Retribution (Drakenfeld 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

be done. So yes, this has not received the dedication that perhaps it should have done. It was why I sent my first letter.’
    ‘And your second because you did not want the outside world prying too greatly?’
    ‘If you wish to believe that.’
    This was a intriguing situation. It wasn’t merely my orders that were keeping me here. It was strange that someone would kill a bishop, not take his bangle, and then throw his body parts over a wall to be found by others.
    ‘If you’ll permit me, then, I’ll look into the matter for you,’ I said. ‘That will leave you free for whatever state business you were originally tasked with.’
    Sulma Tan never relinquished eye contact during the ensuing silence, but eventually she said, ‘I will need to discuss it with the queen, though I see no problem with such a commission. Please return here tomorrow morning. Make sure to ask for me.’
    ‘Will we have to wait as long to see you tomorrow?’
    ‘That depends on how busy I am,’ she replied, choosing not to note my sarcasm.

A Place to Stay
     

     
    It was an interesting state of affairs. Why would someone sever the bishop’s arm? And, as Leana had pointed out, why had they not taken the bangle? We had established that whoever killed him did not care for such trinkets, which suggested they were of a status not in need of the money the bangle might bring. If that was the case, it limited our search to a small stratum of the city, though I was cautious about jumping to any conclusions at this point.
    What intrigued me in particular was the notion of throwing the pieces of his arm over the wall. Such a gesture was deliberate and not a discreet way of doing things. Yet, if a relatively wealthy person had been responsible, they would not necessarily have thrown the pieces from the poorer side of the wall, in the Kuvash Prefecture – the pieces of the arm might simply have been left there, waiting to be found. They might even have been dropped in a curious accident.
    During my conversation with Leana we speculated on the possible reasons for placing the pieces there. It was a signal, perhaps. It was just as likely that it could have been a warning to someone on the other side – a threatening gesture to the temple. The next step would be to visit the bishop’s temple and find out as much as we could about him, but not today – the hour was late and we needed to find lodgings for our time in Kuvash.
    Sulma Tan had issued us with a piece of paper that declared we were permitted to stay within the Sorghatan Prefecture. It suggested that people were not free to move between the two prefectures. The queen’s second secretary advised us to head to a guest house for wealthy businessmen who passed through Kuvash. A few streets away, she told us, it was one of the more pleasant places in the city for a traveller to spend time.
    It was run by Jejal, a rotund man in his fifties. He walked with a limp and his left eye was a different colour to his right. His grey hair was long yet frizzy, and he wore a very bright tunic, much in the Detratan style, though it was a somewhat cheaper variation. He was paler than the average person of Koton and his gaze was perpetually wild and promising, as if he was someone who knew secrets but wasn’t particularly good at keeping them.
    ‘They ask me if I want someone from the Sun Chamber here, and I say to them, yes please.’
    ‘Who’s them?’ I asked.
    ‘You know.’ Jejal gave a shrug. ‘Authorities. Clerics. Administrators.’
    Sulma Tan’s influence
, I thought.
    Jejal continued saying, ‘I know they pay you people well and trustworthy coin is hard to come by.’
    We carried our own bags up the narrow, wooden stairway. Ink portraits had been arranged up the wall following the ascent, and there was a strange smell coming from the kitchens. ‘Do you not have many trustworthy people stay here? I was under the impression this establishment attracted honourable people.’
    ‘Oh yes! I like to