by Sharon Green
“What do you mean by reasonable?” Kambil asked before Bron put the confusion in his eyes into words. “If you’re expecting some of them to take gold to ruin their group’s chances in the competition, I’m afraid you’re deluding yourself. Even an imbecile would understand that they’d be throwing away the chance to become the Seated Blending, something they have to be allowed to continue believing in.”
“Yes, I’m well aware of that,” Delin said with a smile, having expected the protest. “If I’d been referring to bribery with gold, you’d be completely correct. But what I’m talking about is bribery of another kind, namely the chance to join our group. You’ll approach anyone in each group but the Spirit magic member, and engage them in conversation. Depending on what aspect they are, you’ll point to one of the rest of us as someone much too weak to do the group good. The rest of the group will be eager to replace that one with anyone strong enough, and if we’re told about the weaknesses of the others of their group, the place will be theirs.”
“And they can’t help but know that a noble group has a better chance of winning than any peasant group,” Bron chimed in, finally understanding the idea and obviously loving it. “They may all believe that they really do stand a chance, but on the inside they’ll know better. It’s a perfect arrangement, and ought to get us all the information we need. You won’t have any trouble doing it, will you, Kambil?”
“Well, no, I shouldn’t,” Kambil said with a frown, joining Delin in letting Bron continue to think that he was their leader. “What bothers me is the ethics of the plan, or I should say the lack of ethics. We all really are extremely strong, so there’s no reason to believe we can’t do this on our own. Why do we have to lie to and swindle a bunch of unsuspecting innocents just to steal ourselves a slightly greater edge?”
“That’s the whole point, man,” Bron told him with exasperation, letting Delin sit back and simply observe. “Whatever edge we can get will be worth any effort, considering what winning means. All the rest of us are willing to do whatever it takes, and this part of it is yours. If you refuse, you could be wrecking our chances to be the most powerful people in the empire.”
Kambil rubbed his face with one hand, obviously trying to make a decision. Delin sat quietly and sipped his wine, wondering if he ought to kill Kambil if the man refused to cooperate. That would leave them badly in the lurch, so first he would have to find a replacement practitioner of Spirit magic. Who that would be he couldn’t imagine, but there had to be someone among the nobility with the same strength and more ambition—
“All right, Bron, I have to admit that you’re right,” Kambil said suddenly after taking a deep breath. “If we mean to have the omelet, we can’t refuse to break a few eggs. I’ll do it, and get us what we need.”
“Good man,” Bron said in approval, reaching over to clap Kambil on the shoulder. “When we have what we deserve, you’ll be glad you weren’t unreasonable. Now let’s discuss what we might want to know about the peasants.”
Kambil began to list the things that anyone but Bron could have thought of by themselves, so Delin stopped listening and returned to his own thoughts. Kambil had saved his life by agreeing with the plan, and Delin meant to use every bit of the man’s talent to get them what they needed. But he still neither liked nor trusted the man, so he’d have to start thinking about when it would be best to get rid of him. The sooner the better, of course, but now he had the time to look around for a proper replacement.
And to indulge in some pleasure by picturing what Rigos must be going through. Delin chuckled to himself as he enjoyed another sip of wine, wondering if they intended to use torture to get a confession, as they sometimes did with peasants. Monitoring bodily reactions wasn’t always reliable, not with the way some people were able to control themselves, so torture was often used in cases where the judge involved thought it was appropriate. If they did torture Rigos, the man was really in for it. He would need to face men of no talent like himself—except for the enjoyment they found in their work. In order to stop the pain he would have to confess to doing something he was innocent of, a delicious turn of events to Delin’s way of thinking.
And maybe, Delin decided as their food began to arrive, just maybe he would find a way to observe some of the torture. It would be an experience of ecstatic delight, so he’d have to see if it might be safely arranged. Yes, he thought as he laughed to himself, he would have to find a way…
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Jovvi’s mind tried to jump around frantically with fear and panic, brought about by having been kidnapped by Allestine and her two henchmen. Allestine would take her back to the courtesan residence in Rincammon, and there she would stay until she was too old to attract patrons any longer. Then Allestine would probably have her killed…
Putting a hand to her head and sitting back on her heels where she knelt on the floor of the coach let Jovvi begin to exert control over herself again. Just a short while ago she probably would have been lost after being kidnapped, but now…
“Oh, do get up and take a proper seat, girl,” Allestine said, beginning to be annoyed. “Nothing will be done to you until we get back to Rincammon, and then your behavior on the trip will help to decide just how stern the punishment is to be. What a pity you now have to abandon all your personal possessions, which you would not have had to do if you’d been reasonable.”
Jovvi could feel how much Allestine enjoyed that idea, and the two men, Ark and Bar, were almost as amused. They all enjoyed forcing people to do as they wished, especially supposedly helpless people.
“You really are a fool, Allestine,” Jovvi said after taking a deep breath to restore her balance almost to normal. “You refuse to learn or think, and that’s not the way to survive in the world.”
“Neither is having a fresh mouth,” Allestine growled, not in the least amused. “Bar, show her what happens to girls with fresh mouths.”
