Competitions

by Sharon Green

  Vallant took a calming sip of brandy, trying to rid himself of the feeling that he stood alone on the deck of a sinking ship without a single bit of dry land in sight. He would even have settled for a log canoe if it were seaworthy, and would refrain from spinning him around in dizzying circles. He’d managed to get Tamrissa to talk to him, but the conversation had ended with her being “honest” and “fair” with him. The whole thing was ridiculous, but what was he supposed to do now?

  Frustration returned to Vallant with the question, and it was only worsened by seeing Coll in what looked like a pleasant conversation with Jovvi. He wanted to have the same with Tamrissa, but the maddening woman had gone to the refreshment table, and was apparently replacing her glass of brandy with a cup of tea. What could he say to her…?

  And then an idea came, one that wasn’t very nice but which still made Vallant grin slightly. So Tamrissa was involved with a “large number” of other men, was she? Only a real innocent would say something like that and expect to be believed, but she was the one who’d opened the door. If he pretended to be hurt by having been “led on” by her, he could then insist that the only way she might make it right was to give him what she was giving all those other men.

  Vallant chuckled just a little as he watched Tamrissa, knowing he would never actually force her into his bed. His aim would be to get her to admit she was spinning yarns, and then they could go on from there. But if she refused to admit it and became determined to prove she spoke the truth, there was only one thing he would accept as proof. The choice would be hers, but then it would be his turn to exercise some ability…

  Vallant quickly added some details to his plan, then began to walk toward Tamrissa to start it. She stood gulping her tea, something she’d certainly want to do again once he began to speak to her, but he was only half way there when an interruption came. One of the house servants appeared on the path, and cleared his throat loudly for attention.

  “Please excuse the interruption, gentles,” he said when he got that attention. “I must announce that there’s a caller at the door.”

  Everyone but Pagin Holter seemed to freeze in place, and that included Vallant. They hadn’t yet been told who the caller was for, but each of them stood clenched in the fist of dread. Someone was about to be given trouble again, but which of them? That was the question: which…?

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Delin Moord spent a bit longer listening to Bron tell everyone just how much their abilities should “improve” by the following week, and then he encouraged the meeting to end. They all had other demands on their time, demands which couldn’t be ignored without making people suspicious. If their group was to be seen as having no intentions concerning winning the competition, they couldn’t afford to spend too much time discussing the matter.

  And Delin had something fairly important to take care of. Homin needed help with his father’s new wife, and Homin was going to get it. Nothing could be allowed to interfere with the purpose of the group, which was what interfering with one of its members really accomplished…

  “I’m ready, Delin,” Homin said, bringing Delin out of his thoughts. “Shall we travel together in one carriage, letting the other one follow?”

  “Yes, and we’ll use mine,” Delin said, seeing that Bron and Selendi were already at the front door, being shown out by Kambil. “But let’s not advertise your predicament. If anyone asks, we’re merely going to the local entertainment district for some tea and private conversation.”

  Homin nodded jerkily, as though he would find it possible to disobey even a suggestion, then trailed along behind Delin to the door. Delin used warmth when he thanked Kambil for the hospitality of his house, deliberately reminding himself that Kambil had acted for the good of the group. He still didn’t really like the man, but that was unimportant beside the fact that Kambil was now one of his.

  Delin went to his carriage while Homin scurried to his own to tell his driver to follow, using the time to give his own driver instructions. When Homin finally joined him, puffing a bit from having hurried, they were immediately off.

  “You do remember, I hope, that I have a stop to make before we continue on to your house,” Delin said as Homin settled himself on the seat opposite. He hadn’t dared to sit next to Delin, of course, which showed there was some hope for him. “It shouldn’t take too long, but when a lady is involved a gentleman should never rush.”

  “Oh, I quite understand,” Homin assured him, nevertheless paling a bit. “You’ll need to mention to Elfini that the delay was on your behalf, and hopefully she’ll be reasonable about it.”

  “I’m certain she’ll be reasonable,” Delin assured him, smiling as he made himself more comfortable. “For some reason the ladies look upon me rather favorably, and I expect Elfini to be no different.”

  Homin made a sound that was more hopeful agreement than certainty, then remained silent. Which was quite useful, as Delin had plans to make.

  It didn’t take long for them to reach their local entertainment district, an area of perhaps two blocks in the center of their residential district. Going into the city proper for a simple afternoon or evening out would have been too bothersome for people like them, who lived a fair distance out, so entertainment districts had been approved and built. There were dining parlors for full meals, tea rooms for snacks, theaters for plays and auditoriums for music recitals.

  There were also gambling parlors and pleasure parlors, but those were devoted to people with more sophisticated tastes than the ordinary. They were located behind the small number of exclusive shops the district also boasted, and one had to be brought to them by someone who was already a member. Delin had meant to go there after the meeting, but now his plans had changed. And he wouldn’t have vouched for Homin in any event. Those places had certain standards, and people like Homin simply didn’t measure up.

  His carriage took them instead to one of the tea rooms, one which also offered discreet apartments on its upper floors for brief or long term rentals. Delin was one of those few who kept a permanent second home there, one no one else knew about. The ladies he brought to the apartment assumed he’d rented it for the afternoon or evening, and Delin had never disabused them of the notion.

