Destiny (41 page)

We took turns teasing Rion and Jovvi as we all got tea and then went to sit on our sleeping mats, but I appreciated our new-found freedom in a different way. With all the tea we usually swallowed, being able to use the sanitary facilities at any time was
my
idea of marvelous.

Once we were settled and ready, I sent that separate part of my mind toward the city of Liandia. I suppose I expected there to be
something
in the way of hesitation in reaching so far or delay in finding the people I wanted, but there was neither. My vision flashed into Liandia, and then settled in what I recognized as the garden of Antrie Lorimon's house. Lorimon was there beside the man named Frode Mismin, and with them were Olskin Dinno, Satlan Reesh - and a depressed-looking Cleemor Gardan.

"… continued to hope you all were wrong," Gardan was saying to the others. It surprised me for a moment that I could hear and understand the conversation, and then I realized there was no reason I shouldn't be able to. Our entity hadn't spent much time listening to people talk, but that was primarily because it had had other things to do instead.

"Well, of course you hoped we were wrong, Cleemor," Antrie said with a sympathy she really felt. "No man wants to believe the worst about the woman he loves, and Tenia is also your wife."

"Tenia
was
my wife," Gardan corrected, the words somewhat on the ragged side. "When I told her that even if the invaders are defeated I won't be a member of the assembly any longer, she suddenly stopped … showing herself off to me, is the only way I can describe it. I've always been very aware of her nearness and desirability, but as soon as she heard what I had to say, my intimate feelings for her came to an abrupt stop. She looked really annoyed and spent some time muttering to herself, then she developed a sad expression and informed me that she had to leave me. She assured me that her leaving was completely for my own good, and then she had the nerve to ask me if I knew who the new assembly members would be."

"She thought she had you under control again, and didn't know I was protecting you," Mismin told Gardan with a humorless smile. "Before she did that, it was only possible to know that you were being controlled. We couldn't tell for certain who the person doing the controlling was, but Tenia was kind enough to try her tricks with me there as a witness. You should have heard her scream when I placed her under arrest."

"She'll scream even louder when her talent in Spirit magic is gone," Antrie said, her voice containing a hardness I couldn't remember hearing before. "We won't be members of the assembly once the High Blendings get here - if they do get here instead of the invaders - but until then we're still the only officials left. Olskin, can you handle the matter yourself, or will you need help?"

"I'll use my Blending to take her talent, and we can do it first thing tomorrow," Dinno replied as he shifted in his chair. "No matter
who
happens to be in charge of our country, it needs to be made clear that Spirit magic users won't be allowed to use their talent to take advantage of people. But possibly I should have said, I'll use my present Blending. Reesh and I have been looking around, and we've met a pair of lovely ladies of High talent who don't seem averse to the idea of becoming a Blending with us. We want to get to know them a bit better - and find a fifth - but we may just give those new Blendings a run for their money."

"The real miracle is that the ladies don't seem to find me objectionable in the least," Reesh said with an embarrassed sort of laugh. "They both decided at once that my shyness was 'sweet,' and I haven't been able to stop grinning since they said it. I let them see exactly what I'm really like, and they still think I'm 'sweet.'"

"That's because you've changed so," Antrie told him with a gentle laugh of her own. "You're no longer desperate to be accepted by others, so that acceptance is much easier to get now. And Frode and I have talked things over, and we've decided that we're also going to be looking for Blendingmates. Assuming we survive…"

Those last three words turned all of them somber, and it came to me with a small bit of guilt that we hadn't sent word to Liandia about our success. That gave me an idea, so I "moved" closer to the woman.

-Antrie, can you hear me?-
I asked directly into her mind the way our entity used to do. -
Can you understand what I'm saying?-

"Who is it?" Antrie asked after almost dropping her teacup. "You seem familiar, but I'm not quite sure…"

"What is it, Antrie?" Frode Mismin said with abrupt concern as he touched her hand. "What's wrong?"

