Convergence (77 page)

"What if some qualify and some don't?" Lemmis Admen asked in the nasal whine she used for a voice. The woman was horse-sized in both face and body, had the frizziest hair Eltrina had ever seen, and considering the clothing she usually wore, was probably colorblind. If Lemmis had been the least bit intelligent she would have kept her mouth closed unless it was absolutely necessary to speak, but what she said usually showed how little intelligence the horsy thing had.

"I mean, it
is
possible some of the six will qualify and some won't," Lemmis whined defensively when Ollon moved his gaze to her. "I don't intend to rearrange my residences until after today, when I'll know for certain which will be which. You never do know for certain until it happens, you know."

"And yet, with the help of the sessions Adepts, it's possible to make educated estimates," Eltrina replied smoothly once

Lemmis ran down. "Most of the six are expected to qualify, so no more than one or two will need to be moved again. All of my residences now contain at least one of each of the aspects, which was the main reason I took the opportunity to move people around. After the dust of final decision settles,
I'll
know just what I have in the way of possible Blending members, and what I'll need from the rest of you to round them out."

This time there was more of a muttering to be heard from the others, low vocal resentment that she had managed to get a jump on them. If she was properly organized while they were not, she would end up above them all.

"Has anyone else arranged the same thing in their residences?" Ollon asked, looking around at them blandly. "No? Well then, the organization of the next phase indicates itself. We'll use the lady Eltrina's established base, and supply her requirements before any other dispositions are made. You'll also show her the compositions of your various residences, and she'll choose one to house a full Blending. When she does, the residence will be added to the four already . . . under her wing."

Ollon smiled when he said that, which kept the others at the table quiet despite their displeasure. Eltrina had managed to become his second in command, and it was no longer possible for any of them to stop her.

"Now Lady Eltrina will tell us about the possible Blending she mentioned a moment ago," Ollon continued, moving his smile to her. "Are they all quite marvelous and strong, with an excellent chance of winning the Fivefold Throne?"

"What else?" Eltrina responded with a laugh, one which some of the others joined in. "They
do
happen to be strong, and all six in the residence have passed the first step in qualifying for the competitions. The one duplicate aspect is Water, and I haven't yet decided which of the two to include in the Blending. One of them is a low-class peasant who doesn't fit in with the other four at all and knows it, but the second has quarreled with the female representing the Fire aspect."

"And you'll certainly choose the one most likely to make the most trouble," Ollon said with an approving nod. "Tell us about all six, and why you consider them such excellent candidates for membership in a challenging Blending."

Eltrina glowed, only a short step from preening herself. Ollon was letting
her
tell the others what to look for, intimating that she knew and they didn't. If there hadn't been people present who were close to her husband, she might have kissed Ollon.

"These people are suitable only for being in the same Blending," she explained, looking around at the others with a half smile. "Each of them is quite strong in his or her aspect, and we certainly wouldn't want them where their strength could be fully utilized. The first Water candidate I mentioned, the low class one, is bitter because he's been rejected by his former cronies and just doesn't feel comfortable with his new acquaintances. He'll keep a certain amount of himself back from any Blending, causing it to be considerably less than an effective whole."

"And the other one?"
Ollon prompted after nodding his approval. "Is his argument with the Fire female the only strike against him? If so, I would certainly assign him elsewhere. Arguments have been known to be made up."

"That's the beauty of it," Eltrina told him with an amused laugh. "It doesn't matter whether he makes up with the female or not, because he has a personal problem that may well cost him any victories in the competitions. It was noticed after his test that he was desperate to get out of the testing building, so he was watched during the sessions. He was terrified every moment of the time he spent in the
sessions
room, and couldn't wait to get outside again. He can't bear to be enclosed, so how deeply into a Blending do you believe he'll be able to go?"

Her only answer was matching laughter, sharing the delicious joke. No one with a disability like that could
ever
become a full member of a Blending, and that no matter how strong he was.

"Now, the female with Fire magic is another story," Eltrina went on after the laughter had quieted. "She's attempting to avoid another forced marriage by pretending to be strong and fearless, but only her Fire talent is strong. She herself is a fearful little thing who came close to attacking someone with her ability, showing how uncertain she is and how lacking in adequate control. The leading aspect of any Blending is always the Fire talent, who has to be the strongest and steadiest of the lot. This particular leading aspect will surely panic, and lead the others into wasting their strength before any real danger approaches."

Ollon nodded and smiled while the others murmured or chuckled, so she took a sip of tea and continued.

