Prophecy (25 page)

“Yes, it so happens it is,” Mohr replied cautiously, as though he had no intention of agreeing to anything which would destroy his beloved theory. “But I’m afraid I’m missing the point. I’ve seen your group interacting, and there’s been nothing to indicate that that condition doesn’t exist.”

“Unfortunately, sir, that doesn’t happen to be the case,” Rion said, this time glancing briefly at Jovvi and Lorand, whose sudden alertness told Rion that they knew exactly what he was in the midst of. “Most of us are quite close and friendly, but two of our number are having … difficulties of a personal nature. Not that anyone can blame
him
, of course. She’s being quite unreasonable in all ways, giving him no choice but to respond as he does.”

“I’m afraid she’s rather more than unreasonable.” Jovvi took up the explanation smoothly, exactly as Rion had hoped she would. “She’s deliberately torturing the poor man, callously ignoring his feelings as she tramples all over them. And he simply accepts the cruelty of her treatment, making very little protest. I’ve been feeling terribly sorry for him…”

“Yes, we all feel sorry for him, but there’s nothing we can do to change matters,” Lorand put in, deliberately speaking heavily. “She’s completely heartless and cruel, but she
is
one of our Blending so we have to try to overlook that. Changing the composition of our group now would be extremely difficult.”

Mohr looked close to being shattered at the news, especially since the stricken look on Tamrissa’s face and the shock on Vallant’s told their own stories confirming, in a way, what had been said. Tamrissa had turned mute with the weight of what she’d heard, just as Rion had hoped she would, and that should do it as far as convincing Mohr went. The discussion would continue after they’d gotten rid of their “guests,” and then Vallant would hopefully respond the way they all expected him to. But not now, not when they were so close to convincing Mohr and the others that they were mistaken—

“No!” Vallant suddenly shouted, surging to his feet and causing Rion to groan. He
wouldn’t
respond to the ploy
now
, not when they were so close! Surely he wouldn’t…!

CHAPTER TWENTY

Vallant had tried his best to help the others to convince the man Mohr that he was mistaken, but it didn’t seem to have worked. Mohr’s explanation of what the Guild people did, something which had obviously gone unmentioned until now, stopped them all in their tracks. Vallant was in the middle of racking his brain for another idea when Rion spoke up, mentioning part of the minor Prophecies. Then, when Mohr agreed that what Rion had said was true, Rion continued in a way that at first made Vallant believe he was hearing things.

“Unfortunately, sir, that doesn’t happen to be the case,” Rion said, referring to Mohr’s agreement on the relationships the Chosen were supposed to have. “Most of us are quite close and friendly, but two of our number are having … difficulties of a personal nature. Not that anyone can blame
him
, of course. She’s being quite unreasonable in all ways, giving him no choice but to respond as he does.”

Vallant immediately decided that Rion had chosen to lie about Tamrissa in order to throw Mohr off the scent, which was a reasonably good idea. But Rion
did
sound awfully convincing, and then the shock worsened when Jovvi spoke up.

“I’m afraid she’s rather more than unreasonable,” Jovvi said, also sounding completely believable. “She’s deliberately torturing the poor man, callously ignoring his feelings as she tramples all over them. And he simply accepts the cruelty of her treatment, making very little protest. I’ve been feeling terribly sorry for him…”

Sorry for him
. The phrase clanged in Vallant’s mind as a faint echo from his own thoughts agreed with the sentiment, but that was pure nonsense. Tamrissa wasn’t callous or cruel, it simply wasn’t in her to behave like that. Jovvi must be doing nothing more than agreeing with what Rion had said, supporting his try to—

“Yes, we all feel sorry for him, but there’s nothing we can do to change matters,” Lorand put in, the heaviness of his tone telling Vallant that the man spoke reluctantly—but was supplying what he considered the truth. “She’s completely heartless and cruel, but she
is
one of our Blending so we have to try to overlook that. Changing the composition of our group now would be extremely difficult.”

