Destiny (27 page)

Bensia began to scream then, and the screaming didn't stop until complete darkness took her over.

Chapter Sixteen

Idresia still felt wildly happy when she and the others got back to the warehouse. They were
all
laughing and giddy, in fact, looking and acting like children instead of adults.

"Did you see her expression when I called her stupid and old, Edmin?" Issini asked as they walked into the kitchen area. "The only way I could have bothered her more would be if I'd slapped her face. I
wanted
to slap her, and would have if the Astindans hadn't been there."

"Actually, it's a good thing our allies
were
there," Edmin answered, following Issini toward the tea service. "If they hadn't been, I probably would have hurt my hands rather badly showing her husband what I thought of him. If he hadn't been a complete fool, his wife would never have managed to make as much trouble as she did."

"He'll be paying for that foolishness in just a little while," Driff said as he joined the others in going toward the tea service. "In fact they both will, along with their children. I feel very fortunate that
we
aren't in their place. I'm not all that fond of working outdoors."

"But we have what might prove to be a harder job ahead of us," Asri said, looking less exhilarated than she had. "I took just a peek at the probabilities to see what we might be doing next, and now I wish I hadn't. We'll have to interview all those men our entity took over, and decide which of them can be saved and which can't."

"That decision won't entail what all of you seem to think it will," Driff said, looking from one to the other of them where they'd stopped to stare at Asri with expressions of shock. "We'll definitely separate out the men who are willing to work at an honest job, but doing something with the ones who are lost won't be
our
problem. We'll only have to keep them quiet until the Highs are brought back to themselves."

"And then we get to dump the decision on the Highs," Idresia said with a nod of relief. "Since they're the ones with the stronger talent, it's only fair if they get the harder jobs."

"I … don't think that's exactly what Driff has in mind," Edmin said, faint disturbance creasing his brow. "We won't have to
do
anything to the men who don't measure up, but I think we'll be expected to make a recommendation."

"But if they take our recommendation, won't it be like disposing of those men ourselves?" Kail protested. "I mean, assuming we decide that the men should die. I don't think I
can
recommend that they be put under control for the rest of their lives. I had too much of that myself while growing up to be able to consider doing it to someone else on a permanent basis."

"And
I
think those men deserve whatever happens to them," Issini said with a shake of her head. "We all had it hard growing up, but none of
us
decided to get even with the innocent along with the guilty. A lot of those men just don't care about anyone but themselves, a fact that's clear enough to
me
. I can see, though, that the rest of you don't agree, so we'll have to talk it over. But only after Driff goes to work on the High talents and brings them out of their coma or sleep or whatever. After they're awake, they may decide they don't want our recommendations after all."

"Now
that
I would enjoy," Idresia said briskly, deciding it was time that someone took charge. "Let's have a cup or two of the tea we all obviously want, and then we'll go out to dinner. I think we've earned a small celebration, don't you?"

"At least a small one," Driff agreed with a chuckle. "Putting Noll's hired men under control before we had our people arrest the ones doing the talking was easier than I expected it to be, but I still feel almost empty."

"I've been feeling the same since our entity cut off Noll's children and wife from the power," Edmin said while the others just made sounds of agreement. "I suggest we have only a single cup of tea, and then get on to the food."

"Why don't we forget about the tea and just go out to eat?" Asri asked, holding up one hand. "If I weren't so fond of Kail I could broil and eat
him
, and since my son is in the very good hands of his new nanny, I won't feel guilty about leaving him behind."

"Yes, let's go right now," Driff said, glancing around to see that the decision was unanimous. "We don't know how long it will take us to bring the Highs back to themselves, so we ought to get an early start tomorrow."

"Why do we have to start
early
?" Idresia asked as they all turned back to the door. "We don't have anything else to worry about, so what if rousing the Highs does take an extra hour or two? What difference will it make?"

They all began to tease Idresia about her hatred of getting up early, but she was fully prepared to defend her position. After all, now that the renegades were accounted for, they
didn't
have anything else to worry about…

"Yes, do join us, my friend," Honrita Grohl said to Arbon Vand, their new Fire magic user. Vand was being led into the room by Stelk Faron, their Water magic user. The room was part of a small and shabby abandoned house that the group had taken over for its own use, and Holdis Ayl wasn't present. Too many people knew about Ayl, and his presence would only have made Honrita's job harder.

"Are you the one who needed to see me?" Vand asked as he looked first at Honrita and then at the room. "If the matter was all that important, why didn't you come to
my
house?"

Arbon Vand had brown hair and eyes and looked rather average, but that was only until he began to speak. Then his strong personality became obvious, supporting proof for the reason why Honrita hadn't tried to put him under her control from a distance. They needed Vand too much to take unnecessary chances with his enlistment.

"I didn't come to your house, Dom Vand, because there are too many people in and near your house for us to have a private conversation." Honrita had gotten to her feet as she spoke, and now she added a smile. "Please take a chair and I'll explain why I asked you here."

"Why does our conversation have to be private?" Vand asked as he stopped next to a chair rather than sit in it. "And who are those other women?"

Kadri Sumlow, their Earth magic user, and Seeli Tandor, Air magic, had just come into the room, and now the two stood next to Stelk Faron. Kadri looked even heavier and more ridiculous standing next to the taller and thinner Stelk and Seeli, but that couldn't be helped.

"I'll give you a more complete introduction to everyone once we've talked, Dom Vand," Honrita said with another smile. "Would you like a cup of tea? And I'm Honrita Grohl, by the way."

