Challenges (20 page)

The man’s tone and words were as familiar to Selendi and Bron as they were to Delin, coming as they did from a figure of authority very much like the Advisors—or their fathers. It wasn’t possible to argue or disobey, and Delin had to exert quite a lot of self control to keep from twitching the way Bron and Selendi did. Homin simply shrank into himself, as though he were just as guilty of trying to avoid his responsibilities. All three touched their wraps in some self-conscious way, and then came quickly forward to find places to sit.

“No, don’t bother sitting down,” Lord Idian said at once in the same inflexible tone. “In the beginning you will stand when practicing this exercise, as the symbolism will assist you in attaining the physical reality. And in a very real way Blending
is
physical, despite the linking of minds to achieve it. We’ll begin with a straight line consisting of Fire, Spirit, and Earth, in that order, one behind the other with a distance of two feet between each of them.”

Delin stood up a bare moment before Kambil did, the two of them immediately walking over to join Bron. The Fire magic user seemed sullen but beyond the point of making objections, and the three of them were quickly in line.

“Now Air and Water will kindly add themselves to the arrangement beside Spirit, Air to the left and Water to the right,” Lord Idian continued, invisible to Delin where he stood. Their mentor was still seated, and apparently meant to stay that way. “Please be aware of the distance between you and Spirit, which should not exceed nor lessen the same two feet.”

Delin watched Selendi and Homin position themselves, the two using more care than with anything they’d done since arriving at the residence. It struck him then that he might have been too quick in his displeasure with Lord Idian, who now had them all behaving as efficiently as possible. Anything that helped his unruly group to become an actual, functioning Blending was beneficial, even if the man did remind him of his father.

“Now you must all open yourselves to the power, then close your eyes and use your minds,” Lord Idian went on. “Spirit will reach out with his talent to touch all of you, and when you feel his touch you must attempt to return it. But don’t anticipate. Wait until Spirit has reached you, and only then make your own attempt.”

Delin had already closed his eyes, so he didn’t know whether any of the others had nodded. It was perfectly clear that none of them had spoken, the others presumably as intent as he on what they were in the midst of. And their part was difficult, requiring as it did that they do nothing but wait for Kambil to act. That could well take—

A small gasp escaped Delin when he felt himself touched by a gossamer thread that could have been produced by no one but Kambil. It was the faintest trace at first, but then it strengthened to the point where there was absolutely no doubt. Kambil now touched him firmly, and that made it his turn to return the touch.

Delin had rarely used as much concentration as he did now. The power hummed all through his body as he reached toward Kambil, guided by the firm touch already established in his direction. The distance of his reach turned out to be longer than he’d expected, but after what could only have been seconds he actually came in contact with the Spirit magic user! The experience was incredible, more vital and electrifying than anything he’d ever done before, making him want to laugh like a madman. His dream was becoming a reality, one that went beyond even what he had envisioned.

The first thrill of contact didn’t so much fade as settle down comfortably. The awareness of it remained, but Delin was able to … look around, so to speak. His senses now rode along the double contact between him and Kambil, a contact which allowed him to be aware of certain things. Like Homin’s presence, somewhere to the right of both him and Kambil. The Water magic user also stood to the right, but the sense of him was somehow different…

“All right, Spirit, by now you should be in contact with the others, and they with you.” Lord Idian’s voice came to Delin clearly, but somehow from a long distance off. “You should be fully aware of them in the sphere the five of you have created, and each of them should be fully aware of you but only distantly aware of each other. You’ve reached that point, have you not?”

“Actually, no,” Kambil said, a frown clear in his voice. “I’ve touched all four of them, but only Delin and Homin have managed to return the touch. Selendi and Bron are still half out of reach.”

“It’s not my fault,” Selendi said at once, defensiveness strong in the words. “I just can’t seem to
find
him, not when I’m still half asleep. It’s simply too hard right now.”

“It isn’t my fault either,” Bron added his own oar, the words as sullen as his expression undoubtedly was. “I know exactly where he is, but something is keeping me from reaching him. It isn’t
my
fault if something does that.”

