Betrayals (11 page)

“Valiant, isn’t there anything else you can think of to say?” Tamrissa asked after another short silence, her hand coming to his arm. “What I mean is, something to me?”

“Oh, yes, forgive me for forgettin’,” Valiant forced out, still making sure not to look at her. “You have my thanks for gettin’ me out of that place, since it’s perfectly obvious I couldn’t have gotten myself out. Now I think I need to rest a while.”

It was perfectly true that Valiant needed rest desperately, but what he needed even more was an end to the way Tamrissa was certainly looking at him: with compassion and pity. Just two days ago he’d been a full, strong man in her eyes, and now … Now she would never see him the same. She’d witnessed his humiliation and shame, so from now on she’d remember that every time she looked at him. A weakling who had to be rescued by the woman he’d loved when he was whole, a woman he still loved but who now could do no more than pity him.

After a short hesitation her hand left his arm, and happily she said nothing more. Valiant continued to stare out the window, wishing with his entire being that he might be back and alone in that small, windowless room—so that he might weep like a child for all that he’d lost….

CHAPTER NINE

It had grown very quiet in the coach, my own silence adding to the rest. It had also grown even chillier out, and for some reason I noticed it more now than I had after we’d gotten Rion away from his mother. But it was true that I felt tired. so maybe that accounted for it….

Outside the coach the night was also quiet. Nothing but the creak of springs, the jingle of harness, and the clatter of the horses’ hooves to be heard. I closed my eyes and embraced those small sounds, holding to them in an effort to ease the pain I foolishly felt. I’d told Jovvi that I expected my relationship with Valiant to end abruptly one day, and now, apparently, that day had come. I’d expected him to be as glad to see me as Rion had been to see Naran, but Rion had only been taken away from his mother. Valiant had been taken from Eltrina Razas, a female noble who really had an incredibly good figure, and it was impossible to deny that he’d been interested in her….

Keeping my eyes closed also became impossible, the pictures my mind dredged up making it so. Valiant had been about to make love to Eltrina Razas, and I’d come bursting in to end the time. His annoyance was apparently so great that he couldn’t even look at me, and that despite the fact that he had to know he couldn’t have stayed. The way he’d “thanked” me for saving him. I’d wanted just a few soft words of greeting, a strong arm around my shoulders, possibly even a kiss.

But I’d gotten none of that, and there was no use in wishing I had. Wishing never came true, just the way hoping usually failed. For a short while I’d had someone to do my hoping for me, but it had become very clear that Valiant no longer wanted the job. It was up to me again to do it for myself, but I’d given up on the practice too long ago to take it up again now.

It took quite some time before I found it possible to force my thoughts onto another track, and the only thing which made it possible was our next destination. I had my own reasons for being glad that we were retiring briefly to my house, as Jovvi had shared a very important secret with me.

I’d already spent three gold dins of what I’d taken from Lanir, and it was impossible to know how much more it would take before Jovvi and Lorand were also free. For that reason I’d decided to retrieve the cache of gold Jovvi had left in the house, the savings she’d intended to use to start her own courtesan’s residence here in Gan Garee. Even if it turned out that I didn’t need to use any of it, at least I’d have it to hand back to her when she was with us again.

I found that I had to work rather hard to cling to the belief that Jovvi and Lorand would be with us again. Not even knowing where they were made the thought too much like wishing or hoping, which had, as already mentioned, always turned out badly for me. I had to make certain that I believed instead, with all the stubbornness that touching the power brought stacked up behind the belief….

When the coach finally turned into my drive, I was even more weary than I had been. Rion had fallen asleep quite some time ago, and so had Valiant Ro. They both sat slumped bonelessly, deeply into that lack of consciousness which I remembered all too well. Even Naran had kept nodding off, but the change in motion of the carriage awakened her, and she looked outside.

“I’m glad we’re finally here,” she said softly, obviously to keep from waking the men. “The servants all left the house late yesterday, before I left it myself. I’ll get the bags I packed, and then we can go to my friend’s house. She’s bound to have some idea about where we can hide until we find the others.”

