"tell us what you know." ry tossed grish's former assistant onto the floor at arvil's feet. we'd gone looking for a conspiracy among grish's former employees. it wasn't difficult to find.

"you'll pay," the assistant hissed. "we've got more people behind us than you can possibly handle."

"you want to die, don't you?" astralan was there with his brothers, which meant that wilffox and wilffin were also there. they'd taken comfortable chairs in a corner of what used to be grish's study. it was large, just as grish's ego had been.

"we will see that you die, instead," the assistant whined. arvil now had him gripped by the shoulder. the shorter assistant didn't struggle-delvin, carthin and arvil's four other wizards had arrived. i wasn't sure i wanted to watch delvin and the others kill this one-they might not be as neat about their killing as the warlocks.

"we need to get the information first!" ry shouted but it was already too late-carthin had attempted to do what haral had done for arvil before-setting the assistant on fire. i walked out before it was all over, it apparently took a while for the man to burn to death and his screams echoed throughout the plantation for almost a quarter click.

"so, what do you think, cook reah?" astralan climbed onto the top of the wood rail fence where i sat, gazing toward the fields of newly planted drakus seed. i would have to go back in a very short time-dinner would have to be started soon.

"i think arvil's wizards got ahead of themselves for a reason, killing that man so fast," i said.

"we think this too-the hardlows and my brothers."

"those six women have already tried to poison everybody." my statement made astralan jerk his head around to stare at me. "did you notice that none of them ate the hotcakes the other morning?" i asked. "they poisoned the flour. i replaced the tainted flour in the canister before i cooked breakfast. if i find evidence that anyone has tampered with our food or supplies, i won't use it."

"they're not only trying to poison us, but attempting to blame you for it, perhaps?" i looked up at astralan's face. did i think he could actually be kind? that answer was no. i'd seen him kill too many times in the short time i'd known him.

"i hadn't thought that far, i guess," i muttered, lowering my gaze.

"wilffox had his doubts, when arvil told him that he'd named a young woman and her husband as his heirs. we came to check that out as much as anything else," astralan informed me. "honestly, i haven't seen the hardlows this impressed in a very long time."

"i'm a good cook," i replied stiffly.

"oh, it's not just that. and if they worried whether teeg was competent, well, their fears are unfounded. i'll get with my employers. we can make arrangements not to get poisoned again, i think." astralan hopped off the fence.

"i'll be there in a bit to start dinner," i said, watching the tall warlock walk away from me. i'd listened carefully to everything astralan said. he hadn't lied. now, something else was worrying me.

dinner was roast pork with a glaze, potatoes and new vegetables. farzi loves potatoes. i made them with him in mind. he smiled at me when his plate was laid in front of him.

"so, delvin, i want you and carthin to go to the city tomorrow and find the other conspirators," arvil pointed a fork at the two wizards who sat near each other. one of the courtesans sat between them; the other women were scattered along the table. i saw one try to feed wilffin. he brushed her hand away, much like sending an annoying insect flying off in another direction. astralan had already had his talk with the hardlows, looked like.

"more than happy to," delvin nodded respectfully at arvil. i wondered then how long delvin had been working with grish's former employees, convincing them that they could walk right in and take the plantation back. even with his and arvil's other wizards backing them, they still didn't have the firepower the hardlows' warlocks had. in fact, one or two of them would likely be more than enough. it made me wonder when delvin was planning to attack.

"reah can come with us," delvin grinned. well, there was the insect in the sugar bowl. tory cut into his meat more vigorously than necessary-he knew what delvin was planning just as well as i did, although we hadn't discussed it.

"reah will stay with me, i am expecting visitors tomorrow," arvil snapped. well, the hardlows had told arvil what they suspected as well.

"you didn't tell me you were expecting visitors." delvin was walking a dangerous path, arguing with arvil. how stupid did he think arvil was?

"when did you start thinking that i would include you in all my business?" arvil was very close to killing, i think. his hands weren't on the table or anywhere near it. i had the feeling that a ranos pistol might have been in the waistband of his tailored pants.

"my apologies, master arvil." delvin went back to his food.

"good. go to the city tomorrow as i asked-i don't need any of those fools thinking they can become an irritation to me." arvil went back to his dinner as well.

