by Sharon Green
"Alsin is a very disturbed man," Jovvi replied with a sigh, raising one hand to touch Lorand's cheek. "I intend to work with him to see if I can help him to pull out of it, but if I can't we'll have to be very careful. He isn't far from suspecting everyone around him of being in league with 'the enemy,' and that will come to mean everyone who disagrees with him."
"Are you really going to check everyone's true feelings tonight?" Lorand asked, now looking concerned. "I can see how tired you are, which means it might be best to save it for the morning."
"I wish I could," Jovvi said, automatically soothing his concern for her. "It isn't very likely that any of the people with us are really on the opposite side of this, but considering the ruthlessness of the nobility, we can't afford to take any chances. Let's find a comfortable place to sit, and I'll get it over with."
When he simply nodded and began to look for the place she wanted, Jovvi realized that she loved him more than ever. Another man would have added to her burden by trying to "protect" her, but Lorand simply helped her do what she needed to. There was no certainty that they would survive the coming confrontations with their enemies, but if they did Jovvi knew she would never let Lorand out of her sight and reach again.
An abandoned bale of hay near one of the stalls made a good place to sit down, and Jovvi noticed that others of the group were similarly seated on other bales. After looking at those who were sitting down and those who were up and helping to get them settled, it became clear that those who had been roused first were running out of strength first. Those who hadn't been awake as long were moving with difficulty, but they were still moving.
Without the Blending entity to help her, Jovvi was only able to do a surface scan of their companions. Those who were Highs in Spirit magic were the hardest, of course, but it quickly became clear that they hadn't had her training or practice in using their talent. Duplicity, marked by nervousness or smugness, was easy to see, so that was what she searched for. Once she had touched everyone and hadn't found anything suspicious, she turned her head to Lorand again.
"There isn't anything overt to find, so that should do it for tonight," she reported. "Some of them have reservations about being involved in this, but that's natural enough. Tomorrow we can use the Blending entity to check more deeply, but I've had a thought. Are we going to urge these people to form their own fives, and then teach them how to Blend?"
"If you're worried that giving them the information will put them in jeopardy, don't forget that they're already in it," Lorand pointed out. "If you think instead that they might run wild, I'll agree that that's a possibility—if you'll agree that the choice and opportunity is rightfully theirs. Keeping things from people because they might not handle the information properly is living their lives for them, and no one has the right to live someone else's life."
"Not unless they want to end up being just like the nobility, even if only in a small way," Jovvi agreed. "No, running wild wasn't what I was thinking about. Training was my concern, as it's fairly obvious that these people haven't had much. Well, tomorrow we can discuss it with the others and find out what they think."
Jovvi had shortened the discussion because she saw Tamma, Rion, and Naran approaching with blankets and wa-terskins. The three looked almost as tired as Jovvi felt, but their smiles of greeting were warm.
"We've taken possession of this big box stall over here," Tamma said, gesturing with her head as she and the others stopped a few feet short of where Jovvi and Lorand sat. "If you'll give us a couple of minutes, we'll have your beds all laid out and ready to get into."
"Just ours?'' Lorand asked, helping Jovvi up before moving forward to give Tamma a hand with her burdens. "What about the rest of you? Unless you've found some deep, mystical secret, you need sleep as badly as we do."
"Oh, we'll certainly be joining you," Naran said with a smile and a headshake as Lorand tried to take her blankets as well. "No, thank you, my dear, but these aren't so heavy that I can't take them the rest of the way. And you can be certain that Rion and Tamrissa will be using their own beds. Valiant is taking charge of the first watch, Rion will have the second, and Tamrissa the third."
"Having third watch was my own idea," Tamma said over her shoulder as she took one of the blankets from Lorand and began to spread it over the relatively clean straw in the stall. "There are two bath houses a short distance behind this barn, equally distant from both rows of three houses, and we're going to assume that one is for men and one for women. While the Water people are on watch they'll purify the water as best they can, so that when I and other Fire magic users come on, we can heat it for bathing. If we don't find those following guardsmen in our laps first thing tomorrow morning, I'm going to have a bath."
