“I’ll come down,” Vallant said to the serving girl as he rose to his feet. No sense in hearing the bad news in private, not when his absence would be perfectly clear come dinnertime. And the others had been so sure that they were all going to be put into a challenging Blending.
When Vallant followed the girl downstairs, he found two men waiting rather than one. His first thought was that they were together, a precaution against the possibility of his arguing about being thrown out. But by the time he reached the bottom of the stairs he’d realized that the two men didn’t know each other, and then the serving girl confirmed his speculation.
“That’s ’im on th’ right, sor,” she said, pointing to the man before dropping a quick curtsey and hurrying off. The man on the right had noticed the exchange as well, and now came forward with a smile.
“Dom Ro?” he asked, and when Vallant nodded, the man’s smile grew even broader. “Congratulations, sir! I’ve been sent to tell you that you’ve won your first competition. Here’s your prize, which I’m sure you were expecting.”
Vallant would have expected having the ceiling fall on him or a herd of wild horses trample him. Being told he’d won the competition and then being handed gold was a stunning shock, but his hand went out automatically to accept the offered pouch, and then the messenger bowed and left. Vallant would have also enjoyed moving the way living people are supposed to, but right now that seemed to be beyond him.
And then the second man at the door came to attention, and Vallant managed to turn his head to see Jovvi coming down the stairs after another serving girl. Jovvi wore a wrap and acted as though she’d been awakened from a sound sleep, but the second man didn’t seem to notice.
“Dama Hafford?” he asked, and when Jovvi nodded to that, the man beamed at her. “You must be thrilled to be part of such an impressive residence. I’m not the first to say this, but that doesn’t change the delight of it. Congratulations, Dama Hafford, on winning your competition. It’s my honor to bring you the word of that, as well as your gold.”
Jovvi seemed to be moving in her sleep as she accepted the pouch being offered to her, and Vallant knew exactly how she felt. The messenger bowed and left, and only then did she turn disbelieving eyes to Vallant.
“Am I still asleep and dreaming this?” she asked in a very soft voice. “I must be, since it wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“Let’s go into the library and send for some tea,” Vallant suggested, no longer too stunned to be able to think. “We can sit down and be comfortable, and incidentally congratulate each other.”
“Yes, of course,” Jovvi agreed in a normal voice, giving him a smile for reminding her about not saying anything she didn’t want the servants to overhear. “Tea sounds marvelous, and so does the idea of sitting down.”
With that settled they headed for the library, and Vallant used the pair of moments to try to figure out where he could have gone wrong. He hadn’t been in any condition to notice much and he
had
gone first, but that shouldn’t have won him the competition. The problem still nagged at him as he opened the library door for Jovvi, and then the problem instantly became more complex. Coll, Tamrissa, and Mardimil were there ahead of them, and each of them sat holding the same sort of pouch that he and Jovvi did.
“I don’t believe it,” Tamrissa said, staring at the newcomers. “You two also? I don’t believe it.”
“I believe the fact of it, but can’t make sense of it,” Mardimil said as Vallant and Jovvi went forward to join the group. “Tamrissa told us that the ladies came to the same conclusion we did, so this certainly makes no sense. Surely at least one of us would have attained the objective.”
“Maybe our objective and the testing authority’s were entirely different,” Jovvi told him, glancing back at the door they’d left open. “Lorand, would you mind standing guard all alone? I’m not as exhausted as I was, but I’m far from being back to normal.”
“I’d be glad to,” Lorand responded, looking at her with clear concern. “The closest trace of human life is in the back hall and not moving this way, so tell us what you meant about different objectives.”
“It’s fairly obvious once you think about it,” Jovvi said, letting Vallant seat her before he took a chair of his own. “In my own competition, we weren’t allowed to learn what anyone’s time was, including our own. Now we’ve been told that we won, but how do we know it’s true?”
“Why would they lie?” Vallant asked, really wishing he’d been able to pay more attention to what had gone on around him. “If they’re doin’ this because they have too much gold and need to get rid of it, they could have just given it to us.”
