Raulin wasn’t a “slow and steady” type of man, but sitting at the restaurant, hearing the Royal Arvarikor Society talk about the things he hated, he knew he was going to have to be as quiet as a mouse in a yarn factory. There would be no swinging of the conversation in subtle ways towards the topics he needed. He had to feign complete disinterest in the Mantyger. He had to smile and pretend that he wasn’t itching to run and get things done now.
He was in what was called kamrayik-kark, the blind thunderstorm. You could hear it coming, but you couldn’t tell how large it was, when or where the lightning would strike, nor how long it would last. Once you heard the first rumblings of thunder, in this case that boy telling him who his target was, it became a difficult storm to predict. What was essential was planning. He didn’t want to lose the valuable information this group could bring, but he wanted so very badly to be in his room, collecting his thoughts, discussing things with Al, Tel, and Anla, and not be here listening to the insipid conversation of kids.
He laughed as Stevrin landed a joke. Nice and relaxed, having a good time with some admirers.
“What were you up to, Raulin?” Saesara asked. “No one’s seen you this week.”
He didn’t ever blink at how unnerved he was that they knew that he had been away from the city. “I was working on my first contract. Had to find a needle in a haystack, so to speak.”
There were immediate requests to elaborate, which he did. He didn’t mention that he had a team with him and took the credit for Al’s work. He’d rather they didn’t know about the others. “I actually just arrived here this afternoon and I’m going to start my next contract.” He sipped on the ruly grue. “It’s going to be a big one. I might need your help with it.”
Everyone at the table leaned in a little closer.
“There’s a gentleman who’ll be arriving in Acripla in a week. His name is,” he pulled out his notebook and opened to a blank page, “Viscount Dangic Fremark of South Quissend. Anyone know him?” They all shook their heads. He certainly hoped they didn’t; he was the director of the Cumber. “He has a pair of red buttons that my client would like stolen. However, I’ve been informed that he has a trirec guarding him. That will make things difficult.”
“Oh, do you want us to steal them for you?” Kaliv asked, his blond hair falling into his face.
“No,” he said, giving him a deep-throated laugh. “If it was that easy then no one would hire a trirec to do their work. They’d just hire your average dockside cutpurse. That trirec guard is going to make it all but impossible for someone like me. Maybe.”
“Maybe?” Kaliv asked.
“Well, there’s a protection fee anyone can pay, some annual amount that any contract submitted to Arvarikor will be protected. If you pay that fee and someone submits a contract for your suit of armor, your wife’s pearls, your trophy for winning the Hesla Cup, the contract will be fulfilled, then immediately reversed. I’m going to check with Keta-li, see if she knows if Fremark has this fee. Even if he doesn’t, I might be able to convince his guard that Arvarikor can double-dip if he looks the other way while I steal the buttons, then help him steal them back.”
There were a few forks paused in mid-air. “There’s a protection fee?” Saesara asked.
“Yes. It’s a new thing Arvarikor is trying.” Like, a new thing a few moments old, he thought. “The theft contracts are already a game the nobles play with each other. Most don’t mind things being stolen. If they do, then it’s worth the money for the fee.”
“What about assassinations and spying? Is there some fee to protect people from those?”
He shook his head. “The only way to combat those is to hire a guard and to keep your nose clean. You can’t exactly ‘untell’ a secret or ‘unkill’ someone, like you can ‘unsteal’ an object. Well, maybe you Tektornians could unkill someone.”
They laughed. “The country thinks we’re backwoods necromancers,” Stevrin said. “And I won’t deny that we care less about the macabre than other people do. But, we’ve never successfully arisen a man from death, at least that I know of.”
“Too bad. That would come in handy.”
“I heard the Mantyger is capable of doing that,” Kaliv said. “He supposedly has a man dressed head-to-toe in black that does his bidding. He’s been stabbed a few times in vital areas only to be seen the next day.”
