Challenges

by Sharon Green

  The servant who had come to Lorand’s room stood waiting by the front door, obviously ready to open it. He was another of the group I didn’t know, but somehow seemed a bit more pleasant than the others—and also somehow less afraid. He smiled as we approached, waited until we were positioned properly in front of the door, then opened it.

  “Well, it’s certainly about time!” the girl Mirra huffed, my father looking outraged beside her. “Leavin’ us just standin’ here—! You’ll regret this, Vallant, by my oath you surely will.”

  She tried to charge inside then, expecting me to shrink out of her way, and when I continued to stand my ground, her two step advance came to an abrupt halt. Petty outrage flashed across her overblown features, and my father frowned his disapproval.

  “Tamrissa, you will immediately step out of the way and allow us to come in,” my father ordered, the sternness in his tone demanding instant obedience. “There are serious matters to be discussed among us, and we have no intentions of doing that discussing while standing here like beggars.”

  “Then you might as well leave, because you aren’t coming in,” I told him flatly, ignoring the distant memory of my heart pounding whenever he’d spoken to me like that before. “If you have something to say, you can do it right here. Personally, I won’t mind if you take your trollop and just turn and leave.”

  “Trollop?” Mirra screeched as my father’s frown deepened. “You steal the affections of the man I was engaged to marry, and then have the nerve to call me a trollop? Well, we’ll just see who’s callin’ who what when we get to court!”

  “Goin’ to court would be a waste of time,” Vallant put in, his voice sounding as cool and calm as mine. “Here in Gan Garee the matter would be your word against mine, with any objective witnesses all the way back home. Unless they like thrownin’ away court time here, they won’t spend even a minute listenin’.”

  “They’ll do more than listen with my suit added to that of the young lady’s family,” my father disagreed at once, his sleek smile very familiar. “Her parents are at this moment seeing about suing you for breaching the marriage agreement, and I’m suing you for alienating my daughter’s affections. Her own marriage was all arranged until you came along, and the court can reinstate that arrangement. Now do you think we might come in and sit down to talk?”

  “No, we don’t,” I answered while Vallant hesitated, wiping away Mirra’s smugness and my father’s sleek smile, both at the same time. “You’re trying very hard to forget that we’re full participants in the upcoming competitions, but no one else wants to forget. One of our group was recently challenged in court, her word against the other woman’s. That other woman was given Puredan—which doesn’t let you lie—and afterward was sentenced to five years in the deep mines. If you’d like the same for yourselves, just go ahead and continue with those suits.”

  Mentioning the kidnapping charge that was also involved didn’t seem the thing to do right now, so I continued to omit it—and for the first time in my life saw my father’s overwhelming self confidence actually falter. Mirra had gone pale briefly, disbelief clearly fighting with forced nose-rubbing in an unpalatable truth, but my father looked shocked and shaken. I usually tried to defend myself against his attacks, but this time I’d counterattacked without the least hesitation. The action seemed to have frightened him, and his gaze and expression turned earnest.

  “Tamrissa, I really hate this difficulty that’s between us,” he said, his tone half coaxing and half pleading. “I don’t want to take you or the young man to court, but you’ve left me with very little choice. If we can sit down and talk quietly, you’ll discover that all I need from you right now is a simple agreement to discuss your marriage to Dom Hallasser once this competitions nonsense is behind you. That isn’t so much to ask, and it will allow me to leave you in peace until that time comes.”

  “That sick beast must be putting an incredible amount of pressure on you,” I commented, thanking whatever Higher Aspect there was for my having decided to touch the power. “You really expect me to agree to that just to get rid of you, supposedly not realizing that the agreement—which you probably have in writing—will bind me into a situation which doesn’t hold me even loosely at the moment. It’s really too bad that your plans are being ruined, Father, but it’s none of my concern. Just as the horror of the life you condemned me to was none of yours.”

  “You ungrateful little slut!” he growled, a definite pallor to his skin now. “I made that arrangement for your sake, to give you someone with enough gold to support you properly for the rest of your life. If this is the thanks I get, I’ll obviously have to take you to court after all.”

  “And so will I!” Mirra piped up, a spoiled-brat look on her face. “I’m not losin’ the man I love without a fight, especially since they won’t be sendin’ me anywhere. No man with eyes will ever do anythin’ ugly to a woman like me.”

  “The woman involved in that other matter Tamrissa mentioned was a retired courtesan,” Vallant commented, sounding as unimpressed as I had. “She hadn’t been retired all that long so she was still beautiful and desirable, and her residence for courtesans had made her wealthy. But havin’ beauty and gold didn’t help her, any more than it will be helpin’ you two. You go ahead and do what you need to, but don’t blame us if your game turns around and bites you.”

  “And don’t come back here again,” I added, really enjoying the expressions of frustrated fury they both wore. “Next time we won’t even come to the door.”

  Vallant joined me in stepping out of the way, and the servant who had opened the door promptly closed it again in the faces of our visitors.

  “That was nicely timed,” I said to the servant, feeling absolutely marvelous. “What’s your name?”

  “Hovan, Dama,” he replied with a bow. “It has been my privilege to serve in this residence only a short while.”

