Empire of the One (Wine of the Gods Book 14)

by Pam Uphoff

  She glared, but the downturned mouth was more miserable than angry. She put her hands on the pony's withers and paused a long minute. Then jumped with so much force she slid off the far side.

  "Ohh, nice! Very smooth mounting to crashing transition. Back on now. Can you get on from the wrong side?"

  Paer blinked back tears, and something that might almost have been a smile made a brief appearance. She swung a leg over the pony's back and hopped enough to get up on top. Did it with almost no hesitation. Then swung off, throwing her hands in the air and landing on her butt.

  The seventh time Endi ordered her back onto the pony she giggled. And didn't hesitate at all.

  Xiat spent the next two hours following them as Endi and Raccio trotted all over the grounds, with Paer being ordered to fall off in every imaginable awkward spot and at all speeds up to Endi's sprint. Paer rolled, deliberately, down little decorative mounds, and even the broad stone patio stairs, much to the disbelief of the inside staff. They ended up outside Crystal's stall. Endi tied up the pony and led the way inside.

  "I can't ride Crystal! Her ankle is broken!"

  Endi lifted Crystal's left front and knelt, holding it off the ground. "Use my knee. Slip on gently."

  Paer paled, but stepped on his knee and eased onto the mare's back.

  "Pet her and tell her you love her."

  Paer leaned and hugged the horse's neck.

  "Then slide off. Just one more time."

  Paer was blinking away tears by the time Endi set the mare's leg down gently and released it. She stood, with the toe just barely touching the ground.

  "She looks so sick."

  "She needs just a tiny bit of exercise. Take Radish back out and I'll bring Crystal and show you what she needs."

  "Raccio."

  "He's shaped like a radish. I mean, people don't actually call you Pear, do they? Wrong shape altogether. You should be Princess Zucchini."

  Paer led the pony out, snickering. Crystal hobbled slowly after them.

  They only went as far as the lawn outside the barn. Then they all got a lecture on equine blood circulation and fluid build up in the lower extremities as Endi unwrapped the mare's leg. Xiat watched the faint glow of the man's hands as he massaged the injured ankle and tendon. She didn’t look deeper, today. No doubt he was checking all those little bone chips. Whatever he’s hiding, he isn’t a threat to Paer. Endi rewrapped the leg, then gave the mare a whole body massage. The whole time, Crystal had had her head down doing her best to consume the lawn, and had three-leg-hobbled perhaps two meters.

  Endi glanced once toward the barn, Xiat followed his gaze and spotted the frowning Major Eppa. "I suggested she be put on reduced painkillers so she will favor that foot more as she gimps around. I'll take her for little walks like this several times a day. That will keep the circulation in all four legs in good shape."

  Rael shifted a bit. "You were doing some low level magic."

  She's keeping her glow damped way down. Not interested in him, or trying to not scare him into closing down again?

  "Stimulating circulation, and I've got a neat little charm for calcium metabolism that speeds bone repair. I go for subtle, whenever possible." He stepped away and picked up two brushes. Handed one to Paer. He didn't say a thing as he started in on the pony. Paer started cautiously brushing Crystal, taking many peeks toward Endi.

  Poor Snip, peering around from behind Major Eppa was wide-eyed in horror.

  Rael, who had been off duty for several hours, suppressed a smirk. :: That man is too damn clever. He knows perfectly well that she's never had to brush her own horse before. ::

  :: And she's not going to go all snooty at him either. ::

  :: Who would? One, that man is sexy! Who'd of thought I'd drool over a Halfer? C'mon Xiat, even you must see how yummy he is. ::

  Xiat eyed the man. His whole focus had been on the girl and the horses. He had just a hint of glow, exactly like a Halfer with a lot of the Prophets' genes. But Xiat had seen the strength and solidity of his mental shields. The man was showing exactly what he wanted to show. But something about his presence was deep and solid. She shivered a bit at the thought of him concentrating on her. One! Let that little Colonial into my life and suddenly I've gone from the Ice Princess to vulnerable to good looking men? He's another suspect, One damn it. Although I don't know what I ought to be suspecting him of. Other than somehow getting this close to the President, despite forged ID.

