Intrigues (49 page)

"And the best part of all this is that my Blending members are completely behind me," Zirdon murmured again with pleasure. "They're just as ambitious as I am, and together we'll rule this empire for as long as we live."

Zirdon thrilled to that idea again, and then rang for one of his servants. He would celebrate with the best wine in his cellars, shared happily with his Blendingmates. The plan Syant had given him would work perfectly, and as soon as the celebration was over he would start to implement it. The first step, so to speak, on the way to meeting his destiny.

Zirdon actually hummed a tune as he waited for the wine to be brought.

Chapter 27

It took quite a long time for us to get started on our way to Gracely. Using our own Blending along with the others, we combed the area to locate the hiding members of the former nobility. Of course
they
didn't consider themselves
former
nobles, so when we began to round them up we were almost deafened by demands and complaints.

For the most part, the servants were delighted to hear about the changed circumstances in Gan Garee. Some, however, usually those with privileges above the other servants, were almost as outraged as the former nobles. They also tried to argue, but not for long. Most of those upper class servants met with … accidents, courtesy of the people they'd been pushing around for so long.

The former members of the army spent their time healing and growing stronger while we were ingathering. When we were ready to send everyone back to Gan Garee, a large number of the former army slaves volunteered to help herd the former nobles along. All that talk of former this and former that was confusing at times, but once they were all on their way - with the Astindans to help - the confusion was behind us.

When we finally took to the road we split up into two groups again, which made moving, camping, and hunting much easier. The days passed quietly and uneventfully for the most part, except for the time we found that a group of outlaws had taken over a small town. We Blended and took control of the outlaws, then rode in and let the townspeople know that they were free again. Right after that we left the town, to spare ourselves the sight of what the people did to the outlaws.

"You look preoccupied, Tamma," Jovvi said as she moved her mount up beside mine once the town was behind us. "Are you thinking about what's being done to those outlaws right now?"

"Not really," I answered with a sigh as I withdrew from my thoughts. "Those outlaws did a lot of ugly things to those people in the town, making no effort to control themselves because they thought they could get away with it all. Now they're learning better, just the way the nobles are learning the same lesson. If you do it, you'd better be prepared to pay for it. What I was really thinking about was how soon our message will reach our people in Gan Garee."

"The two guardsmen carrying the message will move as fast as they can without killing their horses," Jovvi assured me, but she sounded more assured than she looked. "If you're wishing that
we
could be there to handle whatever that Ruhl man intends to do, I can only say I share that wish. I know the people we left behind are good, but I still wish we could be there to help."

"I don't exactly have a bad feeling about what will happen, but it isn't a good feeling either," I confessed, wondering if she happened to be experiencing the same thing. "I'd love to think that we're wasting our time going to Gracely and start to agitate for turning back, but for some reason I can't. It's another feeling I can't explain, and I'm getting very tired of wrestling with it all."

"For the second time, I know exactly how you feel," Jovvi said with a small, humorless laugh. "I've been getting those same impressions ever since we Blended near that town, when - Oh, rot!"

"Do I take that comment to mean that you experienced what Lorand and I have, but also forgot to mention it?" I asked dryly, enjoying her expression of frustration. "Now there are three things we can feel the same about."

"I don't understand how I could have forgotten to mention something that important," Jovvi grumbled, her annoyance directed at herself. "I thought you and Lorand were just distracted when it happened to
you
, but this isn't simple distraction. It
is
like forgetting to mention that you're breathing in and out, an action so natural that you take it for granted. But when you stop to think about it, what happened is amazing."

"Yes, actually becoming the entity with your own awareness is incredible," I agreed, but then had to shake my head. "What I still can't understand, though, is how Lorand - and now you - can have the same experience at the same time that I do. How can the entity have your awareness or Lorand's when it has mine?"

"I wish I knew the answer to that," Jovvi said, still grumbling and annoyed. "Since this is happening to us one at a time it's most likely part of a natural process, but we have no idea about what happens next - or what we're supposed to do with this new awareness. And I think we'd better make a practice of checking with the others to find out if they've reached the same point. We can't count on having them announce it when it happens."

"We should have started to do that after every time we Blended," I pointed out, now sharing her self annoyance as well. "Maybe part of the process is to make us colossally stupid."

"You won't find
me
arguing against that possibility," Jovvi agreed, but a bit of her usual good humor seemed to be returning. "Let's start our questioning with Naran. She's been acting distracted lately, and it might be because of the new process."

I smiled to myself as I urged my horse to follow Jovvi's as she headed for where Naran rode. Someone else with Jovvi's ability might have used her talent to find out what Naran's distraction was about, but Jovvi was still playing fair and respecting people's privacy. I wondered if
I
would be that good about it, then dismissed the question. Luckily, the situation would never arise.

"Naran, Tamma and I would like to ask you a question," Jovvi said as soon as we were riding to either side of our sister. "Have you by any chance experienced what she and Lorand - and now I - have during Blending? You know, feeling that the entity has your awareness?"

"I don't really understand what that means, so I'd guess that the answer is no," she replied, looking as though pulling herself out of her thoughts had taken a tremendous effort. "But since I was the last one to join the Blending, that makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Yes, that makes a great deal of sense," Jovvi agreed in a soft and gentle voice, her expression suddenly filled with concern. "But that also means you're being distracted by something else entirely. Can we be of help in any way, even if it's only to listen?"

Naran hesitated for a very long moment, and I was about to offer to let the two of them talk alone when Naran looked up from a study of her hands.

"I'm … afraid I may be losing Rion," she said in a whisper, looking straight ahead rather than at Jovvi or me. "He's been approached more than once by a certain woman, and the probabilities are very strong that he'll decide to - to - "

"Rion?" I couldn't help blurting, a glance showing me that Jovvi was just as shocked. "I think the world may be coming to an end. If there was ever a man who found the woman of his soul, I would have sworn it was Rion. Has he … done anything with that certain woman?"