  “Well, we’re glad to have you, Hovan,” I said with a smile. “Did you hear what I told those two? Yes, of course you did. Please let all the other servants know that if either one of them returns, Dom Ro and I simply won’t be available.”

  Hovan bowed his agreement to that and left, so Vallant and I headed back to the stairs. I’d had the feeling that Vallant was watching me, and as we began to ascend, he cleared his throat a bit.

  “We made a really good team there, I thought,” he commented softly. “Why don’t we continue bein’ a good team in your bedchamber—or in mine. Goin’ back to that argument doesn’t make much sense.”

  “It makes perfect sense,” I disagreed, paying attention to keeping my skirts held up rather than to how much I wanted to take his suggestion. “If things work out the way we both expect them to, we really won’t want to change partners once we lie together. Better that we see to the matter now, to keep from having to do it later.”

  “I think I like you better when you aren’t touchin’ the power,” he grumbled, his hand still firmly under my elbow. “You don’t argue as well that way, even if you do argue as much. Are you tellin’ me that you and I won’t be lyin’ together until you and Lorand and Jovvi and I do?”

  “Now that you mention it, yes,” I confirmed, ignoring the flutter of worry in my middle. “And there’s really no reason for you to keep resisting. For all we know, you’ll find that you enjoy lying with Jovvi better than you do with me.”

  “You may not know it, but I do,” he disagreed immediately, using his hand on my elbow to move me away from the head of the stairs, where someone below would be able to see us. “What I feel for you goes beyond my desire to lie with you, which you’ll discover when we do finally get to it.”

  And with that he pulled me close and kissed me, refusing to let me say another word. I would have expected to be frightened by such treatment, but so much yearning flared inside me that there wasn’t enough room for fear. My hands spread out against the broadness of his back as I joined him eagerly in the kiss, and for a time the world faded and disappeared fr
om around us. Only he and I were left in the universe, and I discovered that I also wanted more of him than just his body.

  It wasn’t at all long enough before he ended the kiss, grinning down at me when I tried to hold onto his lips with my own.

  “This isn’t the safest place to be doin’ this,” he murmured, his arms still around me. “Let’s go to your bedchamber and continue the discussion there.”

  “You did that on purpose, so I refuse,” I mumbled, hating to have to insist but using the power to let me do it. “You’re a horrible, miserable man, and I won’t forget how you tortured me.”

  “And I won’t forget how much I hate havin’ you touch the power,” he countered in a grumble, finally releasing me. “You’re a mean, stubborn woman, and you plus the power is more than I can stand up against.”

  “Then you agree?” I asked, relief and regret battling for supremacy inside me. “You’ll tell Lorand it’s all right to lie with me, and then you’ll lie with Jovvi?”

  “Only if Lorand agrees as well,” he corrected, stubbornness appearing in those light blue eyes. “I still won’t go behind another man’s back, especially if the other man is Lorand.”

  “Men!” I muttered, pushing aside the feeling that I still wasted my time. Half the battle was won, so now we only had the other half.

  “And women right back at you,” Vallant said as I started toward Lorand’s bedchamber. “We can talk about that later, when it’s our turn.”

  I tried to ignore what I felt from that comment, but my hand still tried to quiver when I raised it to knock on Lorand’s door.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  “… so she’ll be here at three in the morning,” Rion said, looking as though he were just short of fretting. “I can bring her things into the house alone, so—”

  “You won’t be doing it alone,” Lorand interrupted, not about to let Rion worry over the picayune. “Vallant and I will help, while Jovvi makes sure no one sees any of us.”

  “There has to be a way to do that that I don’t know about yet,” Jovvi said, her gaze turned inward. “I’ve been thinking about it, and simply commanding people to do things can’t be all there is. Somehow I feel that I should be able to do quite a bit more, things most people don’t even know are possible. And so should the rest of you.”

  Her attention had returned from the distance, and now divided itself between Lorand and Rion. Rion looked … faintly vexed and troubled, and Lorand knew just how he felt.

  “I’ve often had that same impression,” Lorand said, going to the foot of his bed to sit. “That the few things I’m able to do that others can’t are just a tiny bit of what I should be able to do. From your expression, Rion, I’d say you felt the same.”

  “And it’s extremely frustrating,” Rion agreed with a nod. “It’s as though I were a sculptor, able to turn clay or stone into any shape I wished—but was unable to picture any of those shapes. A lack of imagination, perhaps, to resolve a blur into solidity.”

  “Maybe that’s something we can do for each other,” Jovvi mused as she studied Rion. “For instance, it’s occurred to me that solidified air can hide what someone behind it is doing if the air is also opaqued, but the area of blankness itself would be noticed. Is it at all possible to … to … superimpose a reflection of the innocent scene behind the activity, and hide it in that way? I know I’m not being clear in explaining what I mean, but—”

  “No, as a matter of fact you’re being extremely clear,” Rion interrupted with brows high. “If the block of air properly reflects the nonactivity behind the activity, the activity itself should be invisible. And I can almost see how that would be done … although normal background sounds would be absent, and someone watching might notice an occasional slip or lapse…”

  “Normal background sounds would be in my province,” Lorand said with his own surprise, suddenly knowing it was so. “Persuading crickets to play their song isn’t difficult, and even birds can be Persuaded to ignore your presence.”

