Empire of the One (Wine of the Gods Book 14)

by Pam Uphoff

  The Perps had been IDed as Al Iadrah hit men, one had had a chip with the Capo's demands about legislation in the works aimed at cleaning up the gambling industry.

  They’d raided three places, the remainder of the businesses associated with the Capo were getting searched, inspected and or audited as appropriate.

  "That will keep my little Colonial short of free time to get into trouble." She chased the last bite of potatoes, sausage and scrambled eggs around her plate. "One! I have a boyfriend. How did that happen?" She dressed for the barn and splurged on a taxi.

  Endi had Paer working in the arena when Xiat dragged herself there.

  "Looks like someone needs some horse tonic." The tall man grinned across the sand at her. One damn the man, he had no right to be standing there looking . . . yummy. Rael's going to love being told to get closer.

  Paer looked relieved. "Hi Xiat. How do you feel? Endi, have you got any more special liniment? Maybe she should take some home and her boyfriend could rub it on. She's finally got a boyfriend, you know."

  "Very funny." Xiat growled.

  "She's had one for as long as I've known her. But the smell of the liniment might take care of that." Endi was trying to look serious, but another of his quick grins slipped through. "Need help?"

  Xiat gave him her best liquid nitrogen glare. He just grinned. Gorgeous straight white teeth, deep, deep eyes . . .

  She cleared her throat. "No thank you. And where is your guard?"

  The girl was perched up on one of the guards' mounts. She waved around. "There's a herd of them today. I think there's even a sniper on the barn roof."

  Endi nodded. "Five of them. Armed to the teeth. Pretending to be invisible in those weird suits. They're around somewhere. I can't keep track of them, and they have to stay at least twenty feet away to not spook the horses. So, you were about to give me an analysis of this horse, Princess Zucchini?"

  "He's got no respect for jumps. He'd as soon knock them down as jump higher. He's got a mouth of iron and I think my arms will fall off if I have to ride him much longer."

  "Damn, you're good. Right. Next horse."

  Paer swung down from the horse's back with a sigh of relief. "He's making me rate a bunch of horses, so I know how to buy a good one. Major Eppa said we could only try five of the Company horses. Thank the One, otherwise Endi would have me riding every single one of them."

  Endi lifted the princess's saddle and a boy led the horse away. "Oh, not all two hundred and fifty of them. Twenty at the most. Any more and I wouldn't be able to keep all those black critters separate."

  Paer made a rude gesture, a first in Xiat's experience. "But Dr. Ukji says Crystal is in great shape, and I can start getting her back into condition maybe next week. You should have heard what he called Endi!"

  "Absolutely right too. She could have been badly hurt, and if it hadn't been an emergency I wouldn't have even thought to ride her so soon." Endi flashed a grin over his shoulder. "Herc showed up this morning, looking for breakfast. I think one night in the forest was enough for him. We're giving him a day off, as he's rather stiff and sore."

  "He almost out-ran those floaters." Paer grinned. Tough girl. "If he'd known the paths, we could have lost them."

  Xiat snorted. "I could barely keep up, at that. What about Godiva?"

  "Oh, she's all stocked up and favoring a back leg. The stunned horse hit the ground pretty hard, he hurts everywhere. Two others came back, a bit tired, but full of grass. The missing black horse ran back to his former home. Eppa's dispatched a minion to fetch him back. And Idjit's pretty stiff, too. Rael's horse, trying to keep up with Crystal. Ukie and I are arguing over how to treat them. Not that what he wants to do won't work, but don't you people ever let your horses just mosey around the pasture and exercise those sore legs all day long, nice and slow?"

  "Nope. That's for broodmares and foals. And maybe retirees. Working horses belong in stalls. You rode Crystal? Why?"

  "Because she knew all the paths the princess knew, and might lead me to where Paer might run to if she was being chased. And she did." Endi stopped to eye Justice, a big bay mare generally ridden by the President. She was gorgeous, lazy and impossible to spook.

  Paer giggled. "I don't think she knows how to jump."

  "Let's find out."

  Xiat sat down carefully where she could watch them. It was going to be interesting, when Madam Chin returned. Paer was learning a lot more than just jumping. Xiat rather thought that the girl was going to miss her eccentric lessons.

