Destiny

by Sharon Green

  "You know, an interesting thought just came to me," Lorand said slowly. "Since we're still Blended, I wonder if Rion's ability to cook is now also our ability."

  "I'd rather answer that question than test the theory that it might be true," Tamrissa said with a laugh. "Rion's ability with cooking is learned, and not part of his other, inborn, talent with Air magic. On top of that, our entity never tried to cook. In other words, if you're going to try your own hand at making a meal, I think I have plans to dine elsewhere."

  "I'm not curious enough to want to poison myself," Lorand said with his own laugh. "That means I'll definitely show up for meals, but I'll be staying out of the way until the food is ready. But now that we're fortified, what's the next thing we can try?"

  "I've been considering that point myself, and I have a suggestion," Rion said when Vallant joined the others in shrugging to show a complete lack of ideas. "My suggestion revolves around the fact that we were able to reach those people we know in Liandia."

  "And I had no trouble speaking to their minds," Tamrissa said with a nod. "Did you want to try talking to or contacting someone else in the same way?"

  "Actually, my suggestion is a bit more involved than that," Rion answered, his brow creased in a way that seemed to show he wasn't quite sure about his idea. "We found out that we couldn't rise up off the floor and float the way our entity did, simply because we have solid bodies and our entity didn't. What we haven't investigated, however, is the ability our entity had to … flash to a point it was familiar with. There was no floating involved in that, merely the desire to be somewhere else."

  "Are you suggesting we might be able to go places without actually traveling to those places?" Tamrissa demanded, saying the same thing most of the rest of them did only using different words. Vallant was no longer leaning back, and neither was anyone else in the circle. "I really don't think something like that will work."

  "Are you offerin' an opinion, or are you accessin' that information we talked about?" Vallant asked at once. "Since I've had enough of travelin' by horseback for a good long while, I'm hopin' what you said was just an opinion."

  "Truthfully, it was," Tamrissa said with her brows high. "Now I'm trying to find out if there's anything to suggest we can't try Rion's idea, but so far there doesn't seem to be anything. The last time I knew almost at once that floating wasn't possible."

  "Let's give it another minute or two," Jovvi said, her expression wry. "I'd hate to find out we were wrong to try when we disappear here and end up not appearing anywhere else."

  "I second that," Naran said while sending Rion an apologetic glance. "I'm sorry, love, but I'm still not as brave as you and Tamrissa and Vallant."

  "But neither you nor Jovvi said we shouldn't try it at all, and I find myself agreeing," Lorand pointed out to Naran. "We three still seem to be the calming influence in our group, but at the same time we've picked up some of the boldness from our other members. I wonder if they've also picked up some of our caution."

  "I think we have," Vallant said slowly while Tamrissa and Rion obviously paused to consider the question. "I'm all for tryin' the experiment, but not for rushin' into it. We should try, but carefully."

  "Yes, that's the way I see it, too," Tamrissa said while Rion nodded his own agreement. "I like the idea of trying, but not of rushing into the attempt. So just how are we going to try this?"

  "Cautiously," Rion answered with a grin for Naran, and then he grew serious again. "I think we need to look for a good place to go first, and once we know we won't appear inside a tree, or shrub, or chair - or a person - we try to go there."

  "Now, that's a good idea," Tamrissa said just as Vallant thought the same thing. "First we look, and then we try to go. And I think I know where we can go. We all know Antrie Lorimon's garden, and in fact we just listened to a conversation there. The place is large enough and private enough that we shouldn't have any trouble if we succeed in getting there."

  "I have one suggestion," Naran said, clearly studying the probabilities as she usually did. "Let's deliberately picture ourselves standing side by side before we go. If we just think about going, we might possibly end up all in the same place."

  "Yes, that possibility is much too strong," Lorand said, showing the same distraction that Naran did. "It seems to be a danger we might have overlooked in our eagerness to experiment."

