"You'll find out who they are when they tell you themselves, and they aren't far away," the man holding Kail's bridle answered with a brief smile. "We appreciate your being reasonable, which you really shouldn't regret. Please step down now, and we'll see to your horses while you're busy talking."
Kail frowned as he dismounted and then went around Asri's horse to help her down. They were now committed to doing as these people said, but Kail couldn't help wondering how the ones who wanted to "talk" to them could be close enough to walk to. Was there a building of offices somewhere among all these rundown warehouses?
Kail kept his questions to himself as the group that had stopped them led the way to one warehouse in particular. The place looked as rickety as the rest from the outside, but once inside it was possible to see a difference. The warehouse looked much more solid and well cared for on the inside, but there didn't seem to be the offices he'd been expecting. He and Asri were led toward the back of the warehouse to a door standing open, and once he reached it Kail's suspicions flared. Through the doorway was something that looked more like living quarters than an office, and that shouldn't have been.
"What's the meaning of this?" Kail demanded as he stopped in the doorway, his arm automatically tightening around Asri. "You people aren't the authorities, so I demand that you release us immediately."
"Looks can be deceiving," a pretty woman who stood by the door said gently while a small man seated at a table sighed. "Right now we're just about as official as it gets, but we mean you no harm. You both look like you could use some tea while we talk."
"I would
love
a cup of tea," Asri said before Kail could demand again to know what was happening. "It really has been a very long day, Kail."
"It isn't a good idea to accept things from people before you know what they want," Kail said in answer, trying to explain things gently to Asri. "Let's find out first why we were brought here, and then we can think about tea."
"No, it's all right," the woman interrupted when Asri actually started to argue what Kail had said. "His request isn't unreasonable, especially since I would feel the same way. We had you brought here because you were recognized as members of the group that used to be called nobility. We wanted to know if you've come back to the city to regain your former positions."
"If you only knew how terrible a suggestion you've just made," Kail said at once with a short laugh that had no amusement in it. "Our 'former positions' in this city were living hell, and if we thought we had to return to them we never would have come back. All we want is to live our lives in peace, and I'm willing to work any honest job that will let us do that. If you thought we could be used in some scheme you might have in mind, you can forget about it."
Kail hadn't meant to be quite that blunt, but something had made him speak without reservation. As soon as the words were out he put his arm around Asri again, afraid that he might have put both their lives in danger. If these people wanted something that they now knew they'd never get, he and Asri - and the baby - might have just become unnecessary burdens.
"I'm delighted to say that our guest has just told the absolute and complete truth," the slight man at the table told his companions, his smile warm and real. "Reviving the nobility isn't any part of their intentions, so we can now let them go about their own business."
"I'm really glad to hear that," the pretty woman said with her own smile. "I apologize for having had you brought here, and you're now free to go. But if you'd like that cup of tea first, by all means have a seat at the table."
"We took their horses to that empty lot to graze," the man who still stood behind them said. "Do you want me to have them brought back here right now?"
"Only if they've changed their minds about the tea," the woman answered, then looked at Kail. "I'm Idresia Harmis, by the way, and the choice of staying or leaving has now become yours."
"I don't understand any of this," Kail said, having decided to stick with being blunt. "You used force to bring us here, but now you say we can leave. What's going on?"
"We're what you might call unofficial officials," the woman Idresia said with a small and gentle laugh. "Our job is to keep an eye open for possible troublemakers, people who are determined to bring back the bad old ways. We already have one like that to contend with, so we didn't want to add to the problem. Now that we know you
won't
be a problem, we have no reason to detain you."
"You're willing to take my word for it?" Kail asked, still more than a little suspicious. "If I were in your place, I'd need a bit more proof than that."
"We have the proof," Idresia said, still speaking gently. "One of our people has Spirit magic, and another Earth magic. They've both confirmed that you're telling the truth, so nothing else is needed."
Kail looked toward the table then, really seeing the three people who sat there for the first time. The woman was very pretty and wore a smile like Idresia's, and the slight man nodded his support of what Idresia had said. The other man -
"You're Lord Edmin Ruhl!" Kail blurted, suddenly more than a little disturbed. "Am I supposed to believe that
you're
working for the new government?"
"Yes, because that's exactly what I'm doing," Ruhl answered, the evenness of his tone doing little to mask the way he'd flinched. "If there were any doubts about this man's attitudes before now, my friends, they can be forgotten. Our guest hates nobles more than any of
you
ever did."
"If you'd gone through what we did, you would feel the same hatred," Asri said calmly before Kail could reply. "Those people were often worse to their own kind than they were to commoners, which is why our hatred is greater."
"Yes, we've heard that," Idresia said as she put her own arm around Asri, supportive understanding clear in her voice. "Come and have that cup of tea, and let it wash away all those bad memories. We won't let those bad times come again, we've pledged our lives to the promise."
Kail watched as Asri walked with Idresia to the table, surprised by the trust Asri showed. Asri was usually friendly, but giving trust was another matter entirely.
"We really don't charge more for sitting down," the slight man at the table said to Kail, his smile filled with understanding. "Why don't you have a cup of tea and tell us where you've been - or not tell us, if you feel you'd rather not say."
The last of the man's words had been hurried, as if he knew that Kail had felt a stab of alarm over the suggestion of talking about where they'd been. Kail didn't want
anyone
to know that they were escaped slaves, not when someone could decide to send them back…
"You really don't have to worry about being betrayed," Ruhl said when Kail continued to hesitate. "If these people were the sort to indulge in the kind of games our former peers loved to play, I would hardly be sitting here among them. And please don't use the title 'lord' again. I've become something much more important than a lord, a position I had no idea existed. I've become a trusted friend."
