Retribution (Drakenfeld 2) (29 page)

‘I cross ’em off my list and they’re gone, as far as I’m concerned. As I say, don’t happen often.’

‘What crimes had they committed to be disposed of at sea?’ I snapped, assuming the worst. Given the queen’s quiet, dictatorial regime, it didn’t take much to assume these could have been political dissidents, removed to make her life more simple.

‘I don’t think they were dumped.’ Again a shrug. ‘No killings, like. Just human cargo. Same as wool, cloth or metal – something else to go from one country to another, to make a bit of coin.’

‘Sounds like slavery to me.’

‘Nah. Not legal, is it? Not any more.’

‘No it isn’t. Since the creation of the Vispasian Royal Union, slaves are not permitted to be taken internally – only from conquered lands abroad.’

‘Yeah, well . . . It don’t always work to plan, does it?’ Dek scratched the back of his head. ‘Besides, one of the first things the queen did when she became queen was to put a stop to all that business.’

‘Dek, we’re going to need to go through your books.’ I indicated the shelves behind.

‘Feel free. They’re in order. I don’t look like I’m bright, but I stay on top of the books. Grendor demanded efficiency.’

While my hand was in my pocket, I placed the ring of the bishop upon my middle finger and held it out towards the man. ‘Recognize a stone like this?’

I saw the flicker of recognition in his eyes. He couldn’t hide it. Now it was a question of whether he’d deny it or not.

‘Aye, something like that,’ he said eventually, much quieter now, much more unsure of himself. ‘Not that I should have.’

‘Go on.’ I stood behind the desk now.

‘Let me close the shutters. You never know who’s listening in.’ Outside stood five of the more menacing crew members, each looking in. One by one he closed the shutters, leaving only thin strips of light across the floorboards. One of which, I noticed, was loose.

When Dek returned he said, ‘See, sometimes I catch things I’m not meant to see. It happens when I’m here all the time. Though I keep the books in shape, it ain’t easy. Grendor don’t mind turning a blind eye to the odd passenger that wants ferrying discreetly out of the country, or to let in a few amphorae of wine that’s been siphoned off of some country duke. Things like that happen all the time.’

‘But gemstones?’

‘We deal with the odd trinket, aye. We don’t label them on the books as such, because they’re not really to be declared for tax reasons, eh? You know how it is.’

My impatience was growing. ‘So to be clear, you’ve definitely seen a stone like this. Not another colour. This precise shade of red.’

‘Seen two come in, in small cases. To say they’re rare don’t do ’em justice.’

‘Where do they come from?’

‘No one knows. That’s to say, a ship pulls alongside ours out at sea and sometimes things like this come onto ours.’

The door snapped open suddenly and there were a couple of bulky workers silhouetted in the doorway. Two more stood behind them, their blades hidden discreetly. It was difficult to discern their expressions, but it was a safe enough guess that they didn’t like people they did not recognize being here. ‘You got trouble, Dek?’ one of them grunted.

He hesitated. ‘Nah, nah – just potential business.’ Then he peered at me. ‘We got no trouble, right?’

‘Just business,’ I said.

‘Hmm.’ They remained there for a few moments longer before shuffling away again. Dek strolled towards the door and closed it quietly. At that point I knew it wouldn’t be wise to check the loose floorboard just yet. If it was a place to keep secrets, Dek would immediately shout for help.

‘The ships,’ I continued, ‘where the exchange happens. Where do these ships meet? Who sails the other vessels?’

‘It varies, honestly.’ He sighed. ‘I’m not even supposed to know this much. Can tell you that it’s happened twice since I’ve worked here, and that’s been ten years this summer.’

‘And how did you of all people see the gemstone? One suspects these little cases of highly precious stones are not left sitting open.’

‘Definitely not. First time was during an accident and a load of cargo fell off the pulley. Second time was when the man carrying the case on board got in a fight with one of the other sailors.’ Dek paused and smirked. ‘That one didn’t last long. Disappeared on the very next mission. Fell overboard, so they say. Too much to drink.’