“There’s no such thing as too much gold,” Mardimil put in, obviously speaking seriously. “They’ve arranged this for a reason, and that’s what we need to discover. I have the strongest feeling that we’ll be badly at a disadvantage if we don’t.”
“I think Jovvi is right and they have to be lying,” Coll said, decision strong in his voice. “I’ve been going over and over the competition in my mind, and although I
could
have done better than the girl who went first, I’m certain I didn’t. Is that why they hurried her out so fast, do you think? To keep her from knowing that the prize went to someone with a slower time?”
“That would mean they chose
us
to win over everyone else who competed,” Tamrissa said slowly, while Vallant and the others murmured in confusion. “I can’t believe we’re that important to them, not when they haven’t done anything special for us until now. So the question arises: how do we know we’re the
only
ones who were told they won?”
“You mean they lied to everyone?” Coll asked with a frown. “That sounds just like them, but what would be the point? All winners are supposed to go to that reception at the palace tomorrow night, and if the people we competed with show up, we’ll recognize them.”
“And they’d recognize us,” Tamrissa agreed glumly. “I’d forgotten about that, but you’re right. And yet I still have the feeling that my guess was close. We know nothing about the other competitors including where their residences are, and that can’t be an accident.”
“I agree completely,” Jovvi said, rubbing at her forehead with one hand. “I have the same feeling, but I’m still too tired to think clearly. I need to get back to bed after I eat something, but first let’s tell each other about what the competitions were like while we have the chance.”
Everyone thought that was a good idea, so they took turns filling each other in. Vallant couldn’t help noticing that Tamrissa looked faintly drawn and also seemed to be leaving something out of her story, but it was none of his business. She’d finally made that clear to him, and he’d made sure he would remember it.
Once all the descriptions were over, Coll, Mardimil, and Tamrissa went upstairs to get ready for that night. Vallant remembered Coll saying something about how he and Tamrissa were going to help Mardimil see some girl, but knowing that didn’t help to make him feel any less left out. That meant he couldn’t stand the idea of going back to his room alone, so he chose instead to join Jovvi in the dining room.
“No, I don’t mind the company at all,” Jovvi said when he put the question, giving him a warm, easy smile. “Or, to be more specific, I don’t mind
your
company. There’s some I’d prefer to do without even if I had to be alone for the rest of my life.”
“You sound as if you’re referrin’ to someone specific,” Vallant said, leaning back in the chair he’d taken near her. Jovvi had already asked a servant for whatever happened to be left over from lunch as well as tea for the two of them, so they were alone in the dining room.
“I
am
referring to someone specific,” Jovvi agreed. “My former sponsor, Allestine, showed up at the practice area with her two bullies, and tried to kidnap me. I always knew she wasn’t very bright, but believing she could simply drag me away without anyone official noticing… I had to use my ability to get away from them after using it during the competition, and that’s why I’m so drained.”
Vallant waited until the servant appearing with the tea had poured and left, and then he said, “How did the testin’ people react when you told them what had happened? I’d think they would send out guardsmen to arrest those fools right away.”
“I didn’t report the incident, and also asked Tamma not to report it,” Jovvi answered, looking at him with serious blue-green eyes. “I can’t explain
why
I don’t want them arrested, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say anything either. I’ll think of an unofficial way to discourage them as soon as I’ve had enough sleep.”
“It’s your decision,” Vallant agreed, disliking that decision but feeling it wasn’t his place to argue it. “Now I understand why you ladies both look so strained. Kidnappin’ attempts tend to do that to people.”
“Oh, Tamma wasn’t there when it happened,” Jovvi immediately corrected. “She came by in our coach later, and picked me up. What’s bothering
her
is that the man who was there after her very first test showed up again this morning, and said something that frightened her badly. I wasn’t able to find out exactly what that was, but I will. I didn’t want to add to her fright by saying the man is probably a noble, and if he’s decided he wants her she could be facing a serious struggle.”
