Prophecy

by Sharon Green

  “So what are we going to do with these four?” Lorand asked, looking around at his groupmates. “They didn’t come to kill, so giving them death in return might be a bit much.”

  “If you stop to think about it,” Tamrissa answered before anyone else could speak, “what they did come for was worse than simple killing. They knew what Rion probably had to look forward to once he was back in his mother’s—his female kidnapper’s—hands, but they didn’t care. They were still going to deliver him to her, and then turn their backs and forget that they were responsible for putting him in that position. For people like this, death is really too easy a punishment.”

  “I tend to agree,” Jovvi said, faintly surprised by how hard her voice had grown. “In some ways their actions are worse than what that woman would have done, and I can’t see letting them get away with it. But before we do anything to them, let’s ask a few more questions. For instance, are there any more of you around? And if we send you back alive, is your employer likely to send out others like you?”

  “At the moment, we’rethe only ones our employer has sent to see to the retrieval,” the leader of the four responded. “We have nothing at all to do with the others, and if we’reunsuccessful in completing the chore, whether or not others are sent in our place will be up to the client. As long as she’s willing to spend the gold, our employer will probably be willing to send men out.”

  “Then we’ll have to do somethin’ about your employer’s attitude,” Vallant said, but his gaze had turned sharp. “In the meanwhile, I’d like to hear about these others that you have nothin’ to do with. Who are they, how many of them are there, and where are they now?”

  “We only believe we know who they are,” the man responded, now sounding thoughtful. “They arrived in this area about four days behind us, after we’d sent our first report about your group being around here. That means they could have come from Gan Garee if they rode with remounts and didn’t stop much along the way. If that was what they did, then they must have been sent by the Five after the client reported what our employer told her. We have no way of knowing that for certain, of course, but the conclusion seems likely. As far as where they are right now goes, they’rehere in this hamlet, spread out and mixing with the locals whom they’ve gotten to know a bit. Their number? Since we’ve only seen two or three of them together at once, we really have no idea.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Lorand said with heavy disgust, exchanging glances with Vallant and Rion. “Agents of the Five are probably all around us, but we don’t know who they are or where to find them. Most likely they’rewaiting for us to decide to get some sleep, and then we’ll find out everything about them.”

  “Let’s see what the entity can do to root them out before we get upset,” Jovvi soothed him, also sending a smile. “And speaking of the entity, I really must apologize to all of you for initiating the Blending without telling you first. Rion was in immediate danger, so there simply wasn’t time.”

  “Of course there wasn’t,” Tamma agreed at once, putting a hand to Jovvi’s arm. “All of us would have done the exact same thing if we were able, so stop being silly. And you should have known that without any of us having had to say it.”

  “Normally I would have, but you have to remember that I’m holding four minds right now,” Jovvi said with a small laugh of relief. The men’s emotions had agreed with Tamma’s so completely that there wasn’t any possible doubt. “So does anyone have a suggestion about what we might do with these four?”

  “I have a very definite suggestion,” Naran said without waiting for anyone else to answer. “Is it possible to make them have to tell the complete truth from now on? That would include situations where people would normally use tact, because tact is a form of socially permitted lying. I don’t know how long they would last, but the time would be horrible for them no matter how short or long it was.”

  “Oh, I like that!” Tamma said at once, delight actually filling her mind. “Naran, you’rethe most beautifully evil person I’ve met in a long while. And in case you’rewondering, that was very definitely a compliment.”

  “I agree with Tamrissa,” Lorand said with a grin for Naran’s blush. “People say men are hard on those who try to harm their loved ones, but we’resofties compared to you ladies. Rion, please remind me never to get into an argument with you. I’d hate to have Naran think up something to get even with me.”

  “Since Jovvi’s smile says she also agrees, I’m makin’ it unanimous,” Vallant put in, a sense of satisfaction in his mind if not on his face. “They should never be able to do this sort of thing to anyone else, especially if we make it an order that they warn any potential victims they may be sent after. That will add the icin’.”

  “It certainly will, so let’s do it,” Jovvi said, and once again initiated the Blending. She might have been able give the orders herself and make them stick, but with the entity there was no “might” about it. The necessary demands were fixed in the minds of the four, and then the Blending was dissolved again.

  “You men can go now,” Jovvi said to them as soon as she released them. “But first tell us what your present plans are.”

  “We should … pretend to leave, but really … hang around to see if we can get another chance to … complete our job,” the leader of the group said, looking and sounding as though he tried to hold the words back. “We… Damnation! What have you done to me?”

  “We’ve thanked you for being completely without a conscience where other people are concerned,” Jovvi told him with a smile that must have shown him exactly how she felt. “Now you’ll be causing the same reaction in others, the feeling that they don’t care what happens to you because of what you say. I hope you enjoy it as much as your previous victims enjoyed what was done to them.”

  All four men looked thunderstruck, and then they simply looked frightened. It must have finally occurred to them that it wasn’t possible for ordinary people to do what had been done to them, and that meant they weren’t among ordinary people. Almost as one they began to back away, and then they were running out of the stables as fast as they could. For once Jovvi was pleased to see a reaction like that, but unfortunately the pleasure didn’t last long.

