“Why, I’m sure it can be arranged by next week’s end,” Arstin replied, a flash of frustration showing very briefly in the man’s eyes. “If that means you’ve decided to join us, I couldn’t be more pleased. But don’t you have
anything
you’d like to say about the lady of Fire? Surely she’s joined the others in treating you quite intolerably?”
“As a matter of fact, they’ve all treated me rather well,” Rion told him, suddenly and belatedly suspicious. It would take an entire week to arrange something Arstin claimed everyone wanted? When people had previously been shifted out of the residence in half a day’s time or less? “And I’d like to know why you keep asking about Dama Domon. One question on the subject can be considered casual conversation; two questions in as many minutes is not in the least casual.”
“I merely thought you’d enjoy discussing the outrage you’ve been made to suffer through,” Arstin replied soothingly—just as Rion became aware of the man’s talent trying to accomplish that soothing as well. “Talking about things which disturb us lets us finally put those things out of our mind. We need you to be as relaxed as possible when you join us, after all, so why not take advantage of a friendly ear? Begin by discussing one of the others instead, and return to Dama Domon when you feel more comfortable discussing her.”
“Your friendly ear doesn’t seem to hear very well,” Rion observed, forcing himself to face the unpalatable truth. “I told you that I was treated well, but you ignored that in an effort to get me talking. You and your group don’t want
me
, you simply want the information I can give you.”
“I’m sorry you choose to see it that way, Mardimil,” Arstin said with a sigh, now sending the emotions of regret and uncertainty. “My offer was a good one, and nothing but your unnatural suspicions are ruining it. It still isn’t too late for you to change your mind…”
Arstin let his words trail off in a coaxing way, as though waiting for the regret and uncertainty to make Rion more easily manipulated. But Rion understood what was happening now, and simply showed a faint smile.
“You know, Arstin, I’d actually forgotten how everyone of our class loves to control and use others,” Rion told him. “You have my thanks for reminding me, but that’s all you’ll have when you walk away from here. Which you would be wisest doing right this minute.”
The flash of frustration in Arstin’s eyes was stronger this time, and the man’s head came up as though he were indignant over having been discovered at his little game. But he wasn’t foolish enough to try adding any more words. He simply nodded curtly, turned on his heel, and walked away.
“I hope you don’t mind if I say how well I think you handled that,” a soft voice murmured, and Rion turned his head to see Jovvi beside him. “I noticed him come up to you and begin to touch you with his talent, so I … helped out.”
“Helped out,” Rion echoed, perplexed for a moment before understanding came. “So that’s why I was aware of what he tried rather than being affected by it. What did you do?”
“I’m not really sure,” Jovvi admitted, a small frown creasing her beautiful brow. “I wanted to protect you by letting you know what that man was trying to do, and suddenly it was happening. Just exactly what I did… I’ll have to think about that for a while before I make any attempt to describe it.”
“Take all the time you need,” Rion said, smiling at her fondly. “But you must also take my thanks, for keeping me from making a fool of myself. I wanted so very much to believe Arstin—after having conveniently forgotten that my … ‘own kind’ can’t be trusted not to betray even the people they consider friends. I expected to feel bitter disappointment over having lost an opportunity, but what I feel instead is relief. It’s you and the others who are ‘my kind,’ not them.”
“I’m glad you now see it the way the rest of us do,” Jovvi replied with a smile filled with warmth that couldn’t be doubted. “You earned your place among us even before you helped Tamma so much, so I’m just glad I was able to do my part. But what did that man want from you? I know he was trying to make you believe something, but I don’t know exactly what.”
“He tried to make me believe that he and the others of his group wanted me to be one of them,” Rion answered, anger coming to him in place of hurt. “I’ve spent all my life on the outside looking in, and he offered to unlock the door to acceptance. But the price of the key was betrayal of the rest of you, which I should have realized would not have gotten me inside. If I left at this stage of things, there would be no one to take my place. So why would information on everyone’s shortcomings and problems be at all important? Without a full Blending, none of you would compete.”
“Someone else in your position would not have seen that,” Jovvi said, putting a gentle hand to his arm. “I spent a long enough time alone on the streets to know how strong the lure of acceptance is, and I’m not sure I could have been as strong as you were. You’re wonderful, Rion, and I’m proud to be part of something with you.”
