Intrigues (3 page)

The servant bowed his acknowledgment of the order, then turned and hurried the other staff members off to see to the wants of the new Five. He himself took up a hovering position, obviously ready to run in any direction should it be required of him. Jovvi led the way to the large meeting room they’d been in once before, and Rion joined everyone else in following her.

“All right, there’s two things that need doin’ right now,” Vallant said once everyone was in the large room with the servant left outside the closed door. “We have to send some of our guardsmen to fetch High Master Mohr, and we have to check out the entire servin’ staff of this place. Then we can wake up this man Feriun and find out what he’s up to.”

“Yes, I agree,” Jovvi said as she took a chair, and then she turned to Rion’s love. “Naran, how certain are you that this man and his friends are renegade Guild members?”

“There’s no certainty about the matter yet, but it’s a very strong possibility,” Naran responded as she obviously studied what only her eyes could see. “If it turns out to be true, it could be something of a problem.”

“To say the least,” Tamrissa commented dryly as she took her own chair. “We don’t know how many of them there are, or what their aims and plans could be. I suggest we stop wasting time and try to find out.”

The entire group agreed with that, so Jovvi waited until they’d all found chairs and then initiated the Blending. In heartbeats it was no longer Rion but the Blending entity who glanced over the situation before floating quickly out to the stables. Their guard escort hadn't yet unsaddled their horses, which made matters much easier for the entity. The leader of the guardsmen was given his orders about sending for High Master Mohr, and also told to bring the rest of his people into the palace when the messenger was sent. Then the entity was itself free to return to the palace.

There were a fairly large number of flesh forms in the immense structure, but each one needn’t be examined individually when they were found in groups. The entity found it simplicity itself to take over the minds of the entire group at once, and then it spoke to those captive minds.

- This entity would know of your loyalty to your new employers, -
it put gently. –
Would you betray them for silver or gold, or possibly for political reasons? –

Each flesh form in the first two groups quietly and truthfully denied any intention of ever planning betrayal, but the same did not hold true for one member of the third group.

“Of course I would betray them if I was given enough silver or gold,” a female flesh form admitted freely, fear and caution both being denied her. “They’re big-shots, aren’t they, so why wouldn’t I? Big-shots always push around the little people, so they deserve whatever they get.”

The entity ordered the female flesh form to report to the meeting room where its own flesh forms were, released the others in the group, then continued on. Four others with the same attitude toward betrayal were found elsewhere and also sent to the meeting room, and then the entity located two male flesh forms who were different. There was not the least, smallest resistance to the entity when it took the two over, and the response of the first of them was immediate.

“Of course I would betray those interlopers,” the flesh form admitted with pride, his companion nodding agreement. “The silver makes the situation sweeter, but I would betray those fakes even without being paid. They’re pretending to be the Chosen Blending when they’re not, and people need to know the truth.”

“And they also ruined my relationship with members of the nobility,” the second flesh form added with the shadow of anger. “I was well on the way to becoming a noble myself for all the help I gave, and now it will never happen. When they fall because of
my
efforts I’ll have my revenge, but it still won’t be complete. Nothing can repay me for what I’ve lost.”

At one time the entity would have had little understanding of what the flesh forms meant, but now it understood all too well. It sent the two males to the meeting room with an inner sigh, released the others in the group, then continued on with its chore. The completion of that chore took quite some time, but at last it was done and then it was Rion back again.

“Phew!” Jovvi said as she sprawled back in her chair. “That was some job, and for a moment I thought I’d need to draw strength from a link group or two. I’m really glad it’s over, at least for the moment.”

“You don’t need a link group, you need a decent amount of rest,” Lorand told her at once with a frown, leaving his own chair to move closer to hers and lean down. “You’ve been pushing yourself too hard with too little sleep, love, something I could feel much too clearly in the Blending. As soon as we finish what we’re in the middle of, you have to take some time to get that rest.”

“And in the meantime you
will
use one of your link groups,” Tamrissa ordered, her tone much more stern than Lorand’s had been. “For the first time in a long while I felt about three times stronger than you, which proves that Lorand isn’t imagining things.”

