Intrigues (54 page)

"Who in the name of chaos are
you
?" Embisson demanded, stopping short when he saw the six strange men who were crossing the large sitting room. "And more importantly, what are you doing here? This is
my
house now, and I want you out of it!"

"We were looking for
you
, Lord Embisson," one of the men said after a brief hesitation, having exchanged a glance with the others. "We thought the house was empty, and were about to leave. Aren't your son and all those servants still with you?"

"What do you mean, the house is empty?" Embisson demanded again, shock hitting him hard. "Edmin ran off because of his cowardice, of course, but he couldn't have taken the servants with him! Something like that would be intolerable, and I would never stand for it."

"Of course you wouldn't," the same man soothed, coming closer to take the lamp that Embisson held. "You're an important man, and we've been given very definite orders about how we're supposed to treat you. But … where did you say your son went? If he isn't allowed to live
here
any longer, where would he go?"

"He probably crawled back to his own house to hide," Embisson told the man with a snort of disdain. "I used to think he was a son worthy of a man like me, but he finally showed his true colors. I don't know who you men are, but I'm hungry and would like breakfast. Tell the servants to prepare the meal immediately, and after I've eaten I'll allow you a few minutes to tell me why you've come."

"That's all right, Lord Embisson, we won't need much time to tell you why we've come," the man answered smoothly as a second man came to stand to Embisson's left. "In fact, we can take care of that little chore right now."

The man smiled at Embisson, but a sudden pain in Embisson's back kept the High Lord from rebuking the man for disagreeing with him. The pain was sharp and very unexpected, and Embisson staggered when his knees suddenly failed to hold him upright. In an eyeblink Embisson lay on the carpeting, having no idea what could have happened.

"Clean your knife and then let's get out of here," the same man said, speaking through a ringing in Embisson's ears. "The boss isn't going to be happy to hear that the other one got away - and took the servants with him."

"Yeah, they were countin' on havin' those servants to do for
them
," another voice agreed distantly as everything around Embisson began to fade. "Not to mention wantin' to hear that the second also went the way of the first. Too bad we couldn't get the old man to tell us where the other one went. Now we gotta go lookin' for him."

The first man said something else as the entire group began to leave, but Embisson was no longer able to hear the words. The ringing and fading were increasing, and then the black -

Chapter 30

Sembrin Noll knocked gently on the door of the bedchamber Bensia had claimed for herself. The house was much larger than the one they'd owned here in the city before the trouble, but the paintings and expensive decorations were gone. Since the doors and windows of the house were still whole, Sembrin assumed that the decorations had been confiscated rather than looted. Which said quite a lot about the new administration…

"Come in, dear," Bensia called out from inside the room, and Sembrin walked in to see her sitting at the room's dressing table. "Do you have word yet from the men you sent after the Ruhls? I'd really enjoy having those servants fix a lovely breakfast."

"I'm afraid we're going to have to fix our own lovely breakfast for a while," Sembrin told her as he closed the door behind himself. "The men are back, but the plan didn't go as well as we hoped it would."

"You can't mean that Ruhl didn't go to Maylock's house after all," Bensia said, turning on the bench to look directly at him with her disturbance. "The man would have had to come to his senses for that to happen, and I don't believe he was able to."

"Well, you're right about that," Sembrin allowed as he walked to a chair not far from her and sat. "The men found Embisson Ruhl right there in the house, but apparently he'd been deserted. Edmin, the servants, and the two coaches were gone, and we don't yet know where they've gone
to
. The men asked Ruhl about it before they killed him, but he had no real idea about where his son might have gone.”

"So now we'll have to search Edmin out," Bensia muttered with a grimace. "I was certain he would die rather than desert his father, but apparently he has more sense than to stay with a sinking ship. But Lord Embisson has definitely been taken care of?"

"I was told that the deed was done with a knife in the back," Sembrin responded with a nod. "Embisson is no longer of concern to anyone, but the same can't be said of Edmin. I have the definite feeling that he'll be very difficult to locate."

