Page 133 of The Tainted Cup

“I am almost completely certain,” said Ana. “That would explain why it took so much longer for the infections to—what is the word—tobloom.For the Engineers had likely consumed fewer spores than Kaygi Haza himself, and those who drank more wine died fastest. But none had sat and soaked in the spores and breathed them in, like the elder Haza did. I also suspect the spores succeed more in the lungs than the stomach. But still they succeeded, eventually. And all ten perished.”

Fayazi looked at her Sublimes, who stared back, speechless. The silence stretched on, and on; and Ana allowed it to swell, waiting for the perfect time to punctureit.

“And if things had gone just slightly differently,” she said, “just ever soslightlydifferently, we’d simply have ten dead Engineers on our hands, and nothing more. A tragedy, surely, but not a catastrophe. Yet two of those Engineers just happened to work on the wrong strut within the walls at the wrong time…and thus, the breach, and countless casualties.” She paused. “It really is unfortunate, isn’t it,Madam Haza.”

“What is?” said Fayazi.

“It is sounfortunatethat you locked down your estate,” said Ana, “and burned your father’s corpse, and did not alert the Apoths to the contagion. For if you had, well…perhaps the past weeks might have gone differently.”

The temperature in the room begin to change then.

I could see it in Vashta’s face; the slow, boiling realization that this gentrywoman—powerful as she was—had perpetrated a conspiracy that had directly caused the breach; and I could see it in Fayazi Haza’s posture: in the stiffening in her back, as she came to understand that the seneschal of the canton was now beginning to believe that her own personal deeds had caused the collapse of the sea walls, and brought about the dire situation of the Empire.

“I…” stammered Fayazi. “I thought this was an interview…I thought there were threats against me?”

“I am getting there,” said Ana. “But to explainthat,I must first explain Jolgalgan’s most unusual method of murder, which I am sure must have puzzled all of us. Why bother with dappleglass at all? Why use the same contagion that had once killed her canton, her home? Dappleglass, after all, is difficult, temperamental, and—obviously—murderously uncontainable. It seemed a symbolic choice. Almost like a personal vendetta. It made no sense—until we discussed the history of Oypat with the late Immunis Nusis, who had personally served there during the canton’s death.

“Nusis told us a mostcuriousstory,” said Ana. “She told us of how the Apothetikal Iyalet successfully created an effective graft against the dappleglass—a cure, in other words—but that they were not able to put it into production. For when they tried to implement their plan to do so, too many cantons raised too many legal entreaties about growing too many new reagents—and by the time those complaints were resolved, the contagion had spread too far, and Oypat’s fate was sealed. But…Nusis mentioned that there werefour cantonsin particular that were the most effective at blunting this plan to saveOypat. That would be the Juldiz, Bekinis, Qabirga, and Mitral cantons.”

Vashta blinked, lost in the weeds. “Dolabra…what is the significance of this?”

“I wondered that myself,” said Ana. “Especially when my assistant investigator collected evidence that Rona Aristan, Blas’s secretary, had traveled extensively among thosesame four cantonsin the past nine years—and had been carrying a fortune while doing so. And then I wondered itagain,when Din reviewed the Haza rookery, and found that between the murder of Commander Blas and his own death, Kaygi Haza had sent scribe-hawks aloft to four destinations—the Juldiz, Bekinis, Qabirga, and Mitral cantons.”

Fayazi’s silver veil was fluttering very quickly now. She must have been breathing rather fast.

“I speculated on the meaning of all this,” said Ana. “What could connect all this? The money, and Kaygi Haza and Commander Blas—who had been killedbyOypatis, in thesame manneras Oypat—with these four cantons that had quibbled so much that Oypat itself had perished?” She paused. “But then I wondered…What if all this had happened before?”

“Happened before?” said Vashta. “What do you mean?”

“Well, Kaygi Haza, after all, had been averyold man when he died. Somewhere around a hundred and thirty, if I recall,” said Ana. “What if, in his time, he had guided through several—how shall I put this—graduation classesof beneficiaries during his time here in Talagray, just like the ten dead Engineers? Several generations of Iyalet officers who had received his patronage, and been seeded all throughout the Empire—embedded to offer advice, information, or favors as needed?

“What if,” Ana continued, “Commander Taqtasa Blas himself had been one such officer, once upon a time? What if he and a handful of compatriots had been members of one of Kaygi’s clever little cabals, just like Jolgalgan had been? And what if some members of his group had eventually found their way to important stations in the Empire?Perhaps in the cantons of Juldiz, Bekinis, Qabirga, and Mitral?” She grinned that predatorial grin. “And…what if, eleven years ago, Kaygi Haza had requested a very, verybigfavor of Blas and his peers?”

Fayazi’s engraver shot to his feet. “These are preposterous lies!” he snarled. “We came here after being told of threats, not to be…be tarred with such a poisonous brush! Commander-Prificto, Imusttell you that I will no—”

Then Vashta said a single word—as cold, hard, and vicious as a stab from an icy blade: “No.”

Stunned, the engraver stared at her, then looked to Fayazi. “Madam, I…This is slanderous…”

Fayazi seemed to remember herself and leaned forward. “I beg your pardon, Commander-Prificto?” she said, affronted. “What did you say to my staff?”

“No,” said Vashta. “I saidno,Madam Haza. I am listening. And I am notdonelistening. Thus, we shall all sit, and not interrupt.”

The engraver hesitated for a moment, then looked to the axiom, who was watching Ana with her cold, needle-like eyes.

“We are of the clan of the Hazas,” said the axiom. “And we shall not be spoken to in such a manner by anyone.”

Vashta leaned forward from the bench. “And I am the seneschal of Talagray,” she said. “I hold in my hands the heart of the Empire, of which your clan is but a part. And if you wish to ever rejoin your clan, you will all bequiet.”

I could see Fayazi’s mouth open beneath her veil, wishing to say something. Then she shut it, pursed her lips, and gestured to her engraver, who sat.

Vashta turned her furious face to Ana, and said, “Continue, Dolabra.”

Ana cleared her throat, tried to wipe the smug grin off her face, and said, “This is the nebulous idea that crept into my mind—that eleven years ago, during the Oypat crisis, Kaygi Haza and Taqtasa Blas had gained knowledge about this cure for dappleglass. And then Blas, well-acquainted with the many Preservation Boardsthroughout the Empire, had covertly directed his friends and allies to quietlyblockits use. This was the only thing that could explain the connection between Kaygi Haza and Blas. It explained why Oypatis like Jolgalgan and Ditelus might wish this specific, poetic death upon the two men. And italsoexplained why Blas’s secretary was traveling among those four cantons with a veritable fortune—making payments to the collaborators, buying their silence. And it would explain why Kaygi Haza had hurried to send scribe-hawks to those four cantons after the death of Commander Blas. He waswarninghis people there, you see. One member of their conspiracy had been murdered in a fashion that signaled that the murderer knew what sin they had committed. He was telling the others that their secret was known—and that this murderer might soon come for them as well.

“But…whywould Blas and Haza do any of this in the first place?” continued Ana. “Why would these two men intentionally allow a whole canton to die? What could they gain from such death and destruction? Except, then I recalled…the Hazas’ wealth comes from one very specific source. And that island.”

“Land?” echoed Vashta quietly.