by Sharon Green
"Then this is where my second suggestion comes in," Edmin said, knowing there was no sense in delaying. "If your head really wants to do this thing, I can help you overcome your … gut. But I won't do it unless you really want me to. I respect you too much to tamper with your beliefs."
This time there was nothing but silence and expectation to greet Edmin's words. All eyes were on Driff, but Driff's gaze was lost to the distance as he frowned at whatever he saw. Confusion still roiled as heavily as ever in Driff, with apprehension now added to the rest.
"Driff, do you understand what Edmin is saying?" Idresia murmured after a very long moment as she took her man's hand. "You don't have to fight your fears and win over them without anything to help you. Edmin can make it possible for us to Blend the first time, and if you don't like what happens you can refuse to do it again. If he meant to force you into cooperating he would have already done it, so you don't have to worry that it will happen the next time. And you really ought to know that you might not be the one who refuses next time."
"What?" Driff said, blinking back to the world around him. "What do you mean, I might not be the one to refuse next time? I thought that everyone really wanted the Blending."
"Well, speaking only for myself, I have no idea what Blending is like," Idresia told him, her lips curved in a very unsteady smile. "I'm willing to try it if you're one of those I'll be Blending with, but being willing to try something once doesn't mean I'll want to do it again. I've … heard that Fire is supposed to be the most important talent in a Blending, and I don't understand that - or particularly like the idea. If we're all supposed to be equals in a Blending, why would the Fire talent be so important?"
"Fire is the talent that guards the Blending, attacking or defending as needed," Kail said, surprising everyone including Edmin. "Very frankly, Idresia, I can't see you not guarding and defending under any circumstance at all. The protectiveness is part of you, not something you'll have to go looking for."
"How do you know about Blendings, Kail?" Driff asked before Edmin could put the same question. "I know you're right, but how do you know so much?"
"I was trained in the use of my talent in Astinda," Kail answered, his open expression matching the same emotion on the inside. "After we finished the training class, the last thing we were told was how to Blend. In Astinda they expect people to go on to wanting to Blend, and making sure everyone knows how to do it is a way of being certain that the information doesn't become restricted to a small group the way it happened here."
"That's one of the reasons the information is spread far and wide here now," Driff said with something of a nod. "No one wants to give a new nobility the chance to own us again… No, I still can't agree on my own, even though a part of me really wants to. The rest of me is still a frightened little boy, so it looks like I'm going to have to take you up on your offer, Edmin."
"Are you sure, Driff?" Edmin asked quietly, more than aware of the man's inner reluctance. "I can tell how unhappy you are at the thought of being 'forced,' and I really don't want to do that to you."
"But you'll be doing it with my permission, which makes all the difference as far as I'm concerned," Driff answered, and then he drew a deep breath before laughing just a bit. "Besides, if I actually do it, I won't have to put up with every other High talent I run across making the effort to talk me into trying. It may also help me to work harder to find a way to wake them all up."
"Since the Blending will increase your ability, that might be the key to ending the problem," Kail said with a small frown. "And since you said that every High talent in the city was affected whether or not they were in a Blending, we don't have to worry that Blending will put us at risk."
"You know, I missed that point," Driff said with brows high, his inner turmoil actually easing enough for Edmin to notice. "Being part of a Blending will give me a better chance to bring the Highs back to themselves, so what are we waiting for?"
"Actually, we're waiting for someone to tell us how to do this thing," Idresia said dryly as the rest of them chuckled. "We were waiting for some blockhead to make up his mind, but now that the blockhead has seen the light we just need instructions."
"I guess Kail and I can supply the instructions, but the blockhead hasn't yet seen enough of the light," Driff answered with shamefaced amusement. "Edmin, if you'll help me out here, we can get started today instead of some time next year."
"Of course," Edmin answered with a smile, and then reached toward the man. Soothing the roiling conflict inside Driff was actually almost effortless, now that Driff had a reason of his own to want to Blend. Edmin had thought that he might actually have to control Driff, but soothing seemed to do the trick.
"Yes, that's much better," Driff said as he got to his feet, showing a wide smile. "I am going to try this, and if I don't like it I just won't do it again. Let's all stand over there."
Driff had gestured to the space between the door and the table, so Edmin joined the others in rising and walking to the spot. Both Driff and Kail directed everyone into standing in a group, with Idresia first, then Edmin and the rest lined up loosely behind her. Kail and Issini stood sort of to either side of the line, but both of them looked at Asri with perplexity.
"So where is Asri supposed to stand?" Kail asked Driff. "The Astindans don't have anyone with Sight magic, so the point was never covered."
"It's not that they don't have anyone with Sight magic, they just don't know about it yet," Driff corrected in a distracted way. "We do know about it, but all the High talents I spoke to added the member with Sight magic after they'd already Blended. That means I don't know where the Sight magic user is supposed to stand for the first try, but it doesn't make much sense to ask Asri to wait. Since we know she can Blend with the rest of us, she might as well join our first effort. Asri, why don't you come and stand in front of me."