  “You’ll sit and take tea while I tend to my previous commitment,” Delin said to Homin as they left the carriage. “Your driver can put your carriage next to mine in the accommodation across the street, and we’ll send a boy for them when we’re ready to leave.”

  Homin nodded and turned to gesture his driver after Delin’s, and then the two of them entered the tea room. Soft, pleasant music was being played by a small group to one side of the room, and Delin saw Homin seated with tea ordered before he left him. He wouldn’t have wanted Homin to come searching for him under normal circumstances; today the idea was completely unacceptable.

  Once out of sight of the patrons of the tea room, Delin took the stairs to his apartment two at a time. He first had to change out of his fashionable clothes into something less noticeable, and then he would leave again by the private entrance in back. His interview with Elfini would go a good deal more smoothly if Homin was nowhere about.

  The stables across the street from the back of the tea room was as private as the apartments, and Delin kept a horse there to be used when a carriage simply wouldn’t do. He saddled the horse himself as was the custom there, with only the half-blind old caretaker left on the premises. The boys who cleaned the stalls and exercised the horses were long gone, which effectively meant no one was there to see him leave.

  Delin had never been to Homin’s father’s house, but he’d made it his business to learn where everyone of the slightest importance lived. When you have great plans for your life you never know when some bit of information will come in handy, so Delin had simply collected every fact available to him. The ride wasn’t a long one, and Delin made sure to avoid the front drive. Going through the woods separating that house from the estate next door was a much b
etter idea, and also let him leave his horse tethered in those woods.

  It was a good five minute walk from the woods to the house itself, but happily there were no gardeners about to see him cross the back lawn to the gardens, go through the gardens and past the bath house, and then reach the house. There was also a few minutes worth of looking through windows to locate Elfini without being seen, but this wasn’t the first time Delin had done something like this. If necessary he would climb a trellis to reach the second floor, but checking the back rooms of the ground floor first only made sense.

  And the effort proved to be a worthwhile expenditure of time. Elfini sat in a large room reading a book, and Delin would have wagered that she’d decorated the private sanctum herself. The walls were covered with paintings showing men and women being severely punished, and in each instance the one doing the punishing was female. There were also various wooden frames standing about the room, waiting for a victim to be strapped to them in either upright or bent over positions.

  “Obscene, all of it,” Delin muttered as he looked in through a pane of the terrace doors. It was the reason he’d been so certain that Elfini’s room would be at the back of the house: obscene places like that always were. Those involved in the obscenity refused to understand how wrong they were, but that didn’t change the fact that they were. Normal people understood that it was a man’s place to do the punishing, a woman’s place to receive it. He’d put girls on some of those very same frames in the pleasure parlor, and knowing that these were meant for men turned his stomach.

  So he lost no more time opening the terrace door quietly and stepping inside. Now he could see the full array of whips and switches and straps displayed on the righthand wall of the room, along with chains and rods and half a dozen instruments of pain which might have been of original design. Elfini sat three-quarters turned away from him and so failed to notice his presence at first, but suddenly she looked up and saw him.

  “Well, this is a surprise,” she said, putting her book aside and rising to face him. “We’ve never actually met, Lord Delin, but I do recognize you. Are you here to … make my acquaintance in private?”

  “It so happens I am, Lady Elfini,” Delin responded, finding it impossible not to grin at her choice of words. “And this meeting will be private, won’t it?”

  “Without the least shadow of a doubt,” Elfini agreed with the coldest smile Delin had ever seen on a woman. “I haven’t lived here all that long, but the staff is already completely trained. You may remove your clothing while I prepare to greet you properly.”

  By then she’d already opened and slipped out of the wrap she wore, exposing another obscenity. The tight, red silk trousers and shirt she sported were cut in the style of men’s clothing, with nothing of proper skirts to be seen. Delin felt outraged, but managed to keep his tone even.

  “Lady, you mistake me,” he said, causing her to stop after only a step or two in the direction of the wall holding her toys. “I’ve come here to speak on Homin’s behalf, not my own. Homin tells me that you’ve forbidden him to practice his aspect talent, and that you also intend to distract him even further by including him in your … pastime despite his unwillingness. Is this true?”

  “Homin has earned himself an even more thorough … inclusion by speaking out of turn,” she said, all trace of the least amusement now gone from her. “And he was supposed to come directly home and present himself to me, which means he has even more to answer for. Unless you mean to offer yourself in his place, Lord Delin, you may now leave. Before I decide you’ve earned punishment of your very own.”

  The glitter in her otherwise lifeless eyes said she’d enjoy deciding that, which added quite a lot to Delin’s outrage. The woman had no idea of what her true place in life was meant to be, and Delin looked forward to teaching it to her.

  “You are, without doubt, the stupidest woman I’ve ever met,” he said with his most charming smile and an amused chuckle. “Not only have you threatened the well-being of Homin—who is now one of mine—but you’ve also attempted to threaten me. Do you really believe I’d let anyone stand in the way of my destiny, let alone an unnatural slut like you?”