"of course, master arvil." carthin's reply was smoother than delvin's had been.

delvin and carthin took off right after breakfast the following morning. the same woman who'd sat between them at dinner the night before was going with them. i was worried that they'd ask nenzi to drive them, but nenzi had conveniently disappeared. i think farzi knew something was up, too and sent his youngest brother off to the equipment sheds in record time. if he hadn't, i'd been about to make up some excuse that i needed him for something around the plantation. we still had a few of grish's old employees around to clean and maintain the lawns and we had the new workers out in the fields, but i wasn't foolish enough to ask any of them to assist me with anything.

arvil wasn't lying, either, when he said he was expecting guests. two men came in by hovercar shortly after delvin and carthin left. i was watching arvil's remaining wizards carefully. tory and ry were close behind me wherever i went, but i was invited to a meeting with the two arrivals, arvil, the hardlows and astralan. ry and tory were excluded. it didn't matter; i had mindspeech. anything i heard i could relay immediately if necessary. i did learn, however, that celestan and galaxsan had been sent off on an errand of their own by the hardlows.

arvil had asked for the rum and fruit drinks i made-he was just as fond of them as his brother had been, i think. i'd mixed a batch before the meeting started. ry had given me a sly grin as he helped carry them into grish's old study before hurrying out. i sat in a chair near arvil while the hardlows took the sofa nearby, leaving two chairs for our guests.

"this is berthias and windelin," arvil introduced the two men to me. both shook my hand before taking their seats. berthias was short and thin-not much taller than i, with watery brown eyes and a thatch of black hair. his nose and lips were thin as well, giving me the image of a burrowing animal. windelin was taller and heavier, although he wasn't fat. windelin looked as if he got regular exercise. he had light-brown hair and green eyes that darted nervously, as if he wanted to know about everything going on around him. his features were more regular than berthias', too.

"these gentlemen are our contacts from the alliance," arvil was nearly beaming. well, he'd managed to break into grish's records to find their names. i expected no less, in all honesty. and contact was a mild term. i had no doubt that these men had made it possible for grish to smuggle contraband and who knew what else, straight to the rest of the alliance.

it gave me the idea that they worked together, somehow. one was likely an official at the nearest alliance distribution center, the other had to work in shipping and receiving. everything had to be inspected before heading anywhere into the alliance. zephili was an alliance world-the alliance didn't do business outside the alliance. zephili had only belonged for around a hundred fifty turns or so. long enough for grish to get his claws into these two and bribe them to keep his illicit activities quiet.

we spent the morning hammering out the amount of payment berthias and windelin would receive for allowing the drakus seed to get sent through their station. only arvil never mentioned it was drakus seed. i had a feeling that berthias and windelin thought it was more of what grish had been sending through-the poppy drugs and such. neither arvil nor the hardlows led them to believe otherwise, merely telling the two alliance employees that grish had died of heart failure (arvil even provided a copy of the physician's statement). arvil made them believe that he and the hardlows were grish's named heirs and that was the end of it. an agreement was reached and arvil made both happy by upping their percentage. the meeting was almost over when i received mindspeech from tory.

reah?

what?

reah, it looks like half the city is burning to the ground.

if arvil wanted to send a warning to his remaining wizards, this was the way to do it. delvin and carthin's crisped bodies were dumped on grish's wide, front porch. "well, that ends our little takeover problem, now doesn't it?" arvil sounded positively gleeful. i felt ill. tory was trying to calm me down through mindspeech-i wanted to find a powder room and heave. the sight and accompanying stench made my stomach churn.

farzi, perzi and yanzi came to stand beside me-tory couldn't put his hands on me. farzi did, instead. he even came with me when celestan delivered information in the meeting we attended later. delvin had been behind the impending revolt. the woman who'd gone with him had been killed right away; celestan and galaxsan just hadn't bothered to transport her body back with delvin and carthin's. none of the other women said a word.

"it has been brought to my attention," arvil was now looking at the women who sat together on a sofa, "that someone tried to poison us. i have the vids." arvil held up a chip. "care to see it, or do you want to confess now and save me the trouble?"

i'd never bothered to learn any of their names. i also hadn't realized that there were cameras inside the kitchen. thank goodness there weren't any in the pantry, and those in the kitchen were vid only, with no sound. grish hadn't bothered with upgrades. when the women refused to admit to anything, arvil played the vid. i saw at least three of the women, one of whom was their dead co-conspirator, placing a powdery substance inside the flour canister. i was more than thankful it showed me dumping out the flour and then walking into the pantry to get more. if i'd skipped away to buy flour while still inside the kitchen, arvil might have tried to kill me, too. i'd skipped from inside the pantry, after learning there wasn't any more flour inside it. i schooled my face into the best non-expression i could.