by Sharon Green
"Because the first choice would be the key," Driff said, clearly agreeing with Edmin. "And since the first choice was Spirit magic, is it possible that the other choices weren't likely to be very enthusiastic either?"
"It's very possible, and that means the other choices might not go along voluntarily," Idresia pounced. "Or, maybe I should say the others might not have gone along willingly. If the rest of the Blending members have been chosen, they might be missing from wherever they belong. A smart man or woman would have had the chosen ones come up with a good story before they left, but maybe Ayl and his girl friend are too arrogant to have done that. If we're very lucky, there will be reports of missing people to give us an idea of who the Blending members will be."
"Let's get the people who are running the classes involved in this as well," Driff said after nodding his agreement with Idresia's idea. "They should have reports on everyone who's taken a class, and we might even get an idea of who that female Spirit magic user is. She has to be unstable to be willing to work with someone like Ayl, and the Spirit magic people kept very close track of everyone they trained. The talent allows for too many abuses if the person using the talent isn't completely well balanced."
"But there's one very large bright spot," Issini said after nodding her agreement along with everyone else. "If you can't quite see the brightness, think about what the major aim of that Middle Blending will be."
The man Jobry looked puzzled, but Kail found that he knew exactly what Issini meant. The madman's Blending would try to take over the members of a High Blending, but at the moment there weren't any Highs available to be taken over. All the High talents were frozen in place by something mysterious, and Kail could see that his Blendingmates understood that as well. Jobry alone seemed to know nothing about the problem, and Idresia smiled at him.
"Don't worry, Jobry, Issini is talking about something you don't yet know about," Idresia said. "It's also something we want to keep quiet, so please don't go digging around to find out. I know you can be trusted to keep what you learn to yourself, but your digging could very well give the information to someone who can't keep from telling 'just one or two people, people who know how to keep a secret.'"
"I know exactly the ones you're talking about, so I'll keep my curiosity to myself," Jobry agreed with a grin. "As long as you know that I could find out, and you do, I don't have to do any digging to prove the point. Would you like me to get people started looking for the information you need?"
"Yes, do, and recruit as much help as you need," Idresia answered, showing both amusement and approval before both emotions disappeared. "We need to get to the bottom of this as fast as possible, otherwise this entire city could blow up in our faces."
"Yes, I noticed that myself," Jobry said as he got to his feet. "I'll make sure you're kept up to date, and if we learn anything I'll get it to you immediately."
After seeing Idresia's nod, Jobry smiled at the rest of the people at the table and then he left. Once the door had closed behind him there was a short silence followed by Driff's sigh.
"We still need to get that meal, and then we need to get some sleep," he said. "Now that we have something else to worry about, we can't spend all our energy on the interviews - or expect to be able to think clearly after a long day of work. And remind me to ask Jobry what he did about his informant. I certainly hope he didn't leave the man to walk around without someone watching him. If for some reason Ayl contacts him again…"
Driff didn't bother finishing the sentence as they all stood up and headed for the door. If the madman contacted the drinker again, it might be possible to solve the problem quickly and easily. Otherwise Kail had the feeling that they would be in for something of a struggle…
Holdis Ayl walked directly to the shabby little house and threw open the door, only to confirm what his rage already knew. The five traitors who had been in the house were gone, and it was extremely unlikely that they would be back. If that scheming little bitch hadn't meant to escape unnoticed, she would never have had the Earth magic bitch violate their master…
"And I was violated, because that whore hid behind surprise," Ayl snarled, picking up a small table and hurling it against a wall. The table broke into pieces, but the destruction only fed Ayl's rage. That miserable female had made him believe she had no idea that her Spirit magic didn't work on him, and then she'd come sneaking up behind him with Earth magic! Ayl, just like other Guild members, could slide the various talents past himself even as he assessed them. But he had to flex the part of his own talent that did the sliding, otherwise he was affected just like anyone else.
"And she had the Earth magic bitch touch me twice when I wasn't looking!" Ayl screamed, pulling out a knife to slash at the chair he'd been sitting in. "I would have corrected my mistake if they'd stayed here to Blend, but she didn't let me correct my mistake! She took all of them, and now I don't know where they are!"
Ayl broke everything he'd had moved into that house, and then he slashed everything that was too large to break. His fury seemed unquenchable until exhaustion finally overrode everything else, and then he sat on the floor to breathe in gasps.
"I won't let her win," Ayl muttered as he fought for the air he needed so badly. "I can't let her win! My plan is perfect so it will work, but she can never be allowed to enjoy her victory. If I let her live then the rest of my followers will lose respect for me, and everyone must respect their master. I will be the master of everyone in this empire, so respect is of paramount importance. That means the whore must die, and so she shall. One way or another, she will die! I swear it!"
And with that vow Ayl got to his feet and stalked out to find the means he needed to kill a whore. A means that should even work for more than one whore, if the opportunity arose…
Chapter Twenty-Two
Honrita came downstairs feeling much better than she had the day before, the day she'd brought her future Blendingmates home. She'd started to work with the original three at once, keeping them under full control while she probed them one at a time to find out what had made them the pitiful specimens they were. Ayl had wanted them to be pitiful so they'd be easily controlled, apparently having no idea that their weaknesses of personality translated to weaknesses in talent.
