The Rogue Guardian

Chapter 57: Slowly

Joshua pulled the final pile of papers from the drawer and set them on his desk. It felt strange to have the drawer empty, the office around him neat in a way that suggested it wasn't often used, despite that he had almost lived in it for some five years now. He had been slowly cleaning up in the past few months as he watched his pile of bank notes and coins grow.

Everything had to be done slowly, too slow for Tobias to notice what he was doing until it was too late for the cunning old man to get in his way. But Joshua was used to moving slowly by now.

Building up his reputation, that had been slowest of all. Acting and acting and acting, pretending to give in to Tobias's cajoling until he grudgingly accepted a position in the Auxiliary Guard instead of prison. Showing his anger and sullenness with abandon and then slowly pulling it all away, creating the blank mask he had worn nearly every day since. All of it done with such masterful precision that Tobias actually believed the assassin he had plucked from Maenar's heart had truly been won over by the joys of an honest living and a second chance.

Joshia hadn't been sure that he could pull it off. He should have known Roman had judged rightly. In that first note slipped into his prison cell and marked with the King of Assassin's crown, Roman had assured him, If I didn't think you could pull this off, I would send everyone at my disposal to get you out of there. I would come myself. But that would come at the risk of wrecking the entire Court. Our best option is to take advantage of your capture. You can convince the Sage. Hell, you can become a royal captain. You have the authority. Pass on information, trust in me, and I promise, when the times comes, I will bring you back home.

So he trusted in Roman's authority, and in his own. He looked Tobias right in his ancient, green eyes and convinced him that Joshua Coal was done breaking laws and running with criminals. He wanted to rise honorably in the ranks of the guard. He wanted to atone for his crimes. He wanted to be the Sage's man. He would be Joshua Blaisze, Auxiliary Captain, and he would do whatever it took to play the part.

On the day Tobias named him captain, Joshua perfected his blank mask and went back to his new office and laughed until he cried. The next day, a note from Roman came. Congratulations, Captain. And the pride he never would have felt at being promoted by Tobias came rushing in, because Roman had known he was capable of this, and that meant he was capable of everything he still had to do. He could pretend to be Tobias's man. But he would always belong to Roman.

So began the next phase of Captain Joshua Blaisze: keeping up a front of strict honesty and obedience and honor while half the city knew what he really was. It was a game of shadows and lies and more identities than he could count, and he won every time.

Bribes, issued by everyone from lesser guardsmen to high ranking nobles, each believing they were the only one to have convinced the Auxiliary Captain to tarnish his honor. Payment, for information sold to rebels and common criminals and nobles who wanted an edge in court, with no one realizing just how he was able to attain that information. Gifts, because everyone wanted the Auxiliary Captain on their side, and everyone thought they could win him over, and everyone believed they had succeeded while he played them all off each other.

Captain Joshia Blaisze, such an honorable man, everyone agreed, and no one who mattered ever realized. No one but the Thief, but that was a fluke because she was with the rebels, she just hadn't realized his arrangement with the capital Phoenix was that he sold them information they desperately needed and they told no one. Aiden didn't want Ysmay knowing the kind of people he treated with.

Well, Aiden didn't want Ysmay knowing a lot of things, including his unquenchable ambition. Aiden was a troublemaker. A problem-man, the assassins in Maenar would have called him, with that typical Parodian double- or triple-meaning. Aiden was a problem, and he made problems, and he got in the middle of other people's problems.

Right now, though, he was just a nuisance.

Joshua sighed and dragged his fingers through his hair, trying to claw away his headache. There was so much to do. Five years worth of corruption and lying to tie off and get rid of before he pulled his final trick. Aiden accounted for a lot of the paperwork. For the sake of reporting to Roman, Joshua kept copious notes regarding what he told and found out from Aiden, and he had one last problem presented by Aiden to figure out.

The orb.

It had been weeks since Joshua had confronted the slippery, defensive man about the prototype of his that Tobias had somehow possessed. He knew Aiden had been lying when he'd said the orb was a failure. It did what Aiden wanted, but what did Aiden want it to do? Joshua had to decide whether finding out was a pursuit worth the rest of his time in the castle.

But Aiden wasn't all of his problems. There was Iso to think about too. The ambassador was a dangerous man. He'd known that even before Tobias had begun fretting about having him around. But gold was gold, regardless of who offered it, and Iso was willing to pay for such small favors. Like reassigning Guardsman Nickolai to the archers. Joshua had laughed about that one once he was alone, because Iso's angle was so clear. The ambassador wanted to befriend the Thief. Wasn't one way to earn her trust to get one of her best friends a job in the regiment he truly belonged in? Iso could have no idea how much Nick hated the idea of joining the archers.

He had been so clever about that one too. He knew Iso would be suspicious if the supposedly rigidly honorable Captain had given in at the first suggestion of payment. He had to play it just right-- "Ambassador, I simply cannot compromise my integrity by assigning Claresedge a post he has not applied for. Although... since you take such a kind interest in his prospects... I suppose I could let him know he would be accepted if he applied. Well, Ambassador, I suppose we'll have to hope that's enough to convince him. Oh. I see. You are such a benefactor to him, to care so deeply. I suppose I could, ah, convince him he would be more welcome with the archers..."

But maybe Iso had been a mistake. Ever since the Thief had come to him with news of Iso's threats, Joshua had worried about a miscalculation. Unhinged threats were not the sign of a shrewd, reserved politician. It looked like Iso had made a big miscalculation himself, which seemed unlikely. The only answer was that Joshua had missed something in the equation that would account for Iso's actions.

These weren't the kind of problems he wanted to be dealing with now, on the cusp of ending it all. He had finally stockpiled enough bribes and payments and gifts to pay off his contract, to exploit the fatal flaw Tobias had been too dazzled to think of. The way Tobias and his collaborators in creating the Auxiliary Guard convinced criminals to trade prison for a job was the potential to save their salary and buy their way out of it eventually-- except that no simple guard position earned enough money to pay off the exorbitant amount owed. But the salary of a Captain? That had some potential. When you added to that the generous gifts of many nobles-- and the money he had earned from illegal dealings, disguised as gifts from nobles, who would of course insist that the money had been gifts and not bribes when confronted by Tobias, making it inarguable-- then Joshua had a chance to buy his own freedom.

But slowly. Too slowly for Tobias to realize what he was doing and fix his contract before he could pay it off.

He had to hope to God he had moved stealthily enough.

There was a knock on the door, and he regarded it with surprise, thinking of the late hour. He might have thought it was Caer, but he knew the spymaster was out of his way for now. Roman had sent him a note explaining the capture and what use it would be, and thanked him for his warning about Xalva, even though he had already found out.

So it wasn't Caer. It was probably Irina-- she was relentless. He couldn't decide if Magali had been incredibly foolish or incredibly smart to bring her close. Most likely both. Irina was dangerously ambitious, but confident and capable. Magali could use someone like her, if she could control her.

To Joshua, Irina was just another nuisance, like Aiden, that he no longer had to deal with. He would be leaving this place in just days-- Roman's letter to explain when and how he should approach it was surely on its way. Irina's attempts to get him on Magali's side were in vain. He no longer cared who controlled the royal weapon supply, though he would be happy to pass that information along to Roman. And it did not affect him that five rebels had been caught trying to hijack a shipment, though again, Roman would hear of it.

He put his papers away and went to door, preparing to politely blow her off. But it wasn't Irina in the doorway. It was Tobias.