by Sharon Green
"I don't like the sound of that," Oplis stated, just as though he thought Wilant might be responsible for the situation. "We're still in the middle of rearranging things in this city, so we're vulnerable to a blindside attack. Isn't there anything we can do to prepare a defense in advance?"
"How do you prepare a defense when you don't know what there is to defend against?" Wilant countered, but not with enjoyment. "If we go out blind and start to push people around in an effort to learn what we can, we'll just be helping our enemies. There are enough unhappy people in this city now. The last thing we want to do is add to the number."
"The only ones who don't like the changes are the people who are afraid they can't keep up," Oplis said, disturbance in his tone. "And the people who think they were just about to become members of the nobility. And the ones who wanted to start their own nobility, but were kept from doing it. And the ones who have always thought they ought to be important… We have a serious problem here."
"Tell me about it," Wilant grumbled, running a hand through his hair. "I should have had myself locked away in a crazyhouse before I let us agree to stand in for Jovvi, Lorand, and the rest. While they're off enjoying their ride through the countryside, we're stuck here like targets on a board. Anyone who wants to come after us knows just where to find us."
"You know, there was a brief point in time when I considered those six crazy for saying they would stay Seated only for a year," Oplis commented with his own sigh. "I thought that anyone who gave up that kind of power before they had to was out of his or her mind, but now that I've had a taste of 'ruling' I never want another one. With all the boring things rulers have to cope with, I have almost no time to do what I most enjoy - forcing people into happy, productive lives they can't find on their own. So what are we going to do?"
"We'll have to talk to our Blendingmates, but I don't think there's much we can do," Wilant said as he finally turned away from the unmoving body in the bed. "We have Ruhl here in the palace, and I mean to keep him under constant guard until we can talk to him. I've already sent word to the former servants of the nobility to keep an eye out for any of their one-time employers, and I've notified the patrols to be on the alert for unexpected troublemakers - even though I haven't yet figured out how you can expect the unexpected. Do you have any suggestions?"
"One or two," Oplis said slowly, obviously having thought about it. "Some of the people I've been working with have … contacts to those who live on the shady side of the law. If I tell them what's happening, they'll pass the word and let us know if they come across something more than ordinarily wrong. And aren't we scheduled to start putting together the first Blendings from the people who have completed the training classes?"
"Yes, we'll be working with the first of the new Blendings tomorrow," Wilant answered with a frown. "What have you got in mind?"
"Once those people manage to Blend, why don't we assign them the exercise of sending their entity through different parts of the city?" Oplis's gaze was more inward than studying the man he spoke to, so he missed seeing Wilant's brows rise. "It's hard to hide things from a Blending entity, and that way we won't be the ones who are invading everyone's 'privacy.'"
"I like that," Wilant said with a distracted nod, now leading the way to the door. "I like it quite a lot. And now that we've rounded up most of the people following that renegade Guild man Holdis Ayl, we'll have the other Blendings join in teaching people how to Blend."
"It's too bad we didn't catch up with Ayl himself, but maybe we can put his name on the list," Oplis suggested as he followed along. "As long as the new Blendings are looking, they can look for everyone we want."
"The ones I want most are our esteemed colleagues back from their vacation in the country," Wilant said as he stopped in the hall to close the door to Ruhl's sickroom. "The instant I see them I'm out of here, whether or not the rest of you come with me."
"Come with you?" Oplis said with a snort of ridicule. "That will be me racing out ahead of you, accompanied by the rest of our Blendingmates. We don't really blame you for getting us into this, but not one of us wants to stay a minute longer than necessary."
Wilant nodded with a wry smile, knowing that Oplis wasn't exaggerating. He - and most of the others - had been more than eager to "stand in" for the empire's rulers, but that was before they'd had the experience of what it was like. So many itty bitty details that had to be taken care of, so many headaches that had to be solved rather than ignored…
As Wilant led the way up the hall to the meeting room he and Oplis were scheduled to join the others in, one fact stood out very clearly in his mind. In a year's time, when the current Seated Blending oversaw the competitions the people had been promised, he and his Blendingmates would not be among those who competed. Let some other fools with more strength than sense get stuck with the job…
Chapter 32
"Antrie, the Gandistrans are here," Frode announced as soon as he walked into the house. "My people are still in the process of getting them all settled into the inn, but they have arrived. And they have more attendants than we were expecting."
"Attendants?" Antrie echoed, pausing after getting to her feet. "Is that what they call the people with them? Can the others be servants?"
"The Gandistrans don't seem to be calling them anything, and I'm told the people don't act like servants," Frode answered, showing a frown. "My man called them attendants for want of a better word, but from his description I think that some of them are acting like guards."
"Well, they'd be foolish coming here without guards, wouldn't you say?" Antrie suggested, immediately feeling better. "How many of them are there altogether? Twenty? As many as thirty?"
