will have gotten all the revenge they want. In either event, any victories will be strictly ours, and any defeats will be the result of incompetent underlings or betrayal by conscienceless enemies.”
“Exactly,” Kambil agreed, delighted that Homin seemed to have a talent for subterfuge and circuitous excuses. “We’ll be busy directing things from here in Gan Garee, so we won’t be able to leave the city to take a personal hand in the problem. And we shouldn’t even have stray Highs or strong Middles straggling in to worry about. The Astindans aren’t accepting surrender from anyone, most especially not former members of our army. All in all, the only ones who should lose out in this matter are the peasants who are destroyed, and those of our peers who own the land the Astindans will devastate. Does anyone of any consequence own land out there in the west?”
“If they do, it will hardly be their major possession,” Bron pointed out, gesturing with his teacup. “And if it is, then they’ll be ruined. Is that something we really need to worry about?”
“Since it doesn’t involve us, of course not,” Kambil said with a small laugh. “Isn’t it marvelous that we don’t have to worry about the support of fools? There are certain to be complaints by the dozen, but we’rethe Seated Five. If the complainants leave even angrier than they were when they came, what can they do about it? The only people who knew we had help in winning the throne are no longer among the living.”
“Which is one small thing to thank Delin for,” Bron said, still speaking wryly. “There’s no way of knowing how long it will be before the confusion over who handled what is straightened out, but at least no one can step forward to announce in ringing tones that we have to
do
something for them because they helped us get what we have.”
“But that means we also don’t have those who will support us because it’s in their best interests to do so,” Kambil warned. “That support, in the form of letting us know what’s going on among our peers and in the city, would have been invaluable help, and I’ve had to substitute a cadre of spies in its place. They should find out what we need to know, and I’ll send for the rest of you when one or more of them comes to report.”
“Have you decided when we’ll practice some of the things you found in that journal?” Selendi asked. “If they give us more power over everyone, they’ll be worth whatever effort we have to put into them.”
“We have nothing scheduled for tomorrow morning, so we’ll start then,” Kambil replied, shifting in his chair. “Delin will have to be with us, of course, so you’d all better brace yourselves. His hatred and anger have grown quite a lot in the last few days, and most of the time I have to block him out. But I’m actually delighted to see that anger and hatred. If not for them, he’d probably go even more insane than he is. A pity I haven’t been able to find a replacement for him as yet. Our former Advisors did too good a job ridding themselves of those of our class whom they feared. Since I refuse to settle for one of the peasants who might have been overlooked, I’ll just have to keep searching.”
“You’ve been using Delin to measure the strength of those you’ve found, I know,” Homin said. “Is it possible Delin himself doesn’t know why you’redoing what you’redoing?”
“I’m sure he’s understood each of the three times I used him, but so what?” Kambil asked as he readied himself to stand and get another cup of tea. “At the end of each session I ordered him to forget about what went on, and also to forget any conclusions he might have come to. Delin is now the least of our worries, and we still have other things to discuss. I’ve arranged some traps just outside of the city that the rest of you don’t yet know about, so I’ll tell you about them as soon as I get more tea. If any of the rest of you need
“Exactly,” Kambil agreed, delighted that Homin seemed to have a talent for subterfuge and circuitous excuses. “We’ll be busy directing things from here in Gan Garee, so we won’t be able to leave the city to take a personal hand in the problem. And we shouldn’t even have stray Highs or strong Middles straggling in to worry about. The Astindans aren’t accepting surrender from anyone, most especially not former members of our army. All in all, the only ones who should lose out in this matter are the peasants who are destroyed, and those of our peers who own the land the Astindans will devastate. Does anyone of any consequence own land out there in the west?”
“If they do, it will hardly be their major possession,” Bron pointed out, gesturing with his teacup. “And if it is, then they’ll be ruined. Is that something we really need to worry about?”
“Since it doesn’t involve us, of course not,” Kambil said with a small laugh. “Isn’t it marvelous that we don’t have to worry about the support of fools? There are certain to be complaints by the dozen, but we’rethe Seated Five. If the complainants leave even angrier than they were when they came, what can they do about it? The only people who knew we had help in winning the throne are no longer among the living.”
“Which is one small thing to thank Delin for,” Bron said, still speaking wryly. “There’s no way of knowing how long it will be before the confusion over who handled what is straightened out, but at least no one can step forward to announce in ringing tones that we have to
do
something for them because they helped us get what we have.”
“But that means we also don’t have those who will support us because it’s in their best interests to do so,” Kambil warned. “That support, in the form of letting us know what’s going on among our peers and in the city, would have been invaluable help, and I’ve had to substitute a cadre of spies in its place. They should find out what we need to know, and I’ll send for the rest of you when one or more of them comes to report.”
“Have you decided when we’ll practice some of the things you found in that journal?” Selendi asked. “If they give us more power over everyone, they’ll be worth whatever effort we have to put into them.”
“We have nothing scheduled for tomorrow morning, so we’ll start then,” Kambil replied, shifting in his chair. “Delin will have to be with us, of course, so you’d all better brace yourselves. His hatred and anger have grown quite a lot in the last few days, and most of the time I have to block him out. But I’m actually delighted to see that anger and hatred. If not for them, he’d probably go even more insane than he is. A pity I haven’t been able to find a replacement for him as yet. Our former Advisors did too good a job ridding themselves of those of our class whom they feared. Since I refuse to settle for one of the peasants who might have been overlooked, I’ll just have to keep searching.”
“You’ve been using Delin to measure the strength of those you’ve found, I know,” Homin said. “Is it possible Delin himself doesn’t know why you’redoing what you’redoing?”
“I’m sure he’s understood each of the three times I used him, but so what?” Kambil asked as he readied himself to stand and get another cup of tea. “At the end of each session I ordered him to forget about what went on, and also to forget any conclusions he might have come to. Delin is now the least of our worries, and we still have other things to discuss. I’ve arranged some traps just outside of the city that the rest of you don’t yet know about, so I’ll tell you about them as soon as I get more tea. If any of the rest of you need
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