Vallant had to fight for a moment to keep from reacting to that news, but after the moment it became a good deal easier. If Tamrissa Domon had wanted his help she would have asked for it, and his continuing pain underscored the fact that she’d done nothing of the sort.
“What I said bothered you, but now the disturbance has changed,” Jovvi observed, studying him over her teacup. “Does that mean you no longer care what happens to Tamma?”
“Not at all,” Vallant denied, reaching for his own tea. “Dama Domon’s well-bein’ concerns me as much as that of everyone else in this residence. We all do have to stick together, after all… So what do you think the testin’ authority will try next?”
“Vallant, you’re deliberately changing the subject,” she accused, a very accurate description of his intentions. “I have no right to speak for Tamma, but I happen to know that she doesn’t want to see you hurt. If she did something to make you change your mind about her, you have to remember what her life’s been like until now. Encouraging a man goes against every sense of survival she has—even if most of her
wants
to encourage him. Be patient with her, and hopefully you won’t be disappointed.”
“I know how much she dislikes hurtin’ people,” Vallant said tonelessly as he got to his feet, remembering with a twinge how much Tamrissa had been prepared to sacrifice just to avoid hurting
him
. “I appreciate the goodness of her heart, but that’s not what I’m lookin’ for in a woman. Please excuse me now, I really do need to return to my bedchamber.”
Vallant felt her sympathy and attempted comfort all the way into the front hall and to the stairs, but that just made everything worse. What he wanted in a woman was for her to love him, just the way he was prepared to love her. But he couldn’t seem to inspire that even in someone who disliked giving pain, and pity was something he would
not
accept. Better never to be accepted at all, than to be accepted out of pity…
He took the stairs two at a time, to avoid running into anyone else. He’d never be able to handle that now, any more than he could ease that blasted, ever-present ache…
CHAPTER FORTY
It was only late afternoon, so I had plenty of time to dress for dinner. I spent a while in the bath house, soaking and trying not to think, but it was useless. My mind kept insisting that I go back over the scene when that man came to my table in the practice area, and consider what I would do about it. That part of it was downright funny, since there wasn’t anything I
could
do. I hadn’t mentioned my suspicion to Jovvi, but I was certain that the man was a noble. That made me doubly powerless if he turned out to be seriously interested in appropriating me, a thought that kept turning around and around in my head. Doubly powerless … doubly powerless…
By the time I got back to my apartment, a realization had forced its way through the roiling. My position in the competitions, the very thing keeping my father currently at bay, had to be doing the same with that noble. That should mean I didn’t need an immediate solution to the problem, only an eventual one. As long as I stayed in the running, that is, something I meant to do anyway.
Thinking the thing through that far made me feel a bit better, so I went to my wardrobe to decide what to wear. Rion and Lorand would be dressed in their gray trousers and white shirts the way they usually were, but not because they had nothing else really appropriate. We wanted them to look as much alike as possible, and identical clothing would help the effect enormously.
I finally decided on my favorite party gown, very plain in design but classically rich. It was dark blue silk with long panels of cream lace, which matched the cream lace at wrists and throat. It was also nearly brand new, since I’d been able to wear it only once before my late husband’s illness had forced him to stop going to parties. It was a bit dressy for what the men would be wearing, but the cloak Rion would have on—and would give to Lorand—should balance that.
When I found myself humming as I brushed my hair, I was surprised. I’d expected to be trembling over that scene with the awful noble for quite some time, but simply thinking about it for a while had let me dismiss it. I didn’t understand why that was, but I had no intention of arguing. There would be enough to worry about in trying to keep up with the testing authority; I had no need of anything to add to it.
When I made my way downstairs, I found Rion waiting for me in the front hall. Lorand would have left some time earlier, following the directions I’d given him to the eating parlor. Rion looked very handsome in the black and gold cape he wore, and he smiled when he saw me.
“You look absolutely ravishing this evening, dear lady,” he said, coming forward so that he might take the cloak I carried over one arm. “I very much appreciate your agreeing to celebrate with me tonight, and our carriage is here. As soon as I help you into your cloak, we can be on our way.”