For once Rion was at a loss for words, but it was a very pleasant loss. He returned Jovvi’s smile as he briefly put his own hand over hers, feeling—no,
knowing
—that words were his only loss. He had more with these people than Arstin and his group could ever provide, and even the thought of Naran no longer disturbed him. His real friends would help him to find her again, just as they’d helped him to see her in the first place.
Rion’s gaze found Arstin as the man stalked back toward his group, and all thoughts of warmth and happiness disappeared.
Those very insistent questions about Tamrissa … would that gentle, damaged child really turn out to be the most important one in their Blending? The point was one he’d have to discuss with the others, but until then he’d worry about it all by himself…
* * *
Vallant was far from comfortable. The room they stood in was more than large, but the number of people in it turned it into something the size of a middling box. And the fact that they’d been told not to leave the area they now stood in … only the absence of a locked door had kept Vallant from bolting. As long as whether or not he stayed put remained his own idea, it also remained somewhat tolerable.
Looking around at the people attending the ball wasn’t very interesting, but it had the benefit of being something of a distraction. Everyone seemed to be inspecting the fascinating animals who had been dressed up in distinctive, color-matched costumes, even those nobles who were pretending to dance. Staring alternated with whispering, and Vallant might have been curious about what they were saying if their behavior hadn’t filled him with so much disgust and outrage.
So he looked away from those staring at him, only to find that one of the five people in silver and yellow was also staring at him. Indignation flared immediately, that someone in his own position would be as rude as those so-called nobles, but then Vallant’s mind began to work in place of his emotions. The man who stared at him was on the small side, and he stood at least two steps away from the rest of his group…
“Holter, that’s got to be Holter,” Vallant muttered to himself, the obvious having finally come to him. “And what was that Jovvi said about us gettin’ in touch with other groups…?”
The idea appeared fully formed, so Vallant lost no time acting on it. Holter must have been told the same thing about not wandering around, but there was one instance where leaving the area
had
to be permitted. He gave Holter the thumb-up sign they’d exchanged more than once, and the small man returned it immediately—and almost eagerly. He couldn’t have been certain that he was looking at Vallant or that he himself would be recognized, but now he knew he’d achieved both.
Once recognition was established, Vallant moved on to the idea he’d gotten. After glancing around casually to be sure no one was watching too closely, he gestured at himself and went into the small, brief dance that young children sometimes did when they had to relieve themselves. Holter stared for a moment with his head to one side, but then he nodded with understanding and turned away.
That was the signal for Vallant to also turn away, in order to find the servant assigned to them to ask directions to the nearest sanitary facilities. The man looked as though he were prepared to lead Vallant to them, but before he could make the offer he was called by Tamrissa. Frustration flashed briefly across his face before he turned to point out a door to Vallant, and then he was off to find out what Tamrissa wanted.
Vallant took immediate advantage of not being accompanied, and made for the door which presumably led to the sanitary facilities. As he approached he saw one man go in and another two come out, all of them dressed like nobles rather than participants. Looking around for Holter would have been stupid, so Vallant simply walked to the door while silently hoping. Holter
could
be sent to a different facility, as it was unlikely there would be just one…
The door led into a smaller, narrower corridor than the one they’d used to reached the ballroom, and a short distance down on the left was a door with the standard sign for men. On the right and a bit closer to the ballroom was the sign for women, which was only to be expected. There were no women going in or out, though, while the men’s facility had fairly brisk traffic.
Vallant stepped into the outer room casually, but there was nothing casual about the response of the other occupants. All eyes were suddenly on him, and he didn’t need Jovvi’s talent to tell that most of the men were frightened. The rest were at least uncomfortable, and in a moment they were
all
heading for the way out. Vallant smiled to himself as he pretended not to notice, instead enjoying how large the facility entrance room was. With everyone else leaving, it was actually almost bearable.
A minute or two after the room emptied, the door opened again and Holter came in. Vallant had used the time to see that at least two of the small facility rooms in back were occupied, so he gestured silence to Holter and led the smaller man to the far side of the entrance room. The place was beyond the line of small tables holding wash basins and stacks of towels, just in front of a large, clearly comfortable couch.
