Orca by Steven Brust

best information-extraction specialists the Organization can find? Him?”
    “Yep.”
    “Nope.”
    “I hadn’t thought so. See you around, Kiera.”
    “See you around, Stony.”
    Chapter Four
    My first step was to fill Vlad in on what I’d learned; but I took a long, circuitous route back just in case I was being followed, so it took me almost until evening to get back to the cottage. When I turned the last corner of the path, Vlad was waiting for me, on the path, about fifty meters from the cottage. That startled me just a bit, as I’m not used to being seen so quickly even when I’m not trying to sneak, until I realized that Loiosh must have spotted me. I must remember to be careful if I ever have to sneak up on that Easterner.
    He stood clothed only in pants and boots, his upper body naked and full of curly hairs, and he was sweating heavily, although he didn’t seem to be breathing hard.
    “Nice evening,” I told him.
    He nodded.
    I said, “What have you been doing?”
    “Practicing,” he said, pointing at a tree some distance away. I noticed several knives sticking out of it. Then he touched his rapier, sheathed at his side, and said, “I’ve also punctured my shadow several times.”
    “Did it hurt?”
    “Only when I missed.”
    “Did it get any cuts in?”
    “No. But almost.”
    “Good to see you’re keeping your hand in.”
    “Actually, I haven’t been lately, but I thought it might be time to again.”
    “Hranun.”
    “Besides, I needed to get out.”
    “Oh?”
    “It’s ugly in there,” he said, gesturing toward the cottage.
    “Oh?” I said again.
    “The old woman is doing what she promised.”
    “And?”
    He shook his head.
    “Tell me,” I said.
    “He’s all screwed up.”
    “That’s news?”
    Vlad looked at me.
    “Sorry,” I said.
    “He keeps thinking he killed his sister, or he has to save her, or something.”
    “Sister?”
    “Yeah, she was involved, too. He feels guilty about her.”
    “What else?”
    “Well, he’s a Teckla, and Loraan was his lord, and if you’re a peasant, you don’t do what he did. Deathgate, Kiera. Even touching a Morganti weapon—”
    “Right.”
    “So if he didn’t kill Loraan, he must have killed his sister.”
    I said, “I don’t follow that.”
    “I’m not sure I do, either,” said Vlad. “But that’s what we’re seeing. Or what we think we’re seeing. It isn’t too clear, and we’ve been doing a lot of guesswork, but that’s how it looks at the moment. And then there’s the bash on the head.”
    “What did that do?”
    “She thinks there may be a partial memory loss that’s contributing to the whole thing.”
    “Better and better.”
    “Yeah.”
    “What now?”
    “I don’t know. The old woman thinks we have to find some way of communicating with him, but she doesn’t know how.”
    “Does he hear us when we talk? See us?”
    “Oh, sure. But we’re like dream images, so what we say isn’t important.”
    “What is important? I mean, she probed him, right? What’s he doing in there?”
    He shrugged. “Trying to keep his sister away from me, or away from Loraan, or something like that.”
    “A constant nightmare.”
    “Right.”
    “Ugly.”
    “Yes.”
    “And there’s nothing you can do.”
    “Nothing I can do about that, anyway.”
    “If you could go in there yourself, I mean, into his mind—”
    “Sure, I’d do it. In a minute.”
    I nodded. “Then I might as well tell you what I learned today.”
    “Do.”
    “Do you want to go inside?”
    “No.”
    “All right.” He put his shirt on and nodded to me and I told him. He was a good listener; he stood completely still, leaning against a tree; his only motion was to nod slightly every once in a while; and he was spare with his questions, just asking me to amplify a point every now and then. Loiosh settled on his left shoulder, and even the jhereg appeared to be listening. It’s always nice to have an audience.
    When I was finished, Vlad said,