Prophecy (7 page)

Which was why Delin had done away with the scribes watching
him
before he’d dealt with his parents. That Lord Advisor Ephaim Noll had probably been furious that he lacked details when he confronted Kambil about the incident, and Kambil had shown his usual stupidity by assuming that Noll had had ordinary spies. No, the spies weren’t ordinary or out in plain sight, and Delin had caused the new one listening beyond the walls of his tiny room to go into a permanent paralysis after tearing up what he’d just written down. That was right after Delin had been freed, of course, and his skulking around had kept any other of them from following him to the kitchens where he’d killed the servant woman with a heart attack.

He’d had to kill only one more of the scribes, the one he’d forced to bring him all the transcripts of what had been going on since the new Five had taken over. Those transcripts had been piling up, since the only Advisors who knew about them were now dead, and Delin had actually done the scribes a favor by reading them. The scribes could have gone on until the last one died of old age, piling up pages that no one knew about and therefore could not read. There was no one for the scribes to report to, but Delin had killed the last one anyway, to keep the man from
finding
someone to report to…

So Delin knew exactly who Kambil’s enemies were, and of course the fool had left them alive. The man seemed to think that power was for waving in the faces of people you disliked, and then you simply took your power and walked away from those people. It seemed that Delin alone knew that power enabled you to bring before you those who merited death, a fate you gave them after causing them the additional agony of telling them about it beforehand. That way they were
not
left able to store up resentment against you while they plotted your downfall.

Too many members of the nobility knew in their bones that any noble Blending on the Throne had been put there rather than having won to the place, and that despite
their
supposed win. That meant most of the nobility thought of the Five as servants of the empire and therefore of themselves, rather than the rulers of it and them the way Kambil believed. The fool had no idea how many plots were being hatched against him by those he’d exercised
his
kind of power against, and Delin wouldn’t have told him even if he’d asked. It would be much more amusing to watch to see which of those plots actually managed to succeed.

But he, of course, would keep himself out of the path of them. If the others of his groupmates were taken down along with Kambil, well, that would just be too bad. They’d all had a hand in adding to his torture, and even though they couldn’t really be considered responsible, they’d still had that hand in. If they ended up savaged, Delin would shed no tears of remorse.

And now
, he thought as he stretched just a little,
it’s time for my evening gruel.
After that he would sit thinking for a while, and then he would go to bed as usual. The new scribe watching him would also settle down for the night, but would stay awake even though nothing would be expected to happen. Delin would put the man to sleep when he was ready to get up again, and would waken him again after he’d finished his night’s work.

And he’d have to do the same thing to the scribes watching his groupmates, assuming he decided to present the four with a small gift. If he did, a time would come for Delin to mention those gifts openly, but for now it would be enough that he gave them—if he did. And if he did then one day the four would learn about the gifts, and then it would be Delin’s turn to laugh…

* * *

Lady Eltrina Razas walked into the small suite in the very exclusive inn she had frequented many times, glancing around to see how the sitting room was furnished. Each of the inn’s suites were furnished differently, of course, but the one she usually occupied was unfortunately already taken. This one was a bit gaudier than she liked, but for her purposes it would do nicely.

“All right, I’ll just have to put up with it,” she said with faint annoyance to the hovering landlord who had followed her to the door of the sitting room, making no effort to turn and look at the man. “Have that meal sent to me without delay, and don’t forget that I’m not here tonight if anyone comes looking for me. I’ve had a ghastly few days, and I need some peace and quiet with nothing in the way of disturbance.”

“Of course, Lady Eltrina, you may count on me as usual,” the landlord said smoothly, probably with a bow. “I’ll have the food brought to you as soon as it’s prepared, and in the meanwhile the tea in the service is fresh and hot. Thank you for gracing us again with your presence.”

Eltrina made some vague sound that apparently satisfied the man, as he quietly closed the door as he left. That was a great relief, as Eltrina was very tired of either standing in shadow or keeping her face turned away from people. There was only a single bruise on her face, but it wasn’t something one cared to advertise the presence of.

A deep sigh accompanied Eltrina’s careful lowering of herself into a chair, something she had to do even before she poured herself a cup of tea. She was still in pain, of course, thanks to her husband Grall and his beatings, not to mention the way he’d given her to every male servant in the house. Most of those peasants had been too nervous to do more than enter her before they lost control, but even so the time hadn’t been pleasant. But that very unpleasantness had been the key to her freedom, as one of those servants had been the kitchen boy who felt himself madly in love with her. She’d encouraged the boy’s feelings out of amusement, never dreaming at the time how important that childish love would turn out to be.

“Torlin, please help me!” she’d whispered when the boy had finally been allowed his turn, having no trouble making tears flow from her eyes. “He means to keep me like this until I die, which won’t be long in coming if I cannot regain my freedom. Give me your love one final time, to say goodbye if helping me escape is beyond you…”

“No, m’ lady, don’t say thet!” the boy had begged, tears in his own eyes. “I’ll help ya, ’r die in the tryin’!”

And so Torlin
had
helped her, sneaking back to untie her in mid afternoon, not long after Grall had left the house. She’d had trouble moving around, naturally, but hadn’t let the pain stop her from doing what was necessary. She’d crept up to her own apartment to dress, and after that had paid Grall’s apartment a visit. The man was a creature of habit, and so Eltrina knew that the first thing he would do when he returned would be to pour himself a drink from the excellent wine he kept only for himself in his sitting room. None of the servants was allowed to touch those bottles of wine, so he would serve himself. In the first glass coming to hand, which was also his habit…

“Which means that once he closes his eyes tonight, he’ll never open them again,” Eltrina murmured, delighting in the thought of that. She’d bought the poison she’d used quite some time ago, intending to employ it once she’d gained a high enough career position, but that time had never come. But the time to use the poison
had
come, and Eltrina had smeared it around the rim of the first glass of the small diamond arrangement of glasses Grall kept near the bottles of wine. He would drink from the glass and swallow the poison all unknowingly, and once he retired and fell asleep, the poison would slow his bodily processes to the point of death and then beyond. And then the poison would evaporate or something, she’d been assured, making it impossible for anyone to know it had ever been present. It was a tool of the great and powerful which she’d managed to wheedle out of an admirer, a tool which most people knew nothing about.

