Page 31 of Crucible of Chaos

‘Abbot Venia was kind enough to me, I suppose. He always spoke a word or two when we ran into each other at the village market. Malezias says it was he who forbade the Council of Brethren from banishing me from the island due to my blasphemous behaviour.’

Again, Estevar refused to take the bait. ‘Malezias– he is your friend?’

Caeda looked up at him, head tilted. ‘That’s a queer formulation of the question, isn’t it?’

‘What do you mean?’ he asked, acceding to Imperious’ tug– he’d finished demolishing the patch of grass and was apparently keen to resume their walk.

Caeda ran a few steps to catch up with them. ‘Why not ask if he is my husband or my brother or my landlord, for that matter? “Friend” is a term so ambiguous that it might contain any, none or all of those more specific relationships.’

‘Ah, yes, but when someone seeks to withhold information from you, they prepare for the questions they anticipated. “Were you here on the night of the murder?” or “Had you argued with the victim in the days before his death?” These linear interrogatories play into the rhythms of the suspect’s rehearsed responses.’

‘Whereas if you ask something non-threatening. . .’

Estevar ran his fingers along Imperious’ flank. The mule was in great need of grooming. Worse, he was still unsteady on his hooves. ‘A skilled investigator plays with the rhythm of the interrogation, forcing the witness to either answer plainly or seek to delay while they concoct what they believe you wish to hear.’

‘Look, I’m not hiding my relationship with him. Malezias and me, we’re more like—’

‘You needn’t go on.’

‘Why? You don’t believe me?’

‘I already know the answer.’

She moved ahead of him, then turned to walk backwards so she could see his face. ‘Tell me.’

Estevar resisted the temptation to have her work out the answer herself. He needed to keep reminding himself that, however enjoyable a companion she might be, like everyone else on this cursed island, she was keeping secrets from him. ‘That Malezias is a former monk is obvious by his robes, irrespective of his denials. He is a man of unusual size, yet they fitted him perfectly, which meant they were made for him. That he is in love with you is evidenced by his rescue of me at the risk of his own life, despite having demonstrated no personal inclination to do so. Any doubt as to his subservience to you was eliminated when he brought me–at your behest–down to the abbey’s prayer caves after Brother Agneta had left me for dead.’

‘Except we’re not lov—’

‘Forgive me the interruption, Piccolo, but our admirer on the other side of the cloister may seek to close the distance soon, so we must complete this particular discussion before it can be overheard.’ He hastened them onwards, wishing he had even a handful of spiked caltrops to drop behind him, or any of the dozens of tools and traps hidden inside the pockets of his beloved greatcoat, lost for ever at the bottom of the ocean. ‘I already know that Malezias is not your lover, nor does he hold any claim of kinship over you, otherwise he would not so meekly allow you to risk your life as brazenly as you do now, traipsing about with a Greatcoat whose enemies within this abbey are likely innumerable.’

He could have told her more– of her conflicted attachment to Isola Sombra, of the paradox that she remained here despite an obvious longing to experience a different life, evidenced by her excited participation in his investigation. For now, he was prepared to let her broach those more intimate topics when it suited her,especially when there was a witness whose testimony was far more urgently needed.

Looking at the Vigilance Tower ahead, his vision suddenly grew hazy. He worried his infected wound was bringing on another fever, until Caeda said, ‘Look– the fog’s rolling in off the shore. It happens at strange times here, often without warning. That’s one of the reasons why it’s such a dangerous place for ships.’ She gestured at their feet– she and Estevar appeared to be standing on clouds. ‘It comes all the way up to the top of the hill. Soon you won’t be able to see your hand in front of your face.’

‘Will you do me a favour?’ Estevar asked.

She stopped, suspicion playing across her features.

She has excellent instincts, he thought, holding out Imperious’ reins. ‘Will you take him somewhere safe for me? Somewhere he can eat and stay warm? I think he trusts you now, and it is vital that he rest.’

Caeda stared down at the leather reins in his hand as if he’d slapped her with them. ‘You don’t want me there when you question Mother Leogado?’

‘It is better that I speak to her myself.’

‘Because, unlike your mule,youdon’t trust me at all, do you?’

Estevar held back a sigh. He’d never enjoyed the performative quarrels that too often occupied the people of his adopted country. They argued as if reciting lines memorised from a play, rehearsing the same scenes over and over again. He would insist that she was wrong, that he valued her greatly. She would take umbrage, accusing him of being like all the others–whoever ‘the others’ were supposed to be– and that this was proof he viewed her as little more than an ignorant fishwife with nothing to offer so great a detective. Back and forth they would go until the dramatic climax of the scene when she would storm off. Estevar had, inevitably, come to learn both parts of the script, but he had no intention of delivering his expected lines.

‘Is that what you believe?’ he asked instead.

She tried to force him back to the play, retorting, ‘It’s obvious that’s all y—’

‘Ah, ah, ah,’ he interrupted, employing her chosen rebuke from earlier, ‘you seek the role of investigator? Investigateme, then.’

She took a step back. ‘What that’s supposed to mean?’

Estevar stroked Imperious’ muzzle to allay the mule’s restlessness. ‘Based on what you have learned of me thus far, what is your analysis of both my situation and my intentions?’

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