But she knew that Kadri, Stelk, and Seeli were liabilities in their present condition, so she'd tried to do something about their lacks. Kadri was the daughter of a merchant whose entire family consisted of snobbish, foolish people who thought that being overweight was a boast of their superior place in life. Honrita tried to loosen the hold those beliefs had on Kadri, but the woman clung to them so stubbornly that Honrita finally had to overlay the original beliefs with replacements of her own. Kadri now thought that pleasant agreeability and moderation at the dinner table were the signs of superiority, and she would continue to think so.
Stelk Faron had presented a different problem. Stelk had apparently had a father who was extremely critical of everything and everyone around him, especially his own children. Nothing Stelk had done had ever been even as good as acceptable, not to mention satisfactory. Stelk grew up to be just as critical, trying to emulate his father as closely as possible in an attempt to finally find some measure of success, but of course he never did. His mind was so filled with self-doubt and lack of assurance that he probably wouldn't have known success even if he'd found it.
Again Honrita had tried to change the man's inner beliefs, and again she found those beliefs too deeply entrenched to move. But leaving Stelk unchanged was out of the question, so Honrita made him believe that constructive criticism was his greatest strength - and that he was admired for his diplomatic suggestions.
Seeli Tandor had turned out to be the hardest one to work with. The women in Seeli's family had been strictly and firmly taught that women weren't ever to "push themselves forward." Apparently that injunction covered independent thought as well as action, and Seeli had learned to do as her mother and older sisters did without once questioning the v
alidity of the stance. Seeli would never have been considered a brilliant thinker, but even the small amount of individuality she might have shown was completely buried under the constant demand to do nothing but obey.
By that time Honrita had begun to feel her weariness, so she hadn't even tried to change Seeli's convictions. Instead she made the Air magic user believe that emulating the new Kadri was the most acceptable of actions, right behind the desirability of obeying Honrita. Then Honrita had rested while the other two women made dinner, and after the meal she had sent the others to their rooms and had herself gone right to bed.
"But even now that I feel rested, I still can't think of anything else to do with Arbon Vand," Honrita murmured to herself as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "That personality of his won't let me change it even a small bit, so I'll just have to continue to control him."
"Talking only to yourself isn't very productive, Honrita," Stelk Faron said from the chair he sat in with a book open in his lap. There had been a teasing quality to his words, and his face wore an odd-looking smile. "If you have a problem, I'm sure the ladies and I would enjoy helping out with it."
"I appreciate that offer, Stelk, I really do," Honrita answered as she walked closer to the man. The change in him was amazing, and she basked in the glow of a job well done. "I was just observing that it would be nice if I could find a way to make Arbon more agreeable, but I don't think I can. Will he be too difficult for you to associate with just as he is?"
"Arbon doesn't believe that what we're going to do is possible," Stelk explained, his patient smile gentle. "Once he learns differently, he ought to be easier to live with."
"I certainly hope so," Honrita said with a sigh, and then she showed her own smile. "Has everyone had breakfast but me?"
"Actually, none of us has eaten yet," Stelk answered, putting his book aside before getting to his feet. "We decided to wait until you could join us, and only Arbon made a fuss over the decision. He's currently sitting at the table in the dining room and brooding."
"Then let's join him, but not in the brooding," Honrita said, taking the arm Stelk offered her. "This is much too pretty a morning to waste it on the dark emotions. Especially since after breakfast we'll be Blending."
Stelk nodded happy agreement and led Honrita toward the house's small dining room. This is almost like a dream, Honrita thought as she walked beside him. Stelk looks strange on the inside where only I can see him, but on the outside he's the nicest person I've ever known. I now have a real companion, and I never truly realized how terrible it is not to have one. This is worth all the effort I put into it yesterday.
Kadri and Seeli also sat at the table in the dining room, but they sat together at the end away from Arbon and ignored the man. When they saw Honrita they got to their feet, and each of them wore the same radiant smile.
"Good morning, Honrita," Kadri said as she stepped away from the chair at the head of the table. "I was just keeping your seat warm for you, and now that you're here we can eat. Is there anything in particular you'd like to have? It turns out that Seeli here is a truly excellent cook."
"Oh, I'm not that good," Seeli protested with a small laugh and a blush. "I just enjoy cooking, so I've learned what it's all about. Would you like something special, Honrita?"
"Anything you ladies prepare will be just fine," Honrita said, letting Stelk seat her at the head of the table. "Is there any tea ready?"
"I'll get you a cup while the ladies prepare our meal," Stelk said at once, and then he followed the women into the kitchen. Honrita made herself more comfortable in the chair, but suddenly Arbon voiced a sound of disgust.
"How can you stand to look at yourself in the mirror?" Arbon demanded from where he slouched in his own chair at the other end of the table. "You've stolen those people's personalities and made them over into something you consider better, but it doesn't seem to bother you. You're also keeping me a prisoner here, but that obviously bothers you even less."
