Teckla by Steven Brust Page A

klava and thought about things. I was very careful walking out of the place.
    When I got into the office I didn't stop long enough to say hello to Kragar and Melestav; I went straight into the basement. Next to the lab is a large, empty room with many lanterns. I lit them. I drew my rapier, saluted my shadow, and attacked it.
    Parry head. What had happened to me last night?
    Step in, step out. It was worse than being told I was a reincarnated Dragaeran. Or different, at least.
    Step in, cut flank, step out. Maybe I should just forget that I'd tried to kill myself. Except that I might try again, and maybe I'd succeed. But then, maybe it would have been best if I had.
    Step in, cut cheek, cut neck, step out. That was nonsense. On the other hand, there was no denying that I had actually wanted to kill myself last night; had tried to do so. It was hard to believe.
    Parry flank, parry head, step in, cut leg, thrust chest. The pain, though—that incredible pain. But it was over. I was going to have to get to Herth before he got to me, and it might not change how Cawti felt toward me anyway, and I wouldn't even get paid for it. But no matter; I would have to make sure he couldn't do that to me again. Ever. Step back, parry a thrust, disengage, stop—cut, step in, cut neck. I'm not the suicidal type. There are many assassins who don't care if they live or die, but I've never been one. Or I never was one before. Forget it. I could spend the rest of my life trying to decide what it meant that I'd wanted to end it. There were things that I had to do and this was getting nowhere. I was going to have to kill Herth, and that was that. Salute. I just wished I didn't have to.
    I also wished I'd installed a bath down here.
    "Kragar."
    "Yeah?"
    "I'm done mucking about."
    "Good. It's about time."
    "Shut up. I want full details on Herth. I mean, everything. I want to know his mistress's favorite color and how often she washes her hair. I want to how much pepper he puts in his soup. I want to know how often he takes a—"
    "Right, boss. I'll get on it."
    "Can you get him before anything happens to Cawti?"
    "I don't know. I don't know for sure that anything will happen to Cawti. But we can't take chances. I'll have to—" I paused as a thought hit me. I threw it away and it came back. There was one thing I could do that might help.
    "She isn't going to like it if she finds out, boss."
    "By Verra's fingers, Loiosh! She hasn't liked anything I've done since this mess started. So what? Do you have any other ideas?"
    "I guess not."
    "Neither do I. I should have done this days ago. I haven't been thinking. Is Rocza with her now?"
    He paused. "Yes."
    "Then let's go."
    "What about protection for you?"
    I felt suddenly queasy as I remembered the day before. "I'm not going to be charging around like a blind man this time."
    "Aren't you?"
    That sounded rhetorical so I didn't answer.
    I teleported directly from my office, just in case someone was waiting outside. The Easterners' section was starting to look more and more familiar as I spent more and more time there. I had mixed feelings about this.
    I asked, "Is she moving?"
    "She was, boss. She stopped a while ago."
    "How far are we?"
    "I could fly there in five minutes."
    "Great. How far are we?"
    "Half an hour."
    Streets curved and twisted like Verra's sense of humor, and it was, in fact, a good half-hour before we found ourselves near a large park. A crowded park. There were thousands there, mostly human. I gawked. The last time I had seen that many people gathered in one place there was a battle being fought. I hadn't liked it.
    I took a deep breath and began to make my way into and through the crowd, Loiosh steering. ("This way. Okay, now back to the right. Over there, somewhere. ") Loiosh was being careful not to let Rocza know he was in the area. He could have been unhappy about it, but I guess he chose to look at it as a game. I was being careful not to let Cawti know I was in the area, and there