Vashta blinked, lost in the weeds. “Dolabra…what is the significance of this?”
“I wondered that myself,” said Ana. “Especially when my assistant investigator collected evidence that Rona Aristan, Blas’s secretary, had traveled extensively among those same four cantons in the past nine years—and had been carrying a fortune while doing so. And then I wondered it again, when Din reviewed the Haza rookery, and found that between the murder of Commander Blas and his own death, Kaygi Haza had sent scribe-hawks aloft to four destinations—the Juldiz, Bekinis, Qabirga, and Mitral cantons.”
Fayazi’s silver veil was fluttering very quickly now. She must have been breathing rather fast.
“I speculated on the meaning of all this,” said Ana. “What could connect all this? The money, and Kaygi Haza and Commander Blas—who had been killed by Oypatis, in the same manner as Oypat—with these four cantons that had quibbled so much that Oypat itself had perished?” She paused. “But then I wondered…What if all this had happened before?”
“Happened before?” said Vashta. “What do you mean?”
“Well, Kaygi Haza, after all, had been a very old man when he died. Somewhere around a hundred and thirty, if I recall,” said Ana. “What if, in his time, he had guided through several—how shall I put this—graduation classes of beneficiaries during his time here in Talagray, just like the ten dead Engineers? Several generations of Iyalet officers who had received his patronage, and been seeded all throughout the Empire—embedded to offer advice, information, or favors as needed?
“What if,” Ana continued, “Commander Taqtasa Blas himself had been one such officer, once upon a time? What if he and a handful of compatriots had been members of one of Kaygi’s clever little cabals, just like Jolgalgan had been? And what if some members of his group had eventually found their way to important stations in the Empire? Perhaps in the cantons of Juldiz, Bekinis, Qabirga, and Mitral?” She grinned that predatorial grin. “And…what if, eleven years ago, Kaygi Haza had requested a very, very big favor of Blas and his peers?”
Fayazi’s engraver shot to his feet. “These are preposterous lies!” he snarled. “We came here after being told of threats, not to be…be tarred with such a poisonous brush! Commander-Prificto, I must tell you that I will no—”
Then Vashta said a single word—as cold, hard, and vicious as a stab from an icy blade: “No.”
Stunned, the engraver stared at her, then looked to Fayazi. “Madam, I…This is slanderous…”
Fayazi seemed to remember herself and leaned forward. “I beg your pardon, Commander-Prificto?” she said, affronted. “What did you say to my staff?”
“No,” said Vashta. “I said no, Madam Haza. I am listening. And I am not done listening. Thus, we shall all sit, and not interrupt.”
The engraver hesitated for a moment, then looked to the axiom, who was watching Ana with her cold, needle-like eyes.
“We are of the clan of the Hazas,” said the axiom. “And we shall not be spoken to in such a manner by anyone.”
Vashta leaned forward from the bench. “And I am the seneschal of Talagray,” she said. “I hold in my hands the heart of the Empire, of which your clan is but a part. And if you wish to ever rejoin your clan, you will all be quiet.”
I could see Fayazi’s mouth open beneath her veil, wishing to say something. Then she shut it, pursed her lips, and gestured to her engraver, who sat.
Vashta turned her furious face to Ana, and said, “Continue, Dolabra.”
Ana cleared her throat, tried to wipe the smug grin off her face, and said, “This is the nebulous idea that crept into my mind—that eleven years ago, during the Oypat crisis, Kaygi Haza and Taqtasa Blas had gained knowledge about this cure for dappleglass. And then Blas, well-acquainted with the many Preservation Boards throughout the Empire, had covertly directed his friends and allies to quietly block its use. This was the only thing that could explain the connection between Kaygi Haza and Blas. It explained why Oypatis like Jolgalgan and Ditelus might wish this specific, poetic death upon the two men. And it also explained why Blas’s secretary was traveling among those four cantons with a veritable fortune—making payments to the collaborators, buying their silence. And it would explain why Kaygi Haza had hurried to send scribe-hawks to those four cantons after the death of Commander Blas. He was warning his people there, you see. One member of their conspiracy had been murdered in a fashion that signaled that the murderer knew what sin they had committed. He was telling the others that their secret was known—and that this murderer might soon come for them as well.