“The Nine Valleys have the most intense power fields of any place on Kellaran.” Talia proudly explained. “Because of this, The High People produce both the most powerful wizards on average, and the most wizards per capita, of any nation. Those who are weak or unskilled in the power are more likely to emigrate to another elven nation so as to feel less out of place. Wizards from other elven nations who are strong or skilled or knowledgeable are more likely to immigrate here than to anywhere else. The instruction in magic available to us here is the finest there is, and every child raised here receives enough basic training to qualify as a journeyman in any human wizard’s guild.
“For these reasons, we here are among the very finest of the elven wizards of our generation. The Atoning may have us in knowledge and experience, but we can more than hold our own for power, cleverness, and the use of the newest techniques.”
“I see.” he grinned, then addressed the group around him.
“Were there any of you who can’t make it here today?”
“We’re all here, all eighty-four of us.” Balen proudly announced.
“Good. We’d like you all to know that we’re glad you could come today. I approve of the meetings you’ve held and the organizing you’ve done, and I like the names you’ve taken for your three groups. But I’m going to give a name to the eighty-four of you, to distinguish you from The Atoning, and you will be called The Hilian Volunteers, or The Volunteers for short. And you are volunteers. If any of you ever wish it, I will gladly release you from your vow of service to me, and see that you are released from Alilia’s Compulsion of it.
“I see your service as a very different thing from that of The Atoning, due to its voluntary nature, and you are also our contemporaries in age and experience. I consider The Atoning to be somewhat like employees, but I consider you to be companions.
“Now, you’ve all heard the statement of our goals that I made to The Atoning, and any help you offer in achieving them will be greatly appreciated. But I will not have you contributing any of your money to this. If you truly wish to donate to good works, that’s fine, so long as you do so on your own as individuals, and not as part of this organization or your service to me. I’m not that comfortable with your having sworn to me in the first place, and I intend to never command you by those vows, though as I say, I welcome your help and co-operation. But I won’t have you spending the money you’ll need to make a future for yourselves on my account.”
“You don’t understand.” Balen giggled. “We let ourselves be Compelled by Princess Alilia! Her Compulsion is not only very powerful, it’s very complete, and it affects every part of our minds! Because of that, none of us will ever want to be released from our vow, so we’ll never ask you to do so, because we like being sworn to you! If you tried to have the Compulsion lifted, we’d just resist it. We serve you, and that’s all there is to it! We’ll obey you in anything you ask, unless you command us to not serve you, or to do something that we know is in any way harmful to you. We’d just ignore any such command.
“We swore to serve you, not to obey you, and they’re not the same thing. That’s true of The Atoning as well, so you might as well forget ordering any of us to do anything that we feel is against your interests, or that reduces our service to you. Only the knowledge that you’re on your honeymoon, and are therefore best served by being left to your privacy, has kept any of us from showing up here before now and doing things for you, whether you asked us to or not.
“And it’s silly to tell us to not help you with our money, as well as our time and effort. We all have enough skills to make a very comfortable living already, or to make the necessities of a comfortable life from raw materials if necessary, even if the economies of every nation in the alliance were to fail. We don’t need our wealth to assure a prosperous future for ourselves. And since most elven inheritances are given at a child’s birth, and not upon the parent’s death, most of us already have far more than enough to live in comfort for centuries. Furthermore, the financial expertise of the administrators among The Atoning is far greater than ours, far greater even than any we could hire in The Nine Valleys, since there is very little commerce conducted here. So having them manage our money with theirs and yours is a smart investment, even allowing for those funds’ contributions to good works.”
“If it makes you more comfortable, we could refrain from telling you which of us has contributed to the group fund, or the amount of our contributions.” Holanam offered.
Mark chuckled as he shook his head in bemusement. “All right. Do so if that’s what you want to do. Since you’ve obviously spent more time considering the question than I have, what are your thoughts on the nature of your service?”
“If I may, Mark.” Zayobod smiled with a crisp bow. “In general, I think the greatest difference between The Atoning and ourselves is our desired proximity to you.
“They are all deeply troubled by what they’ve done, and by the consequences they may face. They are indeed most eager to serve you, but I doubt any of them wishes to serve you while in your presence, or in any personal capacity, or to work closely with you, because your presence reminds them too much of the traumatic moments they caused themselves and you at your wedding.
“We, on the other hand, are quite literally thrilled that you consider us your companions, for we do very much hope to serve you personally, to share your presence during great challenges and great accomplishments alike! We hope to be there to support you if times are grim, and to cheer you at your triumphs.
