our hands into raw, aching
crabs.
The Radisha finally told him, “Go away, Housekeeper. Let them work. The fate of
the empire will not be decided here today.”
And Soulcatcher waved a gloved hand, shooing Barundandi out, but then halted him
to demand, “What is that the woman has on the floor beside her?” Meaning
Subredil, of course, since I was seated at the table.
“Uh? Oh. A Ghanghesha, Great One. The woman never goes anywhere without it. It’s
an obsession with her. It—”
“Go away now.”
So it was that Sahra, at least, sat in on almost two hours of the innermost
powers’ responses to our assault.
After a while I came forward again, enough to follow most of it. Couriers came
and went. A picture of generally upright behavior by the army and people took
shape. Which was to be expected. Neither had any real reason to rise up right
now. Which was nothing but good news to the Radisha.
Positive intelligence just made the Protector more suspicious, though. The old
cynic.
“No prisoners taken,” she said. “No corpses left behind. Quite possibly no
serious casualties suffered. Nor any great risks endured, if you examine it
closely. They fled as soon as there was a chance someone would hit back. What
were they up to? What was their real purpose?”
Reasonably, Chandra Gokhale pointed out, “The attack appears to have been
sustained with exceptional ferocity till you yourself appeared on the
battlements. Only then did they run.”
The Shadar captain volunteered, “Several survivors and witnesses report that the
bandits argued amongst themselves about your presence, Protector. It seems they
expected you to be away from the Palace. Evidently the attack would not have
been undertaken had they known you were here.”
One of my touches of misdirection. I hoped it did some good.
“That makes no sense. Where would they get that idea?” She did not expect an
answer and did not wait for one. “Have you identified any of the burned bodies?”
“Only three, Protector. Most are barely recognizable as human.”
The Radisha asked, “Chandra, how bad was the physical damage? Do you have an
assessment yet?”
“Yes, Radisha. It was bad. Extremely bad. The wall appears to have suffered some
structural damage. The full extent is being determined right now. It’s certain
to be a weak point for a while. You might consider putting up a wooden
curtain-wall in front of what is going to become a construction area. And think
hard about bringing in troops.”
“Troops?” the Protector demanded. “Why troops?” Her voice, long neutral, became
suspicious. When you have no friends at all, paranoia is an even more natural
outlook than it is for brothers of the Black Company.
“Because the Palace is too big to defend with the people you have here now. Even
if you arm the household staff. An enemy doesn’t need to use any of the regular
entrances. He could climb the outside wall where no one is watching and attack
from inside.”
The Radisha said, “If he tried that, he’d need maps to get around. I’ve never
seen anyone but Smoke, who was our court wizard a long time ago, who could get
around this place without one. You have to have an instinct.”
The Inspector-General observed, “If the attack was undertaken by elements
descended from the old Black Company—and the employment of fireball weapons
would suggest some connection, even though we know that the Company was
exterminated by the Protector—then they may have access to hallway maps created
when the Liberator and his staff were quartered here.”
The Radisha insisted, “You can’t chart this place. I know. I’ve tried.”
Thank Goblin and One-Eye for that, Princess. Long, long ago the Captain had
those two old men scatter confusion spells liberally, everywhere. There were
things he had not wanted the Radisha to find. Things that remained hidden still,
among them those
crabs.
The Radisha finally told him, “Go away, Housekeeper. Let them work. The fate of
the empire will not be decided here today.”
And Soulcatcher waved a gloved hand, shooing Barundandi out, but then halted him
to demand, “What is that the woman has on the floor beside her?” Meaning
Subredil, of course, since I was seated at the table.
“Uh? Oh. A Ghanghesha, Great One. The woman never goes anywhere without it. It’s
an obsession with her. It—”
“Go away now.”
So it was that Sahra, at least, sat in on almost two hours of the innermost
powers’ responses to our assault.
After a while I came forward again, enough to follow most of it. Couriers came
and went. A picture of generally upright behavior by the army and people took
shape. Which was to be expected. Neither had any real reason to rise up right
now. Which was nothing but good news to the Radisha.
Positive intelligence just made the Protector more suspicious, though. The old
cynic.
“No prisoners taken,” she said. “No corpses left behind. Quite possibly no
serious casualties suffered. Nor any great risks endured, if you examine it
closely. They fled as soon as there was a chance someone would hit back. What
were they up to? What was their real purpose?”
Reasonably, Chandra Gokhale pointed out, “The attack appears to have been
sustained with exceptional ferocity till you yourself appeared on the
battlements. Only then did they run.”
The Shadar captain volunteered, “Several survivors and witnesses report that the
bandits argued amongst themselves about your presence, Protector. It seems they
expected you to be away from the Palace. Evidently the attack would not have
been undertaken had they known you were here.”
One of my touches of misdirection. I hoped it did some good.
“That makes no sense. Where would they get that idea?” She did not expect an
answer and did not wait for one. “Have you identified any of the burned bodies?”
“Only three, Protector. Most are barely recognizable as human.”
The Radisha asked, “Chandra, how bad was the physical damage? Do you have an
assessment yet?”
“Yes, Radisha. It was bad. Extremely bad. The wall appears to have suffered some
structural damage. The full extent is being determined right now. It’s certain
to be a weak point for a while. You might consider putting up a wooden
curtain-wall in front of what is going to become a construction area. And think
hard about bringing in troops.”
“Troops?” the Protector demanded. “Why troops?” Her voice, long neutral, became
suspicious. When you have no friends at all, paranoia is an even more natural
outlook than it is for brothers of the Black Company.
“Because the Palace is too big to defend with the people you have here now. Even
if you arm the household staff. An enemy doesn’t need to use any of the regular
entrances. He could climb the outside wall where no one is watching and attack
from inside.”
The Radisha said, “If he tried that, he’d need maps to get around. I’ve never
seen anyone but Smoke, who was our court wizard a long time ago, who could get
around this place without one. You have to have an instinct.”
The Inspector-General observed, “If the attack was undertaken by elements
descended from the old Black Company—and the employment of fireball weapons
would suggest some connection, even though we know that the Company was
exterminated by the Protector—then they may have access to hallway maps created
when the Liberator and his staff were quartered here.”
The Radisha insisted, “You can’t chart this place. I know. I’ve tried.”
Thank Goblin and One-Eye for that, Princess. Long, long ago the Captain had
those two old men scatter confusion spells liberally, everywhere. There were
things he had not wanted the Radisha to find. Things that remained hidden still,
among them those
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