Betrayals (45 page)

“We’re going to have to find a place for them to practice rather quickly,” Jovvi told us in a soft voice once we all stood together. “Caution will keep them from trying to Blend for a short while, but once that caution fades…”

“They’ll try it just the way we did,” Lorand finished when she didn’t. “No one can blame them, but we also don’t want them to get hurt. Yes, I agree that we’ll have to find a practice place for them.”

“But that’s for another time,” Valiant said with a nod to show that he nevertheless agreed. “Right now we need to get some sleep, so we can be out of here bright and early. We don’t know how much time we have until the next group of guardsmen catch up to us, so we can’t afford to waste any.”

“And I really do need to get a good look at Quellin,” Alsin agreed in turn. “If they have some unexpected defenses against invasion, I’ll need some of the time we don’t have to figure out a way around those defenses.”

“Then let’s all go to bed,” Rion said, Naran under his arm at his side. “The more quickly we take care of all the petty annoyances which lie ahead of us, the more quickly we’ll be able to begin our own normal lives. And we will be able to begin them, I’m completely determined on that point.”

Jovvi and Lorand glanced at each other with smiles before quickly supporting Rion’s point of view, and I chimed in right after Valiant . But I didn’t look at him, as I was a bit too tired to do any running. Although I did mean to have a word or two with him once the meeting was over. He needed to be assured that I meant him no harm, and maybe then his nerves would relax a bit. The group began to break up then, but before I could make my way over to Valiant, Alsin Meerk stepped in front of me.

“Tamrissa, I wonder if I might have a moment of your time,” he said, sounding downright shy. “I’ve been trying for days to get up the nerve to speak to you, and now I finally have.”

“Speak to me about what?” I asked, puzzled as to what he might mean. “And why would you need to get up your nerve? I don’t bite people who talk to me all that often.”

“Well, since we’ve talked so often, I thought it might be my turn to be bitten,” he came back with a grin. “In any event, ever since Jovvi helped me to straighten out the mess in my head, I decided I had to put myself on record. If I don’t and I lose out, I’ll have no one but myself to blame.”

“What are you putting yourself on record about?” I asked, trying not to feel as though I were repeating myself. Alsin had had a hard time, and until he was completely over it he’d need the help of all of us.

“I’m making an official announcement that I intend to court you,” he said, sending my jaw down toward the ground and making me wish I hadn’t asked. “I know you and Valiant had something between you, but it’s perfectly obvious that that something no longer exists. That means the way is clear for me to give it a try, so please be warned. If you see me staring at you with cow eyes, or find me bringing you bunches of wildflowers for no reason, there is a reason.”

“But Alsin, you can’t!” I protested, now trying not to sound frantic. “There was something between Valiant and me and there will be again, so I don’t want to see you hurt. I’m really not interested in—”

“Hush, little one, and listen to me for a moment,” he interrupted gently as he took my hand. “I saw the way Ro was treating you, and that’s no way to behave with a woman you have feelings for. All I’m going to do is show you how I treat that sort of woman, and leave you to make the comparison. If, after you have, you decide you’re not interested in me, well, at least I tried. But you can’t in all good conscience deny me the chance to try, can you?”

“Why not?” I countered weakly, but all that got me was a chuckle from him. Then he kissed my hand and walked away, leaving me to wonder how I always seemed to manage to get into that kind of position. I’d told the man the truth about how I felt, just as I’d told Valiant, but neither of them had believed me. Could I somehow be saying it wrong…?

Taking a deep breath made me feel only fractionally better, especially since I suddenly remembered that Naran had warned me about Alsin’s feelings. He’d been interested for more than a couple of days, then, which made the situation worse. I could see it now, me chasing after a fleeing Valiant, with Alsin chasing me in turn. All we needed now was someone for Valiant to chase, who could then chase Alsin while he chased me—

I had to close my eyes for a moment to drive away the picture I’d inadvertently painted, and then I was able to make my way toward the box stall that was our group bedroom. If we Blended again before we slept and checked the area for enemies as far as we could reach, we should be able to eliminate the need for people to stand watch. It hadn’t done any good to have people on watch earlier, so it just made sense to do something else. And once again it was obvious that I had no wish to think about anything really relevant, so I’d found something else to take my attention.

