by Sharon Green
"Seeing through that flux is almost impossible, but I did get a glimpse or two," Naran said with a small headshake. "I got the impression that we'll be approached by a small welcoming committee, but I'm not certain when it will happen. Sometime after we come in sight of the city, I think."
"Does that phrase 'approached by' mean greeted or attacked?" Jovvi asked, adding her frown to Naran's. "It makes a considerable difference."
"Again, I got no more than an impression, but I think we'll be greeted, at least at first," Naran replied after a brief hesitation, her expression telling Jovvi that the girl tried once again to See something clearly. "There is going to be trouble for us at some point, but when it will happen and whose fault it will be are two things I can't make out."
"I hope that flux clears up soon," Jovvi muttered as she considered what she'd heard. "No one is feeling very friendly toward the citizens of Gracely, and it would help to know if we're facing potential friends or potential enemies. We may have to go after the truth with our Blending."
Naran was about to add something, when a stir up ahead took the attention of both of them. The head of their column, which wasn't that far away, had stopped moving, so Jovvi rode forward to see what was going on. Naran followed along behind, much of the girl's previous shyness apparently having disappeared.
"Well, there it is," Vallant said as Jovvi guided her horse to a place near Lorand's. "Do we keep goin' and just ride into the streets as if we belonged, or do we stop and make camp somewhere and wait for them to notice us?"
No one answered Vallant immediately, not when they, like Jovvi, were all busy examining what lay before them. The road they'd been following had topped a hill, and from there it was possible to see the city of Liandia, which lay about two miles away.
Or at least that was where the city walls began, a very wide gate standing open in those walls. It was possible to see horse and wagon traffic moving freely both in and out of the gate, with any gate guards currently hidden from view. Occasional towers lofted above the height of the encircling walls, and what could be seen of other buildings showed a surprising amount of grace added to utility.
Jovvi had expected the land near the city to be open, just the way it was near Gan Garee. The landscape was indeed open, not but empty by any means. What looked to be a large inn stood to the left, about a mile or so from the city walls. Between the inn and the city were various small houses of some sort, and the land to the right held what seemed to be fenced pasturage next to a building surrounded by coaches and carriages. It seemed an odd place to keep coaches and carriages, but before Jovvi could say so a distraction came.
"Does anyone else think that those people comin' from the inn aren't surprised to see us?" Vallant asked, redirecting everyone's attention. "They were in a hurry to get mounted, but now they're movin' more slowly."
Jovvi looked at the three people who had ridden to the road and were now coming directly toward them. They were all male, and Jovvi's talent told her that there was no surprise in any of them. In fact those three had been waiting for them, and their cautious approach was perfectly understandable.
"They're moving slowly because they don't want to disconcert us," Jovvi explained with a wry smile. "And it might interest everyone to know that they're all Highs in Spirit magic. The only odd thing is, they didn't open to the power until they reached the road. If they're allowed to use their ability in this realm, why aren't they opened to the power all the time?"
"Maybe they're as new to the freedom as our own people," Lorand suggested, his tone containing a shrug. "Or maybe they don't know that they ought to be. You can't be in full control of your ability unless you're in very close touch with it."
"Well, if they don't know that, let's not tell them," Tamrissa put in, her own tone serious. "At least not until we know exactly who and what we're dealing with. If they turn out to be something other than friends, what they don't know can't hurt us."
"I agree," Vallant said, his gaze still on the approaching figures on horseback. "Let's start movin' again, and meet them half way. But let's also make sure that we move just as slowly. They probably know just how many people we have with us, but knowin' and seein' that many comin' at you are two different things."
The suggestion was much too sensible to ignore, so they all began to ride down the hill. The road was a really decent one, Jovvi had noticed, and had been surfaced with something dark that Lorand said was tar mixed with other things. The warm weather had softened the dark mixture, but in winter it must make a superior road surface to travel on. The Gandistran empire had nothing like it, which was another point to thank the nobles for. If they'd had more interest in trade and less in conquest, Gandistra might have had the surfacing process many years earlier.
It took some time to reach the approaching men, who eventually stopped and waited for the newcomers to get to them. Since Jovvi's group was headed toward the city it made sense for the men to wait, but they still looked - and felt - somewhat uncertain when Jovvi and the others rode up to them.
"Greetings," the man in the lead said with a smile that was on the nervous side. "We've come to welcome you to the empire of Gracely, and to guide you to the accommodations that have been prepared. Our leaders are sure you'll all want to see the city, but it would be more prudent to have you visit in smaller groups than you're now in. We really don't want our people to believe that we're being invaded."
"Most especially since they're not being invaded," Jovvi told the man with her best smile, finding it impossible not to notice how he and his companions seemed to want to stare at her. "We'll try to arrange something that will satisfy everyone, but at the moment we'd like to be shown to the accommodations you mentioned. I'm told that the rain is likely to start at any time."