“I’ll go inside with you,” I said, just as softly. “There are a few things of my own that I’d like to get, not to mention an additional change of clothing. I’m freezing in this ridiculous gown, and my feet still hurt. These slippers are for walking around indoors, not outside.”

“But shouldn’t you stay with the coach to guard Rion and Valiant?” she asked, sounding unsure. “I can understand your wanting to change, but what if someone comes by while we’re inside?”

“The driver can stand guard for a few minutes,” I said, shaking my head a little. “Just tell him to shout if there’s, any trouble, and I’ll take care of it by looking out a window.”

“That should work,” she agreed with a shadowy smile. “I’ll tell him before we go inside.”

A pair of minutes later the coach pulled up by the front door, and Naran and I got out. The men continued to sleep soundly, so I went to the front door while Naran spoke to our driver. I’d expected the door to be looked and so it was, but that didn’t mean I had to burn it down in order for us to get inside—or use the window Naran probably had to leave by. A large potted shrub stood to each side of the door, and under the soil of the one to the right was a door key. My late husband had put it there years earlier, to be certain he would always be able to get back into his own house. I’d seen him checking on it once and afterward had found out what it was, but I’d never removed it even after his death. Right now I was very glad I hadn’t.

The key let us in through the door without any difficulty, and I produced a small flame to light our way upstairs. Naran came with me and helped me change into warmer, more practical clothes in record time, and then I went with her to fetch the bags she’d packed. On the way I stopped at the statuette in the hall, groped around a bit to find the purse, then removed it.

“This belongs to Jovvi, and when we find her she’ll want it back,” I said in answer to Naran’s unspoken question. “I’m tempted to take some of this very expensive junk to sell, but I suspect it would be wasted effort. A legitimate buyer will want proof of ownership, and a larcenous one won’t give us more than a fraction of the piece’s worth.”

“And lugging it around until we find someone to buy it will be too much of a bother,” she agreed with a nod. “I have some gold so we ought to get by, but we’ll need more clothing for Rion. He only had those gray trousers and white shirts left, and his mother’s people took those. I packed extra clothing from Valiant’s bedchamber, but had to take only the uniform from Lorand’s. The rest of his clothing is almost as distinctive as Rion’s was.”

“Once we get the bags downstairs, let’s check the kitchen,” I suggested after nodding to what she’d said. “If they’ve left any food behind, we ought to take it with us.”

This time it was her turn to nod, and then we took care of the first part of the plan. There were five bags, none of them terribly heavy, so we got them down to the front hall rather quickly. A glance outside showed everything to be quiet, so we went back to the kitchen and looked around. Everything was perfectly clean and orderly, and there wasn’t a single crumb of food left. With no one around to keep the perishables cold that was understandable, but not finding even a single loaf of bread was somehow depressing.

When we returned to the front hall we picked up the bags again—Naran insisting on taking three of them—carried them out to the coach, then put them in the boot. While Naran stowed them properly, I turned back to the house to relock the door. If it was at all possible, I meant to reclaim that house one day. Leaving it open to thieves and defense-less against invasion wasn’t something I felt prepared to do. I took two steps back toward the house—then stopped short when the large figure of a man came forward out of the shadows to the left. I quickly put a ring of flame around him, freezing him in mid step, then just as quickly let the flames die. I knew the man, even though I hadn’t expected ever to see him again.

“Popping up like that without warning can be dangerous, Dom Meerk,” I said to the man who had been helping Lorand locate his friend Hat. “I’m afraid Lorand isn’t here right now, and it’s extremely unlikely that any of us will be back in the near future. If there was something you wanted to tell him, I’ll do my best to pass on the message.”

“I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he said as he came closer, somehow no longer sounding quite as low-class as he always had. “I know what you’re capable of, so I was an idiot for not letting you know I was there … and I’m not here looking for Dom Coll. I found out that you’d gotten away from that noble who claimed you, so I waited here in the hopes that you would come back, even for just a few minutes.”