Ark sat beside Allestine to Jovvi’s left, and Bar sat to the right, next to where Jovvi herself was to sit. At Allestine’s order Bar smiled with pleasure and raised one big hand, ready to slap Jovvi hard across the face. It would hardly be the first time he’d done that to a girl, and not only at Allestine’s orders. Bar enjoyed hitting women, and indulged in the practice every time he could.
But not this time. Jovvi reached to him with her ability, but not to soothe and calm the way she used to. She’d learned an incredible amount about her talent since she’d come to Gan Garee, and now she touched Bar with fear. It was the sort of fear he usually produced in the girls of the residence, and his face twisted as he forgot about hitting her and cringed back on the seat with a sob. It was difficult for a man his size to huddle into the farthest corner away from her, but that didn’t stop Bar from trying.
Not a single sound came in warning beyond Allestine’s very soft gasp, but Jovvi didn’t need warning to know when Ark decided to knock her out. The man might be somewhat behind her as she looked at Bar, but the emotions of his thoughts were a scream in the silence. Jovvi hadn’t been foolish enough not to keep a watch on him, and he didn’t even get to fully raise his fist. His reaching the intention was enough, and an instant later he cringed back in his seat just the way Bar was doing.
“Do you understand yet why I called you a fool?” Jovvi asked, turning her head to look at a very pale Allestine. “Almost anyone else would have realized that I haven’t yet failed any of the tests given me, which are meant to qualify applicants for High practitioner positions. And if you think I’ve done the worst I possibly can to them, you’re even more of a fool.”
“B-b-but this is illegal,” Allestine stuttered, her mind clanging with shock. “If I report what you’ve done, they’ll arrest you and put you on trial!”
“I don’t know which part of that to laugh at first,” Jovvi returned, finding it hard to believe that Allestine could be—and was—serious. “It’s perfectly all right for you to kidnap me into what would have become slavery, but illegal for me t
o defend myself? I’d be curious to see just how a guard officer would take that.”
Allestine’s face twisted as she remembered why she couldn’t report Jovvi, but Jovvi gave her no chance to comment.
“The other point you keep forgetting is that the officials of this empire consider me a good deal more valuable than you. Their interest is such that they’d probably look the other way even if I killed you, which I really could do. Those tests and exercises they’ve put me through are an incredible education. Call to the coach driver and tell him to stop.”
Allestine was now almost cloud white, and she trembled as she leaned out the far window to call to the coach driver. But she hadn’t hesitated to obey, which told Jovvi she’d gotten through to the woman to a certain degree. But not to a significant degree, not as stubborn and really rather stupid as Allestine was, so Jovvi waited until the coach had stopped before she spoke again.
“It’s not difficult to tell that you’ll decide later I was bluffing,” Jovvi said as she prepared to turn and get herself out of the coach. “You’ll talk yourself into believing that I’d never be able to kill anyone, and then you’ll decide to come after me again. To save myself that trouble, I’ve decided to do worse than kill you.”
“Worse?” Allestine quavered, for the moment almost as frightened as her henchmen. “What do you m-mean by—worse?”
“I mean I intend to report this incident to the testing authority,” Jovvi answered with a mirthless smile. “I’ll tell them exactly who you and those two are, and where you come from. After that you should be too busy trying to avoid arrest to bother me, that and worrying about what they’ll do if they catch you.”
“I—I’ll tell them you’re lying,” Allestine babbled, sickness throbbing inside her. “I’ll say you begged me to take you back and I refused, so you’re lying to get even with me. They’ll believe me, men always believe me.”
“My testing authority representative is a woman,” Jovvi commented, reaching back to open the coach door. “And I’d really love to see you try a story like that. Any person, man or woman, who believed I’d rather be a small-town courtesan than a High practitioner for the empire would have to be seen to be believed. It’s too bad it has to end this way, Allestine, but try to remember that I didn’t come after you.”
“I’ll leave!” Allestine blurted as Jovvi fought with her skirts while she climbed out of the coach from the floor. “I’ll return to Rincammon, and you’ll never see or hear from me again!”
“You expect me to give you a third chance at me?” Jovvi asked with a sound of scorn once she stood solidly on the ground. “Sorry, Allestine, but you’d better forget all about that, and I do mean all about it. As far as you’re concerned, it just isn’t possible. All right, driver, you can continue on now.”
Jovvi slammed the coach door closed on Allestine’s sudden stunned look, and then the coach began to move again. Once it was out of the way, she glanced around to see that she stood on the private road that led to the Fire magic and Spirit magic practice areas. But she was beyond both areas, almost to the road leading out of there. She also held onto Ark and Bar, finding it a bit harder than it had been for some reason, but that wasn’t going to stop her. She meant to hold onto them until their coach went completely beyond her range. After that she would see about walking somewhere to get help.
It was possible for Jovvi to follow the coach with her talent for quite a distance, all the while holding the two men in their private worlds of fear. There was also something else involved, but it wasn’t possible to resolve just what. Once she released the men it would take a short while for them to return to normal, but not being drugged like the test subjects meant they would return to normal. The farther away they were when that happened the better, so Jovvi held on as long as she could. When she finally had to let go, she was also finally able to tremble with her own reaction.