"I think I'm hearing one of the Gandistrans," Antrie said, still looking and sounding shaken. "But I don't know how it can be
one
of them when it takes a Blending to do this kind of thing…"

-Don't worry about that part of it,-
I said into the woman's mind again. -
You'll find out all about the new discoveries we've made, but what you need to know first is that the invasion is over. Your people helped us to figure out how to face and best those leaders, and now the five of them are our prisoners.-

"She said the invasion is over!" Antrie exclaimed, delight beginning to fill her. "I know it's a 'her,' and I think it may be Tamrissa. She said that they've bested the invader Blending and now have them as prisoners!"

"Antrie, we
all
want the threat to be over, and you've been through some very hard experiences," Mismin said gently as he put a hand on Antrie's arm. "I'm sure that the Gandistrans will do everything possible to win against the invaders, so you don't have to - "

-She isn't imagining things, so stop trying to soothe her hysteria,-
I said, now spreading my thoughts to all of them. -
We really did win, and in the process we learned a new thing or two. Once we have all the slaves freed, we ought to be able to head back to your city.-

"They did it!" Reesh shouted, his face filled with joy. "They actually did it! Now we'll
all
have a chance to adjust to the new ways."

Even Gardan left off his brooding to join in the vocal celebration the other four were indulging in, so I withdrew my attention back to the house we sat in. I
had
been able to sip tea while I listened and spoke to the Gracelians, and my Blendingmates and I exchanged grins over having passed on the good news.

But then I couldn't help wondering what
else
we would find we were able to do…

Chapter Twenty-Four

Honrita looked around fondly at her Blendingmates. The Blending experience had been as incredible as they'd been told it would be, and the second time had been even better than the first. Kadri, Stelk, and Seeli were still burbling to each other, but Arbon sat silent with heavy disturbance filling him.

"What's the matter, Arbon?" Honrita asked gently, drawing the man's attention. "You seem to be terribly disturbed when you really ought to be rejoicing like the rest of us."

"The rest of you are rejoicing because you don't know any better," Arbon returned, bleakness staring out of his eyes. "Achieving a Blending ought to be the greatest day in a man or woman's life, not something you've been forced into to feed a madwoman's insanity. You have those other three under such tight control that they don't have any idea how much you've stolen from us, but I do."

"Why do you always have to see everything in such a negative light?" Honrita demanded, suddenly very annoyed. "Our Blendingmates there might have never had the chance to experience this marvel if not for me, and there's no guarantee
you
would have found four other people to accept you either. Why can't you see this as the opportunity you might otherwise have missed?"

"Well, for one thing there's your mention of
four
other people," Arbon said, his tone unrelenting. "You keep ignoring the point, but a proper Blending has six people in it, not five. And how do you expect to take over an entire High Blending when their Sight magic user will probably See the danger and get at least him or herself out of harm's way?"

"I love it when you criticize my plan," Honrita said with an honest laugh. "That tells me you really believe that it will work, and what you're trying to do is talk me out of putting the plan into motion. But you're wasting your time, you know. We'll be getting started first thing tomorrow."

"Do you mean we've reached the time when we get to strengthen our bond?" Kadri asked, eagerness clear in her dark eyes. "I've really been looking forward to this, but I was beginning to believe it would never happen."

"It had to wait for the proper time," Honrita told her, ignoring her own faint feelings of nervousness. "Now that we've Blended for the second time, we can get on to strengthening the bond. And since you've been looking forward to the time so eagerly, Kadri, you can be the one to go first."

"Do I also get to choose who I go first
with
?" Kadri asked, the archness she'd obviously been trying for coming across more ludicrous than sensual. "I really would like the choice, Honrita."

"Now, Kadri, you know there isn't supposed to be any kind of favoritism in a Blending," Honrita chided with a gentle smile. "These are our brothers, after all, and we'll be sharing ourselves with both of them. I've written Stelk and Arbon's names on these slips of paper, so you and Seeli get to choose one of the slips each. Then, afterward, you'll switch partners."

