by Sharon Green
“Please excuse the interruption, Exalted One, but a visitor has arrived begging audience with you,” Leesto said, his head raised from the carpeting but his gaze still lowered. “The Honorable Sheedra Kam would know if you are receiving callers.”
“Yes, I think I am in the mood for a visitor,” Zirdon decided aloud with a smile. “Show the lady in, Leesto, if you please.”
“At once, Exalted One,” Leesto quickly acknowledged, rising to his feet before bowing. The bow was as deep and respectful as it was supposed to be, and then the small man backed out of Zirdon’s presence. Once the door was closed he would raise his gaze again, but not until there wasn’t the least chance of his actually laying eyes on Zirdon. If he had, it really would have been too bad.
That particular lounging room wasn’t too far toward the back of the house, so it wasn’t long before the crystal bell rang again. When Zirdon allowed the second ring, Leesto opened the door and bowed Sheedra Kam into the room. The door was quickly closed behind the woman, and then Zirdon was able to give Sheedra his complete attention.
Attention which she fully deserved. Sheedra was one of the most beautiful women in the empire of Gracely, a fact Zirdon had researched personally. Her hair was a shining and lustrous black, and today she wore a small hat in red to match her gown, a hat with lace and a modest amount of feathers. The gown had more lace and no feathers, but did a marvelous job showing off Sheedra’s small waist and rounded bosom. She paused to give him a bit of a curtsey, and then her radiant smile came forth as she approached the chair his wave had gestured her to.
“I’m delighted that you were able to see me, my dear,” Sheedra said as she allowed a servant to seat her. “I have a very great favor to ask, and if I’d had to wait I would have been terribly distressed.”
“Well, we certainly don’t want you distressed,” Zirdon said as he took her hand before raising it to his lips. “If you’ll tell me what you need this time, I’ll see if I can arrange it.”
“But of course you can arrange it,” Sheedra replied with a small laugh, making no attempt to free her hand. “Not only are you the major talent in your Blending, but you’re also a member of the strongest coalition in the assembly. If you can’t do something, then it simply can’t be done by anyone.”
“Modesty forbids me to agree, but nothing forces me to argue,” Zirdon said with his own laugh as he moved a bit closer to his lovely visitor. “Tell me what favor you’ve come to ask.”
“It was horribly humiliating,” Sheedra said with a headshake, just as though he’d understand exactly what she meant. “Riskor Marvis and his wife Teedri had their quarterly reception, but I wasn’t invited! You can’t possibly imagine how devastated I was.”
“Riskor Marvis,” Zirdon murmured, finding the name faintly familiar. It took a moment or two, but finally he remembered. “Ah, yes, those dreadfully boring people you were telling me about the last time you called. They’re one step away from gaining the title of Honorable, you said, and once they gain the title you were thinking of giving it up yourself. Why in the world would you want to go to one of their receptions?”
“My dear man, don’t you know who goes to their receptions?” Sheedra exclaimed, sounding as though he were completely out of touch with the world about him. “Half the members of the coalitions in the assembly, that’s who. With that in mind I would have agreed to add my presence to their silly gathering, but they didn’t ask me! That’s why I want you to ruin them.”
“Ruin them,” Zirdon echoed a second time, reflecting that he should have known. Many beautiful women had minds to match, but Sheedra’s exceptional beauty seemed to have been paid for in something other than coin.
“Yes, that’s right, ruin them,” Sheedra agreed happily, as though she’d just asked him to join her for lunch. “I know you can do it, so please say yes.”
Zirdon felt the urge to heave a greater sigh than usual. In point of fact he could have ruined the man no matter what his position was in the city, but the matter was hardly that simple. If the man had connections to even a small number of coalition members, it might not be the best idea politically to move against him. He would have had to investigate carefully, and frankly that was just too much trouble.
