by Sharon Green
"I'll give you a more complete introduction to everyone once we've talked, Dom Vand," Honrita said with another smile. "Would you like a cup of tea? And I'm Honrita Grohl, by the way."
"No tea, thank you," Vand returned, his attitude firm rather than chilly as he continued to stand. "I'd rather get to the reason I'm here and then go home. I have fairly important tasks waiting for my attention."
"You consider teaching a class in Fire magic important?" Honrita asked as she sat down again and let a small part of her ridicule show through. "Surely you expected to do something really important when you finished your own class? A simple teaching job must be very much of a letdown."
"I happen to enjoy the idea of teaching," Vand came back, and oddly enough he was telling the truth. "Later on there ought to be other things for me to do, but right now teaching suits me. Was there anything else?"
"Yes, there is something else," Honrita said, ignoring his attempt at dismissal. "I asked you here today to offer you something more important right now, not at some nebulous time in the future. We would like you to join our Blending, a Blending we have very big plans for."
"I'm sure you do have plans, but I'm afraid I won't be a part of them," Vand said after glancing at the other three people in the room again. "If and when I do join a Blending, it won't be with complete strangers. Thank you for asking me, but I'll be going now."
And the miserable man actually began to walk toward the door! Honrita was furious that Vand hadn't responded to the subtle handling the other three had, making it necessary for her to take full control of him. Vand stopped short before he reached the door, of course, but his mind somehow tried to fight hers even as he obeyed her completely.
"He doesn't want to join us," Kadri Sumlow stated in that regal way of hers. "I take it that you're keeping him from leaving, but how will that help us? You can't force him to Blend with us, can you?"
"I should be able to force him to be more reasonable," Honrita said as she rose and walked over to inspect Vand. "It would be easier if Ayl found us another Fire magic user, but Ayl has already refused to do that. The man insists that we're all the strongest Middle talents in the city, and he won't hear of making substitutions."
"What about a Sight magic user?" Stelk Faron asked, stiffly disapproving as usual. "Ayl won't admit that there is such a thing, but the rest of us know better. If we don't have a Sight magic user, our Blending won't be complete."
"If you can figure out a way to sneak up on a Sight magic user, I'll get one for us," Honrita all but snapped at the fool of a man. "Until and unless you can do that, we'll just have to get along without Sight magic. People got along without it for hundreds of years, after all, so I think we can manage for a little while. Once we're in control, we'll have Sight magic users begging to join us."
"If you say so," Faron grudged, giving up the point only with reluctance. "How long will it take you to make Vand amenable?"
"I don't know, so I'd better get started," Honrita said after taking a short breath. "Why don't the rest of you come back in two or three hours? I ought to have our fifth fully docile by then."
"I hope you don't mean that literally," Kadri Sumlow put in with her own disapproval. "A docile Fire magic user won't do our Blending the least bit of good."
"Yes, I do know that, so why don't you three go on about your business," Honrita said through her teeth without looking at Kadri. "The longer you take to leave, the longer it will take me to do what I have to."
There was a bit more grumbling from Faron and Kadri, but when Honrita refused to answer them they finally took Seeli and left. Honrita knew they would have gone a lot sooner if she'd been able to use her talent on them, but she had the definite impression that putting Vand under control would take all the strength she could muster. The Blending needed Vand so they would have him, and that no matter what she had to do to make it so.
Honrita made Vand go back to the chair he hadn't used and this time sit, and then she reclaimed her own chair. His mind continued to fight hers for the next hour or more, and then Honrita noticed something. If she put Vand under complete control without submerging his personality, she would have his obedience along with his strength. Until now she'd been trying to overpower his personality, which simply wasn't working. For such an average-looking man, Arbon Vand was incredibly tough-minded.
So Honrita changed tactics, and only then began to see some positive results. Vand still fought her control, but his … undermind, so to speak, became her slave. He definitely would not enjoy obeying Honrita, but he would have no choice at all in the matter.
