by Sharon Green
"Yes, actually becoming the entity with your own awareness is incredible," I agreed, but then had to shake my head. "What I still can't understand, though, is how Lorand - and now you - can have the same experience at the same time that I do. How can the entity have your awareness or Lorand's when it has mine?"
"I wish I knew the answer to that," Jovvi said, still grumbling and annoyed. "Since this is happening to us one at a time it's most likely part of a natural process, but we have no idea about what happens next - or what we're supposed to do with this new awareness. And I think we'd better make a practice of checking with the others to find out if they've reached the same point. We can't count on having them announce it when it happens."
"We should have started to do that after every time we Blended," I pointed out, now sharing her self annoyance as well. "Maybe part of the process is to make us colossally stupid."
"You won't find me arguing against that possibility," Jovvi agreed, but a bit of her usual good humor seemed to be returning. "Let's start our questioning with Naran. She's been acting distracted lately, and it might be because of the new process."
I smiled to myself as I urged my horse to follow Jovvi's as she headed for where Naran rode. Someone else with Jovvi's ability might have used her talent to find out what Naran's distraction was about, but Jovvi was still playing fair and respecting people's privacy. I wondered if I would be that good about it, then dismissed the question. Luckily, the situation would never arise.
"Naran, Tamma and I would like to ask you a question," Jovvi said as soon as we were riding to either side of our sister. "Have you by any chance experienced what she and Lorand - and now I - have during Blending? You know, feeling that the entity has your awareness?"
"I don't really understand what that means, so I'd guess that the answer is no," she replied, looking as though pulling herself out of her thoughts had taken a tremendous effort. "But since I was the last one to join the Blending, that makes sense, doesn't it?"
"Yes, that makes a great deal of sense," Jovvi agreed in a soft and gentle voice, her expression suddenly filled with concern. "But that also means you're being distracted by something else entirely. Can we be of help in any way, even if it's only to listen?"
Naran hesitated for a very long moment, and I was about to offer to let the two of them talk alone when Naran looked up from a study of her hands.
"I'm … afraid I may be losing Rion," she said in a whisper, looking straight ahead rather than at Jovvi or me. "He's been approached more than once by a certain woman, and the probabilities are very strong that he'll decide to - to - "
"Rion?" I couldn't help blurting, a glance showing me that Jovvi was just as shocked. "I think the world may be coming to an end. If there was ever a man who found the woman of his soul, I would have sworn it was Rion. Has he … done anything with that certain woman?"
"Nothing yet beyond talking to her," Naran admitted, but I didn't miss that "yet." "She's the one who comes to him, but he isn't doing anything to discourage her. From a word or two I've picked up, she … admires him."
"Then it can't possibly be as bad as you're imagining," Jovvi said, obviously trying to sound hearty and reassuring. "A man from one of the link groups has come over to me more than once to say how much he admires me, and I haven't done anything to chase him away either. It's flattering to have someone feel that way about you, but it doesn't necessarily mean you intend to do anything about accepting their unspoken offer."
"Now, that's odd," I couldn't help commenting as certain memories came rushing back. "A girl from one of the link groups also approached Vallant, and from the way he looked at her I was convinced that he felt some attraction for her. But I also happened to see them when she approached him a second time, and he just about yawned in her face. That made me feel good, I can tell you."
"I can imagine," Jovvi said, her brows high as she obviously thought about something else. "So Rion, Vallant, and I have been approached by members of the link groups. I wonder if any of the rest of us have had the same experience."
"Well, I may have been almost approached," I answered slowly, not quite sure I wasn't imagining things. "It was during the time we were gathering up those fool nobles, and I was in a particularly bad mood. One of those 'highborn' fools had a strong Middle talent in Fire magic, and he set one of his servants on fire in an attempt to distract the guardsmen who were putting everyone together. I'm sure he meant to try to sneak away during the confusion, but things didn't quite work out for him."
"Yes, I remember that," Jovvi said, her smile on the grimly satisfied side. "I never knew it was possible for you to work that fast, but you protected the servant until you were able to put the fire out. Then you went after that noble and burned every bit of clothing off his body before doing the same to all his hair. No one had any trouble seeing him wet himself, and it couldn't have happened to a more deserving person."
"That's the way I looked at it, but the incident still put me in a bad mood," I said with a nod. "If I hadn't been paying close attention, that servant would have gone up in flames before I could do anything to help. A few minutes after everything had settled down again, a rather handsome man started to approach me. He looked vaguely familiar, but I was in no mood to be friendly with anyone. He started toward me with a smile, hesitated when he met my gaze, then wisely changed his mind about coming over. I probably would have jumped up and down on him even if he'd just said hello."
"What about you, Naran?" Jovvi asked next, and I joined her in looking at a now-frowning Naran. "Has anyone made an attempt to approach you?"
"I've been thinking about it ever since you first brought up the point, and my answer may be the same one Tamrissa gave but under other circumstances." Naran spoke slowly now, as though choosing her words carefully. "The time was also when we were going after the nobles. I kept an almost constant check on the probabilities to make sure none of them got away, and at one point a rather handsome man seemed about to come over to me. He was only about five or six feet away when his smile faltered and he stopped short, stared at me for a moment, then turned and walked away. It was almost as though he knew what I was doing and didn't want to disturb me."