Kail stared at Ruhl for a moment, but it wasn't the man's words that convinced him. It was Ruhl's smile, the kind of smile Kail had never before seen the man wear. The former lord really did seem changed, and before Kail knew it he was at the table and sitting in a chair near Asri.
"If you two are hungry, I can throw something together for you," Idresia said as she came back to the table with two cups of tea. "Is the baby all right? He or she looks so beautifully sound asleep."
"His name is Dereth, and he's gotten used to sleeping with all sorts of things going on around him," Asri said with a smile as she unwrapped her son just a bit. "I fed him just before we reached the city, so he should be fine for now."
"But you two aren't, so I'll have something for you in just a minute," Idresia said, her briskly decisive tone refusing to hear any argument. "Do you have any objections to omelets?"
"If that's a fiendish plot to keep us here, it pains me to say that it worked," Kail offered, hoping the feeble humor would lighten his mood. "We haven't had eggs of any sort for much too long a time, and I've started to dream about them."
"Then omelets it is," Idresia said when Asri agreed with a gentle laugh. "Why don't all of you introduce yourselves while I'm cooking."
"That's a good idea," the slight man said. "I'm Driffin Codsent, the lady is Issini Randos, and Edmin Ruhl you already know. Would you care to share your own names?"
"I'm Kail Engreath, and my companion is Asri Tempeth," Kail answered with a sigh. "I'm still feeling the urge to say nothing on any subject, so if I sound a bit surly I hope you'll forgive me."
"There's really nothing to forgive," the woman called Issini said with a very attractive smile. "When it's just you against the world, friendless and alone, there's no other way
to
feel. Edmin probably understands that better than any of us."
"In point of fact, I do," Ruhl responded, his smile having turned wry. "I also know how marvelous it feels to no longer
be
alone, a truth you'll hopefully find out for yourself. I ought to mention that I remember you as well, Engreath, and recall thinking that you would never fit in with your father and brothers. Right now, that's the best endorsement anyone in our position can possibly have."
"I'm really glad to hear that," Kail said, not as surprised as he would have been only a few moments earlier. "And you're right about my not fitting in with my father and brothers, a state I've always been happy about but never happier than now. By the way, someone mentioned that there's another of our former peers here in the city who doesn't seem to look at things the way we do. Would you mind telling me who it is?"
"Since the matter isn't much of a secret, it shouldn't hurt anything to mention their names," the man called Driffin said when Ruhl glanced at him. "We're currently trying to keep Sembrin and Bensia Noll from taking over the city."
"Him!" Kail couldn't help exclaiming, and then he realized that Asri had said, "Her!" at the same time. Kail looked at Asri questioningly just as she did the same with him, and Ruhl made a sound of amusement.
"You both seem to know and dislike the family," Ruhl observed, looking from one to the other of them. "Would you care to share why that is? The more we know about the Nolls, the better our chances of ruining their plans."
"It wouldn't be quite accurate to say I
know
Sembrin Noll," Kail responded with a grimace when Asri hesitated. "My father once tried to get me an appointment with the government, and Noll intruded in the matter. Noll somehow knew that I wanted nothing to do with the position, and mentioned the fact to a number of advisors - along with his opinion that I would be useless anyway. He told everyone that I would be useless at whatever I tried to do."
"Noll's brother Ephaim put him up to that, I think," Ruhl said, his gaze obviously searching past memory. "The post was one that Ephaim wanted for his own candidate, so he had his brother Sembrin block the only other candidate. But it was Sembrin's choice as to how to do the blocking, so he chose the way he liked best. Ruining people's reputations seemed to be a hobby of his."
"The more I hear about Noll, the better I like him," the woman Issini said dryly, then she turned to Asri. "And what did the Noll woman do to
you
?"
"She … was very cruel," Asri answered hesitantly, and then she seemed to brace up as she looked directly at the other woman. "She said it was lucky that I had no talent at all, or my prettiness wouldn't have helped me. Men of real importance disliked stubborn women, but they were willing to overlook the stubbornness if there was nothing in the way of talent behind the attitude."
Kail felt startled that Asri would mention to these strangers the one point of her life that disturbed her the most. Asri looked almost defiant, as though she waited to be rejected because of her lacks. Kail was prepared to put an arm around Asri in support, but he suddenly found himself startled for the second time.
"Lack of talent?" Driffin echoed with abrupt and unexplained interest as he exchanged glances with the others at the table. "Did you all hear that? Asri supposedly has no talent, but I'm now remembering that Idresia's man said these two were found not far from here. They 'just happened' to locate the neighborhood of the only people in the city who could give them a true welcome… Would anyone care to guess how unlikely that is?"
"That's an excellent point, Driff," Idresia said from where she stood near the stove, her expression seemingly filled with delight. "I'll bet Asri was the one who wanted to come in this direction. Isn't that right, Kail?"
"Well, as a matter of fact, she
did
say we ought to come this way," Kail admitted without thinking, completely confused about what these strangers might be talking about. "But that doesn't really mean anything, any more than her lack of talent makes Asri less of a person. She - "
"Less of a person!" Driffin echoed again, now looking really amused. "You've been away from the city a
long
time, haven't you? You obviously missed the great revelation, so it gives me quite a lot of pleasure to tell you two that Asri doesn't lack talent at all. She's clearly someone who has the sixth talent, and wasn't taken in with the others because she was a member of the nobility."