The two men exchanged desperate glances, understanding without being told that linking against him again was impossible.
They were beyond the point where they could surprise him, and only greater strength than what
he
wielded could break his hold.
“Now we’re goin’ to continue with this exercise,” Vallant said, giving them a pleasant smile. “The ice will stay where it is until I’ve achieved this final mastery, and then we can all forget about it. Do you agree?”
The two men nodded raggedly, so Vallant turned back to what he’d been doing. It didn’t take long to finish filling all the hidden boxes, and when Wimand tripped the lever there were six matching streams of water produced.
“C-congratulations, D-Dom Ro,” Wimand said immediately through chattering teeth. “The s-second level m-masteries are all yours, s-so
please
…!”
Rilin’s gaze was also begging, but Vallant still felt reluctant to release them. Experiencing pity for people who had deliberately attacked him wasn’t one of his failings, but it
was
time to end that farce. So he released his hold on the ice, letting the two men reach it themselves, and a moment later they both sighed with relief.
“Now I’d like to know what happens next,” Vallant said after giving the two an additional moment to pull themselves together. “Aside from your fetchin’ six dins for me. How soon do I get to the first of the competitions?”
“You’ll be notified about that, sir,” Wimand replied after taking a deep breath, now firmly back to being obsequious. “I’ll fetch your dins immediately, along with your master’s bracelet.”
“What’s that about a bracelet?” Vallant asked, trying to divert himself from a mixture of disappointment and relief. He’d thought he wanted to get on with the time when he had to enter that enclosed building, but now that the occasion had turned indefinite, he felt it a lot easier to breathe.
“Your status has changed from applicant to full participant, sir,” Wimand told him in explanation, all but bowing. “You’ve reached the level of master, so a master’s bracelet will replace your applicant’s card. Congratulations again on achieving that much higher status, and would you care to sit and take tea while I get your bracelet and dins?”
Rilin had turned and walked away while Wimand spoke, leaving Vallant with the impression that he would not be back.
That was fine with Vallant, since he had one further thing to say to Wimand.
“Yes, I believe I
will
take tea while I’m waitin’,” he said, then moved closer to Wimand and lowered his voice. “I don’t know why you and your brother slime did what you did to me, but I also don’t care why. I’m simply advisin’ you to make sure that the same thing doesn’t happen to Holter. I’ll be watchin’ while I have that tea, and if it does I’ll feel obliged to help the man. Do we understand each other?”
“Perfectly, sir,” Wimand said with a gulp, then hurried off—in the direction of the two—
Adepts
—with Holter. Vallant nodded to himself in satisfaction as he walked toward a table, looking forward to the tea, something to eat—and a chance to firm up his decision to have nothing more to do with Dama Tamrissa Domon.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
When the coach stopped at my practice area I got out, and Jovvi was so deep in thought that I didn’t want to disturb her even to say goodbye. Our discussion had helped me quite a bit in that it usually helps to share your problems with someone else. But in another way it hadn’t helped at all, because now I couldn’t decide what to do.
I stopped on the walk leading to the practice area, trying to pull myself together before going in. Talking things out with Jovvi had made me realize something I hadn’t admitted to myself before: a very large part of me
wanted
to be with Vallant Ro. Looking at him made me feel things I’d never felt when looking at any other man, and even the thought of simply strolling with him in the garden sent me into a minor flutter.
But I’d decided against associating with Vallant Ro, and right or wrong the decision had still been made. That meant the man had had no
right
to keep bothering me, not to mention trapping me into a very disturbing promise. Maybe I
had
insisted on making the promise; that didn’t mean Vallant Ro wasn’t wrong to let it happen in the first place.
Anger rose in me again at that thought, covering over the possibility that I’d been wrong to say I’d never speak to him again. Putting the entire blame on him had seemed unfair because I
had
encouraged him to a large extent, but the anger wiped out that feeling as well. It usually isn’t wise to let yourself walk around being angry, especially when the use of magic is involved, but this wasn’t a usual situation. If the anger kept me from being distracted by conflicting wants and desires, it seemed wiser to simply go with it.