"So that makes everyone but Lorand, and he was probably approached as well," I said as Jovvi took her own turn at frowning for a moment. "I don't know about you two, but this situation is making me very suspicious. If only one or two of us was approached, it would mean nothing. With all of us involved, attraction and admiration probably have nothing to do with the matter."
"Yes, I'm inclined to agree with that," Jovvi said, obviously dismissing whatever had made her frown. "With all of us involved, I'd guess that someone is trying to drive a wedge between all the members of our Blending. I think we'd better have a meeting with the men, to see if we can figure out who's behind the attempt."
"That isn't going to be easy," Naran said, her previous disturbance apparently eased to a certain extent. "I've just been checking the probabilities about this, and I can't seem to find anything at all. That flux Master Ardanis mentioned keeps getting in the way."
"So we have to do it the hard way instead of the easy way," Jovvi said, all but shrugging a dismissal. "It would be nice to know for certain and have the information confirmed, but formulating a logical theory could work just as well. At least we'll be warned, and can be on the alert for any other tricks."
"You know, a possibility just occurred to me," I said slowly as I examined the thought. "Whoever tampered with the minds of the nobles leading the army has to be from Gracely. The army was on its way to destroy Gracely, and had to be stopped. Now we're on our way to Gracely, and someone may consider us the same kind of threat. Having us all end up hating each other would be one way to end the threat."
"You're right, that's a definite possibility," Jovvi agreed as Naran stared at me with raised brows. "I think we'll have to find the people involved in the plot, and ask them a few questions. And I'm also willing to bet that they won't turn o
ut to be members of any of the link groups either."
"They can't be if they're working for Gracely," I said with my own brows high, realizing her guess had to be the truth. "Our link groups are made up of people we rescued from the Astindan armies, an unlikely place for Gracely supporters to be found. We ought to tell the men about this right away."
"We're probably less than an hour away from making camp," Jovvi said after a glance at the sky. "Let's wait until then before we call a group meeting. If we're lucky, the Gracely people involved won't realize what's going on until we have some of them in our hands. If we cause a flap now, they might well understand what's happening and simply disappear."
"That's a good point, so I'll go along with it," I grudged, hating the delay but seeing the need. "Those people won't be happy that I have to wait, though. I hate having to wait for things, and I intend to take my mad out on them."
"I hope you start with that certain woman," Naran muttered, so low I could barely hear her. "Seeing her fry would be a downright - "
Naran's words broke off, but I had no trouble completing the thought - or understanding the feelings behind it. Naran was basically a very gentle soul, and what she hadn't quite said aloud was a measure of her deeply felt disturbance. I'd have to see what I could do to make her half wish come true.
The three of us continued to ride together until our group found a place to camp, and then we took care of our horses and chose places to sleep. By then a fire had been built for our group meal, and while it was being prepared we casually gathered up the men and took them aside.
"I have the feelin' that we're not goin' to be talkin' about the weather," Vallant commented once we all strolled to a quiet place away from the others and sat down. "It may be my imagination, but you ladies look like you mean business of some kind."
"We do," Jovvi agreed with a smile that looked perfectly natural. "We have something to tell you men, and it would be better if you didn't react outwardly to what you hear. There's a good chance we're being watched."
"Who would be watching us?" Lorand asked, and I could almost see him struggling not to look around. "There doesn't seem to be anyone in the vicinity but our own people."
"I think if we counted heads we would discover differently," Jovvi denied with the same easy smile. "Tamma and Naran and I got to talking, and we discovered that we were approached by men who claimed to be members of the various link groups. These men said they 'admired' us, but after the first visit it was clear that they had something other than admiration in mind. We were wondering if you men were also approached."
Naran had seemed to be holding her breath, but when she heard the way Jovvi put things she slumped a bit with relief. Jovvi had been something less than completely accurate in her statement, but the men never noticed.
"I knew there was somethin' odd about that woman," Vallant said immediately, then forced himself to speak more quietly. "What I mean is, a woman also approached me. At first I couldn't help thinkin' how attractive she was, but then it came to me that she was bein' deliberately attractive, if you can understand that idea. Tamrissa and the rest of you ladies are attractive just standin' there, but that woman was really tryin'."
"I understand exactly what you mean," Lorand said to him, then glanced at the rest of us. "I think you know that means I was also approached, and at first I was very flattered by the attention of someone who thought so highly of me. After a short while, though, I began to wonder. All our people know the six of us have more than a Blending relationship in our group, so the woman's approaching me the way she did was at the very least improper. If she thought all that well of me, why did she believe I would turn away from the woman I'd paired with for a passing stranger?"
"We probably weren't supposed to be noticin' things like that," Vallant put in sourly with a small headshake. "That makes five of us, so let's see if the thing is unanimous. What about you, Rion?"
"What?" Rion said with a start, just as though he'd been abruptly awakened from a sound sleep. Then he seemed to regain control of himself. "Yes, I was approached as well and in the same way. By someone who meant none of what she said."