  :: Yummy? Rael, you need your hormones checked. ::

  :: I checked. They've all reported for duty in good working order. Umm, umm. Magic massage . . . ::

  Xiat smiled wryly. At least I won't have to worry about him misbehaving around Paer. If Rael is any indication, he won't have enough sexual energy left to be improper. And however mysterious, he's exactly the coach Paer needs, right now.

  The next day Paer, Endi and Xiat rode three of the Guard's horses for a long slow tour of the more popular trails in the forest, all the while chatting about what horse she should be riding while Crystal was healing. Two Black Horse Company troopers followed. On black horses, of course.

  They all came to the conclusion that none of the horses available were really suitable. The guard's horses could jump, but tended toward sturdy and reliable, not brilliant. The family horses were all quiet safe rides for people with no experience on horseback. Neither of them had any idea about the Company horses. "And there are rules about them not being used for anything else, keeping them very separate from both the Presidential horses and the personal horses of whoever is President right then." Xiat frowned. "Not that anyone's ever said anything, or would mind them being worked by a pair of world class riders."

  Endi grinned. "Ooo. Flattery. Right. I'll have to check with someone about how to go about buying you a new horse. Maybe just lease or borrow, until Crystal's back in shape. I'll check with some friends. Actually . . . I know just the horse you need. All I have to do is find him."

  Paer was grinning. "And I know just the horse you need to try out when we get back to the barn."

  Endi eyed her suspiciously. "How bad is he?"

  "She."

  Cascade was beautiful. Poised between elegance and strength, long legs with plenty of bone but not coarse at all. A tiny line of white down her face was the only color on her. Her ears were pinned back and the look she gave Endi when he walked into her stall was ugly.

  The boy who took care of her—he was actually a young man of about thirty—fumbled uncertainly with the pole Endi had refused. "It's so she can't crush you against the wall," he hissed, urgent and worried.

  Endi reached out and touched the mare's shoulder. The mare's skin, just behind her lips, wrinkled and she tensed.

  Xiat twitched suddenly, as she felt Endi throw a spell. It was weak, no doubt about it. And it wasn't quite a sleep spell, but something very similar. The mare swayed, then stood straddle legged while Endi put his hands around her muzzle and started rubbing. "When a horse stays tense and upset for long enough, she gets sore, unbalanced, inflexible. Almost anything she does will be uncomfortable. Even her jaw muscles are tight, her neck is stiff." He was massaging the horse as he talked, kneading the horse's neck muscles hard enough to sway her from side to side, then he reached and pulled her muzzle slowly around to one side and then the other. He massaged up and down her legs, and long and hard down each side of her spine. He pulled on her tail, and then picked up each leg in turn and pulled it, leaning his weight back for a long slow stretch. "Mind you, I wouldn't do this to her if she weren't half asleep. Once Crystal is a bit further healed I'll start in on her, too." He put down her last hoof and walked out of the stall. He grinned at Paer. "See? Even, I, the magnificent Endi am occasionally afraid to get on a horse. In this case though, I have the excuse of not wanting to ruin a good first impression."

  Paer snorted. "Was she abused?"

  "Not really, otherwise she'd be afraid, rather than belligerent. It's more a matter of a serious mismatch between her and
her former owner, and wrong-for-her mishandling of discipline. Den, do they ride her?"

  "Nope. After the first week, they were hoping that some time off would help her relax, and they could try again." The groom glanced at the mare, now with her eyes half closed. "I've never seen her that relaxed. How can you do spells, you're just a Halfer like me."

  Paer looked curious. "You've always said anyone could do magic, but how did you get so well trained?"

  "I listened in on other people's lessons, and practiced. Lots. Tried variations that used less power. I'll show anyone interested how to do low power spells on horses."

  ***

  Ydro kept his head down and his mouth shut. He'd managed to get invited up to the attic above the KnickKnack Shop to study for the history final. He wasn't about to blow it by calling attention to himself. I'm invisible, I belong here, old friend . . .