“And tonight I’ll feel ill enough to have a pair of serving girls watch me carefully throughout the night,” Eltrina murmured as she forced herself erect so that she might get herself the tea she really needed. “It will cost me more than a little silver to have them here to prove I never leave the room, but money is no problem at the moment. Beginning tomorrow, it will never be a problem again.”

That would have made her laugh if laughing hadn’t been so painful, but at least Eltrina could smile. She really did know the man she’d been married to, and Grall never advertised his problems to anyone who didn’t absolutely need to know. For that reason she’d taken a chance and gone to their bank, and had found that withdrawing money had been as easy as ever. The bankers knew nothing about the trouble between her and Grall, which meant he also hadn’t gotten around to divorcing her. When he was found dead tomorrow morning and no one was able to prove a charge of murder against her, she would inherit everything that had been his.

“And once his estate is mine, I’ll spend every copper of it in order to get even with those peasants—and with the Five,” Eltrina said, not shouting but no longer whispering. “What I went through was
their
fault, and I’m
going
to pay them all back. But those peasants aren’t available right now, so I’ll just have to start with the Five.
Someone
will know how to reach them, someone I can bribe to make sure I have my revenge. And it might even be a good idea to spread the word about how legitimate their Seating is … spreading it among the peasants, that is. I wonder what they’ll do if the entire city rises against them…”

That time Eltrina did laugh, but the pain was more than worth it.

CHAPTER SIX

“What do you mean, you won’t be coming back again until you have further word from your men?” Lady Hallina Mardimil snapped to the man Ravence, her patience completely gone. “I’m paying you gold to report to me, so you’ll report when
I
tell you to.”

“Making the trip to this house just to say that I haven’t heard anything more is a waste of my time,” the annoying little peasant countered, a dismissiveness in his tone that Hallina was growing to recognize—and detest. “I told you two days ago that my men believed the people with your son are heading for a place called Widdertown, where it’s assumed they’ll stay for a while. Whether the while is short or long depends on what their plans are, but if there’s an opportunity to reach your son, my men will take it. They won’t report again until they make the attempt or miss their chance, and that’s when
I’ll
be back.”

“You haven’t yet said anything about the men I asked you to find and hire,” Hallina pointed out, refusing to agree to his stance without an argument. “Since
that
matter is still pending, you have more to do than simply wait for a pigeon to deliver a message to you.”

“I believe I’ve already told you that the sort of men you want aren’t available through me,” Ravence replied, actually having the nerve to sigh. “My business is the confidential settling of private, personal matters, not the hiring of thugs. Even if the thugs are supposed to be ‘fearless and capable and adept at all forms of mayhem.’”

“Are you daring to mock me?” Hallina demanded, feeling her face grow warm with embarrassment at the thought. “For someone whose agents are preparing to abduct my son for me, peasant, you have much too high an opinion of yourself!”

“My men aren’t going to abduct your son, they’resimply going to return him here,” Ravence replied, not in the least disturbed. “If, after he speaks with you, he tries to leave again, they’ll do nothing to stop him. I happen to feel that a parent has the right to have one final word with his or her child before that child severs all relations, and for that reason I’m here right now. Otherwise I really would have been too busy to accommodate you.”

“I see,” Hallina responded, delighted that she hadn’t told this detestable peasant her true plans. Once Clarion was in her hands again and back under control of that drug, she’d make certain that he never found it possible to leave a second time … unless it became necessary to sacrifice him to save herself. “Well, in that case I won’t detain you. Your—very important business matters shouldn’t be kept waiting.”

“No, they shouldn’t,” he agreed as he rose, straightening the vest which covered part of his paunch. “As soon as I have any word, I’ll contact you again.”

Hallina sat in her chair and watched as the man bowed briefly and then left, now more than eager to see him go. She’d been counting on the man to find the … thugs, as he called them, for her, and he’d failed her. But she refused to give up the rest of her plans, the ones that would begin to take just vengeance on those horrible, ill-mannered children on the throne. She would simply have to find suitable tools elsewhere.

Thought of what the new Five had put her through this last time she spoke with them sent Hallina to her feet and pacing. She’d gone to the palace to pass on the information which Ravence had brought her two days ago, but rather than being admitted at once she’d been made to wait like a commoner. Then, when she’d finally been permitted into the august presences, her information had been thrown back in her face.

“We already know that your son and his friends are in the west, Lady Hallina,” that Kambil Arstin had said dismissively, giving her only a fraction of his attention. “You were supposed to provide information we
don’t
have.”

“The name of the place they’ll soon be is Widdertown,” Hallina had replied stiffly, biding her time while pretending not to be insulted. “Unless I’m mistaken, that
is
information you don’t already have.”

“Yes, you’reright, we
weren’t
told about that town,” the creature had replied, now looking straight at her. “The information may or may not do us any good, but you still have our thanks for providing it. And, if it should prove to be valuable, you’ll have more than simple thanks. Now you may leave us.”

Hallina had had no choice but to allow herself to be dismissed, something no one had ever dared to do to her before. She’d been determined even before that to teach those creatures a lesson, but after being treated like a peasant, the determination had become obsession. She wanted those five
hurt
, no matter what they were supposed to be capable of doing with their talent…