Challenges

by Sharon Green

  Delin gave the man what he hoped was an enigmatic smile, a reaction he worked rather hard to force. He had no idea how someone with Earth magic could tell truth from lie, but he would die sooner than admit it to Rigos. He’d never even heard of people using the ability in that way…

  “And what was the second method used?” Kambil asked smoothly while gesturing Rigos to a chair. “I hope it’s something I’ve heard about, unlike that first method.”

  “Oh, I’m sure you’re familiar with the second method,” Rigos said, inspecting the chair briefly before sitting in it. “It’s the same method they use in a court of law, where the accused speaks nothing but the truth. Puredan isn’t supposed to be used by anyone but a panel of judges, but the Advisors do insist on exercising their privileges whenever the mood strikes. Happily the mood struck in my case, and they tell me I cleared myself completely.”

  “You’re right, I do know about Puredan,” Kambil said, exchanging a brief glance with Delin. “There’s never any doubt when that drug is used, so allow me to offer my congratulations. And I must say your timing is excellent. It seems you were cleared just as Hiblit vacated the position. How is he, by the way?”

  “Hiblit is a raving lunatic, and will probably remain one for the rest of his life,” Rigos answered, a shadow passing quickly across his expression. “They have to keep him full of attar of goldflower, I hear, or he starts to scream and doesn’t stop. His physician said something about it being a response to unbearable pressure of more than one sort, but Hiblit’s father is too powerful for any physician to go into details. Did either of you know Hiblit before he was given the post?”

  “We didn’t, but Homin did,” Kambil replied, his gaze troubled. “Homin told us what the poor soul was like as a boy, but there was nothing left of the original in the grown man. Very frankly, he disturbed every one of us.”

  “You weren’t the only ones,” Rigos muttered, for once looking almost human. “I’ve known him since our teenage years, when he wasn’t quite as bad. His father always wanted him to get anything I happened to earn… But Hiblit is all through with his father, isn’t he?”

  Rigos’s sudden smile was much too bright, but it still brought back the man’s original attitudes. He’d dropped his guard for one brief moment, but his expression said that was all over and done with.

  “I can’t tell you how much at home I feel,” Rigos continued in the drawl he’d been using only a minute earlier. “You and Delin, Kambil, and not a sign of the rest of your group. Are they in the house somewhere, or did their drivers get them lost forever on their way here?”

  “Homin and Selendi are in the dining room, and Bron is still asleep,” Kambil answered with a chuckle that looked and sounded perfectly real. “There was nothing scheduled for us to do, so there’s really no reason for all of us to be together.”

  “There was nothing scheduled, but now there is,” Rigos responded with spiteful amusement. “Send for them, please, while I pour myself a cup of tea.”

  Delin saw Kambil’s very brief hesitation as Rigos got up and headed for the tea service, and was forced to admit that Kambil had a bit more self control than he did himself. If Rigos had just given him orders as if he were a servant, Delin knew he would probably have exploded. All Kambil did, however, was hesitate briefly, and then he walked toward a bell pull. Delin stood where he was for a moment, then chose his own chair to sit in. He would listen to what Rigos had to say, and later he would find a better and more permanent way to get rid of him.

  Homin and Selendi reached the room rather quickly, and then they all waited for Bron to arrive. Rigos actually went through the explanation a second time when Selendi and Homin began to pelt him with questions, and he didn’t even seem overly annoyed. He did, however, speak mostly to Homin, as though it were important that the fat little man really believe in Rigos’s innocence. And Homin, the fool, calmly told Rigos that he was glad the agent was free again, all but absolving Rigos of anything and everything he might have done.

  Delin spent the waiting time for Bron listing all the things Homin should have said to Rigos, things that would have haunted Rigos and maddened him. It was highly unlikely that Rigos would go the same way Hiblit had, but if he ever did, Delin would be the last to cry—

  “What kind of sick joke is this?” Bron suddenly demanded from the doorway, drawing everyone’s attention. He wore a wrap casually belted at his middle and obviously nothing else—except for an expression that showed him to be completely outraged.

