Intrigues (7 page)

“You’re not showin’ or feelin’ the need to run things because you were able to learn the real lesson,” Vallant said, sending me a smile that seemed to be filled with fond pride. “The only one a person has to be in control of is him or herself, not the entire world. Bein’ in control of yourself lets you say no to the ones who take advantage, and also lets you find a way to make the decision stick. But if you let fear take control instead… “

“Then you have to run the world in order to feel safe,” I finished for him, following him through a doorway. Inside was a large and beautiful room with a marble bath rather than one made of wood, and the room even had windows. There were also a number of wide lounges and a few chairs that seemed to be made of cotton webbing, not to mention a bar, a place for a tea service, and a table probably meant for snacks.

“Those cabinets over there have towels and heavy cotton robes,” Vallant said, pointing to our left. “Those things that look like vases at the edge of the bath are filled with soap, and there’s only one thing missin’ right now: nicely warmed water. The servants with Fire magic have been workin’ on it, but they must be Lows because they haven’t gotten very far. Tepid is all you have, but that’s better than nothin’.”

“It
is
better than nothing, but there’s no reason to settle,” I said while walking closer to the bath and Vallant closed the door behind us. “I should be able to give the servants a hand… “

There was an awful lot of water in that very large bath, and warming it posed something of a problem. Once the water was already warm it could be kept like that with only a small amount of effort from above it, but the original warming needed to be done from below. I’d once forced bathing water to be warm with the help of other Highs in Fire magic, but right now there was just me and a lot of barely heated water. But there ought to be a way…

“Maybe that will do it,” I muttered as an idea came to me. Those woven patterns we’d done so much with… One of them seemed to suggest that if it was changed just a little and spread out at the bottom of the bath beneath the water…

“Whoa!” Vallant exclaimed as heavy steam suddenly began to rise from the water. “Whatever you did, I’m guessin’ it was a little too much. That water’s hot enough now to boil us like potatoes.”

“But I put barely any strength into it!” I protested, seeing that he wasn’t joking. “I never expected it to get that hot that quickly, which has to mean the pattern variation I used is a
lot
more powerful than I thought.”

“You varied one of the patterns you learned?” Vallant asked, now studying me rather than the water. “In what way did you vary it?”

“I … altered the method of braiding,” I said, trying to put a new action into words. “Here, let me show you instead. This is the way the pattern was originally braided, and this is the way I changed it.”

I used lengths of fire to illustrate what I meant, and when Vallant saw the altered pattern his brows rose high.

“If I’m followin’ that correctly, I think I can alter one of my own patterns in the same way,” he told me slowly. “The only thing I can’t figure out is what I’d use the new pattern for.”

“There’s still so much we don’t know that sometimes it makes me want to scream,” I said, letting the fires I’d used to show the patterns disappear. “And now I can’t even take a bath until that water cools down again. Me and my big ideas.”

“I believe I can be a small amount of help with that,” Vallant told my exasperation with a chuckle. “The situation just needs a bit of exchangin’.”

I was about to ask what he was talking about when the steam rising from the water suddenly turned into ordinary eddies in the air. That meant the water was still not, but not so hot that we’d be boiled.

“Judgin’ how much ice to bring down from the upper air was the hard part,” Vallant said with a smile when I made a sound of pleased surprise. “Shall we see if I did it right?”

I gave him a quick kiss to show my agreement – and gratitude – and then began to get out of my clothes. He did the same, and a pair of moments later we entered the bath hand in hand. The water was only a little warmer than usual, something my tired body was able to appreciate quite a lot. I washed quickly and then soaked some, floating comfortably in Vallant’s arms.

All right, so that was when I fell asleep. I’d been too busy working on the arrangements for the party to get a lot of ordinary sleep, but Vallant didn’t have to leave waking me until it was time to dress. Sometimes I wonder about that man…

Jovvi entered the huge ballroom on Lorand’s arm, her thoughts whirling with everything he’d recently shared with her. Some of it was just disturbing, but the rest needed to be also shared with the others.

“It looks like everyone Tamrissa invited decided to get here early,” Lorand commented as they walked, nodding to those people he knew. “And for a last minute affair, we seem to have a really good turnout.”