"And I'll be right there with you," Jovvi assured her. "We don't, by any chance, have any clean clothes available, do we?"
Jovvi knew her voice had been wistful, but having clean clothes handy wasn't very likely. She knew better than most what it was like to be on the run from those who wanted to hurt you, and cleanliness showed up in a very minor position on the list of absolute necessities.
"Our associates don't have any, of course, but it so happens that we do," Tamma answered, then laughed at Jovvi's expression of delighted surprise. "You can thank Naran for that, because she's the one who packed them while there was still time to do things like that."
"Don't thank me until you see what I chose," Naran denied with a small laugh as Jovvi went over to hug the girl. "I grabbed whatever happened to be handy, so we'll all probably end up looking as though we were dressed by the color-blind."
"That's better than having people think we were dressed by someone without a sense of smell," Jovvi retorted with her own laugh. "But why are we all standing around here? Let's everyone make his or her own bed and then lie in them, because come morning we get to bathe!"
Everyone joined the laughter then, but they also did as she'd suggested. The beds were made up rather rapidly with room to spare, then Rion looked around.
"I'm going to speak with Valiant one last time before I retire," he said, his hand touching Naran's arm gently and briefly. "It shouldn't take more than a moment or two, and then I'll be back."
"Rion, wait," Lorand said softly, then turned to Jovvi. "Is he anywhere close enough to hear me?"
"No," Jovvi replied after a quick look around with her talent, knowing Lorand referred to Alsin Meerk. "He's still busy with getting all the horses settled in."
"Good," Lorand said, then returned his attention to Rion but included Tamma and Naran in on the conversation. "All of you—and Valiant—should know what happened with Alsin Meerk just a little while ago. We may end up having trouble with the man."
Lorand repeated the discussion as briefly as possible, and when he was through Tamma shook her head while Rion and Naran simply looked disturbed.
"I really hope Jovvi can pull him out of it," Tamma said, a large portion of her weariness showing through. "I understand that we have to do something about the guardsmen coming behind us, but to think that we should just kill them ... I don't know if I can agree with that. If they were the ones who hanged these families it would be different, but just because they probably wear the same uniforms ..."
"I'm forced to agree with Tamrissa," Rion said, still held by disturbance. "We must consider all our options carefully before we do something rash, and killing without much prior thought is about as rash as it comes. But I'll take Valiant aside and warn him, and tomorrow we can all discuss it with clear heads."
After touching Naran's arm again Rion left, and the rest of them went to the blanket-beds they'd prepared. Lorand had put his right next to Jovvi's, of course, but the satisfaction of that was dimmed by the thought of what tomorrow might conceivably bring. Jovvi had been able to feel what her groupmates had at the thought of killing, but she remembered something they apparently didn't: they'd already killed without regret, in that first competition. Being part of the Blen
ding entity seemed to change all of them....
And, if it became necessary, they would certainly kill again. It just remained to be seen how everyone would take mass slaughter of the helpless, if it came down to that....
Thirty-one
Rion stretched when he awoke and reached to where Naran had slept, but only to discover that she was no longer there. Deep breathing said that he wasn't alone in the box stall, but sitting up and looking around showed only a sleeping Valiant. Everyone else was gone, including the woman of Rion's heart. That probably meant she was off in the bath house, which made Rion chuckle. His greatest rival for Naran's affections was a pool full of warm water.
Although he would have welcomed a few more hours of sleep, Rion decided it was time to start the new day. He, too, would enjoy being able to take a bath, and having clean clothing available was the result of a joint effort. They'd gotten into the habit of washing their worn clothing in the face basins of their inn rooms, and then Valiant would remove most of the water from the freshened clothing. Then Tamrissa would use heat to remove the rest, at the same time taking many of the wrinkles from the clothing as well. The last of it had been his chore, unnecessary but nevertheless rather pleasurable: he would bring air scented with fresh forest odors, and pass that through the washed clothing.
