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Five?” Wirn asked, having taken the chair at the foot of the table, which unbalanced the seating. “It shouldn’t be all that difficult to do it a second time.”
    “It’s a matter of changed circumstance rather than difficulty,” a third man put in, someone who had remained silent until now. “Adriari’s group was chosen, which made them reasonably amenable. This new group can claim actually to have won, and only a very few people can prove otherwise. Their standing is, therefore, substantially higher, so buying their cooperation will probably be a good deal more expensive.”
    “Not to mention who the five people are,” Lanir added with a nod of agreement. “Their fathers are each powerful and respected men, but for the most part the children are either throwaways or potentially too dangerous. If your child is a High talent, he or she had better be fully capable and completely under your control. If he or she isn’t, it’s safer to dispose of that child as quickly as possible.”
    The other men agreed with that, and began to discuss various people who had wisely rid themselves of potentially dangerous or embarrassing children. Lanir, having started the discussion, joined in with full enthusiasm while beginning on the soup we were all being served. I spent a brief moment wondering if he were actually as stupid as he seemed, then came to the conclusion that he was simply one of those who were completely insensitive. I was a lowborn woman who had no choice but to do exactly as he wished; why should he care if I realized that he meant either to enslave or dispose of any High talented children I might give him?
    The creamed soup was excellent, which helped me do something with my mouth other than telling off the fool of a man to my right. It would have been different if I’d actually had to have the man’s children, of course, but since I would be leaving that place in just a few hours, it wasn’t difficult to keep quiet. Or not too difficult. Now that I knew one of the reasons the nobility had so few High talents, it would have been pleasant to point out the stupidity.
    In another group my remaining silent might have been noticed, but in that one I simply blended in. None of the other women said even a single word, and the men ignored them as though they weren’t there. Women in that group were obviously no more than decorations, no more than the “toys” one of the men had referred to earlier. That arrangement annoyed me as well, but it was something I didn’t want to do something about. The girl with the Low talent in Fire magic …
    That girl had been having trouble controlling her agitation as she was seated to Wirn’s left. On her right was another of the women, and Wirn himself was too involved in the first discussion to be interrupted. That meant she had to keep her discovery to herself, stirring in her chair and looking everywhere but in my direction.
    And then the discussion about children began, and a frown appeared on her face. She listened to what was being said, the frown changing slowly to a look of painful despair, and after a moment I could see the glint of tears in her eyes. I had no idea what it was that actually disturbed her, but could only hope that it wasn’t what had suddenly come to me: the possibility that she’d already given Wirn at least one child. If that were the case, she now knew what that child’s fate would be….
    Suddenly the girl looked up, and for the first time met my gaze. There were still tears visible in her eyes, but she forced a faint smile and shook her head in a deliberate way, clearly sending me a message. She had changed her mind about speaking to Wirn of her discovery, and might even have been wishing me well. She could have had no idea what I planned, of course, and was probably only hoping that I meant to use my strength in some way. Rather than pretending ignorance and innocence, I smiled and nodded before giving my attention back to the food. That poor