"Yes, that feels right," Asri said after a brief hesitation that seemed to be more a checking of possibilities than true hesitation. "At least I can't See anything to suggest that I shouldn't be standing there."
As Edmin watched the pretty woman move to a place behind him, he smiled to himself. As soon as Asri had found out that her "feelings" were actually a talent, she'd started to use that talent more and more. The change in her should have happened in many days rather than just one, and Edmin couldn't help wondering if the process should be considered more than just impressive…
"All right, now we're all standing where we belong," Driff said, and his concentration on procedure seemed to be enough to keep his mind from other worries. "I'm told, Edmin, that you have to … reach out to the rest of us with your talent in some way, and when we feel you reaching toward us we have to do our own reaching out toward you."
"Yes, that's the way it's supposed to work," Kail confirmed from where he stood. "Spirit magic reaches out toward the rest of us, and when we feel his touch we also reach out toward him."
"Let's try it, then," Edmin murmured, making the effort to picture doing what they'd said. But first it was necessary to touch Driff again, a bit more firmly than before. Driff did want to know if Blending would allow him to help more people by increasing his ability, but his fear of being part of something very like a family had begun to reassert itself. Edmin's heavier touch calmed Driff, so it was time to get on with the experiment.
At first Edmin had difficulty with reaching out in all directions, but after a moment he realized that he was doing it wrong. Something seemed to … click inside his head, and then he knew exactly what he was supposed to do. He reached to the others, and one by one he was able to feel their return touches. All but Asri, the only one, in addition to himself, who hadn't been trained in any class.
But Asri was there and trying to reach him, so she just needed a small bit of help. Another moment showed Edmin how to use his touch on her to guide her own touch back to him, and once that was done Edmin felt the urge to stagger. They were connected, all of them, as though they'd been holding hands j
ust before all their flesh began to melt together. But their connection wasn't physical, which was quickly proven.
We've done it! came in a silent voice that just had to be Kail's. The first step is surface bonding, and we've done that.
Yes, we have, came in Driff's tones, as clearly as if he'd spoken aloud. Now we need to take that one step more, the one we should all be feeling a need to accomplish. Once we've actually done it, Edmin, you have to break the connection rather quickly. I'm told that Blending the first time is very draining.
Edmin only thought about nodding, but the thought reached all the others. The need he felt to go one step farther was nearly overwhelming, so he took that step…
And then it was the entity who looked about itself. It was a newborn entity and therefore rather limited, but it was whole and strong in ways that other, even stronger entities were not. It felt that it could do many things and was eager to begin, but its first moments of life must be short in order to spare its flesh forms. The next time it came into being, it would begin to see to some of the many chores awaiting its maturity…
Then it was suddenly Edmin again, but an Edmin who felt the urge to sit down where he stood. The others were also making sounds of weariness, but the exultation Edmin felt was also holding everyone else in its excited grasp.
"That was incredible!" Issini exclaimed, her smile and delight child-deep. "I've never experienced anything so - so - "
"So close and wonderful," Idresia said with her own childlike smile. "What do you think, Driff? Was it anything like the trap you were expecting?"
"Actually, it was more like a very special freedom," Driff said with his own strange smile, moving closer to Idresia to take her hand. "When I was part of the entity, I knew that nothing would be able to hurt me ever again. But why didn't you and Issini mention that you'd been to a class? As soon as we were surface Blended it was perfectly clear that your talents were trained."
"We … didn't want to make Edmin feel bad," Idresia said with an apologetic glance for Edmin that Issini joined in. "He would have taken a class if he could have, and we didn't want him to feel left out because circumstance had made him miss the opportunity. But Asri hasn't taken a class yet either, and strangely enough neither of them felt particularly … weak or lacking in any way."
"No, they didn't," Driff said, turning to study first Edmin and then Asri. "They've both obviously been holding to the power long enough that they can't release it, and that has increased their strength. They may be untrained, but they're not all that far behind the rest of us."
"Actually, I had the feeling that they may be ahead of some of us," Kail said ruefully, but his gaze on Asri was filled with pride. "Edmin seems to have a lot of strength, and when we were Blended I could see a string of … situations where we'll need to act. Or should I say I Saw it? That was your talent, wasn't it, love?"
"I guess it was," Asri answered with delight clear in her smile as well. "I've always seen things in that way, but most of the time I tried to ignore what was there. I thought it was a mental sickness of some kind, not a talent."
"Well, it is a talent, and now we have to take the next step if we're to be as effective as we need to be," Idresia said briskly with some kind of hidden amusement. "Should we change bed partners tonight, or simply lie with those that we must?"
Edmin was so shocked that he felt the definite urge to babble out a demand for explanations, and Asri seemed almost as surprised. The others, though, were looking more rueful or faintly embarrassed, as if they knew just what Idresia meant.
"I think Asri and I need some explanations," Edmin finally managed, fighting to speak rather than babble. "I, personally, have no qualms about accommodating these lovely ladies, but … why will we be doing that accommodating?"