‘And you’re certain it was the same type of stone.’

‘Not
certain
, no, but pretty sure. Could’ve been a ruby I guess, but why go to all that trouble? Rubies get imported all the time on much better protected ships. Gangs get involved in that sort of thing. Messy business at times, bodies dumped in the river and the likes, but they get the job done effectively.’

We spent a good hour or two examining the ledgers and patrolling the property, all under the watchful eye of Dek and two of his well-built associates.

I inspected one of the ships that had been supplying grain, a large vessel that had only been sailing a year, and enquired with the captain about his routes and whether or not he had spent time with Grendor. The captain, who possessed a permanently philosophical gaze, told me that he had never met the famous Grendor of the Cape, though he would have liked to have shared a cup of wine with him.

‘From what some of the other captains say, he was a good man. An honest man. Liked hard workers, and rewarded the best. Didn’t stand for a bad culture, like some of the other owners round here. They’d see you sleeping on a bed of rats if it meant saving coin. Let their ships rot to the core, and they end up in trouble out at sea. Employ folk who haven’t got a clue about reading the sea.’

The routes he described were nothing out of the ordinary. The names of destinations were nearly all large ports with a few fishing settlements around the local coast. There was a surprising amount of weaponry on board – swords, maces, bows and so forth – and when I enquired about them he told me of the piracy problems that plagued trade routes.

Dek, meanwhile, never left the office, and made a point of telling us so. He kept one eye on Leana and Nambu as they inspected his books. True to his word he had done a good job of maintaining a balance sheet. The goods he described to us were also present in ink – prisoners and dubious goods being omitted, of course. Grendor had, by and large, conducted exactly the kind of business I would expect: a fair and honest company, with a few unscrupulous side projects. I was inclined to believe most of what Dek had been saying.

It appeared as if Grendor was indeed the man who everyone said he was. The picture I had of him in my head transpired to be true here. Again it begged the question: why had such a good man been killed?

‘Come over here,’ Leana said. ‘Look.’ Her finger pointed to a page in one of the ledgers.

The line indicated regular exports for one ‘L. Marinus’ – Lydia, most probably, given that it was for salt. Every month a ship sailed to Detrata on behalf of the recently deceased.

Before we left, I asked Dek, ‘Who’s going to take over now he’s dead?’

Dek shrugged. ‘Haven’t a clue. His wife presumably. Only saw her the once – lovely lass. Good kids. Can’t see her selling up anytime soon – we make far too much coin for that.’

With that, we walked back towards the Kuvash Prefecture, in relative silence. That suited me fine as I was contemplating the day’s discoveries. Once again I was waiting to discern the patterns, re-examining just what I’d seen.

‘What next?’ Nambu asked eventually.

‘We go back after dark.’

‘What?’ Nambu said. ‘Why would we want to do that?’

‘There was a loose floorboard in that office that I never got a chance to look under. Dek never left the room during his questioning and he had men on standby, so that could indicate there’s something important in that office. But I didn’t want to create a scene with his machete-wielding workers around. I’m not yet in shape for a fight and we certainly don’t want to get you involved in one.’

‘Spirits save us. So we simply break in after dark and take whatever is under that floorboard?’

‘Do you have a better plan?’ I asked.

We waited in a quiet tavern on the edges of the docks. It was a stone building with a huge open fire at the centre. Several rooms sprawled out from it, some with discreet antechambers and rooms barely bigger than a cupboard. If ever there was to be a surreptitious meeting between agents, this would be the ideal place, and I speculated on the kind of conversations taking place around us.

Save for the curious antiquated maritime trinkets plastered across one of the walls, the place was not all that interesting. There were no fine frescos. The food appeared to be hearty, if a little simple, but it was enough to please Leana and myself. Though I was not so sure the princess felt the same. We took a table in an alcove while we waited for the sun to set, casually watching the tavern gradually fill up with customers who had finished a day’s work. The odour of fish, dirt and sweat soon became heady.

