Intrigues (11 page)

“I can certainly understand that,” Edmin’s father allowed with all his usual courtesy of manner. “Ephaim was most definitely a brother to be proud of, and
I’m
proud to say I considered myself his friend. But I
am
confused about one point here… If anyone knows what became of your brother, shouldn’t you be the one?”

“I should be, but I’m not,” Sembrin admitted with a sigh and an expression suggesting total failure. “Ephaim was determined to control those people the way a Seated Blending is
supposed
to be controlled, and I’m afraid he underestimated them. Everyone thought he’d been partially successful – until his associates had various … accidents and incidents, and
he
disappeared completely. I began a search for him, of course, but wasn’t able to discover even a single clue as to his whereabouts.”

“He was undoubtedly forced to cover his tracks completely, most especially from those who knew him well,” Edmin sympathized in his most sincere tone. “The interlopers
were
far stronger than they should have been, but… What gives you the idea that my father and I did anything at all to those people? And if you were way out here from the time your brother disappeared, how do you know whether or not anything was done to those people in the first place?”

“Oh, that’s rather easy to explain,” Sembrin replied with a small, almost embarrassed laugh. “I may have taken
myself
out of Gan Garee, but my people stayed behind. They continued to send me information for quite some time, but then the flow of information stopped rather abruptly. That was one of the reasons I considered returning to the city, but then you and your father arrived with word about what was happening. Now you have much more of an organization than I do, so please do go on with what you’ve learned. Do you by any chance know how the fifth member of the group might have been poisoned?”

“I’m fairly certain I do know,” Edmin admitted, quickly making up his mind. “But first I must ask a question, Lord Sembrin. Am I mistaken in believing that your visit here today has more of a reason behind it than a simple courtesy call? Are you by any chance proposing an alliance?”

“Actually, I’m here with hat in hand,” Sembrin replied, and this time his expression was open and serious. “You and High Lord Embisson are among the very few really competent members of the nobility left, and I’d very much appreciate being allowed to join you in whatever plans you have for restoring things to the way they were. I
can
be of use to you without also being a danger because of excess ambition. My brother considered my lack of ambition to be one of my most endearing qualities.”

Sembrin’s smile filled with amusement, and Edmin couldn’t help showing a smile of his own as he looked over at his father. Sembrin Noll was a very disarming individual who
could
be of use to them, but Edmin didn’t know the man well enough to judge whether Sembrin might be more dangerous than useful. Edmin’s father also smiled, but with decision rather than doubt.

“Yes, Lord Sembrin, I heard your brother say that more than once,” Embisson commented, most likely for Edmin’s benefit. “We would be honored to have you join us, most especially if you’re able to add gold to the effort as well as your very capable talents.”

“Gold for the hiring of more men as guardsmen,” Sembrin said with a thoughtful nod. “Yes, I can contribute my share to that effort, which should keep us in control of this area at the very least. And there are others of us not far from here who can be talked into making their own contribution to the common effort. They think they can assure their safety by simply keeping their heads down, and they need to be disabused of so foolish a notion.”

Edmin exchanged another glance with his father, trying not to show how really impressed he was. For someone who no longer had an organization to gather intelligence, Sembrin still knew far more than Edmin would have expected. The fifty new guardsmen who had been quietly hired shouldn’t have been known to Sembrin, but he also seemed to know about the additional fifty they hadn’t yet concluded a deal with. This was definitely a man they wanted on
their
side…

“If you’ll give us the names and locations of those of our peers you just mentioned, we’ll be glad to pay them a visit,” Edmin assured their new associate. “Now, as to what happened to the fifth member of the interlopers, I believe he was poisoned and I believe it was done by Lady Eltrina Razas.”

“Ah, then she
was
successful,” Sembrin exclaimed with an odd sort of amusement. “I’d come to the conclusion that the woman was too obsessed to actually accomplish anything, but apparently I was wrong. May I ask what leads you to believe that the poisoning was accomplished through Lady Eltrina's efforts?”