“We hope to be your assistants, your aides, your secretaries, your valets, your maids and servers.
“We also believe the youth and pure talent of our warriors and combat wizards will give us the edge over most of our counterparts in The Atoning when it comes to speed and quickness, both physical and magical. We plan to be able to best them in any contest of our ability to launch a lightning-fast response to a breaking of the peace, and will conduct our own training in that regard. We hope to thus win the right to form your initial-response platoon on those occasions when your first attack wave includes more than you six of the strike force.
“We are also hope to form your household guard, and to be your bodyguards on those occasions when you wish to visit facilities whose dimensions are too small for dragons and unicorns. The nine girls of The Valiant Glory Seekers are especially eager to be assigned to this duty, and are among those who’ve begun training their skills as personal security agents with some intensity, in hopes of winning that post.”
“It’s as he said, Your, uh, Mark.” a very slight brunette said as she stepped forward. “I’m Kalem, and thus far we have only begun to study the foundations of the discipline. But among the first things we did is contact the captains of the knights who form the royal guards of the elven nations. What we learned from them is alarming.
“As they taught us, in quite stern terms, the best protection is prevention. In order to even begin to protect you, we must study your enemies, including anyone who could have motive to do you harm. We must consider every way they could attack you, and discern their most likely methods of doing so. We must be prepared to counter them before they can endanger you.
“My Lord, since you are the most prominent of those who have initiated the recent sweeping changes and government actions of The Just Alliance, you are in great danger. If your enemies could kill you they would count it a huge victory, as it would have such a hugely negative effect on the morale of the multitudes who believe in what you’ve done.
“Your opponents and casual enemies include those who are for continued segregation and prejudice, those who benefit from unjust uses of power, most professional legal advocates, and everyone who supports the status quo for any reason.
“Your mortal enemies include every member of the insidious conspiracy, and every one of the criminals whose livelihoods have been threatened or curtailed by the crackdown. There are tens of millions who would like to see you dead, and hundreds of thousands who are motivated enough to attempt it. Our calculations establish that it is a virtual certainty that at this very moment at least ninety thousand are actively trying to find a way to assassinate you, at least four thousand will be devoting everything they have to the effort, and at least three hundred of those will be persons of great power.
“They have proven themselves willing to slaughter hundreds at a time, merely to test their attacks. Imagine what lengths they would go to in attempting to take your life. They would likely consider it of no regard to devastate entire cities if they thought that doing so would give them the slightest chance to kill you.
“Your properties are predictable places for you to visit, and your enemies will know of them by now.
“Our inquiries have satisfied us that you are safe within The Nine Valleys, and you have not ventured beyond them since the founding meeting. Our Wards are being continuously strengthened, and the capabilities of our defensive personnel have been bolstered by specialists from every nation in the alliance except The Hidden Nation, just as some of our forces have been dispatched to other nations to improve their defenses. Right now for instance, Billigog the Blue, physically the mightiest of The Just Dragons, is conducting high altitude surveillance far overhead.
“The other elven nations have similar Wards and defenses, if not of the quality we have here.
“The Warm People have the poorest security among them, as they have a large and sparsely populated territory with weaker Wards. They have historically depended on the fierce cold of their lands to help prevent invasion, and so their settlements are all located deep within their frigid territory, but that does little to deter assassins who attack by Translocation, or by casting spells from a distance.
“Of your properties, the volcano in Xervia is likely the safest, as the Xervian Wards and security are the best.
“The thousands of security specialists who will guard the parades of leaders are the very finest in The Just Alliance, and they’re taking every possible precaution to ensure the processions will be safe.
“But my... I mean Mark, your homes in Thon and Sming are very vulnerable. Hilia in particular is a likely place for you to be attacked, as it is completely undefended.
“We are not yet qualified to protect you, though there are some among The Atoning who are. We suggest they be assigned to doing so, until we’re ready to assume that duty. We’re qualified to assist them under their direction, at least. And we would greatly appreciate if you also have at least Stripe, Scout, and your red bodyguard with you, if not the entire strike force, and that you both travel fully armed and armored.”
“We strongly suggest that you allow us to inform the knights of The High People of your itinerary, and to inform the military commanders of each of the nations your properties are located in, as to when you will arrive at each one. They will provide additional security, and we will ask each of them to dispatch a contingent to secure Hilia before you arrive there.
“Huh. All of that’s good thinking, and good advice.” Mark nodded. “I won’t call our other four companions though, as they have other assignments today. If we need them, they’ll be there on a moment’s notice, believe me. We’ll leave Stripe and Scout here as well, since I think that doing that many Translocations may upset them. And we’re on our honeymoon, and will be visiting some tropical places, so we’re not going to wear our amour. We will bring it with us, and be ready to don it quickly, and we’ll wear our weapons. The rest of the precautions you listed will have to be enough for today. Please see to them when we’re done this meeting with you Volunteers.”