"Yes, we've been told the same, so we'll certainly hurry," the man responded, then couldn't seem to control himself any longer. "Please excuse our rudeness, Exalted One, but I, for one, feel completely overwhelmed. I've never met anyone with your strength of talent, and all I seem to want to do is stand and stare in awe. But since that would also mean standing and watching you get soaked in the rain, I'll put the staring off until later. Please follow us."
Jovvi smiled her amusement and nodded agreement, and the three men turned their horses and led off up the road at a faster pace than they'd used coming down. Vallant turned to wink at Jovvi before he followed, Lorand flashed her an amused but proud smile, and Tamrissa looked satisfied. Nothing had changed Naran's serene expression, and Rion looked as distant and distracted as he had for the last few days.
Jovvi also urged her horse forward, pleased to find that many of the people following them had relaxed the least little bit. The man's joking reference to his feelings had dissolved a bit of tension, and now everyone was more alert than worried. The man had been frank on purpose, Jovvi knew, in an effort to lessen the tension he'd also been aware of.
But that was only the first step in the initial encounter with these people. Jovvi hadn't liked the way the man had immediately found a reason to separate their group, a reasonable reason they would be hard put to get around. If they decided to get around it in the first place. They all knew that chances had to be taken here in Gracely if they were to find out what was going on. And, more importantly, what would be going on between their two empires once all initial questions had been answered.
Jovvi pushed away the worry that wanted to flow through her mind, knowing it wasn't the time to worry. That time would certainly come along, but in the interim she was very glad that their hosts seemed to know nothing of the second group following a few hours behind them. The Blendings in that second group would watch carefully to see how they were treated, and would intervene or come to their rescue if they turned out to need rescue.
At a time, hopefully, that would not be too late…
Chapter 29
Embisson Ruhl hated the way the entire area they rode through was filled with the quiet of emptiness. In more normal times it had been
possible to feel the presence of noble peers in their homes as one rode past, a feeling which assured one that he was among his own. The comfort and delight of that feeling was gone, and the lack turned Embisson bitter in spite of his best efforts.
"Father, I do wish you'd reconsider," Edmin said from the right, where he sat beside Embisson on the coach seat. "Letting Noll and his wife and that madman Howser go off on their own isn't the best of ideas. I'd feel better if they were in a place where I could keep an eye on them."
"Keeping an eye on them is an extra chore we don't need," Embisson answered, trying to be gentle with Edmin. "I wasn't looking forward to spending my time holding my breath while waiting for one of them to do something to betray our presence in the city. When Noll mentioned he and the others would be more comfortable in their own home, I jumped at the chance to agree."
"In that case, you ought to be more worried than relieved," Edmin persisted, bringing Embisson a touch of impatience. "If we aren't there to watch what they do, they'll betray themselves - and us - that much more quickly."
"They may betray themselves, but they won't be able to do the same to us," Embisson corrected, his somber mood lightening. "Our driver isn't taking us to my house here in the city, we're going somewhere else entirely. A somewhere the Nolls and Howser know nothing about."
"Then you meant to cut us off from them as soon as we reached the city," Edmin said slowly, and Embisson could feel his son's stare. "If that's so, why do our plans include the use of Noll's agents? Noll won't be able to find us even if he and the others aren't caught."
"That's a minor detail of complete unimportance," Embisson said, fighting to keep his irritation from showing. "Now that we're back you can rebuild your own sources of information, making Noll's sources irrelevant and unnecessary. We don't need those people in any way at all, Edmin, and now we won't have to pretend that we mean to give them more than we actually planned to. You and I - and our three hundred guardsmen - will take care of everything ourselves."
"I see," Edmin said quietly, a capitulation Embisson found satisfying. "We'll be using my sources of information rather than Noll's. But you've never mentioned how you intend to use our guardsmen."
"You should get a chuckle out of that part of it, just as I do," Embisson replied, sounding the chuckle he'd mentioned. "It so happens that the law gives members of the nobility the right to appoint guardsmen as official peacekeepers. Once our men have made it into the city in small groups that ought to go unnoticed, we'll send them out as officials of the true government - in other words, us. They'll arrest - or finish off - every fool who tries to get in their way. The ones the Seated Blending left to watch over things will be too involved in trying to take over themselves to notice what's happening until it's too late for them. We ought to be back in power in no more than two or three days."
"I'm sorry, Father, but I'm afraid that that plan won't work at all," Edmin responded after a moment, startling Embisson into turning and looking at him. "There are too many points of objection that it doesn't take into account, so we'll have to sit down and discuss the matter as soon as we get where we're going. In fact, it might be a good idea to leave the planning for tomorrow, after we've both had a good night's sleep."
"What's wrong with you, Edmin?" Embisson barked with a frown, completely out of patience. "There's nothing to object to in my plan and you ought to know it. Have you lost your nerve, is that it? Brace up, boy, and try to act like a man anyway."