“How do you know it’s the same man?” Raulin asked casually, popping a mushroom into his mouth.
“Same height and build; he’s a big guy. I doubt you’d find too many like him around.”
“Interesting. So, maybe there are necromancers here in Acripla. I wonder if they got a hold of…well, never mind.”
“What?” Rubine asked.
“Dalido-redanth. It’s a new healing agent that we trirecs have that can mend a stab wound in days, not weeks. I managed to get a vial when I was in Hanala, but it’s very rare.”
As the conversation progressed, he felt like their cheeks were dewy with the steam from their warm meals from leaning so far forward. He continued to fill their heads with nonsense, building anecdotes from wishes and fears. He didn’t touch upon the Mantyger. He thanked them for the meal and promised to see them again the following Saturday.
Raulin was almost on the street when he heard his name called. “Do you mind if I walk with you?” Saesara asked, stepping next to him.
He gritted his teeth, then smiled. “No, not at all. Was there something on your mind?”
“I wanted to go for a stroll and no one will think illicit things of a young woman accompanied by a trirec.”
“So, I’m giving a service that you’re not paying for,” he said with some mirth.
“Well, perhaps my company will be enough to cover the cost.” They walked in silence for a few more moments, then she said, “I was curious what you had in mind for the Society, to help you with your next contract. You were distracted and never covered it.”
“Ah. I was hoping that, if the situation with the guard doesn’t work in my favor, that your group could help me with a distraction. Nothing unsafe, mind you. I’d be very careful about that.”
“Are you in the habit of accepting help from someone outside your order?”
“Unless they’re a spirit climber, and I’m assuming you know what one of those are, no. But I can take advantage of a situation if it arises. And if I suggest for that situation to happen and someone overhears me and decides to make it happen, well, it would be stupid not to act on it.”
She gave him an appreciative smile. “Nothing dangerous, you promise?” He gave a quick bow from his neck. “Those people are like my brothers and sisters. I would be very angry if any of them got hurt.”
“I understand.”
They continued a little farther down the tight, cobbled streets near Dockside, holding a pleasant conversation about various goings-on. She pointed out some things he might not know, like what election was coming up and who was running or the name of a common tree and its significance to Acripla. All the while, he felt the eyes of the Mantyger on him, his breath on the back of his neck.
“Here is my home,” she said, swinging the end of her parasol to a corner house with wrought-iron trellises and ivy. It seemed respectable, but was in need of a few touches by some tradesmen. She held up her lace-gloved hand and he pressed it quickly to the mouth of his mask. “I’ll see you next Saturday. I wish you luck with your next contract.”
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“Thank you.”
He wanted nothing more than run as fast as he could to the hotel, to start his plotting and planning. But, he already had begun the game. He was in the midst of his act. Cool, collected, calm. He was going to make himself return at a steady pace. He was walking down the street, waving to the nice people, like he normally would. He was opening the door to their inn and closing it slowly…
He launched himself upstairs and burst through the room. “So sorry I took so long. I got waylaid by…where’s Anla?”
“You asked us to wait here for you and we didn’t leave to get dinner. We’re starving. She went to get it.”
“Oh, damn, I’m sorry. Okay, I will wait for her then…”
“Right behind you,” she said, nudging her way in with bowls from a local restaurant. “Sorry it took so long.”
Al grabbed a bowl and began shoveling the rice, steak tips, and peppers in a sweet onion sauce. Tel was only a little more modest with his vegetables. They didn’t care that their food was cold.
“Thank you for staying here and not speaking with anyone,” Raulin began. “I’ll explain what’s going on. A week ago, when I met with the Royal Arvarikor Society, they happened to mention a shadow boss in Acripla. His name is the Mantyger and I found out a few hours ago that I am responsible for rooting him out.”
“What do you mean by a ‘shadow boss’?” Al asked.
