I Skimmed a Little

The annex vault was larger than I expected.

An iron door big enough for a man to step through with room to spare. The key had been with the steward. He had insisted it was missing, tucked away in his coat, until the Imperial Guard moved to search him—then he produced it without further argument.

"Open it."

At my words, the steward's hands shook.

"My lord Count."

"What is it?"

He seemed unsettled by my formal address, stumbling over his reply.

"Perhaps you might reconsider just once more…"

"I have already thought it through thoroughly."

The more I thought about it, the more certain I became that it needed opening. In the end, the steward fitted the key into the lock.

A heavy clank.

The mechanism released. When the door swung wide, sacks of gold coins stacked within came into view.

One. Two. Three. Ten in all.

The inspector opened a single sack and poured out the coins. They spilled across the table in a glittering cascade. The clerks began to count.

Five hundred pieces. The other sacks held five hundred apiece as well. Ten sacks meant five thousand gold coins—exactly the sum recorded in the ledger.

I stared at the gold for a long moment. Pretty things, weren't they. And for some reason, thinking of them as the price of twelve lives only made them look more valuable.

"And the intake records?" the inspector asked.

The steward, watching our faces carefully, handed over a ledger—the annex vault cashbook. The date the five thousand gold coins ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had arrived was four days before the Blood Register was completed. The courier: Arzen Trading Company. The stated purpose: payment for the purchase of artwork.

I flipped through the cashbook.

"What artwork did you sell?"

The steward did not answer.

"A painting? A sculpture?"

"Well…"

"Speak."

"It is one of Your Lordship's personal pieces."

"So what is the object?"

The steward's gaze drifted toward the garden. The naked goddess statue was still spouting water into the air.

Surely not.

"That thing?"

"Yes."

I looked at the statue beyond the window.

"If you sold it, why is it still here?"

"The buyer acquired ownership only. They said they would leave the display of it to the Count's estate."

Unbelievable. He had taken the money. He still had the object. And he had even dug himself an escape hatch to claim it was an art transaction rather than a bribe. This body had been more thorough than I had given it credit for.

"And the contract?"

The steward produced a single sheet of paper. An art sale agreement: Arzen Trading Company purchased the goddess statue for five ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thousand gold coins. Custody and exhibition, however, were entrusted indefinitely to House Berdel. There was no management fee.

I set the contract down.

"This is closer to a gift than a sale of art," the inspector said, expressionless. "It looks like a bribe."

"I think so as well."

The steward's face went pale.

"My lord Count."

"It's fine."

"Pardon?"

"The money was received under my name already. There's no reason to take it out on the steward."

At least the present me had never taken it. But the master of this house was Cassian Berdel. The signature was Cassian's. The contract was Cassian's. The money sat in Cassian's vault. Claiming the body had changed hands was not a way out of this.

I turned to the inspector.

"Seal the gold, the contract, and the cashbook. All of it."

"Where shall we transfer them?"

"To the Imperial Palace."

The steward's head snapped up in alarm.

"All of it, my lord?"

"Do not leave a single coin behind."

I was a little sorry to see it go. A very little. All right—quite a lot, if I was honest. Five thousand gold coins could probably have built several more mansions like this one. But I only had one neck, and it was worth more than money.

"What about Arzen Trading Company?" the inspector asked.

I spread the Blood Register beside the company ledgers seized from the annex and compared them. According to the books, the original Cassian had added twelve names to the register: four nobles, five merchants, three provincial officials. Different ranks, different territories. But set against Arzen Trading Company's business dealings, a common thread emerged.

Viscount Herman had refused to lease Arzen a grain transport route. Viscount Kerten's cousin was a creditor who had lent the company money. Three eastern merchants were Arzen's competitors. Two harbor officials had denied the company a warehouse expansion.

If those ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠twelve people died, Arzen Trading Company stood to gain far too much. Debt recovery would snarl in inheritance disputes. Rival firms would lose their masters. Anyone blocking warehouse permits and shipping lanes would simply vanish.

"So at least the twelve already on the list weren't chosen for political reasons," I muttered.

"What do you mean?" the inspector asked.

It had not been aimed at the Crown Prince's faction. Of course, the result would have looked like a purge of them. But the direct reason for selecting these twelve had been something else entirely.

Business.

Arzen Trading Company had tried to erase rivals, creditors, and competitors by branding them as traitors—and Cassian Berdel had taken their money and written the names in.

I closed my eyes. This body had not merely been a corrupt vassal. It had been a corrupt vassal who cheerfully sold the performance of corruption as a product.

"My lord Count." One of the guards approached. "Her Highness the Imperial Princess commands your immediate presence at the palace."

So she had already reviewed the ledgers. I looked back at the sacks of gold.

"We'll take those as well."

"They are evidence."

"Which is precisely why we're taking them."

If Adelia meant to kill me on the strength of the ledgers alone, showing her the gold was the better play. Looking at the gold might make her angrier still—but I would deal with that when the time came.

