Destiny (44 page)

Once the coach had come to a full stop, Arbon climbed down from the box and entered the coach itself. There was room for him only on the floor between the two seats, but that position was somehow fitting. Honrita's most ardent opponent now sat at her feet, just as the rest of the empire would soon do.

Honrita set their coach driver to watching for the approach of anyone who might interfere, and then she initiated the Blending. In an instant it was the Blending entity who looked about, and then floated toward the large dwelling that was to be the object of its scrutiny. It knew that it must search out any approaching or departing High talents, and therefore set to work.

A fair number of flesh forms either approached or departed from the large dwelling, yet none of them were the High talents the entity was to have located. An unnoticed amount of time passed, and then the entity felt the strain in its own flesh forms. As newborn as the entity was, it still knew it could not remain aware for much longer - and then it was Honrita back again.

"We're no longer Blended," Stelk protested, sounding the next thing to whiny. "Why are we individuals again?"

"Maintaining the Blending any longer would have drained me completely," Honrita said, deciding to quiet the man without using her talent. "We'll rest for a short while, and then we'll Blend again. But I don't understand why there weren't any High talents going in or coming out. There were Middles and some Lows, but no Highs."

"Maybe the Highs all like to sleep late," Arbon drawled from where he sat on the coach floor, an expression on his face that was much too pleased. "I'll admit that's one possibility I didn't think of."

"Since they're in charge, they can sleep as late as they like with no one to tell them differently," Honrita said, grasping at the idea that Arbon had put forward only jokingly. "Yes, you've finally proven of use in some way, Arbon. The Highs aren't here yet because they're allowed to sleep late. By tomorrow it will be
us
who sleeps late, as late as we like."

Arbon shook his head before looking away from her, but Honrita didn't care what the man thought. The plan was a good one, a
good
one, and it
wasn't
going to fail!

It took a short time for Honrita to regain control of her confidence. She had lived too many years in the shadow of failure in all things, and a ghost from those days still haunted her on occasion. But she'd had help in putting the attitudes of failure behind her, and now she knew that success had to be expected in order to be achieved. She
would
make the plan work, and very soon.

Once she felt rested, Honrita shifted to a more comfortable position on the coach seat and then initiated the Blending again. This time when the entity formed, it knew it must seek out
any
flesh form in seeming authority. As the High talents refused to come within reach of the entity's perceptions, the entity had no choice but to be guided to the location of the High talents.

A greater number of flesh forms now approached and left the large dwelling. None of them, however, proved to be High talents, therefore the entity began to look for one who might become a useful guide. A short time passed, and then six individuals appeared who were given more deference by those flesh forms around them than any previous flesh forms had been given. One of these Middle talents, then, would be the guide the entity required.

The entity floated quickly to the vicinity of the large dwelling where the six flesh forms were in the process of entering. Each of the six seemed odd in some way the entity wasn't able to define, yet its objective remained. It must take control of one of the six, and then instruct the flesh form to guide the entity to the High talents. The entity reached out toward the closest of the six, and then -

And then another, larger, entity suddenly confronted it. The new entity was barely older than the probing entity, yet it seemed much more complete in some way.

-Your presence and efforts here are contrary to the well-being of the majority,-
the new entity informed the probing entity. -
The touching of the unsuspecting is not to be allowed, therefore are you to withdraw to your own flesh forms and retire from the scene.-

The entity had been inspecting the newcomer as it spoke, surprised and pleased to discover that the newcomer seemed less than the probing entity despite the newcomer's air of superiority. The newcomer's Spirit magic segment was so faint that the lack was actually visible, giving the newcomer an unbalanced appearance. The entity had experienced faint trepidation at the sudden appearance of the newcomer, yet now full confidence returned.

-Were you this entity's superior, it might well be necessary to retire,-
the entity informed the newcomer. -
You, however, are clearly inferior to this entity, therefore are you the one who must retire. Should you refuse, there will be battle between us that you have no hope of winning.-

-This entity has no wish to cause harm, yet is this entity willing to do so should it be necessary,-
the newcomer replied. -
You are small and weak and incomplete, and therefore is it you who has no chance at victory. Retire now, and all may be seen to without pain.-

-My purpose must be attained,-
the entity responded, and then it struck at the foolish newcomer. An entity as weak and unbalanced as the newcomer should have gone down immediately in the face of the unexpected attack, and yet the newcomer did not. Not all of the strength the entity had wished to use had been present in the attack, a matter the entity had no true understanding of. That, however, was the least of its lack of understanding.

Even with the lessened strength in the attack, the newcomer should have been staggered if not driven back. Instead the newcomer held its place with what seemed like very little effort, and then an answering attack struck the entity. Its defenses should have been adequate, yet just as its attack had been less than was intended, so was the defense now erected. The entity staggered before it was forced back, and then -

And then it was Honrita, screaming in pain just as almost all of the others were doing. Arbon simply moaned where he lay, but his satisfaction was so thick that Honrita was able to feel it without the least effort.

"You traitor!" Honrita shrieked, kicking Arbon with all the meager physical strength left to her. "I don't know how you betrayed me, but you won't get away with it! You're going to die
now
, and next time we'll have a
decent
Fire magic user! Kadri! Kill this monster!"

The satisfaction in Arbon faded when Kadri looked at him, the emotion coming to Honrita instead. She would watch Arbon die in great pain, and once they rid themselves of his body they would return to their house. After they'd rested they would find another Fire magic user, and then -

"Honrita, I can't reach him!" Kadri suddenly blurted, heavy distress in her voice and mind. "I'm trying hard, I really am, but I just can't reach him!"

