Intrigues (33 page)

"I think what does need mentioning is the visitor I had this morning," Naran put in with a quick smile of apology for Vallant. "Master Ristor Ardanis came to call, along with additional members of his Sight magic people. He explained that he'd come to replace those members of my link groups that had joined one or another of the other Blendings. Somehow he knew the exact number to bring."

Naran's words had turned very dry, and Jovvi could understand that.

"How interesting that the man showed up just at a time when the only two members of the Blending equipped to tell truth from lie weren't here," Jovvi couldn't help pointing out. "It must surely have been a coincidence."

"Oh, yes, definitely," Naran agreed, the words as dry as her previous ones. "To think that he timed his visit carefully would be to assume that the man was hiding something. And you should have heard his apology for not having provided me the teachers he said he would. He assured me that trying any training now would have been a waste of effort, with everything in a flux around us at this time. But as soon as we get back from taking care of the army, we'll get right to the training."

"Of course you will," Rion said in the same tone Naran had used, but one with a slightly sharper edge. "But if there's another delay then, we'll
all
have a little talk with Master Ristor Ardanis. I may have thought of a way to track him down."

"But that isn't possible, my love," Naran said with a small laugh as she turned to Rion. They'd reached a sitting room in Jovvi's wing, one with a tea service that Jovvi headed for. Not having tea whenever she wanted some was one of the things Jovvi would definitely miss on the road…

"You can't track down someone with Sight magic, Rion," Naran continued with a smile. "Master Ardanis would always know when we were coming, and would make sure to be somewhere else."

"But that, my love, is the key to finding him," Rion disagreed with a smile of his own. "If enough people are looking all at the same time, won't the possibilities get so complex and muddied that he'll have difficulty knowing the best steps to take? If we can confuse the future badly enough, we'll find him standing in one place like the donkey between two haystacks, frozen by the need to decide which way to go."

"You know, that just might work," Naran said slowly, her brows high as she considered the idea. "Something else would also have to be done, I think, something I can't see yet, but I'll try to come up with what we're missing. Even if we never use the method, it will still be handy to have it available."

"That's for certain," Lorand agreed, standing behind Jovvi as he waited for his turn at the tea. "Vallant, did you explain to Pagin Holter and his people why it wasn't them we decided to leave in Gan Garee?"

"Yes, and they agree with our thinkin'," Vallant answered from where he stood next to Tamma. "Our two Blendin's, bein' the strongest and most mature, need to explore what they can do together. We can't do much explorin' if we're miles and miles apart, and with them comin' with us we might also be able to practice on that army."

"Maybe we'll find another, easier way to take them over," Tamma put in, no longer looking or sounding angry. "And while we're out there, let's not forget that we'll be looking around for any members of the nobility who weren't here in Gan Garee in time to be arrested. We'll be sending them back to Gan Garee with the Astindans and with the rescued army segments."

"Which will save us time and effort later," Rion said with a nod of agreement. "We'll need to send people all over the empire eventually, letting the more distant areas know about the changes and taking in any members of the former nobility. If we leave them wherever they're hiding, they're bound to make trouble sooner or later."

"And that we certainly don't need," Tamma agreed, then she turned back to Jovvi and Lorand. "Lavrit Mohr also came by this morning, to tell us that the food shipments have started to come in as of last night. In another few days things will be able to start getting back to normal.”

"Better than normal," Lorand qualified with a smile. "People will now be running their businesses for themselves rather than as slaves to the nobility. And we're almost ready to tell anyone who's interested that they can relocate to and farm any unclaimed land they like. The one thing we don't yet have a handle on is Holdis Ayl and his renegade Guild people."

"One of the Blendings staying behind intends to look into that," Naran put in with a quick smile. "Master Ardanis told me that the group now has its own Sight magic user, and he and his people will help out as best they can. I had the impression that they weren't going to help
too
much, but only because the Blending won't need much help. All the remaining Guild members have been looked at, and the three who stayed behind as spies have been identified but not arrested. As soon as any of the three get in touch with someone, they'll follow the contact back to Ayl."

