Idari met him in the large living room. Bemish didn't ask about Kissur's whereabouts — the majordomo had already whispered to him that Kissur was on a pub crawl accompanied by two barbarians and one bandit.
Idari wore a solemn house mistress dress — long black pants and a black blouse. The blouse's sleeves were embroidered with entwined flowers and stems. She was girdled by a wide belt of silver segments. She walked by Bemish carefully stepping on the beasts and grasses weaved on the rugs and Bemish felt as if her feet were stepping on his heart.
Bemish sat down in a soft chair in the small living room and Idari sat cross legged across him on the carpet.
"I am meeting the White Elder tomorrow," Terence said.
Alarm crossed the woman's face.
"Be careful, Terence, it has to be a trap. They can kill or kidnap you. You have tamed a kitten Ashinik but don't think that you have learned a forest tiger's habits."
"It's not a trap," Bemish said. "They can't set a trap for my body in that place. But… You see… The sect is ready to reconsider its policy towards Earthmen."
Idari smiled with her blue eyes.
"I… I was happy at first. I was able to do what Shavash couldn't. You know how dangerous they are. But now I am afraid. The White Elder is doing me a huge favor. He will ask something in return. An eye for an eye. I want to know what it will be."
"It's very simple," Idari said. "They say you are the foreigner who is the closest to the sovereign. The White Elder will ask you to persuade the sovereign to dismiss Shavash."
Bemish shuddered. The negotiations concerning the company that would obtain a half of Chakhar's ore deposits in exchange for taking responsibility of one of the state loans were proceeding at full speed. The company even had a name, BOAR project. Nobody knew about the project yet, but…
"But… But… Oh my God, it's impossible! Shavash will bankrupt me!"
The woman smiled imperceptibly.
"You should have realized what could happen, Terence, when you offered Ashinik a job. Or do you think that Following the Way would have let Ashinik serve a demon if they hadn't thought that the demon had made himself a snare they could catch him with?"
Bemish arrived at Archan at eight thirty.
The hotel's malachite columns gleamed and the mirrors on the lobby's walls were inlaid with the thinnest silver layers on top. Above the mirrors, where the gods had been depicted in the past, elegant clocks were now set; they showed the local time, Melbourn time — Melbourn being the Federation of Nineteen capital during this decade — and time in London, New York, Khoine and in a dozen other largest Galaxy's business centers.
A certain disturbance was taking place in the hotel's lobby, a palace guardsman in a green caftan (palace guardsmen were in charge of hotel security) was silently and forcefully pushing a journalist with a camera away. Bemish approached the registration desk and expressed a wish to talk to the resident of room number fifteen on the hotel phone. The girl behind the desk was quite surprised. A hand touched Bemish on the back and the hand's owner turned Bemish around to face him in a somewhat impolite manner.
"My dear fellow," he started unceremoniously and then he choked, thought a bit and asked tightly, "Mr. Bemish?"
"That's me."
The man with palace guard captain insignia was clearly nervous.
"Excuse me," he said, "do I understand correctly that you were inquiring about the resident of the room number fifteen?"
"Yes," Bemish said exasperatedly, "I have a meeting with him at nine."
"It's impossible."
"Why?"
"An hour and a half ago the man who stayed in the room number fifteen and two bodyguards of his were killed by a bomb that exploded in the room."
Bemish put his elbows on the desk and squeezed his temples with his hands in anguish and, right at that moment, a journalist hiding behind a large flower pot happily clicked his camera.
In half an hour Bemish rushed up Shavash's city manor staircase. The vice-minister was drinking his morning tea in the blue living room.
"What happened, Terence?" he stood up in astonishment, meeting Bemish.
"Murderer!" Bemish shouted.
"What's happened?"
"Don't play games with me!"
"Are you talking about the Archan accident? Terence, honestly, I have nothing to do with it…"
Shavash's face demonstrated sincere surprise and affection. Bemish's fist collided with this affectionate face maybe not at a half of his full power but definitely at one third of it.
Shavash flew to the floor. He squeaked, rolled on the carpet and jumped on his feet. His face burned and a red mark stretched across his left cheek.
"Listen, Terence," the official said, chewing on his lips, "you will fall out the zealots' favor this morning. It will be bad if you also fall out of my favor…"
Bemish sagged heavily in a chair.
"Well, tell me what happened."
"There is nothing to tell you. You know it all. This morning I was supposed to meet the White Elder in Archan. The White Elder was going to reconsider his attitude towards Earthmen. Now he is as dead as a wasted frog and, since it happened thanks to his meeting with an Earthman, the zealots will consider us demons just as they considered us before. They will also remain banned and, being more dangerous for the country, they will be less dangerous for you, Shavash."
The small official grinned.
"Don't you think Terence that if you meet a man who signed a death warrant to your friend, you should let you friend know about it?"
"No."
Shavash threw himself back in the chair. His voice became flatter and less caressing.
"Suppose," Shavash said, "that somebody informed me about the White Elder's stay in Archan and his meeting with you. Don't I know the conditions of this meeting and what they asked you to do so that Earthmen would stop being demons?"
"They didn't ask me anything."
"They would have asked my resignation from you."
"And it's better for you to kill a man who could make a peace between Earthmen and millions of people that to resign, isn't it?"
"Oh, Terence, you don't understand anything. Tell me, what could you tell the sovereign that the sovereign could revoke my appointment?"
"What?! One tenth of what I know…"
"Exactly. You can get me to resign only based on the deals we have handled together. And if my part in these deals is known, would I keep silence about your part? And if your part is known, even the moderate newspapers will agree that you are a demon."