“Aside from the fact that she spurned leaving the city with us in order to remain and continue her efforts?” Edmin said with another faint smile. “I have, in addition to that, the report of an agent who returned to my service after seeing how matters ended up in the city. The fifth of the interlopers
was
poisoned, and she nearly accomplished the same with the five peasants. She’d apparently taken a position as a servant in the palace, and when her final poisoning effort didn’t work, she attacked the five with a knife.”

“Which couldn’t possibly have gotten her anything but caught,” Lord Sembrin said with a nod. “She would have done better biding her time, but those who are obsessed are seldom rational. May I ask what particular happening in the city caused your agent to return to your service?”

“The happening was rather traumatic for my agent, as he’d hoped to sell his services to one of my peers,” Edmin said, speaking also to his father, who hadn’t yet heard the news. “It seems that the avenging force from Astinda was stopped by the five peasants and their followers, probably due to an agreement that was made. The agreement saw every noble left in the city placed under arrest, and then processed like animals at a slaughterhouse in order for them to be sent to Astinda. Once they reach Astinda, they’ll be put to work as slaves, cleaning up the devastation created there by our armies.”

“You’re joking,” Lord Sembrin said with a small laugh of disbelief while High Lord Embisson turned absolutely pale. “Those of our peers left in the city may not be terribly bright, but they’re still full members of the nobility. Those peasants wouldn’t have
dared
to do something like
that
…”

“Not only did they dare, but they acted without hesitation,” Edmin assured his listeners bitterly. “They took people of the highest quality and put them under arrest, and then the Astindans did something to them to keep them from escaping again. The Astindans invaded our empire with an army consisting of Blendings rather than simple link groups, and it’s those Blendings that are doing the dirty work. And on top of that, those five peasants have formed their own multiple Blendings.”

“Those fools!” Lord Embisson exploded, his face now darkened with outrage. “We’ve worked for centuries to keep the peasants of the empire under control, and they throw away all that effort in a matter of weeks! How do they expect to rule an empire where others have the same ability they do? If the peasants are able to protect
themselves
, why would they need a Seated Blending to do the protecting
for
them?”

“Obviously they have no real understanding of the proper way to rule,” Lord Sembrin said with a disapproving shake of his head. “But that very lack of understanding could well be their downfall. If there are
multiple
Blendings available as Lord Edmin’s agent reported, we should be able to find at least one that’s willing to do things our way in order to be Seated themselves. Once they’ve been made to see the light, they’ll be able to eliminate their competition from the safety of anonymity. Then there will be only one Blending again, and it will be to their advantage to keep it like that.”

“Yes, of course, you’re perfectly right,” Lord Embisson agreed as he regained control of his temper with a bit of difficulty. “The doings of the interlopers certainly outraged me, but in fine they were members of
our
class. To think that mere peasants would have the colossal nerve to do even worse…! Well, as you say, their naivete will turn out to be their undoing. We’ll have to start inquiries at once to find the perfect tools, but we won’t be saddled with them for long. As soon as they’ve returned things to normal in the empire, we’ll replace them with people of true quality – and less potent ability.”

“And I would advise against resurrecting the practice of challenges every twenty-five years,” Edmin put in, looking back and forth between the other two men. “Instead we can simply have the ruling Blending retire, and another take its place. If the peasants dislike the idea, they’ll have to learn to live with it.”

“Yes, I agree,” Lord Sembrin said with a thoughtful nod. “The sop given the peasants turned out to be our undoing, so we’d be fools to reinstitute the practice. And the five peasants may have even done us a favor. Our ranks really were becoming filled with deadwood, and Ephaim was constantly complaining about being pestered by those who had gold and property but nothing of ability to contribute to the general effort. That deadwood is now gone, and we’ll be able to start over again with those who are actually able to accomplish something.”

“I hadn’t considered that, but again I think you’re right,” Lord Embisson said, echoing Lord Sembrin’s nod. “This is a priceless opportunity, and we must take advantage of every aspect of it. Once we’re in control again, we’ll take steps to avoid the mistakes made by those who came before us.”

