Betrayals (15 page)

“They’ll take him to the window dormitory right away,” Alsin said as he returned to me. “And I always seem to be abandoning you, so I’d better make immediate amends. The tea you wanted is right over here, and it can be joined by a meal if you happen to be hungry.”

“Thank you, but I’m not,” I answered, letting him guide me to the left to a long counter against the wall. The counter held the largest tea service I’d ever seen, with what looked like fifty cups without saucers. “Are you really expecting that many people to be thirsty during the night, or is that arrangement simply preparation for the morning?”

“A bit of both,” he replied with a smile as he reached for one of the cups. “We occasionally have people coming and going at all hours here, so it’s easier to keep things ready than to make them ready. Your tea, lady, and the sugar is right over there.”

I accepted the cup he’d filled while giving him a nod of thanks, then put sugar into the tea while he poured a cup for himself. My fingertips told me that the tea could stand to be a bit hotter, so when he put his cup down near the sugar I warmed his tea as well as my own. One of the men sitting in the room gasped, and Alsin glanced at him questioningly until he picked up his cup again.

“Ah, now I understand why Gorliss was so surprised and impressed,” Alsin said with a chuckle. “You warmed our tea, and since Gorliss is technically on watch, he’s touching the power. I hadn’t remembered that his aspect is Fire magic, but now there can’t be any doubt. I think I’d better introduce you.”

Just then the three men who had left abruptly returned, two of them carrying Valiant Ro’s still-limp body. The third seemed to be in charge of leading the way, probably to open and close doors. We waited until they passed through the room, then Alsin led the way toward the table where the man Gorliss sat.

“There are no others in the dormitory room he’s being taken to, so Dom Ro won’t find himself crowded if he awakens early,” Alsin murmured as we walked. “There are also special arrangements for food to be brought there, and if you like there’s a place for you in the room as well.”

“Thank you, but I prefer to stay with my other friends,” I replied, not quite able to produce a smile. Then I raised my voice a bit to add, “It should amuse you that your friend Gorliss here seems to be a stronger Middle than the former Seated High in Fire magic: And you can tell him that he needn’t hold to the power quite so tightly. I’m saving my strength for any nobles I happen to come across.”

That produced chuckling in all the men, especially the one who had been staring at me so intensely. Alsin introduced me to everyone, and the man Gorliss shook his head ruefully.

“I apologize for reactin’ like that, ma’am, but you’re surely the strongest talent I ever did feel,” he said. “There’s some who tell me I’m a monster, but my strength compared to yours …”

He shook his head, and Alsin smiled in the same rueful way.

“I know just what you mean, Gorliss,” he admitted. “I used to think I had all the strength there was, and then I watched her friend Dom Coll at work. He made me feel like a Low talent, and he wasn’t even straining. When Dama Domon and the others finally get to take their proper place as the Seated Five, no one will have to wonder if they deserve to be there.”

The men all agreed with that rather more strongly than I expected them to, and then Alsin excused us and led the way to a table a short distance away. He seated me before settling into his own chair, and then he smiled rather wearily.

“It’s been a very long day, so I imagine you’re glad to finally have the tea and chair you were promised,” he said. “Personally, I’m not tired at all, and if necessary I could just keep on going for another—oh, two or three minutes at least. As long as I spend the time sitting down.”

“I don’t know if I’m quite that strong,” I said with a smile I didn’t have to force. “If I didn’t need this tea to help me unwind, I’d probably already be asleep. Would you prefer to wait until tomorrow before telling me what your organization is all about?”

“I don’t have to be awake to talk about the organization,” he said after sipping at his tea. “I know our aims so well, I probably recite them in my sleep as it is. Do you have any idea how hard it is for people to make something of themselves in our society? I’m not talking about people with no ethics or conscience, because people like that always manage to prosper—at the expense of those around them. I’m talking about your average man or woman, ordinary, decent people.”