Whoever had been tracking us previously, assuming they were unrelated to the incident with the arrow, appeared to have left us alone. During the day there had been no one following us, no uneasy glances from the shadows. Since no one in here was eyeing us up, at last we could relax. My aches from the morning had eased considerably, making my recovery very nearly complete, and I speculated again whether or not the ring had strange properties.

A young boy brought over our food and we tucked in. My fish-based broth wasn’t going to possess any magical healing powers, but I ate eagerly nonetheless.

‘Have you ever eaten in a place like this?’ Leana asked Nambu, who looked distinctly uncomfortable. The young girl was pushing food around her metal plate and she sniffed every morsel, uncertain of its safety – or perhaps unsure of what it was meant to be. No doubt this was a change from the usual sumptuous meals served in the palace.

‘If I am honest, no,’ Nambu muttered, putting down her fork and instead seeming more interested in the people coming into the tavern.

‘Relax,’ Leana said. ‘You will be fine. These are honest people. They are not here to bother you. They wish to eat and drink after a day of labour.’

‘I know, it’s just . . . I eat a lot of my sit-down meals in private, with the exception of banquets.’

‘Then welcome to the rest of the world.’ Continuing in a soft tone, I said, ‘Imagine what it is like for the others – many of them will have to go home to crowded houses, sleeping four to a room and having to urinate in a bucket. This is luxury to them. Now, you should probably eat your food. We cannot have your mother accusing us of starving you.’

Nambu began to eat and soon began to devour the rest.

After a while I asked her, ‘Nambu, you can trust the two of us now, can’t you?’

‘I believe I can, yes,’ she replied. ‘So much as anyone can be trusted.’

A cryptic answer for one so young. It sounded like words inherited from her mother. ‘Tell me, truthfully. Why does the queen want you out of the palace?’

‘She wants me
protected
,’ Nambu stressed. ‘There was an attack on me. She wants me safe.’

‘That’s only part of it,’ I replied. ‘She could have you protected in any number of ways. She could lock you up. She could surround you by guards.’

‘She’s already done that before and that did not exactly work out too well.’

‘Well,’ I continued, ‘she’s hoping we
outsiders
will take you out of the royal court. Out of your usual routines. Why would she do that? Why would she want someone she hardly knows – though admittedly someone she can trust – to look after you, to keep you away from the court, to take you from her side?’

Nambu shrugged. ‘We don’t especially get on.’

‘Rare are the youth and parent who do. Why else?’

‘So she can carry on with her lovers.’

‘She has a room for that. By Polla, we’re living in those quarters now. Why else?’

‘Her paranoia? I don’t know. Maybe she’s practising wrestling for the Kotonese Games.’

Smiling, I shook my head and leaned forward, taking a chunk of bread and dipping it in my soup. After I’d finished my mouthful, I continued. ‘She’s worried someone’s likely to get to you, but from the court – someone
within
her inner circle. That’s why she wants us – outsiders – to keep you out of there. She doesn’t mind, after all, that we take you to some of the more questionable parts of the city, which are hardly the safest places in the world. So, who could she want to keep you away from?’

Nambu remained engrossed in her food. ‘I know only a fraction of what she gets up to.’

‘Are you worried?’

She regarded me with her bold blue eyes. ‘Why should I be?’

‘I guess you really aren’t worried then.’

‘Besides,’ she continued, ‘Leana has taught me the basics of swordplay. I will soon be able to defend myself.’

Maybe Nambu didn’t even know herself why her mother would want her out of the way. From what little I’d seen of their relationship, it looked to me as if there was a strong bond between mother and daughter – if a little stiff and formal. So I didn’t think it was merely out of spite, or simply wanting to keep her away, that Nambu had been placed with us.