Destiny (23 page)

"I don't have to tell you anything," Tal gasped out, glaring hatred at Frode that would have frightened Antrie if she were the one being looked at like that. "I demand to speak with my father, and what's more - Oh!"

"You're a talentless criminal, Tal, so your father won't want to have anything to do with you," Frode countered with a distant smile. "That … push I just gave you was very small and not very painful, but my patience is now all gone. Answer my question, or I'll
make
you answer me."

"It's against the law to control people, Mismin," Tal sneered in spite of the unease Antrie could see in his eyes. "Trying to control an assembly member can get you executed, so you just go ahead and - "

"Zirdon, wake up!" Antrie interrupted, deciding it was time to help. "You are
not
a member of the assembly any longer, and never will be again even if your family doesn't desert you. Denying that fact won't do you any more good than it's done Korge, but if you want to insist on being a member of the assembly we just might let you do that. Out on the street, away from all protection."

"But I could be killed out there!" Zirdon protested in outrage, staring up at Antrie. "You'd never be able to live with yourself if you did that, and if I were dead I certainly couldn't answer your questions. That means you're just bluffing, so - "

"Wrong again," Frode said, taking his turn at interrupting. "Antrie might be too kindhearted to put you out in the street, but I'm not. If I have to force an answer out of you that's exactly what I
will
do, and then it won't matter if you end up dead."

"Yes, you'd do that, I know you would," Zirdon muttered, the look in his eyes terrified. "All right, I'll tell you what I know, but first you have to promise not to send me out there. I don't want to be the last one killed by those madmen."

Antrie stepped back and watched Frode assure Zirdon that he would be kept in the house if he told everything he knew. Antrie had the feeling that Frode now used his talent to make Zirdon speak without the former Fire magic user knowing what was happening. If for some reason Zirdon wasn't executed for the things he'd done, he'd certainly try to make trouble for everyone he could. Better to let Zirdon believe that confessing was his own idea.

And confess Zirdon did. Frode got the necessary name first, and then he and Antrie were forced to listen to what seemed like a thousand reasons why Zirdon had been right to act as he had. Frode quietly slipped out of the room after a few minutes, and Zirdon didn't seem to realize that he was gone. The man just kept talking, and when the three guards came back into the room and Antrie left, Zirdon didn't seem to notice that either. He just kept talking and talking and talking…

"Is he still at it?" Frode said as he rejoined Antrie in the hall. "I've sent some of my people to find that man Tal told us about. Once we have him we'll go after the assassins he hired, and my people will be very thorough in finding out the identity of all of them as well as information on any other plans. We don't need this nonsense distracting us from our serious problems."

Antrie felt the urge to smile at the way Frode called assassination nonsense, but she couldn't quite manage a smile. The invaders
were
a more serious problem, and at the moment they could do little more than fervently hope the Gandistrans were successful against them.

Chapter Fourteen

Olskin Dinno watched Satlan Reesh approach him in the sitting room where he'd found a place out of the way. Olskin had never seen a man change as much as Reesh had, at least not in a positive way. Reesh had always been the sort of man Olskin avoided whenever possible, but now he actually looked forward to sharing the man's company.

"There were four other attackers waiting for their chance to approach the house," Reesh announced with a smile as he stopped near Olskin. "My Blendingmates and I had very little trouble locating them and changing their minds, and now Mismin's men have the four. Are those sandwiches for us alone, or are we supposed to share them with our people?"

"Our people have been given other sandwiches, I'm told, so these are ours," Olskin answered with a small chuckle. "We've all been promised a more substantial meal for supper, but it will have to be buffet style. There are too many of us for a proper sit-down… How sure are you that there aren't more than four attackers lurking about?"

"As sure as possible after checking a full half-mile radius," Reesh answered as he moved closer to the plate of sandwiches and appropriated one. "There are a lot of people out there who have nothing to do with the attacks, so a half mile was the best we could do. Do you know whose turn it will be now that mine is over?"

"The next turn is mine, but I'm not going to start immediately," Olskin answered after sipping at his tea. "If I wait a short while, I might catch some attackers sneaking up in place of the ones
you
caught. But first we need to give those people a chance to realize that some of their assassins are gone - and maybe even be gone themselves."

"I take it that Mismin got the information he needed from Tal," Reesh said after sitting down. He hadn't even tasted his sandwich yet, but he seemed more curious than hungry. "That should help quite a lot, especially if Gardan suddenly decides to run home without telling anyone."

"I don't think Gardan is going to be running anywhere," Olskin said, and then made up his mind to share the rest of what he'd been told. "Antrie let me know privately that Gardan's lovely wife has been breaking the law with her Spirit magic, but Mismin was able to pull him out of it. We're leaving Gardan alone for a while so he can gather himself together, and after this we won't mention the incident either to him or to anyone else. Unless
he
mentions it, of course."

"Do you really think Gardan will let the woman get away with controlling him?" Reesh asked, looking more concerned than curious. "I know for myself that I can make enough mistakes on my own. I have no need whatsoever of someone else adding to my efforts."

"I suppose it depends on how much Gardan really cares for the woman," Olskin replied with a shrug. "If the love he felt was
all
her doing, she won't be very happy with his reaction now that he's free."

"I have no sympathy for someone who tampers with another's mind," Reesh said with his own shrug, raising the sandwich before clearly remembering something else he wanted to mention. "Oh, yes, before I get down to eating, I ought to tell you that my Blendingmates and I did some additional healing on Korge. The fool was put in a room in the servants' quarters, and he's been complaining nonstop. We've taken away most of the fool's pain, so the servants may not have to kill him to get some peace and quiet."

