Page 39 of A Drop of Corruption

“Oh, it’s all very mild,” she said, her lips blooming steam. “These reagents just give your mood a slight nudge. They’re notrealmoodies, like the ones I prefer. Here. Pass me the relaxant one. Let me give that a suck. And you—you shall take this stimulant one, Din.” She shoved it in my face.

The nozzle smelled faintly of boiled cabbage. I wrinkled my nose. “Not sure I wish to indulge, ma’am.”

“Don’t be such a damned prude. Besides, I heard you yawning. I need you awake and alert for this. Go on! Give it a suck, boy!”

Glowering, I took the hose, vigorously cleaned off the nozzle with a handkerchief, placed it in my mouth, and inhaled.

Suddenly my bones and nerves felt alight with movement, and every object in the room became clearer, like my eyes had grown larger in my head. I put the hose down as I exhaled, and though I could see the fumes leave my lips, I could have sworn they were also swilling about in my skull, urging me to twitch and dance.

“It’s like drinking three clar-teas at once,” I said, awed.

“I’d forgotten your skull was so virginal—perhaps the only goddamned part of you that is anymore, boy. Stop there, then. We don’t want you twitching throughout this, that’d be a damned sigh—”

Then the door opened, and a small parade of officers walked in. I stood as they entered, and Ana wobbily did the same.

The first to walk through the door was Ghrelin, still tall and tremulous, his black eyes anxious, his pale pate gleaming in the light of the mai-lanterns. He glanced at me nervously as he crossed to stand behind one of the chairs on the other side of the table. There were bags about his eyes, and a paperish quality to the gray skin about his cheeks. Perhaps he was the one person here even more tired than I.

After Ghrelin came a woman even taller than him, and indeed almost as tall as I. She moved slowly and confidently, like a person of power accustomed to being waited on, each step careful and precise. Like Ghrelin, her head was almost totally denuded of hair, but she had a Rathras look to her, her features long and aquiline. Her raiment was glorious and glittering, her robes all layered in crimsons and dark yellows, which gave her the look of an autumn leaf from one of the high mountain trees of the inner Empire. As she passed below the light of the glass windows above, I caught a glint from her robes, and saw heralds denoting her a commander-prificto. It was likely she was the highest-ranking officer in the entire facility.

After her came three Apoth commanders, two men and a woman, who followed her in a tight line. I was reminded of wood ducklings swimming after their mother. The three commanders took their places behind the commander-prificto, then turned to look at Ana and me with eyes both watchful and suspicious.

The commander-prificto waited until her people were all in place before giving us a slight bow. “Good morning,” she said, her voice cool and soft. “Thank you for coming. I am Commander-Prificto Kulaq Thelenai, and these are Commanders Biktas, Nepasiti, and Sizeides.”

The three commanders gave us a unified, unsmiling nod.

Commander-Prificto Thelenai extended a hand to Ghrelin. “And I believe you are already acquainted with Immunis Rava Ghrelin…”

A nervous smile from Ghrelin, yet he shot a searching glance at Thelenai, as if to confirm that his smile did not bring reproach. It wasin this small gesture that I suddenly felt I had the feel of them: Thelenai was the grand and steely queen of this realm, and he was her scurrying counselor, rushing to invent laws to match her will.

Ana and I bowed and introduced ourselves. “Thank you all for agreeing to this interview on such short notice, ma’am,” said Ana, attempting a sane smile. “We felt the situation demanded a speedy response.”

“Indeed,” said Thelenai somberly. “This incident is one of the most disturbing in recent memory—the sensitive workings of two Iyalets so thoroughly damaged, and here, in this most sensitive of places, at this most difficult of times! We are glad to have the Iudex assist. Please sit.”

Thelenai sat, and her entourage followed suit. I did the same, and Ana plopped into her seat. Yet as we all settled, Commander-Prificto Thelenai’s face was suddenly washed in the light from the windows above, and I saw that the whites of her eyes were stained deeply green, just like Malo’s. There was even a faint stain of green to her lips.

I studied the sight carefully. She was the first imperial person I’d seen as green-stained as a native Pithian. I made a note to ask Ana about it later.

“If we could, ma’am,” Ana said, “I would like to begin by setting some expectations. We have only recently stumbled across these crimes, and we still know very little. Yet we know the Apothetikal Iyalet here is a victim, in a way. So we must question you as victims in order to begin to understand what happened.”

“Of course,” said Thelenai. “But in anticipation of this meeting, Immunis, I have taken the liberty of assembling some information for you…” She waved a hand to one of the commanders, who reached into a satchel and produced a small pile of parchments. “I thought to procure a list of all living officers who have been given access to all the Apoth safes in the Treasury bank in Yarrowdale. It seemed likely pertinent to the crime. I hope I was not untoward in assuming you might want this.”

The commander brought the parchments before Ana, bowed,and returned to his seat. Ana sat for a moment, nonplussed to have one of her requests for information not only exactly predicted, but quickly met.

“Oh,” she muttered. She plucked at the parchments like they were a dish she had not ordered. “Well, ah. This is very good. I had intended to ask for precisely that.”

Thelenai gave a solemn nod, followed by a puff at one of the percolator hoses: the relaxant, unless I was mistaken. “Of course.”

“While we’re on the matter,” said Ana, “I, ah,hadalso wished to get another bit of information. Specifically, a summary of all reagent and precursor thefts of the past two years, if I could, ma’am.”

“All?” said Thelenai, her breath heavy with fumes. “That is a serious request, for there are many thefts. Yet…I suspect you think this criminal has stolen from us before, Dolabra? Is that it?”

“Exactly so, ma’am. For the severed head this man left for us suggests he has been with the smugglers for some time.”

Thelenai considered it, then gestured to one of her commanders. “Then it shall be done. I will have them sent to your quarters as soon as possible.”

“Oh,” said Ana. She seemed almost disappointed to find them so unwilling to put up a fight. I could have almost sworn I heard her mutter, “Well, fuck.” Then, louder, “Thank you, ma’am! This is very generous.”

“Of course,” said Thelenai again. “We will assist in any way we can. Though I note that these will only indicate what was stolen, and not the culprits. There are, I understand, many smuggling clans in the jungles, and they all seem as slippery as eels. Now…you wished to interview Immunis Ghrelin about the nature of the theft, correct?”