Guardian of the Night

14

Now that she had them, Bilain wasn't certain what to say, or to ask. They stared at her as she approached the fire pit and she noticed that they all seemed to recognise her. On each face, she saw annoyance, or disgust, or defeat. She had, after all, spent a number of days sending requests to meet with them and she didn't doubt they had looked into her, due to her persistence if nothing else.

One of the Senators, Hilnauun En Shafir, an old family from the days of the Empire, warmed her hands upon the flames of the fire pit, turning her head away after her initial stare. One of the others, Ygthrd, from a family that originated on the island of Iibar, began to turn away from the fire, too, but he intended walking away. Now that Bilain had them, she couldn't let them go. Not yet.

"Worried about something, Senator Ygthrd? Unwilling to get to the bottom of your esteemed colleagues death? Something to hide, perhaps?" Speaking to a Senator in this way made Bilain's stomach turn. Any one of them could tear the Watch from her, if they wished. "I'm not here to accuse anyone, or to investigate any deals or bribes you may have taken. That isn't my job, or my purpose. I only need answers. If for the sake of Yiladry's wife, if not the city's."

"I do not have the time for this!" Ygthrd continued to walk away, but he stopped. Anger flashed across his face and Bilain looked in that direction. The Kannai. Stood, watching. "Very well. You have powerful and rich friends, Captain."

Bilain wondered what leverage, exactly, the Kannai, or her mistress, had upon the Senator, on any of them. They had come to the roof, it seemed clear, through a request from the Lady En Lutar. A bribe, most like, or blackmail. For certain, most Senators had something they would rather no-one know about them. Some things Bilain knew about, others that she did not, she assumed.

Jurean, the Tandari man, had a penchant for male soldiers, for instance, and had certain excesses that cost him much. Vilenerra, a woman whose family came from Larissa, gambled. Not for fun, but because she thought it could improve her financial fortunes. Ygthrd, himself, drank and whored along the dockside, but also had a hidden, aggressive side to his sexual mores that had cost much to cover up. All undignified for Senators, but nothing considered illegal and, therefore, not Bilain's problem.

"I only wish to know what Senator Yiladry asked you to vote for. We have it on good authority that it was something that required all of The Sprawl's Senators to agree to." She moved, her hands clasped behind her back, fingers tightening upon each other, and stood covering Ygthrd's escape. "A vote that he considered secret and important enough that he had to discuss it where no-one could eavesdrop upon your conversations. In the noisiest part of the city. The Docks."

It shouldn't have come as a surprise to the Senators that she knew all this. She had experience of her own, supposed private matters, reaching unintended ears. Such was the life in the more politically inclined stretches of the city. In The Sprawl, your business was your business, unless it encroached on others. Of course, there were those that would inform for the right incentive, but in the halls of power, it seemed secrets were never truly secret.

"That? That was nothing. A fool's idea, nothing more." Senator Vilenerra waved a hand, scoffing, and turned an amused smile to her colleagues. "Someone, Yiladry refused to name until he had the votes, wanted to buy The Sprawl. Can you imagine it? An entire Ward!"

"Vilenerra! That is Senate business!" Ygthrd fired a murderous gaze toward the Larissan before wagging a finger at Bilain. "And it is none of yours! The man was mad, that's all you need to know, and losing his sanity by the day. Regardless of what vote he wanted, he would never have found a unanimous consensus. Never!"

"I'm on Senate business, Senator!" She had had more than enough of this man's bluster, Senator or not. She tapped the badge attached to her jacket. "A man died! Your colleague! Whatever you may, or may not, have thought of him personally, he was an Adrasusk Senator! If those that ordered his death aren't brought to justice, how long before someone else thinks a Senator is fair game? Would you be next? You? Any of you?"