Intrigues

by Sharon Green

  The man was nothing if not brisk and competent, but he couldn't quite look directly at Jovvi. That told me he had Spirit magic, and his reaction to her talent level was at least as strong as the men who had met us on the road.

  "I can't believe how strong that Air magic user is," Lorimon murmured, apparently speaking to the other man, who now stood beside her. "Cleemor, have you ever come across anyone that strong?"

  "Not likely, but I'm certainly glad I came across it this time," the man Gardan answered her in the same murmur. "If they all weren't that strong, we'd have a serious problem right about now."

  "We have a serious problem anyway," Lorimon returned, her expression the next thing to bleak. "How are we supposed to make them believe we had nothing to do with this attack? In their place, I would believe nothing I heard from the strangers I found myself in the midst of."

  "Well, that seems to be that," Jovvi said in a bright and friendly voice as she moved a bit closer to our two remaining guides. "Do you have to put up with this sort of thing very often?"

  "Please, you must let us apologize for this monstrous outrage," Lorimon began, her expression just as hopeless as her earlier words had been. "We honestly had nothing to do with - "

  "Now, now, it's all right," Jovvi interrupted to soothe her, putting one hand to the woman's arm. "We're well aware of the fact that you were completely appalled by the attack, which you wouldn't have been if you'd had anything to do with it. Do you by any chance have an idea about who might be responsible?"

  "Not at the moment, but you can be sure that that will quickly change," Lorimon answered, relief and anger now mixed in her tone. "We thought everyone would understand how important friendly relations between our empires would be, but someone seems to have missed the point. And I'd like to say how grateful I am for your understanding. In your place I doubt if I would be as reasonable."

  "You don't have to rely on reason when you're able to know the truth when you see it," Lorand put in as he stopped near Jovvi. "Surely your own Spirit and Earth magic users can do the same?"

  "Of course they can," Lorimon answered with a small laugh aimed at herself. "I was so shaken by the attack that I never stopped to think about it. Do let's go inside now, and we'll see if we can make up for the inconvenience you were put to. If the assembly isn't completely open to any terms of treaty you'd care to put forward, I'll know the reason why."

  The small woman looked and sounded very fierce as she said that last, but it seemed to be a fierceness based on personal power rather than nothing but pique. As I followed along with the others, I felt tempted to pity whoever it was that she decided was guilty…

  Zirdon Tal stood in the shadows inside the assembly building, gleefully anticipating the attack that was about to take place. That little slug Syant had arranged all the details of the attack, but fate's luck had added the presence of Lorimon and Gardan. If they were damaged or even killed during the attack Zirdon might feel a small bit of regret, but nothing major. He wanted Lorimon and Gardan to live on and suffer for a while, but being finally rid of them would have its own compensations.

  The newcomers left their carriages, spoke a few words with Lorimon, and then began to follow the woman toward the building. That was when the attack was supposed to begin, and it certainly did. Zirdon was only able to follow the Fire magic users, and their linked strength was mildly impressive. Together they were as strong as most High talents, and they ought to be able to do quite a bit of damage -

  "No!" Zirdon choked out as the attack began - and was stopped almost immediately. "That isn't possible!"

  "What isn't possible?" Syant asked from the deeper shadow he stood in. Zirdon had had the little slug disguised with extra hair and a beard, and the less-than-adequate diet the small man had been on at the shelter had added to the disguise by slimming him down. Coupled with the rags the slug now wore, no one who had known him should be able to recognize him if they happened to get a glimpse.

  "The strength of that woman isn't possible!" Zirdon answered, the soft words sounding choked in his own ears. "Her talent is the strongest I've ever come across, and she handled those attackers of yours almost effortlessly! And the rest of them are being handled just as easily. Is this your idea of being effective?"

  "This attack wasn't meant to succeed," Syant answered, the calm and patience he was being forced to show immediately grating on Zirdon. "In order to launch a proper attack against someone or something, you need to know just what it is you're going up against. I sacrificed a few useless men to gain the knowledge I need, and the next time I strike the results will be completely different."

  "Why didn't you tell me this attack wasn't meant to succeed?" Zirdon demanded in a hiss, turning on the fool. "Didn't it occur to you that I'd want to know something like that?"

  "You told me to take care of the matter and not bother you with the details," Syant pointed out in that same mindless, unexcited way. "Have you decided to change that order? If so, the details of the next attempt will be - "

  "Not now, you fool!" Zirdon hissed, wishing he could shout instead. "I have to get to my place in the assembly hall as quickly as possible, and pretend to be as surprised by the attack as everyone else. But as soon as you've taken care of the next phases of the plan, you're to go to our meeting place and wait for me. I'll have questions to ask, and I expect full answers to all of them."

  "Of course," the slug answered with that grating calm. "And the next phase of the plan should please you. The entire assembly will be thrown into complete disarray, and then the final phases will come into play."

  "Yes, yes, whatever," Zirdon muttered, then hurriedly left the slug and made his way to the assembly hall. He'd find out all the details of the plan later, to be certain that he wasn't surprised again. He should have known better than to leave the idiot Syant unsupervised, but he did have his own responsibilities, after all. And with Syant under his Blending's control, what could the foolish little man do other than obey…?

