she continued her story.
“Asp showed up?” Vordius asked eagerly.
“Yes. He brought together what was left of the old port gangs and kicked out the Iristenians who had grown soft and stupid because they thought they had absolute power. They had all the civil servants and the guards on their side, but Asp…they were like mice compared to him.
“Have you ever seen him?”
“Are you kidding? Nobody’s ever seen Asp, except his most trusted chiefs. He is his own weapon and his own army. The Iristenians had nine elders – nine gray-headed leaders. Asp killed all of them with his own hands, some at night, some in bright daylight in front of their own bodyguards. He is invulnerable. He always appears out of nowhere, strikes like a snake, and disappears as if he had never been there at all. The Iristenians were warriors, puffed up with their own bravery and fearlessness, but he turned them into cowering dogs. They panicked like sheep. When the destitute people of the port realized what was happening, they raised up and turned on the Iristenians. It was a bloodbath. People wanted revenge for seven years of oppression. When it was over, Fire Asp owned the southern port and he put everything back in order. Every single person knew his place and his share. There was no more infighting. Under Asp, people are earning more. We’re doing business with important people from other provinces, but we make sure that part of the profits go to help the poor, the sick, and the orphans.”
“You make him sound like a humanitarian,” Vordius noted sourly. “I guess he’s been good to you.”
Fenia stared back at him. “He gave me a chance to do work that I’m good at. Yahey, his right-hand man, said that my body is beautiful, but it does not feel pleasure. Still, it would be a crime not to use it. So I work as an actress and I’m proud of what I do.”
“An actress?” They all heard Sorgius slap himself on the forehead. “How did I miss it? Your figure distracted me, that’s how.”
Vordius was ashamed. “I apologize for calling you an unpleasant word. I didn’t know you were from the world of the arts…” He would have continued, but the Vuravian’s laughter interrupted him. He scowled. “Why are you laughing like a horse? I just don’t have time for the theater…”
“We aren’t talking about the theater, you fool. Were you thinking she plays queens and priestesses in history plays at the Honto theater? You’re absolutely naïve. When thieves say a woman is an actress, they mean she draws in dimwits off the street, gets them drunk and relieves them of their cash.” He turned to Fenia. “Now I know why they had her go after me.”
“But who did the choosing? That’s the question,” said Vordius, chewing on his bottom lip. “Describe the man. How did he find you?”
“He was a client like any other,” the girl shrugged. “He approached me and took me upstairs to a room. I thought the Heavenly Deity had sent me an easy mark. But as soon as the door closed behind us, he changed like a snake sheds its skin, and I froze. He tossed a purse at me and told me it contained a hundred leros. He asked if I wanted to earn as much again doing what I was already doing. He gave me a phial of something to use on your friend and pointed me toward Sorgius in front of the tavern. Once you were inside, it wasn’t hard at all for me to talk my way into your party.”
“Ha! And you had your eye on her!” Vordius needled his friend. Turning back to Fenia, he asked, “How did he know so much about us? He had to have known about Uni’s appointment, that we were getting together at the Fish, and that he had a friend with a weak spot for pretty women. He must have had a source at the palace.”
“I don’t know about that,” Fenia said simply. “He just said that your friend Uni had jumped over his head to get an important job and he wanted to humiliate him in front of his friends. With the laxative. I think you understand…”
“What nonsense!” Vordius exploded. “How on earth could you believe it?”
“I don’t know,” she shook her head. “I didn’t really think about it. He gave me the money up front. It’s not my business what other people have in their heads!”
“Fine. But what did he look like? Can you at least remember that?”
“I can. I have a good memory for faces. Although I doubt anyone would forget a face like that.”
“Was he ugly?”
“Not exactly, but he wasn’t to my taste. I don’t like these folks from the plains. They’re worse than even the Iristenians.”
“Wait, he was from the wastelands?”
“Yes. He had a funny little beard and squinty black eyes. And his name was hard to pronounce. Abd…Abdarhyz, I think it was.”
Vordius threw up his hands. “And you believed that a nomad from the Great Expanse was angry at Uni over an official appointment?”
“I didn’t know if he was telling the truth or not. I told you – I didn’t care. He had money, and that was good enough for me.”
“How stupid could you be? People die because of fools like you!”
“Stop it, Vordius!” Sorgius interrupted the guardsman’s outburst. “Now inform me, my dear, how do you know his name? Did he go right out and tell it to you?”
“No, it wasn’t like that,” she said cautiously. “He gave me another name first, and I didn’t even bother remembering it, because it was obvious he was lying. But later, when he took me downstairs to show Sorgius to me, a strange man came up to my client and wouldn’t stop talking to him. It seemed like he was an old friend or even a relative. He kept asking my client to drink with him, but the man put him off, saying he didn’t have time. Not now. The other man said ‘How about tomorrow?’ and my client said ‘No, I’ll be racing to Lumdyrbag tomorrow.’ So the other man sighed and asked him to caress the mouths of his relatives.”
“What?”
“She’s right, Sorgius, that’s how the Sotrays talk. But you can’t make me believe they were speaking Herandian. Or do you understand Sotray?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl.
“I don’t speak Sotray,” Fenia said with annoyance, “but it’s very close to Iristenian, especially the simple words, and I learned Iristenian on the docks when I was a child.”
“That could be,” Sorgius sighed. “Where does that leave us? A Sotray named Abdarhyz from Lumdyrbag. It’s enough to tie your tongue in knots! He’s obviously just a middleman, and anyway, he’s off racing his horse across the sands of the Great Expanse. You couldn’t catch him now, even if you had the world’s biggest net!”
“Don’t be so hasty, Sorgius. In case you didn’t know, Lumdyrbag isn’t a province. It’s a town. And the people who live there are more or less settled.”
“A town in the wasteland?”
“It isn’t exactly in the wasteland. To be precise, it’s located between the wasteland and the Zabotay mountains.” Vordius was enjoying himself. “There used to be a king there named Drazgarb who did a good deal of trading with the Iristenians. He tried to unite all the Sotrays under one throne, like our Empire, but it didn’t work out and he got himself killed. By his own men. Or that’s the official story. But he did manage to build a town or something along those
