by Sharon Green
"I'm goin' to assume that that topic of goin' back to Gan Garee is now closed," Valiant said after a moment. "If I'm wrong and someone has decided to take a wagon or a horse anyway, just say so ... No one? All right, then we can go on to the next topic. Do any of you want to go back to your own homes instead?"
That brought out a large number of surprised exclamations, as none of them seemed to have thought that going home would be possible. A lot of rapid conversation was exchanged in low voices, and then the second woman who had spoken earlier stepped forward again.
"Going home won't be like going back to Gan Garee at all," she said. "My friends and I know we'll be safe at home, even if they try to come after us. Our families will see to it that we are, and everyone ought to know what we've just found out the hard way. If we spread the word, there shouldn't be any other unsuspecting Highs being piled into wagons."
"That's a good idea," Valiant said, adding his own nod to the large number of signs of agreement coming from the others. "We do need to start spreadin' the word, somethin' they've been workin' real hard to keep from happenin'. So how many are goin' home?"
This time there were quite a number of hands raised, with a few extra added when people looked around to see how many there already were. At least half of the nearly sixty people seemed to be ready to go home, so Lorand stood up.
"The best thing you people can do from here is to continue on to the Rolris Fork, which is just a few hours ahead," he said in a voice loud enough to carry. "You'll take the southwest fork, that's the left-hand one, and a few hours after that you'll come to the Wenstad Road. At that point you'll see signs pointing the way to various parts of the empire, and you just have to follow the direction of the signs. But not those of you who live to the east. That sign just sends you back in this direction, so head north instead and wait for the next major road before you go east."
"And now's the time to get started," Valiant said over the babble of discussion that arose from that bit of information. "You'll have five of the wagons at least, so if the people from one particular area outnumber the others, that's the area which will have the extra wagon. If two extra wagons are needed, then you'll have that instead. Let's get it movin'."
I suppose they would have stood around talking about it until the guardsmen from Gan Garee rode in, but Valiant refused to allow that. He pointed to four wagons, designating them in turn as north, east, south, and west, and as an afterthought pointed to a fifth and called it Gan Garee. There was a lot of moving around as people went from the wagon they were in to the one they needed to be in, and once the confusion was over Valiant inspected how the numbers had settled out.
"Well, it looks like the north wins," he observed, since there were twice as many people in that one wagon. "They get the extra, and you others can make do with one. The three of you from Gan Garee itself need to think about what you'll do, either get dropped off by the wagon headin' east, or go elsewhere with some of the others. But whatever decision you make, do it while the wagons are on the road. The rest of us can't leave until you do."
That statement stopped most of the protests that were being made over the way he all but pushed them out of camp physically, but it wasn't the end of all argument. The woman
Galeen and her male friend hadn't moved to any of the designated wagons, silently insisting that they would stay with the rest of us. I wasn't terribly happy about that, but Valiant went further by refusing to allow it.
"You two aren't stayin' with us," he said in cold, commanding tones that brooked no contradiction. "We won't have time to look after and train small children, so get into one of the wagons that are goin' in another direction. And don't try arguin', because it won't do you any good."
"Going home without the High positions we meant to earn will make us laughingstocks," Galeen snarled while the man with her looked ready to cry. "If arguing with you won't do any good, let's try this."
I knew it immediately when she reached for the power, confirming my guess that she was probably a user of Fire magic. She was also rather strong, in point of fact stronger than Beldara Lant, who had been so smugly certain of her superiority. But just as I was stronger than Beldara, I also had no trouble matching and bettering Galeen. The curtain of flames which tried to sweep over and through the five of us stopped dead when I interposed my ability between it and us, and then one large, definite section of the flame curtain died because of the touch of water. Galeen paled when these things happened, and Valiant gave her a smile without any humor in it whatsoever.
"In case we haven't mentioned it before, we're the five people who should now be Seated on the Fivefold Throne," he drawled. "That means we're stronger than everyone here, so flexin' your power won't do you any good either. Get into the proper wagon now."
Galeen swallowed hard, but nothing in the way of words came from her as she" did as she was told. Amusingly enough it was the wagon heading south that she went to, the part of the empire that Valiant himself came from. Her male companion, though, scurried to the wagon heading east, looking as though he hoped to make it before Galeen noticed. He did, and once some of the provisions had been hastily transferred to each of the departing wagons, they did finally depart.
"All right, now for the last major decision," Valiant announced once the creaking of the last wagon had died away.
"We learned from the leader of this convoy that there's a depot ahead, a place where kidnapped Highs are taken. It's come to us that we know some of the people who must have been sent there, since I'm talkin' about people who survived the competitions we were just in but who didn't win. But even if we didn't know any of them, we'd still have to do somethin' about our kind of people bein' made into slaves. That wagon right there is the one you should be in if you don't want to join us in doin' somethin' about that depot."
