The Blending 07 - Deceptions, page 22
“Were my orders obeyed?” Sembrin asked without preamble when he saw the pair of men on guard. “The man Howser has already left the house, I’m told. Was he missed by those of you who are supposed to be on duty?”
“No, sir, Howser wasn’t missed,” one of the guards answered, his tone more casually lazy than Sembrin cared for. “Two of our men are following Howser, and if he does anything he shouldn’t he won’t be coming back again. This time the man took a horse, and the ones following him will bring it back if Howser ends up not being able to do it himself.”
“Excellent,” Sembrin said with a nod of approval, his mood finally lightening a bit. “Pass the word that I want to know what happened as soon as those men get back—but I want to be informed privately. Where is your commanding officer right now?”
“He was out checking with the other groups, but he may be back by now,” the same guard responded. “Do you want me to find him for you?”
“No, I’ll go myself,” Sembrin answered before leaving the guards at their post. The separate building meant to house the servants that this house boasted had proved to be perfect as a barracks for the guardsmen. The leader of this group had turned one of the barracks rooms into an office, and that was where Sembrin found the man.
“How are the rest of the men doing?” Sembrin asked when the man politely rose to his feet at Sembrin’s appearance. “Are they ready to move?”
“More than ready, sir,” the officer, named Jost Feriun, answered at once. “In fact, they’re eager to be out and doing. If we don’t make use of them soon, some of them may end up acting on their own.”
“And we can’t allow that, so we’d best begin to move,” Sembrin said with a nod as he took a chair in front of Feriun’s desk. “I’ll want your man to contact those people again and have them meet me tomorrow night in the same place we met tonight. We’ll be moving the very next day.”
“That’s good news, sir,” Feriun said as he reclaimed his own chair and made a note on some paper. His dark face now showed a faint smile of satisfaction, and then his dark eyes returned his gaze to Sembrin. “Will we be using all of the men, and if so, how will they be deployed?”
“At first we’ll only be using some of the men, but they should enjoy the effort,” Sembrin answered after sipping at the wine he’d brought with him. “For the most part they’ll be working in pairs, primarily in taverns and inns and eating parlors. The men you’ll use will be ones who don’t know where we, ourselves, are located. I’m sure you can guess why that is.”
“So that if they’re captured, they can’t betray our location,” Feriun answered at once with a shrug. “It’s the reason we kept our location secret from the others in the first place. What will the men be doing in pairs?”
“One of each pair will enter one of the places I mentioned, and then the other will join him as though by chance,” Sembrin answered. “After they’ve greeted each other, they’ll begin a conversation that will be loud enough for the people near them to hear. One will complain about being badly treated by the new government, and the second will add his own tale of mistreatment. Then they’ll discuss ‘horror’ stories they’ve heard about others having trouble, and they’ll end with the theory that the new government soon plans to stop doing things for ordinary people. After that the government will start to use people the way they meant to do all along, and no one will be able to stop them.”
“Yes, that ought to provide some action,” Feriun agreed as he made further notes. “But what if the men are challenged to prove what they say?”
“Each pair will have at least one local along with them who will then come forward to support their claims,” Sembrin explained. “If no one does challenge them, the local will simply come up to them and say he’s noticed the same things. One way or another the complaints will be supported, and shortly after that the three will leave separately to go on to another location.”
“And how long will we be doing that?” Feriun asked, raising his eyes again. “It shouldn’t be too long before the government people hear about it.”
“That’s why we’ll only be doing it for two days,” Sembrin said, pleased that he didn’t have to explain everything to the man. “By the third day the rumors will have spread all over, and then the men can begin haranguing groups to act before they’re no longer able to act. We want those people to march on the palace, and the more out of control they are the better it will be. When they break into the palace our men will be right with them, and anyone official that they encounter is to be dealt with immediately.
“Once the palace is cleared, some of our men are to take over standing guard while the rest direct the mobs toward attacking anyone official who happened to be out of the palace during the first attack. We’ll strike so fast and decisively that the peasants in charge will be dead before they realize that anything is happening.”
“And then we get to quiet the mobs,” Feriun said in a way that made Sembrin believe the man really looked forward to that part of the job. “Once all the dust has settled we’ll be in charge, and the rabble will be too frightened to try rising again.”
“Exactly,” Sembrin agreed with a smile. “It’s been done before, so we should have no trouble doing it again. Let me know when the messages to the peasants I mean to use are delivered, and we’ll add more detail to the plan. At the moment I’ll need one of your men to contact some of the people supplying me with information. My informants need to be situated around the city to tell me how well our rumors are working.”
“I’ll have the man go out at once, sir,” Feriun said, and there was new respect in the officer’s manner. “Shall I have all of your informants report to you?”
“Yes, but not all at once,” Sembrin said, getting to his feet. “Most of them don’t know about the others, and I’d like to keep it like that even after we take over. It never hurts to guard your back.”
“No, sir, it certainly doesn’t,” Feriun agreed, again getting to his feet. “I’ll have the men report to you as soon as your orders have been carried out.”
