Two Days

"And so the Khanbikeh comes to Suri now?" The wheelchair ridden proprietress of the Dragon King seemed put out, frowning at Elya and thumping the tray which held two steaming bowls of volha-borsht onto the table. "Suri is disappointed. The Khanbikeh looked smarter."

Elya blushed, but couldn't refute the accusation. She'd used up two of the days Nikolai allowed for, in a fruitless hunt through the gangs they'd infiltrated. Whether the true instigators fell in the recent battle or the Hand's influence was limited, they made little headway. A few deputies were abducted, and some merchants threatened for information, but a veil of secrecy still shrouded the entire operation.

As far as the gangs were concerned, the town guard, while not incorruptible, was surprisingly honest in its dealings. The worst they'd been able to uncover were a few bribes accepted for looking the other way after minor crimes.

Petrov was incorruptible and unshakeable. The list of his achievements and rewards long enough to create envy even among the Court. The gangs could offer him nothing and he'd been raised to his position by Nikolai during the campaign in Volhiniya, playing a major role in consolidating the new Counts power. Alexis even heard rumours amongst the people of Konstanz that the Emperor was eyeing the rich iron mines in the northern Theocracy and the salt manufacturing towns of Grodno and Vilhask falling outside of the Empires new border at Sieradz. Elya heard no such rumours from House Suzdal's network at Court, but the people believed it and by their words, after the supposed conquest, Petrov would be granted the newly conquered lands where his abilities could be best put to use. Nikolai was proud of the man and Elya was forced to listen to her fiancée brag about his ability to spot talents for a precious hour the day before.

The guard Captains she discovered, were drawn mostly from the descendants of the Dragon Lords, a group of people that abhorred mind-altering substances according to Nikolai.

Anything not prescribed by their priests, actually.

Even most of the actual guard members had some Dragon Lord blood. It was a mark of honour for them.

Especially after the war.

Being saved from occupation improved the public opinion of the Dragon Lords dramatically, not that it was really required.

When Elya tried to search for motive among the guard, the Baroness quietly explained how the intermarriage between the Imperial settlers of Volhiniya and the Dragon Lords escaping the purges in the Theocracy changed the fabric of the province, making it far more difficult for the locals to betray their own. The tribes had always been connected through bonds of family. The shifting web of alliances which baffled many a scholar coming about after centuries of weddings and inter-tribe adoptions. Alliances which spread to the townspeople by marriage. Their traditions wormed their way into Volhiniyan society until it was impossible to tell where Dragon Lord customs ended and Imperial customs began in this province.

In any case nothing stuck out from the guard which may have allowed the massive flow of drugs through the town.

In her frustration she'd complained to Eva about the complicated traditions. As if her current worries weren't enough, the Baroness chuckled at her indignation and went on to describe how she'd have to abide by many of those wedding customs, being the 'Khan's wife'. Most of them were minor, a few phrases here, some changes to her attire there, but she was required to bring the carcass of an animal she hunted.

An animal commensurate to her skill and position.

The implication was obvious. What else could a Dragonslayer bring except a Dragon? She'd already filed away the terrifying demand, hoping she could get away with using the Serpent head lying in storage. It irked her however she wouldn't be able to use it as a centrepiece then. In the end, Eva took pity on her and pointed Elya towards Suri. If there was a traitor or problem among the Dragon Lords or their descendants, she would know.

Elya feared talking to the woman would alert the drug traders, but Eva assured her Suri was dependable. Nonetheless, she'd asked Nikolai for his opinion. He'd stared at her for a moment, placing his quill down and rubbed his cheek, small ink stains transferring to his face.

"There are few I trust more than Suri." Was all he said, his voice deep and unflinching. She'd quietly taken her leave, squeezing his hand on the way out in sympathy. Elya didn't know what had happened for him to have such unswerving faith in the woman but the depth in his voice reeked of pain and sadness.

Shaking her head to clear away the memories, Elya snatched up her soup and sloppily dipped the rough bread into the bowl.

"Khanbikeh eats like a soldier." Suri rasped, taking out a dagger to saw through her own bread.

