Competitions

by Sharon Green

  “Homin isn’t as bad as I used to think,” Selendi shocked everyone by saying, her gaze resting directly on an even more shocked Homin. “He seems like someone else now, even though I can’t pinpoint what’s different about him. I’ll have to study the matter.”

  And with that she came to sit next to Homin on the couch he’d chosen, surprising him even further. He’d never expected Selendi to do anything but laugh at him, and he suddenly discovered that he was beginning to be aroused. Quite a lot of his thinking had changed in the past few days, each morning bringing new things for him to discover about the world, but this was far and away the best. He’d never even had the nerve to pay for a woman, but maybe now…

  “I know we’re supposed to be close to one another, but this is ridiculous,” Bron stated, staring darkly at Selendi. “Don’t you think you’ll be entertained well enough by the rest of us, Lady Selendi? Adding a probable virgin is almost an insult.”

  “He’s jealous, so just ignore him,” Selendi said comfortably to a Homin who was staring at Bron with burning hatred. “I happen to find the idea of a man who’s never known another woman extremely exciting, so I hope he’s right about that part at least. We’ll have to talk about it later.”

  Homin looked back at Selendi to see the flames of need in her lovely eyes, and he shivered with excitement. He’d never had a woman look at him like that before, and suddenly he couldn’t wait for the meeting to be over.

  “Bron, Selendi is simply doing her part to prepare us for Blending,” Delin said, his voice its usual smoothness. “The closer we are to one another the better a Blending we’ll be, and as our leader I’m sure you know that. We depend on you to help us see things properly, and we could use some of that help now.”

  “Yes, well, sometimes it’s hard to be a leader,” Bron grumbled, then he took a deep breath and began to drone on in a repetition of what Delin had just told him. The fool sounded as though he thought no one else had heard Delin, and Homin suddenly realized that that wasn’t the first time it had happened. In fact it happened all the time, only Bron never noticed. Delin used calling Bron their leader as a tool to lead the fool around by his nose, and Bron didn’t know it! Homin found that very funny, but it wasn’t the time to mention it. Maybe once Selendi stopped looking at him like that…

  “Aha, I think I hear the arrival of a carriage,” Kambil said as he rose. “Since this sitting room is at the front of the house, I’ll just take a peek out the window.”

  He walked over to one of the windows and glanced out, then immediately hurried back to his chair with a nod. That meant Hiblit had indeed arrived, and in a moment they’d see how he’d turned out. It was possible to hear a servant open the front door without the least need for straining, and then two sets of footsteps approached the sitting room.

  “Lord Hiblit Rahms,” the servant announced, then stepped aside to let the visitor enter. The man who appeared looked very much like the boy Homin had known, but he was no longer so fat that he made Homin look thin. He was of average size in both height and weight, but his face was almost gaunt. His clothes were obviously expensive, but he wore them as though they were filled with pins. Pins that stuck him at every step, Homin thought with a chill as Hiblit approached them. And there was something about the look in his very light eyes…

  “Lord Hiblit, welcome to our group,” Delin said as he stood, charm pouring out like a falls. “We have only tea here, but I’ll be pleased to send for anything else you might want.”

  “I’m not permitted to eat anywhere but at home,” the man replied in a very soft voice without looking at Delin. “Please sit down, sir, and we’ll soon be finished here.”

  Delin exchanged glances with everyone as he resumed his seat, most especially looking toward Homin. In turn Homin raised his brows and shook his head once, hopefully telling Delin that he had no idea what was wrong with Hiblit. It was obvious that something was wrong, but exactly what, Homin couldn’t imagine.

  “As I’m sure you already know, I’ve been given the task of taking over for Lord Rigos,” Hiblit said once he stood in their midst, looking directly at none of them. “At the moment I have little to do but remind you about the reception at the palace tonight, where you’ll have the chance to engage the lowborn challengers in conversation. They haven’t yet been officially informed that they’ll be put into Blendings, but you may assume that they’re nevertheless aware of it. Use the time to find out as much as you can about them.”

