Chapter Text
We had papers enough to look through. Borlas and I stayed together.
“I don’t suppose you ever killed anyone, Pheris.”
I hesitated. No. Or not like that, I said, thinking of Perma. Not directly. Or I don’t think so. Probably none of those I had tried to attack at Naupent had actually died. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the memories. But yesterday, you saved me. That man was worthless. I told him what I knew about Dorius. Don’t let him give you bad dreams. I was emphatic. Or if he does, tell Sorios. Lethium helps.
Lorgos wanted the doctor to look at Orlaes and me, but we both refused. I was sore, and badly troubled by tremors and muscle cramps, but there was nothing a doctor could do about that, I pointed out. Borlas took me instead to a small public baths. There was no-one else there except the bath attendants, and I found out later that he had paid them to close the baths to others for an hour. He helped me undress and we went to sit in the steam. After a little we talked quietly about nothing in particular. Eventually he asked if the others could join us. Feeling a little better, I agreed, and he went to speak to an attendant.
We spent a few days in Acarsus. I was longing to get home, but there was too much to do, and Hemion and Rodos needed a chance to recover. We had news of Tyclos almost immediately: he had gone to his daughter’s house in the town, but she had called the watch, wanting nothing to do with him. He claimed he had been pressured into working with the other men, but soon found himself in the lockup with them. Lorgos told him he could protest his innocence to the magistrate later.
The magistrate took statements and declared himself willing for the men to remain in prison while we investigated.
The bodies of Dorius and Alestis were recovered and sent for cremation at public expense, no relatives having come forward.
Orlaes and I started going through a small trunk full of papers recovered from the megaron, while Lorgos took guards to look through what else might be there.
Orlaes passed over a small familiar-looking notebook to me. “I can’t make head or tail of this.”
Sure enough it was in cipher, but it was not a copy of the Lateras notebooks. The old baron had kept a personal journal. It covered just over two years, ending when he left Gahazi for the last time. I wrote out a translation, knowing it had to be done, but I found it less upsetting than the Lateras notebook, perhaps because I was not taken by surprise by the contents.
In the end the story was simple enough to put together. The baron had his showplace of Lateras, his estates and houses across Attolia, and his extravagant mansion in the capital. He had his efficient and honest stewards, and his respected advisers who looked after the details of his legitimate loans and investments.
But he had a lust for money and power which went far beyond normal, as well as a nauseating delight in humiliating others.
If Lateras was a showplace, Gahazi was the opposite. The megaron was his indulgence: it was almost like a toy he played with. The baron occasionally visited to enjoy the hunting, but mainly it was a shelter for his more unpleasant employees. His men preyed on the trade route, robbing smaller caravans and groups of travellers, using informers in inns and other places used by travellers, and then retreated to the safety and respectability of the megaron.
As for the Sounisian business, he had ensnared the three barons by offering large loans, knowing the money would be used for their rebellion. Win, and he had their favour. Lose, and he had a hold over them. Theft from the various Sounisian silver mines was widespread and he took advantage of the fact. Bribes, or rather a percentage of the returns, encouraged the barons to look the other way where smuggling and piracy were concerned.
He used the profits from the Sounisian smuggling and the thefts in Attolia to pay for ever more luxurious and extravagant additions and decorations for his mansion in the capital, flaunting his wealth and power in the face of the queen.
There was no clue as to what the trigger had been for the magus’ investigation.
Orlaes had been going through the other papers while I worked. When I sat back he looked up.
“There’s enough evidence here for us, I think. Payments to Mordis and Straton and, I’m afraid, to the agent at Rhea.” I nodded; the import business at Rhea was one where profits might easily fluctuate unpredictably. “We can let Marell know where to concentrate now, though we must still go through everything, I believe.” He sighed. “But I’m afraid there’s a more serious problem.”
I know. It’s all here. Theft and banditry in Attolia itself.
“Unbelievable. What could possibly drive him to such a thing? And yet it’s all meticulously recorded here in accounts of profit and loss.” He pushed the papers over to me and I handed him the translated journal.
Borlas went to get us all coffee.
When he finished reading, Orleas sat back with another sigh. I was still looking at accounts, not being as quick or accustomed as Orleas, but I looked up. I had seen enough.
“Pheris, this will have to come out now. But this journal – this journal has details of other things. Names, details of threats .…”
Sighing in turn, I told them about the notebooks Kamet had found at Lateras.
