by Sharon Green
“If we don’t, you’ll … what?” a new voice put in, and then Tamrissa had come forward to stand beside Jovvi. The Fire magic user’s gaze was colder than Lorand had ever seen it except for the times Tamrissa talked about her former husband or parents. “Who do you think you are to tell us what we will and won’t do? If not for us you’d still be a slave, but you’ve had no trouble forgetting about that, have you?”
“There’s a limit to how much a man can be expected to owe,” Henris countered through his teeth, his face darkening a noticeable amount. “My people and I are grateful for what was done for us, but not so grateful that we’ll just hand over our privacy for the rest of our lives. We don’t want a Blending with that Sight magic lording it over us, so you can just get rid of her – permanently.”
“Does anyone disagree with that?” Tamrissa demanded, now looking around at the people in the audience. “Are you all so afraid of your own shadows – and think you’re so important that we’d bother to see what you’re going to do – that you insist on standing with this fool?”
One or two people, like Rilna Zokill, looked as if they considered disagreeing with Henris, but no one said so aloud. Lorand joined Tamrissa in glancing around, but she gave up the effort first.
“So none of you has the stomach to disagree with the fool,” Tamrissa concluded aloud, an odd smile now showing on her face. “And it’s get rid of Naran or else, an ultimatum you all join in. All right, if that’s the way you want it, it’s fine with me. We’ll take the ‘or else.’”
“What are you talking about now?” Henris actually had the nerve to demand, sounding to Lorand like a noble addressing a drudge in his kitchen. “All you have to do is get rid of that woman, and then – “
“But we refuse to get rid of her,” Tamrissa interrupted, deliberately stepping on the man’s words. “If you people won’t have a sixfold Blending running the empire and we refuse to revert to being a fivefold Blending, there’s only one thing left to be done. We’ll be leaving your palace first thing in the morning, to go on about our business as private citizens. You can run the empire yourselves.”
Lorand would have sworn that the crowd reaction couldn’t possibly be louder than it had been before, but the new outbreak was a pure bedlam. People screamed and yelled at whoever happened to be standing near them, and the only exception to all the noise came from those who stood on the platform. Lorand could see pained expressions on the faces of his Blendingmates, but not one of them stepped forward to disagree with Tamrissa.
“Now I know why this had to be left to Tamma,” Jovvi murmured to Lorand while the noise continued. “I never would have had the nerve to say that and really mean it, but Tamma isn’t bluffing. If they don’t change their minds about Naran, Tamma expects us all to walk out.”
“Oddly enough, I agree with Tamrissa,” Lorand murmured back, faint surprise in him over his reaction. “My sense of duty keeps trying to insist that we can’t walk out, but I’ll do that sooner than refuse to support my sisters.”
“The rest of us agree with you, of course, and that’s what seems to be bothering our new people of standing.” Jovvi’s words were very soft as she nodded toward Henris and the others near him. “We’re supposed to be frightened of losing what we worked so hard to gain, not all but throwing it back in the faces of those who – “
“You think we won’t take you up on that?” Henris suddenly announced to Tamrissa over the din, his face quickly lighting with what he obviously considered a revelation. “Yes, that’s it, you’re trying to bluff us into doing what you want, but it isn’t going to work. Your group isn’t the only Blending around any longer, so if you walk out we can put one of them in your place. How’s that for an or else?”
“Your plan is as stupid as I expected it to be,” Tamrissa retorted with a snort, ignoring the smug victory on the man’s face in a way that Lorand was having trouble duplicating. “Our associated Blendings are free to do as they please, but I seriously doubt if any of them is thick enough in the head to oblige you. They’d have to restrict themselves to staying a fivefold Blending when everyone else was free to expand, and instead of ruling the empire they would be working for you, which is what agreeing to your demands comes to. Now I think it’s time that we left.”
The smugness disappeared from Henris’s expression as Lorand and the others began to follow Tamrissa off the platform. Unhappy discussions were still going on all over the room, but not in the back where the members of the other Blendings stood. Lorand had the impression that their associates were amused by the goings-on, but had no interest in joining in. They’d all seen too much fighting and danger to now be interested in playing politics.
“B-b-but Excellences, you’re The Chosen!” Dom Mohr suddenly began to protest, as though he hadn’t been able to believe what was going on until now. “The Chosen can’t just pick up and walk away like – like – dissatisfied parlor maids!”
“It’s your claim that we’re Chosen, not ours,” Tamrissa pointed out without the slightest hesitation, her tone pleasant but completely inflexible. “But who we are or are not happens to be completely beside the point. We risked ourselves to depose the nobility to save our own necks as well as yours, and now the chore is done. Ruling an empire is actually a much harder job, and now that the danger is over you people want to make it even worse by trying to run our lives to suit your own prejudices. Well, that’s too bad about you because it isn’t going to happen.”
By turning away from Mohr, Tamrissa made it clear that she was through talking and ready to move on. Rather than stepping back to give her – and the rest of the Blending – a way through the crowd, Henris and his supporters moved closer instead. They weren’t yet ready to end the argument, not when they hadn’t yet gotten their way, and Lorand could see the stubborn set to their expressions. He was about to tell the fools just how big a mistake they were making when Tamrissa really lost patience and made the point the most direct way.
