by Sharon Green
"This time I have no interest in saying 'Oh, dear,'" Jovvi stated, looking back and forth between Tamma and Rion. "I'd much rather use a phrase I learned during my time on the streets, one I've trained myself never to say out loud again. Saying it won't help the situation much, but it would certainly make me feel better… Tamma, are you absolutely sure about what happened? Is it at all possible that you imagined the whole thing?"
"Of course it's possible," Tamma answered with a mirthless laugh. "As tired as I am, anything is possible. I just have a feeling that it isn't true, and it all really did happen. If you can convince me that I suffered from a touch of limited insanity, I'll probably love you even more than I do right now."
"Groping around blind will probably drive us all insane," Jovvi muttered, putting her hands to her face for a moment and rubbing. "We've been wondering why we're so tired, and this is probably the answer. Changes are now coming in multiples rather than one at a time, but it's that word 'multiples' that bothers me most right now. How many other surprises are in store, and what can we do to prepare for them? Do we have any choice other than stumbling into them by accident?"
"Maybe we can hang back and let Pagin Holter's Blending go through it first," Tamma suggested wryly, and Jovvi had the impression that Tamma was only half joking. "They're almost as strong as we are, and have been Blending just about as long."
"But he and his Blendingmates haven't been touching the power continuously as long as we have," Jovvi pointed out, then looked between Tamma and Rion again. "But even so, we ought to speak to them and find out what point they're up to. Assuming they're going through the same things we did…"
"Let's wait until tomorrow to talk to them," Tamma said, and once again she didn't seem to be joking. "If they tell us they're going through something else entirely - or absolutely nothing - I don't think I could stand it."
Rion's expression said he agreed with that idea completely, so Jovvi nodded her own agreement. There was a parallel of sorts between what they were experiencing and what that man was, the one who wasn't allowing himself to believe that the rescue was real. Nightmare came in many different forms, and the ones experienced when awake were obviously the worst of the lot…
Naran accepted her breakfast with a smile, and then carried it over to where the rest of the Blending were sitting and eating. She'd awakened that morning a little later than everyone else, probably due to the fact that she'd done so much with the captives yesterday. She'd pushed herself to the limit to find the captives in the worst condition before they died, and happily everyone had been saved - for the moment. What happened during the coming days was another matter entirely, but she'd have to think about that some other time. She'd been so tired the night before that she remembered nothing beyond falling into her bed roll…
"Good morning, Naran," Jovvi greeted her when she took her place next to Rion. "That tiny bit of extra sleep you got seems to have done you a lot of good. If looks count for anything, you're not as tired as you were."
"No, actually, I'm not," Naran discovered aloud, realizing what she hadn't noticed earlier. "I feel well rested, and the rest of you look the same. Have we finally worked our way through that persistent weariness?"
"I certainly hope so," Tamrissa said in what was almost a growl after sipping at her tea. "If the tiredness goes away, maybe there won't be any other surprises for a while."
"Have we had surprises?" Naran asked, feeling as though she hadn't been paying attention. "I've been so busy I'm afraid I must have missed - "
"No, love, you haven't missed anything, you just haven't been told yet," Rion interrupted to assure her, his hand patting her back. "What you were doing was too important to be interrupted, but we have the time now. The last time we Blended… Were you submerged in the entity, or did something else happen?"
"Why… Now that you mention it, the entity used my point of view," Naran answered after quickly eating some rice. "Does that mean something?"
"It means that the count is now unanimous," Jovvi told her with another smile. "You go ahead and eat, and we'll fill you in about what Tamma experienced yesterday."
The rest of them had already finished their food, so Naran did indeed work on her breakfast while she listened. The story wasn't very long, but it was certainly surprising.
"So… We may all have another ability now," Naran summed up after taking a swallow of her own tea. "Or possibly we've just been prepared to have another ability, once we reach Tamrissa's position in regard to the power. But what about the other part of it, the part where she felt more in control? Will we eventually experience that as well?"
"That particular question is a bit more involved than it seems," Jovvi said with a sigh. "We were discussing it before you joined us, but we haven't gotten very far. The place we started was, how is it possible that each of us thinks that the entity used our personal view? It would also be nice to know why none of us seems to have noticed the multiple view."
"Is it possible we were too tired to notice?" Naran ventured, the only idea that came to mind. "Maybe the next time we Blend we will notice something."
"That's possible, but we don't have time for experiments right now," Lorand put in, his expression serious. "One of the other Blendings found a nice, big house not far from here, and then they went to a nearby town and bought supplies. They took their purchases to the house, and as soon as everyone is finished eating we'll be taking the former captives there so they can rest. We have the army's three supply wagons to move the people who can't make it on their own, since we used up most of the supplies they held last night and this morning."
"That's something I meant to ask before this," Tamrissa put in, speaking to Lorand. "Before we got here, everyone was managing to move on their own. Now, after they were freed, we have a large number who need to be helped. Why is that?"
