Destiny (48 page)

"We're not the ones who have made the decision," Allovin said, holding up one hand. "What you have to do is continue on with what you've already started, which is spreading knowledge of Blending techniques and building on that foundation. I can't tell you much about what you'll discover, because we don't want to limit the possibilities. We'll give you a hand every now and again, and if you come up with something
we
don't have we'd appreciate being able to share it. But there
is
one point you'll never have to worry about again."

"What point is that?" Naran asked while I tried to decide whether I believed the man. "The possibility that our lives will ever be free of complete chaos?"

"No, and that's another thing you won't have bothering you," Allovin said behind a small laugh. "Things will begin to settle down for you very soon now, and you'll be able to guide those coming after you to full Blending - and investigating what can be done with the state. The point I meant involves making your offspring and those of your supporters into something other than a spoiled nobility."

"You're willing to tell us how that can be done?" Jovvi asked, only just beating me to asking the same. "If you do,
I'm
willing to forgive quite a lot."

"There's no need for you to buy the information, because you already have it," Allovin said, and his smile had turned warm and sharing. "It's the state of full Blending itself that will provide everything you need. Your children and those of your followers will be raised with love and the standards of fair play, two essential ingredients for producing people who are healthy in mind as well as in body. You'll accept your children for what they are rather than what you or someone else imagines they should be, and you'll be proud of even their smallest accomplishments. In that way they'll grow up expecting to surpass what their parents accomplished, but if they don't the lack won't bother them. They'll know they're loved and accepted anyway."

"It can't be that easy," I said, the words coming out flat. "If it was, there would be a lot more people having untroubled children."

"But it just
may
be that easy," Vallant disagreed before Allovin could speak. "My own parents raised competent, lovin', and capable children, and we all knew they were there for us even if they happened to be away visitin' somewhere. One of my brothers wasn't quite as … all-around capable as the rest of us, but that never mattered. My father worked with him until he found somethin' my brother
was
good at, which happened to be nothin' more than keepin' things neat. So our father found my brother a job goin' from business to business in town, tellin' people the best way to keep their places neat. It worked out well, and my brother did the same for
us
without charge."

"Proving that even the smallest of talents can be put to good use if someone takes the trouble to try," Allovin said with a nod and another smile, but then the smile disappeared. "The only ones you'll have trouble with are those who, for some reason, are born with … odd differences inside them. You'll find it possible to heal some of those children, but the ones you can't… You'll have to decide for yourselves what to do with them, but one thing you won't be able to do is let them live among you. It won't be good for you
or
for the children."

"Let's not think about that right now," Lorand said once we'd all exchanged uneasy glances. "We've had enough trouble lately that we don't need to borrow any from the future. Instead let's get back to getting some of our questions answered. Allovin, you said that our ancestors were chosen instead of us, but just how did your people do that? And what about those 'signs' that were supposed to indicate the Chosen Blending? Were your people responsible for those?"

"Yes, we were the ones who produced the 'signs,' all of them," Allovin admitted with a chuckle. "The first sign had to be public so that you would have the support of the Guild when you needed it, and the rest of the signs came when you six needed the bolstering. Even Naran experienced some signs, although I know she never talked about them. At first she didn't realize their significance, and later, when she did, she decided not to make the rest of you even more upset than you were."

"You used the Sight to guide you," Naran said abruptly, as though just realizing the truth. "You knew we would need help when we came back to Gan Garee to face the usurpers, so you provided for that help well in advance. Can your people really see that far into the future?"

"It's less a matter of Seeing than of separating out the probabilities," Allovin told her, and now his smile looked encouraging. "The method takes a lot of people working together, and then the probabilities have to be linked to their various possibilities. Once you understand that … taking a drink of water at the wrong time, for instance, can lead to the deaths of a hundred people, you start to learn what to do and what not to. We'll get you started on the right track with that, as soon as you have enough full Blendings to get somewhere with the method."

"Does that mean you determined you'd get the Blending members you needed if certain people were paired off?" I asked, having been thinking about the question. "If so, you're saying you forced people together for your own ends. And that's your idea of doing something good?"

"No, that isn't our idea of doing something good, so we didn't force anything," Allovin stated, all amusement now gone. "We determined which pairings would produce the best results, and arranged for the individuals involved to meet. We did that with ten times the number we actually needed, because we knew that not all the pairings would be made. We did that over and over for two hundred years, and at last got the members of
your
generation. You may have noticed that you're not the only ones who are third level High talents. You just happen to be the strongest of them, and we did have a hand in bringing all of you together. If you hadn't matched each other so well, we'd never have encouraged the arrangement. But you blended as individuals before you ever Blended formally, and that's when we knew we'd found success."

"I just remembered something," I said, feeling the new frown I wore. "While we were on the way to Gracely we were all approached by people who felt 'attracted' to us, but when we tried to find those people they'd disappeared. I have the definite feeling that those people were yours rather than a group working for the Gracelians, and I'd like to know why you sent them. We had a really bad time because of those 'advances.'"

"No, Rion and Naran had the really bad time, not all of you," Allovin said, nothing whatsoever of amusement showing. "That particular issue had to be forced, to keep it from turning around and biting
all
of you at some later time. Rion had to learn that associating only with his sisters was his
choice
, not something forced on him by circumstance. Naran had to learn that loving someone isn't the only thing life has to offer, and Lorand had to start gaining a more complete understanding of his own situation. The time may not have been pleasant, but it was certainly necessary."