I paused to pick a straw out of a handy bale, and took it with me to the box stall. Tomorrow I would speak to Jovvi again, and if what I held didn’t turn out to be the last straw, I was afraid to consider what would be….

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Lorand stood among the trees not far from the road, waiting for Alsin Meerk to reach him. The man was on his way back from Quellin after looking the town over, and should get to where Lorand waited in just a few minutes. Meerk had insisted that the Blending remove all memory from him of where their camp was, so that if he happened to be taken he would not be able to betray them. Lorand had worried that Meerk’s paranoia was returning, but Jovvi had assured him that it was just a commonsense precaution. Meerk could have been caught, and they were camped less than an hour away from Quellin.

It had been Meerk’s suggestion that they set up camp on the far side of the town, to keep from boxing themselves in between the forces in Quellin and the next group of pursuing guardsmen. They’d all considered that a good idea, but it had taken time to work their way around the town without being detected. But at least they hadn’t had any trouble finding a good place to camp. Less than an hour beyond the town there was a very pleasant glade near a fast-running stream, with small stands of trees separating the glade into what could almost be considered private rooms. Between that and the supply wagon, they were more comfortable than they’d expected to be.

And he and Jovvi had actually had some privacy the night before. The men had strung rope between some of the trees and then had hung blankets on the rope, providing separate accommodations for the women among them. Jovvi hadn’t hesitated to share hers, and he’d made love to her for a very long time before falling asleep while holding her in his arms. And their lovemaking had been more confident than desperate, showing that they both believed that things would work out for them. They still didn’t know exactly how, but simply being together made the details something they would find out about later.

Lorand sent his talent out along the road, only to discover that Meerk was still a few minutes away. The man had ridden out of town toward Gan Garee, and then had circled around to reach the road he was now on. But he expected to soon find something to tell him it was time to turn around again, to circle back a second time to the road on the far side. He believed that that was where the group had camped, on the road leading back to Gan Garee, and he was simply making sure that he wasn’t being followed. Once he was certain he’d gone far enough, he would turn around and really go in the proper direction.

But speaking about being followed, Lorand suddenly had the strangest feeling. He extended his talent again, finding Meerk easily—and then he found the rider a short distance behind Meerk. The second man wore nothing in the way of a uniform, but there wasn’t much doubt that he followed rather than simply rode. It was something the group had been hoping would happen, and they were prepared to make use of the break.

Reaching out toward Jovvi with his mind had become as easy as breathing for Lorand, so he did it now as they’d agreed he would. She responded immediately by forming the Blending, and then it was the entity which found the second rider. The man’s thoughts were smug and unconcerned until the entity took control of them, and then they were merely obedient. The entity withdrew again and disappeared when they severed the Blending, and Lorand stood alone again to wait until Meerk rode into sight.

When he did so, Lorand stepped out of the trees and waved his hand, signaling the man to stop. Meerk was surprised, of course, which his first words confirmed.

“Lorand, what are you doing here?” he demanded. “Is everything all right? I hope you haven’t come with bad news …”

“Relax, Alsin, everything is fine,” Lorand hastened to assure him. “I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to turn around again, because this is where we’re camped. You had us take our true location from your mind, just in case you were captured by our enemies.”

“Yes, that sounds like something I would suggest,” Meerk agreed with a grin, “And all this time I thought I was just trying to find out if anyone was following me— which they aren’t.”

“Ah … as a matter of fact, someone is,” Lorand said as tactfully as possible under the circumstances. “You probably didn’t notice him because he has Spirit magic, and has learned how to make himself all but invisible. If I’d been as close to him physically as you were, I probably wouldn’t have noticed him either.”