"Ah, the actual number seems to be one hundred and thirty-eight," Frode said with a bit of hesitation, watching her closely for a reaction. "You're surprised that they brought so many of their people with them, I can see, but I'm told that the leaders of the group are going out of their way to be pleasant and calm. I'm also told that their major Spirit magic user is stronger than anyone my people have ever come across."
"I think we'd better find out about the rest of their major talents as soon as possible," Antrie responded, her good mood long gone. "And for the moment we'd better keep what we learn about them to ourselves. The rest of the assembly was very disturbed to have it pointed out that their Blending is composed of all High talents. As nervous as my peers have become because of that, we don't want to give them anything else to worry about."
"Especially not when the new arrivals are to be presented to them tomorrow," Frode agreed with a thoughtful nod. "I'll make sure that my people report only to me, and otherwise keep their mouths closed. Is there anything else you need done?"
"I'd just like to make triply sure that these people are well protected," Antrie said, looking around for the bell to summon a runner. "I'll let Cleemor Gardan know that our visitors have arrived, and possibly he'll think of something I've overlooked. I'm much too nervous to be certain I've covered everything."
"Stop worrying, the meeting will go perfectly," Frode interrupted her search to say firmly, his hands taking hers. "I'll make sure that nothing goes wrong, and if something bad does happen you can blame it on me and fire me. If those people were looking for an excuse to start a war, what was done to their army would be excuse enough."
"Yes, you're right of course," Antrie said with a smile as she moved closer to the delightful man. "Our visitors don't want war any more than we do, so we have to be as honest with them as possible. And we have to warn them that some of our people will be playing politics rather than being honest. If we let them know what to expect, they shouldn't get too upset if - when - something happens."
"That's the idea," Frode said with an approving smile of his own, hugging her briefly before stepping back. "We both have things to do, so I'll be on my way now. If I don't make it back tonight, I'll see you for certain tomorrow."
Antrie nodded and exchanged a quick kiss with him, and th
en he strode to the door and was gone. She stood quietly for a moment trying to hang onto the pleasant mood his presence always produced in her, but it was no use. The demands of the moment intruded to cover all pleasant thoughts, sending her back to looking for the bell to summon a runner.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I certainly enjoyed that breakfast," Lorand said as I finished the last of the tea in my cup. "Now I just hope I can say the same for the rest of our time here."
"After that nice long visit to their bath house last night, I'm a new and patient woman," I said while setting my teacup down. "I'm even willing to admit that their hospitality so far has been perfect. That either means that they want to be friendly, or that whatever attack they have planned is supposed to come as a shock. But I'm willing to wait to find out which it will be."
"That is a patient attitude, at least for you," Vallant teased with a grin, his amusement increasing when I stuck my tongue out at him. "But they're waitin' with those carriages to take us into the city, so we really ought to get goin'."
"While our link groups stay here, just relaxing together," Jovvi commented as we began to get to our feet. I wasn't the only one who smiled at her because of the comment, but my smile was probably the nastiest. We'd done some experimenting while on the road, and had discovered that we could even reach the link groups from the two Blendings following us about four hours back. Reaching our own link groups from inside the city shouldn't be quite that difficult - assuming we needed them.
"Good morning, Exalted Ones," that same man said with a bow when we walked out of the inn, the man who had greeted us on the road. "Your carriages are ready, and our assembly is eagerly awaiting your visit."
There were six large carriages waiting, possibly because we'd been told that some of our "attendants" could accompany us. Vallant smiled when he saw the array, but he also shook his head.
"We won't be needin' so many carriages," he told our temporary host in his most pleasant tone of voice. "Our associates will be stayin' here today, restin' up after our long trip. With only the six of us goin', two carriages ought to do. And why are you callin' us 'Exalted Ones'?"
"That's the term of respect used for members of our assembly," the man responded despite his surprise. "Is there a different term you would prefer that I use? And are you certain that you require the presence of none of your … associates?"
"We still don't want your people thinkin' that we're here to invade or attack," Vallant pointed out pleasantly while the rest of us just stood there smiling. "Shall we get started now?"
"Yes, of course," the man muttered, obviously disconcerted by all the friendliness we kept showing. Not to mention our lack of nervousness. The six of us were going into their city alone, and that had to be an indication of self-confidence the man would find frightening. Hopefully the people who sent him would get the message even more clearly and would decide on the better part of valor.
We were conducted - with more bowing - to the first two carriages in line, and we split up in the way we'd already decided on. Jovvi, Lorand, and Rion took the first carriage, while Vallant, Naran, and I took the second. Our still-nameless guide and host got into the first carriage, and another man joined us in ours. This second man was also one of those who had met us on the road, which meant that he was also a High in Spirit magic. The smile I sent him had a lot of amusement in it, which made his answering smile a bit on the uncertain side.
The carriages moved off, and it wasn't long before we were rolling through the gates of the city. There were men standing around on the inside of those gates, but rather than being in uniform they were simply wearing some kind of armband. Either the citizens of Gracely were too cheap to supply their guardsmen with uniforms, or they were extreme in their dislike of anything that smacked of the military mindset. That didn't mean they weren't militaristic, of course, only that they didn't want to look like it.
