Destiny (5 page)

"Feriun, you've just demonstrated why you're no more than hired help," Sembrin said with a haughty sneer, making the words as cutting as possible. "Using a High talent to force people to talk is something
we
would do, but the peasants in the government are much too wholesome and pure to do the same. In their own eyes they're
good people
, and good people don't do awful things like invade the privacy of others. I thought you would have realized that by now."

"Depending on the government having that kind of outlook doesn't strike me as being wise, my lord," Feriun answered after something of a hesitation. "If even one of the people in charge doesn't care about being considered 'good,' then we'll be betrayed even if the man involved has no desire to betray us."

"Why don't you let
me
worry about that, Feriun?" Sembrin said, now trying to soothe the man. "And while I'm doing the worrying, you can be getting other men together to try the plan again. And this time choose men who are adaptable, men who can think on their feet. I want the necessary rumors circulating throughout the city before we go to the next step of the plan. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, my lord, I understand," Feriun said, sounding and looking as though he would have preferred to say something else entirely. "I'll choose the men, and send them out again tomorrow."

"Good," Sembrin said with a smile. Feriun performed a small bow before turning and leaving, and once the door was closed Sembrin lost his smile.

"The man's a damned fool," he growled under his breath, feeling the urge to break something. "Imagine, someone like him trying to do the thinking for someone like me. If I had anyone at all I could put in his place…"

But there
wasn't
anyone to take Feriun's place, no one all the men would take orders from the way they did with
this
man. Sembrin knew he would have to put up with Feriun's old-womanish fears until the plans worked, but afterward would be a different story. Feriun would pay for the disrespect he'd shown today, not to mention the way he'd ruined Sembrin's good mood. Now Sembrin needed something to retrieve that good mood…

"And I think I know just what that should be," Sembrin murmured, rising from his chair as soon as the thought came to him. "Bensia will certainly be delighted to help me, and the diversion will put me in an even better mood."

Sembrin left his study with the intention of asking the servants where Bensia was, but asking quickly became unnecessary. The large sitting area near the dining room contained Bensia and their oldest son Travin, the two standing and talking. Part of the orders Sembrin had given his family was to behave as normally as possible, and it pleased him to see how well they obeyed.

"Bensia, my dear, how fortunate to find you so easily," Sembrin said as he approached the two, which immediately drew their full attention. "Travin, I'm sure you have tasks to occupy you, so please go on about those tasks. There's a different chore your mother needs to see to."

"Of course, Father," Travin agreed at once before turning and walking away. That obedience in itself gave Sembrin pleasure, but not as much as Bensia would.

"Come along, my dear," Sembrin said before turning away. In past times Bensia would have demanded to know what he had in mind, but right now all she did was follow him like a sweet lamb. And following behind him suited her
so
well…

Bensia stood beside her eldest son as they watched Sembrin walk off without a backward glance. She couldn't keep from smiling, especially when Travin chuckled.

"At first I thought it a pity that I'm not old enough to take over for him," Travin said softly, obviously still watching his father's back. "Now, though, I've changed my mind. Seeing him prance around thinking he's in complete charge is an amusement I don't seem to tire of. If we weren't blocking him from picking up
our
real emotions, I wonder what he'd think about the amusement."

"The only thing he'd think about it would be what he was told to think about it," Bensia answered, turning to smile at her son. "Exposure to our talents was quite clearly strengthening his own talent, and it was only a matter of time before he broke lose from control. Taking control of him and then letting him believe that he gave us Puredan was our only option, aside from disposing of him. I wouldn't have minded having him out of our way, but we still need him as a figurehead. Once we're in control of the city, however, I mean to tell him the truth before we toss him out into the street. He can suffer over living with his shame while begging on some corner."

"He deserves at least that for daring to even imagine what he thinks he's done to
you
," Travin said, no longer even faintly amused. "The man is an animal, and I find it difficult to believe that he could be my father. But I was just starting to tell you what Feriun told Father when he interrupted us."

"Yes, you were," Bensia agreed with a gentle, encouraging smile. "Please go on."

Travin let himself be distracted from his previous thoughts as he repeated what he'd heard of Feriun's report. Bensia listened carefully, but part of her attention was on the question of whether or not to tell Travin the truth. The boy
said
he was ashamed that Sembrin was his father, but men were so strange. How would he feel if he learned that his father was someone else entirely…?

"… and so they're going to try the plan again tomorrow, supposedly with men who are brighter than the previous ones," Travin finished up. "I nearly walked in and reminded them that it was peasants they were discussing, so how bright did they expect those men to be?"

"They must be hoping for unusual luck, but they'll certainly be disappointed," Bensia said, letting Travin see her complete agreement. "Sembrin keeps forgetting that it's peasants we have to deal with, not members of the nobility. And you said that Feriun thought our men could be made to talk to the commoners in charge? What utter nonsense."

"Of course it's nonsense, but Father almost agreed with the fool before he remembered what he'd been told," Travin said with a snort of disdain. "We have nothing to fear from the commoners 'in charge,' and he should have known that without having to be told. Do you want my brother and sisters and me to accompany those men going out?
They
may not be able to make the crowds believe them, but we surely can."

"No, it doesn't pay to have you and the others risk yourselves," Bensia decided after a moment's thought. "If there was only one group of men going out, you and the others would be able to go with them. But with six or more groups going… No, I'd rather save your efforts for another time. If this current plan doesn't work, we'll have to find something that will."

