Prophecy (20 page)

When their group rode directly into the town, they were given a few curious glances by the passersby but no one stopped to stare, or point, or take to their heels. That was only faintly comforting to Vallant, who turned to nod at the Spirit magic member of the second Blending with them. The man returned Vallant’s nod and then took on the distracted air of someone turning his attention inward, which meant he was initiating his Blending the way he was supposed to. He and his five had learned to brace themselves in their saddles, with their entity having their mounts under full control. They would take the first look around, giving anyone who watched the impression that Vallant’s Blending approached with nothing in their hearts but trust.

The town had large, pretty shops with wooden walks in front which were well taken care of. And their main street was cobbled, showing that they were just as prosperous as the rest of the rather small town suggested. The locals seemed to hold themselves with pride and satisfaction, and everyone appeared to be well dressed. At the end of the first street was a fountain, an intricate thing composed of dancing children and animals, and the street beyond it contained more shops and houses. The group was just passing the fountain when the entity of the second Blending touched Vallant’s thoughts.

*
Nothing here seems to be out of order,
* the entity told him silently in his head. *
This being has found a fairly large group of those who do nothing but wait, but much of the group is composed of flesh forms who appear to be less than Low talents. Touching them was somewhat disagreeable, and yet that was not because they harbor hidden thoughts of attack and destruction. They sit with the others in a dwelling not far from here, and some of the group have grown depressed from the boredom.
*

“Just where is this place where they’rewaitin’?” Vallant asked aloud, knowing the entity would be able to hear him. “And what do those flesh forms look like? Are they composed mainly of men who remind you of the guardsman part of our group?”

*
This being is reminded of none of those who are part of our larger group,
* the entity replied in Vallant’s mind. *
The flesh forms are mainly too well fed, which includes those who are slender in physical appearance. The place where they wait is located to the left, two of these divisions from the crossing you now approach.
*

“Thank you, and you may now return to your own flesh forms,” Vallant said, then turned to Jovvi. “Our reception committee is waitin’ a couple of streets away to the left, so we’ll turn at the next corner. And they sound like merchants or nobles from the description I was given.”

“I prefer that to having them look like guardsmen,” Jovvi said wryly, obviously having heard what he’d said to the entity. “So if this is a trap, it can’t be an ordinary one.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it
was
other than ordinary,” Vallant countered, part of him refusing to be anything other than sour. “They could be a bunch of merchants waitin’ to sell us things, and ready to badger us to death if we don’t buy. That would be one way of gettin’ rid of us.”

Rather than answer in words, Jovvi made an odd, strangling sound. When Vallant looked at her he realized that she was struggling not to laugh aloud, knowing how little his current mood would enjoy a reaction like that. He appreciated the attempt, but his being aware of it ruined the reason for it in the first place.

“All right, no need to hurt yourself swallowin’ the laughter,” he grudged after a moment. “I suppose the comment
was
on the funny side…”

That seemed to tickle her even more, and her delighted laughter rang out even as she touched his hand in thanks for his understanding. She was a beautiful, wonderful woman, and Vallant was only sorry that he and Lorand hadn’t switched their interest right from the beginning. Jovvi would never have given him half the problems Tamrissa did…

That settled the sour mood even more firmly on him, so Vallant led the way to the left at the next cross street without a comment. A glance had shown him that the second Blending had dissolved their entity and were now back with them, their members looking a good deal more relaxed than they had. They were clearly convinced that no danger awaited at their destination, which Vallant found almost disappointing. He would have enjoyed a good rousing fight right about now…

Two blocks farther down was an odd arrangement, the likes of which Vallant had never seen. Most inns were either in a town—and not far from taverns and eating parlors—or standing alone along the road and
containing
places to eat and drink. What they now approached was an enclave of sorts, with the three very large inns standing in the midst of green lawn and trees. Each building was surrounded by lawn as if it were a ship on the ocean, and only at the very edge of the lawn area, back out of easy sight, were other buildings. The three inns appeared to be alone in their togetherness, if such a thing could make any sense.