"If they do kill Korge, I won't find much to complain about myself," Olskin said with a chuckle. "If, on the other hand, the servants decide to leave instead of doing a killing, I'll have a lot to complain about. After my Blendingmates and I do our own patrol, I'll also see about additional healing. The sooner Korge is healthy enough to leave, the happier I'll be."

"The happier we'll
all
be," Reesh corrected around a mouthful of sandwich, which made Olskin chuckle again.
Yes
, he thought,
Reesh has definitely become someone worth knowing. If it weren't impossible, I'd wish the same change would come on Korge. But maybe coming so close to death
will
change Korge. An outcome like that would be well worth the hoping for…

Thrybin Korge lay on his side in the shabby little room those fools had consigned him to. He now lay on a bed rather than on a litter, but he'd shouted himself hoarse and no one had come to see what he needed. Lorimon's inept servants hadn't been able to do anything for him the two or three times they
had
come in, but that didn't mean they had any right to ignore him. Especially now that he was feeling so much better…

Korge eased himself down on his back, and even that didn't bring back the crippling pain he'd been feeling. For some reason he seemed to be healing much faster than he'd expected he would, which certainly proved how superior he was to everyone else. As soon as he could walk he would be out of that house, and then he'd be able to continue on with his plans. He would spend half his time making people outraged over those new High Blendings, and the other half of his time would go toward lining up powerful people to back his claim of still being an assembly member. The other assembly members would certainly support him, once he pointed out how insecure their own positions would be if they didn't.

"And I'll have to find out what all that fuss was about when we entered the city," Korge muttered, anger turning his voice to a growl. "The nerve of those idiots, refusing to tell
me
about what's going on! Tal was taken to the front of the column, but they left
me
all alone and in the dark knowledge-wise. I'll have to remember to return the favor, at least until it's time to displace those morons. Then I'll certainly tell them all about it…"

Thrybin spent a few very pleasant minutes picturing the time when he would take control of the entire assembly, but then another thought occurred to him. He hadn't tried to see if he could stand and walk, and with the servants ignoring him he wasn't likely to find a better time to experiment. If the pain came back he would simply demand that the servants pay some attention to him, but if there
was
no pain… Yes, this would be the perfect time to leave.

Sitting up carefully was Thrybin's first effort, and although there was a small amount of pain it wasn't anything he couldn't bear. Being out of that house and back in his own was a more important consideration, so he next got shakily to his feet. There was a moment of dizziness and a small increase in the pain he felt, but nothing he couldn't cope with for a short time. He was now standing and would soon be walking, but only until he found a coach for hire. After that he would ride, and after
that
…

Thrybin Korge, the man destined to rule the Gracelian empire, smiled as he slowly made his way out of his enemy's house. He would be back there one day, he knew, but only when it was time to take the house away from Lorimon. And it would be broad daylight when he did that, not late afternoon as it was now. But now, late afternoon with its very convenient shadows was much more useful…

Cleemor Gardan looked up at Antrie Lorimon where she stood, and somehow found it possible to smile at her.

"I can't decide whether I ought to be furious or miserable, so I suppose I'm all right," he said in answer to the question she'd put. "I thought I'd married a woman who loved me, but instead I got … Tenia."

"If you weren't such a wonderful person, we might have seen what she was doing a bit sooner," Antrie told him as she took a chair opposite his. "If you were mean and nasty and ugly on top of it, we would have wondered how you two could be so 'in love.' As it is, though… Have you decided what you'll do now that you know the truth?"

"Yes, I think I have," Cleemor answered, only faintly surprised that he
had
made a decision. "Tenia gave me no true chance to fall in love with her, using her talent instead to make me
think
I was in love. She was the one who made the choice to cheat rather than behave fairly, so now fairness gets to be given to
her
. As soon as we're out of here, I'm going to have Frode arrest her."

"Since Frode hasn't yet come back from going after the man behind the assassins, we still have some time yet," Antrie pointed out with a sigh. "If you think about the matter and then change your mind, I'll certainly understand. But whatever you do, you can be certain you'll have my full support."

"I appreciate that, dear friend," Cleemor said with the best smile he was able to produce, meaning every word. "We've supported each other for years now, but this was a decision I had to make alone. My first urge was to forgive Tenia, just as I would have if she'd been sneaking around with another man. But this is much more serious than a simple affair, and I can't let her get away with it. She deliberately went after a man with power in the assembly, and she got what she wanted. Now it's time she learned that the other side of power is responsibility."

"And you consider yourself responsible for seeing that she doesn't get the chance to do the same again to someone else," Antrie said with a nod of understanding. "I admire you, Cleemor, but I certainly don't envy you. I don't know if I would be strong enough to do the same… I ought to ask, though: where do you stand now on the question of High Blendings? You do know that our time as leaders is coming to an end?"

"Yes, and now that I can think clearly again I have to change to
your
stance," Cleemor said, but not very happily. "I still abhor the idea of losing everything I've worked for, but the time is very close when my personal preferences won't matter. If I can't find a High Blending of my own to join, I'll simply step aside."

"But in the meanwhile you and I and Reesh and Dinno are what's left of the government," Antrie pointed out. "In my opinion that means we have to work toward survival in case the Gandistrans can't find a way to defeat the invaders. If we have to abandon Liandia, do you have any idea where we can go?"

"Our only practical destination would be Gandistra, and from there to Astinda," Cleemor said slowly after considering the question. "If the Gandistrans fail to stop the invaders, that doesn't necessarily mean the invaders
can't
be stopped. It just means we'll need more time to find the method, at the same time denying the enemy as many of our people as possible. If we can take over or destroy the enemy's troops without letting those troops be replaced with our own people, finding a way to destroy the enemy Blending itself might be easier."