Warbreaker (Warbreaker #1)(61)

“About five thousand marks’ worth?” Denth asked, rubbing his chin.

“Less than that,” Vivenna said. “But a large chunk nonetheless. I believe that you are right about Lemex, Denth—he has been stealing from the Crown for some time.”

She fell silent. Parlin looked confused. That wasn’t uncommon. The mercenaries, however, didn’t look surprised.

“I don’t know if Lemex intended to do as my father asked,” Vivenna said, keeping her voice even. “The way he hid the money, some of the things he wrote . . . well, maybe he was finally planning to turn traitor and run. We can’t know what he would eventually have decided. We do, however, have a vague list of things he planned to accomplish. Those plans were convincing enough to persuade my father, and the urgency of his letters has convinced me. We are going to continue Lemex’s work and undermine Hallandren’s ability to wage war.”

The room fell silent. “And . . . your sister?” Parlin finally asked.

“We will get her out,” Vivenna said firmly. “Her rescue and safety is our first priority.”

“That is all easier discussed than accomplished, Princess,” Denth said.

“I know.”

The mercenaries shared a look. “Well,” Denth finally said, standing up. “Better get back to work, then.” He nodded at Tonk Fah, who sighed and grumbled, standing.

“Wait,” Vivenna said, frowning. “What?”

“I figured once you saw those papers that you’d want to continue,” Denth said, stretching. “Now that I’ve seen what he was up to, I can piece together why he had us do some of the things we were involved in. One of those was to contact and support some rebellious factions here in the city, including one that was stamped out just a few weeks back. Cult of disaffection centered on a guy named Vahr.”

“Always wondered why Lemex gave him support,” Tonk Fah said.

“That faction’s dead,” Denth said, “along with Vahr himself. But a lot of his followers are still around. Waiting for trouble to come their way. We can contact them. There are a few other leads I think we can look into, things Lemex didn’t explain completely, but which I might be able to figure out.”

“And . . . you can handle something like this?” Vivenna asked. “You just said it wouldn’t be easy.”

Denth shrugged. “Won’t be. But if you haven’t realized it yet, this kind of thing is why Lemex hired us. A team of three high-priced, specialist mercenaries isn’t exactly the type of thing you keep around to serve your tea.”

“Unless you want the tea rammed up someplace uncomfortable,” Tonk Fah noted.

Three mercenaries? Vivenna thought. That’s right. There’s another one. A woman. “Where’s the other member of your team?”

“Jewels?” Denth asked. “You’ll meet her soon enough.”

“Unfortunately,” Tonk Fah said under his breath.

Denth elbowed his friend. “For now, let us go back out and see how things stand on our projects. Gather what you want from this house. We’ll move out tomorrow.”

“Move out?” Vivenna said.

“Unless you want to sleep on a mattress Tonk Fah ripped into five pieces,” Denth noted. “He has a thing about mattresses.”

“And chairs,” Tonk Fah said cheerfully, “and tables, and doors, and walls, actually. Oh, and people.”

“Either way, Princess,” Denth said, “this building was well known to people who worked with Lemex. As you’ve discovered, he wasn’t exactly the most honest fellow around. I doubt you want the baggage that comes with being associated with him.”

“Best to move to another house,” Tonk Fah agreed.

“We’ll try not to break up the next one quite so badly,” Denth said.

“No promises though,” Tonk Fah said with a wink.

And then the two left.

18

Siri stood before the door to her husband’s bedchamber, shuffling nervously. As usual, Bluefingers stood beside her, and he was the only other one in the hallway. He scribbled on his pad, giving no indication of how he always knew when it was time for her to enter.

For once, she didn’t mind the delay, nervous though she was. It gave her more time to think about what she was going to do. The day’s events still buzzed about in her head: Treledees, telling her that she needed to provide an heir. Lightsong the Bold, talking in circles, then leaving her with what had seemed like a heartfelt farewell. Her king and husband, sitting on his tower above, bending light around him. The priests below, arguing about whether or not to invade her homeland.

A lot of people wanted to push her in different directions, yet none of them were really willing to tell her how to do what they wanted—and some didn’t even bother to tell her what they wanted. The only thing they were accomplishing was annoying her. She was not a seductress. She had no idea how to make the God King desire her—particularly since she was terrified of him doing just that.

High Priest Treledees had given her a command. Therefore, she intended to show him how she responded to commands, particularly when they had threats attached to them. Tonight, she would go into the king’s bedchamber, sit down on the floor, and refuse to strip. She’d confront the God King. He didn’t want her. Well, she was tired of being ogled every night.