“That’s really quite lovely,” Jovvi murmured, her amusement having disappeared some time earlier. “The balance is so perfectly fitting along with the landscape, an artist must have designed the arrangement. But the inn on the right has a large number of people, while the other two can’t have more than staff members present. Do we pay our respects first, or register first?”

“I’ll enjoy registerin’ a lot more if we get some questions answered first,” Vallant replied, not in the least unsure. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll try somethin’, and then we won’t feel guilty about not payin’ after we take care of it. If we do have to pay, the gold we have with us may not be enough.”

“Yes, it does look rather expensive, doesn’t it,” Jovvi agree with a sigh. “Just sitting on that lawn would be pure relaxation, especially facing that somewhat circular drive. Its curves are all part of the design arrangement … and now I want that bath more than ever. But I also have the distinct feeling that after we bathe we won’t be as impressive to the people waiting for us as we are right now.”

“You mean we can use lookin’ like desperados for our own purposes,” Vallant said, understanding the point immediately. “I think you’reright, and it’s a good thing—because that’s what I meant to do anyway.”

This time Jovvi only smiled, and then they were approaching the curving, circular drive which led to the three inns in turn. But the drive didn’t link the three buildings, not directly at least, with those sweeping curves. And there, off to the right, behind a stand of screening trees, seemed to be immense stables. They wouldn’t be visible from any of the three inns, and were only just visible from the foot of the drive.

Vallant led the way to the first of the inns, but he wasn’t happy about it. The closer they got to Gan Garee the more … trapped he felt, the more surrounded and outnumbered. He wouldn’t have minded so much for himself, but the others were riding toward the trap right along with him. If these people waiting for them
did
prove to be helpful in some way, that would only bring the time closer when their five would have to enter Gan Garee again.

And that could very well end their lives, all their lives, whether or not misunderstandings were straightened out and hurts were soothed. Their Blending was stronger than that of the Seated Five, but it would be foolish to assume that facing those five enemies again would be all they had ahead of them. Their enemies knew who was stronger, so they could be counted on to avoid a direct confrontation until no other option was open to them.

So Vallant had a decision to make while they were waiting for their army to catch up, and it would prove to be the hardest decision he’d ever made in his life…

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

When they reached the inn Lorand dismounted, then moved around to the right side of his horse to help Tamrissa dismount. There hadn’t been much conversation between them as they’d ridden, but once they’d reached Colling Green Tamrissa had … come back to herself a bit more, Lorand realized. She’d commented on the town—at least on the amount of it she remembered—and seemed to be making a firm return from the withdrawn and determined stranger she’d been during most of the ride.

Lorand sighed to himself as he helped Tamrissa to the ground, agreeing with Jovvi that they were interfering, but also knowing that he and Jovvi had no choice but to interfere. She had spent her time with Vallant while Lorand stayed with Tamrissa, and later on, once all danger of attack was over, they would change places. They’d hoped to ease the ever-widening rift which was growing between Tamrissa and Vallant, and Lorand hoped that Jovvi had had more success than he had.

“Why is the damn fool stopping?” Tamrissa had muttered when Vallant had halted their group at the brow of the low hill to look down at what they meant to approach. “If anything of a trap is visible from this distance, then those people are idiots and we have nothing to worry about from them.”

“Most people seem to want to look at the place where they’regoing before they go to it,” Lorand had answered lamely, trying to defend Vallant on the one hand and hoping to avoid disturbing Tamrissa on the other. “He’s probably just trying to give everyone a chance to do that. Why have you refused to hear anything he has to say?”

“Why should I listen?” she countered, making no effort to turn her head to look at Lorand. “He never says anything worth hearing, a fact I can testify to from personal experience. On top of that, I’m tired of being asked to listen when
he
wants to talk, and at all other times being expected to accept his silence without question. And I also don’t care to hear excuses for his behavior from every second or third person. To be truthful, I don’t care to hear about him in any way from anyone at all.”

