by Sharon Green
"Then we'll take care of them first," Rion said, his agreement more grim and merciless than his feelings had ever been before. He'd had no idea that he had it in him to be so hard and harsh, but these people deserved nothing better. Even if they weren't privy to what would be done with their captives, they still had to know that they were taking innocent people to what might just be their doom. Claiming they were simply following orders was an excuse Rion was unwilling to accept.
The guardsmen he'd put out first were indeed stirring, so he simply put them out again—along with the others who were trying to fight against the sedative. Alsin and Grath had come out of the tenth wagon by then, and Alsin admitted that there was nothing he might do to hurry along the process of waking. With that in mind they all put their backs into carrying the guardsmen and drivers to the middle of the camp, where they lined them up in easy-to-see rows. Tying them with rope would have been a waste of time, of course, since anyone with even a Low talent in Fire magic could have gotten themselves and the rest of their friends loose with very little effort.
But chains were another matter, and it was Alsin who discovered that each guardsman had a set of fetters in his saddlebags. That meant there weren't quite enough to chain the guardsmen and drivers both, at least not individually. It did prove possible, though, to chain their prisoners wrist to ankle in the row, one man's wrist chained to the next man's ankle, and that man's ankle chained to the next man's wrist.
It took quite a while to get all that done, and once they were through Rion quieted everyone who was beginning to stir again. Then they began to look for the convoy's supplies, as they were now hungry enough to eat some of the surrounding trees. That, at least, was the way Rion felt, but the quick way the others agreed to look for food suggested that they felt the same. They'd decided against buying their lunch at the inn in which they'd spent the night, contrary to what had become their habit with other inns.
The previous night had seen them squeezed into three small rooms—the third grudgingly supplied by the landlord—and breakfast that morning had actually been reheated rather than freshly made. Rion had accepted that with dinner the night before, but a breakfast done the same was inexcusable. So they hadn't bought any lunch, and now needed something to remove the memory of their terrible breakfast.
The supplies carried by the convoy were surprisingly lavish, and Grath took over preparing the meal while the others looked on. The scout insisted on doing so, and simply glanced at Rion and the others.
"You three don't have to stand there watching me," he said with a look of amusement. "I promise not to eat it all myself, and I'll even call you when it's ready."
"What else have we got to do?" Alsin asked as he stretched a large tarpaulin across a section of the wet grass. At least it had stopped raining, for the moment, anyway. "Everything else is taken care of, and now all we can do is wait for the captives to wake up."
"You might try getting some of them up and walking," Grath suggested as he added wood to the sheltered fire which had been built by the convoy people. "I'm told that sedatives wear off more quickly like that, and the sooner they're all awake and alert, the sooner we can be on our way."
"There must be sixty people in those wagons," Valiant pointed out as Alsin's expression said he was in the midst of considering the suggestion. "Since it will take two of us to walk one of them around, we'll still be here next week if walkin' is the only way to wake them. I'm for waitin' and lettin' them do it by themselves."
Rion saw a flash of frustration in Grath's expression, but it wasn't possible to argue the logic of what Valiant had said. Grath was apparently even more eager than they were to leave that area, and Rion couldn't really blame him. But instead of arguing in a lost cause the man went back to giving all his attention to fixing them a meal, and it wasn't long before the food was ready to eat. Rion got up and went to call Tamrissa to join them, and when she left the wagon she did so with a smile.
"They actually each sat up for a few minutes," she said, relief clear in her lovely eyes. "They're pulling out of it more and more rapidly, so in a few hours they ought to be back with us. But what about Naran and our driver? They ought to be just as hungry as we are."
"I'm certain they are, which is why I mean to call them next," Rion assured her with his own smile. "I'll be back with them in just a little while."
"At least the rain has stopped for now," Tamrissa said, looking up at the sky. "It doesn't appear ready to be stopped for good, but it's nice not to need a canopy to stand under. We'll probably have to put one up when it's time to feed the captives. I'm sure they'll wake up ravenous."
"It will probably prove easier to feed them in their wagons," Rion said, considering the logistics of the thing. "They'll surely want to walk around even if the rain starts again, but eating will be more easily accomplished inside the wagons."
"You're probably right," Tamrissa agreed, her attention more on the food than on the conversation. "Let's discuss it later."
That was the most sensible suggestion Rion had heard in a long while, so he quickly agreed and then headed for where the coach had been left. Getting back to it was faster than leaving it had been, as he no longer had to worry about making noise. Naran and Lidris, the driver, stood together beside the coach, and answered his smile with ones of their own.
"Your expression says you were successful," Naran offered as soon as she saw him, her own face lighting up. "I knew you would be, but I can't seem to get out of the habit of worrying anyway."
"There's nothing left to worry about, my love," Rion told her as he folded her in his arms. "The guardsmen and drivers are all subdued, and the captives are beginning to wake up. We should have just enough time to take a meal of our own before we need to see about theirs, and ours is already prepared. If Lidris will pull the coach off the road and into the trees, we can all go back and eat."
"If'n th' horses don' wanna pull, I'll do 'er m'self," Lidris said with enthusiasm, obviously as hungry as Rion. "Gimme a quick minnit."