-None of you will find it possible to use your ability,-
a voice said in Honrita's head, frightening her so badly that her blood turned to ice. -
Your mind-sick efforts are now at an end, and will not be resumed again.-

Honrita screamed aloud at what she'd been told, refusing to believe that the perfect plan had not been allowed to work. She
would
try again, as soon as she got some rest, but then there were uncounted numbers of guardsmen around the coach and opening the doors, and hands grabbed her and she screamed and screamed and screamed -

Chapter Twenty-Six

"I think we all owe Edmin a large vote of thanks," Driff said into the insanity of gladness that he and his Blendingmates shared in the palace meeting room. "If he hadn't been using his 'I'm so weak' trick, that other entity might not have attacked us. If it hadn't, we would have had nothing to charge those people with beyond 'touching' someone. Proving they were touching with ill intent would have been almost impossible."

"I think that entity knew how unfinished and badly balanced it was, but wasn't being allowed to acknowledge its lacks," Edmin said with a smile when the others really did thank him. "The woman Spirit magic user was so twisted that she actually dominated the Blending to the point that their entity shared her madness-induced blindness. And the guardsmen are bringing them all in here right now…"

Driff turned toward the door just as the others did, and sure enough it opened to allow the guardsmen to usher in the five people that had been found in the coach. Three of the five were babbling or shouting in utter confusion, which was perfectly understandable. Before they'd dissolved their Blending, Driff and his Blendingmates had freed the people Honrita Grohl had had under her control.

"Arbon!" Idresia exclaimed as she moved toward a man who looked tired but delighted. "You wonderful, talented man! How did you manage to hold back during that attack and the defense afterward when you were under complete control?"

"Idresia, it's good to see you again," the man called Arbon responded with a warm smile. "And to answer your question, I'm not completely sure how I managed the trick. I only know that I was so totally opposed to being a part of that woman's insane plan that she wasn't able to control my inner mind. I suppose I used my stubbornness to fight her, that same stubbornness that most people think so little of."

"The stubbornness we were both yelled at for showing," Idresia agreed with a laugh as she touched the man's arm. "Once you're back to your teaching job, you're going to have to add that trick to what you teach other Fire magic users. We'll all do what we can to keep Spirit magic users from betraying their talent the way this one did, but having Fire magic users able to resist anyone who gets around our safeguards will help enormously."

"It certainly will," Driff said with his own smile as he joined the small group. "Since attack and defense is in the Fire magic user's province, any future attempted coup should be stopped before it starts. But let's get those other people calmed and out of here. They need to go home to the people worrying about them, and then we'll have time for a visit."

Idresia and Arbon nodded, so Driff turned away toward the other three victims of madness. The heavy woman and other man now stood quietly, which showed that Edmin had already done his part. Edmin himself stood and talked to the thin woman, and despite an odd expression on her face she nodded her head slowly.

"Well, now that you're no longer involved in someone else's plots, you're free to leave," Driff said to the two people who stood looking at him. "But first I need to ask you a question. Holdis Ayl wasn't in the coach with you, and we found no trace of him in the area where the coach had stopped. Can you tell me where the man went?"

"We haven't seen that horrible man in days," the heavy woman responded, a faint disturbance behind her haughty words. "The Grohl woman threw him out, and then made sure he couldn't follow us to the new house. We don't know where Ayl is and I, for one, don't
want
to know. May I go home now?"

"Some of the guardsmen will escort you back to where you belong," Driff said, gesturing toward the door. "You're free to leave any time you wish."

The heavy woman nodded once and then headed for the door, and after a brief hesitation the man followed her. He seemed vaguely disturbed about something, and Driff made a mental note to have someone with Spirit magic visit the victims in a day or two. They might have problems they would find it difficult to get over, and there was also the reason they were chosen by Ayl in the first place. Lack of stability might be one of the things Ayl had looked for in addition to strength of talent…

"Thank you," Driff heard the thin woman say, and then she was also heading for the door. Her words had been addressed to Edmin, who stood watching her leave with a heavy sense of satisfaction.

"What was that all about?" Driff asked Edmin once the woman was gone. "What was she thanking you for?"

"Well, I asked her if she was content to simply go back to the life she left," Edmin replied, showing an odd smile. "I asked in the first place because I had the impression she wasn't, and that turned out to be true. Her father uses her and the rest of his family as slaves to his whims, but she didn't know how to free herself. I helped her out with that, and now she'll be able to leave home and live on her own. I also promised to see what we could do to free her sisters."

"I think we're going to have to interview everyone in this city to find all the petty tyrants and bullies and advantage-takers," Driff said with a sigh. "The first step will be for those of us who are obviously stable to check on the members of all Blendings, and then we can use the Blending entities to do the interviews. Even the entities of Low Blendings ought to be able to accomplish the interviews, so hopefully the project won't take forever."

"But it's a very necessary step," Issini said as she came over to join Driff and Edmin. "People with serious personal problems have no business being in charge of children, even if the children are their own. We don't need any more twisted individuals that have to be coped with, and we'll need to talk to the Seated Blending as soon as they get back - and it's safe for them to be here because we've solved the problem holding the Highs."

"Speaking of twisted individuals, what are we going to do with the one we have at the moment?" Driff said, turning to study Honrita Grohl where she stood with her hands clasped and a resolute expression on her face. "I don't need Spirit magic to know that she still believes she has a chance to make her plans work."