“Thank you Mark.” she smiled, and nodded respectfully.
“Well that covers your group, Zayobod.” Mark mused. “What about you of The Devoted and The Unthinking Impulsives? What are your thoughts on your service?”
“Actually, sir, I think I’ve given you a misimpression.” Zayobod explained. “While it’s true that all of the girls of The Valiant Glory Seekers wish to be in your security service, other than that, our desired forms of service do not so neatly match our motivations for swearing to you. For instance, many of The Devoted are among our best wizards, sword wielders, and scouts, and would prefer to serve you in that regard, despite the fact that they swore to you because they are so completely besotted and smitten with you.”
“You watch your mouth, Zayobod.” Balen warned in a quiet and dangerous tone that surprised Mark and Talia. “You came close to mocking us just then. We got enough of that when we swore, and we have determined that we will never again unjustly submit to ridicule and jeers about our devotion to Mark. It’s an insult to think we had only a childish crush on him, and Alilia’s Compulsion has multiplied our devotion into a great and loving loyalty. Now it’s like a powerful spiritual enlightenment, and we will not be mocked for it!”
Zayobod’s eyebrows rose in surprise, and he took a moment to consider. “I’m truly sorry, Balen. I was making light of your emotions, and that was insensitive of me, though I didn’t think I’d hurt your feelings, or those of The Devoted. I assure you, it will not happen again.”
“Then we’ll forgive you.” Balen smiled.
“Thank you.”
“Zayobod is right about our aptitudes, though.” Balen told Mark, then shyly looked at his feet at she continued. “We of The Devoted want more than anything else to pleasure you with our love, and our love-making, to each surrender our entire being to you in that way. But we recognize that you are newly married, and have human morals and folkways about such things, and we may not be permitted to serve you in that way for a very long time, if we ever are. We don’t intend to mope around doing nothing while we wait in hope for that opportunity, and we have a lot of skills and enthusiasm to offer.
“Likewise, there are some among The Valiant Glory Seekers whose skills and aptitudes do not lend themselves to combat, who will serve you in other ways.
“The three groups we formed based on our reasons for swearing to you are mostly social organizations. All of us Volunteers met together to watch the Reading of the meeting, to swear to justice, and to discuss our service. But after that, when we were just mingling, we found that the three groups tend to, ah, talk about very different things. That’s when we formalized the three groups.”
“I see.” Mark smiled. “And what of The Unthinking Impulsives? What are your thoughts on your service?”
“We’re working on a song, a national anthem for Hilia, subject to your approval, sir.” Holanam smiled. “Other than that, we really haven’t discussed much. I’m somewhat embarrassed to say that the five of us spent the latter half of the meeting of The Volunteers fornicating. As to our service, whatever you want us to do is fine with us.”
“Unthinking Impulsives indeed!” Mark chuckled. “I see that you five are also gifted with considerable magical power.”
“Pardon me?” Holanam said with a puzzled look. “I’m not sure what you mean, sir. While our strength in the power is normal among The High People, I doubt we’re even average among this group in that way.”
“Huh! Are you certain of that?” Mark asked. “I mean, so far my ability to judge a wizard’s power has proved pretty accurate, and each of you is glowing as brightly as Balen, here.”
“I don’t see how that could be.” Holanam frowned. “All five of us together couldn’t match Balen’s strength with the power. I’m quite certain of that. She’s among our most gifted that way.”
“Huh. Do you mind if I open a Link with you?” Mark asked. “I’d like to check this a little closer.”
“By all means.” Holanam smiled. “Though it would be unkind to the rest of us if only we five are granted the honor of sharing your thoughts that way.”
“All right, but you five first, starting with you, and we’ll have Talia and Ria with us.” Mark said, and Talia laid her hand on her hilt.
Mark introduced Ria, and briefly explained about her and Talia’s sword while Talia and Ria established a firm Link with him. Then he Linked with Holanam.
“He is indeed drawing power that he cannot access for casting.” Ria commented. “Though he has used it on occasion in the past. I cannot tell what he did with it. Bring the other four into the Link.”
Mark closed his eyes and did so, thrilling to the ease of it, and to the pleasure of communicating so closely with these five young minds for the first time. He gave them a cheery wordless greeting with one part of his mind, which they acknowledged and returned.
