“Speak your mind, paidhi. We invite it. We longfor plain argument.”
“You know that the Guild that came back from Murini’s regime is tending out of control.”
“This theory of yours!”
“You assumed control lay in Senji or Dojisigi. But say it does not. Say control lies within the renegade Guild itself, and you are notcontesting your accustomed rivals. Say it is not a Senji operation this boy has disturbed, and you have, since the events preceding my arrival, begun to suspect the nature of this base. It is no longer your neighborsyou have to deal with, aiji-ma. Another enemy has targeted the Taisigin Marid, on a schedule hastened by my presence on the coast. And why? Because they can manage the leadership of the Senji and the Dojisigi.
But you are far too intelligent, too active in administration, and too little inclined to take orders from anyone.”
Machigi gazed at him, hard-faced but notout of control of his temper. “Go on, paidhi, and cease to flatter me. I am immune.”
“It is, I think, fact, not flattery. Did the aiji-dowager approach your neighbors? No.”
“Did she approach me, uninfluencedby the Guild in Shejidan? I think not, paidhi! Their deliberation was calculated to force us to negotiation. And the aiji-dowager, equal to her reputation for high-handed intervention in government, has stepped in.”
Shocking thought. And entirely possible. He gave a little bow. “If your theory is true, aiji-ma, still, it is a better offer than that the Guild itself is giving you. Theiroffer would simply be a diversion—to prevent you cooperating with Guild from any other district.”
“Oh, you are fast, to be so ignorant as you claim.”
“One is conversant with your situation, aiji-ma, and what you propose as the dowager’s motive is an interesting interpretation.”
“Which makes every offer you have made us a lie!”
“Not a lie, aiji-ma. Not even empty. The task she set me was to come here, assess the situation, and make proposals to ensure your safety, since the aiji-dowager will notbe made an instrument of anybody else’s policy. You understand her reputation correctly. She will seek her own advantage. I am personally aware of the solution she proposed for the west coast and its troubles long before I was born, a solution the legislature declined. Ihave proposed it again in a configuration of alliances over which the legislature has no power, and which in my own opinion is likely to please her andserve you. More, I propose a context for that alliance that makes political and economic sense because I see a leader capable of carrying it out. Am I guilty of extravagance? Perhaps, but I have captured the aiji-dowager’s interest in an outcome that will accomplish everythingshe originally proposed for a political solution and that will go a long way toward dealing with inequities between districts in the East, which I know has long been a concern of hers. Far from betraying your interests, aiji-ma, I have handed you a possibility unavailable to your predecessors and to your neighbors, and if the action of a random boy has disturbed a dangerous situation in your district, one offers personal regret, but it does notindicate a plot against you, not from the aiji-dowager’s side. The situation is precarious because your enemies number more than your traditional rivals, and one fears there will be bloodshed, but not of the aiji-dowager’s planning.
Association with her is your bestcourse.”
Machigi’s eyes flickered, following every point. “And your arrival on the west coast, paidhi, so swiftly followed by hers, was at whoseinstigation?”
“In truth,” he said, “the Farai’s. Theypossess my apartment. Lord Tatiseigi of the Atageini, who had lent me his apartment, decided to come to Shejidan for the legislative season, and for his convenience, Itook a vacation on the coast. The aiji’s son decided to pay me a visit, and in consequence, the aiji-dowager turned her plane about in midair and came to deal with her great-grandson. It was quite a ridiculous set of circumstances, entirely unrelated to anything now proposed.”
“So it wasan accident,” Machigi said, a muscle jumping in his jaw.
“It was absolutely an accident, nothing plotted, nothing planned.”
“This is likely a Guild question,” Machigi said.
“If it is, aiji-ma, it is beyond my scope.”
Machigi sat glowering, showing, in the rate of his breathing, agitation. Bren sat absolutely still, watching every tick, every cloud that scudded through those golden eyes, for a weather forecast.
And Machigi looked up, and past him, to the left corner of the room.
Where Algini stood.
Bren’s heart leaped. He slowed his breathing. Tried to give no outward sign at all.
“The assassinations in the Township were excessive,” Machigi muttered. “And your first hypothesis is correct: I did not approve. We are both, paidhi, within a chain of fortuity and accident.”
So was he right? Right in the whole chain of logic? He fought to keep his own demeanor icy calm, but he feared he was readable. Machigi’s face was grim, then showed a curious—of all things—amusement.
“You think you understand us. Yet you fear you do not.”
“I apply such wisdom as I have to questions difficult to ask— and I am aware I may be mistaken.”
“You are too well informed to be mistaken, paidhi.” The fist arrived under Machigi’s chin, a prop. “Well, my wise paidhi, let me inform you. This random boy has created a shooting incident between my watchers and something with which we have maintained an uneasy quiet. We, who have generally preserved the Taisigin Marid from the intrusion of this element, have now appeared directly to challenge it. The chain of fortuity and accident has added one more link. Suppose we take your word that this is notintended, and nota Guild operation. We have citizens at risk. We have the likelihood that what this boy has disturbed will be reinforced and that Senji in particular will take extreme measures to assure any conflict takes place in ourterritory—with the help of the Dojisigi.”
It was not an incursion of thousands Machigi was talking about: it was a Guild-style operation, highly skilled individuals spreading out to remove key individuals, conduct sabotage of communications and resources. Most of all—to remove individuals. Machigi. His loyal guard. His staff. His unscheduled guest. And any lord backing Machigi.
Total collapse of the Taisigi authority and all their allied lords. A coup in the South.
“The Guild will by no means allow it.”
The fist went down hard against the chair arm. “You say! You say your services are at my disposal.”
“They are, aiji-ma.”
“Then whatdo you propose?”
That took more than a heartbeat to assemble. And Machigi’s patience with the situation was understandably on the wane.
“Access to a phone line.”
“Let me advise you what your bodyguard will advise you. Phone lines between here and Shejidan run through Senjiterritory.”
It was old thinking. And there were things neither the Messengers’ Guild nor the Assassins’
Guild in Shejidan had not made public.
“One can manage if you will give us access. Lord Geigi can reach the station.”
“Ah. So now Geigiwill become our ally. We are little encouraged to believe this.”
“Aiji-ma. For me and for the aiji-dowager he will—”
“You say!” A second slam of the fist against the chair arm. “No, paidhi. We shall play this out for the audience wechoose, under terms we choose. First of all, yes, call Tabini-aiji. Tell him we have a problem. Tell him loose the Guild. Then call his grandmother—and inform her what you have done.”
Damn, Bren thought.
They had none of the resources they would have had even in Najida, and no access to the gear Geigi carried quietly about his person. And he was less moved to trust Machigi’s motives than he had been yesterday.