  Rael trotted out to watch as well. :: Mine! All mine. Target acquired, princess closing in! ::

  :: Very funny. You're supposed to be getting past that mental shield of his. ::

  :: I'll have to wear him out. He's got two days off, and I'm going with him to a horse auction. Big mixed sale down in Tunis. Only managed to rent one room. What a shame! ::

  :: He goes to horse sales on his days off? ::

  :: He's a temporary employee. So far. Says he'll need a horse of his own to show, real soon. :: Rael's mental tone was glum.

  Xiat winced as Justice cantered straight into a jump, sending poles flying. :: I suspect that the President and Urfa between them will keep him around. ::

  :: You should have seen him at the raids. We used his hideous old horse van for cover. He got into the fighting the first time. He managed to impress everyone except Idlo and Ahba. Snobs. They said a Oner would have just spelled him to sleep, and then where would all the pretty kung fu be? I think they're jealous. ::

  :: Oblivious, if they haven't noticed that man's magic potential. Swear he must have faked the DNA sample we got. ::

  :: Maybe he has a friend in the lab? Or if he's working for the Isolationists, Interior's labs may have a mole. ::

  :: Could be a power play inside the War Party, too. ::

  Endi was shaking his head, and piling the poles into a small solid pile. "That was just sad. Try this at a trot. Surely she'll at least lift her feet up."

  "Teaching her how to train a horse as well. Madam Chin will be so affronted." Rael giggled. She sounded a lot younger than her actual thirty-six years. Young punk princess. Just right for Endi, who probably wasn't actually his claimed twenty-four years of age. "Surely they'll keep that man around."

  Did I just dream that great glowing presence? Did Paer bloom under attack? Or is Endi hiding a lot more than we think? I hope Rael can figure him out.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Tunis, North African Region

  24 Shaban 1396 yp

  Tunis was hot. Dry. The sales barns all had fans blowing air. Rael wasn't sure it helped. And romancing Endi when he was horse-shopping was apparently a waste of time. Not to mention that the competition had shown up.

  The man stopped to watch a horse being trotted and then posed for potential buyers.

  "This isn't going anywhere, is it?" Rael leaned up against him anyway.

  "It won't go anywhere we don't both consciously want it to go." Endi looped a friendly arm around her shoulders. "We're both the kind of person who always puts other things first. Mind you, it's nice to occasionally meet up with someone who finds that admirable."

  "What do you find most admirable about me? I already know your opinion of red hair."

  "It's not the red, it's the spikes. You are dedicated, loyal, fierce and honorable. You’re smart, talented, well trained. Strong physically, and magically. Who wouldn't admire that? Mind you, the big green eyes don't hurt a bit, and I'm even getting to like the spikiness. It's very like your inner self. Catches everyone’s attention. Holds everyone at a distance." He pulled away and wandered further down the sales barn.

  Rael scowled. Holds everyone at a distance? I’ve been rubbing up against you all day. And I am not emotionally distant. I’m enthusiastic.

  "More than that, you're happy. We poor sad men warm ourselves beside your joy, and fear being burned if we get too close."

  She hunched her shoulders. But you know this is a job, you know I’m no
t allowing myself to . . . love you. Damn. Princesses were not supposed to have this much trouble with men. "What about you? What comes first for you?"

  But he was eyeing a big chestnut, and let the question go. Maybe it wasn't something he could answer. Maybe he hadn't yet found something worthy of coming first. His eyes narrowed speculatively as a pair of Withione wives came into sight. The tiny bit of aura that leaked past his constant barriers went suddenly cold to her mental senses. Calculating. Rael had a sinking sensation that he was looking for a victim, not a lover. Am I acting too much like them? Perhaps I should be glad he's not stalking me. She wandered across the aisle to admire a purebred arabian mare. Endi had been more interested in the various partbreds, larger and stronger, more suited to jumping. The hundreds of pre-war domesticated breeds of horses had been mostly lost in the war. The survivors had gone feral, and in a world that had maintained a late industrial base, they'd been only spottily redomesticated and bred for various qualities.