So I took a deep breath to settle the anger down to a dull roar, and then walked through the opening into the practice area. Today I was supposed to perform those exercises while Soonen attacked me with her own magic, and for the first time since I’d learned about it I didn’t dread the coming experience. I was in the process of learning that anger sometimes turns fear into indignation, and it couldn’t have happened at a better time.
“Well, well, so you actually showed up,” a woman’s voice said, and then Soonen stopped not far from me. “I thought sure you would remember what we’ll be doing today and decide to stay in bed.”
“That’s your biggest problem, Soonen,” I countered, the coals of my anger glowing hot. “You
don’t
think, you just flap your big mouth. I happen to be more than eager to get started, so let’s get to it right now.”
“What a surprise,” the big woman scoffed, looking at me as if I were some sort of insect. “You’re in such a hurry to get started because you’re afraid your nerve will break, and then you’ll show everyone what a sniveling little coward you really are. If you had real nerve, you’d sit down first and have a leisurely cup of tea.”
I was an instant away from saying I’d have
two
cups of tea, but then rationality came to my rescue. If I sat down for any length of time at all, all those conflicting wants and desires plaguing me in the coach would come right back. I couldn’t let myself be distracted like that, so only one answer to Soonen’s challenge was possible.
“You want me to sit down for a while to give
you
the chance to work up the nerve to face me?” I asked with a mocking smile. “Really, Soonen, the extra time won’t do you any good at all, so we’ll skip the tea. Go and find Adept Gerdol, and tell him we’re ready to begin.”
The flashing look in Soonen’s eyes was a combination of frustration and fear, and then she’d turned away from me to stalk off toward the front of the eating area. She’d also gone faintly red at my accusation, which had been a considerable surprise.
I’d only been trying to insult and refuse the woman without being put on the defensive, but it looked like I might have struck the nail squarely on the head. Soonen
did
seem to be afraid to face me, which meant I couldn’t understand why she’d tried to antagonize me. Hadn’t she realized that that would only make things worse between us?
No logical answer came for that question, so I shelved it for the moment and drifted after Soonen. The woman seemed to be heading for the table that Gerdol had been at yesterday, and sure enough the man was there with his friends. When Soonen spoke to him, her face looking drawn, he seemed startled and upset. They then exchanged a few words, after which Gerdol rose and joined Soonen in coming back to me.
“Well, good morning, Dama Domon,” Gerdol said heartily as he approached, his mustacheless whiskers rising with his smile. “I certainly hope you had a pleasant evening and rest—but of course you must have. You’re just as lovely as ever.”
“Thank you,” I said with my own forced smile, fighting to keep my anger from taking over. “You’re very kind … as usual. Now I’d like to begin the testing.”
“Without first sharing a fortifying cup of tea?” he asked with brows raised, making it sound as though the practice was unheard of. “Surely you’ll join me for a brief time, Dama, while Adept Soonen serves the both of us…”
“That’s a really tempting offer, sir, but I must decline,” I said when his words trailed off on a coaxing note. I’d
never
be able to stand his greasy compliments without exploding… “I’ve come for no other reason than to gain the next masteries, and now I’d like to get to it.”
Gerdol and Soonen exchanged a glance, and strangely enough Soonen showed nothing of relief over not having to serve me. I’d been expecting her to be delighted, and the fact that she wasn’t became another puzzling item for the file of unanswered questions I’d begun to build.
“Very well, Dama, your wish is our command,” Gerdol finally allowed with a sickly smile, giving me the impression that he’d had no choice but to respond in that way. “Please follow us to the first of the cubicles.”
The two Adepts didn’t speak as they led the way, but I had the definite impression they wanted to. It would have been nice to know what was going on, but I was almost getting used to
their
way of doing things. When they reached the first cubicle Gerdol stopped, but Soonen continued around to the other side of it. The far side, like the near, had an opening in the clear resin wall with a free-standing curtain-wall three or four feet behind the opening.