"But what about you?" Kadri protested, sincerely concerned with cooperation now that Honrita had taken a tighter grip on her mind. "Your bond needs to be strengthened the same way ours does."

"Yes, dear, but someone has to wait so it might as well be me," Honrita said with the same gentle smile. "You and Seeli have worked hard for this, and I really don't mind waiting."

"Let me translate that for you," Arbon said to Kadri just as the heavy woman's face took on a look of adoration. "Our great and generous leader over there is afraid to lie with a man, so she's going to use you and your skinny friend as sacrifices. If you two come through the experience without having hysterics, she
might
manage to get her courage up and try the same."

"Don't be silly, Arbon," Kadri answered with a small laugh while Honrita fought with a stab of hatred for the horrid man. "She knows as well as we do that our Blending won't be as strong as possible if we don't strengthen our bonds, so of course she'll do the same. She
is
the one who most wants us to succeed, after all."

"I'm willing to put silver on the very strong possibility that your idol will suddenly decide that we're strong enough
without
her having to strengthen bonds," Arbon said with a vicious sneer in Honrita's direction. "Is there anyone foolish enough to bet against me?"

Stelk, Kadri, and Seeli moved uncomfortably in their chairs as they exchanged glances, but none of them said anything. Honrita was so furiously embarrassed that she was about to scream at Arbon, when the truth forced its way through to her. Arbon was filled with more anxiety than contempt, which meant that his comments were
supposed
to have infuriated Honrita. Arbon was still trying to ruin her plans, and his own plan had nearly worked.

But "almost" is simply another word for failure, Honrita realized as she calmed herself. The man didn't want their Blending strengthened, but he wasn't the one in charge. Honrita was in charge, and it was about time she proved that to him again.

So rather than speaking, Honrita reached out to Arbon Vand. Once she had the proper hold on him, she rose from her chair, walked over to him, and bent close to his ear.

"Isn't Kadri an incredibly beautiful woman, Arbon?" she murmured to the man who wasn't being allowed to resist her suggestions in any way. "Her face is flawlessly lovely, and her body is the sort of slender delight that's you've dreamed about for years. And she's just said that she's willing to lie with you! Isn't that what you've been waiting to hear?"

"Yes, yes it is," Arbon answered hoarsely, his breath beginning to come more heavily. "I've been waiting forever to give you my love, Kadri. Come with me now to my bedchamber!"

Kadri looked surprised as she glanced at Honrita for permission, which a smiling Honrita quickly gave her with a nod. Honrita had meant to use the slips of paper to see which of the women would lie with the more attractive Arbon first, but that procedure had now become unnecessary. The Fire magic user disliked Kadri more than he did Seeli, so it would be Kadri he sported with first.

Honrita let Arbon get to his feet and offer his hand to Kadri, who took the hand and stood before following the man out of the sitting room. Honrita paused a moment to make sure that Stelk and Seeli would wait quietly and patiently while she was gone, and then she followed Arbon and Kadri to his bedchamber.

Arbon's desire was easily fanned and inflamed by Honrita's talent, and by the time he and Kadri reached his bedchamber the man was actually panting. He led Kadri inside and would have closed and locked the door, but Honrita intervened to make him forget his intention. She
had
to see what would go on between the two, and no one would know about her watching unless she chose to tell them.

The man pulled Kadri close and kissed her, but the kiss didn't last very long. The two stood close to Arbon's bed, so Honrita moved quietly to a chair not far away and sat. By that time Arbon was already helping Kadri out of her clothes, and the heavy woman was making small sounds as if she were in some sort of pain. But the way she tore at her clothing said it wasn't really pain that she felt, and Honrita was able to confirm that in her mind. There was something else, something Honrita didn't understand, but she fully
meant
to understand.