“Most of these city people would have preferred to die under torture rather than miss this party,” Jovvi told him as she did her own nodding. “They’re the least bit intimidated by being in the midst of so many High and strong Middle talents, but an invitation to a ball at the palace is something they never expected to get. Even if they’re never invited again, they’ll still have
this
time to remember for the rest of their lives.”

“You’re still bothered by what you read,” Lorand said, and there was more concern than questioning in his tone. “I’m beginning to be sorry that I located all those hidden scribes.”

“Finding them was the only way to regain some privacy in our lives,” Jovvi told him with a headshake as she patted his arm. “What’s really bothering me is the way that Earth magic user of those five people thought he’d made himself safe from their observation. He killed some of them and put others to sleep, and by doing that considered himself safe from discovery.”

“He obviously had no idea that the scribes were all Spirit magic users and were closely linked,” Lorand said with a sigh. “I still don’t understand
how
they were linked, since it wasn’t in groups of five or tandem tens, but every time he eliminated or neutralized one, another secretly took that one’s place.”

“And they recorded everything he said and did, including that … time with his parents,” Jovvi added, fighting with all her strength to keep from being ill. “I’m really sorry I began to read that, but finding out about that special linking gives me something else than being sick to occupy my attention. It isn’t hard to do once you know about it, but I have a feeling the linkage has a purpose other than the one it was put to.”

“Doesn’t everything?” Lorand asked with a grimace that matched the one Jovvi felt on the inside. “Every time we learn something new, it becomes very clear how much more we
don’t
know. If it ever became possible to get my hands on the ones who first made using talent something to be kept secret… Well, let’s just say that I would
not
be gentle with them.”

“Let’s also say that your violence would have mine to keep it company,” Jovvi said, leaving Lorand in no doubt that she meant what she’d told him. “But we’d better save this discussion for another time. Some of our more exalted guests are beginning to make their way over to us.”

Jovvi settled a pleasant smile on her face as Lorand glanced up to see who their social ambushers were. Lavrit Mohr, High Master of the Guild, was there with his new second-in-command and some of his people, as was Ristor Ardanis, leader of those with Sight magic, along with some of
his
followers. Mohr and Ardanis hadn’t been standing together because they hadn’t yet been introduced, but that was one of the reasons for the party.

“Excellences, it’s good to see you again,” Mohr said with his usual bow when he reached Jovvi and Lorand. “I hope there will be time tonight for some of the city leaders to be introduced to you.”

“That’s one of the reasons we’re all here,” Lorand assured the man with his own pleasant smile. “We’ll eventually want to meet everyone who is in charge of doing almost anything at all. It’s time the credit for a job well done finally went to the people actually doing the work.”

“You see, Dom Henris?” Mohr said to one of the men who had approached with him, his words almost gleeful. “I told you they were reasonable human beings rather than the puffed up imitation nobles you were told they’d be.”

“What’s this?” Lorand asked with mild curiosity, and Jovvi added her own attention to the conversation. “Someone is calling us names
already
?”

“Just that fool Ayl and his misguided followers,” Mohr answered in a way that wasn’t quite as dismissive as he’d probably wanted it to be. “Excellences, allow me to present Dom Relton Henris, spokesman for the new shop owners Guild.”

“It used to be the shop
workers
Guild,” Dom Henris said with a self-conscious smile and bow. “We used to spend our time worrying about how to make ends meet, but now we have more pleasant topics to discuss – thanks to you and what you’ve done for us. When those rumors started to circulate about how you would become just like the nobles once you moved into the palace… Well, most of us started to worry again, I can tell you.”

“I don’t blame you for feeling that way,” Jovvi told the man with one of her best smiles. “There seems to be something about being in charge that changes level-headed people into fools, but we’re aware of the danger so we’re deliberately resisting it. If anyone happens to see that starting to change, we’re hoping they’ll say so.”

“At least by anonymous letter,” Lorand added in a droll tone. “In someone else’s place, I don’t know if I’d be foolish enough to mention the point in person.”

