Ghost Price Read Free Page B

that if we had fought more valiantly Marsis would belong to the Padishah now.”
    “That is not just,” said Caina.
    “When has the world ever been just?” said Kuyat. 
    “Infrequently,” said Caina.
    “This is so,” said Kuyat. “Still, I could have ended up in the mines or pulling an oar on a galley.” Or he could have ended up in one of Grand Master Callatas’s wraithblood laboratories. “There are worse lives than that of a gladiator.” 
    “True,” said Caina. She decided to take a gamble. “Tell me, do you know a man named Turkaar?”
    Kuyat’s face went still. “He’s dead. He was a soldier with us in Marsis. We made it out. He didn’t. He fell when the Legions attacked from the northern gate. Along with so many others.” 
    “I met his mother,” said Caina. “Impoverished old widow. No family left in the world.”
    Kuyat’s blank face did not waver. “Did she send you, then?”
    “She doesn’t even know who Kyrazid Tomurzu is,” said Caina, truthfully. 
    “Then why are you talking to me?” said Kuyat. 
    “I am a curious sort of man,” said Caina, which was only half a lie. She shrugged. “You’re perfectly safe telling me anything you want. I have no authority over you. Even if I did complain about you, I have no proof. Your owner would merely laugh me off.” She thought for a moment. “Was Tulkaar a friend of yours?”
    “Aye,” said Kuyat. 
    “There are inheritance taxes on his mother’s house,” said Caina. “His mother can’t afford to pay them. She’ll be put out on the street unless she finds the money.” Her suspicion began to solidify. “I think you know where she can find that kind of money.” 
    Kuyat sighed. “You seem very clever for a lord’s factor, Master Kyrazid.”
    “My lord employs only clever men,” said Caina.
    “You’re right,” said Kuyat. “You have no authority over me. Why should I tell you anything?” 
    “Because,” said Caina. “I have no need of money. I have no wish to see an old woman put out onto the street to beg. And because I suspect you are a man with a conscience.”
    “Supposing that was true,” said Kuyat, “let me tell you a story. Before the attack on Marsis, Turkaar got drunk and told us a story of his own. The day after he was conscripted into the Padishah’s army, he bet on the games. He won money. Serious money. But he knew the army was leaving, and the money could be stolen before he returned. So he got clever, and didn’t tell anyone about it. He hid the coin, buried it in his mother’s cellar, and planned to dig it up in secret once he returned. But he never left Marsis.”
    “So why did he tell you?” said Caina.
    “Like I said. He was drunk. Steady man in a fight, but he had no head for wine.” 
    “So,” said Caina, remembering the knife wounds upon Ismet’s arm. “If a man wanted to get an old woman out of the house, he could set the house on fire and drive her out. Then he could search the cellar at leisure.” 
    Guilt flickered over Kuyat’s face. “You have the right of it.” He shrugged again. “Assuming the fanciful tale I have just told you has any truth to it, of course.”
    “Of course,” said Caina.
    “And if the tale turns out to be true,” said Kuyat, lowering his voice, “see to it that the money goes to Turkaar’s mother.” His smile was brittle. “It would buy my freedom, yes…but I will not win my freedom upon the back of a starving old woman.”
    “You are a noble man, Kuyat,” said Caina. 
    “I am a slave,” he said.
    “And some slaves have more nobility than the Grand Wazir himself,” said Caina.
    She left the galleries without another word. 

    ###

    Night was falling by the time Caina returned to Talisla’s house.
    She had discarded the guise of Kyrazid Tomurzu for that of the mercenary courier Koraz. Talisla did not know Kyrazid, and would be suspicious if he turned up at her door. Now Caina needed a distraction that would allow her to search the