Rather than a babble of conversation growing up, it became so quiet that it was possible to hear the rain pattering against the trees, and the tarpaulin, and Rion's rain shield. I have no idea what the people who had stayed thought they would be doing, but clearly a number of them hadn't envisioned doing anything as foolish as attacking a depot full of guardsmen. That number hesitated for a long moment, but once the first of them started for the designated wagon, the rest followed. They made up about a third of our remaining total, and after they'd taken their provisions—and another wagon—and had left, there were about twenty people and three wagons remaining.
"I don't want anyone thinkin' they're trapped now that the last wagon has left," Valiant said at that point. "There's still the coach some of us got here in, so anyone changin' his or her mind before we get to Quellin, the depot town, still has a way out. Right now I think we need to get movin' ourselves, to find a place where we can safely spend the night. How many of you can ride a horse instead of ridin' in a wagon?"
Most of the men and two of the women assured him that they would be much happier on horseback than in a jouncing wagon, even in the rain. Some of them must have had Air or Water magic to protect themselves from the rain, and the rest most likely had Earth magic. The idea of riding a horse at any time wasn't one that appealed to me much to begin with, but then I began to think about it. Being dependent on others to get you from place to place put you at their mercy, but if you were able to go and do all by yourself ...
But that was something to think about at another time. Right now it was time for us to leave, with only two of the three remaining wagons filled with what was left of the provisions along with those who couldn't or didn't care to ride horses. Jovvi, Lorand, Naran, and I would be using the coach, as Rion had been one of those who had opted for a horse. We intended to take extra mounts with us, and turn loose all those horses we didn't want or need. Once our current captives were found and roused, if they wanted to come after us they would have to do so on foot.
Rion walked us to the coach while the very last of the preparations were being made, his magic still keeping the rain off us. He walked wi
th Lorand while Naran and I helped Jovvi, and once we were in the coach he gave Naran a parting kiss and left. I suppose I looked away from that again, and Jovvi wasn't so tired or distracted that she didn't notice.
"All right, now that it's no one but us, tell me what's wrong between you and Valiant this time," she said, clearly trying not to sound weary. "I noticed the distance between you two almost as soon as I opened my eyes, and the passing time has only added to the impression. Is it a simple disagreement, or something more involved?''
"I'd say ... a lot more involved," I admitted with reluctance, trying not to see Naran's look of concerned support. "I... got Valiant away from Eltrina Razas and he was really beastly toward me, so I... decided our relationship had come to an end. I refused to listen when he tried to say that it hadn't, but then he ... stopped apologizing. He ... made certain statements I couldn't completely argue with, and then he said that now he was the one who was unwilling to listen. I've ... been trying to decide if he was right about the things he accused me of."
"If you've been thinking about it and don't know for certain yet, chances are you're just trying to avoid admitting that he was right," she said, leaning forward to touch my hand. "It's possible I'm mistaken about that, but it's something to keep in mind while you do your thinking. Along with deciding what you'll do if it turns out that he was right beyond all doubt."
I distractedly returned the touch she'd given me, having already come to the same conclusion myself. Chances were excellent that Valiant had told the absolute truth, so what was I going to do about it? Our relationship had ended because of me, so how was I going to correct the error?
As our coach wheels reluctantly pulled free of the mud trying to hold them, I realized 1 hadn't the faintest idea. I'd have to start with trying to apologize, of course, but something told me that that wasn't going to work. And if it didn't, then what... ?
Twenty-eight
Delin came awake slowly, noticing first that the others were all there in the room with him. Then he realized that the room was in his own wing of the palace, and all the rest of his memories came flooding back. They'd won the final competition and they were now the new Seated Five, a fact which brought a thrill of delight. But then other, different memories came, and the delight disappeared as though it had never been.
"That's right, you now know everything that's happened to and around you," Kambil's voice came, bringing Delin's gaze up and to him where he sat. All the others, Bron and Selendi and Homin, sat around Kambil, all of them looking at him with chilling amusement.
"I... remember hearing you swear that you would never turn me loose again," Delin managed to get out despite those stares. "Why have you changed your mind?"
"What makes you think I've turned you loose?" Kambil countered, his amusement the strongest of all. "My aim was to give you as much grief as you and your madness have given us, and now I've thought of the way to do that. You'll be awake and aware of everything happening around you, but you've been given certain orders under Puredan that you won't be able to disobey."
"What sort of orders?" Delin asked, although he would have much preferred not to say a word. The four were enjoying themselves at his expense, the four people who were supposed to be part of him and entirely his.
"The first one was my idea," Selendi said with a light laugh. "You have this entire wing of the palace that's supposed to be yours, but you'll only be allowed to live in one room of it—this one. You'll eat in here, sleep in here on a cot you'll have brought in, and generally spend all the time you're not required to be elsewhere right here in this one room. The rest of the wing is off-limits to you, so you won't use any part of it."
"And don't expect to enjoy the meals you have in here," Homin said, taking up after Selendi while Delin's mind reeled in shock. "Your food will be very plain, the absolute least you can have and still remain healthy, with no seasoning or sweetening to increase its flavor. You'll insist on that, no matter what your servants do to try to change your mind."
