Sweep of the Blade (Innkeeper Chronicles #4) - Ilona Andrews Page 0,80

a small piece of it. It’s smart.”

“They switched targets,” Arland said. “They must have planned to take me out after the krim match in a final effort to uncover the Under Marshal, but they allowed for the possibility of failure. So, when I won the bout and walked away, they shot Helen.”

Maud turned to him. “Why her? She’s just a child.”

“Not her,” Ilemina said. “They used Helen to target you. If the tachi had truly injured the child, would you still negotiate with them on our behalf?”

“If she survived, yes,” Maud said. “But if she died, everything would be over for me.”

“And what would the tachi and lees do if Helen had been injured by one of them?” Ilemina asked.

“They would evacuate,” Maud said. “Neither delegation has the numbers to oppose a large attack and neither party wants to antagonize you. They want the trade station and access to your space. If their presence became an issue or caused any inconvenience, they would remove themselves from the situation rather than risk aggravating you. They would wait the wedding out and resume negotiations after the other guests left.”

“You see now?” Ilemina leaned forward, resting her hands on Soren’s desk. “You are the key to the tachi and lees. Without your intervention, the tachi might have left already and Nuan Cee, who loves money above all things, dotes on you as if you were his own child. Congratulations. You’ve made enough of a difference to become a high-value target.”

“Yes,” Soren agreed. “The Kozor and Serak stooped to attacking a child just to remove you. They are willing to weather the shame if it means running off the lees and the tachi.”

Otubar leaned forward. “The ends justify the means.”

“But we’re back to why,” Karat said. “What possible detriment could the lees and the tachi be to their plan?” She turned to Maud.

Great. “I don’t know.”

“That reminds me,” Ilemina said. “Could a lees have poisoned Helen? They are devious enough to injure her and then magnanimously provide the cure. It would put Maud in their debt.”

Maud shook her head.

“It needed to be said,” Otubar said.

“No,” Arland said. “That was the first thing I checked. None of the lees were anywhere near the game grounds or the lake. Their equipment is sophisticated and can render them practically invisible, but I have seen their disruptor in action and Nuan Cee knows it. The disruptor relies on a maa emitter, and once you know what to screen for, it’s not hard to find. They’ve been using plain stealth to get around the castle and record candid videos of us, but they had nothing to do with poisoning the child. It would be too heavy-handed for them anyway.”

“Why?” Karat asked.

“The lees seek balance,” Arland said. “A good bargain is the highest honor they could strive for. Saving a child and collecting a favor from the parent satisfies the need for balance. Hurting a child to save it and then collecting the favor is not a balanced transaction.”

Maud almost did a double take. He flashed her a grin.

“Is he right?” Ilemina asked.

“Yes. The lees pride themselves on being clever. To set us up by hurting Helen would go against Nuan Cee’s clan’s code.” Maud took a deep breath. “However, I do owe him a favor. He will collect, which means he will ask me for something and I won’t be able to refuse. I am now a security risk.”

Ilemina waved her hand. “Eh.”

“You are a security risk if we don’t know about it,” Soren said.

Arland leaned back in his chair. “What do the lees and tachi have in common? Why do Kozor and Serak want them gone?”

Maud sighed. “The two species couldn’t be more different. The lees live in clans, the tachi are a monarchy. The lees prize wealth, the tachi seek knowledge. The lees are secretive ambush predators, the tachi swarm their target. The lees encourage personal achievement and strive to earn individual recognition, the tachi win or lose as a whole. They don’t have much in common. They’re both omnivorous species. They are both interested in a trade station and an alliance with Krahr. They both arrived in spaceships…”

“Battle station,” Karat said.

Everyone looked at her.

She hit her fist on her father’s desk. “The scum. They want the battle station.”

Arland sat up straight. “The battle station has limited personnel and a central control point. Two hundred wedding guests, the elite of their Houses, would pose a real threat.”

Karat nodded. “Once they have control of the battle station, they