Last Life

Book 5: Chapter 15

“HOW’S THE NEW OFFICE, Monsieur Dormal?” I said to my new manager as I looked around the office with its two arched windows looking out onto the square fronting the Temple of the Most Luminous Mother. “Everything set up to your liking?”

The room smelled like fresh whitewash, lacquer, and paper. The remodeling had wrapped up only two days before, but in that short time Dormal managed to get everything in order. He had furniture brought in, and also hired some assistants and a servant.

This office and several adjoining rooms were the latest in my series of acquisitions received in payment on my promissory notes. There had once been an apartment here, taking up the entire second story of a three-story stone building. Once upon a time, it belonged to a merchant’s widow, who racked up a series of loans to pay off debts she’d acquired while playing cards.

I decided to divide the apartment into two parts. The first was dedicated to my new manager’s accounting office, and the second was for his personal quarters, where he lived along with his wife and daughter. Unlike Madame Weber, I didn’t charge him anything for the space.

“Thank you, Your Worship,” said Dormal with a respectful bow. “This is more than we could have expected.”

“I’m flattered to hear it,” I said with a nod, and then changed the subject: “Any minute now, I expect a visit from a woman with whom I’m going to be having a very important conversation. Please see to it that refreshments and wine are brought in, and also that we aren’t disturbed. Oh, yes... And all the papers are ready?”

“They’re right there on the table, Your Worship,” said Dormal with another bow.

He was about to close the window, which was letting in the many-voiced roar of the crowd outside. People thronged the square to enjoy the spectacle of the members of the Nightwolves being executed. For a week already, the capital was afire with the news that the Stone Knights had eradicated the werewolves’ lair and killed the pack mother, and also taken several shapeshifters and their hangers-on prisoner.

“No need,” I stopped him. “Leave it open.”

Dormal nodded in silence and stepped out. I stood up from my chair and walked over to the window to watch what was happening up on the platform in front of the church. It felt just like the day that I watched the coven of witches being ripped to pieces.

The bloodthirsty crowd, the priests and the Stone Knights, the bloodied bodies of the prisoners condemned to death.

Admittedly, something was different this time. The city authorities weren’t going to make the same mistake as last time; there were about five times as many soldiers present in the square as there had been that time.

The sound of my door opening tore me out of my contemplations. I turned around.

“She’s here,” said Dormal.

“Invite her in,” I said as I closed the window to muffle the sound from the square.

A few seconds later, none other than Isabelle Legrand.

Hm, I thought... She hasn’t changed a bit. Same bird-like profile, dark-gray outfit, and arrogant expression. Although actually, no. This time, she was also surprised. And, seemingly, the surprise was genuine.

“Is this some kind of joke?” Isabelle asked coldly as she looked firmly into my eyes.

“Whatever do you mean, Madame?” I shrugged in reply. “Didn’t you yourself request to meet with the holder of your promissory note?”

“Yes, but...” Isabelle frowned; a second later, a flash of understanding lit up her eyes.

As she stared at me, sizing me up again, her eyes narrowed slightly, and she bit down on her lower lip; all of this only made her look more bird-like than she already did.

“So this is all your handiwork?” Isabelle concluded, sounding even colder.

“If you’re referring to the fact that I bought up all your promissory notes for 2,000 imperials, then yes. That is my handiwork indeed.”

Isabelle’s narrow nostrils shook ever so slightly. Her thin lips were pressed tightly together. And her whole appearance radiated disappointment and contempt.

Max’s uncle was one of the golden hundred, and 2,000 imperials wasn’t the kind of sum that could cause any serious damage to his massive fortune. But even at that size, a leak in the flow of his money would be unpleasant for him.

I should point out that promissory notes from the Legrands and other large mercantile houses cost me more than those of noblemen. That was because merchants tended to be much more able to pay. I already had more than enough proof of that.

Supplied with money by Zacharias Beron, Michel Roupe (the jeweler who I normally worked with) had to leave the city on occasion and sell my precious stones in other large cities of Vestonia in order to avoid making the bottom drop out of the market in the capital.