“These two are somehow different from those three, though they all use the power without casting it.” Ria commented. “Other than that, I cannot say. They are all of them unique in my experience.”
“The three have a feel to them that is different, yet somehow familiar.” Talia noted. “Here, this aspect, do you feel that?”
“I recognize that!” Mark mentally exclaimed. “Here, disregard all these other aspects like this; their individualities, and these; their elvishness, so to speak. Now consider this unicorn. Disregard all of her individual and racial characteristics with the same method, like this, and this. You see?! The little bit of each of their auras that are left are the same! Somehow, they have something in common with her, and when you consider the three, you can see here how that aspect is part of their subconscious expenditure of power that Ria detected!”
“Very well done, both of you!” Ria congratulated. “Very perceptive. I suggest you now cast a Speaking to the morning child. This may be important.”
“I agree, love.” Talia added.
Mark nodded. “Tithian, may we have a moment of your time?” he called out loud as he concentrated on his image of her.
Instantly the eight Linked minds felt her join them and absorb their surface thoughts. “Thank you for calling me. Fine work. You five, please allow me to take a deep Reading. Thank you. This will be analyzed. I’ll have the results in a few minutes.”
Then her mental touch was gone.
“I get the feeling we interrupted her.” Mark noticed.
“She’s no doubt a very busy person right now.” Talia nodded.
“If you and Ria are ready, I’d like to start bringing the rest of these fine elves into our communication.” Mark asked.
They gave him their mental assent. He opened his eyes and began glancing at those around him, bringing each of them into the Link as he met their gaze. When he’d Linked with another thirty-four of them, he closed his eyes and felt for the rest of them. He noted the presence of each of their eager minds, and Linked with all of them at once. Now Talia, Ria, and the eighty-four Volunteers were all Linked through him.
It was a wondrous experience. He spent three minutes getting to know them, and Talia shared her memories of them with him as he mentally greeted each one. He was surprised at how well he knew them after that short time.
He was humbled by their feelings toward him; by how much they all looked up to him, by the sincerity of their service. The joyous power of their friendship and their love was so wonderful that he couldn’t help but return it.
Talia felt all this, just as they all felt Mark’s love for her, and hers for him.
It was a profound experience for all of them, and then it was suddenly further brightened when Tithian rejoined the Link. They made her welcome, and she delighted in sharing it for a half minute before revealing her news.
“This is beautiful, but I know you’ll be interested in what we’ve learned.
“These two; Holanam and Dewkan, have an ability so subconscious it can almost be considered inherent. They constantly cast an effect somewhat similar to a Blessing upon themselves and their immediate surroundings. It alters probabilities to their benefit. It is a subtle effect, but it would be true to say that they are magically lucky. Their spontaneous oath to serve you can only be of benefit to them, and it bodes very well for you that they did so. If you keep them near to yourself, or to those who are doing the greatest or most unsure works on your behalf, the further functioning of their unique ability will be of maximum benefit to you.
“You were correct in noticing that these three have a similarity in their auras that I share. It is the power of a seer. The ability to use this power takes centuries to develop, and little can be done to guide them, as it is a very intuitive learning process. I will spend a few minutes every week with each of them, and teach them what can be taught. They are very young, and they are quite lucky that their potential was detected so early. At this stage in their development, their talent will manifest as hunches, each of which will need to be considered individually, as they will be sporadic in their accuracy and completeness. On the other hand, none of their hunches or intuitions should be disregarded completely or routinely.
“You see how the thus-far unrecognized subconscious abilities of these five; magically enhanced luck and mild prescience, have led to their being Unthinking Impulsives? Without such spontaneity, they might have interfered with the function of their own talents.
“More important is this; Mark, your hastily developed method of disregarding irrelevant aspects of an aura is the first method ever found for isolating and identifying the talent of a seer. We will use it to search the world for prescients, most of whom are like these three, in that they would never have been identified otherwise. We may find dozens of undiscovered seers and oracles in the days ahead, which would be of great benefit to The Just Alliance.
“We immediately adapted the technique to the auras of these lucky two, and when we correlated the results with the events in their memories when they manifested most strongly, we were able to identify the nature of their talent. We can begin screening the populations of The Just Alliance for that ability as well.
“We are most excited by your ability to see an individual’s strength in the power, though we hadn’t realized it’s importance till now, and we haven’t been able to duplicate it. Others are able to do so indirectly, by observing the effect that a person and their spells have on the magic field, but that is far less exact and far less useful for the purpose, particularly when many are in close proximity to one another. The problem with using your aura aspect isolation technique to screen the population for magic abilities is that a deep Link or Reading must be cast upon each person to be so tested. If we could duplicate your ability to visually detect strength with the power, we would be able to detect all the potential spell-casters. Just as you did today, we could then compare their spell-casting strength with their total strength, to identify those with subconsciously cast magical abilities.
