James said, ‘We’ll take a meal upstairs, Gina, given the state of the common room.’
Glancing around, Jazhara and William could see that the carpenters and painters had just gone home, leaving a great deal of work for the next day. James picked up some wood shavings off a nearby table and let them go, watching them for a moment as they drifted to the floor.
‘I do prefer my food without sawdust,’ said William with a laugh.
James handed Gina a small purse. ‘I know our kitchen isn’t ready, so have a boy run down to Ahmen’s and fetch us back fruit, cheese, bread and wine. Oh, and if Maribeka has any hot sausage left in her stall, on his way back have him grab some of those, please.’
Gina smiled and nodded, hurrying off to do as she had been bid. William watched admiringly as she went, and turned to see Jazhara staring at him with a narrow gaze. ‘What?’ he asked.
She said nothing but turned towards the stairs leading to the second floor. As she moved off, William threw James a questioning look. ‘What?’ he repeated. James answered silently with a shake of his hand, communicating that he was not going to get involved in whatever was going on. William could see he was trying mightily to stifle a laugh.
They followed Jazhara upstairs all the way to the top floor. When they arrived on the landing they saw three doors, one on each side and one directly before them, situated down a short hallway. James pointed to the left-hand door. ‘Jazhara, that’s yours.’ Then to the right, ‘And Willy, your room.’ He opened the door ahead and said, ‘And this is mine.’
He led them into a small but well-appointed room. ‘Nothing too ostentatious, but nice and clean. We’re going to cater to a specific clientele: mid-level functionaries and agents, the sort we’d like to know better.’
‘We?’ asked Jazhara, removing her shoulder bag and placing it on the floor next to a small table. There were two chairs and a bed, and a modest night stand against the wall under a small window overlooking the street. William took the other chair and James sat on the bed.
The former thief grinned. ‘I’ve purchased the Jade Monkey on the prince’s behalf.’
William returned the grin. ‘Arutha will be no doubt thrilled with your expending royal funds to purchase an inn in Durbin.’
‘I think he will,’ said James solemnly. ‘At least I hope so.’
‘So, a nest of spies?’ asked Jazhara, looking a little disapproving.
‘Hardly. A convenient place for certain people loyal to Arutha to feel secure when they visit this blight of a city.’ He leaned forward. ‘Even though I’ve made this little investment and hired Gina to manage it on my behalf, trust no one who is not in this room.’
They both nodded. Then William asked, ‘What is the plan?’
‘Rest, wait, and expect an invitation before sundown.’
‘What are you going to do?’ asked Jazhara.
‘The same,’ he said, swinging his legs up and lying back on the bed, his arms behind his head. ‘I expect that after supper I shall be busy tonight.’
Jazhara and William exchanged glances, then rose and departed. As William turned to pull the door closed behind him he could see that James was already fast asleep.
T
HE GONG RANG OUT
.
The Master of Ceremony to the Governor of Durbin called out, ‘The Lady Jazhara Shala Nema Hazara-Khan, Sir William conDoin, Knight-Lieutenant of the Prince of Krondor’s Court, Sir James—’ he threw James a quick look at the absence of a surname, then collected himself and continued, ‘—Knight-Lieutenant of the Prince of Krondor’s Court.’
James whispered, ‘I think I need to anoint myself with a patronymic.’
‘Well, you did somewhat invent yourself, so why not “Jamison”?’ William whispered back as they started to walk across the large receiving hall of the Governor of Durbin’s palace.
James grinned. ‘I rather like that.’
The Governor of Durbin was a heavy-set man with powerful shoulders under a loose-fitting, knee-length robe of fine silk, tastefully trimmed with minimal beadwork. Its one concession to the usual Keshian affection for the ornate was the use of massive pearls as frogs and silver thread in the loops that ran from collar to hem. His sandals were also of fine craftsmanship, though James thought them more utilitarian and less decorative than he would have expected in a Keshian court. The governor stood with his advisors at the far side of the room. James understood the politics here: they had to come to him, and he had the chance to study them as they approached. It was establishing a position of dominance with the niece of one of the most powerful men in the Empire. James conceded silently it was nice theatre, as well.