  In the Middle East, the arabians had survived. In South America, the andalasian, several oddly gaited breeds and the thoroughbred race horse had been preserved. In Asia, they'd mostly been eaten.

  Jumpers like Crystal were generally a cross of the heavier native European feral mares and thoroughbred or arabian stallions. That was the type that was attracting Endi. The women appeared to be looking at anglo arabs, the elegant arabian and thoroughbred cross. But with Endi in sight, they were forgetting all about the horses.

  Rael wandered the other direction and pulled out her comp to check the pedigree on one mare. Watching Endi out of the corner of her eye, as she pretended to read. The women bracketed him, chatted him up. Rael caught comments about how mean Haov had been, and chattering about where he could work next. War Party wives. She pretended to not notice when Endi let them hustle him away. She cut through the center breezeway, and caught sight of the three of them heading for the sales headquarters in the adjoining hotel. Or possibly their rooms.

  It was an hour before she spotted Endi again. She joined him on the auction floor, where he watched the three horses he'd been most interested in get snapped up by other buyers for surprisingly large amounts.

  "It's your reputation." Rael told him. "They figure if you're bidding, the horse is bound to be good."

  "Yeah. I'll have to get someone to do my bidding for me. Umm, that could be misconstrued." He flicked back through the sales catalogue on his comp. "C'mon, let's look at more horses."

  Rael shook her head. "I'm going to go eat. See you later." She headed for the hotel, and skimmed through all the various public rooms. Retailers with booths full of tack and liniment, hospitality suites hosted by some of the larger consignment farms, equine art displays, plus the restaurants and bars.

  She finally found Endi's women in a nook in a bar. She picked a table close to them but not in their line of sight, and ordered a cocktail. She sank halfway into a trance and listened with both ears and magic. They were both relaxed and dreamy, content. Oozing sexual afterglow. Both of them? Yep. Both. She wondered how Endi arranged that. Send one away, while he diddled the other, or a three way? The way they were smiling at each other, she'd bet on the three way. And Endi was back inside of an hour. I'm surprised they're looking so happy about it.

  She found herself blinking back tears. Some mixture of hurt and fury. Damn him. Why not me? Is it because he wants to hurt them? They don't look very hurt! She took a deep breath and looked deep into her drink and decided that getting close to Endi Dewulfe was in fact work rather than pleasure. Time to stop being all starry-eyed and enthusiastic. I need to know why everyone trusts this man, when we're around him. It's very weird. It feels almost like the faint trace of the One, the way we trust priests . . . but it's not. Can he be influencing everyone around him? Consciously or subconsciously? The Director needs information. Because this guy is more than a little scary.

  ***

  Ydro hesitated at the edge of the bakery’s seating area. Este spotted him and waved him in.

  "Well, the crackdown has certainly cleaned up the neighborhood." Deep took another bite of her danish and reached for the coffee. "I certainly like the way new businesses are moving in."

  "Yeah, but even illegitimate jobs are better than nothing." Este swallowed and picked up another donut. "I don't like having so many unemployed young men around. Just begging for trouble."

  "How about us old guys?" The usual trio of old men were sitting at the next table. "I like having this bakery here, though." Onni inhaled over his box.

  "Worse you'll do is dress up grubby and go begging somewhere else." Deep said. "Young men riot and destroy stuff. Begging Este’s and Ydro’s pardons."

  "It's demeaning to beg when it's pretend." Icku nodded though. "I see why you're worried, though. You guys got a lot of breakables."

  "Speaking of which, I thought Kail had put you guys to work." Este wadded up his bag and looked back at the counter.

  "Humph. Deliveries. And painting things just so. And watching the clock like a hawk. Yeah. She's making me use magic. I stink at it. Out of practice." Anki scowled.

  "Humph. Why are you complaining? She made me get all muddy yesterday. Pottery wheels suck." Icku sighed. "That shop doesn't make enough money to live on."

  "Better than nothing, isn't it?" Deep savored her last bite. And glared at Este, who headed for the counter and another donut. She muttered something about damning his male metabolism.

  Ydro pulled out a donut of his own. "I’ll bet rents will go up now. I don’t see as many students around as usual."

  Anki shook his head. "I shouldn’t have told you to fix the sewers, how was I to know you’d actually do it?"