Rion, Naran, and Lorand exchanged glances, but none of them seemed prepared to argue what had been said. Their expressions were rueful, but since they weren't complaining bitterly on their own behalf, I couldn't quite continue to be insulted
for
them.

"I think I'd like to clarify something," Jovvi said in an obviously deliberate change of topic, her gaze directly on Allovin where he sat. "You and your people started us on our way, so to speak, but you're all done with 'arranging' things from the shadows now. From this point on we're free to do as we think best, without anyone manipulating events to force us in the direction they want us to go. Is that right?"

"Your conclusion is right, even though you didn't quite state the situation properly," Allovin told her, still showing full seriousness. "We didn't do a lot of the manipulating, we just helped along much of what would have happened anyway, only in a less optimum way. If you six hadn't met, where would the people of Gracely, Gandistra, and Astinda be today?"

That question put an end to my urge to laugh in the man's face over his claim that he and his people hadn't manipulated us. If my Blendingmates and I hadn't met and gotten together, the usurpers might still have been on the Throne when the avenging force from Astinda reached Gan Garee. At that point almost everyone in the city would have died, not even counting those who would have been killed when the Astindan forces left Gandistra again.

We also wouldn't have been there to help the Gracelian assembly members face the invaders, so Gracely would have fallen. After that the people of Gandistra would have been conquered, and then the Astindans would have had their turn. No one would have been left their freedom on the entire continent, and all that had been avoided because -

"All right, maybe manipulation isn't a horrible perversion under
all
circumstances," I granted in a grumble. "But what I don't understand is why your people didn't just step in and avoid all the trouble before it started. You could have stopped the invaders before they took over wherever they come from, visited the Gracelians and told them what they were doing wrong, made the nobility stop being stupid here in Gandistra - "

"Ahh, I think you've just seen the light, Tamrissa," Allovin said with a return of his widest grin. "Of course we could have done everything you suggested, and we could even have made everyone involved listen to us. But you could also have forced the Gracelian assembly members to do things your way, only you didn't. Full Blending can only be achieved by fair-minded people, and it isn't very fair to take over the lives and minds of those around you. You have to give them the chance to do the right thing on their own, or to stay with what's demonstrably wrong and live with the consequences. Besides, how closely would
you
have listened to strangers who moved in and took over running your country?"

"Not very closely," Vallant granted the man when I just shrugged to show I couldn't argue with what he'd said. "And instead of listenin' and learnin', we would have spent our time figurin' out ways to get you out of our lives. This
was
the better way of doin' things."

"Although I feel a good deal of personal reluctance, I also must agree," Rion said, voicing a sigh. "A difficult childhood is of relative unimportance when compared with the various benefits eventually obtained by myself and others. But we've left our companions a far distance from here in another land. Much as I would enjoy remaining here and not have to face the long overland trip back, in all fairness we can't simply abandon the people who have supported us so well."

"Well, actually, you won't
have
to abandon them," Allovin told us with badly hidden amusement when the rest of us groaned our agreement with what Rion had said. "You six aren't strong enough to transport more than yourselves yet, but my people and I have been using the trick for a good deal longer. Once you straighten out the confusion here, I'll go back to Gracely with you. By then all the former slaves ought to have been freed, so we'll be able to get you and all your people back here for good."

"I think I may eventually learn to love you," I told Allovin after shaking my head. "We'll have to wait to find out, but I just thought of another couple of questions. Why did you transport me here in my sleep? And why did you and your people freeze all the Highs in the city in one place for so long?"

"Actually, we had nothing to do with transporting you here to your old house," Allovin said with another grin. "You and your Blendingmates have been yearning toward the time when life was less complicated for you, the others all sharing
your
dream of being home again. Once you learned how to consciously transport yourself a short distance, your inner mind seized on the technique, used your link groups for the needed strength, and took you where you so badly wanted to go. But don't worry, you'll be taught how to keep something like that from happening again."

"
Now
I'm delighted," I answered, referring back to his original comments. "But you haven't said why you did what you did to the Highs in this city."

"There were two reasons," Allovin replied, this time voicing his own sigh. "The first was because of those damaged people who were just recently captured. The chances were too good that they would succeed in taking over a High Blending, and that would have made for unnecessary bloodshed and death. You six would have been able to defeat them eventually, but not without the loss of too many lives. The second reason was to teach something it took
us
far too long to learn: it isn't only those with High talent who have something special to offer to the world. As you said, Tamrissa, the strong possibility exists that there won't be any competitions held a year from now. By then a large number of you will have learned that strength isn't everything."

"That should also mean that
we'll
be off the hook," I said, looking at my Blendingmates with true delight. "No one can insist that we stay in charge if being in charge isn't restricted to the strongest."

"Now,
that
I like," Lorand said with a laugh that the others shared in. "Once we get things started up the right path, we'll be free to become private citizens again. And we can find out if more of us than just Rion has a talent for cooking."

"Don't look in
my
direction for that talent," Jovvi said with her own laugh. "I'm much happier just eating what those with true talent provide. And speaking of eating, will you take the noon meal with us, Drees Allovin? We're certain to think of other questions by then that need answering."