by Sharon Green
“All right, then let’s get to it,” Vallant agreed aloud. “We should start from the beginning, since every one of us up here went through the same thing. It—”
“Please, wait just a minute!” a voice called, and Vallant saw that a man had just entered the hall. He was fairly tall and lean, but what marked him out from the other men in the room was the fact that he wore Gan Garee style clothing, rather than the rough work clothes the others had on. “Forgive me for interrupting, but I only just found out about this meeting. I don’t know what’s been said here so far, but I would appreciate a word in private with your group before anything else is added.”
“And why would that be, Master Lugal?” Lorand asked, getting to his feet again to do it. “Are you afraid that we’regoing to warn these people not to send any more of their sons and daughters to Gan Garee no matter how strong you say they are? Well, that’s just what we do mean to tell them, because of those sent to test for High practitioner, a large number die during that obscene thing called a test. Those who survive at the wrong time of year, like when the nobility has no need of dummy challengers for their Seated Highs, they’redrugged and sent as virtual slaves to the various armies. Well, now that they’ve been told, is there anything ‘private’ left to discuss?”
Lorand’s calling the man Master Lugal told Vallant that the newcomer was the resident Guild man, the one who found strong Middles and potential Highs and sent them to Gan Garee. That would have caused Vallant’s anger to rise as high as Lorand’s, except for the fact that Lugal had gone pale with shock and now stood holding to the back of a bench. The man obviously needed the support to keep from falling, and it took a moment before he was able to shake his head.
“That can’t be true!” he denied in a husky whisper, the look in his eyes haunted. “I can’t have been sending young people to death or slavery! They would have told me…!”
“I get the impression that you aren’t lying,” Lorand said in a gentler way after a brief moment. “And since Jovvi confirms that, I’ll just say how sorry I am for you. I wasn’t lying either, and you don’t have to take my word for it. Talk to the rest of the people we’rewith, and they’ll tell you the same thing because they also went through it. The nobility has it arranged that way so they won’t have any trouble keeping the empire under their collective thumbs.”
“What was that you said about dummy challengers for the Seated Highs?” a voice called out from the far left side of the room. “My boy went to Gan Garee two years ago, and if he faced one of those Highs, it was no dummy challenge.”
This time Vallant joined Lorand in hesitating to answer, touched by the loving pride which had been in the man’s voice. It’s hard for another man to trample on something like that, but it seemed that women didn’t see it quite the same.
“They’reall dummy challenges, because the Seated Highs are no such thing,” Tamrissa said with a sniff of disdain. “I faced the Seated High in Fire magic, unofficially, of course, because he thought I was drugged and helpless. He was no better than an ordinary Middle, and when he tried to match my strength he burned himself out. He was a noble, like they all are, so he never won his place. They gave it to him, and then they cheated to help him keep it.”
This time the muttering sounded more like an uproar in the making, anger and indignation mixed thoroughly throughout. Vallant wondered if the emotions were directed toward the nobility or toward Tamrissa for saying what she had, and a moment later he found out.
“Why ain’t I s’rprised?” Idroy Welt demanded of no one in particular, then he eyed the people who sat or stood together in front of the audience. “So th’ first lady’s a High in Spirit magic an’ th’ second in Fire magic. Thet mean you men’r th’ same?”
“I’m Earth magic, Vallant there is Water magic, and Rion over here is Air magic,” Lorand replied after a short but obvious pause. “Do you understand now why the ladies are with us?”
The uproar suddenly quieted, almost as if someone had closed a heavy door on the noise. They did understand—or were afraid that they did—even though Lorand had been gentle in breaking it to them.
“Yes, what you’reprobably thinkin’ is true,” Vallant confirmed, again trying to be just as gentle. “We were thrown together by the nobles as a challengin’ Blendin’, because this was a twenty-fifth year. We lasted until the final challenge, when we faced the last of the five noble challengin’ Blendin’s, and then, when we began to win, they knocked us out with hilsom powder. But that’s somethin’ for us to take care of once we get back to Gan Garee. Right now there’s still that advancin’ army to worry about.”