  “Bron, this isn’t any sort of joke,” Kambil told the fool soothingly, obviously trying to quiet him. “Lord Rigos has been cleared of all charges and released, so it’s only natural that he’s back to work with us. He—”

  “Natural?” Bron interrupted, his voice harsh and accusing. “You think it’s natural for us to work with a murderer? I don’t care what kind of story he’s telling, I don’t intend to swallow it. If he’s been cleared it’s because his father bought him clear, so let his father work with him. If they try to force me to do it, I’ll quit the group.”

  And with that Bron turned and stalked out of the room. There was no doubt whatsoever that the man had meant every word he’d said, and Rigos had gone as pale as Delin had ever seen him. At first Delin thought the pallor came from anger, but a second glance showed something else entirely. Rigos was actually in pain over the lack of belief, and Delin suddenly realized that Bron wasn’t the only one who would be likely to believe that Rigos’s father had bought him free. Most people would believe it, which meant that Bron had found the perfect way to be rid of Rigos!

  “Try to ignore that outburst,” Kambil was in the process of saying to Rigos, acting like the fool that he was. “I’m sure you can tell that not all of us feel the same way, so—”

  “No,” Delin interrupted, this time letting his voice quiver the least little bit. “Don’t lie to the man, Kambil, not when you have to know that I feel just the way Bron does. If admitting that I’m uneasy being in the same room with Rigos makes me less of a man, then so be it. I may not have had the nerve to say the words first, but now that they’ve been said I’ll certainly stand with Bron behind them.”

  Rigos’s color still hadn’t come back, especially since Homin and Selendi were studiously avoiding his gaze. It probably hadn’t occurred to the pair at first that Rigos’s father might have used his gold and influence, but once suggested, the idea was more than possible. Everyone who heard that particular accusation would believe it, and the truth would be entirely beside the point. Delin watched Rigos being forced to accept that, and a small thrill of pleasure ran down his back.

  “I—won’t lower myself to argue the prejudices of fools,” Rigos said at last, his voice unsteady and his gaze on his hands. “I came here for a purpose, so let’s get on with it.”

  Delin caught Kambil’s minute headshake, which hopefully meant that Rigos was lying about deciding to be unaffected. There was very little else he could have said, which made Delin love the entire idea.

  “I’m here to inform your group that tomorrow you’ll be formed into a Blending,” Rigos continued, still looking nowhere but at his hands. “You’ll pay very close attention to what you’re told, and you’ll follow directions exactly. If one or more of you decide to do things your own way, you probably won’t Blend. You’ll—be given more information when your mentor arrives, so make sure you’re here and ready to work with him.”

  Delin had the impression that there was more Rigos had meant to say, but instead of saying it he simply got up and headed out of the room. Kambil waited a moment before following, and when he returned after another moment he was in the process of shaking his head.

  “Well, he certainly didn’t stroll out this time,” Kambil announced. “He was barely in the carriage when he ordered his driver to go, and the man obeyed immediately. I think if he’d stayed here even five minutes longer, he’d have broken down and cried. I got the impression he was afraid this would happen, and now that it has
he’s devastated.”

  “Devastated enough to resign his position?” Delin asked, trying not to hope too hard. “Bron can’t be the only one who will feel that way, and if we’re lucky he won’t be the only one who says it. And I thought the loathsome little deficient hadn’t been affected at all by what happened to him.”

  “He almost had me fooled as well, but I could tell that something wasn’t quite right,” Kambil said as he stopped in the middle of the room. “There was an … expectation inside him that was mainly composed of fear. If this happens to him even one more time, he might very well resign.”

  “He should never have come back in the first place,” Selendi pronounced as she got to her feet. “It isn’t as if he murdered someone unimportant, after all. Come on, Homin, let’s go talk about something more interesting.”

