The Emperor's Wolves by Michelle Sagara

Author:Michelle Sagara [Sagara, Michelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488056482
Google: 7La8DwAAQBAJ
Amazon: B0813QYB6R
Publisher: MIRA
Published: 2020-10-12T23:00:00+00:00

* * *

Ybelline entered Elluvian’s office first; Severn followed her.

“Wait one minute,” a familiar—and annoyed—voice said. Severn considered closing the door anyway, but the voice was the Wolflord’s. He therefore held it open as Lord Marlin stopped in its frame.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded. The question was aimed in its entirety at Ybelline.

It was Severn who answered. “She has come as a member of the—”

“I can see what she’s wearing, and I didn’t ask you. I’m having more than enough difficulty with an ornery Garadin; I don’t need further complications.”

“The Emperor,” Ybelline said, her voice almost serene, “has given his personal permission for this interview.”

“His personal permission.”

“Yes. It was required. Saidh considered the request unusual.”

Helmat snorted.

“He is very efficient at what he does, and he’s one of the few men the Emperor trusts completely.”

“One could say the same of a corpse.”

“Corpses are not efficient, Helmat.”

“They’re efficient at being dead. Mankev resembles them.”

Ybelline said nothing. Severn thought, from both her words and this silence, that she liked Mankev. But it was Ybelline who finally broke that silence. “Saidh cannot be bribed. He cannot be threatened. He does his job completely without flexibility.”

“He can’t be bribed because he doesn’t have normal, human desires,” Helmat snapped. “And if he called in the Emperor—”

“He did, of course. I explained the need. He agreed that it was possibly necessary, but he didn’t feel he had the authority to step outside of the bounds of the Service. Or perhaps he didn’t feel I had the requisite authority to do so.”

“What, exactly, did the private request?”

“Information.”

“Ybelline, I have had an extremely trying day.”

“If you wish to know, you will have to ask Saidh for that information. I am empowered only to speak to Severn, and only in the manner of my kin.” Her eyes were now almost gold.

“You realize the private is on probation?”

Her smile deepened. “I do. But the Wolves serve the Emperor. Even those on probation. What the Emperor commands, your private will have to obey—just as you would in a similar situation.”

“What information is he allowed to share?”

“At the moment, none.”

This surprised Severn.

“We’ll see about that.” Helmat stepped out of the doorway.

“He’s going to mirror the Imperial Service,” Severn said, voice low.

“I know.”

“You like the Wolflord.”

“I do. But I also like Saidh. Everything I’ve said is true: he is trusted. He cannot be bribed—I’m not sure the purpose of a bribe even makes sense to him. He is rock solid, and he is much easier for me to deal with than his predecessor.” Here, her eyes shaded toward hazel.

“Is his predecessor still alive?”

“No. Except in memory, I will never have to deal with him again. And,” she added, “that was something that Saidh would never say, and I should not have. I believe it is considered poor manners to speak ill of the dead.”

“It isn’t for the Tha’alani?”

“No, but it wouldn’t be. The dead are still alive in some fashion within the Tha’alaan. We can see the whole of their lives.” She sat in one of the two chairs that fronted Elluvian’s mostly unused service desk.

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