Chapter 26

“Aren’t you starting a bit early,” the guard said to Zuri, while nodding at Ellabet.

“Please,” Zuri said with great dignity. “She is my sister, and obviously, we are both in the same business.”

The guard could not help himself from laughing. The more he tried to maintain his official stance, the harder he laughed. Finally, he simply waved the two of them on as he attempted a deep breath. Zuri bowed his head politely as he passed.

“Telling the truth is cheaper than bribery and much more effective,” Zuri whispered as they continued through the first corridor. “I never had the courage to try such things before.”

“He forgot to demand a fee to pass too,” Ellabet said. “I’m grateful. It means I’ll make money much quicker tonight.”

“What is your work here? Are you on your back all afternoon and through the evening?” Zuri asked.

“If the old fuckers were better at their jobs, I could take clients all afternoon and quit at sundown like the laborers,” she said with a frown. “The promoter will have us serve food and drinks, upsell his taverns, halls, and inns, and do whatever else he can to parade us in front of the customers. Once we are in their faces, it’s up to us to land them. There are a few private rooms set aside on the east and west sides of the building, which I can use while the convention program rolls. Late afternoon is more common but never a good bet. We tickle their egos and find out where they have made sleeping arrangements. We help them make tentative plans and if we land a sale, the promoter gets a cut. If we get caught by the constables, we are independent contractors, and he has no liability. In truth, the constables are going to stay out of the way of the Guras, spending their time keeping the thieves at arms’ length.”

“Interesting,” Zuri said.

“If the out-of-towners are like the locals, there will be plenty of rutting Guras to go around,” Ellabet said. “Bless me and my endeavors?”

“I don’t think...” Zuri began and cut himself short. “May God keep you safe and bring you back to us whole and sound in the morning. If a Gura introduces himself as Abans, make an excuse and leave; remember Pira.”

She kissed him on the cheek then stopped in front of a door, motioning Zuri to continue down to the end of the corridor. At the end of the corridor, he turned right, brushing past the overhead pull-door on rails that sealed the long corridor from which he emerged. He was fairly sure the hallway led to the main hall. He glided past one of the kitchens, which was full of people and busy. He continued onward until he came to a curtain. Pulling the fabric aside, he could see he was in the back left corner of the auditorium. The room was a sea of Gura robes.

Zuri crept up to the nearest Gura, a young man like him who he did not recognize. “What did I miss?”

“The Patriarch is speaking,” the Gura said with a shrug. “He keeps talking about a “radical transformation” that will reinvigorate the Gura body and return us to our former glory across the Kingdom. They haven’t given us any details yet. They are going to blather and blather until they force us into a stupor. Then they will bludgeon us with more stupid crap.”

“Who else besides the Patriarch is speaking?”

“Provost Abans and the elder Gura of Lewa Ilu,” the Gura said. “It’s going to be a long afternoon.”

“Not the Chancellor?”

The Gura shuffled his feet. “They announced at the beginning that the Chancellor has taken ill and will not be able to attend. The provost is taking his place.”

“How convenient. Did the convenors pass out an agenda or raise a board out front listing the events?” Zuri asked.

“No. Our Seniors are pissed too; they feel like they’ve been excluded from the planning and are being blocked,” the man said. “I’m glad assistant and associate Guras are banished to the back of the room because there are a lot of angry people down in the front aisles, if you know what I mean.”

“There is little worse than infighting Guras with a grudge to satisfy,” Zuri said, nodding sagely. “Did the Crowned Prince say anything of merit?”

“I think he was drunk, but Merida in front of me thinks he’s taking something stronger,” the Gura said. “He sounded coherent, and he rambled through a speech probably every Royal has delivered for the last hundred years. When you put aside the cliches, he was babbling. He was speaking nonsense and looking good doing it. If you ask my opinion, he was a walking-talking puppet.”

“What a great start to a Convocation,” Zuri said with a smile.

“I want some wine, women, and song when this day is over,” the Gura said. “I feel like I’ve already earned it.”

“You’re in luck,” Zuri said. “All the women serving in the hall today are available. They will come to your bed if you ask, or you can use one of the rooms here if you cannot wait. Whatever vice you can imagine, Lewa Ilu is happy to provide. Prices are fair.”

“They were a bit high in and around the Seminary,” the Gura said.

“Whose fault is that?” Zuri said with his arms crossed. “Now, you’re ordained, and the rest of the city is listening for the jingle of your coin purse. Any district is willing to take your coin. The further you go from the center, the more you can purchase with your coin.”

“You serve a temple in Lewa Ilu?”

“Nah,” Zuri said. “You have to voluntarily remove your testicles and hand them over to the Senior to serve one of the temples here, or it seems like it at least.”

“You seem to know a lot,” the Gura said, eyeing Zuri more closely.

“Acting meekly and keeping one’s tongue still comes with many rewards,” Zuri said. “Most colleagues never learn the lesson. Ah, I am being summoned from the other side. Please excuse me.”

Zuri walked across the back to the other side, making sure he could not see the first Gura who had given him much information. The great doors in back were closed and manned by guards with a peculiar symbol dangling from a ribbon around their necks, a symbol he vaguely recognized but could not recall.

“Isn’t that a gang sign from Layde District?” Zuri asked the guard, pointing at his symbol.

“Borgin District,” the guard said with a raised eyebrow. “Who wants to know?”

“An envious man whose local protection racket to whom he is beholden did not get the contract,” Zuri said. “This Convocation is an impressive gig.”

“Long Tucks,” the man said softly.

“On the eastern side of the district?”

“Yeah, that’s us. We’ve been working for the college for a while, a regular kind of contract Borgin dwellers don’t usually see.”

Zuri wanted to ask the man some pointed questions, but he could not figure out how do ask without causing great suspicion. “Like I said, impressive. Good business to you, sir.”

He walked away as he tried to come to terms with the information. If Abans had been to the White Owl and identified Pira, he would have used the Long Tucks to snatch her. They would have the access and the know-how to reach her and make her disappear. They would not have done it on their own; poaching whores from another’s territory was asking for war.