“Indeed,” Lord Idian commented dryly, clearly displeased. “It may well be that you’re incompatible with the others. If so, there will be no Blending of your group, and you will be spectators at the competitions, not participants. You may all relax now.”

Delin broke contact with Kambil immediately, before the surge of terror and rage he felt was able to travel up the connection between them. He’d
known
those fools would cause trouble, and the only surprise involved was that Homin wasn’t guilty as well. If they ruined this for him, he’d—

“Why don’t you three go along to breakfast, and we’ll continue this tomorrow,” Lord Idian said to Selendi, Homin, and Bron. The man’s voice was still commanding, but some of the sternness had faded. Selendi seemed almost in tears, and Homin cooed comfort at her as he guided her toward the door with an arm around her shoulders. Bron’s sullenness had changed in some manner, as though fear now tinged his perpetual resentment, and he hesitated only a moment before following the two out. He hadn’t made eye contact with anyone, and seemed determined to keep to that as long as possible.

“I believe I’ll have to have a talk with those two,” Kambil said once the three were gone. “I don’t think Selendi was putting enough strength into her effort, but Bron—I still don’t know what
his
problem is.”

“It’s likely the most common problem in groups such as yours,” Lord Idian replied, now back to being warm and friendly. “Lord Bron apparently resents direction of any sort, and is used to turning stubborn in the presence of it. Once he thoroughly understands that no one will coax and wheedle him to try again if he fails, he may find it possible to push aside his habitual behavior. If not…”

“If not, we’ll
all
look like fools,” Delin finished sourly, keeping the rest of his emotions well out of Idian’s sight. “All my friends know what I’m in the middle of, and if we don’t even make it to the competitions they’ll never stop laughing. If Bron doesn’t get over whatever it is keeping him from doing his part, I’ll certainly throttle him.”

“With Fire magic being as important as it is to a Blending, you might consider appealing to his vanity instead,” Lord Idian said with a chuckle as he rose from his chair. “And as far as the girl goes, have either of you lain with her yet?”

Delin exchanged a glance with Kambil as they both shook their heads. Had they mistaken the proper time when that ought to be done?

“You, Lord Kambil, should do so at once, and you, Lord Delin, as soon afterward as practical,” Lord Idian said, his nod telling them he wasn’t surprised at their answer. “Physical intimacy strengthens the bond of talent much more than you would believe, which means the others must lie with her as well. A pity you have only the one female, as two has proven itself optimum. Most of your … connections beyond the one with Spirit will need to go through the woman—unless two or more of you men have been intimate? No? A pity, but we all must work with what we have. Until tomorrow, gentles.”

Lord Idian bowed very slightly and then left them, and Kambil went to the windows and moved the drape somewhat aside. He looked out for a very long moment, then finally turned back to Delin.

“He’s gone,” Kambil said as he returned to where Delin stood. “And he was quite right about what’s ailing Bron, but he missed the most important part: Bron believes that a ‘leader’ ought to remain aloof from his ‘followers,’ mixing with them only when absolutely necessary and then not completely. It looks like our brilliant idea has backfired on us and singed our fingers.”

“I knew it was a mistake encouraging him in that, I just knew it!” Delin spat, barely able to keep himself from laying the blame exactly where it belonged: on Kambil. “Now I’ll have to do something about it, and pray it doesn’t turn out to be too little and too late.”

“Let me handle it,” Kambil said, and his tone somehow calmed Delin’s agitation a bit. “I think I can talk him out of that attitude, and he’s already begun to talk himself out of the other. Not being pushed or argued with frightened him, since it made him realize that failure now will be no one’s fault but his own. If you say anything to him at all, any failure will immediately become
your
fault.”

“Won’t the same thing happen with you?” Delin asked, cautiously relieved. “Logically speaking, it ought to.”

“With me it isn’t a matter of logic,” Kambil replied with a smile. “I can keep Bron’s fear from fading, for instance, and can encourage the idea of mixing with the rest of us. Being able to use his own emotions against him will keep me out of the position he puts everyone else into.”