"Nothing yet beyond talking to her," Naran admitted, but I didn't miss that "yet." "She's the one who comes to
him
, but he isn't doing anything to discourage her. From a word or two I've picked up, she … admires him."

"Then it can't possibly be as bad as you're imagining," Jovvi said, obviously trying to sound hearty and reassuring. "A man from one of the link groups has come over to
me
more than once to say how much he admires me, and
I
haven't done anything to chase him away either. It's flattering to have someone feel that way about you, but it doesn't necessarily mean you intend to do anything about accepting their unspoken offer."

"Now, that's odd," I couldn't help commenting as certain memories came rushing back. "A girl from one of the link groups also approached Vallant, and from the way he looked at her I was convinced that he felt some attraction for her. But I also happened to see them when she approached him a second time, and he just about yawned in her face. That made
me
feel good, I can tell you."

"I can imagine," Jovvi said, her brows high as she obviously thought about something else. "So Rion, Vallant, and I have been approached by members of the link groups. I wonder if any of the rest of us have had the same experience."

"Well, I may have been
almost
approached," I answered slowly, not quite sure I wasn't imagining things. "It was during the time we were gathering up those fool nobles, and I was in a particularly bad mood. One of those 'highborn' fools had a strong Middle talent in Fire magic, and he set one of his servants on fire in an attempt to distract the guardsmen who were putting everyone together. I'm sure he meant to try to sneak away during the confusion, but things didn't quite work out for him."

"Yes, I remember that," Jovvi said, her smile on the grimly satisfied side. "I never knew it was possible for you to work that fast, but you protected the servant until you were able to put the fire out. Then you went after that noble and burned every bit of clothing off his body before doing the same to all his hair. No one had any trouble seeing him wet himself, and it couldn't have happened to a more deserving person."

"That's the way
I
looked at it, but the incident still put me in a bad mood," I said with a nod. "If I hadn't been paying close attention, that servant would have gone up in flames before I could do anything to help. A few minutes after everything had settled down again, a rather handsome man started to approach me. He looked vaguely familiar, but I was in no mood to be friendly with
anyone
. He started toward me with a smile, hesitated when he met my gaze, then wisely changed his mind about coming over. I probably would have jumped up and down on him even if he'd just said hello."

"What about you, Naran?" Jovvi asked next, and I joined her in looking at a now-frowning Naran. "Has anyone made an attempt to approach
you
?"

"I've been thinking about it ever since you first brought up the point, and my answer may be the same one Tamrissa gave but under other circumstances." Naran spoke slowly now, as though choosing her words carefully. "The time was also when we were going after the nobles. I kept an almost constant check on the probabilities to make sure none of them got away, and at one point a rather handsome man seemed about to come over to me. He was only about five or six feet away when his smile faltered and he stopped short, stared at me for a moment, then turned and walked away. It was almost as though he knew what I was doing and didn't want to disturb me."

"So that makes everyone but Lorand, and
he
was probably approached as well," I said as Jovvi took her own turn at frowning for a moment. "I don't know about you two, but this situation is making me very suspicious. If only one or two of us was approached, it would mean nothing. With all of us involved, attraction and admiration probably have nothing to do with the matter."

"Yes, I'm inclined to agree with that," Jovvi said, obviously dismissing whatever had made her frown. "With all of us involved, I'd guess that someone is trying to drive a wedge between all the members of our Blending. I think we'd better have a meeting with the men, to see if we can figure out who's behind the attempt."

"That isn't going to be easy," Naran said, her previous disturbance apparently eased to a certain extent. "I've just been checking the probabilities about this, and I can't seem to find anything at all. That flux Master Ardanis mentioned keeps getting in the way."

"So we have to do it the hard way instead of the easy way," Jovvi said, all but shrugging a dismissal. "It would be nice to know for certain and have the information confirmed, but formulating a logical theory could work just as well. At least we'll be warned, and can be on the alert for any other tricks."

"You know, a possibility just occurred to me," I said slowly as I examined the thought. "Whoever tampered with the minds of the nobles leading the army has to be from Gracely. The army was on its way to destroy Gracely, and had to be stopped. Now
we're
on our way to Gracely, and someone may consider us the same kind of threat. Having us all end up hating each other would be one way to end the threat."

"You're right, that's a definite possibility," Jovvi agreed as Naran stared at me with raised brows. "I think we'll have to find the people involved in the plot, and ask them a few questions. And I'm also willing to bet that they won't turn out to be members of any of the link groups either."

"They can't be if they're working for Gracely," I said with my own brows high, realizing her guess had to be the truth. "Our link groups are made up of people we rescued from the Astindan armies, an unlikely place for Gracely supporters to be found. We ought to tell the men about this right away."

"We're probably less than an hour away from making camp," Jovvi said after a glance at the sky. "Let's wait until then before we call a group meeting. If we're lucky, the Gracely people involved won't realize what's going on until we have some of them in our hands. If we cause a flap now, they might well understand what's happening and simply disappear."

"That's a good point, so I'll go along with it," I grudged, hating the delay but seeing the need. "Those people won't be happy that I have to wait, though. I hate having to wait for things, and I intend to take my mad out on
them
."

"I hope you start with that certain woman," Naran muttered, so low I could barely hear her. "Seeing
her
fry would be a downright - "

Naran's words broke off, but I had no trouble completing the thought - or understanding the feelings behind it. Naran was basically a very gentle soul, and what she hadn't quite said aloud was a measure of her deeply felt disturbance. I'd have to see what I could do to make her half wish come true.