Challenges by Sharon Green

apparently strong. It was said that this was his
third
twenty-fifth year, and that was just possible. Eltrina firmly kept herself from blushing over the
faux pas
she’d made, and took her seat at the large table as gracefully as possible.
    “You don’t seem to have brought many files with you,” Lord Embisson observed once she was settled. “One thin folder… Ollon usually brings everything.”
    “I’m afraid I lack Lord Ollon’s physical strength,” Eltrina replied with a smile when she would have preferred to tell the stupid old man just how much of a fool he really was. And he was the only member of his committee who ever spoke… “In view of that lack I use my memory instead, so I’m just as prepared to render a full report. Shall I begin?”
    Lord Embisson waited for the two youngest members of his committee—men who must have been at least forty—to pick up their pens and poise them over blank paper, and then he nodded his permission to proceed.
    “As you know,” Eltrina began, “this year we have six viable groups rather than five. I’ve kept the sixth group unofficial, of course, as I planned to use them when and if necessary to fill in any gaps. I’ve also discovered that some people simply aren’t able to Blend, and if that happens with one of the five original groups, we’ll have the unofficial sixth to put in their place.”
    A very soft murmur went around the table, and there was even a faint flicker in Lord Embisson’s eyes. Eltrina had had to find something to justify the existence of a group that should never have been formed, and a search of the archives had given her the answer. During the last twenty-fifth year, one of the five chosen peasant groups hadn’t been able to Blend. It had taken a lot of scrambling around to find substitutes for one member after another, and they achieved a Blending only at the very last minute. There was no danger of the same happening this time, but even better there was no way for Lord Embisson to give the credit to Ollon.
    “In the interim,” Eltrina continued, “the five primary groups have been finalized according to their test ratings. The three weakest groups are of no concern, but they’ve still been given members who can’t possibly get along well enough to Blend fully. The strongest group has had two of its members replaced, which should also keep
them
from Blending properly. The last group, the second strongest, has been kept intact.”
    “Is that wise?” Lord Embisson asked with a frown. “They’re the ones who traditionally face the chosen noble Blending, and it would be foolish to court disaster by overlooking them.”
    “I agree completely, my lord, and that’s why they haven’t been overlooked,” Eltrina replied with the same smile. “I had a report from the observer in their residence only two hours ago, and it was that report which convinced me to leave them just as they are. It will also help if the competition observers try to complain about substitutions in the other groups.”
    “You still haven’t told us what was in that report,” Lord Embisson pointed out testily. Eltrina could see that he wanted to find something to prove that she wasn’t doing the job properly, but he’d have to do better than question what she’d learned.
    “The report covered all five of the members of the group,” Eltrina purred, dragging out disclosure of the details as long as possible. “The Spirit magic member was given some difficulty by a former associate, and when the observer reported the incident I had the former associate arrested. The trial was held this morning, and the Spirit magic member couldn’t stay away. The accused was found guilty and sentenced to a severe punishment, and the Spirit magic member was devastated. Despite not having reported the incident herself, she nevertheless felt that the associate’s plight was her fault. Her feelings were confirmed by a Spirit magic user I sent there to check on the