Challenges (16 page)

Lorand shifted in his seat with indecision, wondering if he ought to drop his own shield. Having Hat win to the position of Seated High wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen, but all it would really accomplish would be to cause trouble. He couldn’t very well stay with Hat from now on, and the first time someone stronger challenged Hat for the Seat, Hat would lose. Better to let it happen now and get it over with, when he would be there to keep Hat from being too badly hurt.

The Seated High kept adding pressure until Hat dropped to his knees from the effort of defending himself. His breathing grew hard and ragged and sweat covered his face, and it quickly became clear that he couldn’t continue. The small challenger finally raised a reluctant hand and gasped out, “I yield!”

This time the Seated High held his opponent in place only a moment before releasing his grip, and Hat dropped to all fours for a minute, doing nothing more than breathing with his head hanging low. After the minute Hat straightened and struggled to his feet, then glared at the Seated High.

“Okay, so you got me that time,” he announced belligerently, just as he used to do as a boy. “Next time I’ll be the one doing the getting, so let’s go to it.”

Murmurs of astonishment broke out all over the hall, and most of the people around the dais looked at Hat as if he were crazy. In point of fact he
had
to be crazy, since it was perfectly obvious that it was one try to a challenger. The Seated High ignored Hat completely while he reached for the refreshments being brought to him, leaving it to the robed official to gesture to the others in similar robes. Three of the men came up to Hat, one of them speaking to him quietly, but Hat gestured a dismissal of whatever he was being told and simply continued to stare at the Seated High.

The three robed men ended up having to carry Hat out. Hat shouted and fought and tried to stay where he was, and his agitation turned him so wild that it wasn’t possible for the three to put him to sleep. Lorand considered helping them, then grudgingly decided to stay out of it. This time Hat would have no choice but to accept the fact that he’d lost, and it would be no kindness to shelter him from the truth. He was finally being forced to admit that he was as guilty as Hat’s mother of overprotection, and it was past time to cut the apron strings.

“I would appreciate it if you would do me a favor,” Lorand said to Meerk in a murmur once Hat was carried out. “See if you can find out where Hat goes once they release him from here. He still needs to be able to go home, and I’ll pay for his fare if I know he won’t cash in the ticket to get permanently drunk again.”

Meerk showed a faint smile and agreed with a nod, and then they sat back to watch the rest of the challenge. Leaving now would make them far too conspicuous, something they had no need of. Especially since Hat had been shouting about the whole thing being a setup and a cheat. They certainly didn’t need to be linked with
that
, not when they had their own plans to get around the cheaters.

But Lorand couldn’t shake the guilt he felt. He’d deliberately let down a friend, something he’d never done before. He seemed to have picked up new habits in Gan Garee, and only time would tell if the worst ones had managed to establish themselves too firmly to be shaken loose…

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

We got back to the residence about an hour before lunch, with me talking at Lorand and him working manfully to ignore me. We’d stayed for the last three challenges, but could have left without missing anything. None of the three even came close to defeating the Seated High, and once we were back in the coach Lorand told me that only the last challenger had had anywhere near the talent to do it. But for some reason that one hadn’t used all his talent, and it had seemed as though something were keeping him from it.

“But it wasn’t a shield,” Lorand added as he leaned back on the coach seat. “I looked carefully to see if there
was
one, but there wasn’t. I don’t mind admitting that that bothers me.”

It had bothered me as well, so much so that once Lorand “escaped” from me, I went to my own apartment and thought about it. It was always possible that the man had been drugged, but since he didn’t act drugged they might have done something else to him. I sat in a chair and tried to imagine what that something could be until a servant came to announce that lunch was ready, at which point I gave up the useless line of thought. There was too much I didn’t know, which made my thinking wasted effort.

But before leaving my apartment, I took a moment to remind myself how I was supposed to be feeling about the others. Jovvi had wrongfully accused me, Rion had been uncaring about my nervousness, Lorand had begun to avoid my company, and Vallant was the same hateful man he’d always been. I especially had to remind myself about that last point, since I’d caught Vallant staring at me once or twice. Half the time I wished I’d never told Lorand the truth about how I felt, and the other half… I rose quickly and left my apartment before thoughts about
that
made me forget about lunch.

