Page 24 of A Drop of Corruption

“Many crimes, ma’am?” said Malo, surprised.

“Oh, yes,” said Ana. “I believe many deeds were done on that day, the tenth of Hajnal.” We walked down the porch to the New Town lane. “The disappearance of our man in white was but one of them. We shall see!”

Chapter 10

We returned to the towerin Old Town and wound up the many stairs to find the top floor now filled with senior Treasury officers darting from room to room, their arms overflowing with scrolls and parchments. We were directed to the largest chamber, positioned on the far side of the tower from where Sujedo had been housed. Two Apoth guards were stationed before it, and they inspected our heralds closely before opening the doors for us.

Dominating the room within was a large, long meeting table, so piled up with papers that it was difficult to spy any bit of actual table. Nearly a dozen senior Treasury officers were positioned about it, shuffling through the parchments like a gold miner might seek a glitter among the mud. So absorbed were they in their tasks that none noticed our arrival.

Only two officers reacted to us: a young Treasury signum, seated off to the side, and an older man at the head of the table, who sat crooked in his chair as he cast a rather weary eye over the proceedings. His skin was gray, indicating significant alterations, and he—like Ana herself—was of Sazi origin, with long, dark, braided mustaches that pooled about his collarbones. There was something wry and ironic about his face, like he knew a great many secrets and found all of them slightly ridiculous.

He looked up as we approached, then smiled brightly, as if he not only had expected us but was overjoyed at our sight. He turned to thesignum and jerked his head—We’re done here—and they stood and walked to greet us, he with his white Treasury cape dashingly coiled down about his forearm.

“Ahh,” he said. “Iudex, is it? About poor Sujedo? Finally, what a relief.” Again he smiled, this time so warmly I found myself disarmed: an unusual thing, since I was often guarded about such high officers. “I am Prificto Umerus Kardas, leader of the Imperial Treasury delegation. This is my assistant, Signum Gorthaus.”

We bowed in return, and the young woman bowed back, though I noted the heralds on her breast: the eye set within a box, indicating she was an engraver, like myself. It was unusual to see so many Sublimes of my sect in one city, but then, Yarrowdale was a valuable place, with many valuable things to keep track of.

“Good afternoon, sir,” I said, bowing once more. “I am Signum Dinios Kol of the Imperial Iudex, and this is my investigator, Immunis Ana Dolabra.”

“A pleasure,” said Kardas. “Always happy to see another Tala officer! It is with the deeds of those on the Outer Rim that all of our safety is secured.” He then turned to Ana. “Ah…” His eye lingered for a fraction of a second on her blindfold; then he bowed low, took her by the right hand, and kissed one pale knuckle. “Always a delight to meet a member of the old country.”

I stared, startled not only by the boldness of the gesture but also because I was aware of how rarely Ana washed her hands. Yet I realized that, as the two were both Sazi and hailed from the inner rings, there might be some sense of greater kinship between them.

Ana grinned back her predator’s grin. “Of course, sir. Though it has been a long while since I’ve laid eyes upon the homelands.”

Kardas glanced again at her blindfold and gave a charming laugh, as though in on the joke. “I apologize for the state of things.” He gestured at the table of whispering officers behind him. “My officers are busy folk and burdened with heavy tasks.”

“It is no trouble at all,” said Ana. “I thank you for making time for us, Prificto Kardas. Though I do not believe we shall take up too much of your time here.”

I frowned slightly; I’d expected a full interview with all the delegation, which would normally take hours.

“Then come,” said Kardas. “Let us sit and discuss these troubles, and hope we find some answers!”

—

We left the meetingroom to adjourn to a small parlor. The chairs there were very fine, upholstered in rich silks and comfortably cushioned. It would have been a pleasant place had it been in a different building, but just like Sujedo’s rooms, Kardas’s chambers were musty, moldy, and slightly foul-smelling.

“I also apologize for the environs,” said Kardas as he sat. “I’d serve you tea, but…well, the way the building tilts makes it difficult to pour. King Lalaca, you see, specifically requested we reside in this…structure? Hovel? I lack the word. Yet it was apparently the grand house of his ancestors many decades ago.”

“I cannot see it, sir,” said Ana. “But it does notsmellgrand.”

“I agree. As with all things concerning King Lalaca, there was a cynical play. If we refused to house the delegation in these chambers, he would have proclaimed it an insult and refused to meet with us. Now he makes us stay in this dreary place and forces us to meet with go-betweens with nothing useful to say.” A weary smile. “I sometimes feel we shall sooner see the blessed Khanum walk the earth again before we make any progress.”

“It must be a dreadful situation indeed, sir,” said Ana, “if the king is proving resilient to even your talents.”

Kardas smiled, puzzled. “Talents? What might you mean?”

“I assume, sir,” Ana said, “that you are a Sublime? Specifically, anemitias?”

The prificto regarded her warily. As he did, I glanced at his heralds but could not spy the symbol of the pear within the oval in the center: the sign of the emitias Sublimes, who were preternaturally skilled at reading human emotion, so much so that it was rumored they could smell and react to human pheromones.

“What makes you say such a thing, Dolabra?” he asked mildly.

“Well, I have met all manner of Sublimes in my day,” Ana said. “But only four have ever kissed my hand upon greeting me—and they have all been emitiasi. It’s a gesture I always respond so well to, but most others don’t have the gall! Yet they sense I desire it, as if they read my very mind.”

“You assume so much,” said Kardas, “simply because I kissed your hand?”

“Well, there is that, and I hear absolutely no surprise in your voice at the sight of my blindfold, nor the rest of my appearance. You seem an unusually socially deft officer, in other words! Suspiciously so. And such an augment would make sense, sir, you being a diplomat.”