"The Earth magic member is a backwoods clod who seems to be terrified of burning himself out. He's managed to qualify so far, but his fear makes him hesitate in a way that will ruin the balance of the others. The Air magic member is that ridiculous son of Hallina Mardimil, the one she always bores everyone with when she drags him to parties. Until now he's been incapable of thinking or doing anything for himself, but she's finally pushed him into rebellion. He's in the process of declaring himself a grown man, and has even discovered the difference between boys and girls. Between that and the persistence Hallina will show trying to get him back under her thumb, he probably won't even notice what else is happening about him."

The laughter was much more raucous and ridiculing this time, as Hallina had inflicted her doltish offspring on all of them at one party or another. It served her right that she was now having trouble recovering him, as he never would have been assessed strong enough for testing if she'd excluded him the way she should have.

"You haven't yet mentioned the last member of your Blending," Ollon prompted, obviously as amused as everyone else. "Does he or she have a similar personal problem?"

"No, Lord Ollon, the young lady doesn't," Eltrina replied, smiling only to herself as she avoided his trap. "Even those tiresome neutral judges would notice if
every
member of a challenging Blending had personal problems, so the Spirit magic member is the one who seems to be completely well adjusted. She's the one who will represent the group in public, and the others
look
perfectly normal. It's the balance I think every challenging Blending should have."

"And so they shall," Ollon agreed, sending her a personal smile before giving his attention again to the others. "Make sure Lady Eltrina is fully informed about every applicant in your residences, most especially in the matter of the sorts of problems she's mentioned. All five of the challenging Blend-ings must
look
capable, but we certainly don't want them to be anything but handicapped. Do any of you have questions for Lady Eltrina or
myself
? No? Then let me ask a question you've heard before, but one which is still supremely important. Have any of you seen even a hint that one of your people may be one of those mentioned in the Prophecies?"

A muttering ran through the group as they exchanged bothered glances, and the resulting headshakes looked tentative and unsure. Ollon had just asked the question they'd all been worrying about, but personally Eltrina had decided that the fuss was really covering nothing real. She had no idea who had decided that the Prophecies were true, but they must have been senile or stupidly innocent to believe in them. None of
her
people could possibly have fit the requirements, so her headshake was firm and positive when Ollon looked at her.

"That's something of a relief," he said when he had denials from all of them, "We expected to begin seeing people matching the first Prophecies by now, and the fact that we haven't is beginning to change the minds of some of us. Not everyone believes that the Prophecies will come true, but those who do are more powerful than those who don't, so we'll certainly continue to watch. And each of you is to report anything at all that might support an appearance. Is that clear?"

This time the nods were much firmer, more like the one Eltrina had already given. They were afraid of those who supported the idea, and would be happiest when the time was past and no one was able to claim they'd missed a vital clue.

"Very well then, let's get on with what we're here for," Ollon said, turning his attention to one attendee in particular. "Lord Miklas, would you do us the courtesy of being next with your verbal report?"

The tiresome
Miklas,
began to drone out his report, but Eltrina had no need to listen. The man would end his speech by summarizing everything he'd said with the brevity he should have used in the first place, and Eltrina would be able to listen then. In the meantime she leaned back in her chair with her teacup between the fingers of both hands, and simply enjoyed the heady flavor of success.

Yes, success at last. Eltrina breathed deeply with the pleasure of the thought, knowing she'd finally found her proper footing. One day soon she would have Ollon's position, and when that happened she'd also have the power to rid herself of the tedious bore she'd been forced to marry. Then she would be free to do as she pleased, but first she had to prove her brilliance by making all of Ollon's plans go as he wanted them to. Just that, with her as his fully-acknowledged second in command, and then it would be time for a terrible accident to befall poor
Ollon. . . .

Eltrina smiled to herself as Miklas droned on,
then
she made a deliberate effort to listen to the man. She intended to know everything necessary, so that nothing would ruin her plans and Ollon's.
Nothing
would go wrong, not with all the preparations she'd made, and then, after the unfortunate demise of all those challenging Blendings, she'd have her reward. She'd earned it, she deserved it, and soon she would have it. . . .

Those of you reading this in what we consider the future must now be wondering just when I'm writing this account. The others didn't want me to say, but how can you decide how to take it without knowing
that
piece of information? I don't think you can, so I'll tell you—in a way. I don't want you to picture me sitting in the Palace of the five, grandly writing our history after we won the day. We've done only a little winning, and the most important battle is still ahead of us. Before the day of facing
that
comes, we wanted to put down everything that's happened until now.

Because chances are good that we won't survive.
The Prophecies say that we're needed to win, not that we
will
win. There's a big difference there, and every day that passes brings us a better understanding of that difference. Thinking about it is enough to make some of us ill, so that same some of us try not to think about it. Great lot of good it does. . . .

But I still haven't come really close to what the five of us consider present day, so I'd better continue with this. The opposing five we ultimately came up against were already together and getting ready for us, but happily we didn't know that. We had other problems, big and small, and the first thing to happen was. . .
.'