"Even so, he shouldn't be much of a problem," Bensia decided, turning back to the mirror and picking up her hairbrush. "He can't 'betray' us when he doesn't know where we are, and sending an anonymous warning to the authorities now in charge will only set
them
looking for him as well. We'll set our plan in motion just as soon as you find out where those people are most vulnerable, but we
will
have to use the men for one other purpose. I can't abide not having servants, so they'll have to kidnap some for us."

"You want the men to kidnap servants?" Sembrin echoed, not quite believing his ears. "Don't you think people will notice when we cart off their neighbors?"

"We
will
be a bit more subtle than that, my dear," Bensia replied with a small laugh of amusement. "You'll have some of the men locate suitable servants, and then the children will pay those people a visit. After the visit the people involved will cooperate with the kidnapping, after having given their neighbors an excuse for their upcoming absence. There will be no hue and cry, and we won't have to worry about eating the food they prepare."

"Well, this house
will
be more comfortable with servants to care for us," Sembrin grudged, his objections evaporating almost immediately. "Yes, that does sound like a good idea, but for the moment I've borrowed the cooks who took care of the men on the way to the city. I'm not quite sure how edible the food is, but it's hot and ready for us to taste right now."

"I think we ought to have our new servants bring an adequate supply of food with them," Bensia mused as she put her brush aside and rose. "I'll make sure that the children take silver to give them, and the men who 'kidnap' them will have to help transport those supplies. The men themselves, though, will have to go in small groups to buy their own supplies. We can't announce our presence by bringing in tons of food."

Sembrin made no mention of the fact that that was obvious; he simply rose himself and followed Bensia out of the room. Once downstairs he led the way to the smaller of the two dining rooms, which was still large enough to accommodate a dozen people or more. The instructions he'd given for putting the food out on the buffet had been followed, so he and Bensia helped themselves and then sat down to eat.

"Well, at least it's hot," Bensia pronounced after a taste of everything she'd put on her plate. "The eggs are almost adequate, but the rest is in desperate need of proper seasoning. Let's try to get those servants in here before lunchtime."

Again Sembrin simply nodded as he continued to eat, knowing he'd be given no rest until Bensia had her servants. The biggest problem was the fact that the children were still asleep, and would probably stay asleep until someone woke them. If the men managed to locate suitable people for servants quickly enough, the children would get a good deal less sleep than they were expecting. Which would bring problems of its own due to less than pleasant moods…

Despite Bensia's criticism of the food, she still finished everything on her plate. Sembrin noticed that as he finished the last of the tea in his cup, but knew better than to make mention of the fact. He had just risen to refill his teacup, when one of the men standing guard entered the dining room.

"There's someone here to see you," the man told Sembrin, using nothing of titles or names. He'd been given orders to that effect, to make sure no one slipped in the presence of outsiders, but the lack of a proper title still annoyed Sembrin.

"I take it that the someone is a man who provided one of the passwords I gave you," Sembrin said, even more annoyed that the guard hadn't supplied that information to begin with. When the man simply nodded, Sembrin performed his own nod. "Take the caller to that small study near the front hall, and tell him I'll be right there."

The guard nodded a second time before turning and leaving the room, and Sembrin continued on to the tea service.

"I hope your visitor has all the information we need to get started," Bensia commented from where she still sat with her own teacup. "It's only a matter of time before someone notices that we're here, but if they're distracted by other, more important problems, we won't have to worry."

"We'll still have to worry, but not as much," Sembrin commented as he refilled his teacup. "We'll have to keep alert until the very moment we take over the palace, and then we'll only have to worry about our peers. As soon as we create them, of course."

"A task I can't wait to begin on," Bensia replied with a laugh of enjoyment. "They'll be really amusing at first, and won't become dangerous until they get used to their new standing. Please let me know how quickly we can get started as soon as your visitor leaves."