When I stepped into the hall, it was to find that I’d been wise to restructure my emotions before coming out. The others were also leaving their bedchambers, and two servants were busily dusting and polishing in the midst of it all. There was no question that their work absorbed them completely, so they must have missed the very chill atmosphere that both Jovvi and I projected. The men were more aloof or standoffish, and we made a silent parade down to the dining room.

The meal was just as silent, despite Warla’s appearance with an attempt to jolly everyone into a better mood. She began by bidding us all a good afternoon, and when I was the only one who returned the sentiment, her face fell.

“Please forgive me, dear people, for intruding during a time that must be filled with anxiety for you,” she said with apology and compassion as she looked at us. “I merely came to say that word has been sent and your mentor will be here shortly after lunch, so some of the uncertainty is now gone. Not long after the meal, it will be my honor to share a residence with a real, true Blending!”

The delighted tone of her voice matched her ingenuous smile perfectly, showing she had no idea that she’d completely ruined my appetite. I wasn’t sure if the others felt the same shock I had, since they seemed to be controlling their expressions in the same way I was attempting to do. Glances flickered around very briefly, and then Jovvi smiled faintly.

“It’s lovely of you to say that, dear, but it’s possible you may end up temporarily disappointed,” she told Warla. “I understand that some groups don’t Blend the first time they try, and maybe not even the second time. I’m sure we’ll manage it eventually, but I won’t be a bit surprised if it doesn’t work the first time no matter what anyone tries.”

“Oh, that
is
disappointing,” Warla agreed sadly while the rest of us exchanged flickering glances again. Warla clearly thought that Jovvi was simply making an observation, but the rest of us were taking it as a very strong suggestion. No matter what anyone tried, it would be a good idea if we didn’t manage to Blend on our first attempt. I agreed that it was a good idea, but it gave me something else to worry about: if we did Blend on the first try, would I be able to hide it? None of us had any idea what Blending would be like…

Warla made some soothing and encouraging comments before she left, but what the exact words were I simply can’t remember. The thudding of my heart and the frantic flying of the butterflies in my stomach combined to make too much noise for me to hear much of anything. It even distracted me from the food being served, which meant I suddenly found myself eating from a plate I couldn’t remember filling. But I
was
eating from it, which was an even bigger surprise. My appetite should have been long gone…

I sighed before applying myself to the food again. Things were becoming so strange that another strangeness or two really made very little difference. I noticed that the others were eating their food with a distraction matching mine, so I didn’t look at them again. Servants were walking in and out of the room, either bringing things or checking to see if anything was needed, and at least one of them had to be a spy for the testing authority. If that spy caught me looking for support from the others, he or she would know immediately that our disagreements weren’t real.

So I finished my meal and drank an extra cup of tea without looking at anything but the pattern on the wallpaper. I had always hated that wallpaper, and had just about decided to have it replaced with something less expensive but in better taste when a servant entered to announce that we had a caller.

“A gentleman from the testing authority,” the servant added, which should have eased our minds. It could have been one of the horde of people bedeviling us, like my father and his next choice of a husband for me. When I found myself trying to decide whether or not I would have
preferred
the caller to be my father, I knew exactly how frightened I was of what was coming.

“I’ll greet the gentleman myself,” I announced as I stood, forcing myself to ignore the fear. “And we’ll all be in the library, so have someone bring us tea.”

The servant bowed an acknowledgment and stood aside to let me walk out first, which I did. Behind me I was aware of the others rising and following, which helped quite a lot. If I’d had to face our caller all alone, I’m not sure I could have done it. Simply leading the way was hard enough, especially when I saw the man standing in the front hall. Tall and lean and dressed in the latest, most expensive fashion, his supercilious attitude proclaimed him to be a member of the nobility.