The Minister of Finance was suspended on charges of approving the final register and abetting the destruction of evidence. He was confined to his residence, and the Ministry of Finance shifted, for the time being, to a system of deputy administration. Still, no proof had yet emerged that he had personally altered the register.

Adelia was alone in her office. The secret ledger I had sealed and sent lay open on the desk. Beside it sat the ten sacks of gold. The princess, her red hair falling loose, picked up a single coin. It turned slowly between her fingers.

"Explain."

Her voice was low—the voice she used when her temper was foul. I bowed my head.

"It would appear I took a bribe."

The coin stopped turning.

"It would appear?"

"The ledger and the contract are so excessively thorough, and the gold is still sitting there in the exact amount, that denial is rather difficult."

Adelia set the coin down on the table with a sharp click.

"Five thousand gold coins."

"Yes."

"As the price of killing twelve people."

"Judging by the circumstances, yes."

"Cassian."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Do you want to die?"

"Not in the slightest."

I meant it. Adelia rose from her chair. That her hand did not move toward the longsword on the desk was, at least, a mercy.

"You sold my name for money."

"It seems the me who received that money was somewhat careless."

"Somewhat?"

The princess pointed at the sacks of gold.

"Does this look like somewhat to you?"

I regarded the sacks. Ten of them. It was a great deal of money. Still, admitting as much here would be unwise.

"Considering Your Highness's dignity, it is a modest sum."

Adelia's eyes narrowed. The air in the room turned cold. I hurried to add,

"I am Your Highness's loyal vassal. Is it so wrong to skim a little?"

Silence. Long, heavy silence. Adelia looked at me as though she were studying a creature she had never seen before.

"What did you just say?"

"I said I was a loyal vassal."

"Before that."

"Your Highness's."

"After that."

"A little."

"Cassian."

"Yes."

"Are you calling me petty?"

I had not expected her to seize on that of all things.

"Your Highness?" I arranged my face into a look of shock. "Who would dare say such a thing?"

"You just—"

"Someone nearby must have whispered some nonsense into the air." I glanced around the room. Of course, there were only the two of us. "What a treacherous little snake. Have him cut down the moment you find him."

Adelia's lips parted slightly. She seemed, for a moment, at a loss for words.

Good. If I had shut her up, I was halfway to surviving this.

"Is there a worse snake than you?"

"I hope not."

"Shameless."

"Surely Your Highness keeps me for a reason."

"I kept you?"

"I took five thousand gold in bribes and my head is still attached."

Adelia's hand drifted toward the longsword.

"For now, at least," I added quickly. "I intend to repay that favor with fifty thousand gold, so that Your Highness may continue to keep me."

Her hand stopped.

"Fifty thousand?"

"Yes."

"You received five thousand."

"A bribe is a price tag the giver hangs around his own neck."

I placed a document summarizing Arzen Trading Company's connections to the twelve names on the desk. Adelia opened it.

"If those twelve die, Arzen can seize half the eastern grain transport routes. Add the harbor warehouses, company shares, and the outstanding debts, and even fifty thousand gold would fall short."

"You took the money knowing that?"

"I don't know whether the original me knew."

"The original you?"

A slip. I corrected myself at once.

"The me who received the money, I mean."

Adelia studied me for a moment, then lowered her eyes to the document.

"And so?"

"I will seize Arzen Trading Company's ledgers and warehouses, and freeze their transport rights and company shares."

"And your bribery charge?"

"I will submit to investigation as it stands."

"And the punishment?"

"That is for Your Highness to decide."

"No intention of begging for your life?"

"Have I not been begging for it already?" I pointed at the sacks of gold. "I offer up five thousand coins and propose to earn Your Highness another fifty thousand. Where will you find a more earnest petition than that?"

Adelia laughed, as if she could not believe what she was hearing. It was the first time she had laughed—cold and brief, but a laugh all the same.

"Three days."

"Pardon?"

"Within three days, bring me proof that Arzen Trading Company manipulated the register."

"Three days is too short."

"Two."

"Why did it shrink?"

"Leave before I make it one."

"Two days will be plenty."

Of course it would. The princess tossed the document onto the desk.

"Fifty thousand gold."

"That is the minimum estimate."

"And if it is less?"

She drew a finger across her throat—clearer than any words.

"I will bring it without fail."

I bowed and left the office. Just before the door closed, Adelia's voice reached me.

"Cassian."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Next time you skim something, report it first."

I paused. I could not tell whether she was joking or serious. Her expression gave nothing away.

"I will keep that in mind."

I answered for form's sake. When I shut the door and stepped into the corridor, the breath left me all at once.

I had survived. Again. Though I would have to remember that bargaining with the Imperial Princess only shortened the deadline.

When I left the office, the inspector was waiting for me in the corridor. He held out a thin, folded sheet of paper.

"We found this while transferring the gold sacks to the evidence vault."

"Where?"

"Hidden between a double layer of cloth at the bottom of a sack."

I unfolded the paper. Twelve names. People who had not yet been entered into the Blood Register we had already examined. At the bottom was a short sentence.

I read the line again.

Remaining balance. Five thousand gold coins had not been the whole of the transaction. It had only been the down payment.