  "Apparently the only thing worse than not fighting, is losing a battle and trying to lie your way out of it. The last presidential race was vicious. The Isolationists attacked the incumbent, but they weren't terribly impressive, themselves, and the other Orde, the Modernist, scooped the election." Deep scowled at her computer, then looked back at the others. "I hate term papers. We need to check on Councilmen who have lost elections since . . . It might change our approach."

  Approach to what?

  Este nodded. "I guess your history has caught up with my civics. There’s District Level elections in about a year, they’ll be starting primary elections in . . . Drat."

  Ydro jumped in, pretending he wasn’t noticing how they edited their speech. "About three months. It varies, because it’s the various parties deciding who’s going to run in their name, in the regional elections." He had a book pad and his writer on their table, and was trying to keep quiet, so they’d talk. His eyes slid toward the window. From here he couldn’t see the horse in the back yard. A horse. A real live horse. No one had explained it, nor the hideously painted box truck parked in the alley. "And don’t write ‘scooped the election’ it doesn’t sound detached and analytical enough. And I shudder to think of you lot trying to fit into any of the major parties."

  Heil raised her elegant eyebrows. "Maybe these Isolationist nuts will lose seats. We need to look into the little parties. There must be a dozen of them."

  "That would be nice. The Isolationists losing, I mean. Wishful thinking, most likely. I hope we can stay here through the next elections, though. It would be interesting to see what sounds like a weird mix of magic and politics in action." Este poked his writer, shutting it down.

  Ydro blinked. "They don’t use the magic in elections, that’s illegal. Dear One. You guys are almost as bad as my sisters. I think they vote according to how they like the sounds of the names." Must be from one of the Colonies, no Oners could be so ignorant . . . except I know dozens who are.

  Kail stuck her head out of the kitchen. "Set the table, guys, dinner's about ready." Nor had they explained where she’d been for the last week. "Off with friends" and a vague wave, when he’d asked.

  "I took a look at that . . . transportation." Este grinned. "Endi is not going to appreciate it."

  "Too bad. It got this far, and it’ll get Herc the rest of the way tomorrow."

  Heil smiled. "It's mechanically sound, the three of us went over it."

  And they were pretending that Kail had bought the truck away, somewhere, and just showed up with it, when he’d seen her the day before the horse and truck arrived. They have backing, people working for them, or that they work for and who are arranging things for them. Not the Isolationists, therefor the War Party?

  No. That’s not right. How about the Modernists? Is Urfa pulling a fast one? He’s got Endi working for him now. But what would he need this odd lot for?

  Ydro dropped his stuff in his bag, and dumped it in the corner. Whatever else these people were, good cooks was high on the list.

  ***

  Este waved a sheaf of papers at them. "Change of directions. Since it's looking like that war bill is going to pass, we're going to start the dirty tricks." He snorted. "The Colonel wasted two sheets of paper telling Endi to undermine the War Party any way he can."

  The women snickered.

  Deep rolled her eyes. "Dad isn't going to believe how he's doing it. On the other hand, let's start making more IDs. And think about cash cards. Flooding them with forgeries can't possibly hurt. I've got some leads on organized, sophisticated, criminal organizations. I'll push forward on that."

  "It won't be hard to just shut down their gate mechanism." Kail hunched her shoulders. "I know I've got a bad attitude about colonization, after the way both they and Earth behaved toward us. But if we destroy their gate mechanism, their colonies are going to have problems, and the One World may have food shortages." Kail chewed on a fingernail and stared into space. "I suppose I could open gates between their empty world colonies and the home world."

  Deep smirked. "It might be an interesting demonstration of our abilities."

  "But would they leave us alone? Or be even more frantic to not let Earth have us?"

  "Actually, they won't know who's doing it, will they?" Kail glanced between the more experienced spies. "Can we fool them into thinking we're the Dimension Cops, and this is the only warning they're going to get?"

  Heil snickered. "Oh, now this could be fun. I shall start thinking of ways to make them think we're a huge organization. Powerful. Huge staff. Stern judges."