The man climbed up onto the box in what must have been record time, then the coach was moving through the wet grass and into the trees. Rion hoped they'd be able to free the coach again from the mud as he and Naran followed, but there was no help for it. Leaving the coach where it could be easily seen would be like posting a sign announcing their whereabouts.
As soon as the coach was taken care of, Rion led the two people back to where the convoy had camped. He used Air magic to keep the dripping trees from soaking the three of them, even though he hadn't really dried off from the first time. Now that the confrontation was over, he'd have to speak to Valiant or Tamrissa about ridding him of the dampness. It was deuced uncomfortable, one of the few new experiences Rion had had that he had no interest in experiencing again—or even longer this first time.
When they reached the others, he discovered that they'd waited their own meal until everyone might eat. That had been thoughtful of them but completely unnecessary, a fact he mentioned even as he joined Naran in filling metal plates. The others, seated on the tarpaulin which Alsin had spread, had already filled their plates and were now digging in rather than answering his protest. He quickly did the same, reflecting that he'd never known how good fried beefcakes and potatoes and biscuits could taste.
"I've had a thought," Tamrissa leaned over to murmur to Rion once they'd all sat back with what was left of their tea. "It's possible that if you and I and Valiant link up with Lorand, we can lend him the lucidity and strength to clear his own system of the lethe. We can't include Jovvi because two cloudy minds might throw the rest of us off, but once Lorand is back he can do the same for her."
"And you're not mentioning this aloud because we still don't know exactly how our friends will react to actually being with a functioning Blending," Rion returned in the same murmur. "I agree with your caution, and also applaud your idea. Once you return to the wagon, I'll tell Valiant and then he and I will 'stroll over' to see how our grou
p-mates are doing."
She smiled and nodded to that, then finished her tea and arose from the tarpaulin. After thanking Grath for the wonderful meal, she mentioned her intention to return to Lorand and Jovvi, then did so. Rion had, in the interim, whispered to Naran what they were going to do, so she made no effort to join him when he got to his own feet and approached Valiant.
"Tamrissa has had a rather good idea," Rion murmured after crouching beside his groupmate. "We're going to try to link up in order to free Lorand of the lethe, and then Lorand can do the same for Jovvi. But let's not mention it aloud, as we have no idea how our companions will take to seeing us work as a Blending."
Valiant, who had been sipping his tea, simply nodded, and after draining his cup and putting it aside, arose to stand next to Rion.
"Rion has just been sayin' how unfair we're bein', leavin' Tamrissa to tend to Jovvi and Lorand alone," he announced wryly. "I'm ashamed to admit it, but the thought never occurred to me despite the fact that he's right. If you'll excuse us for a short while, we'll go and give her a hand and some company."
Everyone immediately agreed that that was what they should do, so they were able to leave the eating area and walk toward the wagon where their groupmates were. Rion marveled at Valiant's ability to come up with a plausible excuse for their going on such short notice, and decided he needed to learn that trick. It was bound to come in handy many times during his life from now on.
"Grath almost made a really bad mistake," Valiant commented once they were out of easy earshot of the others. "When he started makin' our tea, he used water with a really high concentration of that lethe in it. If I hadn't noticed and removed the sedative, we might be needin' clearin' up ourselves about now."
"That's a serious blunder," Rion said, feeling the frown creasing his face. "Doesn't he know about what you did last night?"
"Apparently he didn't know until this mornin'," Valiant replied. "Meerk said somethin' about how surprised Grath was when he found out once the two of them got here. He hadn't known doin' what I did was possible, and for some reason it unsettled him."
"I think we need to discuss this with Tamrissa," Rion decided aloud. "I've noticed something myself that doesn't sit quite right, and we could conceivably be in danger."
Valiant raised his brows at that, but since they were just approaching the wagon he didn't ask for any details. That was just as well, as repeating himself wasn't one of Rion's favorite doings. They climbed inside, walked to where Tamrissa waited with Jovvi and Lorand, sat down near her, then told her what Valiant had been involved with. Once he'd finished repeating his story, Rion took his turn.
"Our coach has been left out in plain view at every inn which we've stopped at," he said, speaking to the both of them. Jovvi and Lorand were apparently drifting in and out of sleep, just as the others in the wagon were. "As you may know, it's rather unique in style and color and therefore easily recognizable. Since we've been moving at a set pace all along and there's been only one inn we would likely be at, why do you think that was necessary?"
"Obviously it was for the convenience of someone other than our own party," Tamrissa replied angrily. "Alsin told me that he's absolutely certain about the loyalty of all of his members, but now I'm starting to believe that that's wishful thinking. It looks like the nobility planted an informer in his group, so now they probably know exactly where we are. What can we do about it?"
"There's nothin' we can do until Jovvi and Lorand are back to the way they're supposed to be," Valiant answered, straightening where he sat. "That means we need to try your idea as quickly as possible."
There was no arguing with that, so Rion also straightened and prepared himself. Joining together without Jovvi as the center of their group would be difficult, he thought, and was therefore surprised when he and Tamrissa and Valiant immediately linked up with Lorand with no trouble at all. Lorand had had to be brought to the power, so to speak, but once he had been, there was nothing to stop an entity from forming.