"We hope," Lorand said with a sigh, then he seemed to throw off the dark mood. "No, I'm going to believe that they'll be successful. When we get back to Gan Garee, there won't be anyone left who hates us."

"What are they puttin' in the tea in this wing?" Vallant asked with a laugh while everyone else smiled. "If you think there won't be anyone around to hate us even with Ayl and his people gone, brother, you'd better brace yourself for a shock. There's always
someone
who hates you, if only because you have somethin' they can't get. All we can do is learn to live with it."

"There may be something else we can do," Jovvi mused, having considered the matter before. "If we can help them find something they consider better than what we have, they won't have a reason to hate any longer. Our new placement service may be one of the things we can use to accomplish that end."

"Along with other things," Naran agreed with a distant look in her eyes, surprising Jovvi. "Yes, the probabilities are definitely there, so we'll have to investigate them when we get back."

"And on that note, I think it's time we separated to make our final preparations for leaving," Tamma pronounced as she straightened where she stood. "I also want a cup of tea, but if I have it here I'll be rushed later. If anyone isn't ready when it's time to do what's necessary, we'll just have to start without them."

She gave everyone a very wide smile with teeth clearly visible, and then she turned and left. Vallant grinned and followed her out after winking to everyone else, leaving Rion and Naran to chuckle their own way out. Jovvi glanced at Lorand, but he just smiled.

"I have a feeling that one of the preparations Tamrissa wants to make involves Vallant," Lorand said with amusement. "There won't be much in the way of privacy once we leave the city, so I think she has a really good idea there."

"Yes, she does, and that does happen to be what she has in mind," Jovvi agreed with a small laugh. "Everyone seems to be getting almost as good as I am at reading people, which is a really pleasant surprise. Now can you tell how
I
feel about the idea, Lorand Coll?"

"Nope, I haven't got a clue," Lorand replied as he put his teacup aside and rose from his chair to join her on the couch she'd chosen. "You probably hate the idea of making love to me as much as you always do, but you've decided to put up with it just to keep the peace. Unless, of course, you somehow know what it does to me when you call me Lorand Coll. But that's not very likely, is it?"

"No, not likely at all," Jovvi murmured as his strong arms closed tightly about her, drawing her to his chest. She raised her face to join him in a kiss, and in no time at all they were ready to move on to other things. Yes, Tamma had definitely had another good idea…

Rion drew his mount to a halt with the others, looking around in the early evening light at the campsite that had been chosen. They'd made good time leaving the city and on the road afterward, so their group wasn't far from the first inn on the eastern road from the city. The inn certainly wasn't large enough to house all of them for the night, but maybe it could be used for another purpose…

"I agree with Rion," Naran said suddenly to the rest of the Blending from where she sat her own horse near Rion's. "We may have to camp out tonight, but at least we can eat at the inn if we eat in shifts."

"That's a great idea, but when did Rion say it?" Tamrissa asked from her place only a few feet away. "I could have sworn he hasn't said a word in the last hour."

"Actually, I was only thinking it," Rion said, bending an inquiring look on Naran. "Have you learned how to read my mind, love?"

"To a certain degree," Naran answered with a blush and a laugh. "You were gazing toward the inn with a half wistful, half wishing expression, and that made me remember what you've said in the past about how good the cooking is at that inn. The step from there to my suggestion is only a small one."

"Aha, then it was logic rather than mind-reading," Lorand said with a laugh all the others shared in. "Speaking for myself, I'm rather relieved. If Naran had learned how to read minds, she might have taught Jovvi and Tamrissa the process, and then we would have been in real trouble, brothers. A man needs to have
some
secrets from his woman."

"I thought it was women who needed to have some secrets from men?" Jovvi put with a glint of amusement in her beautiful eyes. "Is your way really the proper one, Lorand?"