For a brief moment Vallant couldn’t move, let alone speak. Naran, who sat beside Rion as usual, wore an expression of complete agreement, supporting what had been said without using the words. That was bad enough, but Tamrissa, the woman Vallant loved with every ounce of his being—

Tamrissa looked absolutely devastated. She, too, had seen that everyone was apparently speaking what they considered the truth, and the painful bewilderment in her beautiful eyes brought Vallant a stab of agony. Their groupmates were horribly wrong in what they’d said, and someone had to set things straight—right now!

“No!” Vallant shouted, rising to his feet with the intensity of his feelings. “None of that is the truth, and you all should know it!
I’m
the one who’s responsible, the one who’s too afraid to say even a single one of the words he should. Not even knowin’ she might be in danger from actin’ too recklessly has been able to make me tell her she’s the most important thing in the world to me. If she refuses to listen, the way she has every right to do—and the way she probably will, knowin’ me for the coward I am—I’ll never be able to go on. It isn’t
her
, you fools, it’s
me
—”

Words abruptly failed Vallant, and were replaced with an overwhelming need to be alone. For that reason he strode out of the sitting area with the idea of returning to his room, but that was a place he’d be expected to go. If someone decided to follow him and tried to talk about what had happened… No, he’d never be able to stand that, so he’d be wise to find a different temporary refuge.

At a time so close to dinner, the inn’s entrance area was completely deserted. Vallant strode through it and then outside, barely pausing even when he realized it was raining. Realized it consciously, that is. He’d known about the rain even before it had started, and had been thinking that it was a good thing their sentries didn’t have to stand outside in order to keep watch. The second Blending had had an early dinner, and by now were probably fast asleep. He and his groupmates were available again to take their place…

A large and leafy tree stood not far from the inn’s front entrance, and Vallant walked slowly through the dripping rain until he reached the partial shelter of its branches. It had turned cool and a sheet of rain tried to mist his face and clothes, but he’d already removed the dampness from himself and now disallowed a return of it. The moon was invisible behind the thick dark of the rain clouds, a perfect match to the mood now on him. Dark depression, self loathing, a mewling helplessness…

Vallant only just stopped himself from throwing a fist into the hard and uneven trunk of the tree. Even after the scene he’d just been a part of, his mind still attempted to avoid thinking about the whole thing. He loved Tamrissa more than life itself, and therefore knew that if she refused and rejected him one more time it would destroy him. Too many people were counting on him for him to let that happen, so he’d gone out of his way to avoid touching on the question of their relationship. Except for that one lapse, when Tamrissa had gone out against that Fire link alone…

But after that he’d deliberately let the matter lapse. He’d simply told himself that she was better off without him, and the truth of that couldn’t be denied. So for the past few days things had gone along uneventfully, but now—

Vallant’s head suddenly came up, a reaction to what he’d felt rather than heard. The inns’ stables couldn’t be seen even from where he stood beside the tree, screened as they were by the heavy row of trees to the right. But someone over there had just used Water magic, and not simply to dry himself after coming in out of the rain. There had been far too much strength behind the effort, as though someone had used the aspect in some sort of attack. All their own people were inside the inn, most of them getting ready to go to dinner. It couldn’t have been Mohr’s people, not when they weren’t able to use magic, so who…?

Rather than waste time speculating, Vallant left the shelter of the tree and made his way toward the stables. He’d also dropped his shield, letting his very plain but brand new breeches and shirt get wet, preferring that to announcing his approach. He was no longer able to release the power, not after the last few days, but hopefully not
using
the power would help to keep from betraying him. It was possible nothing at all was wrong, but he preferred to go and see that for himself.