  “Of course, Selendi,” Homin said with a smile as he got hurriedly to his feet. “Anything your lovely little heart desires. All I want to say is … I’m still grateful.”

  Homin’s final words were addressed to Delin, who knew that the fat little man meant he was grateful to Rigos for having killed Elfini, the woman Homin’s father had married. Delin could understand that, but his estimate of Homin went up a grudging notch. He obviously wouldn’t have minded working with Rigos, but had kept silent for the sake of the group.

  “What now?” Kambil asked softly after Homin and Selendi were gone. “Trying to soothe the man was a mistake on my part even if the attempt was automatic, and I’m grateful that you were able to correct it. Now I’d like to know what our next step is.”

  “The first has to be finding out how the members of the other groups feel,” Delin said, smiling easily at the wonderful luck they were having. “If necessary we’ll stir things up against Rigos, but hopefully it won’t be necessary. One way or another we should be rid of him soon, and—”

  Delin paused to take a deep, excited breath, feeling very much like a child with a gift. “And tomorrow,” he finished, “tomorrow we become a Blending!”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Lorand returned to his bedchamber briefly after breakfast, and when he came downstairs again he found Tamrissa waiting for him in the hall, just as she was supposed to. She examined him as he descended the stairs, and smiled as he approached her.

  “See?” she said, still looking him over. “That shirt and coat look perfect on you, worlds better than they ever did on my husband. Don’t you feel silly now for being reluctant about taking them?”

  “Yes, of course,” he muttered, pretending to be extremely unenthusiastic, with underlying shades of being put upon. “Let’s go for that walk now.”

  Tamrissa agreed with the sort of insensitive burbling she was pretending to feel, but they only got to start for the door. They’d barely taken two steps when Warla appeared.

  “Oh, dear, you’re not going out, are you?” Warla asked at once, all but blocking the door. “It’s going to rain just any minute, and you’ll both end up soaked through.”

  “Better soaked than staying in this house a minute longer,” Tamrissa replied after only a tiny hesitation, stiffening enough for Warla to notice. “That woman refuses to confine herself to her bedchamber, which means I’m not even free to walk through my own house without taking the chance of running into her. And with the men ready to snap at each other at any given moment, my nerves are almost shredded. We’ll probably be back for lunch, unless it does rain and we’re trapped somewhere.”

  Warla continued to protest, but Tamrissa simply led the way around her and out the door. Lorand followed without saying a word, more than relieved that he hadn’t had to refuse the girl himself. Warla looked on the very brink of tears, and Lorand had always been helpless against women’s tears.

  Once outside, Lorand saw that Warla had been right—to a large extent. Clouds were dark and heavy in the sky, floating low overhead in a definitely threatening way. Tamrissa looked at them with a small shiver, then took Lorand’s arm in an obviously possessive way.

  “At least we should have time for me to show you off to my neighbors,” she said, making no effort to keep her voice down. “One or two of them kept trying to introduce me to men after my husband died, as though they considered me incapable of finding a man for myself. This should show them.”

  She then pulled Lorand down the steps with her, which was a lucky thing for him. He’d almost laughed aloud at the excuse she’d come up with for their taking a “walk” even in the face of the coming storm. He continued to pretend reluctance, but once they were away from the house he let his grin show.

  “How interesting that your neighbors live in another world,” he murmured as they made their way down the drive. “Anyone who could believe even for a minute that you would have trouble finding a man … even our secret watchers might not believe it.”

  “But that part happens to be true,” she protested softly, her cheeks coloring a bit. “I didn’t have an immediate line of men waiting to propose, so two of my women neighbors decided that that was because I didn’t know how to find them. It took me two invitations to dinner to understand what they were doing, and then I stopped accepting their invitations to dinner.”

  “Well, you can feel free to parade me past them whenever you like,” he said with a chuckle. “In fact, you ought to take Mardimil and Ro past them as well. Then, the next time you see those women, you can casually mention the harem you’re beginning.”