“Well, of course I’ll ruin them for you, my sweet,” Zirdon said almost at once, his hesitation covered by the way he’d raised her hand to his lips again. “Naturally I’ll expect a favor in return, but you won’t find that too objectionable, will you?”
“Oh, now, you aren’t going to ask what you did the last time, are you?” Sheedra put coyly with the hint of a pout. “I don’t mind in the least sharing your bed, but some of those others you gave me to were quite objectionable. My mother said I should have made my position clear in the beginning, so that’s what I’m doing now: making my position clear at once.”
“My dear, sweet, child, your position is more than clear,” Zirdon replied with a laugh. “You’ve come to ask a favor, but everything has its price. If you want that favor badly enough, you’ll be required to meet that price.”
Sheedra’s pout grew more pronounced as her brows drew together in a delightful frown of thought, and Zirdon left her to it. She knew as well as anyone that Zirdon had no need to do her a “favor” in order to have her in his bed. All he had to do, as he’d done any number of times, was voice his desire for her. She was brought to his house at once by her father, and Zirdon kept her as long as he pleased.
But when she came to ask for something she wanted, he then had the opportunity to … bind some of his supporters a bit more closely. As soon as he’d first indicated his interest in her, he’d made Sheedra unavailable to the rest of his class. The only way any of them could have the girl was through him, and the price for her use was the need to back him in the assembly. Some of his peers had hesitated to pay that price, but others were far too taken with her charms to consider the cost.
And a number of those who had hesitated at first were now wavering. They, like him, could have any woman they wanted, so they weren’t used to being denied. That very denial seemed to stimulate them to greater desire, enhancing Sheedra’s already potent charms. For powerful men they were far too much under the rule of their physical desires, a condition Zirdon never hesitated to take advantage of. He, himself, would never think of falling to the same failing, which made the situation rather amusing.
Sheedra moved in her chair as she continued to consider her options, something else that amused Zirdon. It wasn’t possible for the girl to refuse his demand, not if she wanted what she’d come here for, but it would take a number of minutes for her to realize that. She had no choice but to agree, but, unfortunately for the dear girl, her agreement would not bring her the end she desired.
Zirdon meant to use his Blending to make her forget exactly what she’d asked for, at the same time giving her the definite impression that she’d had full satisfaction. It was an annoyance that the law required her agreement to anything but his own personal use of her, but when one had a Blending to be the major talent of, the annoyance was easily seen to. Zirdon had been thinking of using the Blending to bring her to him, but the cooperative darling had come all on her own.
“Are you sure that that has to be your price?” Sheedra suddenly asked, a sullen annoyance faint in her voice. “One of those men you gave me to last time made me do all sorts of disgusting things, and another struck me repeatedly on my bottom before putting me to normal use. It was all very undignified, and I disliked it quite a lot.”
“I regret that the time was so terrible for you, but I’m afraid I must stand firm,” Zirdon replied, again hiding amusement. The girl had failed to mention how strongly she’d responded after being so horribly put-upon, strongly enough that the men involved were eager to have a second opportunity with her. “If you’d really rather not agree, we can simply forget about the entire matter. Your favor won’t get done, but that won’t be so awful, will it?”
“Yes, it would be awful,” she disagreed
, but then her frown disappeared behind a sigh. “Oh, all right, I’ll pay your price. But there won’t be as many as there were last time, please say there won’t be.”
“Of course there won’t be,” Zirdon assured her grudging agreement, his amusement increasing. In point of fact there would be quite a few more, but that was something else she would not remember afterwards. He also had one or two servants to reward, servants who spent their time in other households than his own…
“Well, at least that’s something,” she allowed with a sniff, then made herself more comfortable in the chair before looking at him with her head to one side. “Now that the most important question has been taken care of, I have another that’s made me very curious. When your man came to find out who was calling, he never once looked at my face. I had to tell him who I was, and that was rather annoying. Is something wrong with him?”