“Yow!” Henris shouted along with his friends as they all jumped back. Candle-sized flames had appeared under all their noses to cause the abrupt movement and exclamations. No one had been hurt beyond being jostled, but Henris had turned red-faced with embarrassment.
“You had no right to do that, girl,” Henris growled as he glared at the length of flame not far from him. “I think it’s time someone taught you better manners.”
Lorand had no idea what the man was talking about – until a fairly thick stream of water suddenly engulfed the length of flame closest to Henris. A matching smug expression on Henris’s face made it clear who had supplied the water, but another point became even more clear: Henris had no idea who he was dealing with.
“Why is it always the biggest fool who decides to teach people things?” Tamrissa asked with a snort and a small headshake. “And a fool who’s blind as well as stupid.”
Henris frowned in confusion only for an instant before understanding what Tamrissa meant. Inside the stream of water the man had produced was a continuing glow, showing that Tamrissa’s fire still burned in spite of the presence of the water meant to quench it. Henris ground his teeth and glared at the glow, but instead of dimming again the fire brightened even more.
“Don’t be even more of a fool,” Vallant told the man abruptly, stepping forward to touch Henris’s arm. “You’re no more than a Middle talent tryin’ to play out of your league, and takin’ in more of the power won’t help you. Can’t you feel the difference between us? How can you not know that we’re Highs?”
“You can’t be that much stronger, so it has to be some kind of trick,” Henris ground out as he now glared at Vallant, his hands having turned to fists. “You five were in the right place at the right time, and ended up learning how to Blend. If any of the rest of us had been there instead it would have been us in your place now, so don’t try to hand us any more lies. You’re not special, so – “
Voices rose in immediate argument from all sides, some agreeing with Henris, some c
ompletely denying his stance. Lorand exchanged confused glances with his Blendingmates, having had no idea that anyone could believe what Henris had just said. How was it possible to deny the difference between Middle talent and High when a Middle talent could feel the greater strength in a High?
“Be quiet!” a voice suddenly shouted above the newest uproar. “All of you, be quiet and listen to this! We’re not as through with bad news as you’d all like to believe!”
Lorand joined everyone else in turning to look at Dom Mohr, who had gotten back up onto the platform. Behind him stood a man who seemed to be out of breath, and Mohr’s expression was pale and grim.
“No, Henris, keep your mouth closed!” Mohr snapped, pointing a finger at the man he addressed. “For once you’d better listen instead of flapping your mouth, because trouble is on its way again. My people in the east have sent word, and it isn’t good. The army that was assigned to Gracely was obviously recalled, because it’s now on it’s way back here. When it gets here, it will be working for the return of the nobility to power and the rest of us to the way things were.”
“Then this bunch still has work to do,” Henris said at once, gesturing toward Tamrissa and the rest of the Blending. “Once they get rid of those noble-loving troublemakers, we can all go back to discussing what was just interrupted.”
“I have a better idea,” Tamrissa said while Lorand stood mute with outrage and the rest of the Blending reacted in other ways. “You take care of that army and save your own backside. As I’ve already said, we’re out of here.”
And with that they all pushed their way through the crowds and marched out of the room.
Chapter 6
Edmin Ruhl paused in the entrance to the private garden to look around at the lovely day. The world he’d known and enjoyed all his life might be crumpling to nothing all about him, but at least the weather was decent…
“Edmin, do come and join us,” Edmin’s father, the former High Lord Embisson Ruhl, called from the chairs where he entertained a guest. “If, that is, you can spare the time from business.”
“Unfortunately, Father, I have more time than business these days,” Edmin responded with a faint, humorless smile as he joined the two men. “How nice to see you again, Lord Sembrin. I trust you and your family are well?”
“As well as can be expected, Lord Edmin,” Sembrin Noll responded as he stood to bow politely before sitting again. “I do wish I knew for certain what became of my brother Ephaim, but other than that my wife and I are as well as can be expected these days.”
“Surely we all know what became of your brother,” Edmin’s father said to Noll as Edmin went to pour himself a cup of tea from the service. “Those interlopers did away with him, just as they did away with too many others of our peers. You were wise to leave Gan Garee when you did, before things really got bad.”
“My wife insisted when she became convinced that I would be next,” Noll said with faint amusement and something of a headshake. Sembrin Noll was just as imposing a man as his brother Ephaim had been, at least to look at. But where Ephaim Noll had shown his strength of character in the gaze he bent on others, Sembrin’s gaze was no more than unintrusively mild. “I was about to return to Gan Garee when you and Edmin arrived here at Bastions, so it seemed wise to speak with you before returning to the city. I’m certainly glad I did.”
“What I just learned from some of my people should make you more than simply glad,” Edmin said with a sigh as he took one of the chairs. “Things are now even worse than they were when we left, which I hadn’t really thought could happen. The first bit of news is, of course, that all five of the interlopers are dead.”