  Hiblit paused then, as though to allow an opportunity for questions, but instead Homin and the others exchanged glances again. The man’s voice had been very soft but also uneven, as though he were being forced to recite a prepared speech. Even Bron looked disturbed, and Delin had lost all trace of his charm.

  “When you look in the wardrobes of your assigned apartments, you’ll find your costumes for tonight,” Hiblit continued when no questions were forthcoming. “There are matching masks, of course, since the reception is also a masked ball. The colors of your costumes are gold and orange, and the challenging Blending you’ll face first will be dressed in silver and orange. Silver for the lowborn, gold for the high. You’ll be given additional details about the challengers in orange once you’ve met and spoken to them, but not many.”

  “Why were we moved to this residence today rather than at the beginning of the next new week?” Homin asked when Hiblit paused again. He would hardly mind being answered, but that wasn’t why he’d put the question. He wanted to see if there would be any recognition on Hiblit’s part, especially since the man presumably knew Homin was there.

  “The decision to move you over today came from my superiors without a supporting reason,” Hiblit recited, still staring at the wall somewhere. “Two coaches will be sent to take you to the palace, and I’ve been asked to remind you that being fashionably late is unacceptable tonight. I’ll be there as well, so if any questions occur to you later, you may ask them when we meet at the ball. Until later, then.”

  With that he headed for the door, his entire attitude showing that he didn’t expect to be stopped. He was perfectly correct, of course, since everyone seemed as taken aback as Homin felt. They all sat in silence until the sound of a departing carriage came, and only then did it seem possible to breathe freely again.

  “He didn’t seem to remember you, Homin,” Delin said at last, not the least trace of condescension or ridicule in the words. “Was he really like that as a child, too?”

  “No, not in the least,” Homin replied, his heart pounding in the same old way again. “I don’t understand what’s happened to him, Delin. He was badly overweight and very fidgetty as a child, and most of the time it was impossible to get him to stop talking. He had a loud, raucous voice that would drive everyone insane, and occasionally he liked to play nasty tricks on some of the other children. But not when there was the chance of his victim finding out who had played the trick, never then.”

  “Are you sure he’s still alive?” Selendi asked with a shudder from beside Homin. “I’ve never felt such … emptiness in a man before, and I hate it. Do we really have to see him again? Emptiness like that makes me sick.”

  “It isn’t emptiness,” Kambil said in a strained voice, and Homin looked up to see that the big man was actually pale. A glance at Bron, who should have been ridiculing Selendi’s comments, showed Homin that their supposed leader was too shaken to ridicule anyone, and Kambil looked at least as bad.

  “Our new Advisory agent is quite full rather than empty,” Kambil said into the troubled silence, his tone heavy. “Full of strict orders he’s been given about everything, orders he doesn’t dare even consider disobeying. They seem to cover everything including the proper way to breathe, or at least it feels that way. He doesn’t seem prepared to do anything without thinking about it first, not even walk across a floor. I’ve seen repression before, but nothing to match that.”

  “Why would he watch himself so closely?” Delin asked with a worried frown. “And more t
o the point, is he also going to be watching us like that?”

  “I don’t know,” Kambil admitted, his color only now coming back. “If he’s told to watch us that closely, he will, but I think I made myself less than clear. He isn’t doing that to himself, he’s been trained into doing it. And whoever or whatever caused the condition, it’s been going on for quite a long time.”

  “I think it has to have been his father,” Homin said slowly, forcing himself to remember back to the unpleasant days of his childhood. “Hiblit had an older brother, and their father never missed a chance to point out how useless Hiblit was in comparison. Their mother was this nervous little woman who would pet Hiblit whenever she was near him, but who never stood up for him. I had the feeling she wasn’t allowed to go near Hiblit’s brother at all, and then the brother was killed in a freak accident. I never saw Hiblit again after that, since our fathers had gone on to different projects.”

