Mercedes Lackey - Elvenbane

And that was not what Alara had taught her.

That's not right , she told herself fiercely. I don't know what is right...but I know what isn't . You didn't use your powers to manipulate friends who trusted you. That was betraying their trust.

She took a long, hard look at what the past year had made her, and she didn't much like it.

I'm becoming as bad as the elves. Worse, because I know better.

She stared at the frantically tossing branches, and tried to figure a way out of the entanglement that was right. Shadow wasn't listening to warnings. Valyn didn't listen to her much at all. Keman was completely innocent. All right, she had warned everybody and only Keman believed her. So, if worst came to worst, what could she do?

She stared at the book on the floor, the last one she had been reading. There was something she could do, she realized as she stared at it. It wasn't entirely ethical, but it was an elegant solution...

She could...she thought...steal enough power from Triana and the rest that she could transport all three conspirators out of there and back to the Citadel, that's what she could do. Or at least as many of them as she could get in the same room. Which meant that she'd better start practicing the magic on small things. If she could steal enough power...

Her hand closed on the nearly forgotten amber lump from her hoard; she closed her hand around it in an automatic reflex, then took it out and stared at it...and began to laugh.

Stupid! Of course she'd have enough power! She could use her stones to amplify it! Why didn't she think of that before? Because I was so busy being jealous of Triana, that's why .

And that was an entirely elegant solution. She could drain enough from Triana alone to take them to the Citadel...and that would leave the elven lady helpless to follow or detain them.

If she was going to do it, she'd better start practicing now. She looked up as the room suddenly darkened, and saw that the storm clouds she had sensed were rolling in, covering the sky like blue-black clouds of ink.

She'd better get ready to use this...because that wasn't the only storm that was moving in.

"Indeed, Lord Cheynar," Triana said smoothly to the image on her wall. Let others put their teleson screens in their desktops; she preferred to lounge when she spoke to someone. "I have seen some signs that the wizards you seek are on my property. Can you tell me again exactly what the reward is if I happen to find them?" She batted her eyelashes at him. "I'm afraid it's quite gone out of my head. The idea of wizards loose is terribly frightening, you know."

Cheynar sighed impatiently and explained the relatively simple reward structure all over again. Triana widened her eyes innocently, and feigned attentiveness. "I'll have my hunters look for them most diligently, my lord," she told him. "I really do think they must have slipped past you and gotten onto my estate. There are too many odd occurrences...missing livestock, that sort of thing...that make a great deal of sense if you assume someone is hiding here."

Before Cheynar could take the initiative and suggest that his men come look for the renegades, she pleaded exhaustion, and cut the communication.

Well, she thought, with a smile of satisfaction, that was certainly a good day's work. The seeds were now nicely planted. The crop should be ready to harvest at any time.

Now for Mero...

She rose to her feet and sought him in his new quarters, the spacious, private suite she had assigned him next to hers. He was playing a game of draughts against one of the slaves when she came in, but jumped to his feet with a speed that was tremendously gratifying. The slave likewise sprang to his feet, and quickly took a place at the side of the table, ready to serve.

He was coming along nicely. "I didn't know you played draughts," she said, gliding across the room and taking the seat the slave had hastily vacated for her. "I used to be quite good at it, actually. I like strategy games...but then, the best kind of strategy game is the kind played with real people, like the one your friends are setting up."

"What?" Mero said, frowning with puzzlement as he resumed his place.

"Didn't they tell you about it?" she said innocently, and covered her lips with a slender hand, as if she had said too much. "Oh...never mind what I said. It probably didn't mean anything anyway."

"Probably not," Mero said, and picked up one of his game pieces, moving it carefully, as if he were concentrating on the game to the exclusion of all else. "They're always hatching half-fledged plans and discarding them."

But they always included you in that, didn't they, dear ? Triana thought with sly satisfaction. They never left you out of a planning session. But now it's beginning to look as if they're conspiring without you...and maybe even against you .

She tightened her glamorie on him, wishing more than ever that she had wizard-powers to control his thoughts. All she could do at the moment was manipulate him through the actions of others.

She moved her game piece, and studied the dark head across from her, bent over the draughts board. She rather thought she was doing a good job of manipulating all of them so far. The special treatment, special quarters, and frequent gifts were making it look as if she was singling him out...which of course she was. And that was indubitably giving rise to a certain amount of envy and jealousy. She had been encouraging him to think of himself as being somehow "better" than the others...and that should be reflected in his behavior to them. Certainly it seemed that way. She knew that several times he had come upon the three friends talking intently about something...and that they had broken off the conversation when he entered the room, turning the talk to something innocuous.

Any creature with an ounce of perception would be certain that he was the topic of conversation the moment before. He was, of course, but probably not in the sense he thought.

As for Shana...the attention she had been giving the boy, and the concubines she'd been sending him nightly were undoubtedly the cause of the black looks the girl had been sending his way. That relationship was certainly dying, if not already dead.

Mero made his move, and sat back in his chair, the frown still creasing his brow. She chose another piece and moved it, taking one of his.

And now she'd hinted that there were plans he hadn't been informed of. By now his skin must be crawling.

He moved again and, with a tight smile of triumph, took her royal piece. "I'm afraid you've lost, my lady," he said smoothly. "What's your forfeit?"

She smiled back, having had this in mind the moment she sat down. "I think this will do," she told him, slipping off a beryl-set ring and handing it to him. "After all, it was only a game of draughts. If you want higher stakes, you'll have to play a different game."

He took the ring, and kissed the back of the hand that held it. "Perhaps I shall," he replied, the frown gone from his face. "And perhaps if I lose, I shall think myself the winner, hmm?"

She laughed softly. "My word, Mero, you're becoming quite the courtier! I had no idea you could be so gallant!"

He released her hand reluctantly. "I've never been moved to play the gallant before, my lady," he replied, "but you can be assured that I will wear this, not as a token of triumph, but as a token of regard."

Just as I'd hoped, you silly child , she thought with elation, as he tried the ring on each of his fingers. One of her best spells was in that beryl. Once he put that ring on, he was never going to believe a bad word about her again. And once she took him to her bed, he'd be hers entirely. If she told him to fling himself off a cliff, he would. And I think that should be the stakes in the next game or two .