Masquerades - Kate Novak [142]
"Well, that's how it ended up, anyway," the actress said.
"Not exactly," the hauling replied. "The nobles haven't been disgraced, and they've only made Lord Victor interim croamarkh. If anything, the Night Masks' attack last night has made people feel more sympathy for the nobles."
"No kidding," Jamal said. "I tried a puppet show this morning portraying the nobles as sheep running from the wolf. It was not well received."
"You should have known better than to kick a dog when it's down," Olive retorted.
"Even I make mistakes," the actress replied with a shrug. "So, Lord Victor was planning to turn on his own kind and reveal all, but Durgar stopped him. If we could get him out from under Durgar's influence, he might prove useful-a noble who cares what the people think."
"The only one Victor Dhostar cares about is Victor Dhostar," Olive snapped. "He was manipulating Alias into uncovering the Faceless, he manipulated Durgar into proposing him as the new croamarkh, and, given half a chance, he'll manipulate' you and anyone else in Westgate fool enough to support him. He doesn't just want to be croamarkh. He wants to be king."
Jamal raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Never happen," she replied. "Not in Westgate. Not after Verovan. No one will ever go for it. Not the merchant lords, and certainly not the people."
"Wrong," Olive retorted. "If the people start clamoring for it and the merchant lords are weakened, they might have no choice."
"The people don't want a king. They want to rule themselves," Jamal argued.
"Jamal, I've studied you humans for years. Humans don't want to rule themselves. Only a few humans want to bother with the mess it takes to rule themselves. The rest want to be left alone. Your average Westgate citizen wants the Night Masks taken care of, but for over fifteen years they've been waiting for the merchant nobles to handle it. Some of them look at a nation like Cormyr, with a king who's managed to purge the land of assassins and who exiles convicted thieves, and they think maybe the gods favor monarchies. Should a popular candidate come along, some of them might start dusting off Verovan's regalia," the halfling concluded.
Jamal looked for a moment as if she might explode. Olive knew she'd just called into question a basic tenet of the actress's beliefs. A moment later, though, Jamal sighed. "Just because people won't take charge of their own lives doesn't mean they can't," she argued.
"I'm not saying that," Olive replied.
"Well, you may be right about the king thing," the actress conceded. "I have heard people talking about Azoun of Cormyr as if he were the gods' gift to the people. Are you sure about Victor Dhostar, though? Alias seemed to think he was all right."
"Even Alias makes mistakes, something I intend to correct just as soon as she and Dragonbait get back from the sewers," Olive said. "In the meantime, Lady Nettel's dying request was that I protect her granddaughter. House Thalavar lost three halfling bodyguards to the golems last night, so I've spent the last twelve hours not letting Thistle Thalavar out of my sight. I think the girl was getting tired of me. After making all the arrangements for her grandmother's funeral, she locked herself in the study to go over House Thalavar's account books and Lady Nettel's personal journal. I should be getting back to Castle Thalavar to keep an eye on visitors offering their condolences. When Alias gets back-"
"You'll hear from me," Jamal promised.
*****
It was nightfall before the actress sent Kel around with a message for the halfling, but all the note said was that Alias had not returned, and neither had Dragonbait nor Mintassan. Olive penned a reply that Jamal should sit tight. The sewers were vast. It might take a little more time to explore them. The halfling did her best to keep from sounding worried when she handed the message to Kel.
Thistle finally came out of her grandmother's study for supper. Olive pressed her for permission to hire more bodyguards. The young girl fingered her grandmother's brooch like an amulet, then nodded her