Intrigues (2 page)

“We’re lucky there are so few servants left in the palace,” Lorand said after nodding agreement with Vallant. “I’d just like to know what we’re going to do if and when the former hordes try to return.”

“Perhaps we ought to ask one or two of our other Blendings to oversee any additions to the palace staff,” Rion suggested with the least bit of diffidence. “It won’t be possible for us to do it all ourselves, after all, and the solution would help us a great deal if the members of the other Blendings aren’t insulted by the request.”

“That’s a great idea, Rion, and I can’t picture them getting insulted,” Lorand said with a sudden brightening of a good deal of the gloom he’d been showing. “Those are people we’ve fought beside, after all, and interviewing the staff properly is something that will help keep us alive. On top of that, they can all use the practice at working in a Blending.”

Everyone agreed with that, and then they separated to go to their respective horses. Once Jovvi was mounted, she waited until they were moving toward the road before she urged her mount close to Lorand’s.

“I think Rion was afraid that his suggestion sounded too much like the way the nobility assigned tasks to underlings,” Jovvi murmured to a partially attentive Lorand. “Your endorsement of the idea made him feel quite a lot better, so now it’s
your
turn. What do
you
need to make you feel better?”

“If you’re asking about what’s bothering me, the answer isn’t hard to put into words,” Lorand replied, giving Jovvi the impression he groped for more than just what to say. “All those members of the former nobility deserve to be made to work for the Astindans, repairing the destruction they caused either actively or passively. The one thing I haven’t come to terms with, though, is also sending along their children. I’m not sure that that’s right.”

Jovvi hadn’t missed seeing the crowds of people around the house they’d appropriated, most of them the former nobles of the empire. The rest were guardsmen from both the empire and Astinda, and some of the former nobles were still trying to assert their “rights.”

One smaller group, though, contained children of various ages, from young teenagers all the way down to infants in arms. The vast majority of those infants were being held by nurses, with only one single exception to that rule.

“I think I should have mentioned sooner that I’ve already spoken to the Astindans about that very point,” Jovvi said, feeling a flash of guilt for having forgotten. “They really are men and women of honor, and don’t believe in condemning those who are guiltless. Children can’t be considered a part of what was done to their country, so
these
children are being examined with something else in mind: whether or not they’ve been ruined beyond redemption by the way they were raised.”

“What do you mean by ‘beyond redemption,’” Lorand asked, his disturbance clearly lessened. “Those children also aren’t responsible for the way they were raised.”

“Of course they’re not responsible,” Jovvi agreed with a touch to Lorand’s arm. “But you have to remember that most of them have been shaped by that upbringing, and that majority will act just as their parents have. Neither we nor the Astindans have a place for people who think they were born to be deferred to and pampered. The children who see themselves that way will be put to work beside their parents, in the hope that they’ll outgrow the attitude.”

“And the rest?” Lorand asked, his emotions perfectly clear. He hated the idea of condemning children, and hated even more not being able to argue the need. “Are they also going to be put to work for the ‘good of their characters’?”

“The others will be adopted by people in Astinda who lost their own children to the madness of the invasion,” Jovvi answered, wishing with all her heart that she was able to ease Lorand’s distress. But his strength had grown beyond her ability to touch, so he would have to find his own easing… “Our people would have to make room for extra mouths to feed, and there would always be a resentment against those children from
someone
. In Astinda their new parents will be told only that the children are orphans, so they now have a chance to be raised with love. And there
is
going to be an exception to the general rule. Did you see that one well-dressed young woman holding an infant?”

“How could I miss it?” Lorand asked, glancing over his shoulder at the group they’d passed. “She stood there glaring around at the world as if daring
anyone
to take the child she held.”

“That’s because she doesn’t yet know she’ll be the sole exception to having to give up her child,” Jovvi told him, finally finding a reason to smile. “The main Astindan Blending has already examined her, and found that the usual attitudes of the nobility haven’t taken well in her. She has very little respect or liking for the rest of her class, and she loves her child fiercely. She’ll be sent out with the next group being taken to Astinda, but she’ll be separated from the others almost at once. She hasn’t been separated now for her own protection.”