“I don’t mean to change subjects, but there are two other things you may not know as yet,” Lord Sembrin put in slowly. “The first item is of lesser importance, but really should be counted among our assets. My wife and I have two houseguests, her aunt and cousin. Her aunt is of no consequence, of course, but her cousin is Rimen Howser, who did rather well for himself before the troubles.”

“He also worked for the interlopers,” Edmin pointed out coldly. “My agent filled me in on that, and also the fact that he disappeared rather abruptly. If you’re suggesting that we allow him to join us, I’m afraid I must disagree.”

“Please hear me out,” Lord Sembrin said with a sober expression, holding up one hand in Edmin’s direction. “It’s true that Rimen worked for the interlopers, but he offered his services at the suggestion of the group he was a member of. They were determined to rid themselves of the interlopers, but needed someone on the inside to keep them informed of that five’s doings. He may have worked for them, but what he really worked for was their downfall.”

“And the group was headed by Grall Razas before he died,” Lord Embisson put in before Edmin could voice further doubts. “Yes, I’d heard about that, and with all the other things we were involved with, Edmin, I simply forgot to mention it. Are you saying, Lord Sembrin, that Howser walked away when he saw that things were falling apart?”

“Actually, Rimen was carried away,” Sembrin said with a grimace that negated any thought of amusement. “At first that Spirit magic user, Arstin, seemed to be in charge of the interlopers, and Rimen’s ability was put to proper use. Then it was suddenly the Earth magic user, Delin Moord, who was in charge, and Rimen allowed his … prejudices to overcome his good judgment. Moord told Rimen that he would immediately be made a High Lord if he collected the gold due Moord from the peasants, and Rimen actually tried to do that collecting. He ended up beaten so badly that he nearly found it impossible to get home, and his mother was frantic. But she did manage to get him to a healer, and then she took him out of the city. He’s now recovering at my place.”

“If he recovers quickly enough, we should be able to find a place for him,” Lord Embisson said with a nod. “What was the other thing you thought we should know?”

“It’s come to my attention that the interlopers must have ordered home the Gracely army,” Sembrin answered with something of a smile. “I make that assumption for the reason that the army in question is on its way back to Gan Garee and will soon pass through this very neighborhood.”

“Really,” Edmin murmured after exchanging a raised-brow glance with his father. “I was under the impression that the Gracely army had been sent to the west.”

“Either they received other orders, or the leaders of the army decided to make their stand in defense of Gan Garee,” Sembrin replied with a shrug. “Whatever the reason, we’ll soon have an army of our own to use as soon as they’re told that their superiors in the city are no longer in a position to make use of them. I suggest we send a messenger to them, inviting the officers to sit down with us for a meal and a discussion. Would you rather receive them here, or at my place?”

“Neither,” Lord Embisson said at once, an instant before Edmin would have said the same. “Using them for our own purposes is an excellent idea, but there’s no need to burden them with too much knowledge. We’ll find a house that isn’t being used right now, and that’s where we’ll meet them. Then, if one of them happens to be captured by the enemy, he won’t be able to reveal our true locations.”

“And those of us going to the meeting ought to be masked,” Edmin added. “There are members of our peer group running that army, and we don’t want to be recognized and remembered. Until we’re back in control, the key to our survival will be discretion in all things.”

“And I never thought of that,” Sembrin said with a rueful smile and shake of his head. “As I said, making use of the information I gather isn’t my strong point. Shall I let you know when the army gets close enough that a messenger won’t be days about delivering his message?”

“Yes, do,” Lord Embisson agreed with his own smile. “We’ll get right to choosing an appropriate meeting place, so we’ll be ready when they get here. And don’t forget that we’ll need that list of our peers who expect to be able to hide their heads in the sand waiting for things to return to normal.”

“I’ll prepare the list, and have one of my servants bring it to you tonight,” Sembrin said as he rose from his chair to bow. “High Lord Embisson, Lord Edmin, you both have my thanks for allowing me to join your efforts. You have my word that you won’t regret the generosity.”