Prophecy (57 page)

When I finally woke up, it was to find the entire group clustered around my bed. Every face wore the silliest smile I’d ever seen, but at least no one asked me how I felt.

“Well, now we know why I saw what I did about you,” Naran said instead, her own expression wry. “How much power you were able to handle had only a little to do with it.”

“That last effort drained you too far,” Jovvi amplified when I looked at Naran with confusion. “You were able to shield our former enemy as well as the rest of us from that mistaken attack, but in doing so you were taken right up to the brink of life and death. If the Astindans hadn’t made the effort to help… Well, I’d prefer not to even think about it.”

“None of us wants to think about it,” Lorand said, his arm around Jovvi. “If I’d had to stand there and let you die… I never would have gotten over it, and neither would any of the rest of us. The Astindans saved more lives than just yours.”

“Which is odd, when you consider what they came here to do,” Rion put in, his own arm around Naran. “But you look as though you could use more sleep, just as soon as you eat the food we’ve brought. We can talk about this again once you’remore like your usual self.”

Through the confusion and vagueness surrounding me, the word “food” had no trouble getting my attention. I did feel absolutely hollow, so I ate the meal they’d brought —with Vallant’s arm firmly around
me
.

The next time I awoke it was the following day, and I finally found it possible to remember everything I should have. I knew Vallant had spent most of the time in the bed next to me, holding my hand, but right now the room held me alone. So I got up and washed and dressed, then wandered downstairs to find something to fill the new hollow nesting in my insides. When some of our people noticed me, I was whisked to the dining room, seated at the table, then stuffed to bursting with what seemed like everything the kitchen must have held. Only when I could barely move did they relent and let me go, telling me that the others were outside overseeing what was going on.

Since I had no idea about what
was
going on, I went outside to see what could be taking everyone’s attention so thoroughly. I remember walking out the front door, expecting nothing but the sight of the large and pretty grounds around the house—but found utter chaos instead of peace and quiet. There seemed to be hundreds of people standing around in small groups with guardsmen ranged everywhere to watch them, and most of the people in the groups were hysterical in one way or another.

“I’m almost tempted to feel sorry for them,” Vallant’s voice came, and I turned to see him approaching me from the direction of the stables with a tender smile on his face. “You’relookin’ a lot better, love. Are you sure you’restrong enough to be out here?”

“I was just wondering that myself,” I replied, immediately stepping closer to the arm he was in the midst of putting around me. “I don’t understand what’s happening.”

“We’ve begun to make good on the agreement we have with the Astindans,” he answered, just the flicker of unease in his light and beautiful eyes. “Their country is in ruins because of what our armies did, and too many of their people were killed along with the land. If they have to work to bring the land back alive by themselves, a lot more of their people will end up dyin’ before they’ll be able to do it. That’s why we’ve agreed to let them have the people responsible for their trouble as workers, to use them in the rebuildin’ and get it done that much faster. And in a manner of speakin’, the Astindans are doin’ us a favor by takin’ them.”

“Of course,” I breathed, finally making sense of what I saw. “Those people are our former nobles, and that’s why so many of them are having hysterics and trying to demand their ‘rights.’ But why are they
here
? Is this the only place anyone can think of to put them?”

“We brought some of the Astindans here as our guests, so it’s as good a place as any,” Jovvi said as she and the others came up in time to hear my question. “We offered to let them use the house to … interview their newest workers, but they decided that the stables would be more fitting. They feel that these people need to get used to the conditions they’ll be working under as quickly as possible, since they aren’t being put under
total
control. The Astindans are simply making them obey any orders given them by proper authority—meaning someone other than each other—and also making it impossible for them to run away. Aside from that, they’ll be fully aware of what they’ll be made to do.”