"Personally, I think that
everyone
is entitled to a secret or two," Tamrissa stated with the same kind of amusement. "When people know everything there is to know about you, they decide there's nothing left for them to learn and then they start to ignore you."

"I can't picture
anyone
ignorin'
you
," Vallant said to Tamrissa with a grin while everyone else chuckled. "Actually, I can't picture anyone ignorin' any of you ladies, and one of you has stated a desire. I'm willin' to go along with that desire and eat at the inn, but only to be sociable. It's not like my mouth is already waterin' or anythin'."

"Of course not," Rion said with a laugh, loving the close warmth they all shared. "I'm not
really
yearning to eat there either, but if the group has its heart set on the venture then I'm also willing to go along. Just to be sociable."

"Let's all be sociable and get our link groups," Jovvi suggested during the new laughter. "And since
we
thought of this first, we should get to eat first."

None of their six disagreed with that, and neither did the other Blending and their link groups. Everyone thought that eating at the inn was a marvelous idea, since they'd have more than enough of trail food once they rode farther from the city. Those who were scheduled to eat in the second wave would also set up camp, with those who ate first doing the honors tomorrow night. The chores had to be split up somehow, and that was as good a way as any.

Rion had handed over his saddle bags and bed roll and was on his way back to his horse when a young woman stepped into his path. She was tall and slender and quite attractive, with soft auburn hair and very blue eyes. She also looked nervous for some reason, and her smile was on the tremulous side.

"I hope you don't mind my bothering you, Rion, but I've wanted to say something for quite a while now," the woman said quickly in a very soft voice, her gaze locked to his. "I'm Riltha Mayner, a member of one of Tamrissa's link groups, and I just want to say how attractive I find you. I know I'm probably speaking out of turn, but I simply had to say it. Now that I have, I won't bother you any longer."

And with that the young woman hurried away, her head down as though she'd done something very difficult and possibly dangerous. Rion simply stood there staring after her, more confused than he'd felt in quite some time. It would have been understandable if one of his sisters had said something like that, but a perfect stranger? To say she found him attractive? For what purpose?

Rion continued the rest of the way to his horse and mounted, then let his thoughts roam free while he waited for the others to be ready to leave for the inn. If the young woman had said she found him odd and laughable, Rion would not have been in the least surprised. Many young women had felt that way about him while he still lived with that woman who had called herself his mother, but now so rapid a turn-around was a bit overwhelming. First Naran, and then Tamrissa and Jovvi, and now a complete stranger…

The reverie wasn't so deep that Rion didn't know when the rest of the party was mounted and ready, which was a lucky thing. He really would not have enjoyed discussing the incident right now, not until he'd done quite a bit more in the way of private thinking. Could he really have changed so much that total strangers found him attractive? If so, how should he feel about that…?

They were still a rather large group when they reached the inn, and the stable boys seemed extremely relieved that the horses didn't have to be tended. But almost seventy horses were still a chore, so half of their group helped the stable boys while the rest entered the inn.

The host came forward to meet them looking a bit disconcerted, but when Vallant explained that they would pay for taking up almost all of the inn's dining facilities, the host's disturbance turned to pleasure. It was also a bit early for the arrival of the inn's local dinner custom, so there would be time to set up additional tables in the common area, something the man decided aloud.

After calling a boy to him and giving orders, the host led their group into the dining room. Most of the tables were empty, but the people of their group crowded around them in fives and sixes wherever possible, just to conserve room. Rion estimated that they
would
all fit, but only because the room was comfortably large.

"Please make yourselves at ease, gentles," the host, a short, thin man, told them with a smile. "I'll have what's prepared served right now, and then will begin fresh offerings at once."

Rion joined the others in smiling his thanks to the man, who quickly bowed and left. No more than a minute or two later, three girls hurried out of the kitchen with trays of goblets and cups. They were barely half finished with distributing the drinking accessories when two men appeared.
Their
trays held plates of food, and the first of the food was brought directly to Rion's table. That gesture was surely due to the desire of the host to impress them, but Rion wasn't about to complain.