The Sultan's Spy

Chapter 25: Missing Information

Eliska found her sister walking out of the doorway that led to Mother Zorana's rooms. She strode towards Lizina, who stopped and raised her eyebrows at her approach. "Do you have a report this early on?"

"No, but there's something I'd like to ask you," she replied, nodding towards one of the smaller rooms in the harem often used for meetings.

Lizina didn't ask what she wanted to know, much to Eliska's relief as she led the way across the courtyard. She really didn't want anyone else in the family to hear about this. Though knowing her sister, she'd probably tell Mother Zorana and maybe Kasimer as well, if she felt they needed to know.

That was the only downside to being a shadow in her family. There was very little privacy and Lizina was always interested in everything little thing you were doing. Sometimes Eliska found being out in the field a relief, a time to be alone with her thoughts.

Once they were settled onto the cushions left around the small stone table in the dim, blue tiled room, Eliska turned to look at Lizina. "What happened to Lord Zakki?"

Her sister's eyes narrowed and her lips thinned. "He was ruined by a merchant and killed himself because of it. It was in the report I sent you on your little add-on, who I will admit has been fitting himself in reasonably well with the scribes. None of our other people have mentioned him seeming out of place, so he's not completely useless."

She filed the information about Tariq away for later, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why was he ruined? It's not often one of the nobles has something like that happen to them where Kasimer doesn't intervene, not unless they're into something they shouldn't be. Your report didn't say anything about Lord Zakki being involved in any of the usual kinds of things that would get him ignored."

"There were more concerns than just one noble."

Eliska frowned. "What do you mean? Are you saying Kasimer let him be ruined for some reason? That doesn't sound like him."

"This isn't something you need to concern yourself with," Lizina said, standing. "I'd suggest you drop the subject."

She stood as well. "I am concerned if you're keeping things from me."

"I'm sorry, but when did you become head of the shadows? Do I need your permission to conduct our business? Do you expect me to clear everything with you?"

Eliska flushed. "No, but-"

"There are a lot of things I don't tell you. If I think you need to know, I'll tell you, but until then, you'd do better to listen to me. I am still in charge of you, understand?"

She nodded, only just stopping herself from flinching under Lizina's glare. She knew exactly what her sister could and would do if she continued to question her, and Eliska had no intention of being put back through a shadow training refresher course. "Sorry."

Lizina snorted before turning and heading back the way they'd come. Eliska let her get well ahead before she walked out herself. Obviously asking anyone else in the family about Lord Zakki wasn't going to end well, so Eliska left that idea for now. Later, if she could talk to someone she could trust among the other nobles, she might be able to get more information. But she'd have to be patient, since Lizina would be looking for her to do exactly that and would punish her severely for it if she was caught.

Back in the bright sunlight of the courtyard, Eliska let the heat bake into her skin as she considered her options. She'd already checked with those among the shadows who spent any amount of time among the court or in the areas of the palace outside of the harem, and none of them had felt anything that could be a blood mage. Lizina was sending out those they could to check in any of the main areas for any signs but so far there hadn't been any luck.

She'd already tried researching a spell or any tricks that could be used to identify a blood mage, but the family had been very thorough in rooting out any hint of them from any of their libraries. Eliska hadn't even been able to find a reference to any blood mages in any of the books she'd found. The closest she'd come was someone mentioning a horrible and unnatural mage from the west, but that could be something else entirely for all she knew.

Eliska sighed. There were no easy answers in this investigation, and it seemed everywhere she turned she ran into another dead-end. If they could just find someone who had a connection to this person, someone who knew something about the blood mage even if it was just a whisper, she was sure they could have him before he knew what was happening.

Walking towards her rooms, a thought made her pause. Tariq had said a servant from the palace had come looking to buy illegal slaves, that he'd been beaten. If that was true, someone had to have noticed. It certainly wasn't every day that someone came back to the palace beaten.

She turned abruptly and headed towards the room that Lizina used to meet with everyone when she was in the harem. Eliska only had to wait a few minutes beside the closed door before it opened and one of her nieces came out. She jerked her head towards the room with a significant look and then scampered off, making Eliska wince slightly.

Still, she squared her shoulders and walked into the room. Immediately her sister's face darkened, brows dropping low across her eyes. "Eliska," she hissed, shoving herself into a standing position.

"I may have a possible lead towards finding the blood mage," she said quickly, stopping with her hands behind her back.

Lizina froze. Slowly, she lowered herself back down. "What do you mean? I only just saw you."

Eliska nodded and closed the door behind her before hurrying over. "I was thinking of where to look into next and I remembered what Tariq told me when we were still in the city. He said some kind of mid-level servant from the palace had been trying to buy illegal slaves. He was beaten and his money taken, but if he came back here-"

"Someone would have noticed and said something," Lizina finished for her. A harsh smile slowly spread across her face. "I'll put the word out. It seems your little pet is becoming quite the asset. I'm not even upset we're stuck with him and if he keeps being this useful, I might not have him killed after this is over."

She nodded slowly, glad that Lizina was in a better mood now but feeling a chill at the reminder that Tariq was a liability for the family. Eliska could only hope they could prove that he was better off alive and helping them than dead. If they couldn't...

Eliska repressed a shiver and instead focused on Lizina and her plans. She'd cross that bridge when they came to it. For now, they had a blood mage to worry about.