  “And having the occasional slip ignored would be mine to do,” Jovvi added, her satisfaction so thick that Lorand was able to feel it with seven or eight feet between them. “I don’t have to speak to someone or even be very near them to make them doubt what they just saw, or feel too lazy to investigate what was probably their imagination. If we all work together, I’m sure we can accomplish it easily.”

  “And the more we do it, the easier it will be,” Lorand said in agreement, then had another thought. “You know, it just came to me that working together in such a way would be almost effortless if we were Blended, but that would cover just the three of us. Where would Tamrissa and Vallant fit in?”

  “I think I know the answer to that,” Jovvi said as Rion raised his brows in puzzlement again. “I’ve been thinking about it ever since that noble told Rion that Tamma was the most important one among us. Considering the fact that a Blending links through the Spirit magic talent, he shouldn’t have put the matter that way. Then I realized that linking was only the very first step for a Blending. Once it’s formed, it needs to be able to function in a combative situation … like attacking and defending…”

  “Now I see it,” Lorand jumped in, beating Rion to it by no more than a breath. “Tamrissa is meant to attack a challenging group, and Vallant’s part is to defend us from a similar attack. Do they really go that far during a competition?”

  “Obviously they must,” Rion said when Jovvi hesitated. “The things we did to gain our masteries hinted at that, but Tamrissa isn’t the only one who needs to be able to attack. My own part can fall into the same category, but possibly not to begin with. Once Tamrissa gets their attention and softens them up, so to speak, then my ability to take away the air they breathe would come into play.”

  “Or you would taint their air somehow,” Jovvi added with a nod. “While making sure the same doesn’t happen to our air. And Lorand would attack the ground they stood on, while defending our own ground. Vallant can add or take moisture from the air around them while keeping an eye on our own, and even Tamma will have to help to defend us while she attacks. My own part, I think, will be to coordinate the efforts, keep us all calm and assured, and possibly try to rattle our opponents at the same time. I wonder how much of that they’ll teach us before the competitions begin.”

  “Teach us?” Lorand said with a snort. “They probably won’t even mention the possibilities. Like the fact that I can affect more than the ground our opponents stand on. The various demands of their bodies can be emphasized or glossed over, depending on which would be more effective. I may even be able to change their perceptions of what’s going on around them, especially if I have the help of Spirit magic.”

  “And I may be able to do more as well,” Rion said, again looking thoughtful. “As we’ve discussed, more may be done with air than simply taking it away or retaining it. But the point which interests me most at this moment is: how much of this information will be given to most of our opponents? If one of the noble groups has been chosen to be the next Seated Five, will any of the other four be given more help than just what they need to prevail over the common Blendings?”

  “That’s a very good question, but you’re probably in the best position to answer it,” Lorand returned. “If, as you once said, their own people can’t be trusted to cooperate with the decision about who will win, would they tell them any more than necessary?”

  “Certainly not,” Rion answered with a wry smile. “Put like that, which is really the only way to put it, our opponents won’t know any more than we do—and probably less. I should have seen that myself, but this business with Naran has been very distracting.”

  “There’s one exception to what you just said, and we’d better keep it in mind,” Jovvi put in, also looking thoughtful. “Only four out of the five groups won’t know any more than we do. The fifth, the chosen Blending, will probably be fully trained. What I’d like to know is who’s supposed to face them first. That group won’t have
a prayer of winning.”

  “Logic suggests that the strongest of the common Blendings will face them first,” Rion said, shifting a bit in his chair. “That arrangement would have the benefit of eliminating the greatest threat first, which would also work toward protecting the other noble groups.”

  “And since we shouldn’t be considered the strongest, we ought to be relatively safe,” Lorand said, also looking toward Jovvi. “At least that seems a fairly decent working theory.”

  “Only if we aren’t missing some point we don’t know about,” Jovvi replied, apparently troubled. “I don’t trust those people at all, so I’ll feel much better if we don’t assume even the least, smallest thing. Which means we’ll have to do quite a bit of practicing, both individually and as a Blending.”

  Lorand joined Rion in nodding his agreement, but the chance to add to what had already been said was lost when a knock came at the door. Lorand went to open it, and discovered that Tamrissa and Vallant were back.

  “We’re happy to report that our visitors are gone,” Tamrissa said once she and Vallant had entered. “We followed Rion’s example and didn’t let them in, and also told the servants that we’re to be unavailable if they come back.”

  “Which doesn’t mean they won’t be plottin’ and plannin’,” Vallant added with a grimace. “I think we’ll need some extra protection, like Blendin’ in front of that fat fool tomorrow. After that we ought to be harder targets, at least until the competitions are over.”

  “I’ve been thinking the same thing,” Jovvi said as Lorand went to reclaim his seat at the end of his bed. “If the rest of you agree, we might even be able to make additional use of the effort—assuming Lord Twimmal knows more than he’s willing to tell us.”