“Why bother with dappleglass at all? Why use the same contagion that had once killed
her canton, her home? Dappleglass, after all, is difficult, temperamental, and, obviously,
murderously uncontainable. It seemed a symbolic choice. Almost like a personal vendetta.
It made no sense---until we discussed the history of Oypat with the late Immunis
Nusis, who had personally served there during the canton’s death.

"Nusis told us a most curious story,” said Ana. “She told us of how the
Apothetikal Iyalet successfully created an effective graft against the
dappleglass---a cure, in other words---but that they were not able to put it
into production. For when they tried to implement their plan to do so, too
many cantons raised too many legal entreaties about growing too many new
reagents—and by the time those complaints were resolved, the contagion
had spread too far, and Oypat’s fate was sealed. But…Nusis mentioned that
there were four cantons in particular that were the most effective at blunting
this plan to save Oypat. That would be the Juldiz, Bekinis, Qabirga, and
Mitral cantons.”

Vashta blinked, lost in the weeds. “Dolabra… what is the significance of
this?”

“I wondered that myself,” said Ana. “Especially when my assistant
investigator collected evidence that Rona Aristan, Blas’s secretary, had
traveled extensively among those same four cantons in the past nine years
—and had been carrying a fortune while doing so. And then I wondered it
again, when Din reviewed the Haza rookery, and found that between the
murder of Commander Blas and his own death, Kaygi Haza had sent scribehawks
aloft to four destinations—the Juldiz, Bekinis, Qabirga, and Mitral
cantons.”

Fayazi’s silver veil was fluttering very quickly now. She must have
been breathing rather fast.

“I speculated on the meaning of all this,” said Ana. “What could
connect all this? The money, and Kaygi Haza and Commander Blas—who
had been killed by Oypatis, in the same manner as Oypat—with these four
cantons that had quibbled so much that Oypat itself had perished?” She
paused. “But then I wondered…What if all this had happened before?”

“Happened before?” said Vashta. “What do you mean?”

“Well, Kaygi Haza, after all, had been a very old man when he died.
Somewhere around a hundred and thirty, if I recall,” said Ana. “What if, in
his time, he had guided through several—how shall I put this—graduation
classes of beneficiaries during his time here in Talagray, just like the ten
dead Engineers? Several generations of Iyalet officers who had received his
patronage, and been seeded all throughout the Empire---embedded to offer
advice, information, or favors as needed?

“What if,” Ana continued, “Commander Taqtasa Blas himself had been
one such officer, once upon a time? What if he and a handful of compatriots
had been members of one of Kaygi’s clever little cabals, just like Jolgalgan
had been? And what if some members of his group had eventually found
their way to important stations in the Empire? Perhaps in the cantons of
Juldiz, Bekinis, Qabirga, and Mitral?” She grinned that predatorial grin.

“And… what if, eleven years ago, Kaygi Haza had requested a very, very
big favor of Blas and his peers?”

- The Tainted Cup, Chapter 37 pgs. 333-334

---

“Why would these two men intentionally allow a whole
canton to die? What could they gain from such death and destruction?
Except, then I recalled… the Hazas’ wealth comes from one very specific
source. And that is land.”

“Land?” echoed Vashta quietly.

“Yes, ma’am. Land,” said Ana. “Land, and all that is grown upon it. All
the reagents, all the agriculture, all the crops and feedstocks that spring
forth from their earth---this is the source of all their riches.” She sniffed.

“So… what would happen to the value of their lands if a great chunk of
fertile land they did not own suddenly vanished?”

My head began to spin as I listened to all this. Although I’d begun to
suspect many murderous things from the Hazas, it hadn’t yet occurred to
me that their involvement in such horrors might be motivated by something
so simple, so bland, and so awful.

“They did it for money?” I exclaimed. “All for money, ma’am?”

“Quiet, Din!” snapped Ana. “I told you to watch, not to talk!”

“Yes, but… I echo the boy’s comment,” said Vashta faintly. “You…
you’re claiming the Hazas perpetrated this abominable scheme… as some
kind of land valuation plot, Dolabra? To gain a little money?”

“Not a little,” said Ana. “A lot. An inconceivable amount. The death of
Oypat allowed the Hazas to renegotiate countless contracts with the Empire,
vastly increasing their wealth and influence—so much so that their wealth
came to rival that of the emperor himself. It is, in its own strange way, the
largest single land speculation scheme in memory. But if you would like
hard numbers,” she said, smiling like a loon, “I highly recommend
Summation of the Transfer of Landed Properties, Qabirga Canton, 1100–
1120. That’s just one example. It’s all written down right there, in the open.
And it’s fascinating reading, too.”

- The Tainted Cup, Chapter 37 pgs. 335-336