“Yes, yes, you’re all perfectly right,” Jovvi acknowledged as Rion joined the others in agreeing with what had been said. “I
am
tired and I
do
need rest, but I can’t take the time until we’re finished with this task. Have any of those people gotten here yet?”

Rion had already spoken quietly to a member of one of his link groups, and the man was on his way to the door to find the answer to Jovvi’s question. The man, Eystren, put his head outside, looked around, then opened the door wider.

“The guardsmen are here, Jovvi, and so are some others,” Eystren announced. “Which of them do you want first?”

“Let’s have the guardsmen in first, and then that woman,” Vallant said when Jovvi looked at him inquiringly. “The first woman, who doesn’t have much likin’ for ‘big-shots.’”

“Yes, I’m curious about her as well,” Rion agreed as Eystren took care of inviting in those who were wanted first. “I had the impression that she could well be the one who poisoned our predecessors.”

“Yes, I got that definite impression,” Naran agreed with a small shudder as she tightened her hold on Rion’s hand. “And our tea is here.”

Their guardsmen entered the room and immediately made way for the group of servants with two large tea services. Rion saw Lorand paying very close attention to what was being brought in, and a pair of moments later Lorand looked at all of them and nodded. That meant the tea and cups were safe to drink and use, so Rion rose and waited for the services to be set up. Then he poured cups of tea for Naran and himself before returning to his chair.

With everyone serving themselves it wasn’t long before most of their people had tea to sip. Jovvi seemed to be drinking hers gratefully, and when she put the cup aside Rion had the impression that she’d also touched at least one of her link groups.

“Yes, that’s definitely much better,” Jovvi announced with a smile that made her look more like her usual self. “Now, let’s have that woman in.”

Vallant went with one of the guardsmen to find the woman they all wanted, and when the woman was brought in Vallant went back to his chair. The guardsman, however, stayed behind the woman, watching her carefully. The servant was a tall woman who carried more weight than she should, and she stood with her head up in a stance that Rion suspected was her usual one.

“All right, now you can speak to us a bit more freely,” Jovvi said to the woman, whose gaze had lost the vague look of someone under the entity’s control. “We’d like to know why you poisoned the former Seated Five. There has to be more to it than resentment.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the woman stated, all but looking down her nose at Jovvi. “I may be general kitchen mistress, but with five separate and individual staffs I can’t possibly know everything that goes on. I can’t stop you from blaming me, but I’m
not
responsible.”

“That’s amazing,” Lorand said as Jovvi made a sound of annoyance. “Almost everything she said is a lie, but she still expects us to take her at her word.”

“She has a reason she hasn’t mentioned,” Jovvi told Lorand, then returned her attention to the woman. “You feel perfectly safe in spite of the fact that you’ve been found out, and I’d like to know why. Why aren’t you worried about what will become of you?”

“There’s nothing for me to worry
about
,” the woman responded, her faint smile giving Rion the impression of vindictiveness. “We’ve all heard about your bunch, and how it’s supposed to matter what people think of you. That’s because you’re peasants instead of nobles, and you don’t want more trouble than you already have. If you start out by accusing innocent people of all sorts of crimes, you’ll lose a lot of the support you need to stay where you are. I say I’m innocent, and if you try to argue that you’ll have more trouble than the point is worth.”

“I’m more in the mood to
do
than to argue,” Tamrissa interrupted the mutter of outrage circulating among the people in the room, her tone coldly furious. “Let’s see what roast cook is like.”

A narrow ring of fire suddenly circled the woman, and her exclamation of fear suggested that the fire was a good deal hotter than it looked.

“Only a fool believes everything she hears – and wants to believe is so,” Jovvi told the woman, her own voice on the cold side. “You’ve probably already announced your innocence far and wide, relying on that to keep you safe from summary execution. What a shame for you that we don’t believe in summary execution if it can be avoided, and in this case it can be. You’ll stand trial in open court for what you’ve done, but my first question still hasn’t been answered. Before the guardsmen take you away, tell me what made you do as you did.”