“No, actually, I don’t,” I admitted, sipping at my own tea. “My parents are the sort you mentioned first, without ethics or conscience, and so are all their friends and acquaintances. Why is it so hard for decent people to get ahead?”

“The nobility is why,” he responded, bitterness creeping into his voice. “Everyone gets a basic education because the schools teach obedience as well as restraint in using one’s talent, but in order to go beyond the basics, you have to have a ‘sponsor.’ The sponsor must be a member of the nobility, but you don’t even get to see him. You simply make your payment to his agent, the higher the payment, the higher up on the list your name goes. After that you’re allowed to pay through the nose for the education itself— and then just try to find a job where you can use what you learned.”

“What about those who don’t want a higher education?” I asked, only just beginning to understand how really sheltered I’d been. “There’s nothing wrong with opening a shop or providing a service, and a lot of people seem to have done just that.”

“No, a lot of people do it for various members of the nobility,” Alsin corrected gently, leaning forward to put his forearms on the table. “Not one man or woman in ten owns his or her own business. What they do is buy a license from the noble in charge of their section of the city, then they pay three-quarters of what their business earns to its real owner. All expenses are paid out of their end, and they’re allowed to live on whatever’s left.”

“That’s outrageous,” I stated, beginning to get angry. “No wonder they’re all so rich without having to lift a finger. But why do people stand for it? Why don’t they leave the city and move elsewhere so they can live better?”

“Where would you suggest they go?” he asked, smiling without amusement. “There isn’t a single part of this empire that the nobles don’t own, even if most of the time they live here. They have agents to represent them everywhere, so they don’t have to be on the spot to collect their gold. We might as well have brands on our shoulders and steel collars welded closed around our necks. We’re slaves to them in everything but name.”

“It’s not supposed to be like that,” I said with a shake of my head, the agitation growing. “I know there was a time when the nobles didn’t own everything, and we need to bring that time back again. What are you doing to make it happen?”

“One of the things we’re not doing is racing around like chickens with their heads cut off,” he soothed, his amusement for some reason returned. “There have been other organizations from time to time, but none of them were able to accomplish anything because they tried to attack the nobles themselves. We’re out to show that the nobles are maintaining themselves in power by breaking the law. If we can do that, then we can take the individual nobles down without their being able to scream about lawless rebellion. And with the law on our side, most of the guard will have to support us.”

“I don’t see things working out that way,” I said with another shake of my head. “Most people are content to live quietly even with things as they are, so you can’t expect support from them. If you come forward—with just your supporters—claiming the nobles are breaking the law, those same nobles will laugh and tell you to take them to court and then they’ll go about their business. That business will consist of delaying or outright squashing any charges being brought against them, in the meanwhile having you and your people quietly arrested. You can’t bring charges in court if you don’t come forward, and if you do come forward you’ll never live long enough to see those charges pressed. You need to do something else entirely.”

“Like what?” he asked, the amusement gone again. “Recruit an army and depose the nobles by force? Not only does that go against everything we believe in, it just isn’t possible. It takes experience and training to use the talents of an army effectively, and no one among us has that. It’s been far too long since our empire had an army, so any veterans we might have recruited are long since dead.”

“How does the empire get along without an army?” I asked in confusion. “Especially since we’re supposedly still expanding into what used to be other people’s countries? No, never mind, the question isn’t relevant. What is relevant is that your plans will never work. I’m sorry to have to tell you that, but I prefer to hurt your feelings rather than stand back and watch you die. Thank you for the tea. I think I’m ready to sleep now.”

He rose when I did, but he made no effort to come with me when I left the room. He’d looked furiously unhappy, but he obviously couldn’t think of anything else to say in argument against what I’d told him. I suspected he knew as well as I did that his plan would never work, and had kept on with it only because no one had been able to think of anything better.

