Water Sleeps Read Online Free PDF

might receive instructions. Their function was to agree with
     and support Soulcatcher if she happened to speak. Significantly, all three
     represented Gunni cults. Though the Protector used the Greys to enforce her
     will, the Shadar had no voice in the Council. Neither did the Vehdna. That
     minority simmered continuously because Soulcatcher arrogated to herself much
     that properly applied only to God, the Vehdna being hopelessly monotheistic and
     stubborn about keeping it that way.
    Swan was a good man inside his fear. He spoke for the Shadar when he could.
    There were two other men, of more significance, present. They were positioned
     behind tall desks located back of the table. They perched atop tall stools and
     peered down at everyone like a pair of lean old vultures. Both antedated the
     coming of the Protector, who had not yet found a suitable excuse for getting rid
     of either, though they irritated her frequently.
    The right-hand desk belonged to the Inspector-General of the Records, Chandra
     Gokhale. His was a deceptive title. He was no glorified clerk. He controlled
     finances and most public works. He was ancient, hairless, lean as a snake and
     twice as mean. He owed his appointment to the Radisha’s father. Until the latter
     days of the Shadowmaster wars, his office had been a minor one. The wars caused
     that office’s influence and power to expand. And Chandra Gokhale was never shy
     about snatching at any strand of bureaucratic power that came within reach. He
     was a staunch supporter of the Radisha and a steadfast enemy of the Black
     Company. He was also the sort of weasel who would change all that in an instant
     if he saw sufficient advantage in so doing.
    The man behind the desk on the left was more sinister. Arjana Drupada was a
     priest of Rhavi-Lemna’s cult but there was not one ounce of brotherly love in
     the man. His official title was Purohita, which meant, more or less, that he was
     the Royal Chaplain. In actuality, he was the true voice of the priesthoods at
     court. They had forced him upon the Radisha at a time she was making desperate
     concessions in order to gain support. Like Gokhale, Drupada was more interested
     in control than he was in doing what was best for Taglios. But he was not an
     entirely cynical manipulator. His frequent moral bulls got up the Protector’s
     nose more often even than the constant, quibbling financial caveats of the
     Inspector-General. Physically, Drupada was known for his shock of wild white
     hair. That clung to his head like a mad haystack, the good offices of a comb
     being completely unfamiliar.
    Only Gokhale and Drupada seemed unaware that their days had to be numbered. The
     Protector of All the Taglias was not enamored of them at all.
    The final member of the Council was absent. Which was not unusual. The Great
     General, Mogaba, preferred to be in the field, harrying those designated as his
     enemies. He viewed the infighting in the Palace with revulsion.
    None of which mattered at the moment. There had been Incidents. There were
     Witnesses to be Brought Forward. The Protector was not pleased.
    Willow Swan rose. He beckoned a Grey sergeant out of the gloom behind the two
     old men. “Ghopal Singh.” Nobody remarked on the unusual name. Possibly he was a
     convert. Stranger things were happening. “Singh’s patrol watches an area
     immediately outside the Palace, on the north side. This afternoon one of his
     patrolmen discovered a prayer wheel mounted on one of the memorial posts in
     front of the north entrance. Twelve copies of this sutra were attached to the
     arms of the wheel.”
    Swan made a show of turning a small paper card so the light would fall upon the
     writing there. The lettering appeared to be in the ecclesiastical style. Swan
     failed to appreciate his own ignorance of Taglian letters, though. He was
     holding the card inverted. He did not, however, make any mistakes when he
     reported what the prayer card had to