“Yes, the rest of those stiff-necked fools would blame
her
for the way she was treated, and would certainly consider her a traitor.” Lorand nodded distractedly, his agreement clear. “So at least that’s one saved, out of – how many?”

“There are a few others who also won’t be forced to do the backbreaking work,” Jovvi said, sighing over the same picture that Lorand now looked at inwardly. “Some of those people are more victim than noble, and the Astindans hope to find a way to reverse the way they were ruined. But as far as the rest goes… Lorand, we
have
to find a way to keep our own people and their children from turning into the same kind of parasites. If we don’t think of something
now
, it’s bound to happen.”

“Yes, people do commit the worst horrors in the name of love, don’t they,” Lorand agreed with a matching sigh. “I wish I could say I knew exactly how to stop it, but I don’t have the first clue. Hopefully something will come to one of us once we settle down into a routine.”

Jovvi nodded and let the conversation drop, but her mind still worried at the need along with a hundred others. There was so
much
that had to be done, all of it important if not downright crucial. Jovvi had been losing sleep over the worries, a lack that looked as though it would continue for a while…

The ride to the palace was uneventful, as was actually entering the palace grounds. The day was a bit overcast, promising rain for some later time, but Jovvi didn’t ask Lorand about the rain. The temperature was still warm enough that the Astindans probably would make no effort to give the former nobles shelter from the rain, and Lorand didn’t need
that
to worry over along with the rest. Lorand was a beautiful human being, and Jovvi sometimes felt that
he
was more aware of the suffering of others than she was.

“At least we won’t have hordes of people waiting to attack us with demands,” Lorand murmured as they drew rein in front of the main entrance to the palace. “The guardsmen we left here are still at their stations, so no one should be inside but the servants who were left after we faced the former Five.”

“I’ve definitely learned to be grateful for small favors,” Jovvi agreed, dismounting without waiting for anyone to help. “And for the fact that there are still stable boys here.”

In point of fact there were a lot of stable boys, all rushing out to take the reins of their horses. Even so not all of the horses would be taken to the stables at once, not with almost seventy-five people in their party.

“I thought ten boys would be enough,” Vallant said after letting his reins be taken, looking around at the sudden flurry. “I left orders to have the boys be here when we arrived, but it looks like some of us are still goin’ to be takin’ care of our own horses.”

“Some of the guardsmen are coming over to help,” Lorand told Vallant with a smile of amusement. “And let me say how grateful I am that you dislike seeing to your own horse. I may be better at it than you are, but I don’t like doing it any more than you do.”

“Now that I know
how
to do it, I’m more than willing to let others have the honor,” Tamma put in with her own amusement. “It’s nice to know I can take care of myself if the need arises, but the rest of the time I prefer to be lazy.”

“A perfect description of my own feelings,” Rion agreed, voicing a small laugh as he took Naran’s hand again. “I’m pleased no end that I’m able to look after myself, but prefer to leave exercising the talent for a time of need. And as soon as we’ve settled in, I even mean to learn how to cook.”

Tamma immediately announced that she would join Rion in the cooking venture, and everyone, including members of the various link groups, put in their own opinions as they moved into the palace in a group. The guardsmen on duty remained at their posts outside, and the guardsmen they’d brought with them were off helping the stable boys with the horses.

The halls they walked through looked as deserted to Jovvi as they had the last time their Blending had entered the palace. With very few servants and no guardsmen that was to be expected, of course, but Jovvi still disliked the … almost brooding atmosphere. Something would have to be done about that as quickly as –

Suddenly a man appeared out of a nearby doorway, a man who was a complete stranger to them. He held a long knife in each of his hands, and he screamed madly as he began to run in order to close the few steps between him and his chosen targets: Jovvi and her Blendingmates.