But not the sort of entity they were accustomed to. This entity was lacking in depth and ability, but the entity was able to know that part of its problem was caused by one of its members. That one had something dragging at its system and talent, a circumstance which could not be allowed to continue, of course. The entity used that member's ability on itself, letting the member's own talent direct the operation, and in moments the member was as it should be. Now the entity was prepared to continue on to other things, but the withdrawal of part of itself brought Rion back to his own awareness.
"What's going on here?" Lorand asked, sounding confused but no longer drugged as he looked around. "Where are we, and what are we supposed to be doing?"
"We're supposed to be rescuing you and Jovvi," Tamrissa said with a big smile, then continued on with the rest of the tale. By the time Lorand had been completely filled in, he'd taken Jovvi's hand to hold and now shook his head.
"So the nobility might catch up to us at any time?" he said, obviously as disturbed by the idea as the rest of them. "Then why are we just sitting here? We need Jovvi back, too, as fast as we can get her."
Rion joined his agreement to that of the others, but not simply for the sake of their safety and completeness and a need for Jovvi herself, as a person. All thoughts of danger aside, Tamrissa and Valiant had been acting perfectly polite with each other. Rion wasn't certain, but that might be worse than their previous wrangling. At the very least, it made him incredibly nervous....
Twenty-five
Jovvi listened with one hand to her head and her eyes closed, trying to assimilate everything the others were telling her. The last few days were nothing but a blur of confusion, of course, and that confusion kept trying to spread out to everything else. And on top of that she felt absolutely filthy, which, apparently, she was. Those miserable people had done the absolute minimum when it came to keeping them clean, and the only thing to be thankful for about the whole business was that she had no memory of the time.
"So now that Lorand and I are back to the way we were, we all have to decide what to do next," she said once the others had finished filling her in. "Am I mistaken in thinking that you all believe we ought to find out how soon to expect the guardsmen the nobles have surely sent after us?''
"It won't help to start clearing the minds of the others if we're going to be interrupted at any minute," Tamrissa said in agreement, smiling when Jovvi opened her eyes to look at her. "We'll have the Blending to defend us, of course, but letting ourselves be surprised doesn't make much sense."
"And if we're right about Grath, he should be able to tell us what we need to know," Rion put in with his own smile. "If we aren't right, however, we ought to know as soon as possible so as not to believe the worst of an innocent man."
"We also need to keep in mind that Meerk may not be what he claims," Valiant said, his own smile looking a bit strained. "We ought to do some checkin' of his story, since
he let that puttin' the coach out where it can be seen business pass by without sayin' any thin'."
"I can't see Alsin being in league with our enemies," Tamma said with a headshake, her smile having disappeared. "They're his enemies, too, even though the aims of his organization are a bit too innocent to accomplish anything. If Grath turns out to be working for the nobility, that may be why his superiors haven't done anything to break up the organization. Its aims aren't really a threat to the nobility, and it gives its members the feeling that they're fighting against their oppressors even though they aren't. Grath would just be there to make sure none of that changed."
"That part I agree with," Valiant responded, an odd tension between him and Tamma suddenly clear to Jovvi. "They really expect to bring the nobility down without usin' force or spillin' blood, so the nobility must love havin' people join up. But it's always possible that the nobility started the organization in the first place, which would mean that Meerk actually does work for them."
"It shouldn't b
e hard to find out the truth," Jovvi said quickly before Tamma could disagree with Valiant again. "But first I would enjoy getting something to eat, and also getting some air. I've just noticed how it stinks in here."
"I hate to say it, but we're the ones who stink," Lorand said, giving her a supporting smile. "I do, however, agree with the rest of what you said, since my insides feel as though they're rubbing together. Is there anything handy that we can just... pounce on?''
"There are fried beefcakes and potatoes left over from our lunch," Tamma said with a grin while the others laughed. Jovvi had expected Lorand to be circumspect about his hunger, but being asleep for days hadn't ruined his tendency to be direct. "I'd just suggest that you check it over before you and Jovvi eat any of it, Lorand. Since we haven't been watching, there's no telling what Grath might have put in it."
"You can bet your last copper I'll check," Lorand said as he began to struggle to his feet. "I've had enough of unconsciousness to last me for the next year."
Jovvi felt exactly the same, especially since she found that although she was able to get to her feet with just a little help, walking wasn't as easy as it used to be. She felt stiff and weak both at the same time, and had to accept Valiant's help while Rion helped Lorand. But at least they were able to leave that wagon, and the poor, confused people who were in the midst of trying to wake up all the way.
Outside the air felt damp and a bit on the cool side, as though a rainstorm were taking its own lunch break. What Jovvi really wanted was a bath house and a lot of soap, but considering what they were in the midst of, bathing would have to wait. She looked around at the rather large clearing, where ten wagons had been stopped in a semicircle, and a large number of men now lay unconscious on the wet ground. Some of them seemed close to waking, but Lorand must have noticed that as well. The next instant they were out again, which had to mean he'd touched them. Happily they were all chained, but there was no sense in taking chances.