Vallant had been trying to take their minds off the fact that they had a real, actual Blending sitting in front of them, and to a certain extent it seemed to work. No one jumped up screaming to run out of the hall, but that might have been because they were too frightened to move. Well, whatever the reason, Vallant meant to take advantage of it. Seeing that the man Lugal had collapsed onto a bench near where he’d been standing, Vallant began the story that it looked like no one would be interrupting again.
CHAPTER THREE
It didn’t take as long as it could have for Vallant Ro to tell Lorand’s former neighbors about what we’d gone through, but that was only because he glossed over many of the details. These people not only didn’t need to know them, they probably didn’t want to know. Any number of them kept glancing at the rest of us, as though they expected us to go on a rampage of murder and destruction at any moment. At another time I might have been tempted to oblige them, but just now it was all I could do to sit still and pretend that nothing was wrong.
Once again I’d had too much time to think, so my thoughts had gone in the predictable direction. I’d replayed that last conversation with Vallant over and over again in my mind, and the more I thought about it the more upset I became. Jovvi had said he was afraid to become involved with me again, so I’d been trying to soothe his fear the way he’d once soothed mine. I’d resigned myself to the complete lack of progress I’d apparently been making, but then he’d actually come out and said that he had no interest in courting me in Alsin’s place.
I moved in discomfort on the old chair I’d chosen to sit on, finding it impossible to make “uninterested” equal “frightened.” I’d been afraid of all men when Vallant had tried to court me, but there had still been that … undeniable attraction I’d felt every time I saw the man. My insistence that I felt nothing of the sort had been easy for anyone to see through, which was the major difference between that situation and the one I now had with Vallant. He always moved away from me at the first opportunity, as though he really couldn’t stand being near me.
Jovvi stirred in the chair next to mine, and even though she remained silent I understood what was bothering her and tried to get my emotions back under control. The bleakness and desolation I’d been living with lately was quite a lot like the countryside we’d ridden through in Astinda: deliberately spread and impossible to deny. It had to be almost as painful for Jovvi as it was for me, and she didn’t deserve to have that thrust at her. It was enough that I had to feel it…
“… so after becomin’ aware ourselves of the large number of people headin’ in our direction, we then found out who they were,” Vallant was saying. “The Astindans have thousands of reasons to cross the border into the empire and give back what they’ve gotten, thousands of dead bodies and acres of land. They don’t know that the people around here had nothin’ to do with what the army did, and they probably don’t care. They’regoin’ to do as they were done to, and so far none of our forces has been able to stand up to them.”
“Or surrender,” Idroy Welt said, sounding and looking more than a little believing and therefore disturbed. “That’s what you said, ain’t it? That they don’t wanna hear nothin’ about surrenderin’? So what’r we s’posta do? Jest run, an’ hope we c’n stay ahead of ’em?”
“That’s a very good question,” Jovvi said while everyone in th
e room made sounds which showed their own disturbance. “It’s something none of us have discussed, because we’ve decided to go back to Gan Garee and take care of the business waiting for us there. But our doing that won’t stop that oncoming army, or save you and your land and your neighboring towns and their land. Does anyone have a suggestion we can talk about?”
“Whut about thet there Blendin’ stuff?” someone asked from the back of the room, sounding as though he discussed something dirty but unfortunately necessary. “Cain’t you lot do somethin’?”
“You mean like repeating what started all this and destroy them?” Jovvi asked gently but without hesitation. “It’s just possible we might be able to do that, but if we do, what’s to stop the nobility from coming back and taking up where they left off? Do all of you like being nothing but workers on the land someone else owns even though it’s your blood, sweat, and effort that makes it worth owning? I can tell you that the Astindans didn’t enjoy being invaded and destroyed, and something like that can happen as easily to you as it did to them.”
