Read Rojan Dizon 03 - Last to Rise for Free Online

glad you came. It was you he was talking about today.”
    “Well, why not? I’m a popular man.”
    That got me a glare so I caught the barman’s eye and another glass appeared next to Erlat. The barman retired with his drink and kept an eye on the last few Ministry men down the end of the bar.
    Erlat poured herself a good slug of the booze. She seemed to be gathering herself for something, so I let her.
    “The Storad want you dead, you know that, of course? Of course. You stopped their previous plan, they don’t want you messing with this one. But that man, my creepy talker, isn’t Storad, and isn’t working for them either. But he still wants you dead or, if not dead, then in the hands of people you probably don’t want to be in the hands of. Good thing it’s dark in here or the evening could have ended before it’s begun.”
    “He can join the queue.” I suspected I sounded far more blasé than I felt, but people wanting me dead was getting old, though no less worrying. “What’s his reason?”
    One shoulder went up in a subtle shrug. “He’s not Storad; he’s Mishan. One of their ambassadors, as it happens. They’ve been coming in dribs and drabs, negotiations and so on. Ministry likes to keep them entertained, and we were hired. He’s got a fondness for my girls, me, so he’s kept on coming even though most of the rest are back the other side of their gate. This one is a liaison supposedly, between the Mishans and the Ministry. Trade, food, what we’re bartering, all that sort of thing. Including cardinals.”
    “We’re bartering cardinals? I don’t suppose we get much for them.”
    “For the Goddess’s sake!” Erlat slammed her glass on the bar, bringing a few drunkly interested looks from the Ministry boys down the other end. “Can’t you take this seriously?
Me
seriously? I’m trying to help you here, help us all, and all you’re doing is making fun.”
    I shut my eyes and tried not to see the things swimming there before I snapped them open again and nodded a sorry. “All right. Mishan liaison wants me, dead or not so dead. What for?”
    Erlat settled down again. “Some of the cardinals are, well, in talks shall we say? Not official ones either. One or two have already sneaked their families over, and they’re just waiting for the right time to run themselves, before the Storad get here. The Mishans want the best deal in return. Money, goods, guns – you name it, they’re trying to get the cardinals to pay it. But they aren’t forgetting that if the Storad win, the Mishans might well be next on the list of places and people for them to destroy. They’ve hated each other a long time, and until now Mahala has been the only thing that’s kept them from trying to rip each other’s throats out. How we made all that money, right? So one of the prices the Mishans are demanding in return for saving a few cardinal skins is you and Lise.”
    “Lise? But —”
    “But nothing. Lise is a damned genius and they know it as well as you do. If Perak wasn’t Archdeacon but was still inventing guns and all the rest, they’d ask for him too. As it is, he’d just be a bonus. The Mishans need someone to make things for them, or to show them how to make guns and whatever else so they can defend themselves when – and as far as they’re concerned it is a when, not an if – the Storad destroy us and start threatening them. And they want you handed over as an initial peace offering, so they can give you to the Storad if they need to.”
    The only word that came to mind was “Shit.”
    “Quite.”
    “Does Perak know about this?”
    “I suspect so, or at least he guesses. Jake’s mentioned it once or twice – I think she was hoping I’d find out what I could. I’ll tell Perak as soon as I can; at least he might be able to keep Lise safe.”
    All of a sudden that bold cardinal’s snide words didn’t seem quite so much bluster, and Perak wanting me out of harm’s way made a lot more sense.