As they crossed the room, James attempted to identify those who were worthy of notice, deserved attention as dangerous, were merely functionaries, or were purely there for decoration. Like every other human environment, the palace of the governor was a place full of connections, hierarchies, and perquisites. Sometimes titles and offices revealed key elements of those relationships, but more often they didn’t. His first visit to Rillanon with Prince Arutha to see his brother King Lyam had taught young Jimmy the Hand, then freshly minted Squire James, that some advisors are listened to more closely than others, that some nobles have more influence and power than others of the same rank.
By the time they reached the governor, who stretched out his hand and took Jazhara’s, James had garnered a good idea of who he could ignore, so that he could pay more attention to more important players in whatever game was coming their way.
The governor, Hamet Kazani iben Aashi, bowed just enough to be respectful, and not an inch more; there was no deference towards Jazhara. ‘Welcome, Lady Jazhara. I am a great admirer of your uncle. How is Lord Hazara-Khan?’
‘Well, last I heard, Governor, and I have no reason to expect otherwise.’
James resisted the urge to smile at her use of his office title, rather than the general honorific of ‘my lord’, for Governor Aashi was a commoner who had elevated himself by wit, skill, and a ruthless, murderous ambition. James had read every document on him before leaving Krondor, and had concluded the governor was effectively the King of Durbin, given how little imperial oversight came from the City of Kesh. He was a man who was jealous of his position and all the trappings of his office. And therein, James thought, might lie his vulnerability.
The governor said, ‘Would you please present to us your companions?’
Again, James resisted an urge to laugh. Jazhara might be someone to whom he must show deference, but the two minor knights from the Kingdom were men he could pretend to ignore; or at least, he could ignore the introduction just made by his own Master of Ceremony.
Jazhara said, ‘Sir William conDoin—’
At the mention of William’s surname, the governor’s attention shifted, and James realized that this had thrown him off balance, just a little. ‘ConDoin’ meant a relative of the King of the Isles, and no matter how distant that relationship was, the bearer would always be a man of some importance.
‘—And Sir James Jamison.’
The governor threw James a perfunctory smile and nod, then turned his attention back to Jazhara and William.
James listened as the governor chatted with William, pausing occasionally to smile in James’s general direction, but James could tell he had already consigned James to a ‘not very important’ role in his mind. Perhaps the lady had two lovers, or a lover and his friend, but whatever that relationship might be, the governor was concentrating on people he considered important, those who might be used to his advantage, or who might somehow pose a threat. To be inconspicuous was exactly what James wanted. He would endeavour to fade into the background as best he could through the evening, so that by dawn tomorrow, if all went well, the governor wouldn’t even be able to remember what he looked like.
Now, the governor took Jazhara by the arm and steered her towards a large table that had been surrounded by couches, in the Quegan manner. James thought this a bit odd, but as Queg was merely a week’s sailing to the north, he presumed the governor had visited, liked their dining style, and installed it in his own court.
A regal-looking woman stood before them and the governor made introductions. ‘My dear, this is the Lady Jazhara, Sir William and—’ he glanced over his shoulder a little, ‘—and Sir James, from Krondor.’ To his guests he said, ‘My wife, Lady Shandra.’
James and William bowed slightly, while Jazhara extended her hand and the Lady Shandra took it. ‘We are honoured to have you in our home,’ she said.
She had been a stunning beauty in her youth, James decided, for despite the grey in her hair and having gained a little weight, she was still a striking figure. She had dark eyes and full lips; her face was slightly lined, but she used powder and rouges to good advantage. But beneath the striking exterior, there was something else. The subtle way her husband’s behaviour had changed told James that while the governor might rule the city of Durbin and the surrounding environs, Lady Shandra ruled this house. And something else was causing James’s ‘bump of trouble’ to itch. For no reason he could name, he marked this woman as dangerous.