“Please, Madame,” I said before Max’s aunt could respond. “Be my guest. I’ll have refreshments, fruit, and wine brought in immediately. I assure you, we have much to discuss.”

Isabelle froze for a second, but then (obviously having decided something in her mind) she walked in silence over to the table. Taking a seat elegantly on one of the armchairs, she continued to wait in silence while Dormal’s assistants set the table; only when they finally left did she turn to address me.

“I must say, you continue to surprise me,” said Isabelle, her tone the same as before. “Not long ago at all, you were sitting in a disgusting hole out west, in debt up to your ears, trying to twist my arm into giving you money to the tune of 200 crowns at most. And now you come to me with a bill for 2,000 imperials.”

“I understand, Madame, that your opinion of me is not especially high, but nonetheless I confess myself taken aback,” I said as I poured wine into our glasses. “Did you really have such a low opinion of your nephew?”

“I trust my lived experience,” Isabelle snapped. “Turning from a threadbare nobody into a highly successful nobleman in such a short time is categorically impossible. My father, and everyone else in the family besides, is convinced that you must have acquired an influential and wealthy patron of some sort.”

“You said “my father and everyone else in the family?”“ I asked, taking a small sip from my wine glass. “Dare I presume that your opinion is different from theirs?”

“No patron, however influential or wealthy, could possibly have secured victory for you in the Great Trial,” replied Isabelle. “And the silver wing on your chest — they don’t hand those out just for the asking. You’ve changed, Max... So much so that I’m inclined to suspect a substitute, or some kind of evil spirit possessing you.”

Hm, I thought... If only you knew how close you are to the truth.

A quick sniff of her glass elicited a surprised grunt from Isabelle. She took a little sip and closed her eyes for a moment.

“Superb!” She pronounced as she set her glass back down on the table. “You know your wine.”

“Thank you,” I nodded in reply. “My cousin is something of an expert in the area, and he graciously consented to sharing his reserves with me.”

“Anyway, what was I about to say...” She drummed her fingers pensively on the table for a moment. “Ah, yes! The startling changes that have come over you, Max. To my mind, there’s a more plausible explanation...”

As she said this, she stared at me with a look that said she’d already decided what the truth was.

“You’ve intrigued me, Madame,” I noted.

To be honest, though, I already knew where she was going with this.

“A shadow gift,” she said quickly as she bored into me with her ice-cold eyes. “That would be capable of producing exactly these sorts of changes in a person. Especially if it’s a stryker’s gift. And I think...”

She was about to add something, but didn’t have a chance. A massive, pain-filled wolf’s howl split the air, and was answered immediately by the roar of thousands of voices from the crowd.

We turned to the window in unison. I stood up from my chair and offered the lady my arm. Then we walked over to the window together, right to where I had been standing a few minutes before.

I could feel Isabelle’s hand shaking, but she was trying with all her might not to show her anxiety and agitation. After all, on a specially-built platform out on the square directly in front of us, an executioner was busy hacking the body of a still-living, half-transformed werewolf into pieces with a massive axe.

Out of the corner of my eye, I kept track of the expression on the face of Max’s aunt. I have to give her her due — she had admirable self-control. And now, I was more certain than ever who exactly was at the heart of the Legrand trading house.

“They say this guild has been in the city for more than a century,” Isabelle noted, sounding preoccupied. “And they also say that the head of the pack was killed during the assault on her den. I’d have taken her alive, if I were those priests, in order to learn more about the beasts and their affairs. Although I suppose that many high-placed nobles had more to gain by her immediate death. I haven’t the slightest doubt that there are dukes out there who’ve employed their services to various ends.”

“That may be, but even their low-level functionaries have revealed a lot during torture by the inquisitors,” I said.

Isabelle turned to stare at me with rapt interest.

“They have a list of suspects,” I continued. “And it’s quite long.”

“I don’t doubt it!” Isabelle’s lips curled into a sarcastic smile. “After all, this is a rare opportunity to get rid of a great number of inconvenient people.”