“I seem to have missed something here,” I said, shaking my head against the confusion. “How did you hear about something that happened only a few hours ago, and what happened to the way you used to speak? And while we’re on the subject, why would you want to be here in the first place?”

“There are long stories behind the answers to each of those questions, and we don’t have the time to go into them now,” he replied, running a hand through shaggy hair. “What I will say, though, is that my former accent was part of my disguise, and that I’m a member of an organization dedicated to finding out the truth about what the nobility is doing. We’ve suspected for some time that they’re using unfair and illegal means to keep themselves in power, but we haven’t been able to prove it. You and the rest of your Blending will be able to prove it for us.”

“And then what?” I asked with a sound of ridicule.

“You’ll expose them? And what after that? If you expect them to hang their heads in shame and meekly hand over the reins of power, you’re dreaming. They’ll have their guardsmen arrest the lot of you, and while you’re all being thrown into the Deep Caverns or sent to work in the mines, they’ll have parties to laugh at your naiveté.”

“If there were only a few of us, that’s probably what would happen,” he agreed with a faint smile. “In point of fact there are thousands of people in our organization, all of them having been questioned by Middle talents in Spirit or Earth magic before being accepted as members. And since a large number of our people happen to be guardsmen, we’re not in as much danger of being arrested as you might think. But the same doesn’t hold true for you and the others with you, so will you please let me take you to a place of safety? I promise to tell you everything once we get there.”

“I think we ought to trust him,” Naran said quietly when I hesitated. She’d come over to stand beside me when Meerk had appeared, and had heard everything he’d said. “I have the feeling that my friend—whose coach we’re using—is one of his members, even though she’s never said so.”

“I know who you mean, and you’re right, she is,” Meerk said with a nod. “So is the man driving the coach, so if you like you can speak to him first. But whatever you do, you must do it quickly. I can’t possibly be the only one who’ll think of checking this house.”

“All right, I’ll take the chance,” I agreed, forcing myself away from indecision. “I just hope for your sake that you’re telling the truth.”

“As justifiably nervous as you are, I don’t dare do anything else,” he said, looking soberly serious. “If you ladies will get into the coach now, we can be on our way.”

“One more question,” I said as Naran turned toward the coach. “Do you happen to know where Jovvi and Lorand are being kept? We haven’t been able to locate them yet.”

“You and the two men in the coach were easy to trace, but we haven’t had the same luck with the rest,” he admitted heavily. “I have everyone able to walk, hobble, or crawl out looking for them, so hopefully we’ll know something soon. I promise we won’t give up until we find them.”

I nodded at that, the only thing I could do, then went and locked the door of the house before turning toward the coach myself. Meerk helped me inside, checked the boot to make sure everything was properly secured, then went to climb up on the box with the driver. When the coach began to move again, Naran and I exchanged a glance. She looked slightly less unsure than I felt, but we’d really had no choice. We needed a place to stay and we needed help in locating Jovvi and Lorand, and if Meerk had been telling the truth we’d found someone to supply both. But I couldn’t stop worrying about Lorand and Jovvi, and where they might be that no one could find them. If they were dead, Meerk’s people would have no need to prove anything against the nobility. If Lorand and Jovvi were dead, I’d see to it that there weren’t any members of the nobility left to be accused….

CHAPTER TEN

“I think we’re about to have some distinguished visitors,” Kambil announced softly*to the others. They currently relaxed in the main sitting room after sharing a late breakfast, which they’d indulged in after sleeping late. “Four carriages have just come up the drive, with three people in each carriage.”

“An even dozen,” Bron remarked with faint amusement. “Are they counting on finding safety in numbers, or are they trying to impress us?”

“I’d bet on the impressing,” Selendi said as she rearranged her skirts. “If they were worried or afraid of us, they wouldn’t have come themselves.”

“And they wouldn’t have canceled the full meeting Zolind called,” Homin added. “Having found out that they no longer have a Seated Blending to work through must have upset them, so they’ve come to make their positions secure again.”