“He’s a man who is involved in many businesses and organizations, but no one knows who he is. From what I gathered, he has a lot of power and has achieved it by any means possible, including bribery, blackmail, extortion, and murdering anyone that gets in his way.”
“How do they know he’s been doing it?”
“I assume it’s because people have seen his henchman at the scene of the crime. It might also be that someone is attributing unsolved crimes to this phantom. He might not even exist.”
“How do you find someone that might not exist?”
“I’m going to assume he does exist, in some form. It might be several local businessmen or a society, but in some entity the Mantyger is real. And there are two ways to find him: the past and his henchman.”
“His past? Do you mean investigating crimes?”
“Yes, which is mostly out of the question. I don’t know how powerful this man is. I don’t know where he has eyes and how much of this city is in his pocket. If I, if anyone, goes around asking questions, he could know immediately that someone is trying to find him. And that would seem very suspicious with a new trirec in the city.”
Al scoffed a little. “Don’t you think you’re being a little paranoid?”
“Paranoia is being overly careful ninety-nine times but being right about it once.”
“So, what’s your plan?” Anla asked.
“I hate to say this, but I think we need to split up. I’ll find you three another room, a large one, and we’ll start corresponding by letter. While I pretend to prepare for this fake contract, I’ll need you two to pick up the slack. Whatever you think you can get away with safely. If you think someone is even thinking about squinting at your words, I want you to play dumb and walk away.”
“This seems overly cautious,” she said. “For you it’s positively restrictive.”
He tented his fingers in front of his mouth. “For me, it’s not about me. I don’t mind putting my life on the line. I don’t mind you guys helping, even though that’s still a big problem if Arvarikor finds out. I do mind you guys helping in a potentially life threatening contract. I just…I can’t put you in harm’s way like that. I felt bad enough that Al was attacked after we found out who was stalking Lady Amirelsa, and that man was just some sad sack of a wizard with a gambling problem. Imagine someone whose empire is going to crumble when he’s brought to light.”
“That’s a good point. What are we talking about in compensation?”
Raulin chose to take that as a joke, since she was smiling. Otherwise he would have thought she distrusted him, harkening back to Mount Kalista and the monumental disaster he had brought down on their relationship. “One eighth a piece for attempting, one quarter a piece for solving. One-ten or two-twenty.”
“Kriskin malor,” Al swore. “It is high risk then, huh?”
“Yes. The price alone should indicate what we’re dealing with. This city, or at least someone rich in this city, wants the Mantyger fingered and gone.
“I will be dusting off my Chayen character. You two pick what you want, but I think it would be wise to be Mr. and Mrs. Auslen again, though a couple on their honeymoon instead of hunting for collectibles.”
“Hear that, Maya? We’re alive again,” Al joked.
“Lovely to hear, Fiar.” She turned to Raulin. “What do you want us to do, though?”
“The Auslens should be sightseeing, maybe asking a little about the Mantyger. Bury your curiosity, though; ask five questions, throw the one about the Mantyger in the middle. That way if someone asks what you were curious about, they’ll say ‘a bunch of questions’ instead of ‘they were snooping around about the Mantyger’. Gather as many rumors as you can. That’s all for now. In the morning I’m moving you two to your new room nearby. After that point, we communicate by letter.”
“Or I can give you an encapsulation. No record that way.”
“Smart. Yes, we’ll do that, just indicate where it is so I don’t miss it.”
In the morning, Mr. and Mrs. Auslen walked out of the Libeck Hotel, her hand on his arm, and left to find another inn and to sightsee. Chayen left not too long after to find a bowler to tuck his hair into and a pair of glasses.
Tel, however, sat in the room he shared with Raulin, his back against the wall and his chin tucked against his chest. He would stay there for most of the day, letting his mind soar to Ervaskin while his body rested.