“No, she’s not guessing,” Lorand said when a mutter went up that suggested ridiculing doubt. “We came across a farmstead in a hidden place, a spot where people obviously ran away to in order to work for themselves rather than the nobility. Guardsmen had been sent after them, and every man, woman, and child—including infants—had been hanged in front of their houses. If those guardsmen were to ride in here to do the same thing to one or more of your neighbors, which of you would be able to stand against them?”
The muttering turned to a shocked silence at that, and then a boy flew in through the doorway. He looked around as he panted, obviously having run to the hall, and the man who had been called Refe stood up near his bench.
“You wus right, sir,” the boy said at once, speaking to the man who had stood. “Ravis Grund ain’t nowheres around, not him and not none a the rest a his kin. Thet there fancy gold knocker is gone from th’ front door too, an’ inside everythin’s tossed ever’ which way.”
“So now you know how the nobility and their hirelings take care of the people who produce their wealth,” Jovvi said once the panting boy had finished. “They desert them at the first sign of trouble, leaving them to live or die with only themselves to depend on. We’ve told you everything we know, and it might be best if you share that information with the rest of your neighbors and friends. Excluding anyone now would be more than foolish.”
That gave us a reason to stand up and head for the way out, which I joined Jovvi in doing without delay.
Those people would probably sit there debating what to do until the army was at their door, and I had no patience for staying there and watching it happen. I wanted everything over and done with, including going back to Gan Garee and settling with those thieves Seated on the Fivefold Throne. Only then would I be free to go about living my own life, one which would be nowhere near a certain man who cared nothing about me.
“Excuse me, but I really need to speak to all of you,” a voice said, and I looked up to see that man named Lugal. He’d apparently pulled himself together, and now stood in the middle of the aisle between the two sections of benches, blocking our way to the door. “I have a—message I’ve been asked to pass on.”
“A message from whom?” Lorand stepped forward to ask, his expression still less than friendly. “Who could have known we’d be by here, and what could they possibly have to say to us?”
“It’s … from my colleagues, and I don’t think they knew you would be by here,” the man answered, still distracted to a great extent. “They probably sent the same message to every member of the Guild in this area, hoping one of them would be able to deliver it. As for how they knew you would be coming this way, they’reclose to Gan Garee and probably get the gossip from there on a regular basis. The message is that they’d like to speak to all of you before you return to Gan Garee. There’s a small town called Colling Green about three hours away from the city, and they’d like you to stop there first for a meeting.”
“To what purpose?” Vallant asked, drawing the man’s attention. “Unless they intend to come into this … difficulty on our side, they can’t possibly have anythin’ to say that we need to hear. So why did they think we would bother?”
“You expect me to know?” Lugal asked with more bitterness than exasperation. “I’m the one who didn’t even know what I was sending the young men and women from this district to—and that’s something I mean to discuss with my people as soon as possible. I can’t believe that they didn’t know, but they never said a word to the rest of us… Lorand, what about Hat? I was fairly certain that he’d never reach High strength, but I was under orders to send him for testing anyway. Did he…”
“Did he die during that test?” Lorand finished when Lugal’s words simply trailed off. “No, Master Lugal, I know for a fact that he didn’t. They rescued him and tried to send him home, but the damned fool refused to go. He couldn’t give up the dream of being a High, so he got drunk and then got in trouble. The last I saw of him he had just lost the challenge to the Seated High in Earth magic, and the attendants were carrying him out while he shouted and struggled. He must have been sent to a different part of the army than the one we rescued, because there was no sign of him among the others. I meant to speak to his father, but the man isn’t here. Will you speak to him for me?”