I destroyed both books.
Orlaes looked at me in astonishment. “They let you?”
The were mine. Kamet didn’t interfere. Relius let me, though he was not happy. Orlaes —”
He looked at me. “You’re my baron, Pheris, though you’re young. I’ll abide by your decision. Do you want my advice?”
I nodded.
“Destroy the journal too.”
Yes. I will read it again first. I must know, because I will have to deal with these people all my life. But no-one else needs to, and there should be no record which could be used in the future.
That felt right. Orlaes nodded agreement. I looked at Borlas.
“Whatever’s in there, it never existed,” he said.
Thank you, once again. I owe you so much.
“Just tell me we can go home soon. Maerte will be furious if we’re not back for the ceremony.”
Orlaes laughed. “If it comes to it, Elata will run the affair with great panache,” he said. “But don’t worry. We’ll go as soon as we possibly can.”
I looked at them both. Will you help me write to Orutus?
We wrote an account of what we had discovered about the Sounisian affair, using my testimony of what Dorius had said as well as that of Mordis and what Tyclos freely told us, still hoping for leniency because he had not actively robbed or threatened anyone but only acted as caretaker for the megaron.
Lorgos and the guards returned. They had found money and a quantity of goods stolen from travellers and caravans, unfortunate evidence that robberies and assaults had continued after the baron’s death.
“There were barrels of wine too,” reported Lorgos. “We left them and all the heavier stuff; too much to carry away without a wagon. But it explains why they were all stupid drunk so early in the day.”
The next morning we went to the magistrate officially. Orlaes asked for the men to be held in prison pending a reply from Orutus, in case the secretary of the archives wanted to speak to them about the Sounisian business. The magistrate would arrange for the watchmen to assemble the evidence against the men for their crimes in Attolia, and they would then be sent to trial in the usual way.
I sent off our letter to Baron Orutus, which was as detailed and formal as Orlaes, with all his experience, could make it. I paid the extra fee required to use the queen’s couriers; although we were not corresponding directly with Attolia, we thought it was justified in the circumstances.
I began a letter to Relius which took me several evenings to finish.
We set out for Lateras early the following day. Hemion swore he was fit to ride, and the doctor had strapped him up carefully and given him a small quantity of lethium to take at need. Orlaes had been given some too. I was also carrying lethium which Sorios had given me before we left, but I avoided taking it, because it left me feeling sluggish and lethargic, and I wanted to travel at my best speed, so as not to hold up the others too much. Everyone was anxious to get home.
We were a day away from Lateras when Lorgos came to sit next to me at our evening meal.
“How bad is this going to be?”
Teleus will be very angry.
“Honestly I hadn’t thought further than Costis.”
We arrived at Lateras a week before the priestess’ visit. Elata was back, and I had to explain what had happened and what we had discovered. She was truly angry, and I was very glad I was not the target of her fury, even though I was accustomed to the occasionally harsh remarks Eugenides directed at his attendants. I was also still unwell, and resentful of the time it took me to recover. Like me, Orlaes took a while to get better. Fortunately Hemion had improved rapidly, though we had carried him by litter for some of the way back.
But then the priestess arrived. She was a jolly person with a loud laugh. She spoke politely with Elata and me and everyone else, but reserved her true approbation for Orsila, with whom she bonded immediately, sharing a passion for excellent food. No-one minded, even Elata. As Borlas said, there was something about her, and I was very glad she had agreed to visit us.
I went to the temple the night before she was due to hold the ceremony, to make sure everything was in order. I stayed to pray, and found a sense of peace I hadn’t experienced for a while.
The ceremony itself was a great success. The priestess gave every appearance of enjoying herself, and all the neighbourhood came to celebrate with us.
*****
After the priestess left, the household was thrown by Maerte into a frenzy of preparation for our midsummer banquet. We had a surprising number of acceptances to our invitation, and Marita pointed out that it would be the first chance for most of the neighbourhood to get a good look at me and for Elata’s Susa family to visit after her absence at Suterpe. Cleon’s parents felt the journey was too far, but Elata thought we were obliged to ask his Norvis cousins, who accepted immediately. I was relieved that the date was too close to the midsummer festival in the capital for Susa himself to visit, but Baron Cletus came with all his family. Those children of Orlaes’ extended family who were of a suitable age were persuaded into their best clothes and their politest manners to amuse them. Tanis, Hebe and other younger children ran around the gardens where lanterns had been hung, while guards on the roof and gardeners stationed by the fishponds kept an eye out for their safety. Elata held court in the great hall, where musicians played, and after the meal another orchestra battled the hazards of outdoor performance to play for dancing, but other entertainments had been provided with the children in mind, and for a banquet it was rather an informal affair.