“They don’t want any of us talkin’ together, so we’ll have to make this fast,” Vallant said softly once Holter stood beside him. “Jovvi thinks we all
should
talk, so we’re tryin’ to find out the locations of the other groups. What do
you
think?”
“I think th’ lady’s right as rain,” Holter said with a slow nod. “We gotta do somethin’ t’keep ’em frum gittin’ us, but th’ fools in m’new residence prob’ly won’t go along. I’ll tell ya where I am, but first I gotta tell ya ’bout th’ new Earth magic user we got. Three guesses who he is.”
“Eskin Drowd,” Vallant answered promptly, remembering what Lorand had said. “I take it he still doesn’t have much in the way of ordinary manners.”
“An’ never will,” Holter agreed with a nod, pushing at his mask. “This damn thing’s too tight, but we ain’t allowed t’toss it… Man who wus in Drowd’s place t’start with never come back frum that there first comp’tition. They said he’s sick ’r sumthin’.”
“Lorand said he went crazy when he messed up durin’ the competition,” Vallant supplied, unsurprised that the people in the man’s residence hadn’t been told any details. “They had to put him to sleep by force, then he was carted off somewhere. But Drowd hadn’t yet qualified, or so Lorand also said. Did he manage to get through the tests, or did they just throw him in without requirin’ it?”
“Drowd ain’t tellin’, so there’s no way a knowin’,” Holter replied with a shrug. “He’s just walkin’ around smug as ever, makin’ trouble ever’ time he opens his mouth. But what’s happenin’ with this here thing t’night, an’ how cum yer here? They said
I
won th’ comp’tition.”
“We think they told that to everyone,” Vallant said, “and your bein’ here confirms the guess. They probably want the noble groups to get a look at us, and maybe even pick up a hint or two about defeatin’ us. The group we’ll be facin’ came over and tried a fool’s trick to make us afraid of them, but all it did was get us annoyed.”
“Gotta tell ya sumthin’,” Holter said, the visible part of his expression looking worried. “Ran inta a old friend th’ other day, an’ she ain’t worried none ’bout whut I kin do. So we talked some, an’ she said there’s lots a gold floatin’ around in bettin’. Coulda guessed that, but th’ other part ain’t so good. None a th’ gold’s on any a
us
.”
“And at least some of it should be,” Vallant put in, suddenly very worried. “There’s no way of knowin’ one of our groups won’t get lucky—unless things are arranged so that none of us
can
get lucky. Any idea about what the arrangement can be?”
“Nobody’s sayin’,” Holter denied with a headshake. “M’friend’s tryin’ t’find out, but prob’ly she ain’t gonna get very far. All she culd tell me wus that th’ gold’s been agin us all along.”
“Which might or might not mean somethin’,” Vallant acknowledged as he nodded. “I’ll tell the others, and if we come up with any ideas I’ll pass them along. How do I get in touch with you?”
Holter gave him an address which meant nothing to Vallant, but he memorized it with the hope that Tamrissa would know where it was. Then Holter added, “I’ll ask m’friend t’see if’n she c’n get th’ other addresses. Meanwhile
we
gotta keep in touch.”
“If you don’t hear from me in two or three days, see if you can sneak back for a visit,” Vallant said, again agreeing. “But don’t let any of the servants see you. Some of them have got to be watchin’ us for the testin’ authority—but you already know that. Just take care of yourself, and don’t let Drowd get to you. Chances are he didn’t pass the sort of tests the rest of us did.”
“I mean t’say thet durin’ breakfast t’morra,” Holter replied with a grin. “Th’ sonuvabitch awready got t’me, an’ now it’s my turn. You take care, you an’ th’ others.”
Vallant simply nodded in an effort to ease the man’s very obvious embarrassment, as though there were anything wrong with being concerned about people you liked. Holter matched his nod and then left, clearly reluctant to return to his new group but having no choice in the matter. Vallant had almost offered to trade places with him, but there was no sense in disturbing the man even more. The testing authority would never allow them to switch places, even though Vallant wouldn’t have minded in the least.