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  "It wasn't what I had to do, but what Driff had to," Idresia said with a shake of her head. "Driff had to talk to more than half a dozen Blendings before he found one that didn't have 'more important' things to do. With all the High talents completely out of touch, too many people in the Middle Blendings are 'seriously concerned' with the lack of leadership. I'm not suggesting that all those people are insincere, just that they're too narrow-minded to see everything involved. They're so worried about the picky little things that have to be done, that they're completely ignoring the really important things."

  "I have a feeling I know why that's happening," Issini said with a sigh. "Those people in the Middle Blendings are probably frightened to death of making a mistake, so they're concentrating on unimportant things where mistakes won't matter so much. It's too bad we don't have a Middle Blending of our own, so to speak, one that will do just what we need done. Having them would at least make life easier for you and Driff."

  "It certainly would," Idresia agreed fervently. "I have more than one job for a good Middle Blending, and by 'good' I mean people with a little imagination who aren't afraid to take a risk. If you refuse to take any chances, how are you supposed to get anything worthwhile done?"

  "Oh, now I understand," Asri said suddenly, but her attention didn't seem to be on Idresia or Issini. "If I knew more about Blendings then I would have understood sooner, so I guess I'll just have to make a point of learning."

  "What is it that you would have understood?" Idresia asked, trying to pay close attention in spite of her confusion. "Are you Seeing something that we need to be told about? But don't worry about learning things. Driff is going to find you someone with Sight magic to help train your talent."

  "I already know that, and also that he'll find someone soon," Asri told her with a smile that showed she'd returned from Seeing. "But to answer your more important question, there is something you need to know about. It's a way to have exactly the Middle Blending that you need."

  "I'm definitely listening, even if blackmail is involved," Idresia said, leaning forward across the table just a bit. "I'll have to draw the line if it's torture that's involved, but threats aren't necessarily out."

  "You really won't have anything like that to worry about," Asri said with a chuckle while Issini laughed. "The Middle Blending you need is the one you'll belong to."

  Idresia felt her own frown growing to match the one Issini showed as they both stared at Asri. It was almost as though the two of them had stopped understanding spoken language, but then Idresia realized what the problem was.

  "I think we're still having a bit of trouble with your understanding concerning Blendings," Idresia told an Asri who looked perfectly calm and unbothered. "I don't know anyone well enough - or like them well enough - to want to Blend with them. That means I'm not going to be part of a Blending, so whatever you Saw has to mean something else entirely."

  "But of course you know people well enough and like them well enough to Blend with them," Asri contradicted with a warm smile. "Kail and I felt as though we'd known the four of you forever, and that only a few minutes after we met. Now that it's been almost an entire day, there's a closeness among us that I've never in my life experienced before. Or don't you and Issini agree with what I'm saying?"

  Idresia felt so stunned that words refused to form in her mind. All she could do was stare at Issini, who looked as if she'd been pole-axed. The two of them sat or stood with mouths open as they stared at Asri, but Issini pulled out of the shock only a moment later.

  "That has to be the best idea I've heard in a very long time," Issini stated, looking first at Asri and then at Idresia. "We do have a complete Blending among us, Har, one that feels really complete now that Asri and Kail are here. Why can't we Blend?"

  Possibly because Driff doesn't want to Blend, Idresia said, but only to herself. I love that man too much to join any group that doesn't include him, but something seems to bother him about Blending that he hasn't mentioned out loud. If the something is too serious for him to get around, we won't replace him even if we find someone as good as he is. I won't turn my back on him no matter what, so if he doesn't change his mind then there will be no Blending for us.

  "There … might be a problem with your and Asri's idea that has nothing to do with Kail and Asri," Idresia said slowly, forcing herself to say the words. "Let me tell you how things are, and then maybe one of you will have an idea about how to handle the problem."

  The meal Issini and Asri had been making seemed to be at the point where it just had to cook, so the other two women came and joined Idresia at the table. Idresia would tell them everything, and then maybe one of them would find a way to make something wonderful happen - if only they were able to change Driff's mind…

  Chapter Eight

  As Edmin reentered the warehouse with Driff and Kail, he realized that he'd really been enjoying himself. Driff seemed to be a strong, steadying influence in almost any situation, and Kail, although less sure of himself, seemed determined to behave honorably at all times. Walking about parts of the city with the other two men had been oddly liberating, and not only because he no longer had to worry about being found by Noll's men. For the first time in his life Edmin was in the company of people he considered his equals, not just those who had been born into his social class.

  "… so if you two ever run into trouble, those are some of the people you can go to for help," Driff was saying to Kail - and also to Edmin. "They know you both now, and they'll either hide you or give you whatever help they can if it's help you need. Do you think you'll be able to find them again?"

  "It shouldn't be too much of a problem," Kail answered with distraction. "At first I didn't recognize the neighborhoods at all, but then I found a familiar landmark and the rest all fell into place. My father considered my occasional trip into this part of the city a waste of time, but it looks like that was something else he was wrong about. Are we going to be able to help personally against Noll's efforts? Is that why you showed us all those places?"

