Free The Folding Knife by K. J. Parker Page A

the head of our family, my father."
    "Fine," Aelius said. "Right, you heard him. You, fetch the Minister. You, go back to the guardhouse and get a messenger sent to the Carausius house at the Horn." He frowned, then asked Basso, "What was that name again?"
    "Fausta Tranquillina Carausia," Basso said slowly. "Shall I write it down?"
    Aelius shrugged. "Might be as well," he said. "All right, you, go downstairs and find an inkwell and something to write on. Ask a servant or something. That's all."
    The soldiers left quickly. When they'd gone, Aelius closed the door. "So," he said, "what happened?"
    Basso told him. He pointed out the toy dagger, lying on the floor, and showed Aelius his hand.
    "I see. And what about her?"
    Basso shook his head. "That's my business. At least, I suppose it's between me and my sister."
    "I remember her," Aelius said. "You beat up a soldier for looking at her."
    "Something like that." Suddenly Basso felt very tired. He sat down. Aelius shrugged, and sat down on the bed. "So, it's major now, is it?" said Basso.
    "Six months ago," Aelius replied.
    "Impressive, a man of your age."
    "You run the bank, don't you?"
    Basso nodded. "Family business," he said. "The clerks run it, I just sit in a chair and sign letters."
    "Is it true," Aelius asked, "you're deaf in that ear?"
    "Yes."
    "But you never raised a complaint."
    "Nothing to complain about."
    Aelius was quite still for a moment. Then he cleared his throat and said, "I'll need everything left as it is until I've written up a formal deposition. It'll go on file, but it'll be restricted, unless a complaint is made." He paused, then asked quietly, almost gently: "Is that likely?"
    Basso smiled. "No," he said.
    "In that case..." Aelius was looking away now, not at Basso, not at the bodies or the blood. "If there's no complaint, it's a family matter and none of our business. You don't want to make any further statements." He stood up. "Is there somewhere I can use to write my report?"
    Basso said, "Shouldn't you wait till my sister gets here?"
    "Yes," Aelius said. "But what the hell." He stood up. "You might as well get started on your arrangements. I've seen everything I need here, and you've been very cooperative."
    Basso nodded his thanks. "I'll show you to the library," he said. "You can use that."
    At that moment a soldier reappeared, clutching an inkwell, a pen and a scrap of cheese-wrapping. Basso wrote down his sister's name and address and gave it to him, and he left quickly.
    * * *
    No complaints were filed. Some time later, his father said to him, "You did the right thing."
    Basso wasn't sure he agreed, but he didn't like to contradict his father. "The trust fund," he said. "I guess that comes to us now, till Bassano turns eighteen."
    Father frowned. "I hadn't thought of that," he said. He was an indifferent liar.

Three

    Basso's father died on the day of the election. He suffered a massive stroke in the middle of a shouting match with Ulpius Lorica on the steps of the New Reform Temple (the only time, Lorica said afterwards, that Elio had ever won an argument with him, adding that at least he'd have died happy). Given the dramatic nature of the election, it's likely that he died believing his son was about to lose, and he missed the unforgettable midnight scene in the House when the final result was brought in: Bassianus Arcadius Severus, by seventy-one wards to sixty-eight.
    The death of the elder Severus would have been the talking point of the City under any other circumstances; as it was, it was noted in passing and hardly discussed. The events of that day--the outrageous pageantry of the twins' coming-of-age ceremony in the morning, the extraordinary scenes attending the Charity & Social Justice's hostile takeover of the Merchants' Benevolent Fund, followed by the vote itself, with its attendant riot and the unprecedented deployment of troops inside the City walls to restore order, culminating in Vipsanius Severus' death and the astounding