“You speak dangerously, Madame.”

“I’m only repeating what the entire city is saying,” said Isabelle with nonchalant dismissal in her voice.

“And yet there are many in that list who are truly guilty,” I objected. “Actually, that’s part of what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Isabelle jumped slightly and turned abruptly around to face me. Her avian features were twisted into a wrathful grimace.

“What have you done, you bastard?!” She hissed. “What did you tell them about us? Is this your way of getting revenge on us?”

Silently, I took out a bundle of black wolf amulets from behind my belt and showed them to her. A train of emotions rolled over Isabelle’s face: first confusion, then surprise, and finally realization and disbelief.

“Those Nightwolves tried to kill me twice,” I started to say. “The first time they attacked was on the road to the Frontier. The second time, I was already up north...”

“But I didn’t...” She whispered, stupefied, as she gazed down in a trance at the black claws. Her entire outburst of rage immediately dissipated.

“I know. And now I know for certain. Your father doesn’t have anything to do with this either.”

“Who?” Isabelle asked with a breathless exhalation.

“Adeline Beauchard,” I replied. “That’s whose name is on that list.”

The results of the royal executioners’ inquisition had been communicated to me by Susanna. The king was quick to lay claim to the prisoners. He wasn’t about to give the priests such a valuable gift. To be sure, they did receive the shapeshifters about a week later, half-dead and with their tongues cut out.

But even then, some information about the surnames on those lists managed to leak out. Susanna had learned that Adeline Beauchard was on the list thanks to a colleague of hers who took a sizable sum in exchange for the information. People from the Department of Carts and Wagons were everywhere. And the fact that there were many of them who had a taste for gold made our work a whole lot easier.

Isabelle let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes, looking exhausted. Then she turned to look at me again.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

“I think the king’s people will make that clear when they come to your home. It should be happening any day now. The only reason they haven’t come already is because they simply don’t have enough people to work that fast. The list is very, very long indeed. The royal inquisitors are still working on the bigger fish they have to fry. But I’m sure that the daughter of one of the golden hundred’s merchants won’t exactly be at the bottom of their list, either.”

“Brainless idiot!” Isabelle hissed through gritted teeth as she clenched her fists. “She’s ruined us! Everything we’ve been building for so long will be robbed from us or destroyed... And where did she take so much money from? I’d have noticed immediately...”

Isabelle stared out the window, but she wasn’t looking at anything — her brain was feverishly running through her available options.

“Other valuables,” I hinted.

She suddenly turned to face me, and a look of understanding swept over her face.

“Of course!” Her eyes widened. “Just recently she was complaining that a jewelry case was stolen from her. Father ordered all her serfs flogged, but none of them admitted to it... That wretch!”

My hand dove into the inner pocket of my jacket. Without a word, Isabelle watched in rapt anxiety as I untied the strings on a small bag made of dark-blue velvet. An instant later, I held out the emerald-studded broach I’d taken from Paul Lepetit’s mansion.

“Recognize this?”

“That’s Adeline’s brooch,” said Isabelle in a quiet, shell-shocked tone of voice. It seemed like she was already shocked beyond the point where anything could surprise her further. “A gift from father. It cost him 600 crowns.”

“According to this note, a certain Paul Lepetit gave it to her for only a hundred crowns,” I said as I handed her the little scroll that came with the brooch. “A different name is listed in the document, but I think the handwriting will be familiar to you already.”

“Yes.” One quick look was enough for Isabelle to recognize her sister’s handwriting. “Adeline wrote this... But there was more than just this brooch... And I don’t think this would have been enough to hire those werewolves...”

“This money wasn’t intended for the werewolves,” I snickered. “Even before getting in touch with the guild, your sister bought off Vincent de Lamar and Vivienne Leroy...”

“That duel...” Isabelle remembered. “I remember how happy Adeline was to hear the news! And then a few days later, she was as depressed as I’ve ever seen her. I realized that she’d received word — you survived! So even that long ago, when she said she was sick, and was going to take the waters at the springs... She was actually going to Abbeville...”

