The Long Game by K.J. Parker

Author:K.J. Parker [Parker, K.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781645240617

“So that’s what they are,” she said. “Well, then. I really don’t see that there’s a problem.”

“Think about it,” I said. “For some reason I can’t begin to speculate about, there are no demons in Idalia. You want to take one there. Can’t you see what’s wrong with that?”

“No.”

I took a deep breath and didn’t shout. “There are no demons in Idalia. Three possible reasons for that. No, make that four. One, they don’t know about you. Two, they can’t exist in your climate. Three, there used to be a long time ago but you somehow managed to get rid of them. Four—” I’d forgotten what the fourth reason was. “Either there can’t be demons in your country, in which case you’re wasting your time, or else there can, in which case you risk infesting yourselves with them, which is potentially catastrophic. You have absolutely no idea what they’re capable of. The only reason human life can survive here in the west is because we, the Studium, keep the little horrors strictly under control. We can do that because we’ve got five thousand years’ worth of experience and knowledge, desperately hard won. You’re planning to import them and set them loose to fight your war, and you don’t know the first thing about them. It’s like deciding to keep bubonic plague as a pet.”

“I’m sure we can handle them,” she said blithely. “It can’t be hard, or you couldn’t do it.”

“What exactly happened? When you killed the prior.”

“I wish you wouldn’t keep banging on and on about that.”

“What happened?”

A thoughtful look settled on her lovely face. “I’m not sure, exactly,” she said. “After I got rid of you at that inn place, I wandered about in the market district for a bit, wondering how I was going to find out about this weapon you’re supposed to have that we need but don’t know about. And the next thing I knew, I was climbing out of a window and there was blood all over my hands. That’s all I remember. I’ve only got your word for it that I killed anybody.”

“My word and the City Watch.”

“Maybe you told them I did it, I don’t know. You haven’t really given me any reason to trust you.”

I tried to make sense of what she’d told me, but it was like trying to put a frightened cow in your pocket. “That’s all you remember.”

“I just told you that. I wish you’d listen.”

“So you were roaming around in a public place, wanting to attract a demon—”

“I suppose so, yes.”

“And look what happened. The unprovoked murder of a high-ranking religious leader.”

“So you tell me. I don’t know that.”

“Tell me something,” I said. “Is there any conceivable way of making that sound like a desirable outcome? Maybe I’m being stupid today, but I can’t think of one.”

She shook her head. “Teething troubles,” she said. “Like when Na invented thunder powder.”

“Who’s Na and what the hell is thunder powder?”

“You know.” She frowned. “Maybe you don’t. Thunder powder. What people use in [weird Idalian word] and [another weird Idalian word].

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.