  "Which means we all have to check the probabilities before we do anything new," Jovvi said, looking around at each of them. "Simply living life has pitfalls that need to be anticipated, and what we're doing now is a good deal more complicated than simply living."

  "It would be safer if we had teachers, but it looks like we'll be the ones who do the teaching," Tamrissa said with a shake of her head. "Assuming we survive, that is. All right, are we ready to try this? I'm going to picture us in the same circle instead of standing side by side, which ought to make things easier. Let's all take a look first, and then we'll move our circle to a garden in Liandia."

  Vallant nodded, at the same time willing his vision to see the garden they'd looked at a short time ago. No more than an instant later the picture of that garden was before him, only this time there were no more than two people sitting in chairs. Antrie Lorimon and Frode Mismin had apparently been left alone by their three former guests, and the two were holding hands and gazing at one another.

  "I hate to interrupt at such a tender moment, but they can get back to holding hands later," Tamrissa said with a chuckle in her voice. "Is everyone ready? All right, let's move the circle."

  Vallant clearly remembered how their entity had flashed to a place from where it was originally, so now he … took the same mental attitude, so to speak. The attitude was composed of a knowledge of where he was and an equal knowledge of where he wanted to go, combined with the desire to be in that other place. Reality seemed to blink, and then he sat in the same place in their circle that he'd been in, but only now he sat on grass instead of a sleeping pad.

  "It worked," Rion said as he looked around with a stunned expression, and then his voice rose with gladness and excitement. "It really worked, and we're here!"

  Vallant felt the same elation, but couldn't help flinching at the way Antrie Lorimon stood and screamed. Frode Mismin was also on his feet and just as disturbed, but Jovvi rose and turned to them.

  "It's all right, don't be frightened," Jovvi said as Antrie seemed to be drawing breath for more screaming. "We've had something very wonderful happen to us, and we're experimenting with different aspects of that something."

  "How can … this be considered even remotely human?" Antrie demanded, obviously calmed to a great extent but not really calm. "You six just appeared out of thin air!"

  "It has to be human because humans are doing it," Tamrissa pointed out with clear amusement. "It seems to be a natural step in the development of a Blending, but you and your countrymen won't have to worry about it for a while, we believe. Apparently you have to be a full Blending before these new things start to happen."

  "What do you mean, a full Blending?" Mismin asked at once, his own mind a good deal quieter than Antrie's. "I can see that there are six of you, just as there were when you first got here, but we all assumed… I think you know what we assumed."

  "Yes, we do know, and we deliberately refrained from explaining," Naran said, her smile showing her own amusement which then disappeared. "But I'm a full member of this Blending, and you do need to know in what way."

  Vallant watched Antrie Lorimon and Frode Mismin as Naran explained about Sight magic, and by the time the explanation was done the two Gracelians looked appalled. Vallant and the others were all on their feet by that time, and Antrie put a shaking hand to a pale forehead.

  "I knew that policy was wrong, but I made no effort to change it," she muttered, turning to Mismin when the man's arm went around her shoulders. "It would have been politically inconvenient to speak in opposition, so I just kept silent. We were assured we were 'doing the right thing' by putt
ing down those children 'without talent,' and now we get to pay a very high price for our lack of humanity."

  "You're saying it wrong again," Tamrissa commented, and Vallant knew that his woman felt nothing in the way of compassion. "What you did was done by humans, so there wasn't a lack of humanity. Humans aren't perfect, Antrie, and trying to make it seem as if we should be is downright foolish. What you want to do is combine compassion with a bit of common sense, which isn't all that common. There will always be people around who want to do things for the 'good' of others, and they're the ones you have to watch out for. They're interested in control, not in good of any sort."

  "You're absolutely right," Mismin conceded with a wry smile for Tamrissa. "Antrie wasn't the only one who disliked the policy of 'putting down' those without any obvious talent, but the rest of us kept just as quiet. From now on things will change, hopefully for the better."

