The Justice of Kings, page 7
“And what about your family? Is Lady Bauer survived by any children? I do not see any effects.”
“I had a son, but he died of a pox a few years back. I also have a daughter. She took the death of her brother very badly, and fled to the kloster to take up religious orders. I have not seen her in a long time. No other children that made it past the cradle.”
“I am sorry for your son,” Vonvalt said earnestly. “It is a cruel fate to lose a child.”
“’Tis a crueller fate to lose a child and a wife,” Lord Bauer said, with such sudden and profound melancholy that I could not help but feel sorry for him. “Thank you for your kind words.”
“Of course. Well I think we shall leave it there for now. If you can think of anything else, I am lodging with Lord Sauter. In the meantime, we will continue with our enquiries.”
“I’m grateful for the assistance, Sir Konrad.”
“Until our next meeting, then.”
“Farewell.”
On our way out, Vonvalt bade me speak to the girl, Hana. I slipped off while Vonvalt and Dubine were pulling on their cloaks and keeping Lord Bauer occupied. I found her loitering in the kitchen. My appearance startled her.
“Is it Hana?” I asked quietly.
“Yes, mistress,” she said, dropping her head and curtseying.
“Never mind any of that,” I said, hating how Imperial I sounded. “My master has a message for you. He is concerned for your welfare, alone in this house. Lord Bauer seems like a cruel man.”
Hana said nothing, just twisted her dress in her hands.
“We will be in Galen’s Vale for some weeks yet,” I said. “Sir Konrad says that you must tell him if Lord Bauer makes any unwelcome advances, or otherwise mistreats you. ’Tis a crime, under Sovan law, to force a woman to carnality against her will.”
She reddened, but said nothing. I doubted she would say anything.
“Well, I have passed on the message,” I said. “One more thing. What was the last you saw of Lady Bauer? Lord Bauer says you were separated before she was taken.”
Hana nodded. She began to well up again. “She sent me away to prepare the house,” she said. “Light the hearths, begin preparing dinner and suchlike. I left her on Thread Street. That was the last time I saw her.”
“You are sure? You saw nothing that made you suspicious? You were not followed, for example?”
“There was nothing, I swear by Nema,” she said. Tears streamed down her cheeks. It was taking all of her self-control to keep her voice down. I reached out and gripped her shoulder, a simple sisterly gesture. I noticed she flinched, just a little.
“All right,” I said. “It is all right. I must go now, but remember what I said, yes?”
She nodded, wiping her eyes furiously.
“All right,” I said for want of anything else to say. I left her then, my heart heavy, and caught up with Vonvalt and Bressinger at the door.
“Come, then,” Vonvalt said to me, as Bressinger opened the door and the cold air flooded in. “Let’s go.”
Outside, a couple of people dropped flowers at Bauer’s front gate and darted off into the backstreets. In the distance, the temple bell tolled the hour.
“Bloody hell,” Bressinger muttered once we were out of earshot. “Part of me hoped we’d have the business done this morning. I really thought he might have done it. You did not fancy just smashing him with the Voice?”
Vonvalt shook his head. “No,” he said, with a hint of reproach. “Not yet, at any rate. You are more well-versed than most in its limitations. Lord Bauer may not have done it, but Sir Radomir is right: there is something suspicious about the man. To use the Voice on him now, without more and better information, would be very ill-advised. You heard him ask me about the power. Not only will his mind be guarded, but using the Voice now will make it doubly so in future.”
“Hm,” Bressinger grumbled. “I don’t think I will ever understand.”
“Patience, Dubine,” Vonvalt said. “There will be time enough for it soon. Let us cast the net a little wider first.”
V
Unwelcome News
“The law serves the vigilant.”
SOVAN LEGAL MAXIM
It was late morning when we left Lord Bauer’s, and we made for a nearby public house to have an early lunch. The place was reasonably clean, and, given the working day was in full swing, mostly empty. Still, our entrance turned what heads there were.