Chapter 2

Rion saw the stranger charging at them, and immediately put a wall of hardened air between the attacker and his Blendingmates. At the same time the blades of the man’s knives disappeared in a flash of very intense fire, and then the man himself was crumpling to the marble floor.

“It’s nice feelin’ so well protected,” Vallant commented dryly as he joined Rion and the others in stepping forward to inspect the now-unconscious attacker. It was fairly obvious that Tamrissa had destroyed the man’s weapons and Lorand had put the man to sleep after Rion erected his wall of safety. “Naran didn’t even have to warn us because the fool had no hope at all of succeedin’. Does anyone know who this man is, or what he has against us?”

“Apparently not,” Jovvi answered for all of them after seeing nothing but headshaking. “But it won’t be too hard to find out what his problem is, so let’s bring him along with us. We’ll also want to know if there are any more at home like him.”

Some of the larger male members of the link groups came forward to carry the attacker, and it was a quieter procession that continued on into the palace. When they reached the area of meeting rooms just before the corridor diverged into the separate private wings, a small group of very disturbed servants was found waiting.

“Excellences, this is terrible!” one of the men said, wringing his hands as he stepped out ahead of the others. “We had no idea you were coming, so nothing is prepared for you, not even tea! Please forgive us our failure!”

“It’s hardly your fault that we told no one we were coming,” Rion soothed the man, not wondering in the least why the servants were so agitated. “Your former masters might well have dismissed you for showing the terrible flaw of not being able to see the future, but happily we’re not of their ilk. But before you run off to see to a million chores, please look at this man and tell us if you know him."

The servant, whose pathetic relief suggested that dismissal would have been the least he suffered at the hands of the previous Five, stepped forward to peer at the man Rion gestured to. A sharp intake of breath told Rion that the servant knew the unconscious man even before the servant spoke.

“Why, that’s Feriun,” the man exclaimed, disturbance quickly returning. “He hasn’t been among us long, but he’s a very hard worker. What could have happened to him? Is he dead?”

“No, he’s still among the livin’,” Vallant said, glancing apologetically at Rion before taking over the servant’s questioning. “Exactly when did he join the staff?”

“It was two or three days ago, Excellence,” the man replied, causing Rion to exchange glances with Vallant and the others. “Not many of our people have come back yet, so he was put right to work. Have you any idea of what happened to the man?”

“We know exactly what happened to him,” Tamrissa put in dryly, speaking in a way that Rion knew would keep the servant from asking the same question again. “Were any others added to the staff when this man Feriun was?”

“Yes, there were two others with him, Excellence,” the servant answered at once, his eyes widened as he looked at Tamrissa. “One of the other two tends to avoid work more than do it, but we need the extra pair of hands too badly for the chief steward to dismiss him.”

“Which of the magical talents do the three men fall under?” Naran asked suddenly, startling Rion along with everyone else. “Surely at least one of them has been seen exercising a talent, even one that happened to be weak?”

“Personally, I have no idea, my lady,” the servant answered with raised brows before turning to look at the rest of the staff members still hovering behind him. “No, the others don’t recall seeing them exercising talents either.”

“No, Rion, don’t correct him now,” Naran whispered just as Rion was about to speak sharply to the servant for not addressing Naran as he had the rest of the Blending. “It isn’t the right time.”

Rion held his tongue as his love asked, but it was a near thing. He’d been about to instruct the servant that Naran was also to be addressed as “Excellence,” but it was true that they hadn’t yet made their announcement about the size and composition of their Blending. Rion felt annoyed at the need for silence, but then he realized what Naran’s question could well mean.

“Thank you, Naran,” Jovvi said, clearly having also realized the implications of the question – that the man and his friends could well be renegade Guild people. “We’ll look into that as soon as we make ourselves comfortable.” Then she turned to the servant. “Please have tea prepared for us and our guests. We’ll be in the large meeting room.”