“It won’t be easy, but there’s no denying I owe at least that to all of you,” Lugal muttered, his face now drawn and pale. “And if you’ll excuse me now, I have to see about getting my family ready to leave. Some of those hard-heads will decide to stay right where they are no matter what ‘fairy tales’ strangers come up with, but I’m not that stupid. I know the truth when I hear it, so I intend to be on my way out of here as soon as I speak to Hat’s father. I wish you good luck in whatever it is you’retrying to do.”
The man nodded distractedly to the rest of us, and then he was hurrying out of the hall. If he had any feelings for the rest of the people in the area he would spread the word about leaving, but then I realized that that might just be a matter of wasted breath. The Guild man wasn’t really one of them, so his opinion might be discounted right along with our warning.
“Let’s rejoin the others,” Vallant Ro said once the man was gone. “We’ll have to discuss this meetin’ in Collin’ Green and whether or not we ought to go. Somehow the invitation doesn’t sound quite right to me.”
“I was thinking the same,” Rion agreed in a soft voice. “The man was quite correct in believing that his superiors had to know what was being done to and with the applicants he sent for testing, and yet they made no effort to stop sending people. That tells me they’rein league with the nobility, so the meeting must certainly be a trap.”
“Maybe we can turn the trap around and make it work for us,” Lorand suggested as we all began to move forward again. “The five thieves will certainly be behind it, and maybe those who are supervising the trap will know about other traps. It can’t hurt to ask them.”
We all agreed that it certainly would not be hurting us, and as soon as we got outside I made sure to move as far away from Vallant Ro as possible. Being near him was hurting on a different level, with an intensity not even my flames could produce. He and I would never have a relationship now, not even if we both survived what was ahead of us. Deep inside, part of me cried sobbingly over that truth, but the rest of me was just too weary to care any more.
* * *
Jovvi peeked out from behind the mental barrier she’d been forced to erect, but that quick peek told her that Tamma was still radiating that horrible maelstrom of grief and despair and pain. That meant Jovvi had to keep the barrier firm between them, which happily meant only on the side where Tamma walked just a few steps away. The rest of Jovvi’s mind and talent were free to roam all around, but that wasn’t the blessed freedom it should have been. There were even more people in the square now, and every one of them was upset to one degree or another.
<
br /> Not that Jovvi could blame them. She and the others were stared at as they walked past, most of the minds behind the stares hungry to know what had been said in the meeting hall. Rumors were flying all around, making people nervous and frightened, and if the men in the hall didn’t call everyone in for a general announcement fairly soon, they would find an angry mob coming after them. The same angry mob that might be coming after their group soon, in a mindless effort to deny what they’d been told. Destroy the tellers, and the story could be branded as lies and ignored and forgotten about, many people believed.
Jovvi sighed as she walked, hoping hard that they would not be forced to hurt any of these people. Terror and anger always brought out the mob mentality, which really was a lack of mentality. Denying a problem is so much easier than coping with it, and the group mind did wonders with increasing the individual’s ability to ignore…
“Jovvi, may I speak to you for a moment?” Rion said in a murmur, abruptly walking right next to her. “I’m sure you’reaware of all our internal problems, but Naran asked me to make special mention of this one. She seems to fear that if something isn’t done to smooth things over between Vallant and Alsin Meerk, there will be a terrible confrontation between them. Have you given the matter any thought?”
“Of course,” Jovvi responded just as softly, trying to pinpoint something odd in what Rion had said. “I’ve given it a lot of thought, for all the good it did. The only thing I can promise is that if the confrontation comes at the wrong time, I can put Alsin under control to stop it. But beyond that? I doubt if there’s much any of us can do. But if Naran is all that worried, why didn’t she speak to me herself?”
“Apparently the poor little thing is too shy,” Rion replied with a wry smile. “She knows we all consider her one of us, but she apparently has trouble forcing herself to make suggestions unless the situation is critical. Possibly we should tell that to the others, so that we can all encourage her to get over the shyness. But to return to our previous topic, can’t we speak to Vallant and Alsin? The antagonism between them would be more properly directed toward our actual enemies.”