After a few moments, Vallant stood among the trees which no longer shielded view of the stables. They were really very large, meant for the use of all three of the inns, and a long row of buildings directly opposite were probably for the servants and guardsmen of those very important people who usually frequented the inns. Not a single flicker of lamplight showed in any of the windows of the building, but lanterns hung along the outer stables wall and shone dimly from within. Everything looked peaceful and quiet beyond the backdrop of the rain, but inside the stables…

Inside the stables Vallant could detect the masses of water which represented their own horses and those of the men who had come to meet them, but that wasn’t all. There were smaller groupings of water which represented human beings, and there were more than a dozen of them. As large as the stables were, having that many stablemen made no sense at all. Their own horses had been taken care of hours ago, so nothing else should have been required that would bring so many people to the stables.

Which meant that something was definitely wrong. Squinting against the mist of rain, Vallant shifted his attention to the row of buildings opposite the stables. It would have been understandable to detect a small number of people in them, but most of the servants working at the inns would be
there
now, getting ready to serve dinner. And most of the servants—and stablemen—were undoubtedly locals, with their own homes to go to when they weren’t working. There shouldn’t have been at least forty indications of human beings, clustered together in one section of the buildings, as though they were part of a force getting ready to attack.

“Chaos take ’em,” Vallant muttered angrily when it became clear that that was exactly what they had to be: an attacking force which wanted no one free left behind them when they actually got down to the attack. The smaller part of their group must be taking care of the stablemen on duty, either killing them or tying them up. Considering that burst of Water magic used earlier, it was more likely they were killing rather than tying.

“And they chose the perfect time to come at us,” Vallant muttered to himself, knowing he should have expected something like this. The second Blending had come off watch when his own had awakened from their naps, and the comfort and apparent safety of the inn—not to mention that contention that they were the Chosen—had worked to keep his group from taking a precautionary look around. In a little while everyone would be expected to sit down to dinner, which meant they would definitely not be Blended. The attack would come without warning, and the intruders’ relatively small numbers suggested they had more of a plan in mind than simply trying to overwhelm them.

So it was time for Vallant to get back to the inn, to join the others in an attempt to defend against these people. He knew he could be there quickly, but sight of the men coming out of the stables made him pause. There were eleven men coming out, and the rest remained unmoving inside the stables. A moment after they appeared there was movement at the section of building where the larger force was, and then
those
men were emerging to join the ones from the stables. They might not see Vallant as he ran back to the inn through the dark and rain, but they would be much too close behind him.

So Vallant knew he
couldn’t
go back, at least not physically. All that left was an attempt to reach Jovvi with his mind, and Vallant was fairly certain that that would work. But it would also undoubtedly warn the intruders, letting them know that someone lurked in the trees and watched them. As fast as the Blending entity came into being, it still took
some
time for the being to form once the Blending was initiated. That brief moment might be all the intruders needed to locate and kill him, since the very act of Blending would turn him helpless. Death held no particular fear for Vallant, especially not now, but his death would mean the end of the Blending. Without him it would be incomplete, and therefore unable to defend itself and the others. So what was he supposed to do…?

That frustrating question had only just formed in his thoughts when the strangest thing happened. He felt Jovvi’s familiar touch in his mind, causing the automatic reaction of his reaching out to his other Blendingmates, and then the entity was formed and there. But rather than being submerged in the group consciousness which was the entity, his own personality and awareness were left to direct matters. That had never happened before, at least not to him, but thinking about it would have to be left for another time.

The intruders had brought their two groups together in the open area between the stables and the buildings, and the Vallant entity counted quickly. Fifty-one men dressed all in black, with just one of them speaking to the others. That one would most likely be the leader of the group, and the leader was the one the Vallant entity wanted to contact. So the entity floated a bit closer, and reached out to take control of the man. As soon as his mind was tightly held, the Vallant entity inserted words in the man’s thoughts.

*
Tell your men to stand where they are,
* the Vallant entity whispered to the man in its grip. *
And when you respond to my questions, do so in this manner. Speaking aloud is unnecessary.
*