  "If it doesn't, you're the ones who will suffer," Tamrissa responded with a shrug. "Which is the way it should be, since we're supposed to learn from our mistakes. If the lesson is hard enough you learn to change your ways, and if you don't then you deserve to continue to suffer. That might sound harsh, but it's better than having someone else tell you the 'right' way to do things."

  "Which you weren't doing, no matter what I said while we traveled together," Antrie put in with a weak smile. "You were simply showing us the right way of doing things and urging us to do the same. You left the choice of agreeing to us, and when we chose to continue on with our old ways the suffering we experienced was of our own doing. I like to think I'm beyond that now."

  "For your sake, I hope you are," Rion said, and Vallant knew that his brother agreed completely with Tamrissa - and himself as well. "But now I think we ought to be getting back. You can mention this visit or not, just as you see fit, but keep in mind how close you all came to losing your lives because of limitations and secrets."

  Antrie looked disturbed, but Vallant paid very little attention to her or Mismin. He first looked into the house in the village they'd come from, and when it proved to still be empty he moved himself there in the same position in relation to his Blendingmates. In the blink of an eye he was standing on his sleeping pad instead of sitting, and an instant later his Blendingmates were also back.

  "So… how much do you think we can charge Arinna and Holter and their Blendingmates for this piece of news?" Tamrissa asked, and then she laughed along with everyone else. Vallant's laughter contained his continuing elation, but one small corner of his mind wondered just how far these new revelations would take them all. Not to mention in what direction…

  Honrita finished her breakfast feeling extremely satisfied. Her little flock was behaving just the way they were supposed to, and even Arbon Vand was too distracted to give her trouble. Arbon believed that they'd all bonded, and so did the others. Kadri wasn't behaving as … outgoing as she usually did, and that was another benefit to the situation - at least in Honrita's opinion.

  "Is today really going to be the day?" Stelk asked suddenly, holding his teacup in both hands just at chest level. "I've been thinking about it since I awoke this morning, because you said that today we'll be putting the plan into action."

  "Yes, my dear, today is definitely the day," Honrita answered, smiling to show her increasing pleasure. "If things go right, and there's really no reason they shouldn't, by tonight we'll be in charge of the empire."

  "There are any number of reasons why things might not go right," Arbon said, his unsmiling face staring directly at her rather than at Stelk. "Just because you refuse to see all those reasons doesn't mean they aren't there."

  "Dear, dear, Arbon," Honrita said with a small laugh. "Every time you voice another protest, you're really telling me that you believe the plan will work. I can see you disagree with that truth, so why don't you tell me: what are all these reasons that you can see which I can't?"

  "What if our entity isn't as strong as the High talent we pick out?" Arbon said after a brief hesitation, as though he meant to say something else and then changed his mind. "We are no more than Middles, after all, so it's possible that a High talent will prove stronger. What do you plan to do if that happens?"

  "I don't plan to do anything, because it won't happen," Honrita explained slowly and patiently, enjoying herself quite a lot. "Our entity will find it easy to take over anyone we want it to, and once we have the first High we'll have no trouble getting all the others. Now, I know it's rather early, but let's dress and get over to the palace anyway. The sooner we're in position, the more quickly we'll be able to begin."

  The other three rose at once in obedience, but Arbon clearly would have stayed in his chair if he'd been given the choice. Honrita got to her own feet, annoyance coloring the pleasure she'd felt only a few moments ago. Arbon really was more trouble than she felt willing to put up with, but it would only be for a short time longer. As soon as that High Blending was tightly in her grip, Honrita promised herself that she would look around for another Fire magic user before she did anything else.

  It didn't take long for any of them to dress, but Arbon was still the last one down to the sitting room. Honrita ignored the miserable man's tardiness and simply led the way out of the house, already knowing that the coach she'd arranged for now waited in the drive. The coach driver was as firmly under her control as her Blendingmates, and would take her wherever she wanted to go without knowing he was doing it. Honrita directed Arbon to join the driver on the coach box, and then she herself entered the coach with the rest of her Blending.

