Yira tapped the side of her glass. “I doubt it is all exaggeration, and as far as we’re concerned Keich is our enemy because he serves the Raen and killed some of our people.” Her lips pressed into a line. “These allies are assets of our target. Removing them would hurt him.”
Tyen frowned. From these meetings with the rebels he’d learned that most rebels had joined the resistance as much in the hope of defeating the Raen’s allies as the Raen himself. Several had come from worlds the allies controlled or exploited. He’d begun to collect information, curious about these sorcerers who served the ruler of worlds. Had they begun their service by requesting a favour or making a deal? How powerful were they? How much freedom did the Raen allow them? What did he require in return? Did they serve him entirely out of obligation, or loyalty? Were the allies friends with each other?
He’d collected quite a bit of information, compiling a list of ten names, and descriptions of two others who remained unnamed. He hadn’t anticipated that his research might give Yira someone other than the Raen to target.
As he had many times already, he began to chew over the growing problem of the rebels’ expectations. Now that the enemy had attacked they considered the war declared and begun. The more organised the rebels became, the safer they were, but also the more determined to fight. His chances of preventing any further deaths were shrinking rapidly.
If I can’t steer them from a confrontation, perhaps these allies provide a way to prevent them directly attacking the Raen, he thought. If they lose, the survivors may be shaken into changing their minds about rebellion. A win will use up their energies and may even persuade them that the allies are the real problem, not the Raen. If even half of the stories about the allies are true, many deserve the rebels’ hatred.
The worlds would be better off without the worst of them. And yet…
“More rebels will die,” he warned. “Many more, if the ally is powerful.”
She chewed her lip, then took another sip of water. “Sometimes you have to take losses in the beginning in order to make gains in the long term.”
“And sometimes you don’t. Sometimes an early setback is all it takes to kill interest in resistance. Besides, we’re not ready for a battle.”
She looked at him and nodded. “No, we’re not. This will require careful preparation. Keep gathering information. We need to know the allies’ strengths, and if they are ever in a place where other allies or the Raen can’t come to their aid. If that means luring one of them into a trap, we need to know what sort of bait will work.”
Tyen nodded. He rose. “Frell says he spotted some potential recruits among the pilgrims in his house,” he said. “I’ll check them out. Then I’ll ask the people who have already given us information about the allies’ strength and movements if I could safely visit the worlds they frequent.”
Yira frowned. “Visit them? Surely the most dangerous area to travel between worlds is near the allies’ homes?”
“Possibly less so than going to any other worlds. I’d be surprised if the allies didn’t have some agreement with the Raen that allows their world to trade with others. That would create plenty of well-used paths between them.”
She looked thoughtful, then suddenly smiled. “Thanks, Tyen. I don’t know how I’d do any of this without you.”
He bent in a lazy bow. “An honour to serve you, lady.”
She rolled her eyes. “Get out of here.”
As he made his way to the house Frell was staying in, the tranquillity of his surroundings no longer soothed him. While all of the rebels dreamed of defeating the Raen, most thought the chances were very slim. The allies had to be weaker than their leader, so the possibility of killing them seemed better.
Trouble was, nobody knew how strong the allies were. They could be almost as strong as the Raen if rumours and stories were true. Several had lived for more than a few hundred cycles. If that was an indicator of strength, then the rebels should target allies showing their age or who had been born sufficiently recently that their youthfulness might not be due to magic.
Like himself. He shivered. Some allies appeared to deserve the rebels’ hatred, but what if their actions hadn’t been as terrible as the stories told? What if they’d had no other choice? What if they’d been trying to protect someone or something else? What if they hadn’t anticipated the consequences of their actions?
Reaching the house Frell was living in, he met with two potential recruits. Frell had been scanning the minds of returning rebels and noticed that two of the women in the house, a mother and daughter, were sorcerers with a grudge against the Raen. Their husbands had been visiting a world some distance from their home when the Raen returned, and had not been seen since. The women had come on a pilgrimage in the hope of meeting someone from that world who had seen their men, and had instead learned of their murders.