By the time Honrita's other future Blendingmates returned, she was exhausted but triumphant. Vand sat glaring at her, and then he transferred the glare to the others.
"He doesn't look happy at all," Kadri Sumlow observed as she and the other two came closer. "Does that mean you weren't able to change his mind?"
"If he had the choice he would leave, but he isn't being allowed the choice," Honrita responded with a weary smile. "Tell us, Dom Vand: do you still refuse to Blend with us?"
"You know well enough that I can't refuse," Vand replied in a growl. "I don't know what you people are up to, but don't expect any more cooperation from me than you can force."
"That should be quite enough cooperation to satisfy our needs," Honrita told him with the nastiest smile she could manage. "And you might even find yourself changing your mind. Now that you aren't able to speak about our intentions without my permission, I can tell you that we mean to rule this empire. Do you find that aim too far beneath your dignity to consider?"
"You're insane," Vand stated, obviously uninterested in being at all diplomatic. "I may be a strong Middle talent, but that's all I am. If the rest of you aren't any stronger, your marvelous plans are doomed even before you try to put them into effect."
"But we don't have to be stronger than Middles," Honrita countered, enjoying the process of deflating a know-it-all. "Our Blending entity will still be able to take over a High Blending member by member, and then we'll use them to put us in power. What's the matter, Dom Vand? Surely you still think we're insane."
"Your insanity is fairly obvious, so I won't comment on it again," Vand muttered, his mind roiling furiously. "I know it sounds as if you have a workable idea, but taking over can't possibly be as easy as you think. You'll find out about the snag only when you trip over it, and that will be the end of your grand intentions."
"But until then we'll be working as one," Honrita said with a small laugh. Vand would have brought up any overlooked points if he could have, and his failing to do so only proved there weren't any. "I would really love to Blend for the first time today, but I'm afraid that my strength isn't quite up to it. We'll have to leave Blending for tomorrow, then, but after that we'll truly be united."
"And more so after we've bonded," Kadri murmured, staring at Arbon Vand like a vulture looking at a dying body. "Since bonding is absolutely necessary to a Blending for it to be as strong as possible - "
"You really are out of your mind," Vand told her with a strong sound of ridicule. "You people may be able to force me to go along with you, but there's no way you can force my body to enjoy the idea of lying with a skinny and overbearing old maid, a skinny and mindless near-old maid, and a fat fool. Even Earth magic can't accomplish miracles."
Kadri showed outraged insult and Seeli looked even more mindless than usual, but all Honrita felt was confusion - and mortification. Her, a skinny and overbearing old maid…?
"What are you idiots talking about?" Honrita demanded, a bit more shrilly than she'd intended. "What do you mean by bonding, and what has that got to do with people lying with one another?"
"You never completed a class of your own, did you?" Vand said to her, a gleam of some sort in his dark eyes. "If you had you would have been told about everything that Blending entails and requires. Your pudgy friend over there knows that Blending members are supposed to lie together, but apparently you don't. What's the matter,
Dama Grohl? Is the idea of lying with men too disgusting or frightening to consider? Well, it really doesn't matter because you're going to have to get along without the bonding anyway."
Honrita was very tired, but Vand's sense of amused ridicule came through to her clearly. As did Kadri's frustrated hunger and Seeli's trembling confusion. Stelk Faron stood as stiffly disapproving as ever, but his mind shuddered with fright and self doubt and distaste. All that came to Honrita in a distant and distracted way, her own mind too numb with shock to form any true opinions or reactions.
We're nothing but a bunch of misfits, Honrita thought through the safety of distance. Ayl didn't choose the strongest talents he could find, he chose the most twisted and incapable so we'd be easy to manipulate.
But that idea enraged her so greatly, she was able to pull part way out of the shock. Ayl might think he could manipulate misfits, but she knew she could. And she would, as soon as she had a chance to think for a while.