  The day was a bit on the cool side and not as pretty as Honrita would have liked, but that was an unimportant detail. She watched out the window she sat beside as the coach moved toward the palace, excitement flaring up inside her. They were really on their way to their destiny now, the destiny that was hers rather than belonging to that fool Ayl. His madness had made him think he was certain to be great, but he'd had no true talent of his own. Honrita did have talent, and that was what made all the difference.

  Honrita's thoughts drifted to what life would be like once she was living in the palace, and the ride disappeared behind those most pleasant of thoughts. Before she knew it the coach was slowing, and then it began to come to a stop in the place she'd picked out. The street was very close to the palace, but a building blocked them from the sight of any guardsmen. Their entity, however, would have no trouble seeing everything it needed to.

  Once the coach had come to a full stop, Arbon climbed down from the box and entered the coach itself. There was room for him only on the floor between the two seats, but that position was somehow fitting. Honrita's most ardent opponent now sat at her feet, just as the rest of the empire would soon do.

  Honrita set their coach driver to watching for the approach of anyone who might interfere, and then she initiated the Blending. In an instant it was the Blending entity who looked about, and then floated toward the large dwelling that was to be the object of its scrutiny. It knew that it must search out any approaching or departing High talents, and therefore set to work.

  A fair number of flesh forms either approached or departed from the large dwelling, yet none of them were the High talents the entity was to have located. An unnoticed amount of time passed, and then the entity felt the strain in its own flesh forms. As newborn as the entity was, it still knew it could not remain aware for much longer - and then it was Honrita back again.

  "We're no longer Blended," Stelk protested, sounding the next thing to whiny. "Why are we individuals again?"

  "Maintaining the Blending any longer would have drained me completely," Honrita said, deciding to quiet the man without using her talent. "We'll rest for a short while, and then we'll Blend again. But I don't understand why there weren't any High talents going in or coming out. There were Middles and some Lows, but no Highs."

  "Maybe the Highs all like to sleep late," Arbon drawled from where he sat on the coach floor, an expression on his face that was much too pleased. "I'll
admit that's one possibility I didn't think of."

  "Since they're in charge, they can sleep as late as they like with no one to tell them differently," Honrita said, grasping at the idea that Arbon had put forward only jokingly. "Yes, you've finally proven of use in some way, Arbon. The Highs aren't here yet because they're allowed to sleep late. By tomorrow it will be us who sleeps late, as late as we like."

  Arbon shook his head before looking away from her, but Honrita didn't care what the man thought. The plan was a good one, a good one, and it wasn't going to fail!

  It took a short time for Honrita to regain control of her confidence. She had lived too many years in the shadow of failure in all things, and a ghost from those days still haunted her on occasion. But she'd had help in putting the attitudes of failure behind her, and now she knew that success had to be expected in order to be achieved. She would make the plan work, and very soon.

  Once she felt rested, Honrita shifted to a more comfortable position on the coach seat and then initiated the Blending again. This time when the entity formed, it knew it must seek out any flesh form in seeming authority. As the High talents refused to come within reach of the entity's perceptions, the entity had no choice but to be guided to the location of the High talents.

  A greater number of flesh forms now approached and left the large dwelling. None of them, however, proved to be High talents, therefore the entity began to look for one who might become a useful guide. A short time passed, and then six individuals appeared who were given more deference by those flesh forms around them than any previous flesh forms had been given. One of these Middle talents, then, would be the guide the entity required.

  The entity floated quickly to the vicinity of the large dwelling where the six flesh forms were in the process of entering. Each of the six seemed odd in some way the entity wasn't able to define, yet its objective remained. It must take control of one of the six, and then instruct the flesh form to guide the entity to the High talents. The entity reached out toward the closest of the six, and then -