"No tea, thank you," Vand returned, his attitude firm rather than chilly as he continued to stand. "I'd rather get to the reason I'm here and then go home. I have fairly important tasks waiting for my attention."

"You consider teaching a class in Fire magic important?" Honrita asked as she sat down again and let a small part of her ridicule show through. "Surely you expected to do something
really
important when you finished your own class? A simple teaching job must be very much of a letdown."

"I happen to enjoy the idea of teaching," Vand came back, and oddly enough he was telling the truth. "Later on there ought to be other things for me to do, but right now teaching suits me. Was there anything else?"

"Yes, there
is
something else," Honrita said, ignoring his attempt at dismissal. "I asked you here today to offer you something more important right now, not at some nebulous time in the future. We would like you to join our Blending, a Blending we have very big plans for."

"I'm sure you do have plans, but I'm afraid I won't be a part of them," Vand said after glancing at the other three people in the room again. "If and when I do join a Blending, it won't be with complete strangers. Thank you for asking me, but I'll be going now."

And the miserable man actually began to walk toward the door! Honrita was furious that Vand hadn't responded to the subtle handling the other three had, making it necessary for her to take full control of him. Vand stopped short before he reached the door, of course, but his mind somehow tried to fight hers even as he obeyed her completely.

"He doesn't want to join us," Kadri Sumlow stated in that regal way of hers. "I take it that you're keeping him from leaving, but how will that help us? You can't
force
him to Blend with us, can you?"

"I should be able to force him to be more reasonable," Honrita said as she rose and walked over to inspect Vand. "It would be easier if Ayl found us another Fire magic user, but Ayl has already refused to do that. The man insists that we're all the strongest Middle talents in the city, and he won't hear of making substitutions."

"What about a Sight magic user?" Stelk Faron asked, stiffly disapproving as usual. "Ayl won't admit that there is such a thing, but the rest of us know better. If we don't have a Sight magic user, our Blending won't be complete."

"If you can figure out a way to sneak up on a Sight magic user, I'll get one for us," Honrita all but snapped at the fool of a man. "Until and unless you can do that, we'll just have to get along without Sight magic. People got along without it for hundreds of years, after all, so I think
we
can manage for a little while. Once we're in control, we'll have Sight magic users
begging
to join us."

"If you say so," Faron grudged, giving up the point only with reluctance. "How long will it take you to make Vand amenable?"

"I don't know, so I'd better get started," Honrita said after taking a short breath. "Why don't the rest of you come back in two or three hours? I ought to have our fifth fully docile by then."

"I hope you don't mean that literally," Kadri Sumlow put in with her own disapproval. "A docile Fire magic user won't do our Blending the least bit of good."

"Yes, I do know that, so why don't you three go on about your business," Honrita said through her teeth without looking at Kadri. "The longer you take to leave, the longer it will take
me
to do what I have to."

There was a bit more grumbling from Faron and Kadri, but when Honrita refused to answer them they finally took Seeli and left. Honrita knew they would have gone a lot sooner if she'd been able to use her talent on them, but she had the definite impression that putting Vand under control would take all the strength she could muster. The Blending
needed
Vand so they would have him, and that no matter
what
she had to do to make it so.

Honrita made Vand go back to the chair he hadn't used and this time sit, and then she reclaimed her own chair. His mind continued to fight hers for the next hour or more, and then Honrita noticed something. If she put Vand under complete control without submerging his personality, she would have his obedience along with his strength. Until now she'd been trying to overpower his personality, which simply wasn't working. For such an average-looking man, Arbon Vand was incredibly tough-minded.

So Honrita changed tactics, and only then began to see some positive results. Vand still fought her control, but his … undermind, so to speak, became her slave. He definitely would not enjoy obeying Honrita, but he would have no choice at all in the matter.

By the time Honrita's other future Blendingmates returned, she was exhausted but triumphant. Vand sat glaring at her, and then he transferred the glare to the others.

"He doesn't look happy at all," Kadri Sumlow observed as she and the other two came closer. "Does that mean you weren't able to change his mind?"

"If he had the choice he would leave, but he isn't being allowed the choice," Honrita responded with a weary smile. "Tell us, Dom Vand: do you still refuse to Blend with us?"

"You know well enough that I
can't
refuse," Vand replied in a growl. "I don't know what you people are up to, but don't expect any more cooperation from me than you can force."

"That should be quite enough cooperation to satisfy our needs," Honrita told him with the nastiest smile she could manage. "And you might even find yourself changing your mind. Now that you aren't able to speak about our intentions without my permission, I can tell you that we mean to rule this empire. Do you find
that
aim too far beneath your dignity to consider?"

"You're insane," Vand stated, obviously uninterested in being at all diplomatic. "I may be a strong Middle talent, but that's all I am. If the rest of you aren't any stronger, your marvelous plans are doomed even before you try to put them into effect."

"But we don't
have
to be stronger than Middles," Honrita countered, enjoying the process of deflating a know-it-all. "Our Blending entity will still be able to take over a High Blending member by member, and then we'll use
them
to put us in power. What's the matter, Dom Vand? Surely you still think we're insane."

"Your insanity is fairly obvious, so I won't comment on it again," Vand muttered, his mind roiling furiously. "I know it
sounds
as if you have a workable idea, but taking over can't possibly be as easy as you think. You'll find out about the snag only when you trip over it, and that will be the end of your grand intentions."