"Since we aren't quite ready to Blend yet, discussion about relating matters is a waste of time right now," Honrita announced as she stood, looking only at the three people by the door. "We'll all go home and say nothing of any of this to anyone, then meet back here again tomorrow morning. After we Blend, discussions will then be in order."
Giving her people orders made Honrita feel a small bit better, but she still hurried out of the old house on her way to the place she now called home. She knew she needed to sleep for a time, and once she'd regained her strength she'd be able to consider what she'd been told.
I will be able to think about it, she vowed silently, I will, I will…!
Deslen Voyt sat with Brange and Chelten Admis and some of the others in the tavern, all of them with tankards of ale in their fists and laughter in their voices.
"… and those boys turned green when they saw it was me they would have to face," Admis was telling the others with a chuckle. "The little girl who did all the talking would have been easy to stomp flat, they thought, having no idea how hot Fire magic can make things even with a Low talent involved. I was just there to save the little girl some trouble when everybody started to laugh at those three. Getting laughed at is something almost nobody can take without getting wild."
"The ones at the corner where I was couldn't seem to understand why everyone wasn't getting all fired up," Deslen put in with his own chuckle. "The people were standing there and listening, but they all looked blank when the speaker mentioned all those rumors he thought were circulating. Then the man I was there to protect started to argue with the speaker, and in a couple of minutes everyone was laughing at the fool for trying to lie to them. The speaker really lost it then, and I had to quiet him down."
"With Water magic first and then a fist, I bet," Brange said, showing a lot of satisfaction. "I heard you handled it really smooth, Voyt, but I'm not sorry I wasn't there to see it. I had a lot better show to watch, the one where Feriun and that fool noble were taken down."
"Did Noll really go foaming at the mouth?" Admis asked while some of the others put other questions. "And what did they do with Feriun?"
"Feriun and Noll were standing in an alley watching the speaker where you were, Admis," Brange answered after waving a hand for silence. "When they saw things starting to go really wrong they tried to disappear, but we were in the alley behind them and another group of us blocked the way to the street. Noll tried to tell everyone that Ruhl was also a noble, but we all knew that Ruhl had given that up to join a Blending. We pretended that Noll was lying about Ruhl, and Noll got so wild he actually started to scream."
"But what about Feriun?" Deslen put, firmly controlling his continuing hatred of the man. "He always acted like a noble himself, so he ought to get whatever they give to Noll."
"That's … probably not going to happen," Brange said slowly, now looking faintly disturbed. "From what I hear, we're more than a little lucky to have gotten out when we did. If any of the rest of the boys convince them that they want to come over to our side they'll let them, but they won't have the trust that we do. And for the ones that don't want to change their ways… Well, let's just say that Feriun might have some company when he's put down."
"Put down?" Deslen echoed, finding himself surprised. "Do you mean they might really do that to him?"
"That or put him under control for the rest of his life," Brange said with a shrug. "I don't know which I'd hate more, so I'm glad I don't have to decide."
Deslen joined the others in sitting quietly for a moment, disturbed in an odd way. Seeing Feriun put down would hardly bother him, but seeing the man controlled… Just as Brange had said, there was something hateful about watching a man being controlled. Being cleanly dead was an easier idea to accept…
"Well, it's time for me to be on about my business," Admis said after finishing his ale in a single swallow. "I have a number of meals to cook tonight, and the last one will be the most important. That little girl with Fire magic promised to come by to see what I can do. If she likes the meal well enough, she just might get curious about some of the other things I can do."
Everyone laughed as Admis got to his feet with a wide and open smile on his face, but Deslen felt a small twinge of jealousy. Admis had already found a woman to be interested in, but he, Deslen, hadn't taken that step yet. He'd been holding back because of worry over being found out by the government, but now that that worry was gone…
"I have to be on my way, too," Deslen said after finishing his own ale and standing. "I only have a couple of more classes, and then I'll be able to get to work as an official guardsman."