"And when we're all together you'll walk or stand behind the rest of us, generally behaving like a servant," Bron said, obviously enjoying enormously Delin's being so stunned that he was openmouthed. "You went ahead and did as you pleased about matters which concerned all of us, making decisions alone instead of talking to the rest of us about them. We won't be free of the chaos that caused for quite some time, so it's only .right that you forfeit your former place among us."
"Bron's right when he says you have no grounds for complaint," Kambil said, interrupting Delin's wildly babbling protests. "We all know you're insane, Delin, but that doesn't also have to mean that you're stupid. The stupidity seems to be an added bonus that's thrown in, and one you refuse to acknowledge and take into consideration. Are you able to see yet how much damage you've done?"
"All I did was make an effort to protect us all!" Delin choked out, having no real idea what they were talking about. "How can you say that protecting us is doing damage?"
"Think, Delin!" Kambil snapped, almost making Delin jump. "I told you that you now know everything that's happened, so try to remember what I said about our interviews with the assistants and secretaries to the Advisors you had killed. Only some of them know everything their superiors were involved in, and the rest are just as much in the dark as we are! It's hardly likely that the men who are gone did more than give orders on the important matters, but now we have to search around to find out who they gave their orders to!"
"And it's not proving easy," Bron growled, staring at Delin with all amusement gone. "Not only that, but for some reason there are now lapses in shipments that should be coming from all over the empire. The remaining Advisors are getting complaints by the dozen, but they have no idea about what to do. These things were all taken care of by those Advisors who are now gone, specifically the ones you had destroyed. The only Advisors left are either very new to their places or entirely useless for any purpose beyond strutting around showing off their rings."
"Do you understand now?" Kambil said, the words more of a demand than a question. "Say something to make me believe that you understand."
"I understand that you're having problems that you choose to blame on me,'' Delin returned, his head spinning so wildly that he barely knew what it was that he said."You saw to the removal of five of the Advisors yourselves. Do you expect me to believe that that has no bearing at all on the trouble you're having now?"
"I told you he'd say that," Selendi put in after making a rude sound. "He's never been able to accept responsibility for his actions, no matter how often he pretended that he did. It isn't the ten people he had put out of the way that's causing turmoil, just the five who never would have dirtied their hands on any of the piddling details of running the empire. Our five were only concerned with major efforts, but that means nothing."
"Say something, Delin," Kambil prodded, anger clear in his eyes. "Tell me how much of the mess we now have on our hands is all your fault. Prove to me that something of what we've said has gotten through to you."
"Of course, Kambil," Delin acquiesced, forcing his voice to be even and relatively calm. "Everything that's happened is my fault, and I'll be the first to admit it. It was my actions alone that brought about every bit of the difficulty."
"I think I've suddenly developed Spirit magic," Homin said, his tone very dry. "He's said exactly what he thinks we want to hear, but doesn't believe a word of it himself. Am I wrong, Kambil?"
"Hardly," Kambil replied, just as dryly. "He hasn't learned a thing from what we said, but I never really expected him to. So when you start to look around for reasons why this is happening to you, Delin, start with this reason: your stubborn stupidity refuses to learn. If that ever changes I'll know about it, but until then you can see if suffering truly gains us understanding. And now we have several interviews to conduct. Come along."
Delin was appalled by how quickly and obediently he rose to his feet, the others standing in their own good
time. It wasn't a joke or a threat, he really had been enslaved, and his numbed mind refused even to search for a means of escape. But that would pass, and once it did ...
"Oh, by the way," Kambil said as he led the way out of the room. "If you aren't having any luck thinking of a way out of your dilemma, don't be surprised. You've been ordered not to do anything to change your current situation and status, and as the order most strongly reinforced, it should be the one most strongly obeyed. If I'm wrong about that, please let me know."
The sense of shock was more brief this time, a surge of anger rudely displacing it. Delin had nodded his agreement to obey this newest command, and he knew he certainly would. He'd been given no choice but to obey completely, just as though he really were a slave! Fury came at that thought, but at the moment there was nothing Delin could do to change it.
They all walked through the apartment and wing that was supposed to be his, then out into the common hall which led to various interview and meeting rooms in the public wing. The public wing had mostly been used by the Advisors, a properly impressive place to conduct their official business, but Delin now remembered that Kambil had changed all that. The remaining Advisors had each been assigned small meeting rooms, but those rooms couldn't be used without the prior approval of the Five. The power which had previously rested in Advisory hands was now returned to the Five, and Kambil meant to do everything in his power to be certain it never left again.
"Tomorrow we'll begin to conduct interviews to fill some of the empty Advisory seats," Bron commented over his shoulder to Delin, who trailed along behind the others. "Right now we have a more important matter to see to, a mess you happen to be innocent of creating. For a wonder."
Selendi and Homin made low-class sounds of agreement, the humiliation of which nearly distracted Delin. To think that those two would dare to mock him . . . But then he realized he knew what Bron had been talking about, and the matter really was serious. Those five peasants they'd faced in the final competition, the ones who had nearly overcome them ... They were not only still alive, but had apparently escaped from the city. Things had been happening with the pursuit, and they had to be updated as to the latest. And they had to institute even greater effort to find and destroy them.