"Father has a plan he means to follow this current plan with," Travin reminded her. "Do you know what it is, or do we need to ask him about it?"

"I believe I know what he has in mind, but we might as well ask just to be on the safe side," Bensia said, and then an amusing thought came to her. "In fact, I think I'll go and ask him right now, while he's … relaxing. Watching him doing things with thin air is more than simply amusing. It pays the man back for all those times he betrayed me with peasant whores."

"Betrayal
deserves
to be punished," Travin said solemnly, and then he leaned down to kiss her cheek. "You go ahead, Mother, and I'll tell the others what's happening."

"Thank you, Travin," Bensia said, returning his kiss warmly before walking away. It was marvelous to have sons who were devoted, and it was just too bad that those sons couldn't be had without needing to put up with the foolishness of a husband. Of course the children
could
be had without the efforts of a husband, just as Bensia had arranged matters, but appearance was
so
important…

Honrita Grohl made sure she wasn't being followed when she returned to Holdis Ayl's hideaway. His rooms were in a deserted area of the city, and the door leading into the building was opened by pulling on a torch sconce on the outside wall. Honrita stepped through the doorway and closed the door again behind herself, then continued up the hall to the door to Ayl's quarters. Ayl opened that door before she reached the end of the hall, his expression speaking to her before his words.

"Tell me you were able to reach him," Ayl said very flatly, and then he saw
her
expression. "No, you needn't bother answering, I can see that you've failed again."

"The failure still isn't mine," Honrita replied, making no effort to keep her annoyance out of her voice at the way Ayl had turned away from her. "The Fire magic user we want for the Blending is sick in bed, and since I've never met him I have no way of visiting him even for a moment. I can make someone
believe
he and I are old friends and get in to see him that way, but to what purpose? Until he's well enough to be up and about, having him join the rest of us will do nothing more than let us catch what
he's
got. Isn't there anyone you can replace him with?"

"No, he's the one I want and the one I mean to have," Ayl answered as he turned again to glare at her. "You will take our Earth magic user to him, and the Earth magic user will cure him."

"He's already
had
an Earth magic user in to work on him," Honrita said as she moved to the stove to make herself a cup of tea. "There's an infection of some kind in the man's blood, and the healer was only able to make the sickness a bit less severe. The Fire magic user's own body has to overcome the infection, and until it does the man will stay sick. The man's mother doesn't remember that she told me those details, and the healer doesn't remember that I confirmed the facts with
him
. If there's no other Fire magic user that you're willing to accept, all we can do is wait until the man is healthy again."

"I detest the need for such a delay," Ayl said as he sat himself in a straight-backed chair, the only sort of chair his rooms had. "So far nothing has been able to stand in my way, and now …
this
."

"There may be a good reason for this delay," Honrita quickly pointed out, her talent telling her that Ayl was on the thin edge of losing his sanity entirely. The man was extremely unstable, and only his "purpose" had so far kept him from complete raving madness. If he began to doubt that purpose…

"What reason, good or otherwise, could a delay like this possibly have?" Ayl countered, but with less stiff-necked arrogance than usual. "As I'm meant to rule, I should be able to do so quickly."

"It's just possible that this is the wrong time for us to attempt to put your puppets on the throne," Honrita said, using the excuse she'd thought up on the way back here. "The others and I have to learn to Blend and also have to learn how to use our Blending. Then we'll use our Middle Blending to take over a High Blending, one member at a time. If all of that goes as quickly and easily as we know it will, we won't have a reason to delay our plans. It could be your own destiny that's causing this delay, to make sure that we strike only at the very best time."

"My own destiny, protecting me from failure," Ayl murmured, his gaze inward as he considered the idea. "Yes, now I see your point and I believe you may be correct. As I am destined to rule behind my puppets, I must be kept from moving at the wrong time."

Ayl nodded just a bit to silently add to his agreement, obviously having no idea that
Honrita
had added to his belief with her talent. Ayl thought - no,
knew
- that no one could touch him with talent without his being aware of the effort, but that knowledge was part of the arrogance of his madness. Ayl could be touched even more easily than normal people, as Ayl was one of those who were able to judge ability in others but had no ability of their own. Ayl now believed in Honrita's loyalty completely, just as she wanted him to.

And he'll keep believing in my loyalty until the moment I push him aside and take over,"
Honrita thought as she turned back to the stove to see if the tea water had begun to boil yet.
My father died before I could get even with him for rejecting me the way he did, but Ayl is just the way my father was. I can get even with my father by ruining Ayl's plans, and when he sees
me
ruling in the place he thought was his he'll be looking at me with my father's eyes.

That concept was a warming one for Honrita, so much so that she prepared two cups against the time that the tea was ready. Ayl was going to make her ruler of the empire of Gandistra; the least she could do in return was share the tea she'd meant to make for herself alone…

Holdis Ayl sat straight in his chair in the proper way, seeing the Grohl woman only out of the corner of his eyes. The faint smile he wore was the same smile he always wore, which meant that the woman was unlikely to know the direction of his thoughts. The woman was even more of a fool than other women, but she was considerably more useful than those others.

Yes, my dear, I believe what you said but not because of your talent,
Ayl thought, his smile no more than a faint reflection of his feelings.
Your talent slides past me in a way that most of my former 'peers' were unable to match, with only the trail of your attempt left to show for the effort. You mean to betray me in the moment of my ultimate success, having no idea that I am aware of your intentions and am therefore on guard against the betrayal.