“All five, you say,” Edmin’s father echoed thoughtfully as Lord Sembrin made noises of surprise. “Are there any details available about how they died?”
“My people made an effort to find out,” Edmin agreed, exchanging a glance with his father. The two of them knew that the false Five had been poisoned at their orders, or at least four of the five had been poisoned. The fifth had escaped through sheer luck, but it wouldn’t do to mention those facts with someone else present. The interlopers might be dead, but their own positions were hardly so secure that they could afford to speak as they liked…
“Apparently the interlopers faced the peasant Five as individuals rather than as a Blending,” Edmin went on after sipping at his tea. “It’s been suggested that they knew they would lose if they fought again as a Blending, and so attempted to fight as individuals. The effort earned them nothing at all, and they were defeated individually. But oddly enough, they didn’t die until after they lost at the confrontations. The peasants apparently had something other than death in mind for the ones who stole the Fivefold Throne from them.”
“I wonder if the interlopers resorted to suicide,” Lord Sembrin mused with a headshake. “Possibly they knew what fate awaited them at the hands of their enemies, and chose to avoid the need to face it. Or possibly they simply died from the poison you had them given.”
Edmin joined his father in staring silently at Lord Sembrin, finding the man’s pleasant smile and openly innocent expression disturbing. Great pains had been taken to keep the poisoning episode a private matter, and yet Sembrin now discussed it as though it were common knowledge…
“Oh, I do apologize for disturbing you,” Sembrin said after a moment, his expression now one of faint distress as he looked back and forth between his hosts. “I was certain you understood that Ephaim learned most of what he knew about others from me. My strength has always been unearthing interesting happenings, and Ephaim’s was using the knowledge of those happenings to best advantage. We made a very effective team, just as effective as you and Lord Edmin, Lord Embisson, and I miss my brother quite a lot.”
“I can certainly understand that,” Edmin’s father allowed with all his usual courtesy of manner. “Ephaim was most definitely a brother to be proud of, and I’m proud to say I considered myself his friend. But I am confused about one point here… If anyone knows what became of your brother, shouldn’t you be the one?”
“I should be, but I’m not,” Sembrin admitted with a sigh and an expression suggesting total failure. “Ephaim was determined to control those people the way a Seated Blending is supposed to be controlled, and I’m afraid he underestimated them. Everyone thought he’d been partially successful – until his associates had various … accidents and incidents, and he disappeared completely. I began a search for him, of course, but wasn’t able to discover even a single clue as to his whereabouts.”
“He was undoubtedly forced to cover his tracks completely, most especially from those who knew him well,” Edmin sympathized in his most sincere tone. “The interlopers were far stronger than they should have been, but… What gives you the idea that my father and I did anything at all to those people? And if you were way out here from the time your brother disappeared, how do you know whether or not anything was done to those people in the first place?”
“Oh, that’s rather easy to explain,” Sembrin replied with a small, almost embarrassed laugh. “I may have taken myself out of Gan Garee, but my people stayed behind. They continued to send me information for quite some time, but then the flow of information stopped rather abruptly. That was one of the reasons I considered returning to the city, but then you and your father arrived with word about what was happening. Now you have much more of an organization than I do, so please do go on with what you’ve learned. Do you by any chance know how the fifth member of the group might have been poisoned?”
“I’m fairly certain I do know,” Edmin admitted, quickly making up his mind. “But first I must ask a question, Lord Sembrin. Am I mistaken in believing that your visit here today has more of a reason behind it than a simple courtesy call? Are you by any chance proposing an alliance?”
“Actually, I’m here with hat in hand,” Sembrin replied, and this time his expression was open and serious. “You and High Lord Embisson are among the very few really c
ompetent members of the nobility left, and I’d very much appreciate being allowed to join you in whatever plans you have for restoring things to the way they were. I can be of use to you without also being a danger because of excess ambition. My brother considered my lack of ambition to be one of my most endearing qualities.”
Sembrin’s smile filled with amusement, and Edmin couldn’t help showing a smile of his own as he looked over at his father. Sembrin Noll was a very disarming individual who could be of use to them, but Edmin didn’t know the man well enough to judge whether Sembrin might be more dangerous than useful. Edmin’s father also smiled, but with decision rather than doubt.
“Yes, Lord Sembrin, I heard your brother say that more than once,” Embisson commented, most likely for Edmin’s benefit. “We would be honored to have you join us, most especially if you’re able to add gold to the effort as well as your very capable talents.”
“Gold for the hiring of more men as guardsmen,” Sembrin said with a thoughtful nod. “Yes, I can contribute my share to that effort, which should keep us in control of this area at the very least. And there are others of us not far from here who can be talked into making their own contribution to the common effort. They think they can assure their safety by simply keeping their heads down, and they need to be disabused of so foolish a notion.”
Edmin exchanged another glance with his father, trying not to show how really impressed he was. For someone who no longer had an organization to gather intelligence, Sembrin still knew far more than Edmin would have expected. The fifty new guardsmen who had been quietly hired shouldn’t have been known to Sembrin, but he also seemed to know about the additional fifty they hadn’t yet concluded a deal with. This was definitely a man they wanted on their side…