“I didn’t know it was possible to do that with Spirit magic,” Meerk responded, more startled than embarrassed. “It looks like we’ll be learning a lot of new things before this is all over.”

“And everything we learn adds to our strength,” Lorand said, echoing what Meerk himself had been saying since they left the hidden farm. “While we’re waiting for your shadow to get here, tell me what Quellin is like.”

“It’s like your average small town,” Meerk replied with a shrug before beginning to dismount. “It has shops and a tavern and a smithy, with people going about their own business. The only obvious difference is the stockade on the south side of town, along with the number of uniformed men you see everywhere on the streets. And there seems to be a lot of wagon traffic going in and out of the stockade. The main street leading from the place has been lined with stone, which is a dead giveaway.”

“Well, we know what’s in some of those wagons,” Lorand said, a part of his attention on the road again. “Hopefully we’ll know more before too long, and then we’ll be able to firm up our plans.”

“Are you just going to stand here until the man following me sees you?” Meerk asked, pausing in the act of leading his horse into the trees. “If we just let him ride on past, he’ll never know at which point he lost me.”

“He won’t be going past,” Lorand said, glancing at the man he spoke to. “We used our Blending, and once he gets to the camp with us he’ll tell us everything he knows. That information I mentioned—remember?”

“Yes, of course,” Meerk said with a sigh. “Things like this still disturb my sense of the proper, but my opinions have become a bit more flexible. When you’re dealing with people who are willing to do anything necessary to destroy you, worrying about infringing on their rights as human beings is childish. If they really were human beings, you would not have the problem in the first place.”

“You’re using the term ‘human being’ in a way most people don’t,” Lorand observed as he kept one eye on the road. “Are you suggesting that the title should be earned, rather than bestowed on anyone who happens to be born of human parents?”

“Why not?” Meerk countered, now also watching the road. “If your actions earn you the title of ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ why shouldn’t the same thing be true of ‘human being’? Was it human beings who hanged every member of those farm families, including small children and infants? If so, then I want to be called something else—so no one ever confuses me with that sort.”

“You and me both,” Lorand muttered, then he stepped forward to gesture and say in a raised voice, “Over here, friend. Just ride up and dismount.”

Meerk’s shadow had ridden into view, and when he saw Lorand he came over as ordered. His dismounting showed him to be of average height, which meant both Lorand and Meerk were larger. He was also of average appearance with brown hair and eyes, and even his horse was brown and nondescript.

“For some reason I had the impression that you were… more imposing, I suppose,” Lorand said to him. “By your looks you would be lost in a crowd, but your thoughts don’t reflect that.”

“Of course not,” the man answered with a small laugh. “I am imposing, as my position makes me more than a little important. You people don’t realize it, I know, but my being here is a very great compliment to you.”

“Let’s find out just how great a compliment,” Lorand said as Meerk simply made a rude sound. “Come this way.”

The man nodded pleasantly and followed after Lorand, leaving Meerk to bring up the rear. As they went, Lorand was able to hear the small sounds made by the linked Air magic and Earth magic people. That particular link was brushing away the horses’ hoofprints and the men’s footprints, leaving nothing that even the best tracker in the world would be able to follow. Once the ground was taken care of, fresh air would be brought down from high up to disperse the scent of man and animal alike. They’d captured this man from Quellin very easily, which meant the whole thing might be some sort of trap.

Everyone in camp stood waiting when Lorand and the others walked in, as nothing the five did was being kept secret from the people who had joined forces with them. The least those people were owed was honesty, as some of them might not survive to see the end of the fight. And their numbers included two more than they’d expected it to, since only two people had gone their own way instead of four. The woman and one of the three men had changed their minds and stayed, a decision they still seemed pleased with.

It remained to be seen how long they stayed pleased.

“Just leave your horse there, where he can graze,” Valiant said to their visitor as he looked the man up and down, gesturing to the edge of the glade. “You yourself can come over here and sit down.”