Rion smiled wryly at that as he stepped quietly out of the box stall, still rather shocked that he took such things in stride. He should have been bewailing the loss of servants to do the work, the fact that he'd been reduced to sleeping in a barn, the truth that he was now a hunted criminal. But none of that seemed to matter, and in point of fact he'd never been so happy in his life. Now there was something Mother would have loved to hear....
Here and there there were people still asleep in various box stalls, but the horses seemed to have been taken out and turned loose in a large paddock. Rion stopped at the coach to get the only set of clothing that was really his—the outfit he'd been wearing when Tamrissa had rescued him. What he now wore was Valiant's clothing, which fit surprisingly well. But clothing wasn't his real immediate problem; finding out which of the set of bath houses was being used by the men was.
So he walked away from the coach and the barn heading for both of them, then got the luck he'd been hoping for when he saw one of the men coming out of the bath house to the right. The man nodded to him pleasantly, a combined greeting and confirmation that that was the men's bath house, so Rion returned the nod and entered the house.
"Rion, why are you up so early?" Lorand's voice came, drawing Rion's attention to those in the water. "After the hours you spent on watch, you should still be sleeping."
"I'll sleep longer once we have all the nastiness behind us," Rion replied as he headed for a bench where he might leave all his clothing. "How's the water?"
"Lifesaving," Lorand responded, causing the other five men in the bath with him to chuckle. "And as soon as we finish washing, we have a good breakfast to look forward to. Our coach driver Lidris's main occupation isn't driving a coach, it seems. He's really an experienced chef, and that's the way he earns his silver when he isn't working for Meerk's organization. He's taken over the chore of feeding us, and everyone else will take turns helping him."
"I wonder if I have any talent for cooking," Rion mused aloud as he undressed. "I certainly have an interest in eating, but I understand that the two don't necessarily go together."
"No, they don't," Lorand agreed, laughing along with the others again. "I'm living proof of that...."
Rion wondered why Lorand's comments seem to simply trail off, and then he wondered if he were only imagining things. That was an excellent possibility—until he entered the bath and Lorand came up to him after he'd been given the time to wet himself thoroughly.
"We have to talk," he said softly, as though he merely inquired again about the enjoyability of the water. "We have to decide about sharing our knowledge with the people around us."
"1 hadn't realized there was a question about that," Rion replied in tones equally as soft, this time seriously surprised. "Aren't there too many people around who are keeping secrets as it is? Why would we want to join their number? And if this is truly war which we face, anything we hold back could conceivably be the one thing which gives victory to our enemies."
"You misunderstand me," Lorand said with a wry smile. "I've already listed all the reasons why we should share what we know, so you don't have to do it all over again. What I meant was decide about how to share the knowledge. These people have only had a very small amount of instruction in using their talents, about as much as we got in the beginning in those qualifying classes. Should we begin by putting them through those exercises until they're good at them, or should we go straight to having them make up Blendings?"
"There are about twenty of them, I think," Rion said, automatically wetting his arms and shoulders and chest. "Is there an even division of talents in that twenty? If not, there might be a problem about forming Blendings."
"There might be a problem even if there is," Lorand said with a thoughtful frown. "If some of them don't get along with the others, no one will want to be in a Blending with them. And if all the rejects end up in the same Blending, either they won't be able to make it work, or they'll be constantly starting up with the other Blendings rather than waiting to use their ability on the enemy. We'll have to talk to the others about this, but I think we'll have to go with training them first. That way we can get to know them as they get to know each other."
"You make it sound as though we have all the time in the world," Rion remarked, looking around for the jar of soap he'd seen at the bath's edge before entering the water. "I seriously doubt if that's true, and there's another problem you seem to have overlooked. We also have to decide what to do with Alsin Meerk, even if he returns to his original self and stops being so intense. He and Lidris are the only two people among us who aren't High talents, and that's bound to make trouble no matter what any of us do."