  Jovvi followed the woman Antrie Lorimon into the large room where a good number of people waited, her Blendingmates around and behind her. Lorimon's agitation had now settled down, but would have flared again if she'd had Jovvi's talent. It had been perfectly clear that the woman and her companions had been completely surprised by the attack, but that didn't necessarily mean they'd had nothing to do with it. Rion had told everyone privately that Lorimon and Gardan were protected by shells of hardened air, which meant they hadn't been in any danger during the attack. That meant they might have been surprised only by the timing of the attack, not by the action itself…

  "My friends, these are our honored guests from Gandistra," Gardan rather than Lorimon announced as soon as they reached the center of the circle of seats. "They came here in good faith without even the smallest of guard escorts, and someone attacked them on our very doorstep. That affront must be investigated at once, and the guilty caught and punished."

  Exclamations of shock and outrage sounded from all over the room, but other emotions hid beneath the vocal outbursts. There were fifteen individual seats in the inner circle, the two belonging to Lorimon and Gardan the only ones empty. Some of the remaining thirteen men and women felt fear at the announcement, and a few were touched by disappointment. Apparently those few would have been happier if the visitors to their empire had to be shipped home in pieces.

  "There are only two other women besides Lorimon in this assembly," Tamma murmured as the noise continued. "And it's Gardan who's breaking the news, not his female companion. It looks like the empire of Gracely is just like our own empire when it comes to letting women help run things."

  "Yes, I'd say that one of the things bothering many of them is that fully half of us are women," Jovvi murmured back in answer. "They would have been happier if most if not all of us were men."

  "I'm crushed," Tamma murmured, showing a hint of that very nasty smile she'd developed. "I may even go home and cry."

  Various members of the assembly had st
ood to denounce the attack and whoever might be responsible for it, and most of the rest seemed compelled to follow their example. They seemed to think that speaking out would establish their innocence, but Jovvi found the procedure tiring. It would have been nice to have a hot cup of tea, but the refreshments mentioned were nowhere in sight.

  "I have a question to put to our … honored guests," a voice rumbled out, and Jovvi looked up to see that a large, bulky man with dark hair and light eyes had risen from his place. He also hadn't been one of those doing the denouncing, so Jovvi listened with interest.

  "I should think that all questions can be deferred until we get to the bottom of the most major problem before us," Gardan said, apparently trying to put the man off. "We need to find out - "

  "Yes, yes, we do need to find out who was behind the attack, but that doesn't mean we can't do anything else," the bulky man interrupted to say. "I want to know why their Earth magic user is still touching the power. Surely he doesn't think he and his friends aren't safe here."

  "We've noticed that most of your people don't touch the power except from time to time," Lorand answered before Gardan could lodge another protest. "For ourselves, the people in our empire have been denied the use of their various talents so long that we keep a constant touch on the power to show that we're no longer slaves. Worrying about whether or not we're safe has nothing to do with it."

  "I can tell that you're speaking the truth as far as you've gone," the bulky man said to Lorand, his stare suggesting deep study. "What I can't tell is if there's anything you're not saying. How in the name of chaos did you manage to grow so strong, man?"

  Lorand hesitated in answering the bald question, but Jovvi didn't get the chance to help him out of the corner. Just as she was about to speak, a number of ragged, obviously exhausted men stumbled into the room.

  "Help, Exalted Ones, help!" the man in the lead called out, fear and pain in his voice. "There are invaders, attackers, and our people are being killed!"

  If there was confusion earlier, pure pandemonium broke out now. The five men who had burst in were helped to seats quickly vacated by assembly members, and Lorand joined those people who were obviously Earth magic users in seeing to the newcomers' wounds. And they were all wounded, some so severely that it was a miracle they'd been able to stay on their feet. Jovvi wasted no time in joining her own talent to those Spirit magic users who worked to ease the men's pain, and after some minutes of effort it was possible to ask questions.

  "Who are you, and where do you come from?" Gardan asked the man who had spoken. The man sat with eyes closed and breath coming unevenly, but he roused enough to respond.

  "I'm Dislin Marne, governor of Eastgate," the man said in a strengthless whisper. "I have no idea where those monsters hail from, but their ships suddenly appeared on the horizon across the ocean. It disturbed us that there were so many of them, but we had enough High talents in the city to defend us if it came to that. It did come to that, but our High talents weren't able to do anything. The invaders landed hundreds, thousands of men and attacked the city, and we weren't able to stop them."

  "Then what you need are Blendings," Gardan said, a grim set to his jaw. "Four or five should do it, and we'll decide right now on who's to go. We - "

  "No, no, you still don't understand," the man Marne interrupted, looking as though he wanted to cry. "If you send any Blendings, they'll be overrun just the way our High talents were. Those monsters … they butchered our people, men, women, and children alike, and we couldn't do a thing to stop them. It … isn't possible to touch them with talent, it just isn't possible."

