‘Things are falling into place,’ Vanion approved.

‘The palace servants have all the usual vices, Lord Vanion,’ Khalad reported. ‘They love to gossip. Alean’s making much better progress than I am – probably because she’s prettier.’

‘Thank you,’ the girl murmured, lowering her eyelashes.

‘It’s no great compliment, Alean,’ Talen told her. ‘My brother’s not a raving beauty – none of us are. Our faces are designed for wear, not for show.’

‘I’d guess that by the end of the week we should have gained their confidence sufficiently to start picking up secrets,’ Khalad surmised.

‘You Elenes amaze me,’ Sarabian marvelled. ‘You all seem to have an absolute genius for intrigue.’

‘This is a rather select group, your Majesty,’ Emban told him. ‘We knew before we left Chyrellos that our major task here would be the gathering of information. We chose people who were skilled at it.’

‘I came across one of the scholars in the contemporary affairs department at the university,’ Bevier reported. ‘Most of the rest of the faculty has already established reputations based on this or that past event. Resting on one’s laurels is one of the failings of academics. They can coast along on a single monograph for decades. Anyway, this fellow I mentioned is young and hungry. He’s come up with a theory, and he’s riding it for all he’s worth. He’s absolutely convinced that all the present turmoil’s emanating from Arjuna – perhaps because no one else on the faculty’s staked out that particular ground yet. He’s also convinced that Scarpa’s the man behind the entire conspiracy.’

‘Who’s Scarpa?’ Kalten asked.

‘Zalasta told us about him,’ Ulath reminded him. ‘He serves the same function in Arjuna as Sabre does in Astel and Gerrich does in Lamorkand.’

‘Oh, yes, now I remember.’

‘Anyway,’ Bevier continued, ‘our scholar’s gathered a huge mass of corroborating evidence, some of it very shaky. He’ll talk for hours about his theory to anybody willing to listen.’

‘Is anybody else at the university working on any alternatives?’ Emban asked him.

‘Not actively, your Grace. They don’t want to risk their reputations on false leads. Academic timidity’s forcing them to take a wait-and-see position. My young enthusiast doesn’t have a reputation, so he’s willing to take some risks.’

‘Stay with him, Bevier,’ Vanion said. ‘Even negative conclusions can help to narrow the search.’

‘My feelings exactly, Lord Vanion.’

‘Do you suppose I could impose on your Majesty?’ Stragen asked the emperor.

‘That’s what a host is for, Milord,’ Sarabian grinned. ‘Impose to your heart’s content.’

‘You did know that there are criminals here in Matherion, didn’t you?’

‘You mean other than the members of my government?’

Stragen laughed. ‘Score one for you, your Majesty,’ he said. ‘There’s a world below the surface in every major city in the world,’ he explained. ‘It’s a world of thieves, pickpockets, burglars, beggars, whores, swindlers and murderers. They eke out a precarious existence by preying on the rest of society.’

‘We’re aware that such people exist, of course,’ Sarabian said. ‘That’s why we have policemen and prisons.’

‘Yes, your Majesty. Those are some of the minor inconveniences in the criminal’s life. What isn’t generally known, however, is the fact that the criminals of the world co-operate with each other to some degree.’

‘Go on.’

‘I’ve had some contacts with those people in the past, your Majesty,’ Stragen went on, choosing his words carefully. ‘They can be very useful. There’s almost nothing that goes on in a city that some criminal doesn’t know about. If you make it clear that you’re not interested in their activities, they’ll usually sell you the information they’ve picked up.’

‘A business arrangement then?’

‘Precisely. It’s something on the order of buying stolen goods. It’s not very nice, but many people do it.’

‘Of course.’

‘Now, then. This co-operative spirit I mentioned doesn’t exist here in Matherion. Tamuls don’t co-operate very well for some reason. Each profession here keeps strictly to itself. They’ve even formed guilds, and they view other criminal professions with contempt and suspicion. We’re going to have to break down those walls if those people are to be of any use to us.’

‘That stands to reason, Milord.’

Stragen seemed to breathe a bit easier. ‘I’ve made some arrangements, your Majesty,’ he said. ‘The leaders of the various criminal guilds are going to come here. They respect you enormously, and they’ll obey if you tell them to do something.’ He paused. ‘That’s as long as you don’t command them to become honest, of course.’

‘Of course. You can’t ask a man to give up his profession, I suppose.’

‘Exactly. What you can order them to do, though, your Majesty, is to abandon these caste barriers and start talking to each other. If they’re going to be of any use, they’re going to have to be willing to pass information to one central collecting point. If we have to contact the head of each guild, information would be stale long before we got our hands on it.’

‘I see. Correct me if I’m wrong, Milord Stragen. What you want me to do is to organise the criminals of Matherion so that they can prey on honest citizens more effectively in exchange for unspecified information they may or may not be able to pick up in the street. Is that it?’

Stragen winced. ‘I was afraid your Majesty might look at it that way,’ he said.

‘You needn’t be fearful, Milord Stragen. I’ll be happy to have a chat with these loyal criminals. The gravity of the current crisis over-rides my natural revulsion for having dealings with knaves and rogues. Tell me, Milord, are you a good thief?’

‘I guess I’ve underestimated your Majesty,’ Stragen sighed. ‘Yes, actually I’m a very good thief. I hate to sound immodest, but I’m probably the best thief in the world.’

‘How’s business?’

‘Not so good lately, Emperor Sarabian. Times of turmoil are very bad for crime. Honest men grow nervous and start protecting their valuables. Oh, one thing, your Majesty. The criminals you’ll be addressing will all be masked. They respect you enormously, but they’ll probably want to hide their faces from you.’