Geder

The banner spread out over the table, vermillion cloth flowing down to puddle on the floor. The dark eightfold sigil in the pale center had bent onto itself, so Geder leaned in and plucked it straight. Lerer stroked his chin, walking first close and then back and close again before stopping at his son's shoulder.

"Among my people, this is the standard of your race," Basrahip said. "The color is for the blood from which all races of mankind came."

"And the compass rose in the middle there?" Lerer asked.

"That is the symbol of the goddess," Basrahip said.

Lerer grunted. He walked forward again, touching the cloth with careful fingertips. Geder felt his own fingers twitch toward it, mirroring his father. Basrahip had told him how the priests harvested spider silk and learned to dye it. The banner represented the work of ten lifetimes, and running his hands over it had been like touching the wind.

"And you wanted to hang this at... ah... Rivenhalm?"

"No," Geder said. "No, I was thinking it would be at the temple here in Camnipol."

"Oh. That's right," Lerer said. "The temple."

The road home from the hidden temple of the Sinir mountains had been a thousand times more pleasant than the journey out. At the end of each day, Basrahip would sit at the fire with him, listening to whatever anecdotes and tales Geder could remember, laughing at the funny ones, becoming pensive at the tragic. Even the servants, initially unable to hide their discomfort at the high priest's company, calmed well before they reached the border between the Keshet and Sarakal. Somewhat to Geder's surprise, Basrahip knew the rough track of their journey. The priest had explained that though the human world had remade itself, collapsed, and begun again countless times since the temple of the spider goddess had withdrawn from the world, the dragon's roads hadn't changed. He might not know where one country bordered another or even the path of a river as those things changed over time. The roads were eternal.

When they'd stopped in Inentai to rest the horses and reequip themselves, Basrahip had wandered the streets like a child, his mouth open in astonishment at every new building. It occurred to Geder at the time that in some fashion, he and the priest were not so dissimilar. Basrahip had lived a life with tales of the world, but never the world itself. Geder's life had been much the same, only his personal, private temple had been built with books and carved out from his duties and obligations. And still, in comparison, Geder was a man of the world. He had seen Kurtadam and Timzinae, Cinnae and Tralgu. Basrahip had known only Firstblood, and in fact only those who looked like himself and the villagers nearest the temple. Seeing a Firstblood with dark skin or pale hair was as much a revelation to the priest as a new race.

Watching him move first tentatively and then with greater and greater sureness through the streets and roads, Geder had some vague understanding of what his own father had meant by the joy of watching a child discover the world. Geder had found himself noticing the things he'd overlooked and taken for granted only because they astounded his new friend and ally. When, at the trailing edge of summer, they reached Camnipol again, Geder was almost sorry to see the journey's end.

Add to which, his father seemed oddly uncomfortable with his discoveries.

"I don't suppose you've picked a site for this new temple? Lost goddess and all."

"I was thinking someplace close to the Kingspire," Geder said. "There's the old weavers' guild hall. It's been empty for years. I'm sure they'd like someone to take it off their hands."

Lerer grunted noncommittally. Basrahip began to refold the temple banner. Lerer nodded to the priest, put a hand on Geder's elbow, and steered him gently out to the corridor, walking casually. Geder hardly noticed that his father was separating him from Basrahip. The dark stone ate the daylight, and the servants found themselves suddenly needed elsewhere.

"That essay," his father said. "You're still working on it?"

"No, not really. It's outgrown itself. It was supposed to be about finding a likely area to be associated with Morade and the fall of the Dragon Empire. Now I've got the goddess and the history of the temple and everything. I've barely started making sense of it all. No point writing any more until I know what I'm writing about, eh? What about you? Is there any fresh news?"

"I was looking forward to that essay," Lerer said, half to himself. When he looked up, he forced a smile. "I'm sure there's fresh news every day, but so far I've been able to keep from hearing any of it. These bastards and their court games. I could live until the dragons come back and I still wouldn't forgive what they did to you in Vanai."

The word tightened Geder's stomach. The lines at the corners of Lerer's mouth were sorrow and anger etched in skin. Geder had the surreal urge to reach out his thumb and rub them smooth again.

"Nothing bad happened in Vanai," Geder said. "I mean, yes, it burned. That wasn't good. But it wasn't as bad as it's made out. It's all right, I mean. In the end."

Lerer's gaze shifted from one of Geder's eyes to the other, looking into him. Geder swallowed. He couldn't think why his heart would be beating faster.

"In the end. As you say," Lerer said. He clapped his hand on Geder's shoulder. "It's good you're back."

"I'm glad to be here," Geder said, too quickly.

With a quiet cough to announce himself, the house steward stepped into the corridor.

"Forgive me, my lords, but Jorey Kalliam has arrived asking after Sir Geder."

"Oh!" Geder said. "He hasn't seen Basrahip yet. Where is he? You didn't leave him in the courtyard, did you?"

Lerer's hand dropped from Geder's shoulder. Geder had the sense that he'd somehow said the wrong thing.

"His lordship is in the front room," the steward said.