Much of the tavern was given over to wooden benches, but there were some private tables in the corner separated by partitions. It was into one of these booths that Vonvalt led us, away from prying ears. We sat, and within seconds had been approached by the barman.
“My lords,” he said, only slightly uncertainly, since it was obvious that Vonvalt at least was ennobled. “It’s a little early for lunch, though I can provide you with some cold cuts if you like? Two pence’ll cover the three of you.”
“Yes, thank you,” Vonvalt said. “And some ale.”
The barman bustled off.
Vonvalt sighed. “All right. Let us take a moment to see where we are. Lady Bauer was last seen perusing Grozodan velvets on Thread Street. The serving girl, Hana, can attest to her whereabouts of that evening at the very least. Did she say anything to contradict Lord Bauer, Helena?”
I shook my head.
“We should speak to the shopkeeper,” Bressinger said.
“Yes, I was coming to that,” Vonvalt said. “That is one order of business. I also want to look into Lord Bauer’s activities. I don’t know what you two made of him, but the man is clearly concealing something. This business with Zoran Vogt is very strange. He accuses the man and recants in the same breath.”
“I’ve no idea what he meant by guaranteeing cargoes, either,” Bressinger said.
“No,” Vonvalt agreed. “It seemed to me akin to betting. Lord Bauer bets that the cargo will arrive safely and so keeps the money the shipmaster has paid. I want to understand more about that business model. It seems ripe for abuse. It may be that Lord Bauer has run afoul of someone, even if he does not know it.”
“Helena and I can ask about the wharf. If Lord Bauer makes money out of it, you can be sure there will be others.”
“Yes,” Vonvalt said. “And did you note that he was reluctant to say what his duties were? As a councilman?”
“He said he assisted with alms and charitable ventures.”
“But he said something else, too,” Vonvalt replied, massaging his chin. “Helena, what was it?”
I pulled the ledger out of my satchel and found the page. I squinted at my rushed, scratchy script. “‘Charitable ventures… trustee… temple alms… other minor duties’,” I said, reading back my notes.
“That was it,” Vonvalt said, nodding. “‘Other minor duties’. What are those duties, I wonder?”
“Perhaps they were too trivial to mention?” I hazarded. It was difficult to gauge whether my comments were welcome in conversations like this. Sometimes Vonvalt actively encouraged both me and Bressinger to participate; other times he expected me to sit quietly and soak up all I could.
“Or he was caught off his guard, and did not want to let something slip.”
“Lord Sauter will know,” I said.
“Yes,” Vonvalt said. “Of course he will. Good, Helena.” I admit that small, earnest compliments like that made me swell with pride. “We shall ask the mayor this evening what he understands Lord Bauer’s duties to be. I want to speak with him anyway.”
We paused while the innkeeper returned with flagons of ale and plates of ham sprinkled with cinnamon. There was also some pickled cabbage, and a warm, spiced cheese sauce that could be found throughout the Empire. It was significantly more than he’d promised; the man had probably discovered who we were in the interim. We tucked greedily into the fare.
“Strange,” Vonvalt said after a while, “that a lord’s daughter should take up religious orders. It is a severe existence for one with a life of privilege ahead of them.”
“Hm,” Bressinger replied. “I had wondered about that.”
“That kloster looked wealthy enough,” I said, recalling its great fortress-like stone walls and towers built into the hillside overlooking Galen’s Vale. “Perhaps it is less severe than some.”
“Aye,” Bressinger said, nodding. “The Neman Creed has bred a lot of fat monks.”
“Keep your voice down, man,” Vonvalt said. “You are a representative of the Crown.”
Bressinger smiled, and winked at me. I had never been religious, and had no respect for the Creed. Bressinger certainly didn’t. But since it was a state religion, and Vonvalt was an agent of that same state, he couldn’t be seen or heard to disrespect it – and nor could we as his retainers.
“Lord Bauer said his son died,” Bressinger said after a half-minute’s silent eating. “Taken by a pox, and that drove the girl to religious orders.” He shrugged. “Grief does strange things to a person.”