And at that point she
had
looked at Lorand, in a way which had ended the discussion right there. Lorand knew that Tamrissa would never hurt him, but the hint of flames in her gaze was now an almost constant thing. If her temper flared then her talent might do the same, before she could consciously halt it. Lorand had overheard two High talents in Fire magic discussing Tamrissa’s strength with awe in their voices, and therefore was doubly anxious to avoid all possibility of an accident.

“We’d better move up with the others,” Lorand now said to a Tamrissa who currently stretched the aches of the ride out of her back. “Since we’rethe ones they want to see, it’s only right if we walk in there first.”

“It’s also the place for the strongest among us,” Tamrissa said in agreement. “Any traps should be set up to neutralize
us
, and will hopefully overlook completely the second Blending we have with us. If there’s something in there that we can’t handle alone, our second will help us to get out of it.”

“I certainly hope so,” Lorand muttered, but only to himself. Master Lugal hadn’t known why his superiors wanted to talk to them, but the fact that they’d been told about it in
his
former home town made Lorand feel personally responsible for whatever would happen. Intellectually he knew that the decision to come had been a group effort, but that knowledge did nothing to alter the set of his emotions.

Rion and Naran were already on their way to joining Jovvi and Vallant, so Lorand and Tamrissa brought up the rear. But that was only the rear of their own group. The five link sets and the second Blending formed up in the true rear, pretending that they were only casually grouped. Their mounts formed a solid line all along the front of the very dignified-looking inn, a barrier that would hopefully keep any hidden attackers from approaching very quickly from behind them.

Lorand glanced at the sky as they moved in a body toward the entrance to the inn, seeing the clouds already beginning to roll in. There would be rain by nightfall, which gave them even more incentive to take care of whatever lay ahead of them. They no longer had wagons to take shelter under when they camped for the night, so it would be either stay at one of the inns or sleep in the dripping wet. They’d all had more than enough of roughing it, so it would take quite a lot to keep them out of clean, comfortable beds tonight.

Vallant led the way inside, making no effort to let Jovvi walk in ahead of him the way he normally would have. Lorand felt grateful for that deliberate lapse in gentlemanly behavior, and that despite the fact that Jovvi was more than capable of taking care of herself. Until they found out what the Guild people wanted, their ladies would
not
be put in a position where they would be the first to face an attack. Rion and Naran entered behind Vallant and Jovvi, and then it was Lorand and Tamrissa walking in to look around.

The inn’s entrance area was carpeted almost up to the double doors, with thickly upholstered furniture and beautifully carved tables carefully arranged across it. Half a dozen people sat in some of that furniture, and now they sat staring at the newcomers. From their expressions of stunned shock Lorand gathered that Jovvi had been working to keep these people from being aware of their approach, which was a really good idea. An older man among the group stood shakily as he looked briefly toward a boy and gestured at him, and as the boy ran off the man offered an awkward bow.

“Unless I am very much mistaken, gentles, you are certainly expected,” the man said in an unsteady voice, his gaze moving back and forth among them. “May I ask who succeeded in sending you here?”

“It was master Lugal, in Widdertown,” Lorand supplied when no one else spoke up. “How many others did you leave your … request with?”

“Why, with everyone,” the man responded, showing his surprise. “We knew you had escaped from Gan Garee, but we had no way of knowing which direction you would take. So we sent messages by pigeon in every direction, knowing that
someone
would come across you… The others will be here in just a few minutes, but I’m afraid there aren’t chairs enough for your entire escort. If the five of you will seat yourselves, I can see about having more chairs brought out and having refreshments served…”

“Thank you, but until we find out what this is all about, we prefer to stand,” Vallant said in a hard and grating tone that made the poor man flinch. “I’m sure you understand that we’ve had to learn caution.”