"We're all here for an important purpose, so we all have to make certain sacrifices," Honrita explained to the scowling man. "I know it's easier to avoid doing your duty than facing up to it, Arbon, but isn't it time you stopped being a child and began to act like a man?"
"There-is-no-important-purpose-here," Arbon stated, speaking each word slowly as he leaned a bit toward her. "What you're doing can't possibly be your duty, because you'd never be able to run this empire even if you did become the leader of it. You can't even handle the people around you without changing them into grinning idiots. How do you expect to cope with an empire-full of people who disagree with your decisions and don't beam at your appearance?"
"Just because your duty isn't pleasant, you can't decide not to do it," Honrita returned primly, wishing she could get through to the man. "I'll worry about dealing with what comes up when it actually happens. Fretting over it beforehand is a waste of time."
"Well, you're the expert on wastes of time," Arbon replied as he leaned back again, but then he looked at her more directly. "You can lie to yourself about how what you're doing is your duty, but don't bother me with that nonsense. You can't simply decide that something like ruling an empire is your duty. No one else wants you to run things, so it's a whim you're working on, not a duty. If you really knew what duty was all about, you'd be working against people like yourself. We finally have a decent government in our country, and you're trying to bring it down. If you think you're all that great, tell me what you'd do to make things even better."
Honrita frowned at the miserable man, trying to answer his challenging question. The only problem was, the proper words refused to come. Honrita knew it was her duty to take over running the empire, but Arbon's accusations had scattered all her perfectly good explanations. And as far as what she would do to better things went, she would do a lot of things. She just couldn't put any of those things into words at the moment…
Stelk's return with a cup of tea diverted Honrita's attention for a short time, and after a sip or two she had managed to calm herself. It had finally come to her that the Fire magic user in their Blending had to be overly aggressive and unpleasant, otherwise their Blending would be ineffective. If it made the man happy to think he'd asked questions and made statements that Honrita couldn't reply to, then so be it. Having an effective Blending was the most important thing right now; Arbon could be shown just how wrong he was once they had taken over.
It wasn't long before the ladies brought out the food, and they all enjoyed a very tasty breakfast. Honrita chatted with her three true Blendingmates, finding the time immensely satisfying. Arbon ate silently at his end of the table, refusing to join them even with nothing more than words, but that didn't matter. He was just as odd on the inside as the others were, and Honrita felt confident that he would join them completely when the time came that it did matter.
They sipped tea for a time once they finished eating, but the excitement in Honrita refused to be held down for long. It quickly grew to the point where she couldn't bear it, so she put her cup aside and stood up.
"It's time, my friends," she said, smiling at all of them. "Let's go into the sitting room where we can be more comfortable."
Everyone including Arbon got up and followed her, and once they were all in the sitting room she turned back to them.
"I know we have to start out standing in a particular way," she said. "Arbon, please tell us in what order we have to stand."
"Fire first, then Spirit, then Earth," Arbon replied in a surly voice. "Air and Water stand to either side of Spirit."
"Are you sure?" Stelk asked Arbon with a small and thoughtful frown. "I was under the impression that there was a very specific place each of us had to be in, but your answer suggests that Air and Water can stand wherever they please. Shouldn't we - "
"It doesn't matter on which side Air and Water stand," Arbon interrupted in annoyance. "It doesn't really matter where any of the rest of us stand either, not when you get right down to it. The initial arran
gement is simply to help our minds visualize what our talents will be doing."
"Then let's begin," Honrita said before Stelk could add to his objections. Stelk's lack of assurance was returning, but Honrita quickly smoothed it away. Nothing could be allowed to interfere with what they were doing, absolutely nothing…
"Now Spirit reaches out to the rest of us, and when we feel her touch we return it," Kadri said once they were all in place. "It's supposed to be really easy and completely natural, as well as being the most marvelous thing we'll ever experience."
Hearing those words gave Honrita the confidence she needed to begin the effort, the most important effort of her life. More than anything she wanted to be part of something that was important, something that mattered. This had to work, it simply had to…
"I have a list you need to look at, Driff," Idresia said, coming toward the table where Driff sat. He'd been going through reports until his eyes watered, but his efforts hadn't been very well rewarded.
"Another list?" Driff groaned, wondering if he would ever see normally again. "Just put it at the bottom of the stack, and I'll get to it as soon as I can."
"No, this list goes to the top of the stack," Idresia disagreed, stopping to stroke his hair with a clearly sympathetic hand. "There are five names of missing Spirit magic users on it, along with educated guesses as to where the five might be. Or should I say that there are guesses about four of them. The fifth seems to have disappeared completely, so we might be able to cross her name off right away. If she left the city, she can't very well be the one helping Ayl."
Driff took the piece of paper Idresia held out to him, wondering why he'd suddenly gotten a very odd feeling. The first four names on the list meant nothing to him, but the fifth…
"No, I don't think we'll be doing any fast crossing off," Driff said, staring at the name Honrita Grohl. "I've met the missing woman, and I think it's very likely she's the one we want."