  “Now you will be punished,” she said with the glitter in her eyes sharpened, partially by insult and partially by anticipation. “After that you may attempt to brush me out of your way—once you’re able to move without pain again.”

  “Why wait?” Delin asked, for the second time keeping her from turning and walking to the display wall. But this time he used his ability to do it, a much more potent force than mere words.

  “What do you think you’re doing, you fool?” she spat, glaring at him. “I have Earth magic too, so how long do you think you can keep me paralyzed? Release me at once, or it will certainly go harder for you.”

  “Oh, I’m quite hard already, thank you, and I’ll hold you as long as I please,” he responded, beginning to walk toward her. “I have your leg and arm muscles locked tight, but please do feel free to try to escape the hold.”

  As he reached her she grunted, the only outward sign of her inner struggle for freedom. The day might come that an ordinary talent would find it possible to match a talent like his, but it wasn’t likely to happen in his lifetime—or hers.

  “And so it becomes clear who the master here is,” Delin said, using one hand to smooth back her already perfectly smooth hair. “Now to demonstrate that truth, in a manner just as undeniable as paralysis.”

  “No,” she snarled as he lifted her in his arms, a thin and bony woman who would normally be not at all to his taste. “You wouldn’t dare to force yourself on me, you wouldn’t dare!”

  “To hear you, one would think you were a person of importance,” Delin commented as he carried her toward one of the wooden frames. “You weren’t of any importance even before your father was forced to resign his place with the Advisors, and now that he’s dead by his own hand you’re worth even less. Allow me to show you I believe what I say.”

  He put her down by the wooden frame, made her bend over it, then opened those obscene trousers of hers and let them fall to pool about her ankles. She wore nothing underneath them, of course, which meant there was nothing to hinder his enjoyment of her. The enjoyment was hardly mutual, though, not in the way he used her, but her screams of shock accompanied by babbled threats were really quite entertaining. Delin was thoroughly satisfied when he stepped back and adjusted his clothing, then let her straighten up.

  “You filthy animal, I’ll see you destroyed for this,” she managed to get out, pain and shock still holding her as strongly as his talent. “Doing that to a woman is perversion, and your father won’t even try to save you. I’ll—”

  “You’ll do nothing at all,” he interrupted her ragged indictment, almost able to feel her inner frenzy. If she had been unstable before, now she was doubly so. “But you certainly can’t be trusted to stay in your proper place without assistance, so here it is.”

  He released her muscles then, but not before seizing hold of her heart. She gasped and whitened when he bore down slowly on the organ, and actually tried to reach her wall of toys. In order to use one of them on him, no doubt, having no idea that he would never allow such a thing. It wasn’t her place to discipline a man, but it was certainly his to do so with her.

  The stupid woman tripped over the trousers caught around her ankles and fell, but the pain of landing on the floor was probably unnoticed amid the rest. Her breath came in gasps as she fought the pain being given to her heart, and she writhed on the floor mewling with fear as she tried to escape. But for her there was no escape, and Delin felt his manhood begin to harden again at the thought that he would kill her. He’d never killed anyone but a peasant before, and was startled to discover how much more exciting this was.

  But he didn’t have an infinite amount of time, so he couldn’t allow the pleasure to continue until he reached climax. That would have to wait for another time with another … helper, so he increased the press
ure on her heart just a bit. The woman tried to scream as the organ abruptly ceased functioning, not yet realizing that she was already dead. Then all movement from her ceased, finally and permanently for all time.

  Delin found it impossible to wipe the smile from his face, so marvelous had his mood become. For another moment he stared down at the woman who had given him such pleasure, then he gathered himself to leave. But first he straightened the woman’s obscene trousers, and fought them back into their proper place on her. Once the authorities saw how she was dressed, their investigation would be quickly terminated.

  Then Delin left the same way he’d come, and once he reached his horse he let himself whistle a merry tune all the way back to the stables.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Homin was nearly frantic before Delin reappeared. He knew that Delin had gone to meet with one of his lovers and so he couldn’t follow to see what was keeping the man. But that didn’t stop him from visiting the tea house’s sanitary facilities more often than tea-drinking normally called for. It became more and more clear that if Delin didn’t return rather soon, all the charm in the world would not save Homin from Elfini’s wrath.

  And then, finally, Delin was striding toward him across the floor, a big grin on his very handsome face. Homin lurched to his feet at once, more than ready to leave, but Delin chuckled and gestured at him to sit down again.

  “Just five minutes more of patience, Homin, as a favor to me,” Delin said as he fell heavily into the second chair at the table. “She’s positively exhausted me, and I really must have at least one cup of tea before I perish.”

  “But Elfini will be furious,” Homin whispered as he sank back down, watching Delin gesture to a serving girl. “The angrier she gets the worse it will be for me, and that no matter how charming she finds you. Please, Delin, I’m begging…”

  “Now, that, Homin, is your entire problem,” Delin said as he relaxed back in his chair. “If something is happening that you don’t like, don’t beg for it to stop, demand it. As you’re supposed to be a man, it’s time you began to act like one.”