  Ydro blinked. He doesn't look drunk. Maybe he's delusional. It wasn't these guys that fixed the sewers.

  "I happen to like the way the neighborhood smells, these days." Deep smirked.

  The counter girl clicked her tongue. "Well, would you look at that! Five minutes ago it was fine. I swear the government uses the cheapest micros and charges us when we have to get new IDs."

  Deep looked over her shoulder, trying for casual. Ydro could see the tensing of muscles in her face, neck and arm. Este took his ID card back and offered another.

  "Must be my magnetic personality. At least the cash card still works." Este wound back through the tables to sit in the sun across from her. He dropped his voice. "Damn cheap programming, I expect."

  Deep looked deep in thought. "That’s really, really bad timing. Maybe Heil can do something. Old . . . One knows she's taken to the electronics like a wizard to sunshine. Now, you lot. Are you interested in the shop?"

  Icku shrugged. "I'm not saying we won't take it, and give it a try. I just don't think the three of us can keep it going."

  "You guys are selling the shop?"

  "The business. We just rent the shop." Kail shrugged. "It's barely breaking even, so as soon as we start picking up certifications, we'll be looking for real jobs."

  Anki snickered. "Looks like the Space Aliens are going to hop back into their spaceship and zoom away."

  Deep rolled her eyes. "You can always turn the building into something else. Or take the equipment somewhere else. Or sell all the kilns and furniture and the TV and go get drunk."

  "We don't do that anymore. Don't mind our griping, we know how to live on the streets, and we can hold down jobs now as well." Icku shrugged. "Probably make enough to pay the rent, and it’s dirt cheap for an apartment. Probably not zoned for it. And if Fasil wasn’t so fat he never leaves home, he’d see how you fixed the place up, and triple the rent."

  Anki smiled a bit. "We could probably get filthy rich selling that joy juice of yours on the black market. If we had the nerve."

  Ydro raised an eyebrow, but no one enlightened him. I’ll have to check with the old men, separately. After I follow Este everywhere and find out what he does about replacing his ID card.

  ***

  "Endi Dewulfe’s putative mother was not at home to visitors. I got a l
ook at her, studied the characteristics of the local population—the subtle skull shapes, body language, personal space, accents. No one could tell me the whereabouts of her ex-husband. Including his two brothers." Izzo scowled at his notes. "I hadn't really absorbed how many tribal characteristics the various Home World groups have. After looking around, I seriously doubt Endi's from that part of the world. I could collect a sample for analysis, but I'll bet it would come back as unrelated to Endi."

  Urfa sighed. "No, he's not a typical Hindu. But then he's not typical of anywhere. I feel like I'm trying to tame a wild animal. Not enough trust to relax around me, no personal references at all. Rael's finding him prickly as well, but for her he's hiding behind a wall of chatter. Damn it. I hate people I can't pin down."

  "Recruiting him will stick a definition on him, without changing all the unknowns." Izzo kept his voice mild. Senior analysts should be respectful of their superiors.

  "Heh. Indeed. I'll talk to him again."

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Paris, European Region

  1 Qadah 1396 yp

  ". . . so I was wondering if your boss would let you do some more investigating."

  Xiat eyed Izzo. "Huh. Well I've talked to Poppy. She says chasing Endi became one of the favorite pastimes of the wives club, and that about three months ago he suddenly started letting them catch him."

  "But he can't be the one getting them pregnant. There's got to be someone else, causing these unexpected pregnancies." Izzo turned away to put the vase back in front of his window.

  Returning it had been the most obvious excuse to see him again. Reason. It was a reason to see him. She didn’t need to find an excuse, One damn it. "It certainly shouldn't be Endi. There's no way around Withione selective fertility, as far as I've ever heard, legal or illegal. But if it is possible, if the father is Endi, the daughters will only have one copy of the One power gene . . . One! There would be a horrendous crash of social standings and prestige . . . One! But if it did start three months ago, all the wives will be getting their early test results back real soon. I'll talk to Poppy tomorrow, off duty if necessary, and get a list of the women pursuing him." Xiat flashed a grin. "And who else they’re getting too friendly with. I wonder if he or they will turn out to have connections to Endi?"