"I have little time."

"Make time. Volha-borsht is never rushed. Is Khanbikeh soldier now? No! Now Khanbikeh is diner." Suri rapped Elya's knuckles with the back of her spoon, glaring at Elya until she stopped devouring her meal. "Khan does not care for mind benders. As is right."

"What's a mind bender?" Elya frowned a little at the non sequitur but a sip of soup melted all the exasperation from her face.

"Bad traders. Deal in Stardust." Suri hissed the words, face scrunching in distaste.

"Nikolai can't ignore them. We can't ignore them." Elya snorted. Most of the Dragon Lords saw Nikolai as a war leader. They saw applications of force and power, not justice and peace. As a Count, Nikolai had to use all of them. "That's why I'm here. I need to know who in the guard is letting this happen."

"Mind benders!" Suri banged the table in anger and Elya snatched at her bowl, trying unsuccessfully to stop the soup from spilling. Inn patrons looked up at them in surprise for a moment. But the regulars turned their heads away, acceptance writ on their faces, like they'd seen this scene many times before.

"Don't spill the soup." Elya scowled, waving her spoon under Suri's nose threateningly. "Tell me what's going on in the guard."

"Guard is clean." Suri growled, pushing Elya's hand away. "Khanbikeh chases shadows."

"Something is stopping information from reaching the highest levels. How can the guard be clean?"

"Why must problem be in guard?"

"Why were we not aware of the 'mind benders'?" Elya countered, raising her spoon as if she'd scored a touch in a spar.

"The People avoid Stardust. It burns the Blood." Suri made an odd cutting motion with her own utensil, a referees signal to cancel an awarded point. Elya struggled to parse the woman's statement. It wasn't like Suri was being cryptic on purpose but she refused to improve her grasp of the Imperial tongue, claiming what she already knew was enough. It made understanding complex subjects far more difficult than they should be.

"You're implying users of the drug are involved?"

"Suri implies nothing." She declared vehemently. "Khanbikeh searches for motive among guard. Guard remains same, yet information has reached Khan."

"What changed?" Elya whispered, understanding Suri's meaning. "If the traffickers were able to hide for so long it stands to reason, they could continue to do so. At least, the sudden revelation of their activities shouldn't have so great an impact. It's like we uncovered everything about their actions overnight."

Suri nodded, slurping soup noisily and smacking her lips in delight. "Yet no idea of who they are. Why do shadows come to light? Ancient saying among the People: 'Arrow flies straight. World bends path.'"

"I don't see how that applies."

"Khanbikeh fails to see how world changes understanding. Khanbikeh searches for failure amongst her own. Why do enemies succeed? Why do enemies hide it? Why Khan only sees it now?"

"If this were a battlefield and someone laid something so obvious in front of me, then I would…" Elya trailed off, eyes widening at the conclusion she reached.

"Trap." Suri confirmed, gnawing on a slice of bread. "Bait."

"But a trap for what? They've spent so much effort to build this… enterprise… yet they're willing to throw it away." It made no sense. Even rough calculations of the volume of Stardust, indicated the traffickers would, in a month generate profit equivalent to the revenue Konstanz generated in a year.

Suri shrugged. "Leader unknown. Motive unknown. Outcome is Khan's focus."

Elya cursed under her breath, partial realisation dawning. Their enemies wanted to do something and were willing to draw their attention to their own lucrative drug trade simply as a distraction. Unfortunately, she had no idea what It was they hoped to achieve.

"Take time Khanbikeh. Eat first. Gain strength." As if to emphasise her point, Suri lifted the bowl of soup to her lips, taking a deep drink.

Sighing, Elya took a few deep breaths to empty her mind and turned to savour her meal. If anything, her time in the military taught her to live in the moment. Constant fear of danger could cripple a person.

"So tell me, what was Nikolai like in the army?" She leaned back and relaxed, listening to Suri celebrate her fiancée's antics. If he'd been one of her Knights, she may have had to drag him for discipline.

A lot of discipline.

Two days remained before Nikolai moved.

It would have to be enough.