"That's something else I hadn't thought about, and I should have," Lorand said, running both hands through his wet hair. "I'll go and talk to Jovvi and Tamrissa, and when Valiant wakes up we can have a meeting. Meanwhile, I think we'll do well to set up a practice schedule for our companions. If they don't overdo it, the workout will help them no matter what we decide to start with."
Rion nodded his agreement, then went for the soap while Lorand headed out of the bath. He used the soap to wash first his hair and then his body, and when he'd rinsed off completely, one of the other men in the bath approached him.
"I'm Torbin Lohl, Air magic," the man said by way of introduction, his smile somewhat on the tentative side. "Do you mind if I ask you something?''
"Not at all," Rion replied as pleasantly as possible. He still felt a bit of reserve with strangers, but nothing like what he used to. "And I'm Rion Mardimil, also Air magic."
"I know," Torbin Lohl replied, his manner still tentative.
He was a tall, thin man with a long face, approximately the same age as Rion and his Blendingmates, but with a bit less self-possession. "Since we're both Air magic users, I decided that you're the one I should ask. Did I hear you and the other man say something about training us?"
"That's Lorand Coll, Earth magic, and yes, you certainly did," Rion responded. "Our five went through rather intense sessions of training, which improved our handling of our various talents. We know you'll all benefit from the same, but what we teach you and when depends on how long we have until the pursuing guardsmen catch up to us. It won't help to form you into Blendings if you don't have time to practice as Blendings."
"You ... want us to become Blendings?" the man asked, now looking disturbed as he glanced back at the others in the water. "But that's against the law. If they catch us, we'll be executed on the spot."
"My dear man, what do you expect will happen anyway?" Rion said, trying to hold back his sudden annoyance. "The nobility got rid of you people in the first place because you're
much too dangerous to have around, and that, by the way, is the reason for the law you just mentioned. The nobility is afraid to have anyone know too much about their ability, for fear that someone will find out that their Seated Blendings aren't really what they're supposed to be. My groupmates and I have decided not to let that continue, and we thought you all chose to join us in our endeavors. Were we wrong?"
"Very frankly, I have no idea," the man said, sounding as bewildered as the other three looked. "We all woke up to find ourselves in a situation we never imagined, and for one reason or another decided against going home. We also decided to throw in our lot with your group, but I never thought—Well, I don't know what I never thought, but it looks like I have to do some thinking now."
The other three men murmured their agreement, and Rion suddenly realized how... disoriented and lost they must feel. One minute they were being tested as potential Highs who might have careers with the empire, and the next they awoke to find themselves hunted criminals. It was a terrible thing to have happen, even to people who were more or less prepared for it.
"You might also want to discuss it with the others," Rion suggested after a moment, now speaking a good deal more gently. "You're all entitled to make your own decisions just as we did, so don't be afraid that you'll be forced to do anything you don't want to. Think about it, talk it over with the others, and then we'll all have a meeting."
Lohl and the others nodded, but not with very much enthusiasm. That couldn't be helped, of course, but one thing could be: his presence was now an intrusion, keeping the four men from speaking their mind to each other. For that reason Rion rinsed off one more time, then left the bath. The four men would appreciate the privacy, and hopefully use it to settle all their qualms.
Once dressed again and outside, Rion discovered that the temporary kitchen had been set up at the back of the wagon, which stood on the opposite side of the barn doors from the coach. Interesting aromas wafted to him from the large cookfire, and made him glad that the sun was trying to come out. The lack of rain would make their eating outdoors seem almost like a picnic—unless the pursuing ants swooped down at just the wrong time. For their own sake, Rion hoped they didn't. If his meal was interrupted before his hunger was assuaged, he would take his crossness out on those who caused the interruption.