The buildings we passed were ordinary to begin with, but once we got farther away from the gates the neighborhoods began to improve. Those lovely buildings we'd gotten a glimpse of began to be more plentiful, with carved stone facings and decorations of resin. The wood they used also looked to be coated with something that made it gleam, or else they made a habit of polishing the outsides of their buildings. Whichever, it still made for a pretty sight.
After a few minutes of riding on the nicely paved street, our carriages began to slow. We were heading for a large building that was stone, slate, and brick, with shiny wood embellishments around the windows and a wide lawn in front. The first carriage turned into the drive that made an upside down U around the lawn, and our own carriage followed.
"This is where our assembly meets," our previously silent guide said, suddenly deciding to speak up. "All members of the assembly will be here to greet you."
"That's nice," I said while Vallant studied the building we were approaching. "All your Exalted Ones gathering to greet us. Will it just be them, or will the rest of your nobles be there as well?"
"Oh, we don't have any nobles in our empire," the man answered at once. "Every High talent is free to try to become an Exalted One, and every strong Middle talent works to become a member of one of their Blendings. Now that your own empire has gotten rid of its nobles, you'll probably start to do the same."
"We've already started to reorganize," I said after exchanging a quick glance with Vallant and Naran. "Not having nobles around makes everything so much easier."
The man nodded his agreement with a smile, pleased that he'd shown how current he was with our situation at home. Of course he'd also shown that Gracely was keeping close tabs on what went on in Gandistra, and had also told us something about the leadership of his country that we hadn't known.
It had sounded as though each Gracely Blending had only one High talent in it, which was definitely odd. I wondered why they would do it that way, but couldn't spend too much time on the question. Our carriage pulled up behind that of the others, and then it was time to get out. Once we were all on the walk and had gotten back together, a woman accompanied by two men came forward to approach us.
"Welcome, my friends, welcome to Liandia," the woman said with a smile that looked to be real. She was smaller than Jovvi, Naran, and me, but didn't seem to be diffident or overly shy. "I'm Antrie Lorimon, and this is Cleemor Gardan. Cleemor and I are both members of the assembly, and this other gentleman is Frode Mismin, our liaison man. With your permission, we'll take you inside and introduce you to the rest of the assembly."
"Thank you for greeting us so warmly," Jovvi said to the woman with a smile of her own. "I really must say that we've been treated beautifully by your people, and we're very grateful for the kind attention. Our trip here was rather long and tiring."
"We knew it would be, and that's one of the reasons why we made arrangements for you at the gate inn," Antrie Lorimon responded, this time directly to Jovvi. "Stopping there is more convenient for weary travelers, as it saves them from having to find an inn inside the city before they can rest. Please, if you'll follow us inside, we've arranged to have refreshments waiting."
The invitation part of the woman's speech was directed toward all of us, and she gestured gracefully with one arm before turning to lead off. The two men, one huskier and older than the other, stepped aside to let us precede them, and that's when it happened. Without warning we were suddenly under attack, and not just by a single talent.
The petite Antrie Lorimon cried out as a blaze of flame extended toward her, but it never got to singe even a single hair on her head. My talent spread out to cover and protect everyone in the area, and then I had the time to look around for whoever was responsible for the attack with Fire magic.
And those attackers weren't hard to locate. Three men stood together in the crowd of onlookers gathered near the building, and they'd managed a lame sort of partial linking. But even with their abilities enhanced, they couldn't have been much more than ordinary Middles, if that. It took only a moment to burn all the
clothing and hair off them and set them in a ring of fire, marking them for anyone official who would be interested.
During that time, my Blendingmates hadn't been idle. Three other men struggled with globes of water surrounding their heads, another three lay on the ground fast asleep, and three more rolled around gasping as if they couldn't breathe. A last three crouched down and huddled into themselves as though terrified of something, and that seemed to account for everyone.
"Do you think there are any more attackers hangin' around?" Vallant asked a shaken Antrie Lorimon as he continued to examine the people in the rest of the crowd. "If there are, we can round them up and put them in with the ones we've already taken down. And if you have guardsmen handy, we could use them right about now."
"Oh, yes, of course," Lorimon said at once, obviously still rattled but just as obviously not about to let that stop her. "Frode, please summon your people at once."
"I should never have ordered them to wait for my signal," the man called Frode Mismin muttered, heavy self-disgust in the words. "And they should have used a little initiative…"
Instead of pursuing his complaints, the man put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. A moment later a large number of men pushed their way through the crowd, and when Mismin gestured all around, the newcomers separated to go to the various captives.
"Your pardon, Exalted One, but my men need that fire ring doused if they're to get to the fools inside," Mismin said diffidently, drawing my attention, then he spoke to my Blendingmates as well. "And if the rest of you Exalted Ones would also release the men you hold…"
The man was nothing if not brisk and competent, but he couldn't quite look directly at Jovvi. That told me he had Spirit magic, and his reaction to her talent level was at least as strong as the men who had met us on the road.