  “Well, now that that’s taken care of, we just have to locate the people sent here by the Five,” she said as soon as the men were out of sight. “I hope someone has an idea about how we can do that, because I surely don’t. How are we supposed to pick out an unknown number of enemies who are hidden among all those strangers?”

  “It just might be possible,” Lorand said, looking thoughtful. “But if it is, it’s the entity who’ll be doing it. Does everyone want to get started right now?”

  “I think we need to set up sentries first,” Vallant said, also looking thoughtful. “This is no time to be leavin’ our bodies unprotected, not to mention leavin’ our people unwarned. Whatever number of guardsmen are out there, they’ll do a lot less damage if everyone knows they’rethere.”

  “You’reright, of course,” Lorand told him with a brief but sincere smile. “Let’s spread the word, and then we can Blend again. I was looking forward to getting some sleep, but obviously resting is going to have to wait.”

  “We all wanted to get some sleep, so let’s also get a few link groups together before we Blend,” Jovvi said, deliberately not letting herself yawn. “Our entity won’t do much good if it falls asleep as soon as it forms.”

  Everyone muttered agreement with that, so they set about making their preparations—before beginning the search for their enemies.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Lorand was more than a little tired after all the moving around they’d been doing, not to mention the tension he’d felt about coming home. He’d actually dreaded running into his father, but when he had—and heard the man trying to get him back under control—something inside him had immediately responded in just the right way. He wasn’t the same boy who had left here only a short while ago, and now h
is father knew it as well as he did. It bothered him that his father had made no effort to speak to him privately after the meeting, but the feeling was more annoyance than hurt. He hadn’t expected warmth and welcome, so he hadn’t been disappointed when it didn’t appear.

  He was ready to walk around and talk to various groups of their people, but Vallant called out and got everyone’s attention, and then began to explain what the newest problem was. That was the fastest way to get everyone alerted, but whether or not Vallant consciously knew it, it was also the worst way for Meerk. The big Middle should have been told first, before everyone else, and when he wasn’t his reactions were clear enough for Lorand to read easily.

  Which was another interesting thing, Lorand thought fleetingly as he made his way over to where Meerk stood alone. When Rion had made the suggestion that they all touch the power all the time the way Tamrissa was already doing, Lorand had been amused. He’d started doing the same almost two days ago, and he’d noticed differences in his perceptions only hours later. In some definite way the world had changed for him, having grown brighter and clearer and easier to comprehend. That would be the basis of the suggestion he would make concerning the search for their enemies, a way to pick them out from the crowds they were hiding among…

  “No, Alsin, don’t start a fight with him now,” Lorand said quickly, having had just enough time to step in front of the man and block his path to Vallant. “I know how angry you are, but you have to put that aside and listen to what’s being said. The Five have guardsmen hiding among the people out there, and we need to weed them out and neutralize them.”

  “How much of this am I supposed to take without saying anything?” Meerk demanded in a hiss, keeping his voice down with difficulty as he glared at Lorand. “I know he’s doing it on purpose to show me who the important one around here is, and I don’t happen to agree with that stance. It’s more than time that he and I—”

  “No,” Lorand interrupted, before Meerk could work himself up to an even higher pitch. “It isn’t time for anything but looking for our real enemies, and you’d better get that through your head. And I know it looks to you as if Vallant is doing things like this just to goad you, but that doesn’t happen to be the case. Don’t you know he was the captain of a trading ship before he was sent to Gan Garee? Taking charge and giving orders is second nature to him, especially when there’s danger in the offing. If he thinks about you at all it’s only in relation to Tamrissa, and that relationship doesn’t apply right now.”

  “Of course it does,” Meerk disagreed, but with less anger and more control. “He’s trying to make me look small in her eyes, like less of a man and therefore unfit to court her. You can’t tell me you don’t know how these things work—”

  “Stop it,” Lorand interrupted again, beginning to be more than a little annoyed. “You’rejust trying to work yourself up again and you know it. It isn’t as if Tamrissa has a shining and hero-worshipping picture of you that Vallant is in the process of tarnishing. She knows exactly who and what you are, and Vallant is giving her enough trouble without you adding to it. Don’t you think things would be easier for her if she didn’t have nonsense to cope with from both of you?”

  Meerk made no answer to that, at least not in words. What he did do was frown a bit before his brows went up, as though he’d just gotten an idea. Lorand didn’t know what that idea could be, but as long as Meerk’s pulse stopped racing and pounding and his muscles relaxed, it had to be considered good rather than bad.

  “So can we count on you to help us out while we go searching for those guardsmen?” Lorand pursued, intent on getting Meerk to give his word. “We’ll be doing it in our Blending, which means we’ll need someone to be in charge while we’remostly out of it.”

  “Of course, of course I will,” Meerk agreed hurriedly, now almost a different man. “But why don’t you simply go out and tell those people about the guardsmen, and get them to point out the strangers? That way there won’t be any mistake.”