  Jovvi felt the shock flaring around the room, an emotion she shared completely. Gracely was being invaded by people who couldn't be touched with talent? But that was what wasn't possible, not the use of talent. Everything could be touched, nothing else made sense. The man had to be wrong…

  But what if he wasn't wrong? What if Gracely fell to the attackers? The next ones to be made victim would be the people of her home, and hundreds if not thousands would die before anyone in Gan Garee became aware of the problem. But even if they did become aware, if the man was right there would be nothing anyone could do…

  Chapter 32

  "Antrie, the Gandistrans are here," Frode announced as soon as he walked into the house. "My people are still in the process of getting them all settled into the inn, but they have arrived. And they have more attendants than we were expecting."

  "Attendants?" Antrie echoed, pausing after getting to her feet. "Is that what they call the people with them? Can the others be servants?"

  "The Gandistrans don't seem to be calling them anything, and I'm told the people don't act like servants," Frode answered, showing a frown. "My man called them attendants for want of a better word, but from his description I think that some of them are acting like guards."

  "Well, they'd be foolish coming here without guards, wouldn't you say?" Antrie suggested, immediately feeling better. "How many of them are there altogether? Twenty? As many as thirty?"

  "Ah, the actual number seems to be one hundred and thirty-eight," Frode said with a bit of hesitation, watching her closely for a reaction. "You're surprised that they brought so many of their people with them, I can see, but I'm told that the leaders of the group are going out of their way to be pleasant and calm. I'm also told that their major Spirit magic user is stronger than anyone my people have ever come across."

  "I think we'd better find out about the rest of their major talents as soon as possible," Antrie responded, her good mood long gone. "And for the moment we'd better keep what we learn about them to ourselves. The rest of the assembly was very disturbed to have it pointed out that their Blending is composed of all High talents. As nervous as my peers have become because of that, we don't want to give them anything else to worry about."

  "Especially not when the new arrivals are to be presented to them tomorrow," Frode agreed with a thoughtful nod. "I'll make sure that my people report only to me, and otherwise keep their mouths closed. Is there anything else you need done?"

  "I'd just like to make triply sure that these people are well protected," Antrie said, looking around for the bell to summon a runner. "I'll let Cleemor Gardan know that our visitors have arrived, and possibly he'll think of something I've overlooked. I'm much too nervous to be certain I've covered everything."

  "Stop worrying, the meeting will go perfectly," Frode interrupted her search to say firmly, his hands taking hers. "I'll make sure that nothing goes wrong, and if something bad does happen you can blame it on me and fire me. If those people were looking for an excuse to start a war, what was done to their army would be excuse enough."

  "Yes, you're right of course," Antrie said with a smile as she moved closer to the delightful man. "Our visitors don't want war any more than we do, so we have to be as honest with them as possible. And we have to warn them that some of our people will be playing politics rather than being honest. If we let them know what to expect, they shouldn't get too upset if - when - something happens."

  "That's the idea," Frode said with an approving smile of his own, hugging her briefly before stepping back. "We both have things to do, so I'll be on my way now. If I don't make it back tonight, I'll see you for certain tomorrow."

  Antrie nodded and exchanged a quick kiss with him, and then he strode to the door and was gone. She stood quietly for a moment trying to hang onto the pleasant mood his presence always produced in her, but it was no use. The demands of the moment intruded to cover all pleasant thoughts, sending her back to looking for the bell to summon a runner.

  "I don't know about the rest of you, but I certainly enjoyed that breakfast," Lorand said as I finished the last of the tea in my cup. "Now I just hope I can say the same for the rest of our time here."

  "After that nice long visit to their bath house last night, I'm a new and patient woman," I said while setting my teacup down. "I'm even willing to admit that their hospitality so far has been perfect. T
hat either means that they want to be friendly, or that whatever attack they have planned is supposed to come as a shock. But I'm willing to wait to find out which it will be."

  "That is a patient attitude, at least for you," Vallant teased with a grin, his amusement increasing when I stuck my tongue out at him. "But they're waitin' with those carriages to take us into the city, so we really ought to get goin'."

  "While our link groups stay here, just relaxing together," Jovvi commented as we began to get to our feet. I wasn't the only one who smiled at her because of the comment, but my smile was probably the nastiest. We'd done some experimenting while on the road, and had discovered that we could even reach the link groups from the two Blendings following us about four hours back. Reaching our own link groups from inside the city shouldn't be quite that difficult - assuming we needed them.

  "Good morning, Exalted Ones," that same man said with a bow when we walked out of the inn, the man who had greeted us on the road. "Your carriages are ready, and our assembly is eagerly awaiting your visit."

  There were six large carriages waiting, possibly because we'd been told that some of our "attendants" could accompany us. Vallant smiled when he saw the array, but he also shook his head.

  "We won't be needin' so many carriages," he told our temporary host in his most pleasant tone of voice. "Our associates will be stayin' here today, restin' up after our long trip. With only the six of us goin', two carriages ought to do. And why are you callin' us 'Exalted Ones'?"

  "That's the term of respect used for members of our assembly," the man responded despite his surprise. "Is there a different term you would prefer that I use? And are you certain that you require the presence of none of your … associates?"

  "We still don't want your people thinkin' that we're here to invade or attack," Vallant pointed out pleasantly while the rest of us just stood there smiling. "Shall we get started now?"