  “Apparently Hiblit was forced to take his dead brother’s place,” Kambil said with a sigh. “If people understood just how dangerous that was, maybe they’d stop doing it. Hiblit is all control and proper action on the outside, but on the inside all those orders are making him scream. As long as he can keep the scream from escaping, there won’t be any trouble. If it ever gets out of his control, though…”

  Kambil didn’t finish the sentence, and Homin was extremely glad he hadn’t. Whatever horrors Hiblit might be capable of, Homin would be happier not knowing about them. People had always pointed out the similarity in their names with a snicker, suggesting he and Hiblit were just alike, but that had never been true. Now, more than ever, he was delightedly glad of it.

  “I’ve got to take a long walk,” Kambil said suddenly, rising to his feet. “I need to be alone to clear my mind and regain my balance… If I’m not back in time, don’t hold lunch for me. I’ll have something when I do get back.”

  They all nodded and watched him leave, Homin, at least, wondering how much harder that experience had been for Kambil than for the rest of them. He’d gotten so much from Hiblit, more than Homin had known was possible, and it must have been very painful. Kambil was usually so easygoing…

  “I think I’ll go to my apartment until lunch is ready,” Selendi announced suddenly, getting to her feet. “Homin, will you escort me there, please?”

  “Yes … delighted … of course,” Homin babbled as he struggled erect. “Please take my arm.”

  For a wonder, she did, and Homin could feel envious eyes on him all the way into the hall. Then he began to worry, and doubt himself, and wonder if she were really serious … and whether or not he would be ill…

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  Delin watched Bron as Bron watched Selendi leave the room with Homin. Bron’s scowl said he just might be thinking about following and interfering, so Delin leaned over to tap the other man’s arm.

  “I would recommend against doing whatever it is you have in mind,” Delin said in his best coaxing tone when Bron’s scowl was switched to him. “If I’m reading Selendi right, she’s going after Homin only to get your attention. She wants to make you jealous enough to let her into your bed, but that’s the worst thing you could do right now. She’ll probably need some sort of encouragement to Blend with the rest of us, and promising to let her enjoy our leader might be the only thing capable of reaching her.”

  “She’ll know about it when I finally do reach her,” Bron growled, getting to his feet. “I hate the idea of that fat nothing touching her before I do, but she probably won’t let him do more than walk her to her door. And he might not even be able to do more than that. Yes, of course, he won’t be able to do anything but shiver and beg. She’ll be sorry she ever spoke his name, but that’s her problem now. I’m going for a soak in the bath house, and then maybe a rubdown.”

  Delin nodded and watched Bron leave, then he sat back in his chair with a smile. Bron fell for that same trick every time, but it might be wise to use it as little as possible from now on. If their “leader” ever managed to notice he was no such thing, Delin would have a good deal more trouble controlling him. Let the fool continue to believe as he was supposed to, and that would be one less problem to overcome.

  The thought of problems erased Delin’s smile, although there was only the new Advisory agent who currently fell into that category. The man chilled him as much as he obviously did the others, but on top of that Delin was also disturbed. He’d been hoping to get someone usefully manageable in Rigos’s place, but instead they’d gotten someone who could prove to be worse. When a man follows the orders of certain others like a puppet, there was usually no reaching him.

  And they needed an Advisory agent who could be reached, in one way or another. Once the group began to practice as a Blending, there would be no more pretense or half measures. They would have to do their absolute best at all times, and the effort would certainly be noticed by whichever servant was there to watch them. The watcher would report to the Advisory agent, which meant the agent would have to be someone who was willing to keep from passing on the report. Someone other than Hiblit, obviously…

  “Maybe he’ll affect the other groups in the same way,” Delin murmured to himself as he looked around at the very understated room. “If so, we can all stand together and demand someone else in his place, and they’ll have to accommodate us. If all they have left on competition day is their one chosen Blending, someone is very likely to notice.”