He had thought long and hard on what he would do about the problem with his home, whether he should let the issues run their course without his interference or whether he should do something about it. He had put aside kouriya, knowing it wouldn’t have helped in a decision like this anyway, and he considered all his options, like Raulin had suggested. With an open mind, he considered not just who he was but what he was. He was a prince and he was supposed to help his brother rule. But he was also a kiluid, a man entrusted with keeping balance.
What it really came down to for him was Ervaskin meant harmony. His brother was ruining that harmony. And sometimes you had to hurt someone in order to help them.
If Telbarisk hadn’t known Raulin, he likely wouldn’t have come to this decision. Had he somehow chosen to intervene, he wouldn’t have known what to do next. While Raulin had never taught him how to approach a problem like one of his contracts, Telbarisk had paid attention.
Scouting, Raulin had called it. Probing. Gathering. Learn what you can about the situation before tackling it. He joked that he was a reckless trirec, but Telbarisk had always thought he just had greater advantages than the others and knew where he could be a little careless.
Telbarisk didn’t have those advantages, but he had enough. He could observe, he could assess, and he could react. He was limited and he wished he could speak to his friends about what he was doing, but they were too busy. He understood. They couldn’t wait, and now that he had made his decision, neither could he.
What was essentially happening in Nourabrikot was change. Change was not a bad thing, but forced change with consequences for dissidence was. His brother was hanging men for speaking against him and locking up those he knew were threats he couldn’t kill or banish. His family, his fiancee, his sisters and their families, they were all at his home behind locked doors. The palace was full with prisoners and newcomers, small men with ships moored at a newly built dock. And the worst, as if killing people wasn’t bad enough, were the mines and the harvesters. A man may live to see 175 years, or he may die as a child, but their land was forever in their keeping. To plunder it and take whatever riches the small men wanted in trade was sacrilege.
He had his doubts about his decision, but he also had doubts about a lot of things.
Tel was roused by shaking. His mind whipped back a thousand miles, giving him a headache and warping his vision when he opened his eyes. The man before him was unfamiliar, though he had seen him once before, his hair tucked under a black bowler hat and his dark blue eyes framed in spectacles. The concerned look on his face meant he could only be Raulin.
“There you are,” he said, relief scrawled across his face. “You had me worried.”
Tel rubbed the pain away from his eyes. “Why?”
“It occurred to me that you’ve been in the same position for some time now. I thought that I just kept seeing you napping or asleep, but no. You haven’t moved at all in the last three days.”
Three days? Yes, that sounded about right. The vraska helped keep the body in a semi-torpor, but it couldn’t keep needs completely at bay. He stood, wobbling as Raulin helped him gain his balance, and poured the pitcher of water back into his mouth. “I am scouting,” he said, wiping his face with the back of his hand.
“You’ve decided to help your people, then?”
He nodded. “It doesn’t look well.”
“Talk to me. Tell me what you saw.”
“You’re busy with your contract.”
“Not that busy, Tel. I’m not going to miss anything or put myself in danger by not being out there for an hour or so.”
He repeated everything. Meetings he saw, who was locked up, who was missing, the ravaging of his land. By the end, Raulin had taken off the fake spectacles and knocked the hat off, but he didn’t put his mask on. He held his chin thoughtfully as he sat next to Tel, listening. The grivven honestly couldn’t remember a time when Raulin was so actively engaged in what he was saying. Oh, he had listened and commented, but there was a difference between holding a conversation and sharing a passion.
“Have you done anything other than look?” he asked.
“No. I didn’t even…even tell Kelouya I was there,” he said, his voice breaking.
“You don’t necessarily need to come up with a strategy, but you do need lines, boundaries, what you’re willing to do and what you absolutely will not. I think you should go talk with Al and Anla, you should eat, and you should think. How is your kil? Do you need to replenish?”
“A little. Vraska doesn’t take much. I will listen to your wisdom and do what you suggested before doing anything else.”
“Good,” he said, standing. “And if you need me, please ask me for help. I don’t want to catch you doing that to yourself again.”