Jorey rose from the chair by the window as he came in. The season in the city had put some flesh back into the man's face. Geder smiled, and the two of them stood looking at each other. Geder read his own uncertainty - should they clasp hands? embrace? make formal greeting? - in Jorey's expression. When Geder laughed, Jorey, smiling sheepishly, did too.

"I see you're back from the wild places," Jorey said. "The travel agrees with you."

"Does it? I think I just about wept when I could sleep in a real bed again. Going on campaign may be a string of discomfort and indignity, but at least I never worried about being killed by bandits."

"There are worse things than a good, honest bandit. You were missed here," Jorey said. "You heard what happened?"

"Exile all around," Geder said, trying to affect a jaded tone. "I don't know that I could have helped. I barely had any part except when we held the gate from closing."

"That was the best part to have in the whole mess," Jorey said.

"Probably so."

"Well."

The silence was awkward. Jorey sat again, and Geder walked forward. The front room, like all of the Palliako rooms in Camnipol, was small. The chairs were worked leather that time had stiffened and cracked, and the smell of dust never left the place. The sounds of hooves against stone and drivers berating one another came from the street. Jorey bit his lip.

"I'm here to ask a favor," he said, and it sounded like a confession.

"We took Vanai together. We burned it together. We saved Camnipol," Geder said. "You don't have to ask favors of me. Just tell me what you need me to do."

"That's intended to make this easier, isn't it? All right. My father believes he's discovered a plot against Prince Aster."

Geder crossed his arms.

"Does the king know?"

"The king is choosing not to know. And that's where you come in. I think we can get evidence. Letters. But I'm afraid that if I take them to King Simeon, he'll think they're forged. I need someone else. Someone he trusts, or at least doesn't distrust."

"Of course," Geder said. "Absolutely. Who is the traitor?"

"Baron of Ebbinbaugh," Jorey said. "Feldin Maas."

"Alan Klin's ally?"

"And Curtin Issandrian's, for that, yes. Maas's wife is my mother's cousin, which God knows doesn't sound like much of a toehold, but it's what we have to work with. She - the wife, I mean. Not my mother. She seems to know more than she's saying. There's no question she's frightened. My mother has her at a needlework master's knee as we speak in hopes of winning her confidence."

"But she hasn't confessed anything? Told you for certain what's going on?"

"No, we're still well in the realm of suspicions and fears. There's no proof. But - "

Geder put up his hand, palm out.

"I have someone you should meet," he said.

The last time Geder had been to the Kalliam mansion, it had been dressed for a revel in his honor. Without the flowers and streamers and crepe, the austerity and grandeur of the architecture came through. The servants in their livery had the rigid stance of a private guard. The glass in the windows sported no dust. The women's voices that came from the back hall sounded genteel and proper, even without any individual word being audible. Basrahip sat on a stool in the corner. His broad shoulders and vaguely amused expression made him seem like a child revisiting a playhouse he'd outgrown. The austere cut and rough, colorless cloth of his robes marked him as not belonging to the court.

Jorey was sitting at a writing desk, fidgeting with pen and ink without actually writing anything. Geder paced behind a long damask-upholstered couch and wished he liked pipes. The occasion seemed to call for the gravity of smoke.

The choir of feminine voices grew louder, and the hard tapping of formal shoes came from the doorway, louder and then softer as they passed. They hadn't come in. Geder moved toward the door, but Jorey waved him back.

"Mother will be seeing the others out," he said. "She'll be back in a moment."

Geder nodded, and true to Jorey's word, the footsteps returned, the voices reduced to a duet. When the women stepped into the room, Jorey rose to his feet. Basrahip followed suit a moment later. Geder had danced with the Baroness of Osterling Fells at his revel, but between the months and the whirl of drink and confusion that time had been, he wouldn't have recognized her. He could see how her own features had influenced Jorey's, especially around the eyes. Surprise touched her expression and vanished again, less than the flutter of a moth's wing. Behind her, a sickly-looking woman with a pinched face and dark eyes had to be Phelia Maas.

"Oh, excuse me," Clara Kalliam said. "I didn't mean to intrude, dear."

"Not at all, Mother. We were hoping you'd join us. You remember Geder Palliako?"

"How could I forget the man who held the eastern gate? I haven't seen you at court this season, sir, but I understand you've been traveling. An expedition of some sort? Let me introduce my cousin Phelia."

The dark-eyed woman came into the room and held her hand out to Geder. Her smile spoke of relief, as if she'd been dreading something that she thought she'd now avoided. Geder made his bow and saw Lady Kalliam's eyebrows rise as she noticed the priest in the corner.

"Ladies," Jorey said. "This is Basrahip. He's a holy man Geder brought back from the Keshet."

"Really?" Lady Kalliam said. "I hadn't known you were collecting priests."

"It came as a surprise to me too," Geder said. "But please, won't you ladies sit?"

According to his plan, Geder sat Phelia Maas on the couch with her back toward Basrahip and then took his own place across from her. Jorey resumed his place at the writing desk, and his mother took a chair near that happily didn't block Geder's view of the priest.

