Log available here in Word format
Another visit to Silken takes place a few days after the first ...
So ... afterwards: they are lying in bed, curled up in pleasurable afterglow (at least on Lucas' part). Silken lets him set the pace of the conversation.Lucas props himself up on one elbow, gently twisting a long lock of Silken's hair between his fingers.
"Silken," he says, "how goes the business? Does Pennywise suit you?"
Silken moves under his hand, stretching like a cat. "He and I suit just fine, Lucas, as you knew very well we would."
Silken describes the state of the business and the general state of the economy. Things are uncertain--the new King's arrival and the salaries he's paid to the Returnees have pumped cash into the economy. But Dara's attack and the disappearances of Martin and Random have left people frightened for the future. And there's still not any significant trade.
Lucas listens to her account with genuine interest - and amusement when she brings her sharp wit into play. He makes a couple of helpful suggestions for future proceedings and very delicately suggests that she can have more funds at her disposal should they prove necessary. But it is clear he expects her to be such a success that such funding will not be necessary.
When she has finished, without the smallest suggestion of rush and hurry, he says, "Actually, I might have a business commission for you. Your usual rates - and I shall pay for extra discretion in pursuing the enquiry.
"I want you to check how the markets are running in several of the merchant houses. What their standing is like, whether any have extended lines of credit - if there have been any unusual market fluctuations. That sort of thing. I'm interested in anomalies - within individual houses, and within the market as a whole."
He names four of the moment prominent merchant houses - Hardwinds being one. Then he adds, "But I don't want anyone in the houses alerted as to this. Absolute discretion is the watchword - do you understand?"
"Of course, darling. Consider it done."
"Thank you," he breathes, lowering his head to kiss her exposed ear - or as much as is visible through her dark hair.
And after that, another long session of pleasure follows.
Lucas does not, however, spend the whole night with Silken. In the early hours he rises (a not entirely unusual occurrence), and leaves the Red Mill.
He makes his way through the backstreets until he reaches a quiet and discreet house - where he has arranged to meet two women he knows well - the brothel keepers Madame Golightly, and Madame Caress.
They are waiting for Lucas in a discreet back parlour: the sort of place customers never come. There is tea, good even by Lucas' exacting standards, and hot chocolate.
Lucas accepts the tea and greetings - a motherly kiss (an unfamiliar experience, perhaps, to Lucas) from Madame Golightly and a rather more rousing one from Madame Caress. He has brought small gifts - rather nice chocolates.
The two women both do a very convincing job pretending to be flattered, perhaps to mask the fact that they are a bit flattered. They are effusive in their thanks.
Lucas' initial questions concern practical matters - what the take up on the new healthcare courses among the girls is like, how the basic literacy and numeracy courses are doing ...They also touch upon security issues - whether protection methods for the girls are proving adequate, whether there have been any problems since the return on the army. Lucas is interested in any gossip that reveals trends or rumours about the city.
The training and lessons of various sorts are all going well. Protection is working reasonably well, too, because the money coming in the door from wealthy Returnees is helping the houses pay better wages to the protectors. However, there are some internal issues with the girls and the Returnees--some of them want to be bought out of their contracts at cheaper rates based on the pre-Returnee economy. It's being worked out, though.
Lucas is pleased.
There are more rumours than you can shake a stick at, after the coronation masquerade. The quality of what Lucas hears is dubious, though, because some of them he knows to be untrue. Speculations about what the new King is up to run rampant; speculations about trade and the permanent army that seems to be setting itself up around the Knights of the Ruby are too.
Lucas is interested in this. He's also keen to learn the general opinions of townspeople on the subject of the Knights and their followers.
Most people don't think much about it one way or the other past the shine of their gold. The most astute are wondering what the creation of a significant standing army might mean in terms of what to expect from the new King or from the foreign enemy.
In the foreign quarter, near the docks, things are stirring, but most people are staying out of the way of the squads of ham-handed 'investigators'. Most people think this will pass and things will rapidly return to the normal level of malevolent neglect.
Lucas is interested in who these investigators are, what they are investigating, and who is believed to be behind them.
In the foreign quarter, near the docks, things are stirring, but most people are staying out of the way of the squads of ham-handed 'investigators'. Most people think this will pass and things will rapidly return to the normal level of malevolent neglect.
Lucas is interested in who these investigators are, what they are investigating, and who is believed to be behind them.
They all lead back to various parties in the Harga'rel investigation: Reid (who has the matter in hand for the Crown), Bend and Montage for Rebma (Harga'rel's daughter), the Harga'rels themselves, etc.
Reid has been using his connections to get a lot of information. In addition to his usual suspects like Stoat, who is sort of his right-hand man, he's using a private investigator named May and Wrack, who is a substantial figure in the crime community of Amber. (He's a master fence, among other things, and the go-to guy for arranging various forms of business.)
Lucas, without being so indelicate as to say so openly, trusts that his ladies will ensure their investigations on his behalf will be conducted with more finesse. He invites them to share with him any other morsels of gossip that they have which they feel might be interesting ...
They don't have anything else particularly relevant to any of the business Lucas is working on right now.
Finally Lucas comes to the subject of new investigations.
"I want you to keep your usual watching brief," he says. "Anything unusual, anything that troubles you, I want reported to me at once.
"I also want you to discover as much as you can about several of the merchant houses. The deaths of two leading merchants may well cause disruptions. I want to know as much as I can about the internal situation there. Harga'rel, Hardwind and LeClaire." He adds a fourth name - a very dull and ordinary trade house, clearly selected for control purposes. "Discretion is the key-note here - put your cleverest girls on to it. I want to know the under-view not only on what is happening now, but also on what the situation was before the deaths."
The ladies take note and agree.
He then asks for more general reports - the girls' views on the returning army and their behaviour, as an issue that might have a bearing on public safety.
The girls like the army returning. It's been rather like all-fleet liberty after bounty pay was issued. The Madams are unsure what will happen when the money runs out and the soldiers have gotten used to living high.
"That is a problem for the future," says Lucas. "But I may have some ideas for future contingency plans, should they prove necessary. Let me think about it."
After that, he is willing to discuss with them any particular areas of funding (such as a new Health Clinic for working girls in the docks area) which they feel are necessary, before he parts with them for the night.
Lucas departs some time later, lighter of purse, but full of useful information.
Read this log here in Word format
XIV: Seek and Ye Shall Find | Index | XVI: An Traveller from a New Land