“It’s really too bad that Meerk isn’t here to see this,” Lorand said, his gaze moving around the milling crowds. “He would have appreciated the justice of—”

“See here, you people, this is absolutely intolerable!” a high-pitched voice interrupted as the closest group of nobles—about six or seven in number—began to stride toward us. “As you seem to be in charge, you may now tell these—these—ruffianly bullies to step back from their betters and allow us to leave!”

The man wasn’t very old, but from the extra weight he carried and his imperious manner, he must have been somewhat important. Or at least he must have been important at one time…

“You’reright, we
are
in charge,” Lorand told him, faint annoyance in his voice over having been interrupted. “We’rethe ones who defeated that marvelous noble Blending you fools had Seated—through the usual trickery. But you mentioned something about people who are better… Surely you can’t be referring to yourselves?”

“Of course he means
us
, you peasant fool!” the woman beside the man snapped, her nose so high in the air it was a good thing for her that it wasn’t raining. “We are
important
people of
quality
, and once the proper authorities hear about this, all you criminals will be sent to the mines where you belong! You will release us at
once
, and then we
may
say a few words in your defense at your trial. We’ll require carriages or coaches, of course, and—Oh!”

Some of the scattered guardsmen had come over, and the group was abruptly shoved to a stop about six feet away from us. They were all outraged at being treated like that, of course, but Lorand let them know how the rest of us felt about it.

“Since you’ve obviously missed the point, let me spell it out for you,” he said, addressing the two people who had spoken. “Your sort has never been anything but
poor
quality, and as far as importance goes you’ll never be thought of—or treated that way—again. We and our followers are the new proper authorities in the empire, so you may take it as official that you and your precious group are now about to pay for every criminal act and outrage you’ve ever committed. Your worst failure, of course, is being stupid, but where
you’re
going that won’t matter. You won’t have to give any orders, just take them, which is really all you’regood for. A lot fewer lives would have been wasted if you and your ilk had been stopped sooner.”

“Wait!” one of the other men in the group protested as the guardsmen began to prod them back toward the place they’d come from. “I don’t know what you mean to do with us, but it can’t possibly be fair!
I
didn’t do anything to hurt you or the rest of the commoners, so why do I have to suffer along with everyone else? You have to believe that I didn’t
do
anything!”

“Oh, we do believe it,” Jovvi said, her tone rather dry. “You and quite a lot of your equals never did do anything, which is another point you’ve obviously missed. If you
had
done something you might have made the situation better, but you chose not to get involved. That’s almost as bad as what your friends did by actively participating, so you can’t complain about having to pay right along with the rest of them. From now on you
will
do something, but you’ve lost the right to have it be by your own decision.”

That brought out more sputtering and protests, but none of us was interested in listening any longer. We all turned away and walked into the house, then headed for the sitting room where we might have some tea while we talked.

“The Astindans have already started the first group of converted nobles on their way back to Astinda,” Lorand said as we approached the sitting room. “One of their Blendings along with their link groups is in charge, and we arranged a few provision wagons to go along with them. They’remaking the nobles walk, of course, so they’ll be in decent shape for hard work by the time they get to where they’regoing.”

“And we’ve sent our own Blendings along with theirs to search the rest of the empire,” Jovvi added. “Too many of the most prominent nobles—meaning the ones really responsible for what was done—left Gan Garee before all this started, and it would hardly be fair if they weren’t found and sent after their class equals. It would also be foolish on our part to leave them wherever they happen to be, giving them the chance to make trouble once most of the confusion is over and the last of the Astindans has gone home.”

“And now we have to decide what
we’re
going to do,” Rion said as we began to enter the sitting room. “Master Mohr keeps asking when we expect to move into the palace, as do all the other people he’s brought along with him. They really think we’re—”

Rion’s words broke off abruptly, and with good reason. Five people stood waiting in the sitting room, four of them grouped behind a jolly-looking man of middle years, and of those we were able to see, not one of them was someone we’d met before.

“Who are you people, and what are you doin’ in here?” Vallant demanded as we all came to an abrupt halt, his tone a growl. “And while I’m askin’ questions,
how
did you get in here?”