  “I wish we could,” Lorand said ruefully—and with a lot of relief. “But think about what we would have to tell them: there are people among you who are representatives of the Seated Five, here to do us harm because we mean to unseat the Five. You’ve gotten to know them over the last day or two and you don’t know most of us at all, but we still want you to betray them to us… I really don’t think that will work.”

  “No, I’d have to agree with that assessment,” Meerk said with matching ruefulness as well as a headshake. “They’d be more likely to turn on us than help us, and that despite your presence among us. But how will you know if you get them all?”

  “If we can find their leader and get control of him, we’ll know how many there are and where they can be found,” Lorand replied, back to thinking about the problem. “The trick will be to spot any of them, leader or not. We’ve walked past those crowds twice, and nothing about them struck even me as being different or not-quiteusual. And we’ll have to be very careful. The people of this town might consider themselves supporters of the authority represented by those guardsmen, but to the guardsmen they’renothing but hostages and pawns to be used to get what they want. If some of those hostages and pawns don’t survive, well, so what? As long as they serve their purpose…”

  “Yeah,” Meerk agreed gruffly, knowing exactly what Lorand meant. “That’s always the way they look at it, isn’t it? They’renot bright enough to understand that if their bosses run out of pawns to waste, they’ll start to spend the guardsmen in the same way. They’ve been led to believe that they’resafe, which is the only thing some people worry about. They don’t seem capable of realizing that ‘safe’ is only temporary at best.”

  “That’s true even with the right people in charge,” Lorand said with a nod of his own. “If you have the wrong people in charge… Well, I think I’m wanted for the Blending, so please remember what I said.”

  “I intend to remember every word,” Meerk said in a way that seemed odd to Lorand, especially with the smile the man showed. “I’ve grown to consider you a friend, Lorand, and today you really proved the point. If things turn out the way I hope they will, I’ll owe you more than just a favor.”

  Lorand felt the urge to ask Meerk what he was talking about, but the others were waiting for him to join them so he shelved the question for now. Later he’d have to remember to go back and find out what the man meant…

  “We’ve decided to try something different,” Jovvi told him with her usual sweet smile once he stood with the others. “Pagin Holter and his group have agreed to try seeing if their entity can help ours. The last time both of our entities were active, we were at opposite sides of that battle with the guardsmen.”

  “I wonder if two entities can Blend,” Rion said, looking around to see if anyone could answer the question. “If they can’t, what about linking? And would that increase our strength the way ordinary linking does?”

  “We’ll probably find out when we try it,” Tamrissa responded with a shrug. “So what are we waiting for?”

  “We’rewaiting to sit down and get comfortable,” Jovvi said with clear amusement as she shook her head at Tamrissa. “Standing up will just drain our strength faster, which we definitely don’t need. And it ought to help even more if we sit next to our respective link groups.”

  Tamrissa put her hands up, palms out, to show she had no intention of arguing, which made Lorand chuckle. Tamrissa was always so eager to get the Blending going, as though… Lorand’s amusement disappeared as he realized that Tamrissa was always eager to get the Blending going because that was her only escape. The way she moved and held her body shouted that she wanted to be unaware of all personal problems, to his senses at least. She had to be a lot more unhappy than she’d let anyone know…

  Well, that was something else for later, Lorand forced himself to understand as he took his own place near the link group of Earth magic users. They were all sitting down on the thick bed of straw which someone had spr
ead, and with thirty people arranged in their immediate vicinity—not to mention the other thirty which included Holter’s Blending—the formerly wide-aisled stable became a good bit narrower.

  The rest of their people stood in their own link groups, ready to defend the searchers if any of the guardsmen came into the stable. With everyone settled in place there was nothing more to wait for, so Jovvi initiated the Blending. Lorand responded to her reaching out with his own talent outstretched, and then—

  —and then the entity was there once more, this time for a purpose other than immediate battle. There were enemy flesh forms out among the flesh forms of that town, and those enemies needed to be located. Also, hovering with the intention to be of help, was a second entity. The entity recognized the second as that which had assisted during a recent battle, and therefore welcomed its presence. The strength of the second wasn’t quite as great as that of the entity, but perhaps it would indeed be of help…

  The entity floated swiftly out of the stables, the second following closely and watching intently. That was proper, of course, for the lesser to follow and learn from the greater, and to be at hand if assistance was required. That foolishness which one of its flesh forms had considered, the possibility of the two entities Blending… Surely even flesh forms were aware of the need for more than two to Blend. Linking, in the way that was currently done by the flesh forms was also undesirable, for there was a far better and more effective way to accomplish the same end. If such a thing became necessary, it would certainly be done…

  Outside the stables there were even more flesh forms than there had been earlier, all of them in a state of agitation. It seemed that those who had met with the entity’s flesh forms had come out of the building in which they had been, and now two of them spoke to the throngs which stood about listening. The two were not saying the same thing, the entity realized, and the listeners were agitated because of being urged to two different courses of action. That foolishness could be easily corrected, but later, after the entity’s primary aim was accomplished.