  ***

  Rael always enjoyed Wednesday nights. The Black Horse Company, grooms, princesses and Directorate agents all voted on movies to watch on the big screen. Which took up most of one side of the combined mess and lounge.

  Occasionally first run movies were played, and silence was enforced. More usually old movies and live critique were the choice. Tonight a double feature of old spy thrillers were being skewered, while snacks and drinks flowed from the kitchen and social groupings coalesced. Rael hid a grin. Second week in a row that Xiat has invited that cute analyst. Ice Princess my ass!

  One fellow with Exterior experience was talking about how the spy motif was known on other worlds as well, and was about the same.

  Idlo snickered. "Complete with exploding cars?"

  "Yep. And the Super Spy always gets the girl, but never finds true love."

  As the Super Spy on screen stripped out of his burned shirt, a concentration of Princesses started whistling and clapping. "Six pack!"

  Someone else laughed. "Unless they need to kill her at the start of the next story, so the spy has a motive to go on a vendetta."

  Rael spotted Endi, relaxed in a stuffed chair at the edge of the main critiquers. Close enough to hear everything, but not really a member of the group. Lonely? Or just polite? No matter. Time to move in on him. Close physical contact was useful in matching the frequency of shields, physical and mental. If she couldn't get more from him than she'd managed from a distance, she'd have to turn in her Princess Diploma.

  "You're being too quiet." Rael plunked herself down in his lap. "Don't you like the movie? Or is it our live critique method of viewing?"

  "I like the movie, but I don't believe the girl deserves such a rotter. I know all about how rotters treat women."

  That got snickers from those nearby. "Hey, Endi, how many of those adoring teenagers do you let catch you?"

  "I do not allow teenagers to catch me. If they can't hold a mature, intelligent, conversation, I throw them back in the water to grow up a bit more. For sheer fun, I recommend sticking to pre-corrupted game players. You can do less harm there. And they know some truly amazing things."

  Rael propped her elbow on his shoulder, and dropped her chin on her palm. He presented his most sweet and innocent look for her inspection. Shields hard as a rock. The emotions, the tones and flavors coming through were . . . monotone. Artificial. He's leaking deliberate disinformation. One damn.

  She tsked. "You are quite a cynic when it comes to sex, aren't you?"

  "Me? Certainly
not. I'm a hopeless romantic, and I'm saving myself for marriage."

  That got catcalls from across the room. "Felt that lie ten meters away." Onca called from the far side of the vid screen.

  Of course you caught that. He fairly screamed "I'm lying!"

  "Oh, well. How about I'm just as easy as the star of that show there?"

  "You are not easy to seduce, young man, else I wouldn't be working so hard for so little reward." And working harder for just as few results, mentally. She batted her eyelashes, and wiggled just a bit.

  He looked innocent, and just a bit amused. He wasn't responding at all to her wiggling. "Trying the Sophisticated Older Woman Gambit? You're going to have to work hard to carry that off, with your looks."

  "That's the beauty of being a princess. All the sophistication of an older woman, all the . . ."

  "Zits of a teenager."

  "I do not have zits!"

  "And the spiky red hair. Do you, like, you know, sometimes, well, uh."

  "No, I do not talk like a teenager."

  "How many pairs of shoes do you have?"

  "Forty-six."

  He laughed out loud. All sorts of mental frequencies, all over. Genuine amusement.

  "What's so funny about that? I have wide ranging social obligations. Stop laughing!" She was having trouble keeping a straight face, herself. Snickers from the people nearby. All infected by those frequencies, that laugh. No one but a priest ought to be able to do that, to have that much of a connection to the collective subconscious. Although . . . if he were a Priest, emasculation might explain why I'm not getting a rise out of him . . . but then how does he seduce . . . or are we all leaping to incorrect conclusions? One damn this man!

  "You knew. You didn't even have to think."

  What? Oh, the shoes. "A keen mind and excellent memory are an aid to nearly any enterprise. Plus I have a storage rack with forty-eight cubby holes for shoes. Two more and it's full."