“This exercise will be the same as it was yesterday, with one exception,” Gerdol said to me when I reached him. “You must burn every grain of sand in the gout thrown up by the device, but at the same time you must protect yourself from attack by Adept Soonen. Soonen is rather stronger than most around here, and for your sake I truly hope you
are
prepared for this. If not…”
He let his words trail off in an obvious attempt to frighten me, but obvious or not the attempt began to work. I could see Soonen clearly where she stood, and her arrogance seemed to have returned completely. I glanced away from her in my own obvious attempt to hide hesitation—and suddenly felt shocked. Down by the third cubicle, staring straight at me—It was Beldara Lant!
For a moment I had trouble understanding why Beldara would be here, and then I realized that she must have managed to qualify on the very last day. I hadn’t seen her since the testing authority had taken her things and Eskin Drowd’s out of the house, probably expecting that neither of the two would qualify. But apparently Beldara had fooled them, and now she was here to try qualifying for the competitions.
And to stand there smirking her imagined superiority in
my
direction. Beldara had been raised to believe that she was the best at Fire magic ever to be born, and even coming out of her small town into the real world hadn’t brought her to a more reasonable attitude. Now she stood there, delaying her own practice, waiting for me to fail the way she’d always said I would.
The anger I’d begun with had cooled to uselessness, but seeing Beldara and her Soonen-like arrogance brought it back to full, roaring life. Both of those women tried to claim superiority with words rather than deeds, but I’d already stopped letting mere words defeat me.
“I’m ready,” I said to Gerdol in what was almost a snap as I drew myself up. “Tell Soonen to begin any time she feels up to it.”
Gerdol’s brows drew down as he gestured to Soonen, but his unhappiness and Soonen’s slight hesitation were no longer my concern. I’d reached for the power and had drawn it into myself, and abruptly found myself weaving
two
patterns of fire. The first would burn every bit of soil Gerdol now prepared to make the device throw into the air, and the second would keep Soonen’s efforts away from me. Distantly I realized that the second pattern was the same one I used to keep from burning anything but what I was supposed to, and that it was woven power rather than woven fire. But that didn’t matter to me now, not when there were masteries to achieve.
Gerdol used the lever to make the device throw soil into the air, and that, of course, was when Soonen struck. Even as my hottest fires consumed the soil completely, I was able to feel Soonen trying to set my clothes and hair alight. The way she clenched her fists said she tried really hard, but it just wasn’t possible for her to go around or through my protection.
“How was that?” I asked Gerdol when the soil was completely gone, pretending to ignore Soonen’s continuing efforts. “Worth another mastery, wouldn’t you say?”
“Yes, certainly, Dama,” Gerdol quickly agreed, apparently finding himself shaken by my stare. I still retained active contact with the power, of course, and felt as if I could face down the entire world. “You’ve achieved the first of your second-level masteries without a doubt. Let’s continue to the next.”
Gerdol now seemed to be in a rush to get on with it, and that was perfectly all right with me. As I moved after him and out of the cubicle entrance, Soonen’s attack was immediately cut off. With even a single resin wall between us, it would have to be.
We didn’t have to wait long for Soonen to stalk to the other side of the second cubicle, and it looked as if her temper had gotten the best of her. If determination were clothing, Soonen probably would have been muffled to the eyebrows. As soon as Gerdol released the spray of water I was to burn to a point beyond steam, her attack resumed slightly stronger than before. This time I happened to notice the actual level of her efforts, and decided not to consider her an Adept ever again. She was a fairly strong Middle talent, but that was a far cry from the operating level of a High.
“And now we have two new masteries,” I said to Gerdol once all the water was gone without a trace, smiling faintly at the way I’d called myself a High talent without blushing at the boastfulness of the claim. When I finally released my hold on the power I’d be absolutely exhausted, but for now I meant to enjoy the experience of life without fear or nervousness.
“Two, yes,” Gerdol muttered, his glance at Soonen putting a look of frustrated fear on his face. “You—ah—haven’t mentioned anything about the difficulty of being under attack. I hadn’t realized you would do so well with hiding your efforts to resist it.”