“Perhaps,” Vonvalt agreed. “And perhaps there is another reason for her to do it, beside the death of the boy. Lord Bauer himself said it was her calling. And the young these days seem unnaturally devout – look at Claver. The man is barely twenty-five, and a priest to boot.”
“A well-connected priest,” Bressinger remarked.
Vonvalt waved him off. “I don’t want to talk about that dolt. My mood is sour enough already.” He looked troubled. “Though now you’ve turned my mind to it, it does seem more than a little strange. About the girl, I mean.”
“It may be nothing,” Bressinger said, shrugging.
“That it may,” Vonvalt agreed, but his voice was thoughtful. He turned to me. “Perhaps you could ask that lad you were with this morning. The guard.”
I reddened. “There was nothing untoward,” I said hotly.
Vonvalt and Bressinger glanced at one another. Their knowing half-smirks made me feel like a foolish little girl. Immediately I felt myself retreating back to the old me, Helena the street urchin: defensive, choleric, pugnacious.
“I made no suggestion to the contrary,” Vonvalt said.
I didn’t trust myself to speak for a short while. Instead I toyed with the food on my plate like a child, waiting for my anger to subside. It had taken me a long time to learn to control my temper – a long time and endless patience from Vonvalt. “I don’t know him very well,” I said with forced calm. “Chances are our paths will not cross again.”
“Well, we are on official business,” Vonvalt said, “and a young lad like that, a member of the town watch, will have his ear to the ground. You would do well to bend it. See if he has heard any rumours about the Bauer girl. They must have been contemporaries.”
“Is that a command?” I said sharply. I regretted it immediately. Bressinger looked irritated.
“I can make it one?” Vonvalt asked.
I poked and prodded at my ham. “No,” I said. “I exist only to serve.”
“Could have fooled me,” Vonvalt muttered, chuckling at my prickliness. I saw him wink at Bressinger as he began to tuck back into his food – but then all of our attention was stolen by the door to the inn being thrown open.
“What’s this, then,” Bressinger murmured. The lad in the doorway was clearly a messenger, and from one of the liveried companies that had a preternatural ability to track people down. He saw us sitting in the corner and immediately walked over.
“Easy,” Vonvalt said quietly as Bressinger made to get up. He turned to the lad. “You are looking for me?”
“Begging your pardon, milord Justice; sorry to interrupt your lunch. But there is an urgent letter for you.” He held out an unmarked and sealed envelope. I could not make out the device pressed into the wax, but I could see from the colours and ribbon that it was from another Imperial official – perhaps another Justice.
Vonvalt frowned as he accepted the message. He was no stranger to urgent letters, but certainly he had not been expecting anything.
“Thank you,” he said to the messenger, who left. He broke the seal and took in the letter’s contents quickly.
“What is it?” I asked, unable to stop myself.
Vonvalt did not respond for a little while. He refolded the letter and pocketed it. He looked troubled. “It appears that matters have taken a turn for the worse.”
“With the Bauer case?” Bressinger asked.
“No,” Vonvalt said. “Matters of state.” He checked about the place, but there was no one within earshot. Still, when he spoke again, it was in a low voice. “The letter was from Justice August. She is in Guelich, which is closer than I thought she’d be. It appears my… treatment of Patria Claver in Rill has caused a greater upset than might reasonably have been anticipated.”
“‘Might reasonably have been anticipated’!” Bressinger said gruffly. “You knew what political ties the man had. Nema knows he told you enough times himself.”
Vonvalt clenched his teeth as he endured a spasm of irritation. “Justice August says Claver has made an ally of Margrave Westenholtz. The two are apparently firm friends.”
Westenholtz was a powerful man, the lord of Seaguard and a known political agitator. We had passed through Seaguard a number of weeks before, it having been the northernmost part of our circuit, but the margrave had not been in residence and our stay in the fortress had been brief.
“News travels quickly,” I said. “Seaguard and Guelich aren’t exactly close.”
“August can commune with nature. It is one of her powers. I expect she has had a bird or two loitering about in the north for some time,” Vonvalt said. He paused. “She takes an interest in the political health of the Order.”
