A Flight of Ravens by John Conroe (thriller books to read TXT) 📗

were casting her hard glances.  Trell and Drew had both noticed her, as they were looking our way more than they were looking at their customers.  Kassa was headed our way, and she raised one eyebrow in curiosity when she caught my eye.

“Well, seeing as how I’m pretty certain it was your people who used proscribed technology the other night to break up that riot, which incidentally kept us alive, perhaps I will,” she said, ignoring everything and everyone around us.

“Riot?  Forbidden devices?  Whatever are you talking about?”

“Hmm, I suppose you can’t be honest about that with a church official, even if it’s a different church,” she said with a frown.  “Which is just as well, because the local pastor who heads up the Apostle’s presence in Porye has decided to serve himself over God.”  She turned as she finished speaking, seeing Kassa, who was now just about four spans away.

“Not to interrupt,” Kassa said, her curious glance lingering on Gwen, “but we’re almost done.”

“Gwen, this is Kassa,” I said.  “Kassa, Gwen is a pastor with the Holy Assembly with a disturbing accusation about our own religious leaders.”

“So I happened to hear,” Kassa said.

Gwen gave her a nod, then turned to me with her hands on her hips. “It’s fact, not accusation.”  I kept my eyes on hers, but my peripheral vision showed me Kassa’s hand tapping her leg in the sign we’d agreed meant truth.

“Let’s see, Father Crandall is the top clergy for the Church of the Apostle here in Porye,” I said.  “Who has he decided to serve?”

“Our sources indicate he’s making three times the income of his church stipend from Turgeon Collind’s coffers,” she said, glancing at Kassa and then back to me.  Kassa tapped her leg again.

“So Mandrigo has subverted an official of Montshire?” I asked Gwen.  She blinked at my tone and started to take a step back before stopping herself.  Her face had gone a bit pale.

“That’s what we understand,” she said, eyeing me like I might bite her.  “But I’m sure you’ll want to do your own due diligence before taking any irreversible steps.”

“But I value your word, Gwen,” I said with a grim smile.

She frowned at me.  “My brother, who if you recall is a Berkette Marine, told me that you are mostly responsible for winning the war against Sylvania.  He said you are incredibly dangerous and wanted me to promise I would run in the opposite direction if I ever saw you again.”

“You don’t seem to be keeping your promise,” I said.

“I never agreed to his request.  A big part of my job is reading people.  I haven’t been wrong yet.”

“And you read me as innocuous?” I asked, incredulous.

“Of course not,” she said with another glance at Kassa, who looked mildly amused by our conversation.  “I know you are dangerous.  It’s pretty much your job to be dangerous, same as my brother.  He reported your presence in Pit to his superiors.  He likened it to kicking over a beehive.  Did you know that Berkette High Command has an entire group of officers who make it their business to study you?”

“I was fairly certain they were aware of me,” I said.  “Not sure that I warrant an entire study group.”

“He was called to Strong for a debriefing.  And I even got a visit, from two officers, although Deacon Kittleby insisted on sitting in on my interview.”

“Are you really surprised?” Kassa asked me, surprising me that she was interjecting.

“Seems excessive,” I admitted.

“The republic operates differently than the Kingdom of Montshire,” Kassa said.  “Many more layers than you’re used to. You are a potential military threat—it only makes sense.”

“Yes, I know, just like we keep track of Berkette’s military leaders.  We just don’t waste officers to track one person.”

I looked at Gwen. It had been her turn to watch and listen with curiosity.

“Are you in trouble?” I asked.

“Why would I be in trouble?” she asked.  I shrugged.  “No, they just made me tell them everything that happened, every word you said, and everything I saw.  It was a bit long but kind of interesting.”

“And now that you’ve approached me, here, on kingdom soil, you’ll have to go through it all over again,” I said.

“Perhaps,” she said, turning to look at Kassa, then at the two men still at our booth who were watching us with unabashed interest.  “You think giving one necklace for another will actually help?”

“The new one doesn’t make people nuts,” I said.  “We didn’t have enough for all the originals, but those that remain at large should weaken and fade within days.  The new ones will be inert by this time next week.”  I glanced at Kassa and she nodded. “The idea is to knock down the number of crazy individuals to the point where the remainder aren’t a real threat, or at least a lesser threat.”

“And let time do the rest?” Gwen asked.

“Exactly.”

“So… mission accomplished?” she asked.

“Not fully. Gotta look deeper into the corruption here as well as across the border.”

She blanched. “And surgically remove it?”

“We’ll see.  Would it surprise you?”

“From what I was told after our last meeting, it would seem more surprising if you didn’t.”

“You think I’m that predictable?”

“Me? No.  But our military has identified you as ruthless.  They think there is predictability in that.”

“They would be surprised,” Kassa said.

“Thank you,” I said to her.

“It wasn’t necessarily a compliment,” Kassa replied, frowning.

“And it wasn’t necessarily not a compliment,” I said.

Both women frowned at me, then exchanged a baffled look.  “Not sure that even makes sense,” Kassa said.  “All I’ll say is that you are full of surprises.  We’re packing up.”  She nodded to Gwen and then headed back to the booth.

“Your people don’t act like I was led to believe they would,” Gwen said, staring after her.

“Right?  It’s like there’s no chain of command at all,” I said.

“That’s not what I meant.  Anyway, I thought you should know why we are here, in order to avoid any diplomatic problems.  I’ll take my leave.”

“I appreciate the transparency,” I said.

“Which