  Delin chuckled at that as he got to his feet to stroll around the room, examining the accent pieces as he went. Using the other three groups similar to his against Hiblit was a marvelous idea, but not as good an idea as he would have gotten if Rigos were free of confinement. Providing another body which Rigos could be blamed for would be absolutely delicious, but as long as the former agent was kept locked up, Hiblit’s continuing good health was assured. A pity that, since Rigos’s supposed jealousy of the man who had taken his place would not even have to be pointed out…

  Delin puttered around for a while, then decided to do as Bron had and go for a soak. The other man was gone so Delin was able to relax and enjoy himself, luxuriating in the temporary freedom from his father in the same way he luxuriated in the water. Now that he was out of his father’s house he meant to stay out, no matter what the cost.

  Everyone apparently chose to have lunch in their apartments, so Delin also had the rather small dining room to himself. The servants told him that Kambil hadn’t yet returned from his walk, which made Delin think about the big man. Kambil had reacted so strongly to Hiblit’s presence that Delin had been concerned, seeing more of Kambil’s softness than he liked. There was no room for weakness in their group, so something would have to be done about the man. Delin did have one idea, but it would be a while before it was time to use it…

  The afternoon passed even more uneventfully than the morning, the only break in the boredom coming when Kambil finally returned. And the man didn’t even have the decency to look around for any of his groupmates. Delin saw him speak to a servant on his way upstairs, most likely to order the lunch he’d missed, and then the man disappeared in the direction of his apartment. Standing to one side of the doorway of the sitting room, Delin decided that Kambil looked considerably better than he had. The change was a fortunate one where the group was concerned, but hadn’t done anything to effect a similar change in Delin’s plans. Once Kambil’s active cooperation was no longer needed, Delin would make absolutely sure of his reliability in the best way possible.

  When it was time to dress in his costume, Delin put it on and then examined himself in the mirror. Tightly fitted orange trousers were something he would normally never even be caught dead in, but as part of the costume they weren’t bad at all. They went perfectly with the collared and long-sleeved shirt all done over in golden sequins, both together giving him the look of a dashing figure out of popular fiction. The mask that went with the outfit was also sequined in gold, with orange feathers adding to its size. His measurements mus
t have been gotten from his tailor, but the clothing certainly hadn’t been made by the man. Delin’s tailor would have screamed and fainted at the very thought of orange trouser material or sequins on a shirt, an attitude Delin had always approved of.

  But tonight was a party, and even more importantly it was time to find out about the peasants who would be facing them. Delin had already been asking very proper questions along those lines, and had had Kambil doing the same. The big man might be weak, but he was the only other one in the group who could be trusted not to make a mess of the attempt. They hadn’t yet had the time to compare notes, but the ride to the palace ought to be long enough for that.

  When Delin strolled downstairs with his cloak over his arm, the others were already there. Bron and Kambil looked almost as dashing in their identical costumes as he did, and Selendi looked quite fetching in her orange skirt and golden blouse. Homin was the only one of them who now looked absolutely ridiculous, with his fat and shortness emphasized by an outfit designed for the tall and slender. But Homin didn’t seem to know he looked ridiculous, and in a moment Delin found out why.

  “Homin and I will be sharing one of the coaches to the palace,” Selendi announced as soon as Delin had joined the group. “We’ve discovered that we have quite a lot in common, and would like to continue our … conversation on the way to the party.”

  Delin saw Homin stop himself from laughing aloud at the word “conversation,” and an easily defined difference now marked the short, fat figure. Obviously Selendi had granted him her favors after all, and the boy had finally been turned into a man. But Bron’s sneer suggested that he didn’t see the obvious, and the fool apparently still believed that Selendi spoke only to taunt him and raise jealousy. That was fortunate, as Bron would be better off elsewhere when Delin and Kambil talked.

  “We don’t mind you and Homin sharing a coach at all,” Delin said amiably in answer to Selendi’s announcement. “In point of fact that sounds perfect, as Bron has already said he needs to speak to you two again about what we’ll be doing tonight. His presence should also make sure that your … conversation doesn’t cause you to arrive late for the party.”