"Father, I think you've gotten confused," Edmin countered, his words and tone still even and calm. "Your plan might work if things were as they used to be, but conditions have changed drastically. For instance, we were told there are other Blendings in the city, not to mention quite a few High talents. If we bring our men out into the open with no attempt to disguise them, they can be taken over as easily as Lord Henich's army was. Not to mention the fact that there's no longer such a thing as nobility recognized in this city. How, then, can any men we send out be considered even remotely official?"
"Don't be a fool, Edmin, of course our men will be official," Embisson blustered as he tried to ignore a cold chill that formed in his innards. "Things can't possibly have changed that much, not after all the decades and centuries we controlled them. Once we've taken over the city again, you'll see how fast everyone reverts to acting the way they used to. And those fool judges in the courts will back us as usual, because they'll still be afraid not to. Don't you worry, everything will be just fine."
Embisson patted his son's shoulder before turning away from him again, horribly disappointed but refusing to let the emotion show. Edmin had once been Embisson's strongest supporter and aide, but now that the boy had lost his nerve it was clear that Embisson would have to continue on alone.
For a moment Embisson had been shaken by something Edmin had said, but reason had returned soon enough to calm all unreasonable fears. It was mindless to think things had changed so much that his carefully thought out and effective plan would fail to work. No, the only thing Embisson could no longer count on was Edmin, but that was all right. Embisson would take care of him, and afterward no one needed to know about the lapse. After all, Edmin was the only one left to succeed his father, and Embisson would need a successor. He would…!
Edmin sat back on the coach seat with an inaudible sigh, giving up the idea of forcing his father to acknowledge the true situation they were in. High Lord Embisson Ruhl had returned to live in the days of his glory, refusing to understand that those days were gone. It was still possible to regain former power, but not when one cut oneself off from reality.
Rather than ask where they were going, Edmin stayed silent and used the travel time to list in his head the names of his former employees who might still be around. If those three hundred men were used wisely to foment discord in an anonymous way, they could end up being more effective than twice or three times their number used badly. But this was the last chance any of them would get. Edmin knew that without the least doubt, and knew as well that his father would have to be kept out of things until their war from the shadows rewon what they'd lost.
By the time the coach began to slow, Edmin had pruned his list of employees down to seven names. Those seven would be loyal and discreet, and chances were excellent that he would still be able to locate the men. They would have had no reason to leave the city and every reason to stay, which meant they would know everything going on. Edmin would need the details of what was happening to know where to send his men, where those men could cause the greatest amount of disruption…
"Ah, it seems we've finally arrived," Edmin's father said, his tone showing that he was being deliberately jolly. "Once our two coaches have reached the house, I'll send some of the servants back to brush at the tracks we're making going in. It will be best if no one knows we're here until we have control of the city again."
"As you say, Father," Edmin agreed, knowing there was no use in speaking of anything else. "We can have a meal from what we bought at that last inn, and then I'm for bed. By the way, who did this house belong to?"
"I know you've never been here, but I used to visit quite often," Embisson answered, a disturbing smugness to his tone. "This was Advisor Zolind Maylock's house, and Zolind was the most powerful man of his time. That same power will soon be in our hands, which makes this house the most appropriate place we can stay."
Again Edmin nodded without saying anything, as the only thing he had to say would be less than complimentary. Advisor Zolind Maylock was, according to his former sources, probably the first casualty of the Blending he had allowed to come to power. There had been more than enough witnesses to the man's "heart attack" the night he died, but the death had been too convenient for the interlopers. If Zolind had lived he would have found some way to bind or destroy the five people he disliked so much, but those five people had proven to be stronger than anyone had ever dreamed they could be…
"We'll have to have at least one lamp lit before we go inside," Embiss
on said, drawing Edmin's attention again. "After that I want all the lamps lit, as a statement of our arrival. This house is far enough out of the way that no one will notice."
"But if someone does notice, we'll have thrown away the secrecy we need so badly," Edmin countered at once, not about to let this point slide by. "Once we're successful we can light all the lamps, as a statement of victory that no one will be able to miss."
"Oh, all right," Embisson grumbled after a moment, his glance at Edmin showing disgust even in the dark of the coach interior. "If you'll feel safer having the lamps unlit, we'll keep them unlit. But you really must get over this sudden squeamishness of yours, Edmin. We won't find it possible to succeed unless we move forward with boldness."
"As you've said so often, Father, there's a difference between boldness and foolishness," Edmin pointed out in a way he hoped would do some good. "Boldness will win us the day, if we make certain not to cross the line."
"Yes, yes, I know that well enough," Embisson said, still grumbling but in a lighter key. "We're almost to the house now, and I really need to stretch my legs before I find someplace comfortable to sit down."
"Then why don't you take two of the servants inside while I direct the rest in covering our trail," Edmin suggested, deliberately trying to sound casual. "That way everything will still get done and we'll also be able to eat sooner."
"That's a good idea," Embisson agreed, now sounding as though he hid extreme weariness. "And sleeping in a decent bed is another idea with appeal. Tomorrow we'll both be feeling like our old selves."