"Of course," Sembrin agreed with a smile, then blew her a kiss before leaving the room. Bensia was so lovable when she asked something of him, and that trait always made him want to please her. But at the moment there were other, currently more important matters to think about…

The man called Rolver waited for Sembrin in the small study. Rolver was tall and heavy, with a bearded face that proclaimed he hadn't a brain in his head. Rolver's favorite way of finding things out was to pretend he was drunk and in a sullen, private mood. Then he would stand around listening while those who were talking ignored him. In point of fact Rolver drank very little, and what information he brought was always completely accurate.

"I was surprised to get that note from you, Lord Sembrin," Rolver said once Sembrin had settled himself behind the room's desk. "In truth, I never expected to hear from you or see you again."

"Let's hope that the peasants now in charge of this city feel the same way," Sembrin returned dryly. "When they finally learn how wrong they were, it will hopefully be too late - for them. Tell me what I need to know about what's happening in this city."

"It's hard to decide where to begin," Rolver answered as he scratched at his beard with one finger. "People still aren't over celebrating the arrest of every noble that could be found - no offense intended. Most of those arrested are already on their way to Astinda, and the rest are scheduled to be sent at any time."

"We won't bother about any of
those
people," Sembrin interrupted to say with a wave of his hand. "If they'd been worth anything, they would never have stayed where they
could
be arrested. I'd be interested in hearing about any of my peers who slipped the net, but the rest are a dead issue. What about the troubles the new administration is having? There must be quite a few of those."

"There were at one point, but the new leaders are handling them one at a time," Rolver said, apparently choosing his words carefully. "At first a lot of people thought they could take advantage while everyone was busy celebrating being free, but that idea didn't get them very far. A lot of those Highs and strong Middles who were in the army in Astinda have been patrolling the streets, and anyone caught trying something illegal gets arrested. Afterward they never try the same thing again."

"Now, that's a good point," Sembrin said, leaning forward with interest. "The new administration has a guard force made up of people who are different from the average man in the city. It shouldn't be hard to make them look a
lot
different, and then to suggest that the next ones they go after will be honest citizens who have done nothing wrong. After all, who would be able to stand up to them?"

"I don't think that line will get you anywhere," Rolver said, an odd expression on his face. "A lot of people have been taking those talent training classes, and once they finished a lot of them joined the new guard force. They now do the actual patrolling, and link up with each other and with the Highs. If there's any trouble it gets handled really fast, and the guard force is so effective that people aren't afraid to walk the streets alone even at night."

"That's not good," Sembrin said with a frown, leaning back again as he reluctantly gave up that line of attack. "What about those training classes? They should be taking the strongest talents first, which ought to make for hard feelings among everyone else. And how much of a dead end is the training once it's been given? Almost everyone must be going back to their old positions after believing they would have something new and wonderful to do."

"The training classes are taking first whoever signs up first," Rolver supplied, his face behind the beard neutral again. "Now there are even more classes, because they're using everyone strong enough from the first classes to teach in the new classes. And those who are really strong or who have a special side to their talent are being hired by the government, usually for jobs that make the little man's life easier. Like they've opened free clinics all over the city, staffed by Earth magic healers that
they
pay. Poor folks don't have to just live with being sick or hurt anymore."

"This is really depressing," Sembrin said with a continuing frown after sipping at his tea. "Do you mean to say that
no one
is unhappy with the way things are now? What about the beggars and thieves and those peasants who are dirt poor? Surely there are malcontents among
that
lot."

"There aren't any more beggars, and what thieves are left are hiding out," Rolver said with a sigh. "The beggars and people who were dirt poor were all interviewed, and those that really wanted to work were given jobs they could handle. The ones who just wanted a free ride were told to get jobs within the week or to leave the city. Getting a job was a choice left up to
them
, but leaving wasn't. And once they left, they weren't allowed to come back unless they really had changed their minds. And I didn't say that there wasn't anyone who was unhappy with the way things are now."