  “Lorand, stop it!” she hissed, clearly fighting to keep from laughing aloud. “If anyone sees us really enjoying ourselves, they’ll know we were putting on an act earlier. Do you want to be thrown out of the residence for getting along too well?”

  “Put in that ludicrous a way, I’ll have to admit you’re right,” Lorand conceded, fighting his expression back into one of boredom. “I’ll behave myself, at least until we’re in the coach.”

  “I hope it’s waiting where it’s supposed to be,” she said, deliberately making no effort to look through the hedges surrounding the drive. “If not, at least I hope it gets here before the rain does.”

  “We have almost an hour before the rain starts,” Lorand told her, automatically checking everything around him again. “The trees and birds and small animals have an excellent rain sense, and that’s what I’m getting from all of them. The rain is coming, but the length of time expected to pass until it does feels like just under an hour.”

  She accepted that with a nod, taking his word for it without question. Lorand remembered when a girl had doubted him once, and had ended up missing a fun time with their friends because she hadn’t wanted to get her hair wet. It was impossible to picture Tamrissa doing something like that, not even when they probably would end up getting wet. It had been her idea to dress him in clothing that would not immediately mark him in some way. Both his practice outfits and his original country clothing would have made him stand out, but the maroon shirt and coal gray coat combined with his lighter gray practice trousers to make a perfectly ordinary outfit.

  And ordinary was what he’d been warned to be. Meerk had stopped by the previous day to say that he’d found Hat, but he hadn’t been prepared to offer any details. He said he’d be by this morning to call for Lorand, and hadn’t been surprised when Lorand told him not to come to the door. There seemed to be more than one benefit in dealing with a man whose doings weren’t always legal.

  When they reached the end of the drive, Tamrissa firmly pulled him to the right. They’d decided the day before that if she turned possessive and he became reluctant, the testing authority watcher would be delighted to see them together. And they’d needed something, because she’d insisted on coming with him and he’d been glad she had. He had an obligation to find and help Hat if he could, but the time wasn’t likely to be pleasant.

  Just up the street a short way, a private coach stood waiting. He and Tamrissa pretended not to notice it until they got close enough to see Meerk inside, and then they hurriedly climbed in. Lorand had had his senses spread wi
de the entire time, and was relieved to find no human lurking in their vicinity and watching. The house watcher wasn’t likely to have followed them outside when the rest of the group was still indoors, but that didn’t mean the watcher couldn’t have an outside confederate…

  “I wish this business was over and done with,” Lorand said once he and Tamrissa were settled in the coach and it had begun to turn around. “I’m beginning to imagine spies behind every tree. Good morning, Dom Meerk. Are you ready yet to tell us where we’re going?”

  “You’ll see soon enough,” Meerk answered in his usual growl. He was a big man with a square face who was dressed slightly better today than usual, and he eyed Lorand in an odd way. “I don’t need you tellin’ me I’m crazy, which you’ll prob’ly do until you see fer yerself. That’s a whole lotta power you wus handlin’ just now. You ain’t thinkin’ about pullin’ a fast one?”

  “The only fast one I’m pulling is on the people watching us,” Lorand said, trying to reassure the man. “I have the feeling we’re going somewhere public so they won’t be fooled for long, but then they should have only half the story. As long as you don’t volunteer any details for the other half, our business arrangement should work out just fine.”

  “I wouldn’t give them nobles th’ right time even fer gold,” Meerk growled, the disgust heavy in his voice. “I done some checkin’, and found out who wus standin’ behind your bunch. I thought maybe you din’t know they wusn’t on yur side, but now I c’n see you ain’t that dumb. Not like some others I culd mention.”

  The last of his words were muttered, and when Lorand tried to find out what he meant, Meerk simply shook his head and refused to elaborate. Lorand exchanged a glance with Tamrissa, who shrugged a little to offer the silent opinion that they’d just have to wait and see. Meerk’s comment probably referred to Hat, and although the possibilities made Lorand nervous, there was no way to push for an explanation without starting a fight.