  "I'm not the one you have to ask that question of," Driff said with amusement that Edmin knew was really a great amount of pride. "Idresia is in charge of our campaign against the renegade, and considering how well she's done so far I won't even try to second guess her. If she thinks we can be of use in the campaign, then we'll be helping out personally."

  "Is there something in particular that we can use to bribe her?" Edmin asked, knowing Driff would understand that he was joking. "If nothing else, I want to be part of the effort when Noll is finally taken down."

  "I think she understands that we all want to be there when the renegade finally realizes that he's lost," Driff said, the curve of his lips showing his amusement. "I'll make sure of that, of course, and if I'm wrong then we can think about what to use to bribe her."

  "You have no idea how good it feels to be among people who don't simply give their women orders," Kail said with a small shake of his head. "My father and his friends had only three uses for women: as something to enjoy in bed, as something to bear their children, and as something to show off like any of their other possessions. Women were never people to them, not unless the woman had more power than they did. Then the woman was either an enemy or an ally, never just a woman. The Astindans weren't like that, and neither are you."

  "My own mother never felt as much concern for me as she did about what my father thought," Edmin put in without realizing that he was about to speak. "My brother and I were raised by nurses, and if our father was in the same room with all of us, our mother never even glanced in our direction. We were just something unimportant to her that she'd given to her husband, like a cup of tea or an inexpensive gift."

  "My mother was too … distracted to protect me from my father," Kail said, and the very neutral words hid an inner pain much like the one Edmin felt. "She had a long string of men she gave all her attention to, mostly because my father usually ignored her. When he didn't ignore her he simply gave her o
rders, and she never made any effort to disobey him - not even to help my brothers or me. Her charm would not have protected her if she'd tried to cross my father about something he considered important."

  "You know, you two have done something I never thought was possible," Driff said, pausing a few steps from the door leading to the living quarters to look at his companions. "You make me glad I grew up on the street instead of as part of a family. Being part of some 'families' isn't worth the pain and heartache, is it?"

  "You don't know the half of it," Edmin said while Kail simply smiled without humor. "No one admitted to knowing what many of our peers were doing with their children, but gossip was always a favorite pastime. Listening to the gossip often made my blood run cold."

  "But right now I'm getting something a lot more pleasant than gossip," Kail said after sniffing the air. "If that aroma is from the meal waiting for us, what are we doing wasting time standing out here?"

  "It's too bad we don't have to find something to bribe Kail with," Driff remarked with a smile as he began to walk toward his living quarters again. "After all the time he and Asri spent on the trail coming back here, a nicely cooked meal would buy us anything we wanted."

  "Almost anything," Kail corrected with a laugh while Edmin grinned. "I may be a slave to my stomach right now, but I do still have some standards I'd refuse to betray. You'd never get more than half my blood for a three or four course meal."

  They were all laughing as they entered the apartment, and Edmin's companions continued with their amusement. He, on the other hand, was immediately aware of a tension behind the pleasant or neutral expressions the three women wore, and he quickly discovered that he'd lost all sense of discretion.

  "What's wrong?" Edmin asked without an instant's hesitation. ”Why are you three so disturbed?"

  "It's all right, Edmin, nothing bad has happened," Issini said at once, her smile soothing and calming. "While you men were gone we tripped over a revelation, and we're not sure how you'll take it. Will it help to say that we women think it's a great idea?"

  Issini's question was addressed to Idresia and Asri, but all she got in return was a smile and two shrugs. The smile came from Asri, Idresia's concern being too strong to let her do the same.

  "What's wrong, love?" Driff asked Idresia as he moved closer to his woman, somehow apparently sensing her mood. "What did Issini mean about a revelation?"

  "Asri made a really good suggestion, Driff," Idresia answered, taking Driff's hand as he bent over her where she sat. "The only problem is… We don't know if you'll think it's a good idea."

  "All of us, or just me?" Driff asked, again showing that incredible insight that was so much a part of him. "I have the feeling you mean just me, but I don't understand why that is."

  Idresia took a deep breath at she stared at Driff, her hand closing more tightly around his. Edmin felt her very great reluctance to go into details, but her inner strength was enough to overcome any weakening emotion.

  "We were discussing how nice it would be to have a Blending that was just ours to use," she began, doing nothing to avoid Driff's stare. "Ours to use for anything that we felt was necessary, without having to spend all kinds of time talking the Blending members into going along with us. That's when Asri pointed out that we six could Blend, and then we'd have what we need."

  Edmin's surprise was so strong that he almost missed the reactions of the other men. Kail's matching surprise turned almost at once into full agreement, but Driff… Driff's expression showed nothing, but on the inside the man was floundering in fear and distress.

  "But you don't want to Blend, do you, Driff?" Idresia said, showing the same insight that Driff usually did. "You don't think that Blending is a good idea at all."

  "You don't understand," Driff said, shaking his head as he released Idresia's hand and straightened. "It's not that I don't want to Blend with all of you, it's just - "

  Driff's words broke off as he gestured vaguely with one hand, an effort to show that he couldn't put his feelings into a form that others would understand. Edmin felt confused for a moment, but then suddenly, without warning, everything came clear.

