“Once you’ve seen to that, announce to all of your employees that you’re doubling their wages until the day after the election. Nikoros will reimburse you out of party funds.”

“Er … yes,” said Nikoros.

“Mention also,” said Locke, “the importance of preserving a secure house during the election, and that anyone reporting anythinggenuinely unusual or out of place will be compensated for their trouble. If a spider farts in a wine cellar, I want you to hear about it.”

Josten’s eyes had widened, but he nodded as before.

“What else … ? Physical security! We need brutes. Say half a dozen. Reliable types, patient, ready for a scrap but not slobbering to start one. No idiots. And some women we can blend in with the crowd. Handy things, pretty girls with knives under their skirts. Where we can get some?”

“The Court of Dust,” said Nikoros. “The caravan staging and receiving posts. There’s always guards for hire. Not exactly Collegium scholars, mind you.”

“Just so long as they don’t suck their thumbs in polite company,” said Locke. “See to it tomorrow, Nikoros, and take Master Callas with you. He can sort cream from crap. Clean up the new recruits, get them decent clothes, and put them up here for the duration. Pay for the rooms out of party funds. Also—make it clear that anyone brought on as muscle answers directly to me or Callas. They take noorders from anyone else without our permission.”

“Uh, sure,” said Nikoros.

“Now, Nikoros, you have an office full of papers to preserve. Run off and get your scribe working. Take the steps we discussed earlier. What time are you parading us around?”

“Ninth hour of the evening.”

“Good, good, shit. Wait. Will everyone in attendance know that Callas and I are running the show?”

“No, no, only the members of the Committee. We did hire you, remember.”

“Ah,” said Locke. “That’s fine. You carry on with getting the hell out of here, and we’ll see you tonight.”

Nikoros nodded, shook hands with Josten, and went out the front door.

“What else … ?” Locke turned back to Josten. “Rooms. Yes. The rooms adjacent to our suite, and across from it, are not to be let. Keep them vacant. Have Nikoros pay you the full six weeks’ rent for them out of party funds. But give the keys for the empty rooms to me, right?”

“Easily done.”

Jean studied Locke carefully. This rapid transition to a state of wide-eyed energetic scheming was something he’d seen many times before. However, there was a nervous, feverish quality to Locke’s mood that made Jean bite his lip with concern.

“What else … ?”

“Luncheon, perhaps?” Jean interrupted as gracefully as he could. “Food, wine, coffee? A few minutes to sit down and catch your breath in private?”

“Food, yes. Coffee and wine are a ghastly mix. One or the other, I don’t care which. Not both.”

“As for food, sir—,” said Josten.

“Put anything on my plate short of a live scorpion and I’ll eat it. And … and …” Locke snapped his fingers. “I know what I’ve forgotten! Josten, have you had any new customers in the past few days? Particularlynew customers, never seen before, ones that spend a great deal of time sitting around?”

“Well, now that you mention it .… Don’t stare at them, but on your right, far side of the room, the third table from the rear wall, under the painting of the lady with the exceptional boso … necklace.”

“I see,” said Locke. “Yes, that is an extraordinary place to hang a necklace. Three men?”

“First started coming three days ago. They eat and drink, more than enough to keep their spot. But they keep it for hours at a time, and they come and go in shifts, sometimes. There’s a fourth fellow not there right now.”

“Do they have rooms?”

“No. And they don’t do business with the regular crowd. Sometimes they play cards, but mostly … well, I don’t know what they do. Nothing offensive.”

“Would you call them gentlemen? In their manner of dress, in their self-regard?”

“Well, they’re not penniless. But I wouldn’t go so far as gentlemen.”

“Hirelings,” said Locke, removing some of the more obvious pieces of jewelry Nikoros had secured for him and stuffing them into a coat pocket. “Valets. Professional men of convenience, unless I miss my guess. I’m a little overdressed for this, but I think I can compensate by toning down my manners.”

“Overdressed for what?” said Jean.

“Insulting complete strangers,” said Locke, loosening his neck-cloth. “Got to mind the delicate social nuances when you inform some poor fellow that he’s a dumb motherfucker.”

8

“HANG ON,” said Jean. “If you’re looking to start a fight, I’m—”

“I thought about that,” said Locke. “You’re likely to scare them. I need them to feel insulted and notthreatened. That makes it my job.”

“Well, would you like me to intervene before you get your teeth punched out, or is that part of your scheme?”

“If I’m right,” said Locke, “you won’t need to. If I’m wrong, I grant you full license to indulge in an ‘I told you so’ when I’m conscious again, with an option for a ‘you stupid bastard’ if you choose.”

“I’ll claim that privilege.” The quick-moving waiter appeared with a second cup of coffee for Jean. He seized it and slapped a pair of copper coins down in its place. The waiter bowed.

“Josten,” said Locke, “if it turns out I’m about to do something knavish to honest customers, we’ll compensate you.”

“Going to be a damned interesting six weeks,” muttered Josten.

Locke took a deep breath, cracked his knuckles, and walked over to the table at which the three strangers sat. Jean stayed some distance behind, minding his cup of coffee. His presence there was a comfort, familiar as a shadow.

“Good afternoon,” said Locke. “Lazari is my name. I trust I’m intruding.”

“I’m sorry,” said the man closest to Locke, “but we were—”

“I’m afraid I don’t care,” said Locke. He slid into an unclaimed chair and appraised the strangers: young, clean, well-groomed, not quite expensively dressed. They were sharing a bottle of white wine and a pitcher of water.

“We were having a private discussion!” said the man on Locke’s right.

“Ah, but I’m here to do you two a service.” Locke gestured at the two men sitting across from him. “Concerning the fellow I’m sitting next to. Word around the bar is that he can only get it up when he’s on top of another fellow he’s taken by force or subterfuge.”

“What the hell is this?” hissed the man on the right.

“Phrased less delicately,” said Locke, “if you continue to associate with this well-known deceiver, he’s going to tie you down, do you somewhere very untidy until you bleed, and not bother to untie you after.”

“This is unseemly,” said one of the men across the table. “Unseemly, and if you don’t withdraw immediately—”

“I’d be more worried about your friend not withdrawing immediately,” said Locke. “He’s not known for being quick.”

“What’s the meaning of this infantile interruption?” The man on Locke’s right pounded on the table, just strongly enough to rattle the bottle and glasses.

“Good gods,” said Locke, pretending to notice the wine for the first time, “you thoroughly artless fuck-stains didn’t actually drinkany of that, did you?”

He swept his hat off and used it to knock the wineglasses of the men across from him into their laps.

“You bastard!” said one.

“Why I … I … ,” sputtered the other.

“But then, maybe it’s not drugged after all.” Locke grabbed the bottle and took a long swig. “Wouldn’t need to be, for Karthani. Milk-sucking pants-pissers could get drunk off the smell of an empty bottle!”

“I’ll … fetch the landlord!” said the man across from him on the left, retrieving his empty glass from his lap.

“Frightening,” said Locke. “Savage as a kitten on a tit. Say, did you ever hear the one about the rich Karthani and the Karthani who knew who his mother was? Shit, wait, I said Karthani, didn’t I? Told the damn thing wrong.”