“I sincerely hope so,” Delin commented, finding it only fitting that Kambil clean up his own mess. “And don’t forget about Selendi. The two of them have to be ready by tomorrow, sooner if possible. If we lose this opportunity because of those two, I’ll kill them with my bare hands.”

Kambil nodded with distraction and headed out of the room, either not noticing or simply not commenting about the fact that Delin hadn’t been joking. He stood in the middle of the room, his eyes unblinking, his hands opening and closing at his sides. No, he wasn’t joking about killing those useless fools, not joking in the least…

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Kambil escorted Selendi into the dining room for dinner, seating her beside Homin before going to take his own place at the table. Homin snarled on the inside at Selendi’s satisfied little smile, but when she immediately lost interest in Kambil in favor of himself, the snarl disappeared amid delighted surprise. Kambil had assured Homin that he would return Selendi with no harm done to their relationship, but Homin hadn’t believed it. The small man also hadn’t been able to argue the necessity after it had been explained to him, but he’d been certain that Selendi would be lost to him afterward. Now that his fears had proven groundless, what he felt toward Kambil was almost love.

Which was exactly what Kambil had been trying for. He smiled to himself as he sat, but the amount of work he’d done today left him only enough strength for a rather faint private smile. First he’d had to explain to Homin why others needed to lie with the first woman who had ever taken any sort of interest in Homin. Without his ability the effort probably would have been wasted, and their group would have broken up right then and there.

But his ability was more than simply adequate, so Homin had accepted the necessity. It would have been nice to reward himself with Selendi after that, but first he’d had to see to Bron. If he’d told Delin that letting Bron think of himself as their leader was a mistake, Delin would never have believed him. As it was the man now blamed
him
for using the flawed technique, since blaming himself was out of the question for Delin. Kambil had been able to see all that clearly, not to mention how close Delin was to losing his grip on all pretense of normality and sanity.

So he’d volunteered to see to Bron, which had relieved Delin’s mind. Delin hadn’t been able to think of a way out of the trap, but Kambil had expected the problem and so was prepared. Working with Bron was like working with a stone wall already set in cement, but the man really had very little imagination. That made things much easier, and by the time Kambil had left him, Bron was eagerly looking forward to being “one of the very, very few.” At their next attempt he would embrace the idea of Blending, both to elevate his social status and to keep from becoming a laughingstock.

Then it had become time to lie with Selendi, but not simply for the sake of the Blending or even purely for the pleasure. Selendi liked to be in control of when she bestowed her favors, and was more than capable of refusing to cooperate just to exercise that control. Kambil had had to see to that part of it first, and then he’d had to set the right frame of mind for her for their next session. To say that her effort at Blending had been half-hearted would be to overstate the effort, but the next time would be another story.

Only then had he been able to enjoy lying with her, using her warped need for acceptance and control to satisfy his own physical requirements. It had been a long, intense time of delightful exertion, and afterward they’d both fallen asleep. But not before Kambil reinforced his work with her, bringing her to full compliance. He’d used the nap to regain a good part of the strength he’d expended, but the thought of going to bed—alone! remained an attractive one.

And yet there was still Delin to consider. Kambil sipped from his wine glass as he watched the man saunter into the dining room, showing the world nothing but languid charm. On the inside, however, there was a roiling, agitated mass of fear and determination and ruthlessness, all held in a precarious control that could be swept away at any moment. His mind filled with hatred and loathing when he glanced at Homin and Selendi, and the emotion eased only a very little when he nodded to Kambil before taking his seat.

“Bron’s late
again
?” he asked in mock horror, pretending to tease about a subject which actually came close to setting him frothing at the mouth. “I can understand being late to dull and unimportant meetings, but when you start arriving late to meals you definitely have a problem.”

“Bron had a visitor this afternoon, and they spent quite a lot of time in the bath house,” Kambil supplied, pretending himself that the subject was nothing but idle conversation. “He began to dress as soon as she left, so he ought to be with us at any moment.”