“Tell me, do you detect my power in the same way, or that of dragons?”
“Oh yes.” Mark nodded. “Your glow is as bright as Alilia’s, and Povon’s is brighter. Though now that I think about it, it is different. Povon’s glow is less glaring and is easier on the eyes than Alilia’s, even though it’s brighter, and yours is even softer and less irritating than Povon’s. We haven’t spoken to my gold neighbor yet today, but when we do, we’ll ask her about the possibility of others duplicating my ability that way.”
“Thank you. If we haven’t learned to do so before the parades of the leaders of The Just Alliance, we would greatly appreciate if you would try to visually scan every member of the audiences for their power glow, while allowing several of our researchers to be Linked with you. They would pass your findings to many staff members, who will note the power holders you detect, and offer them testing and training for their undiscovered talents. The parades will be attended by tens of millions. This is a wonderful and unique opportunity.”
“I’d be glad to. I’ll be a lot better at it if it’s dim or dark at the time, for greater contrast.” Mark nodded.
“We will add that priority to the planning of the parades.
“We must also point out that you have only been a spell caster and psionic for less than two days, and you have already made many important new discoveries in those fields. We therefore request that you Link with me each day, so that we may Read and review your latest findings. As you now know, it need only take a few seconds of your time and attention, and I am always available to you at your convenience.”
“I would be glad to do so.”
“Thank you, from all of us; the researchers of The Just Alliance. I now bid you all good day.”
“Thank you, Tithian. Please pass our gratitude and greetings to all your colleagues.”
“I already have. And by the way, when you get to Hilia, you’ll find we’ve left you a gift there.” Tithian said with a warm mental smile, and left the Link.
At that point Mark realized that many of the Volunteers were reaching the limits of their psionic strength, even though he was doing almost all of the work in maintaining the Link.
“Hold the Link one more moment, please.” Ria requested. “Thank you. You can release it now.”
Mark did so, and many took a deep breath, some stretched, and some rubbed their faces or eyes, as the tension of holding concentration on the Link was lifted.
“Relax, everyone.” Mark grinned.
With sighs and a few quiet groans, the Volunteers sank to the grass or sat on the steps.
“Everything in my life makes so much more sense now!” Holanam marveled. “I’m magically lucky! Now I’m amazed that I’ve never realized it before!”
His four companions expressed similar sentiments as they reviewed their lives in light of what they’d learned about themselves.
“That was a beautiful experience.” Ria softly stated, then resumed her normal brisk tone. “And that was masterful work, Mark, in casting and maintaining the Link. You’re coming along much more quickly than I’d anticipated. We’ll speak of this later today. While you were getting acquainted, I was reviewing these recruits for their military potential. They’re a fine crop, better than I expected to find in these peaceful and leisurely times. Just before you closed the Link, I gave them enough training assignments to keep them busy for a few days, both to perfect their strongest skills, and to address their individual weaknesses.
“I should like the opportunity to do the same with The Atoning.”
“All right.” Mark grinned. “Volunteers, have some refreshments and enjoy yourselves for a few minutes, while we check in with The Atoning.”
He and Talia turned to return to the ballroom, accompanied by Ria, who floated eerily along in her rigidly vertical posture.
The rear anteroom was now tastefully decorated with padded benches, end tables, coat and boot racks, carpets, a tapestry of the view from the top of the pass looking into First Valley from the south, and two paintings; one of a herd of galloping horses, and one of a tropical beach.
To their amazement, the ballroom was already almost clear of their possessions. The shelving, cabinets, draperies, paintings and tapestries they had planned to place there were already in position. All that was left to move were the items that had been assigned to Sweettower and the huge table at the center of the room. The table was covered in paperwork and surrounded by about thirty of The Atoning, and every few seconds another one of them Translocated in, reported, received new instructions, and Translocated out again.
“Ah, you’re back.” Sheramiv smiled. “As you can see, the decor of The Living Palace is finished. Sweettower’s renovations will be finished within twenty minutes, as some one hundred fifty-three of us are helping complete them, and furnishing it after that will only require a few minutes. The ice keep has been completely decorated, and the palace in Thon will be finished in twelve minutes.
“Military renovations at all of your properties will be completed within the week, and we’ll fortify them defensively in the first two days, before we begin installing counter-attacking emplacements and spells.
“The management of White Sands was most co-operative about sublett