“Getting in here wasn’t very difficult, Dom Ro,” the man replied, his smile making him look even friendlier and more … lacking in danger, might be the best way to put it. A frolicking puppy gives you no sense of personal danger even if you don’t like dogs, and that’s very close to the impression the man gave off.

“Unless you’ve been brought by someone we know, you shouldn’t be anywhere near this house,” Lorand said, standing shoulder to shoulder with Vallant and Rion. “We aren’t quite up to accepting strangers as friends yet, so you’d better tell us who got you through all the guards and the rest of our people.”

“The answer to that is what’s known as a long story,” the man said, his tone and manner now apologetic. “We really do understand the reasons for your disquiet, but we aren’t here to cause harm. It just happens to be time to answer some of the other questions you’ve undoubtedly been asking, so we’ve come to do it. The process will be quite painless, I assure you.”

He beamed around at us as though he were our teacher and we his prized honor students. I joined the others in exchanging perplexed glances, but still didn’t relax my guard. Naran’s expression said she had no idea what was going on, which made things even stranger. Jovvi wore a frown, and after a moment she stirred.

“He believes he’s telling the complete truth,” she said with a small headshake. “The feelings of the others support that, but I can’t imagine what he’s telling the truth
about
.”

“Oh, certainly you can, Dama Hafford,” he chided gently, but in a humorous way. “For instance, I’m sure you’d like to know how it came to be that your Blending
knew
about that mistaken attack just before it was launched against the Astindans. By then, Dama Whist should have been too exhausted to function properly.”

That time all of our mouths must have fallen open, judging by what happened to mine. It wasn’t possible for the man to have known about that, not unless … what?

“Please do sit down with us now,” the man coaxed, his amusement gone, with gentle patience and understanding replacing it. “I’m Ristor Ardanis, and to prove you really can trust us, we’ve brought along someone you all ought to know.”

The one person we hadn’t been able to see clearly until then, caused by her standing behind others of the group, stepped forward, and I couldn’t hold back a gasp.

“Warla!” I exclaimed, staring at the girl who had been my companion for so long. “I had no idea where you’d gone … or if you were all right…”

I added that last because of the way she looked, which was subtly different from what I’d grown used to seeing in her face and manner. She was definitely the same person, but the usual … nervousness and uncertainty were gone.

“I’m perfectly all right, Tamrissa,” she said with a warm, supporting smile, and even her voice had lost its usual hesitance. “Actually I’m more than just all right, now that I don’t have to play that part any longer. Won’t all of you please sit down and talk to these people? They really do know things
you
need to know.”

We exchanged glances again, but short of asking Jovvi to put them under control, we had little choice. If we wanted to know what was going on, we’d have to sit down and listen.

“Thank you,” Ristor Ardanis said as we wordlessly began to take our places on chairs and couches. “And I believe that this confirms
my
opinion in the matter?”

He’d looked to one of the men with him as he’d said that, his brow raised in faintly amused questioning. The man nodded wryly and grudgingly, and Ardanis chuckled as he took his own seat.

“Why don’t you begin by explaining that very odd exchange,” Jovvi suggested from where she sat beside Lorand. “
What
confirms your opinion on
what
matter? I’d like to know why that man was more nervous than he is now.”

“I suppose we might as well start with that,” Ardanis agreed with a nod, his expression still amused. “It should do well with introducing the main topic. My friend was nervous to begin with because he believed that you would give in to temptation and put us all under control in order to find out what you want to know. I, on the other hand, firmly believed that you would not do such a thing unless you felt yourself and your groupmates to be in danger. You might say that
my
sight was a deal clearer than his in this instance.”

“Your sight,” Jovvi echoed, looking at him with her head to one side. “That word has special significance for you, so I’m going to make an educated guess: Naran was strong enough to warn us during the last of the confrontation because she finally had tandem link groups of her own to draw strength from. Am I wrong?”