“So close,” she whispered as she hugged herself against the inner chill. “They came so close to getting me back … and then the authorities would have been after me for trying to run away from the testing procedure. But I can’t report her the way I threatened to do, so what can I do?”
Trying to find an answer to that made her head swim, so much so that the coach had reached her before she even knew it was coming. Stabbing fear made Jovvi look around wildly for someplace to run, but then she heard a blessedly familiar voice.
“Jovvi, are you all right?” Tamrissa called, then she continued, “Driver, please help her! She looks like she’s about to faint!”
Jovvi did feel as though she were about to lose consciousness, probably because she’d pushed herself too far. The competition had been very tiring, and then the struggle with Allestine and the two men… When the coach driver appeared next to her and lent a supporting arm, Jovvi leaned against him gratefully. She also needed his help to climb into the coach, and once she was on a seat it was Tamma who was there with a supporting arm.
“Please get us back to the residence as quickly as possible,” Jovvi heard Tamma say to the driver. A moment after the door was slammed shut they were moving again, and a long moment after that Jovvi’s head began to clear a little.
“Your color’s beginning to come back,” Tamma said then, touching Jovvi’s cheek lightly and briefly. “Can you tell me yet what happened? When the coach reached me you weren’t in it, and the driver said he’d been told that you’d taken a ride with someone else.”
“I wasn’t the one doing the taking,” Jovvi managed to say, her head against the seat back. “Allestine and her bullies were waiting for me, and they tried to kidnap me. I had to use my ability to get away from them, and the effort really drained me. That means I’ll be fine, so you can stop worrying.”
“That means you’ll be fine for how long?” Tamma demanded, obviously completely outraged. “This time you have to tell someone about that woman, and if you don’t, I will.”
“Tamma, please,” Jovvi said with a sigh. “I’m really too exhausted to argue, but even though I told Allestine I meant to report her attempt, I simply can’t do it. And I don’t want you to do it either.”
“But why not?” Tamma asked, clearly bewildered. “Are you trying to prove or disprove that old saying about the third time being the charm? You can’t think you still owe her something, not after the way she’s been trying to make you her slave.”
“It has nothing to do with owing anything to Allestine,” Jovvi said, wishing she had a cup of hot tea to sip from. “If I hadn’t been beautiful she never would have taken me into the residence, and during my time there I more than repaid her investment in time and money. It’s just that I … can’t bear to report anyone to the guard … not after what I saw growing up.”
Jovvi had wondered if Tamma would understand without a detailed explanation, as something like that was beyond her at the moment. Happily Tamma remained silent for a moment, then she shook her head.
“I can’t say I understand that attitude, but most people can’t understand mine either,” she said with a sigh. “Some day we’ll have to talk about it, but right now there are other things to discuss. You said you told Allestine you would report her, so maybe she’ll believe you and go home. I don’t particularly care how we get rid of her, as long as we do see the last of her.”
“That would work if Allestine were smarter,” Jovvi said with a small headshake. “But Allestine is a creature of emotions rather than rational thought, and as soon as she stops being frightened she’ll become furious. No one has dared to refuse her slightest whim for many years, and if she goes back to the residence without me, all the girls will know I got away from her. That will give them ideas she doesn’t dare let them entertain, and will also make her look foolish. No, she’ll never leave here without me, and she certainly won’t let herself remember what I can do.”
“So she’s almost guaranteed to come after you again,” Tamma said, sounding defeated. “And if she tries it again at the house, she may decide again to add me in as w
ell. What a pity if she does decide on that. I’ll just have to tell her to get in line.”
“There’s more behind that comment than just the urge to make a comment,” Jovvi said with a frown, knowing the truth of that even with exhaustion waiting to take her. “What happened, Tamma? And how did the competition go? With Allestine and her nonsense, I forgot all about it.”
“The competition itself went fine,” Tamma said with a shrug, now very taken with watching her fingers twist about each other in her lap. “I decided that my best chance would be to be only strong enough to complete the exercise, so I did but certainly lost the competition. They threw me out after my turn was done, so I don’t know how anyone else did.”
“They don’t want any of us knowing,” Jovvi said, wishing she had the strength to send comfort to Tamma. “I thought of the same thing to do, so that makes two of us who didn’t win. But you still haven’t told me what else happened.”
“After my performance I had a … visitor,” Tamma admitted with strong hesitation. “There was a man present when I passed that very first test, and he said something about seeing me again. I’d forgotten all about it—until he sat down at my table just a little while ago. I tried to tell him to go away, but he isn’t willing to do that as permanently as I would like. He … said something quite abominable, and then he strolled off smiling. I’m beginning to think I have a sign on me that invites men like him to come after me.”
“We’ll have to discuss the matter once I’ve rested,” Jovvi said, reaching over to still Tamma’s trembling hands. “In a manner of speaking you are wearing a sign, and we’ll have to think of a way for you to remove it. Right now, though…”