  "You're afraid to Blend because you're afraid to be part of something that's closer than a family," Edmin said, this time speaking deliberately. "Too often families aren't what they're supposed to be, and you're afraid you'll be trapped in a nightmare. That's it, isn't it, Driff?"

  "That's exactly it," Driff agreed, his slight frown almost lost behind the extreme distress that now showed clearly on his face. "You're really good, Edmin, but I don't see how knowing what the problem is will help. I … can't agree to being part of something that might trap me forever."

  "I think the key word there is 'trap,'" Asri said when everyone else remained silent, their emotions roiling. "I had almost the same reaction when I first understood that we could make a Blending. I was born into a family that put me directly into a trap, and I was kept there until they opened the trap so that the husband they chose for me could put me into his trap. For a long time I believed that there was nothing I could do to escape, and then I realized that it was the child I'd been who was helpless. The woman I'd become was far from helpless as long as I refused to go along with my captors, which I did as soon as I understood my true position. They might have been able to kill me, but from the moment I understood the truth they were never able to own me again."

  "I learned the same lesson, but sooner," Idresia said with a nod and a faint smile for Asri. "I was only twelve when my mother brought home a new boyfriend, but I'd had years to learn that no one on the street was able to push me around unless I allowed it. When my mother's new boyfriend tried to … 'show me how much he loved me,' I broke a heavy pitcher over his head and then ran away from home. My mother was prepared to let him do anything he liked because she was afraid of not having a man around to lean on, but I didn't need anyone to know I was strong. I stayed independent until I met you, Driff, and then I happily agreed to stop being a loner. But only because your strength added to mine, rather than trying to displace mine. And that's what a true Blending is supposed to be, my love. Something to add to your strength, not ruin it."

  "Don't you think I know that?" Driff came back, but his words were more haunted than hostile. "I've always felt stronger with you beside me, Issini and Edmin bolstered that strength, and now we have Kail and Asri to add even more. We all seem to belong together, but the fear inside me isn't rational. It makes me think that if we Blend I'll be trapped, and there isn't enough strength in the world to let me face something like that."

  "If you're serious about wanting to get around the problem, there are two things we can do," Edmin said slowly, hating the taste of the fear that turned Driff helpless in its grasp. "Are you serious, or would you rather I minded my own business?"

  "You might say that this is your business," Driff answered slowly after a moment, now studying Edmin with a hint of suspicion and uneasiness. "What did you have in mind?"

  "Nothing you won't be able to refuse to agree to," Edmin replied firmly, doing nothing to avoid Driff's gaze. "In fact, the first part of my suggestion is nothing but words. Would you like to hear them?"

  "I've been successfully resisting people's words for a long time now," Driff said with a faint smile, almost as though he were thinking aloud. "Go ahead and say what you like."

  "What I have to say is more of a narrative," Edmin told him, then gestured to the table. "Why don't we all sit down and get more comfortable, and then I can start."

  The suggestion wasn't one to put anyone on their guard, so Driff joined Kail and Edmin in taking chairs around the table. Idresia and Issini got up and went into the kitchen area, and in a moment they'd returned with cups of tea for the three men. After thanking Issini for his own cup, Edmin turned back to Driff.

  "You probably don't know this, but I had the chance to … look rather closely at the last noble Blending," Edmin began after taking a sip of his tea. "Since no one knew I was doing it, th
ere was no reason not to indulge my curiosity. What I discovered made me believe that the reign of my peers was about to come to an end, because those five people who were supposed to be closer than a family actually disliked each other intensely."

  Driff, Idresia, and Issini made sounds of surprise, but Kail and Asri didn't share the emotion.

  "I would have bet gold on that point," Kail said, Asri showing a wry expression at the same time. "I knew almost all of those people and even tried to warn my father about some of them, but my father was too arrogantly sure of himself to listen. When the five of them were put together, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that they hated the idea of being together and only later did that change."

  "It changed because three of the other four were put under Kambil Arstin's control," Edmin said, and this time it was Asri, Issini, and Kail who looked surprised. Driff and Idresia seemed to know about that, which helped a small bit. "Deep down those people hated to be together, but they were still able to work together."

  "If your point isn't that they were High talents, I don't understand," Driff said after sipping again at his own tea. "What difference does it make whether or not they liked each other?"

  "My point is that they didn't really like each other, but they were still able to Blend," Edmin said, speaking rather slowly to let Driff actually hear what he was saying. "If you don't like someone but agree to work with them, you aren't trapped you're compromising. And from what I've heard, toward the end the five weren't even working together. That means it's possible to refuse to Blend, which in turn means that Blending isn't the trap you seem to think it is."

  "You're right about their not Blending at the end," Idresia said just before turning to a frowning Driff. "You know that yourself, Driff, so you can't argue the point. If something happens in the Blending that you don't like, you can always refuse to Blend again."

  "In my head I understand that point and agree with it," Driff said, his expression wry. "The trouble is, my reluctance is more in my gut than in my head. My head understands your point and agrees with it, Edmin, but my gut seems determined to refuse to listen to reason."