The next morning we had a relaxed and leisurely breakfast outside, those guests who had stayed the night wandering out to join us as they pleased. I was interested to hear the news of the barony from the point of view of the local patronoi, who I had rarely encountered. Many of our nearest neighbours had been to the ceremony held at our small temple, which in the end we had made a public occasion, held almost entirely outside with the temple as a backdrop. Not everyone was interested in religion, of course, but it was generally felt that the priestess had done us a great honour by coming to Lateras.
In the next days, the house settled into a more peaceful summer. I found the heat less oppressive than in the capital, and we were lucky to have the cooler public rooms of the villa we could use, particularly the airy megaron with its high ceiling. There was talk of going to the property at Darles, on the coast, which Elata told me was always cooler, but I felt I still needed time to recover, and Elata herself said she had travelled enough in recent months.
I received a letter from Baron Orutus, which I opened apprehensively.
He conveyed the queen’s satisfaction that the attacks on traders had been thwarted. He thanked me for the information about how the old baron had profited from theft from silver mines in Sounis and expressed himself pleased to hear I had put a stop to it. He told me the magus had independently discovered the extensive theft from the mines and that this had been the instigation for his investigation of the local barons. If further information became available, it would be communicated to me.
That was all.
I passed the letter on to Elata, who was at breakfast with me, and told Lorgos.
The courier had brought a second message, this one from Relius, and I took it to read privately.
I’m sorry you had such an unpleasant experience. I trust you all got back to Lateras safely and that your guard has recovered, and Orlaes. I hope you yourself are doing better now physically and that you have also recovered your equilibrium. You know you have a tendency to worry too much, Pheris.
Yes, of course Teleus was upset about what happened and no doubt he will scold you when you return to the capital. I’m sure you know that this is his way of expressing his anxieties and will forgive him.
You will have heard from Orutus by now, which I hope will have eased your worries.
It boils down to this: the Erondites megaron was being used by some of the old baron’s retainers who were robbing traders. You’ve put a stop to that. You also found a former Suterpe steward there who had been dismissed in disgrace. (Interesting that he chose to flee to the Erondites megaron.) He attacked you and was killed. One of your men suffered a knife wound, but is recovering.
Through me, you told Sounis about large loans made to three of his barons. The magus had already found evidence of serious theft from the silver mines; I understand it came to light because the flow of criminals to the mines largely ceased under Sophos, and the mines became surprisingly more productive. You independently discovered some anomalies in accounting by an Erondites agent. On investigation, you discovered that the old baron was profiting from the silver mine thefts.
Frankly, Pheris, you are probably the only person who would have noticed the fraud or understood what it meant. You did well; Orutus was impressed. Sophos can sort out his barons. He may well confiscate the money, but if he does so I’m sure you’ll get at least some of it back. He doesn’t want an argument with Attolia.
The queen is indeed angry, but not with you. As you thought, it was the baron’s actions in flaunting his power and wealth that incensed her. I told her what you wrote about the sale of the monster mansion (which unfortunate term I now find myself unable to avoid), and she spoke to Petrus and the directors of the charity hospital. She will add a sum of money to the proceeds, which as of course you know are to be used to provide a suitable modern building, and it will be known as the queen’s hospital. Revenge of a kind, I suppose.
“That’s all?” said Orlaes, to whom I showed the letter. “Good. Lorgos can stop worrying that Costis will skin him alive too. I’m sure Relius would have mentioned it.”
I was smiling, much happier. Of course we should have done better, and I know he and Teleus will have something to say. But I don’t have to go back for weeks, they’ll have calmed down by then.
We looked at each other. Of course I was much younger than Orlaes, but I felt we had got to know each other as real friends now. And we had all survived my first proper venture as baron.
“Well, I’ll be dealing with the legal fallout, but it’s straightforward enough now. You still want to destroy the megaron?”
Unless the queen would like it for a prison.
*****