That comment made everyone around them laugh, which in turn eased a good deal of tension in the group. Jovvi knew it was impossible to ease nervous people with words alone, but a well-timed joke or two did the job rather effectively. Lorand had said just the right thing, and if they’d been alone she would have kissed him for it.

“There’s someone here you need to meet, Dom Mohr,” Lorand continued when the laughter was done. “Once your people have regular shipments started on their way to this city again, we’ll have to pay for them quickly so our suppliers have confidence in us. Dom Ristor Ardanis and his people have been given the job of locating the funds of former nobles, to be used to keep the city fed and supplied. Their efforts have already shown results, so we’re ready for the first of the shipments.”

Jovvi watched Mohr turn to take the hand Ristor Ardanis offered as he stepped forward, but the Guild High Master ended up shaking hands in a mechanical way. Mohr had begun to frown at the leader of those with Sight magic, a reaction Jovvi and Lorand had been expecting.

“It’s a pleasure to meet someone who
provides
gold rather than takes it,” Mohr said to Ardanis, trying to recapture his good mood as he studied the shorter, rounder second man. “It may be indelicate of me to say this, but – May I ask which of the talents you have? I can’t seem to reach through… “

“Your question is more understandable than indelicate,” Ardanis assured Mohr with one of those warm, beaming smiles the man was so good at producing. “There’s a reason why you’re unable to discern my talent, but I’m afraid that discussing the reason will spoil the surprise our new leaders have planned. They’ll get to it as soon as everyone has arrived, so there’s only a short time left to wait.”

“Then it would be inexcusable of me to press the matter right now,” Mohr said with a better smile, showing those without Jovvi’s talent that the Guild’s High Master had reacted to Ardanis the way most people did. “If the wait is
too
long I may die of curiosity, but other than that – “

“Excuse me,” a brisk female voice interrupted, addressing itself to Mohr. The woman who owned the voice was more than just brisk, and it was clear that she wasn’t really asking to be excused for anything. Jovvi studied the woman with interest, noting that the self-confidence she showed would have looked more at home in an older person. The newcomer was no more than in her middle thirties, with a faintly pretty face and a good figure.

“Dama Zokill,” Mohr said, momentarily looking startled and blank. “I wasn’t expecting you quite this early… “

“I’m sure you weren’t,” the woman Zokill replied, her smile the sort that withered plant-life. “And possibly you weren’t expecting me at all. By some odd happenstance my invitation to this gathering wasn’t delivered until an hour ago, leaving me no choice but to show up in ordinary clothing rather than the finery everyone else here is displaying. But at least I
am
here, so now I would appreciate an introduction to the people you claim should be our new leaders.”

“I’m not the one making the claim, Dama Zokill,” Mohr tried to protest, glancing toward Jovvi and Lorand in embarrassment. “My Guild and I are in a position to know things others don’t, and for that reason we support – “

“Yes, yes, I’ve already heard all that,” the woman interrupted again, gesturing aside the explanation. “But as with most things I become involved with, I’ll make up my own mind about just how fit your candidates are. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to be introduced to these people.”

“Yes, of course,” Mohr muttered while Ristor Ardanis worked to hide his amusement. “Excellences, allow me to present Dama Rilna Zokill. Dama Zokill has become the representative of a group of women who – “

“Not just women, Dom Mohr,” Zokill interrupted for the third time, actually speaking to Jovvi and Lorand rather than the man who had – reluctantly - introduced her. “I represent a large group of people, men as well as women, who feel that they haven’t had the same opportunities in life that others have had. My people make up a good part of those who live in this city, and we’d like to know what you mean to do for
them
.”

“First you’ll have to tell us what kept those opportunities from your people,” Jovvi responded pleasantly while Lorand seemed at a loss for words. “If we’re talking about women who were passed over because they
are
women, I can understand the problem and will join with my Blendingmates to see that something is done to change matters. But if we’re talking about people who sit back and make no effort to get something for themselves, and then spend their time complaining about how life and other people just aren’t fair, we won’t be able to help you. We won’t make people give up what they’ve struggled for just because you have a more persistently loud voice than they do.”