Without actually meaning to, Edmin had been speaking to Driff and Kail. Ignoring Idresia was rude, Edmin knew, but this was one subject he felt incapable of discussing with Idresia without blushing like a child.
"In order for a Blending to be properly bonded, the members of the Blending need to lie together," Driff answered gently, as though aware of how … almost distraught Edmin felt. "This is one of the things about Blending that disturbed me, but not any longer. I know now that I won't be betraying Idresia by lying with Issini and Asri, not when they're … almost parts of her, can I say? Just as you and Kail are now almost parts of me. We all belong to each other, but oddly enough with nothing of ownership involved. Blending really does have to be experienced to be understood."
That was the point Edmin realized that Driff no longer felt the fear that had ruled him only a few moments earlier. The act of Blending had soothed Driff's fears permanently, and then Edmin realized something else as well. He'd been wanting to hold Idresia in his arms from the moment he'd met her, but now he felt the same about Issini and Asri. It was almost as if they were all one woman, a woman who was also a part of himself. And the two other men were included in that, in a way that was as far beyond friendship as friendship was beyond the solitary life he'd been forced to live until now.
"Having to lie with the husband my parents chose for me was what I consider hard," Asri said while Edmin stood in what was nearly a stupefied daze. "Lying with Driff and Edmin will be nearly as much pleasure as lying with Kail has become. But let's sit down and eat first, or I may not survive the pleasure."
Everyone laughed at that comment, and Edmin found himself joining in the laughter as well as joining in the group movement back to the table. Idresia's question about procedure could be answered later, once they'd taken care of the hunger they all seemed to feel. After that … after that they'd be a true Blending, which would bring a happiness that Edmin felt he'd never be able to explain in words to anyone else, especially not to his father…
Chapter Nine
Sembrin Noll, sitting behind the desk in his study, waited impatiently for his guard commander, Jost Feriun, to report. Feriun had sent out eighteen other men to work on the plan that hadn't been handled properly the first time, and the men were due back to report. If Feriun's men had fumbled the effort a second time, Sembrin intended to be extremely hard on the man. He wasn't completely certain what he would do, but Feriun would definitely -
A knock at the door interrupted Sembrin's thoughts. He called out his permission to enter, and Feriun stepped into the room looking grimly pleased.
"The men have reported back, my lord, and this time they found nothing but success," Feriun said even before he stood in front of Sembrin's desk. "Each group of three visited all four of the locations they were given, and in every instance the reaction was the same: the fools were outraged and incensed despite the fact that most of them should have known better."
"Excellent, Feriun, truly excellent work," Sembrin said, both delighted and relieved. "I knew that the plan would work if you just used the proper men. Tomorrow you're to send the same men to the other side of the city, and if they have the same success a second time then the following day we'll move on to the next part of the plan."
"By then having men speaking openly against the government on street corners should be perfectly safe," Feriun said with a distracted nod. "If any of the city guardsmen try to stop our men from speaking, they'll be inviting a riot on the spot. If they don't try to stop our men from speaking, there will be mobs converging on the palace from every direction of the city."
"And every time one smaller mob joins another, we'll have a larger and even angrier mob," Sembrin said, his satisfaction growing. "Make sure that most of our people are mixed into the final mob, ready to take over as soon as the citizens get them into the palace. In just three days we will be dining in the palace, Feriun, all of us enjoying what's rightfully ours. Will you enjoy being a noble, do you think?"
"I mean to enjoy it very much, my lord," Feriun answered, hardness clear behind the cold amusement in the man's eyes. "This time, though, we'll really have to do things the right way. Branding and collaring the 'people' will let them know exactly what they are to
us, and if any of them try to protest or fight, we execute the loudest and punish the rest brutally right on the spot. That will make the rest of them fall into line, and more than that, stay in line."
"I do believe I like the way you think, Feriun," Sembrin told the man with a small laugh. "You're perfectly right about us needing to do things the proper way once we take over, and the more brutal we are, the less trouble we'll have. You and your men will have your pick of the women, of course, but right after me. I've missed having a pleasant variety in my life."
"Yes, I'm fond of that kind of variety myself," Feriun said after joining Sembrin in a laugh, but then the other man lost his amusement. "I wonder, my lord, if you have a plan yet to handle those people who are now considered to be the Seated Blending. They may be out of the city now, but the day will come when they show up again."
"By then the peasants will be under our complete control, so those freaks won't have the sort of help they had the first time," Sembrin said, losing much of his own amusement. "We know they won't hurt their precious supporters, so we'll just use those very peasants to take the freaks down. But we won't try to make them our prisoners. I want those people dead as soon as they show their faces back here."
"I'm glad to hear you say that, my lord," Feriun muttered, looking more relieved than glad. "Your … former peers tried to use those people instead of putting them to death, and now men and women who were once noble are less than nothing. I'd really hate to have that happen to us."
"I believe I'd hate that result even more than you would," Sembrin said, rising to his feet. "I'm going to give you a bonus in gold for your men, and when you hand out the gold make sure the others know that the same will be theirs once we've won. Wait outside in the hall for me."