“I was paid gold to eliminate those fools, and why shouldn’t I have?” the woman answered without hesitation, showing that Jovvi had her under control again. The ring of fire abruptly disappeared, telling Rion that Tamrissa had seen what he had. “It isn’t possible to explain to any of you how much better I am than you, how much better I am than
everyone
. Those puffed up fools found out the truth, and so will the bunch of
you
.”

“I’m happy to say that we already know that particular truth,” Jovvi told her with a grimace. “Give me the name of the one who paid you that gold.”

“See, you don’t even know there was more than one,” the woman answered with a sneer. “The first one was Edmin Ruhl, son of that fool Embisson Ruhl, and the second was Eltrina Razas. It was their
privilege
to pay me gold, and eventually things would have been turned the proper way around and
they
would have worked for
me
.”

“I think it’s fairly obvious that the woman is insane,” Lorand said into the sudden silence after a brief hesitation. “Will the courts condemn someone who isn’t entirely responsible?”

“I believe they’ll first try to see if a physician can cure her,” Rion replied when no one else offered an opinion. “If the attempt succeeds, the woman will be allowed to become a useful member of society. If it doesn’t succeed, they’ll most likely have her put down. Someone who kills for no true reason and without the least regret can’t be allowed another chance to harm the innocent.”

“No, they can’t,” Jovvi agreed with a sigh, and then she turned to the leader of their guard. “Seldon, please have two of your men take that woman to the court authorities to be charged with the attempted murder of the previous Seated Five. Also tell them we’d like to be informed of her eventual disposition.”

“At once, Excellence,” the man Seldon replied with a bow, and the guardsman behind the woman was quickly joined by a second guardsman. The two took the woman out of the room, and the fact that she began to shout out her outrage proved that Jovvi had released her again.

“I think we ought to wait until tomorrow to interview most of the rest of those servants,” Lorand said, looking at Jovvi worriedly. “The only ones we can’t wait with are those two who are friends of our unconscious attacker over there. Are you able to do that much, love?”

“Easily,” Jovvi reassured him with a smile and a touch of her hand to his. “Leaning on my link group is helping quite a lot, and there isn’t that much left to do. I’m only tired, love, not completely drained. And I’ve just noticed that High Master Mohr has arrived. Vallant, can we have Dom Mohr and those two men in now?”

“I don’t see why not,” Vallant answered with a smile as he headed toward the door again, and then the smile faded. “Especially since I’m hopin’ Dom Mohr can do somethin’ about the situation.”

Vallant stepped out of the room, and a moment later Rion watched Lavrit Mohr, High Master of the Guild, walk in by himself. Mohr was a tall, lean man who usually wore a pleasant expression, but at the moment he seemed perplexed.

“Good day to you, Excellences,” Mohr greeted them, pausing to perform a small but respectful bow before continuing on into the room. “I hadn’t thought you would be requiring a report from me quite this soon.”

“We haven’t asked you here for a report, Dom Mohr,” Lorand told him with something of a smile. “I’m sure your people in the Guild are doing all they can to coordinate a renewal of the shipping of goods from all over the empire, but it
is
too soon to expect obvious and tangible results. We have another problem we need your help with.”

Mohr parted his lips, probably to ask about the problem, but his words were interrupted by the arrival of the two suspected men. They were being guided into the room by guardsmen, and Vallant was at the head of the small parade. Mohr glanced at the men behind Vallant, then quickly looked at them again with a good deal more attention.

“Do you recognize them, Dom Mohr?” Jovvi asked gently as the tall man continued to stare at the newcomers. “There’s a third member of the group, over there on that couch.”

Mohr only glanced at the still-unconscious third man, but his face had paled and his lips had become a narrow line.

“No, I don’t actually recognize any of them,” Mohr said after an uncomfortable hesitation. “There’s little doubt, though, that those two at least ought to be Guild men. I can’t tell about the third man, not when he isn’t conscious… What have they done?”