“Good,” Sembrin said with another smile, and then he left the man’s office. Some of the informants were very strong supporters of Sembrin’s plans, the promise of ennobling making them that supportive. When Sembrin asked two or three of them to secure Puredan for him, they’d get the drug without asking questions. After that, Bensia and her precious children would no longer be a problem, but until then Sembrin would have to stay away from them. If he wrapped himself in making their plans go forward, none of the five would get suspicious. Hopefully they would remain unsuspicious …
Rimen Howser stopped in the darkness for a moment to give his aching body a rest. Using a horse had gotten him to the part of the city he wanted much faster than walking, but riding had caused his body to hurt in a way that walking didn’t. He would have enjoyed being able to lie down somewhere, but there were tasks to perform before that ease could be taken.
Thinking about those tasks brought a smile of pleasure to Rimen’s face. Slaughtering animals was pure delight to him, and tonight he would put down as many as he possibly could. His knife would sink deep into helpless flesh, and a small bit of the outrage perpetrated against him would be washed away in the blood.
The ache in Rimen’s body hadn’t eased much, but his impatience set him to walking again. He would find another tavern and the alleyway behind it, and those drunkards who stumbled into his hands would never stumble away again. And if it took too long for a drunkard to appear, he might even pull an animal in off the street. All those animals were his to do with as he pleased, just as they were supposed to be. Changed conditions indeed!
Annoyance touched him as he remembered the lecture his cousin’s husband had tried to give him when they arrived in the city. Conditions are not what they used to be, Rimen, we can no longer do as we please, Rimen. Caution and circumspection are necessary, Rimen, at least until we regain our former power. After that, Rimen, you can certainly do as you please with the peasants …
Rimen had thought about telling the fool that he was already able to do as he pleased, but that would have wasted hunting time. Instead he’d left the house as quickly as possible after he’d eaten, and now he saw the tavern he would use tonight. If he’d wasted time in talk, his pleasure would have been much longer in coming.
The alleyway behind the tavern was as disgusting as Rimen expected it to be, but he ignored the stench and filth and positioned himself not far from the back door of the tavern. The knife he’d brought with him again was removed from its hiding place in his clothing, and it made a lovely weight in his hand. Now all he had to do was wait for the first of his animals to arrive …
Rimen had never needed to learn patience, and the need for it now quickly became galling. Time limped past slowly and painfully, as though it, too, had been savaged by uncaring hands. Rimen shifted in place a number of times, trying to will an animal to come through the door, but none of them did. And they must be refraining from coming out on purpose, he suddenly realized, simply to cause him even more agony. That couldn’t be allowed to happen …
Decision firmed in Rimen, causing him to turn away from the outline of the door and back toward the night-sheathed street. If the animals refused to come to him, then he would go to them. They thought they were so safe, those mindless animals, but no animal had the right to be safer than a true noble like him. He would teach them, he would show them how wrong they were …
It took only a moment or two before an animal walking alone passed close enough to the deeply shadowed alleyway where Rimen stood poised. This was a male animal, not very tall and thin, a perfect sacrifice to Rimen’s cause. Rimen reached an arm out as the animal passed, hooking the animal around the neck and pulling him back into the alleyway. His hold on the animal was also tight enough to keep the fool from crying out, and in a moment the animal would no longer be able to cry out.
Rimen raised the knife high, ready to plunge it into deserving animal flesh, but suddenly he was the one who cried out! Without warning it abruptly felt as though someone had lit a small fire beneath the arm Rimen had around the animal’s throat. The flames weren’t large or extremely hot, but they were enough to cause Rimen to release the animal with an exclamation of pain.
And then the air itself was lit by flame, enough so that Rimen and his knife were perfectly clear to the fearfully staring animal. The animal backed away slowly, one hand rubbing at his throat, and Rimen snarled in frustrated rage. That a miserable animal would dare try to deny him his due, that it would dare try to disobey him! Rimen was not going to allow that to happen, not now and not ever!
A scream of rage left Rimen’s throat as he raised the knife again and pursued the animal as quickly as he could make his body move. It made no difference to Rimen’s fury that he would be putting this animal down in the middle of the street. Doing as he pleased was Rimen’s right as a true human being and noble, and no one would dare try to stop him. No one!
But then there were two other animals getting in the way, trying to keep him from his chosen sacrifice, trying to take his knife away. Rimen screamed again and slashed at one of the two even as the other tried to hold him still. The struggle grew more and more fierce, and then the animal behind him put an arm around Rimen’s throat. Terror joined itself to rage in Rimen’s mind as he began to fight even more violently, and then—
Deslen Voyt felt surprised at the strength of the madman he tried to hold still. He and Brange had followed Howser from the house according to orders, and when they saw the madman trying to kill someone they’d had no choice but to intervene. If the fool had kept his killing in the shadows where no one was able to witness what happened, they could have let the madman have his fun.