"Maas," Geder said, as if recalling something. In truth, he'd planned precisely what to say. "I had an Alberith Maas serving under me in Vanai. A relation of yours?"

"Nephew," Phelia said. "My husband's nephew. Alberith has mentioned you often since his return."

"You're the Baroness of Ebbinbaugh, then?" Geder asked. "Sir Klin was my commander in the Vanai campaign. He and your husband are friends, yes?"

"Oh yes," Phelia said with a smile. "Sir Klin is a dear, close friend of Feldin's."

Behind her, Basrahip gazed into the middle distance, his face impassive as if listening intently to something only he could hear. He shook his head once. No.

"There was a falling-out, though, wasn't there? I'm sure I heard something like that," Geder said, pretending a casual knowledge he didn't have. The woman's face went still, except for her eyes, which clicked from Geder to Lady Kalliam and back. There was fear in the way she held her hands and the corners of her mouth. Geder felt a slow, pleasant warmth growing in his chest. It was going to work. At his side, Jorey's mother considered him with interest.

"I'm sure you misunderstood," Phelia said. "Alan and Feldin are on excellent terms."

No.

"I always liked Sir Klin," Geder said for the simple pleasure of being able to lie to a woman who couldn't lie to him. "I felt terrible when I heard he'd been blamed for the riot. Your husband didn't suffer for that, I hope."

"No, no, thank you. We were very fortunate."

Yes.

"Sir Palliako," Lady Kalliam said, "to what do we owe the pleasure of your company today?"

Geder looked at Jorey, then at Lady Kalliam. He'd meant to ask a few innocuous questions, get what insight he could, uncover what could be uncovered. He'd meant to move slowly. The way the woman held herself tighter and tighter, the fragility of her smile, and the scent of fear that came from her like the sweet from roses argued against. He couldn't scare her so badly she left, but he could scare her badly. He smiled at Lady Kalliam.

"Well, the truth is I was hoping for an introduction to Baroness Ebbinbaugh here. I had some questions for her. I haven't spent all the season traveling," he said pleasantly. "I've been looking into the riot. Its roots. And its aftermath."

The color had gone from Phelia Maas's face. Her breath was fast and shallow, like a hand-caught sparrow about to die from fright.

"I can't imagine what there is to look into," she said, her voice thready and faint.

Geder found it was easier to smile kindly when he didn't mean it. Outside, a wind chime was singing to itself in random, idiot percussion. Jorey and his mother had both gone perfectly still. Geder laced his fingers over his knee.

"I know everything, Lady Maas," he said. "The prince. The riot. The Vanai campaign. The woman."

"What woman?" she breathed.

He didn't have the first idea what woman, but no doubt there was some woman involved somewhere. It didn't matter.

"Say anything," he said. "Pick any detail. Even things you don't imagine anyone else could know, and I'll tell you if they're true."

"Feldin isn't involved in any of it," she said. Geder didn't even need to look at Basrahip.

"That isn't true, Lady Maas. I know you're frightened, but I'm here to help you and your family. I can do that. But I need to know I can trust you. You see? Tell me the truth. It doesn't matter, because it's all things I know already. Tell me how it started. Just that."

"It was the ambassador from Asterilhold," she said. "He came to Feldin a year ago."

No.

"You're lying to me, Baroness," Geder said, very gently. "Try again."

Phelia Maas shuddered. She seemed like a thing made of spun sugar, almost too delicate to support her own weight. She opened her mouth, closed it, swallowed.

"There was a man. He was going to be part of the farmer's council."

Yes.

"Yes. I know who you mean. Can you tell me his name?"

"Ucter Anninbaugh."

No.

"That wasn't his name. Can you tell me his name?"

"Ellis Newport."

No.

"I can help you, Baroness. I may be the only man in Camnipol who can. Tell me his name."

Her dead eyes met his.

"Torsen. Torsen Aestilmont."

Yes.

"There," Geder said. "That wasn't so hard, was it? Do you understand now that you and your husband have no secrets from me?"

The woman nodded once. Her chin began to spasm, her cheeks flushed, and a heartbeat later she was bawling like a child. Jorey's mother swooped to her side, putting an arm around her. Geder sat, watching. His heart was beating quickly, but his limbs were loose and relaxed. When he had denied Alan Klin the secret wealth of Vanai, he'd felt excited. Gleeful. When he'd come to the decision to burn Vanai, he'd felt righteous anger. Maybe even satisfaction. But he wasn't sure that ever in his life before now - before this moment - he'd felt sated.

He rose and walked over to Jorey. The man's eyes were wide. Impressed almost past the point of believing. Geder spread his hands. You see?

"How did you do that?" Jorey whispered. "How did you know?" There was awe in his voice.

Basrahip was fewer than three paces away. The bull-huge head was still bowed. The thick fingers bent around each other, hand clasping hand. Phelia Maas's sobs were like a storm on the sea, and the murmured lullaby of promises and comfort from Lady Kalliam had barely thrown any oil on that water. Geder went to leaned so close his lips brushed the huge man's ear.

"I will build all the temples you want, forever."

Basrahip smiled.