Brange and two others also got to their feet, and they left the tavern together to walk to the building where classes were held. On the way, Deslen remembered about that quiet woman who was in his class. She wasn't shy, just quiet, and even though she wasn't beautiful she was at the very least pretty.
Maybe it's time to ask her if she'd like to have a celebration dinner with me once we finish the class, Deslen thought. Even if she says no, there's a woman I saw once in Brange's class. Maybe she'll want to have dinner…
Deslen started to whistle as he walked along, and oddly enough he wasn't the only one in the group to do it…
Chapter Seventeen
It was still raining the next morning when Jovvi awoke. They'd all taken shelter in the abandoned houses of the village, and there was only a small bit of crowding. Some of the Blendings had had to double up or share their shelter with their link groups, but at least everyone was dry and fairly comfortable.
"I wonder if the enemy is enjoying this weather," Lorand said from where he crouched beside the hearth. He'd started a fire, and the room was already beginning to grow cozier. "Tents may give shelter, but they don't do well with keeping out the damp."
"But they travel in those litter things," Tamma put in as she moved closer to the growing fire. "They probably don't care how wet their slaves get, so they might be on the advance again. I think we ought to take a look."
"I agree," Rion said from where he still sat on his sleeping pad beside Naran and hers. "I have the definite feeling that they weren't delayed as much as we wanted them to be, and something needs to be done to slow them down again."
"He's right," Naran confirmed after yawning and stretching. "We do need to do something to slow those people down. If we have to run away from them, the probabilities will start to go against us."
"The Blendin' entity on watch agrees with all of you," Vallant said from where he stood. "I just got the report, and the invaders' entity managed to fill in just enough of the pit we put in their path to let them all cross over it. They're comin' straight on again, and too many of our people are thinkin' about withdrawin'."
"Then we'd better get to it," Jovvi said, rising to her feet. "If you'll give me just a moment to visit the sanitary facilities, I'll be ready to initiate the Blending."
Jovvi wasn't the only one to use the sanitary facilities, but it didn't take long before they all sat on their sleeping pads
again. They hadn't yet had their breakfast, but eating could wait until they knew the meal would continue uninterrupted.
When the Jovvi entity formed, she first checked with the lesser entity on watch to discover the location of the enemy in order to flash to the area. The Jovvi entity arrived to see the invaders in the distance, the various flesh forms moving along at a steady pace.
They appear to be only a matter of hours away from us, the Tamrissa part of the entity said. We must make a more effective effort than our previous one.
The effort should also be more than simply a gesture, the Vallant part of the entity said. There must be true disruption and delay.
I have a thought about how we might accomplish that, the Lorand part of the entity responded. The flesh forms walking to either side of each litter could well be members of the enemy's link groups. If those members should be put in jeopardy, the enemy would need to pause to effect their rescue. If the effort the enemy had to make was strenuous enough, its flesh forms would also require a time of rest.
Yes, an effort such as that would certainly delay them, the Naran part put in. The delay adds greatly to the probabilities surrounding ultimate success.
Then let us proceed, the Jovvi entity contributed to her other parts, already knowing the details of the plan mentioned by the Lorand part. The enemy entity remained unformed, therefore was there little difficulty for the Jovvi entity to do as was required. Air magic held a thin layer of road and side-of-the-road material in place while Earth magic removed the dirt below to a depth of thirty feet. The excavation was made ahead of the advancing slave life forms in the shape of a large circle, and Air magic held the surface in place while the slave life forms passed over the excavation.
When the five litters were carried into the circle, however, the surface layer was allowed to collapse. The litters remained untouched, but those life forms walking to both sides of the litters disappeared rather abruptly. The bottom of the excavation had been filled somewhat with loose dirt to offer some protection to those who fell, but a thirty-foot fall still inevitably caused injury and distress. Some of those slave life forms walking both ahead and to the rear of the litters also ended in the excavation, which had been made just wide enough to disallow an easy traversal by the litters.