But making it so public meant Deslen had to interfere, intending to get Howser away from the area before anyone official stuck a nose into the row. But now it was him and Brange that Howser fought against, and that knife could do a lot of damage. Deslen tightened his hold just as Howser began to struggle even harder, and an abrupt snap stopped all the action at once. Howser went limp, and when Deslen let him go, the madman fell bonelessly to the ground.
“You broke his neck,” Brange pointed out unnecessarily with an edge of accusation in his tone. “Now we’re both in for it if the lady finds out instead of the lord.”
Deslen knew that as well as Brange did, but before he could say anything or even suggest that they leave as fast as possible, they were suddenly in the midst of an excited crowd.
“Okay, what’s going on here?” one of the newcomers asked, stopping to look down at Howser’s body. “Who did this, and why?”
“They did it to save me!” the man Howser had been pursuing spoke up at once, the words rushing out together. “That one on the ground grabbed me and tried to pull me into an alleyway, but I’ve been through the training course. I may only have a Low talent in Fire magic, but now I can use it better than I used to be able to. I made that crazy man let me go, but then he started to come after me right into the street. I was so scared I couldn’t think of anything to do, but then those two men came out of nowhere and tried to stop the crazy man. He went even crazier then and tried to kill them, but instead he ended up dead. That man was trying to hold the crazy still rather than hurt him, but the crazy twisted so hard that he broke his own neck.”
“Well, it looks like we have a couple of heroes to thank,” the newcomer who had asked the question said at once with a wide smile. “You men are to be commended, and there may even be some silver in it for you. When citizens do more than ordinary duty calls for, they deserve to be properly rewarded.”
Deslen just stood and stared as the newcomer clapped him on the shoulder before turning away to other newcomers. An accusation of murder was what Deslen had been expecting, but instead he was being called a hero and promised silver. A glance at Brange showed the other man to be as confused as Deslen felt himself, but then the confusion in Deslen began to turn to pleasure. No one had ever called him a hero before, and strangely enough it felt pretty damn good.
“You know, this city can use all the heroes it can get,” the newcomer said as he turned back to Deslen. “I’m Redris Holm, by the way, officer of the watch at the moment. Have you men taken the new training yet?”
“No, no, we haven’t,” Deslen said quickly for both of them, trying to think of a reason why they hadn’t. “It’s just that … Well, we’re Low talents, and—”
“That’s okay, I understand,” Holm interrupted in a kindly way. “A lot of Low talents think the classes can’t do anything for them, but that isn’t true. No matter how little strength of talent you have, once you’ve trained it you can become part of the city’s guard force. And we’d love to have you, we really would. Brave men can always find a place with us, so if you decide to change your mind about taking the class, look me up once you’ve finished. I promise I won’t forget who you are.”
Holm clapped Deslen on the shoulder again before walking away, and now some of the other newcomers were seeing to Howser’s body. Deslen caught Brange’s eye and gestured with his head, and then the two of them were leaving the scene of action behind.
“I don’t believe they didn’t get all crazy about what we did,” Brange murmured as soon as they were far enough away. “And that Holm called me a hero. No one ever said that to me before.”
“It felt good, didn’t it?” Deslen said, smiling as the pleasure returned in memory. “I never thought I’d like having people think of me as a hero, but I really do … What do you think about that class Holm mentioned?”
“He couldn’t have been lying about them training Lows,” Brange said, giving Deslen a longer glance. “I don’t have much in the way of Earth magic, but that man we saved said he didn’t have much in the way of Fire magic and they still trained him. And what they both said made me want to take that class myself …”
“Yeah,” Deslen agreed, then fell silent. He also wanted to take the class, but that was part of the new world that had been built after the nobles were taken down. He and Brange were supposed to be part of the group trying to put things back the way they’d been, back to where no one was allowed to use talent … or be a hero …
“All right, let’s talk about this before we go back,” Deslen said once they reached the horses. They’d left their own mounts near Howser’s, so they could take it with them without any extra fuss. “I want to be part of what those people have now, not just walking muscle in a uniform who doesn’t count for anything at all. How about you?”
“I want the same thing, but how are we supposed to get it?” Brange countered, stopping next to his horse to look straight at Deslen. “We know too much for them to let us wander off, especially if we do end up joining the guard force. If we try to walk away we’ll be dead before we take more than a couple of steps.”
“That’s true only if it’s the two of us trying to walk away,” Deslen pointed out, the idea coming to him rather quickly. “If we can get most of the men to leave with us, the noble won’t be able to do anything to stop us. There are some we’d be fools to approach, but the rest …”
“The rest are like the way we were, disgusted with how little they’d gotten out of life,” Brange said with eagerness when Deslen let his words trail off. “If we give them something better to do than, run around helping some fool noble … I think we can do it.”
“At the very least, we have to try,” Deslen said before turning to his own mount. “Let’s make up a list of names on the way back to the house. We’ll talk to the ones we’re sure of first, and get them onto our side. Then, if one of the later ones decides not to go along with us, we won’t be only two anymore.”
“Good idea,” Brange said as he settled himself in his saddle. “We’ll get all three of these horses taken care of, and then we’ll get started. I want to start that class as soon as I possibly can.”