“Good afternoon, sir,” I said in a voice that insisted on quivering, at the same time walking toward him at a slower pace than I usually used. “I’m Tamrissa Domon, the owner of this house. I take it you’re here to … to…”

“I’m here to teach you people about Blendings,” he said crisply when I groped for the proper words, impatience sharp in his tone and expression. “The first lesson will obviously have to be about casting all doubt and uncertainty aside, which means my work is cut out for me. I’m Lord Carmad Lestrin, and now you will show me to the room I’ll be doing my work in.”

“Of course, sir, it’s this way,” I said, gesturing toward the library before beginning to lead the way to it. My voice was still a trifle unsteady, but now it was annoyance rather than fear causing the reaction. The man was as objectionable as the rest of the nobility seemed to be, but I had to swallow the annoyance at least until he showed us what we needed to know. After that … well, that remained to be seen.

Lord Carmad followed me into the library, and the others came in right behind him. He nodded when Lorand closed the door, then sat himself in a chair as if he were royalty rather than simply another member of the nobility.

“Yes, privacy is exactly what we want,” he announced as he made himself comfortable in the chair. “From now on you will go to any lengths necessary to ensure your privacy, and moreover will discuss nothing of what you’re about to be told if there’s any chance of your being overheard. The law considers it a crime against the empire to speak of these matters to anyone not authorized to hear them, and even people like you will be arrested and put on trial if you fail to be properly discreet.”

He paused to see what effect his announcement had had on us, but didn’t have to search very hard. The others weren’t as wide-eyed as I certainly was, but they were also far from being unaffected.

“I see you all appreciate the gravity of the situation,” Lord Carmad said with a faint smile of approval as he crossed his legs. “That means we can begin immediately, which delights me no end. ‘Soon begun, sooner done,’ as they say, you know. Now, for these lessons and for your practice times, you will need to stand in the proper formation. You will also use the formation during the competition, but once a group performs together for a year or two, the formation is no longer necessary. We will begin by having your Fire magic user come forward.”

I could feel everyone’s eyes on me as I stood rooted to the spot, back to being frightened rather than annoyed. I hadn’t expected us to get into it quite that quickly, not without an hour of lecturing first. It took an incredible effort to finally move to a place directly in front of the seated man, and his faint smile changed subtly to a sneer.

“Why am I not surprised?” he said as he looked up at me, a comment I didn’t understand at all. “Possibly because it was only to be expected. Well, they do like to do these things, so let’s ignore it and continue. The next one we need is your Spirit magic user, standing precisely two feet behind Fire.”

I heard Jovvi move to the place she was supposed to be, and at the same time felt a wave of support and understanding coming from her. That made me feel a small bit better, but I still would have liked to know what Lord Carmad had been talking about.

“Next in line we need Earth magic, behind Spirit and at the same distance from her as Spirit is from Fire,” the noble went on. “That’s right, stop right there. Now we need Water to Spirit’s right and Air to her left, again, at the same distance that the others have already established. Yes, that’s the way.”

Lord Carmad examined the spacing from where he sat, not even bothering to stand. He’d made it sound as though the spacing were important, but apparently it wasn’t important enough for him to bestir himself. He looked back and forth to either side of me for a moment, then nodded again.

“Yes, that’s acceptable,” he said, then paused at a knock at the door, bringing his gaze to me. “Do you know who that is?”

“It’s probably the servant with the tea,” I responded, remembering just in time to keep from saying I didn’t know. “Do you want me to tell them to go away?”

“Not at all,” he disagreed, showing that smile again. “You will all first step apart, and then you may tell them to come in. I already feel the need for a cup of tea, and will probably need one even more before we’re done. Go on, now.”

The gesture he used was suited for use with small children and servants who weren’t very bright, but none of us commented as we stepped out of the formation. Once that was done I told the servant to come in, and happily it really was the tea being brought. Lord Carmad finally got up, but only to go to the service where it was put on the large table. While he poured himself a cup I told the servant to pass the word that we weren’t to be disturbed for any reason, which would hopefully take care of any further interruptions. Now that we’d actually begun, I very much wanted to get on with it.