“As should you,” Bressinger said.
I expected him to get a reprimand for that, but Vonvalt just shot him a look of irritation.
“What of it?” I asked eventually. “Let Westenholtz drink brine. You are a Justice.”
“Westenholtz has sway with the Mlyanar Patricians in Sova,” Vonvalt said, his voice grim. “The Mlyanar Patricians have sway with the Savaran Templars.”
I recognised all of those names, and none of them were good news. The Mlyanar Patricians were a powerful faction of Sovan aristocrats who historically had opposed the Haugenate line, of which Emperor Kzosic IV’s grandchildren were the most recent members. The Savaran Templars were a martial chapter of orthodox Nemans who expanded the southern boundaries of the Empire – the Frontier – through sporadic crusading. The two were linked by tradition, money and land holdings going back centuries, and together they were enjoying something of a resurgence as political operators.
“It seems as though Patria Claver has been busy propounding the cause of the Savarans for longer than he let on in Rill, beseeching various lords across the Empire to part with lands money, sons and daughters for another crusade south. August is worried that a crusade south could quite easily become a crusade north.”
“What, she means to say that the Templars would move on Sova?” I asked. “Why?”
Vonvalt shrugged. “Sova is no stranger to armed rebellion. The Mlyanars are power-hungry agitators; and when power-hungry agitators form alliances with fanatical soldiers, one does not have to delve too deeply into Sova’s history to see what the consequences are.”
I sucked my teeth. “You have made more enemies than you bargained for.”
Now Vonvalt shot me an irritated look. “Quite.”
“Nyiza,” Bressinger swore in Grozodan, and shrugged flippantly. “So what if Claver’s pride has taken a knock? Nema knows it needed one. As Helena says, you are a Justice. What is he going to do, move against you in some way out of petty revenge? To move against you would be to move against the Emperor Himself.”
“Except…” Vonvalt said, and I felt my stomach turn. Vonvalt’s authority had always been a comfortable absolute. To hear from the man himself that it might have limits was deeply unsettling. “Except that it appears that the Magistratum may be falling out of favour with the Emperor. It is no secret that the Nemans have been bleating on about the repatriation of our powers for some years. Faith, even Claver would not shut up about it. Master Kadlec has been foolish enough to entertain the notion that in return the Order be left in peace. The Emperor has not taken Kadlec’s capitulation well.”
I sat in stunned silence for a few moments.
“The Emperor cannot make an enemy of the Mlyanars and the Order at the same time,” Bressinger muttered. “That is two of the three Imperial Estates – and he is the third. He will run out of allies.”
“Indeed,” Vonvalt said. He sighed. “From her letter, it is clear that Justice August is concerned, and unsurprisingly. The Order’s power has long been regarded with jealousy. I have always been of the opinion that a commingling of the right circumstances will curtail the Order’s influence, and the primacy of the common law with it. The Emperor may be an unpleasant man, but he has long trusted his Magistrates to enforce the law. A man like Westenholtz in power, or heavens forbid, a Neman, will be the end of the Autun.”
“But we are a way off that?” Bressinger asked hopefully.
“We shall see,” Vonvalt replied, not entirely reassuringly. He sighed, and sat back up, for he had hunched forwards slightly during the conversation. When he spoke again, it was at a normal volume. “In any event, there is nothing to be done about it at the present moment. Come; let us be about our duties. The sooner we can finish our business here in the Vale, the sooner we can turn our attentions to matters of greater import.”
VI
Merchant Assurance
“Few things in this life can be guaranteed with greater certainty than the incredible contrivances men will go to to generate money from nothing at all.”
PHILOSOPHER AND JURIST FRANCIS GERECHT
We finished our lunch quickly and with a renewed sense of urgency, and parted ways outside the inn. I was filled with insatiable curiosity after August’s letter, though I would have done better to attempt to wring blood from a stone than to try to get more out of Vonvalt. In the event, I needn’t have worried myself; it wouldn’t be long before I would be begging gods I didn’t believe in for news of something – anything – else.