“No, actually, something is finally right,” Zirdon told her with a smile as he gestured for tea to be served. “Leesto had a habit of staring at me, as though trying to guess what I might be thinking, and I found it extremely annoying. He also didn’t show anyone the proper respect, bowing even to me in a way that suggested he’d probably gotten above himself. So I had him beaten soundly to show exactly what his position really is, and then I promised to have his eyes taken out if I ever found his gaze resting on me again. Apparently he finds it easier to keep his gaze from everyone as well as from me.”
“Well, I don’t like it,” Sheedra said as she accepted a cup of tea from one of the servants. Another had brought a cup to Zirdon, and he sipped from it immediately. Just once his tea had been hotter than he cared for, but certainly not a second time.
“Can’t you insist that your man look at everyone but you?” Sheedra continued after sipping at her own tea. “That might make things more difficult for him, but at least then he won’t be so annoying.”
“I’ve been considering doing that very thing,” Zirdon admitted, reaching for her hand again. “If Leesto slips I’ll have to have his eyes taken out, of course, but then the fault will be his and my visitors won’t find themselves annoyed. I should make up my mind in another day or two, but at the moment there’s something I’m much more interested in. Unfortunately there isn’t much time, as an assembly meeting has been called for later this afternoon.”
“You mean you want me now?” Sheedra asked, as though she’d never considered the possibility. “But you didn’t send for me, I came on my own.”
“Yes you did, my sweet, but seeing you has given me the urge to taste you,” Zirdon explained patiently. “The last two times you came without being sent for, I was engaged in important business and couldn’t indulge myself. But don’t you remember that the time before that wasn’t the same?”
“Oh, yes, it wasn’t, was it?” Sheedra granted with a vague look in her lovely eyes. “That was weeks ago, so I’d nearly forgotten. But I have an appointment in a little while that I really can’t miss. Some of my friends and I have heard that that new eating parlor has incredibly good food, and we’ve decided to find out for ourselves. I told everyone I’d be there, so I can’t possibly show up late or not at all.”
“Of course you can,” Zirdon disagreed, putting his teacup aside and taking hers before standing and drawing her up to her feet. “You’ll be with me, after all, and that should increase your standing among your friends a good deal more than joining them in an eating parlor, don’t you think?”
“Why, yes, it will,” she answered with a revelation that suggested the point had never occurred to her before, which it may well not have. “You’re perfectly right, Zirdon, just as you always are. But you’re not in that much of a hurry, are you? The longer I’m here, the better it should look.”
“I’ll have you back again tomorrow, and keep you overnight,” Zirdon promised, gesturing one of his servants into beginning to undress her. He would enjoy her right there, on the wide and armless lounge he kept in the room for the purpose, and then he would send her on her way. He really did need to attend that meeting, and there was no reason to be late when he could have the woman any time he pleased. She might not end up completely satisfied, but he certainly would and that was the important thing…
Antrie Lorimon looked at her visitor with her brows raised, but the man didn’t seem to be impressed. He shook his head in annoyance, and gestured with one big hand.
“Please don’t pretend to be surprised by what I just told you,” Cleemor Gardan said in his usual growl. “You know as well as I do that Zirdon Tal expects to have the entire assembly in the palm of his hand some day soon, so we might as well mention the fact aloud. Refraining from speaking the words won’t keep him from making every effort to complete his plans.”
“But speaking the words aloud can lose us the support of those who don’t know Zirdon as well as we do,” Antrie pointed out mildly. “You’re not a novice in the game of politics, Cleemor, so why do you insist on acting like one?”
“What I’m acting like is a worried man, Antrie, and that's because I am one,” Cleemor corrected with a shake of his head. “I just found out that Zirdon has somehow acquired two more members for his coalition, and that gives him a total of seven votes. One more and he outnumbers us, three more and he has the necessary two-thirds to do anything he pleases.”
