Page 100 of A Drop of Corruption

The door openedand Satrap Darhi entered, his face cool and contained. He tossed his long locks to the side before sitting in the chair before the fire. Then he smiled at us—a practiced expression, I felt instantly—and extended a hand, asking us to sit. Again, Malo sat just across from him; again, I watched his face and hers, while Ana sat behind us.

“I hope our testimonials have been helpful to you,” Darhi said calmly. “I wish to find this killer, Signum Kol, for many reasons. Justice, diplomacy, the safety of the realm—but many personal, of course.”

“Certainly, sir,” I said. “But…what personal reasons might you mean?”

“Well, I do not think Kardas is the killer. Instead, I believe the poisoner wishes to harm the Empire and disrupt our relationship. As I have been the primary court member pushing for a beneficial close to our negotiations, then I assume I’d also be targeted. In fact…” He reached into his robes and produced a slender slip of paper. “I have recorded the names of all in attendance at the hall in the days preceding the tea. I have also added the names of all thenaukariwho were present—the servants. Or, at least, all I can confirm. The king’s great hall is a busy place.”

I took the list and glanced at the names. The writing was thin and neat, but the letters danced before my eyes, as always. I handed them back to Ana, who greedily snatched them from my grasp.

I then asked Darhi to recount his memories of the event. His testimony was quite detailed, but it matched what Signum Gorthaus, the prince, and the jari had seen.

“I admit, I can’t comprehend how it happened,” Darhi said at the end of it. “Or even that ithadhappened. I play the events back in my mind again and again, but I can see no moment when I might have spied poison in the cup of the kingorPrificto Kardas.”

“Can you think of any in the hall who might wish the king ill, sir?” I asked.

“Thenaukari,possibly,” he admitted. “There have been times when they have broken out in fighting and insurrection in the past, but we have always quelled it quickly. Though I cannot yet see how they could have managed the poisoning, since only Kardas and the king were affected.”

“What about the prince?” I asked. “Or Pavitar?”

“Oh, no, no, not at all,” Darhi said. “The prince is a good man, but he is young and soft at heart. And Pavitar, well…” He smiled a very careful, steady sort of smile. “Never has there been a jari more devoted than he!”

“How has the king’s health been of late?” I asked.

“Very good, for a man of his advanced years,” said Darhi.

“Truly? For Pavitar said the king had been ailing in his last days.”

Darhi hesitated. “Pavitar said this?”

“Can you describe the nature of the king’s health, sir?”

“I…am reluctant to. I do not wish to break his privacy, even in death. And we mourn him now, of course.” His face tightened. “But…I will admit he forgot things.”

“Things?”

“Yes.”

“Did he forget whoyouwere, sir?”

“Sometimes, yes,” he said, now very reluctant. “Sometimes he forgot more. Yet he was still ancestry incarnate,” he added quickly. “The spirits of his line still governed his mind and soul. Thus, this sacred wisdom was with him when it was needed.”

A soft, derisive exhale from Malo.

“We are worried there might be a connection here with another imperial criminal, sir,” I said. “A rather infamous thief—a Rathras man.”

Again, Darhi’s face tightened. “A…Rathrasman, you say?”

“Yes. In fact, when we spoke to the prince about this, he…had some rather fascinating history to tell us, sir.”

His eyes danced in his serene features, calculating how to respond. Finally, he took a quick breath in and said, “So! It seems it is the business of the court to air all our foul winds the second they meet so charming a stranger. I assume the prince told you heandI are one quarter Rathras?”

“He did, sir,” I said.

A nod of grim resignation. “Then I also assume he told you how the kings of the past had a predilection for imperial brides, both for generational issues as well as…personal interest?”

Another soft, scornful snort from Malo.

“He, ah, did not mention personal interest, but yes,” I said.