Damiri was angry with Tabini. Angry with her son. Angry with Ilisidi. Angry with him. Angry with her uncle. And, it was very certain, she was supremely angry at her recently-deceased father
and
whoever had killed him.

She was also the very last person on the planet the dowager wanted involved in any plan to move against the old man in Assignments—an old man who also happened to be her great-uncle.

“Daja-ma,” Bren said quietly, “the youngsters are all exhausted, and very concerned about making a good impression. An alert kept them up much of the night, and they are likely headed for baths and beds now as quickly as Lord Tatiseigi's staff can settle them in. Your son is deeply concerned for your safety and your good opinion. He wishes you to know he is well. He is the only translator available for his guests at the moment, and he wishes not to disturb your peace of mind, daja-ma, by arriving here with his guests—not to mention the parid'ja.”

“That
creature.
”

“Indeed, daja-ma. The parid'ja is with him. And, right or wrong in his judgment, he has wished to regroup and set himself to rights. He wishes to present himself and his guests rested, and in the most felicitous way, and he wishes not to disturb this household with the commotion of young guests.”

He had averted wars. Damiri's displeasure was a harder argument. The scowl persisted for a moment, boring into him. Then:

“Tell me
this,
paidhi-aiji.
Was
my uncle
or
the dowager involved in my father's assassination?”

A reasonable question. He was ever so glad to report the negative.

“In no way or degree were they involved, daja-ma. They were aware of Lord Komaji's movement toward Lord Tatiseigi's estate—but they had given no order at all to prevent him. They were both quite shocked by the unfortunate event. I was present at deliberations and there is no question in my mind they were uncertain about his intentions. They even wondered whether your father, not knowing that the aiji-dowager or your son was present at Tirnamardi, was on his way to take refuge with Lord Tatiseigi, pending
his
return home, because of an imminent threat inside Ajuri—which the aiji-dowager believes existed. I believe
she
thinks he was indeed coming to appeal to Lord Tatiseigi. Lord Komaji and Lord Tatiseigi were not on good terms, but Lord Tatiseigi is moderate even to his enemies. We rather wonder also whether there was some particular intelligence your father meant to give Lord Tatiseigi, information that
someone
did not wish given.”

“Specifically?”

God, of course she would ask that question. And he had to lie. Or at least evade. “I am not that far into the dowager's confidence, daja-ma.” And back to the edge of the truth. “But one believes elements among the Kadagidi, among others, may have had a reason to fear your father's making common cause with Lord Tatiseigi against them.” He glanced away, back to Tabini, an appeal for rescue.

“My grandmother will not withhold
that
information from us,” Tabini said, “one is quite certain. Well-done, paidhi. Go. Rest. Have that injury treated—and deal with our guests. Keep us informed. We shall wish to see our son when he is rested.”

“Aiji-ma.” Another bow. A short bow to the aiji-consort.

And an escape, before the domestic discussion could start.

 • • • 

They reached their own door, he and Tano and Algini. And within, safely in the hands of Narani, there was finally the chance to shed the ruined coat. Bren did that, not hoping to see it again.

“The aiji has the essentials of what happened on the Kadagidi estate, and in the south,” Bren told Tano and Algini before they parted company in the foyer—the two of them, in Tabini's apartment, had been standing watch with the aiji's guard, and
not
inside the office. “The aiji-consort arrived late. She asked questions regarding Lord Komaji's assassination—she is understandably angry and she wonders whether she has been told all the truth. I mentioned the Kadagidi in the context of that assassination. I did not quite lie to her, nadiin-ji, but it was a misdirection; and it was certainly an untruth, when I said I was not that deep in the dowager's affairs. The aiji clearly knows to the contrary, and probably the consort suspects it was a politic evasion and a half-answer. It was clumsy of me. I desperately need sleep, nadiin-ji.”

“Sleep as you can,” Algini advised him.

“Banichi?” he asked.

“He
will rest,” Tano said. “Jago will see to it.”

With a dose of sedative, one suspected. The dowager's physician had given him several bottles of pills.

“He should
not
think his risking his health in any way serves his man'chi to
me
,” he said. “One does not know how to convey that sentiment to him strongly enough. He needs several days abed.”

“That will not be the case, nandi,” Algini said.

Formal tone. Formal advisement. So he knew they
weren't
waiting for the second part of the dowager's plan. He had thought there would be a deal of information-gathering first.

“Then we are moving, nadiin-ji.”

“Imminently,” Algini said. “Banichi insists to be part of it. In plain fact, Bren-ji, he needs to be.”

Damn, he thought. “One understands,” he said, and the intellect understood, but the heart didn't, not at all. He'd seen Banichi go down this morning. He kept seeing it, and knew there'd been considerable blood loss. “With how much risk?”

There was no answer. They knew he knew.

“I rely on you,” he said. “I rely on
all
of you. I ask that you think of your own value—to the aishidi'tat.” That didn't half state it. “To me. You know that. Losing any one of you—I would be—I could continue to function in office, and I assure you I would do so, nadiin-ji, but—”

“He understands,” Algini said, a rescue.

“I am not expressing myself well, Gini-ji. Do not fear I could not function in my office. But I am worried. And I value
all
of you. Extremely.”

“We know. He knows. Understand, nandi—he knew that Haikuti would react to his presence. This troubles him. He knew if Haikuti did bring his lord out to parley, he would be maneuvering for position, with no regard for his lord's safety. He knew that before we left the house. Banichi moved to protect you,
and
he moved to a defensive posture to secure your legal position; but in his own judgment he put himself in that position because he wanted Haikuti stopped and he left cover because he intended to withstand Haikuti's fire to take him down definitively and legally. It served your interests and the aiji's, too, but he strongly questions which motive was foremost in his mind when he did not turn and protect you with his body.
I
say this because he will not. He is determined
not
to operate at any disadvantage now, in consideration of what he sees as a lapse of man'chi—a failure of character. We have told him we would have done the same, on the simple logic of the situation, but he considers his action, however proper, was tainted by his personal feud with Haikuti, and he is determined not to be put out of action now because of his choice. That would give Haikuti some bearing on the outcome. And he will not tolerate that thought, either.”

He parsed that oblique statement for a second or two, and he understood it better than Algini might think he did. Banichi was stubbornly staying on his feet, trying to operate normally, because Banichi thought he had jumped the wrong direction under threat, in a process too fast for rational thought.

And Banichi was taking, he very much feared, a heavy dose of painkiller.

Handling luggage, for God's sake, when they'd left the train. Tano had gotten the damned equipment bag away from him and carried double when they headed for the lift. He'd marked that little transaction.

He should never have opened his mouth about his personal feelings in the situation, not with a mission pending. He was sure of that, at least. “I have nothing more to say. I am determined not to endanger the rest of you. Take care of yourselves in your own way. Do what you have to do, and please ignore my emotional foolishness, nadiin-ji. I am not expressing myself well at all this evening.”

“You are not alone in your concern, nandi,” Tano said. “We have tried to keep him still. And though we will benefit by his presence in the mission and his advice is clear-headed . . . we have misgivings, too.”

“Then tell him—if it is useful—that I said be careful with his life, nadiin-ji.”