“Cleemor, you really must calm down,” Antrie scolded gently and softly. They sat outside in her garden and ought to be able to see anyone trying to eavesdrop, but certain happenings still managed to find their way to the wrong ears. “You’re acting like a Fire magic talent instead of someone who has Air magic just as I do. If you’ll get control of yourself, I’ll tell you exactly how Zirdon got those additional two members.”
“You know how he did it?” Cleemor demanded in what was almost too loud a voice before he did reassert control over himself. “I apologize for that, my dear, but you startled me. My people have been trying to find out, but they haven’t learned a thing.”
“That’s because Zirdon is guarding himself against your efforts, and also because you’re a man,” Antrie returned with some small part of the amusement she felt. “Zirdon tends to underestimate me, and his victims aren’t too shame-faced to let my people find out the truth. My people aren’t other men who might laugh, after all.”
“Yes, I know your people are women, even if I don’t know who they are,” Cleemor commented dryly as he finally reached for his untouched cup of tea. “So what was it that they learned?”
“Apparently Zirdon is using Sheedra Kam to entice certain of our assembly members,” Antrie said with a shake of her head. “The girl might have the intelligence of a shoe, but the rest of her attributes seem to make up for the lack. Ever since Zirdon claimed her first, quite a lot of the men in the assembly have been reportedly sitting on the edge of their chairs, so to speak.”
“And now Zirdon makes it possible for them to take seat elsewhere,” Cleemor growled, his broad face wearing a disgusted look. “I can’t believe they’d give up their autonomy just to tumble a piece of fluff like Sheedra Kam.”
“That’s because you have a woman you’re in love with,” Antrie pointed out, still keeping her comments mild. “Most of the others don’t, so they’re vulnerable to the looks of a girl who can’t be had except through someone else’s permission. But it isn’t really anything to worry about, as that particular tool of Zirdon’s is about to be taken out of his hands.”
“Excuse me?” Cleemor asked, abruptly pulled out of the fuming anger he’d been submerged in. “What do you mean, he’s about to lose the girl? What could you possibly have done aside from arranging her death?”
“Why kill the girl when you can have her married off instead?” Antrie asked, now showing a bit more of her amusement. "Zirdon’s claim on her will no longer be valid once her engagement is announced, and that’s due to be done later today. The young man is from a rather influential family and is downright handsome, but he also hasn’t a brain in his head or anything to speak of
in the way of talent. That’s why Sheedra isn’t yet married, by the way. Her talent is so weak that suitors have been conspicuous by their absence despite her looks. Her intended was in the same position with girls refusing his suit, but now both sets of parents agree that the match is perfect.”
“And I’ll wager none of them knows that you’re the one responsible for the perfection,” Cleemor said with a delighted laugh. “I should have remembered that you find cold-blooded murder distasteful.”
“It’s distasteful only when it’s completely unnecessary,” Antrie corrected with a smile. “I won’t say I didn’t have the help of my Blending in arranging matters so tidily, but the situation was a perfect one to take advantage of. This way the only resentment and antipathy will come from Zirdon, who already dislikes and resents us.”
“A reaction like that from him couldn’t make me happier,” Cleemor commented with his own smile. “Far too often, it’s been the other way about. Now all we need is more luck than usual in the monthly testings. The Middle talents of Zirdon’s Blending – and those of his closest allies – are still stronger than the ones in our own Blendings. If we can find members stronger than his, our positions will be much more favorable.”
“Assuming we continue to retain those positions,” Antrie felt it necessary to point out. “I’m told that we’ll be facing some formidable contenders this coming quarter, young Highs who have been dreaming all their adult lives of becoming the major talent in an assembly Blending. I’m also told that even Zirdon isn’t feeling quite as comfortable as he used to.”
“That could be because those … accidents last quarter are being guarded against now,” Cleemor said with a mirthless laugh. “It was impossible not to notice that an entire group of very promising Highs in Fire magic drowned when that excursion boat sank, but no one can point the finger of proof at Zirdon. The same, of course, goes for the unexpected illness which struck down that group of Spirit magic users.”