Opening the door quietly to the spartan communal bedchamber showed that Naran now slept as soundly as Rion. I slipped inside and closed the door again just as quietly, tiptoed to the door on the far side of the room in an effort to locate privacy facilities, and was glad to find them just behind the door. I used them quickly, then returned to the outer room where I chose a cot to lie down on. I was hardly used to sleeping in my clothes, but if Naran had been able to do it then I had the hope of being able to do the same.

Hope … I lay on my right side, the tiny pillow under my cheek, my gaze on Naran and Rion. Although both lay sound asleep, they nevertheless continued to hold hands. That was probably what being able to hope did for you, which was why I’d never have what they did between them. I could hope to fall asleep, but I’d never learn to hope for any situation which had the power to bring such incredible pain if it didn’t succeed. When it didn’t succeed …

I closed my eyes, but sleep was a very long time in coming.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Rion yawned and stretched, then got a good enough look at his surroundings to wonder where in blazes he was. The last thing he remembered was being at Mother’s house…. “No, that’s not the last thing,” he murmured when he saw Tamrissa sound asleep just a few beds away. Memory now flooded back about the way he’d been rescued, and Naran had been there as well. He had a vague memory of traveling in a coach forever, and then of being carried. And Valiant had also been there …

Without stopping to think, Rion swung his legs off the thin, narrow bed and stood, pausing to stretch again before realizing that he’d done it all without help. That abomination he’d been fed had finally worn off, then, and what a relief it was. Hobbling about like an old man, needing the help of others to walk without falling—

Sudden worry caused Rion to stand unmoving. His mind seemed perfectly all right, but he’d abruptly remembered what Mother had said about his talent. He was supposed to have been permanently damaged, especially since he hadn’t been free to fight against the damage. Well, he seemed to be free now, so it might be wisest to see if something positive could be done.

Rion first took a deep breath to brace himself against what he might find, and then he gingerly reached toward the power. There was a slight drag to his efforts at first, as though he needed to break through some sort of delicate barrier, and then his touch was full and sure. Strength flowed into him, both physical and talent-wise, and once again he was aware of everything to do with the air about him.

“It’s all there, just as it was before the betrayal!” he whispered ecstatically, needing to say the words aloud to make them absolutely real and true. But he had no wish to waken Tamrissa from the sleep she so obviously needed, and he also wanted to find Naran. It would be nice to know where they were, and also what they’d be doing next—

A door at the far end of the narrow room opened on a privacy facility, so Rion made use of it before trying the other door. He also used the shaving gear near the basin to rid himself of stubble, and splashed water into his face to drive away the last mists of sleep. But finding a bath house would soon become an absolute, top-drawer priority. He’d never slept in his clothes before, and disliked the sweaty, rumpled sensation doing it had left behind.

The second door led into a corridor, and after closing the thing as silently as possible he followed the corridor to an archway at what appeared to be its end. As he approached he heard low conversation, and stepping inside showed him a room filled with tables and chairs and people eating. Hunger suddenly touched him as well, but Naran had seen him come in. He first wanted to give her the good news, and then he would find a plate to fill.

“Good morning, my love,” Naran greeted him with a matchless smile once he was close enough, her lovely eyes shining. “I’m delighted to see you up and around again, and I apologize for not waiting until you awoke. When I opened my eyes I discovered that I was ravenous, and so had to come looking for something to eat.”

“Apologies would be necessary only if you hadn’t seen to yourself, my love,” he returned, bending to exchange a quick kiss with her. “And I must say I agree with you. It’s a very good morning indeed.”

“Oh, Rion, you’ve completely returned to yourself!” she exclaimed delightedly, taking the hand he held out. “I knew you would, but there was confusion about when. Oh, excuse my terrible manners. This gentleman is Dom Paisin Phile, one of those who are so kindly helping us.”

The tall, thin man sitting with Naran rose with a smile to offer his hand, and Rion took it while showing his own smile. It was marvelous to feel like a full man again, and also to be treated like one….

“It’s good to see you up and about, Dom Mardimil,” the man Phile said warmly. “Please help yourself to something to break your fast, and then I’ll leave you and Dama Whist alone.”