“Yes, and she was seen there in the company of Vivienne Leroy,” I said.

“That two-bit actress, who started all this...”

“Adeline demanded that they finish me off. But de Lamar demanded more money in return. That, apparently, was what motivated her to sell the brooch.”

“Why didn’t you come forward?”

“Would you have believed me? I didn’t have any hard evidence, although I didn’t really need it anyway. I know you have powerful patrons. You do business with the Duke de Gondy. You ship his grain. But I’m a nobleman. A hero of the frontier, who triumphed at the Great Trial. The king would certainly have listened to my explanation, and would have ordered that my word be believed. The truth would have come out eventually in any case.”

Isabelle seemed to deflate, looking about ten years older than when she’d walked into the office.

“And I also have the honor of my family — those aren’t just words for me. Even if that family doesn’t want to accept me...”

Isabelle suddenly raised her head. A glimmer of hope danced in her eyes.

“Do you have a solution?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “This could all be presented as nothing more than a false accusation. Or a mistake on the part of the inquisitors.”

“But then...” She glanced up at me, still looking hopeful, but this time also betraying that she’d understood exactly what was required here.

“I see you understand me, Madame,” I confirmed her suspicions. “I would have to swear that nobody made an attempt on my life at all. I would be believed. On that, you can rest assured. Especially since, as you yourself pointed out, there are many people on that list who have nothing to connect them to the werewolves whatsoever.”

“What are your terms?” Isabelle switched over to a businesslike tone remarkably quickly.

“There are three of them,” I said as I took a seat and picked up my glass of wine.

“I’m listening carefully,” she said as she, too, took a seat.

“First,” I began to count on my fingers. “My mother’s inheritance. Say what you like — it’s mine by right. All the money. I won’t ask you for it all at once. You can pay it out in installments.”

Isabelle frowned, but nodded.

“Second,” I continued. “Adeline Beauchard will be isolated. The convent for the mentally ill at the Church of the Most Luminous Mother or something like that would do splendidly.”

The expression on Isabelle’s face told me we were already in agreement about that.

“And third... I need a guarantee that neither you, nor your father, nor your brothers will undertake any sort of revenge against me. Otherwise, I’ll have to use force and liquidate the lot of you, once and for all. Believe me, I could do so if I wished.”

Having said this, I took my snake dagger out and sent a little clot of energy hissing down its blade. A second later, my weapon was shrouded in a glowing magical mist.

“Yes, my dear aunt,” I chuckled as I watched Isabelle’s tense face; she looked positively hypnotized as she stared at the dagger in my hand. “I must admit, I’m impressed by your analytical abilities. Need I remind you that nobody should learn of my magical abilities?”

“You need not,” she replied through a bone-dry throat. “I understand perfectly. And I guarantee that — “

“Oh, no, Madame,” I shook my head. “Words alone won’t suffice here. Especially since you yourself know how your father can be... With all possible respect, you can’t completely control his temperamental character.”

“Then what do you want?” She tensed up again.

“Alain Beauchard,” I said, watching as this caused Isabelle’s eyes to widen and her cheeks to turn a deathly pale. “I know he’s the heir to your empire. He’s very important to you. That’s why my cousin will be moving in with me for a little while and become my ward. I’ll hire the best teachers for him. More than that, I’ll also teach him to ride and fence. He’ll be trained in dancing and courtly etiquette. My cousin will lack for nothing. And he’ll serve as my guarantee. Or hostage, if you prefer. And I wish to make one thing clear from the start: I will brook no negotiation on any of these three points.”

“How much time do I have?” Isabelle asked coldly as she stood up from her chair.

“Horrifically little,” I replied as I, too, rose to my feet. “That’s all I can tell you.”

She nodded; then, without another word, she turned and walked briskly out of the office.

By then, I was already back at the window, eyes fixed on the pillory that was now soaked in the blood of the last executed shapeshifter and the insane crowd below it. I had kept my promise to that dying werewolf in the Brownwolf camp — Brima’s pack was gone.