"The orders they were given under the puredan forced them to keep going," Lorand answered, speaking to everyone since everyone had shown that they were also curious. "Once we took that prop away, everyone who was near to the end simply collapsed. If we hadn't gotten here when we did, those fool nobles would have started finding a lot of dead bodies on the road."
"They probably would have tried to order the rest not to die when they did find the bodies," Tamrissa said with a sound of scorn, her expression savage. "Let's make sure that nothing damaging happens to those people. If anyone has earned being handed over to the Astindans, they're the ones."
"Somehow I think that everybody forgot about feedin' that group yesterday and this mornin'," Vallant put in looking pleased rather than disturbed. "That's not really damagin' them, is it?"
"Not as far as I can see," Tamrissa agreed with amusement. "You can go for quite a long time without eating before you die, and we'll make sure to feed them before they reach that point. By the time we release them in the care of the Astindans, they may actually be relieved."
"At least until they discover what's in store for them," Lorand agreed with a smile before getting to his feet. "I'm going to supervise moving the people in the worst condition, so I'll see you later."
"Most of us will be helping with the others," Jovvi told him as she also stood. "We've decided to let them use the horses while we do the walking, so there's a good chance we'll get to that house before you do."
"And Rion and I will take care of moving those nobles," Tamrissa put in, a bit of hardness having returned to her tone. "We'll keep Naran company while she finishes eating, and then we'll get right to it."
"I'll be helpin' with movin' people until we reach that house," Vallant said, finishing his tea before joining the others who had already stood. "After that I want to set up perimeter guards and get everyone sorted out. Once that's done and we're together again, we can talk to our prisoners."
Everyone nodded their agreement to that plan, so Jovvi, Lorand, and Vallant walked away in different directions. Naran began to eat faster then, but Tamrissa laughed and reached over to touch her arm.
"You don't have to swallow it whole, not when a lot of the captives aren't finished yet either," Tamrissa told her in a kindly way. "With everything you did yesterday, you deserve at least to be able to eat in peace."
"I don't have that much left, and I'm glad for the excuse to swallow it down fast," Naran told her honestly with a smile. "The venison may be fresh and tasty, but I can't help dreaming about eggs and fried potatoes and I miss them. Maybe we'll find some at that house."
"If we don't, I'm thinking about going on strike," Tamrissa agreed, still amused. "What about you, Rion?"
"I've enjoyed having things be different until now, but not having eggs for breakfast is a bit more different than I care for," Rion answered with his own amusement. "If a strike will produce those eggs for us, I'll most likely join you in it - whatever a strike might be."
"A strike is something one of the Astindans told me about," Tamrissa answered after sipping at her tea. "The workers in Astinda aren't owned the way our own people were, and a group of them decided at one point to stop working until they were paid more by the people they worked for. They called the action a strike, but it didn't do as well as the strikers obviously hoped it would. The people they worked for simply hired other workers, and that was the end of the effort."
"They should have foreseen that even without Sight magic," Naran put in after swallowing the last of her food. "It makes no sense to pay people more for doing the same work others will do at the original pay. Without getting everyone alive to agree not to work for that original amount, they were wasting their time."
"Or without finding a way to keep those who would work more cheaply from taking the jobs," Tamrissa agreed as she stood. Naran was already on her feet, and when she finished the last of her tea Rion took her plate and cup.
"We'll be passing right by the place where these have to be returned to," Rion told her before leaning forward to give her a brief kiss. "I'll see you later at that house."
"Yes, later," Naran agreed, sharing the brief kiss with him before watching him walk away with Tamrissa. Naran stood where she was for another moment, then she took a deep breath and went to saddle her horse. She was more in the mood to walk than ride this morning, so lending her horse would be nothing of a sacrifice.
It was something of a surprise to find her horse already saddled, but looking around brought Naran the answer about who had saved her some work. Those army members called prods had apparently been volunteered for most of the hard and dirty jobs around the camp, freeing everyone else to look after the former captives. The prods didn't seem too happy about their lot, but whichever Blending had put them to work had made sure that their opinion counted for as little as the captives' had.
Naran also had no trouble finding someone who needed to ride. In point of fact there were two someones, a man and a woman. Naran's talent told her that the man would collapse if he didn't ride, but it also told her that he would most likely refuse to do so. His pride had obviously been badly battered by his time with the army, and he needed to do something positive to restore it even if that something hurt him. But with the woman also there, Naran believed she saw the way to salvage the situation.
"Excuse me," Naran said to the man as she led her horse up to him. "I wonder if I might ask you to do me a favor."
"I'd be pleased to do so lovely a lady any favor I'm able to," the man answered after a very slight hesitation, giving her a shaky smile. In truth all of him was shaky, not to mention gaunt, ragged, and hairy. "Are you in need of help in mounting?"
"Actually, I'm in need of help in getting that woman mounted and safe," Naran murmured, nodding toward the woman she meant who currently sat slumped on the ground. "She's really in no condition to walk to the house we've found, but if I put her on my horse she could well fall off. I'd ride with her and hold her up, but I'm afraid I'm not strong enough to hold her if she starts to fall. A man holding her up would make her much safer, so I'd like to impose on you to be that man."