A servant escorted them to their places, and James reclined on one of the couches. After finding a comfortable way to lie and accept titbits from passing trays, he found himself next to a young traveller from somewhere in the heart of Kesh, a dark-skinned man who looked more like a warrior than the merchant he claimed to be. James assumed he was one of the governor’s agents and guarded his conversation accordingly.
The dinner proved tedious: as James had anticipated, the companion on his left attempted to gain information about why the lovely Lady Jazhara was in Durbin – not the most direct route to see her family, should she be travelling into the Jal-Pur – and what could James tell him about the young knight travelling with her: how closely was he related to the royal family? The attempts, being clumsy, were easily evaded. James stuck to the prepared story: Jazhara was travelling this way because of some minor family business in the city, and because her family was in residence at an oasis closer to Durbin than Shamata, and because rumours of raiders in the eastern Jal-Pur made this route more prudent. As for the good-looking young knight-lieutenant, he was a very distant cousin to the prince and king, bearing a name but little rank, wealth or influence. However, the Lady Jazhara and he had formed a very close relationship.
When the meal was over and the three of them were safely back at the Jade Monkey, in Jazhara’s room, James looked at her and said, ‘First, did you sense any magic?’
‘Something,’ she said, looking uneasy. ‘I couldn’t put my finger on it, as it was unknown to me. It was either a long way away, or close and subtle – I’m not sure which.’
‘Assume close and subtle, to be on the safe side,’ said James. He was silent for a moment, then added, ‘Could it have been demonic?’
Jazhara was thoughtful for a few seconds. ‘Perhaps. I have little experience with demons or their magic. The one encounter under that inn in Krondor was the only time, and while I watched the priest banish the demon . . .’ She shrugged. ‘It’s a bit like listening to someone speak in a language you can’t quite understand.’
James shrugged. ‘I have a bit more experience, I’m sorry to say. Demons have been showing up from time to time since I first took service with Arutha.’
William had heard some of these tales. He asked, ‘Anything we need to watch for?’
James shook his head. ‘I don’t know. After that run-in in Krondor I asked a bit here and there from some of the clerics inclined to talk about the subject. The Order of the Shield of the Weak at the Temple of Dala have collected quite a bit of demon-lore. All I know is, the ones I’ve run afoul of are big and nasty. That one we saw in Krondor was a tiny thing compared to the monster that showed up at Sarth when I was travelling north with the prince.’ He paused as if remembering. ‘Something one of the prelates said back then . . . I may be suffering from faulty recall, but I seem to remember that some demons are from another plane.’
William nodded. ‘What they call the lower hells.’
‘Whatever that is,’ said James. ‘But others are made, conjured out of dead body parts and the like.’
Jazhara shuddered.
‘And some are invisible,’ added James. ‘I must poke around. You two need to look like illicit young lovers stealing away for an impromptu assignation disapproved of by both your families.’ He grinned. ‘Or at least by your nations.’
As Jazhara’s family was a powerful one in Kesh and William was related to the royal house by adoption, it wasn’t far from the truth. ‘I’ll have Gina fetch you up some wine.’ James stood up. ‘I’m going back to my room to take a nap. I need to be out tonight and have to be seen here and there a little tomorrow.’ He reached for the door. ‘Try to look convincing.’
William blushed as the door closed and Jazhara tried not to laugh. At last she said, ‘What have you told him?’
‘About us? Nothing, really, but Jimmy has his ways of finding things out, and if there was a rumour about us in Stardock, he’ll have heard it by now, have no doubt.’
‘We should talk,’ said Jazhara.
William’s brow furrowed. ‘I thought we had.’
She smiled. ‘So did I.’ She paused. ‘I didn’t realize for a long time how much I’d hurt you, William.’
It was obvious he was uncomfortable with the conversation. But he returned her gaze and nodded.
She sighed, moved in towards him and put her arms around his waist. Laying her cheek against his chest, she said, ‘I know you think I toyed with you, but that wasn’t the truth.’
‘What was the truth, then?’ he asked quietly.
She was silent for a long moment, then said, ‘I did love you, William, in my way. I was older, true, but I was also young and without much experience.’ When she looked up at him he saw a slight sheen of moisture in her eyes. ‘I did love you.’