"That's it then," Vallant summed up, now looking toward Jovvi. "Someone's been goin' after every one of us. Do we have any idea who the someone is?"
"Tamma suggested that it could well be people from Gracely who want to neutralize what they see as a threat," Jovvi answered. "We are heading for their country, after all, right after having deposed the leaders of our own country. They may have decided that we've got conquest in mind for Gracely as well."
"And Jovvi thinks they aren't really members of our various link groups, and could easily disappear if they think they've been found out," I said, leaning casually forward. "If we want to question any of them to learn the truth, we ought to go looking for them right now."
"You mean as a Blending, I take it," Lorand said, his nod thoughtful. "Yes, that's probably the best way. If we try to find them as individuals, we might end up having to destroy them in order to save our own lives."
"Exactly, so let's get started," Jovvi said, looking around at us. "Is everyone ready?"
No one said they weren't, so an instant later I was once again the entity. I knew exactly what my flesh forms intended, of course, and quickly went about the search. A number of minutes passed as I examined everyone in our camp and then did the search again, but the conclusion was inescapable. Those flesh forms I sought were no longer in range of my senses.
"How could they have known?" Jovvi demanded as soon as she dissolved the Blending. "We didn't figure out what was going on until about an hour ago, but they're already out of our reach. That means they parted company with our group a lot earlier than that hour. If they hadn't, they would still be in reach of our entity's sensing."
"Maybe they didn't know," Vallant suggested after a moment when no one else came up with anything but grumbling. "We aren't all that far from Gracely now, and they may have ridden on ahead to warn their people that they've done just about all they could to separate us. Continuin' with the game when we might start usin' our link groups at any time would make them stand out as strangers."
"And they could be hoping that their ploy might still work," Lorand added with a nod. "Not seeing them doesn't necessarily mean not thinking about them, and it would be the thinking that caused trouble among us."
"Right now the only thing I'm thinking about is cold-blooded murder," I muttered, feeling more than a little annoyed. "Not only do they have the nerve to sneak into our traveling group, but they actually come right up to us. I think we need to do something to make sure nothing like this ever happens again."
"What we should have done was arrangin' the same thing we did in the palace," Vallant put in, looking just as annoyed. "Makin' sure that everyone knew everyone else and that they ought to be alert for the appearance of strangers. If we keep this to ourselves, we're only askin' for this mess or one like it to happen again."
"Yes, I think we'd better start by telling the other Blending," Jovvi agreed with a sigh. "Then we can all tell our link groups, and have them get started with learning the faces of people they don't yet know. We'll be across the border into Gracely soon, and it's not far to Liandia from there."
"Then let's get to it," Lorand agreed, and we all began to get to our feet. It took until we were standing before we noticed that Rion hadn't gotten up with us. Naran stood beside him, just short of hovering, staring down at the way Rion sat with his arms wrapped around his raised up legs.
"What's wrong, Rion?" Jovvi asked, a sudden worry in her tone. "I should have paid closer attention… Why are you feeling so disturbed?"
"Since I'm the biggest fool among us, it's fitting that I be most disturbed," Rion answered in a distant, pain-filled voice. "Please don't concern yourself with me, I'll be along in a moment. To help tell people what a fool I've been."
"But you weren't the only one who was fooled, so why are you so upset?" Jovvi pursued, the worry in her eyes incre
asing. "Did you somehow miss the fact that all of us were approached?"
"Yes, we were all approached, but I was the only one dense enough to believe there was honest interest behind the contact." Rion looked at no one as he spoke, most especially not at a suffering Naran. "I was so taken by the thought that an attractive woman not of our Blending could find interest in me, that I forgot about the woman who gave me all the love in her heart from the first moment we met. I'm a complete moron and fool, and don't deserve to have the love of that most wonderful of women. Not knowing when I'll next start to look around will kill that love if it isn't dead already."
"We all make mistakes, Rion," Lorand said, empathetic pain in his own voice. "I also came close to making a fool of myself, so you mustn't think you're alone in this."
"But you only came close, Lorand," Rion countered, still without looking up. "I went the entire way, and wasn't bright enough to know I was being lied to. If my love was a true match to Naran's I would never have been tempted, but I was more than tempted. I don't deserve Naran and her love, even if I still have it. There's no knowing when I'll hurt her again, and I refuse to give her any more pain."
"I really don't understand you, Rion," I blurted, finding it impossible to hold the words back when Naran seemed to crumple into herself. "You know you have less experience with people than the rest of us, but you still insist on thinking you shouldn't have felt tempted. When even Vallant was tempted, you have no real cause to complain about what you did."
"What do you mean, if even I was tempted?" Vallant put in before Rion could say anything, faint annoyance in his tone. "I'm just as human as the next man, so why wouldn't I be tempted? Even though I wasn't, not really."
"Oh, right, you weren't tempted," I scoffed, turning to face him. "I happened to see that non-temptation, and for someone who's had more experience with women than any other man here, you were the one acting like a fool. Considering all the women you've known, you should have seen right away that a baited hook was being dangled in front of you."