"Me," the man echoed, obviously not knowing what else to say for the moment. He seemed to be wondering if he would be stronger than a woman in full health, but it had also come to him that he'd been offered a way to ride without sacrificing any more of his dignity. When he squared his shoulders Naran could almost see him thinking that he would be strong enough to help the woman no matter what it cost him, and then he smiled again.
"Lovely lady, you've found yourself an assistant," he told Naran, the words coming as no surprise. "Shall we get the woman onto your horse together?"
"I'd be grateful for your help with that as well," Naran replied with her own smile. "Let's see if we can get her on her feet first."
They walked over to the woman and explained what they had in mind, and the woman took a deep breath before nodding her agreement. She seemed to be someone who was normally strong and capable, and although she hated being so weak she seemed to have realized that the more she cooperated the sooner she would be fit again.
Naran did most of the helping when it came to getting the woman mounted, but she made no effort to help the man mount. It was a considerable struggle for him, but once he sat behind the woman his obvious pleasure and pride let Naran know she'd done the right thing. After all, she was there to help in whatever way she could…
Once the two people were settled, Naran began to lead her horse to the part of the road that wasn't cluttered with people and wagons. She passed a short distance from where Rion and Tamrissa were seeing to the nobles, but neither one of them looked around to see her.
Just as well, Naran thought as she simply kept going. Showing unconcern during breakfast had been hard for her, and there was no need to go looking for more hardship. Rion had said he would see her at the house, and that would be soon enough to put her mask back on. A mask she hated to have to wear, in spite of its being so necessary…
Naran would have enjoyed being alone somewhere so that she might cry in peace. Her talent had told her that it was a virtual certainty that Rion would meet another woman, one he found attractive in some way. Naran knew when that meeting took place, and she'd prayed that Rion would speak to her about it. That would have meant the contact was less important to him than she was, but he hadn't mentioned it.
And that meant Rion was seriously considering another woman. Naran bit her lip, wishing there was something she could do to affect the situation, but she knew better than to even try. Everything she Saw told her that any interference on her part would make things worse rather than better, but keeping silent was so hard!
Rion was her life, but what if he decided he no longer loved her? What in the world would she do then…?
Chapter 22
Vallant walked into the small sitting room of the very large house to find that the others were already there. Getting all the former captives to the house and settled in had been a bit of a nightmare, but it was now mid-afternoon and all done. Most of the poor souls they'd rescued were sleeping again, so he'd made arrangements that they be fed whenever they woke up.
"I still don't understand how they could have been kept in such poor condition," Tamrissa was saying as Vallant took himself over to the tea service. "Very few of the other captives we freed were as bad off as most of these people, probably because they were being used to do the fighting. Since the fool in charge used these people for the same purpose, how could he take the chance of losing them just when he needed them the most?"
"I think that's one of the questions we need to ask those nobles," Jovvi said, sounding stronger than she had the day before. Vallant also felt better in spite of all the work he'd done, which was more than time… "Vallant, did you want to discuss something with us before we get to questioning the nobles?"
"I was just thinkin' that we ought to choose our stalls in the stables before they're all gone," Vallant answered as he turned away from the tea service with a nicely filled cup. "All the bedchambers and studies and spare rooms - and empty corners - in this house have been given to the former captives, so we've had
to put the horses out to graze again in order to have some place for the rest of us to sleep. If any of you have a preference in stalls, you'd better say somethin' now."
"As long as there are walls around me and straw under me, I don't care which stall I get," Tamrissa answered with a smile. "And in case you were wondering why I'm in such a mellow mood, the bath house is all ready for use. We used the prods - and the nobles - to clean the bath, and then some of your people filled the bath again. After that I heated the water, and now some of my people are maintaining the heat. We're letting the others bathe first, and then we get to soak a while."
"That sounds heavenly, but first we do have to speak to those nobles," Jovvi said with a sigh as Vallant took a seat near Tamrissa. "Is there anything else that needs to be done first?"
"Not any more," Vallant answered when no one else did. "The other Blendin's will take turns keepin' an eye out for anyone tryin' to sneak up on us, the Earth magic users will be monitorin' the former captives who are in the worst shape, and some of our link group Highs have gone back to that town for more supplies - and whatever's ready of the simple clothin' the first ones who got supplies ordered. There was a tailorin' shop that also had seamstresses, so they took advantage of havin' enough gold to pay for what's needed."
"Until the new clothes are ready, the people can use the clothing we found in this house," Naran put in. "There's really an awful lot of it and some of the gowns are really too fancy for everyday use, but they'll do until the skirts and blouses - and trousers and shirts - are finished.”
"I was prepared to share my own things, but I'm glad I don't have to now," Tamrissa said with a pleased smile for Naran. "And I'm also glad that we're up to questioning those nobles. Putting them to work around here should have softened them up a bit."
"Well, we'll certainly find out," Jovvi said, then turned to Rion. "Rion, will you please go and get them?"