Competitions (30 page)

“You think I’m hiding my efforts well?” I asked with a very pleased smile, ignoring his roundabout attempt to get some details on the matter. “How nice of you to say that, Adept Gerdol. And now we’re ready for the third exercise, aren’t we?”

“Yes, surely,” the man muttered, then edged carefully behind me before leading the way. Soonen’s attack was now causing sparks to strike against my protection, but causing sparks was the most she could do against it. Flame was completely disallowed, and that no matter how red in the face she got.

As we approached the third cubicle, I smiled faintly to see the fury in Beldara Lant’s eyes. She’d obviously seen me complete the first two exercises, and now clearly hated the fact that I hadn’t failed.

“You’ll have to move aside, young lady,” Gerdol said to her with impatience in his voice. “The dama is in the midst of achieving masteries, and that takes precedence over a beginner’s practice.”

“It so happens
I’m
ready to achieve masteries, too,” Beldara announced indignantly, humiliation burning hot in her cheeks. “Let that little do-nothing step aside and wait for
me
to show you how it’s
supposed
to be done.”

“Don’t be a fool, girl!” Gerdol snapped as Beldara turned back to the cubicle’s interior—only to stop and stare at Soonen. “This lady has already achieved the first-level masteries you’re only beginning to practice, and now she’s in the midst of second-level. Do you really want Adept Soonen to attack
you
the way she’s been doing with Dama Domon?”

“But …
I
haven’t seen any evidence of attack,” Beldara returned, trying for belligerence but achieving disturbance instead. “If that other one is supposed to attack her, she isn’t doing a very good job of it. This one probably paid her not to, and that’s why you think she’s so good. Yes, that’s probably it, she paid—”

“Beldara,” I interrupted her babbling, feeling my anger begin to climb again. “I’m not going to stand here and listen to your idiotic accusations. If you think Soonen’s been paid off, volunteer to take her place. But I do have to warn you: if
you
attack, I’ll probably find it impossible not to respond in kind.”

Her eyes widened at that, her startled surprise over my new attitude more than clear. I’d never answered her challenge so directly before, and sudden lack of confidence made her wilt visibly.

“It’s … not my place to expose your shoddy little tricks,” she muttered as her gaze fell, the faintness of her tone belying the belligerence of her words. “They’ll find you out without me, and then—”

At that point she simply stopped talking and hurried away, obviously tired of making a fool of herself. Gerdol’s expression said it was about time, and my power-enhanced attitude simply agreed with him. At another time and place I might have felt sorry for Beldara, but right now the only thing concerning me was achieving the rest of the masteries.

That third cubicle held wooden blocks carved into different shapes, and I burned the one Gerdol chose without harming any of the blocks around it. I had to divide my protective shield in order to do it, but that didn’t seem to affect the strength of the shield. It remained just as strong as it was originally, and that held true through the next two cubicles as well. First a strip of leather and then one of cloth burned without a problem, and the fact that Soonen was just about foaming at the mouth hadn’t increased the strength of her attacks.

When we finally reached the last cubicle, the awareness of exhaustion was a good deal sharper in my mind. When I released the power I’d probably fall, but achieving all the second-level masteries would even be worth getting bruised. Gerdol was now supposed to choose three feathers, and once I burned each of them cleanly I’d be able to rest and restore my strength.

“I think I’ll choose … the red, the pink, and the purple,” Gerdol said, pointing out the three widely spaced feathers in the sprawling stack. “You may begin whenever you wish, my dear, but you do seem a bit—fatigued. Perhaps you’d care for some tea before completing this last exercise. I’d be more than happy to permit it.”

“Thank you, no,” I answered, distantly disturbed over that “my dear.” And he was offering me tea again, as though he knew I’d be too tired to start over if I stopped now. Suspicion tried to flare in my mind, but I was even too tired for that. Instead I wiped at the sweat on my forehead with the backs of two fingers, then turned my attention to the designated feathers.

Sparks flew from my shield again while I burned the first two feathers, but before I could get to the third there was a sudden, shocking difference in the attack. I nearly staggered at the strength of it, and even worse, my shield trembled under the onslaught. I couldn’t imagine how Soonen had managed to find so much more strength, but then I caught a glimpse of Gerdol, who stood to my left. He stood in the same attitude of straining that Soonen did, which meant he’d now joined her attack.

That would have been the perfect point for my anger to return, but it couldn’t seem to get past rapidly growing fear. I knew it was beyond me to sustain the shield for long against this strong an attack, and when the shield fell I would certainly burn. Soonen’s frustration had gone on too long for her to be satisfied with burning no more than my clothes and hair, so my life was definitely on the line. If I faltered in protecting myself, I was as good as dead.

Panic tried to grow from the fear, and it took almost all I had to prevent that. I had to think rather than panic, but the one thought that came was a risky one. If I drew in more of the power I should be able to maintain the shield, but I wasn’t sure I had the strength left to handle more power. If I didn’t I would be just as dead as a burnout, instead of simply burning up.

And that realization seemed to steady me. I had nothing at all to lose by trying for more power, since life would no longer be worth living if I couldn’t continue to advance to the competitions. With that in mind I opened myself wide, welcoming the golden strength pouring in rather than fearing it. It filled me completely with new vitality, calmed all my worries, and brought another idea that almost made me chuckle.

Soonen and Gerdol were attacking both in front and in back, so to speak. Their attempts to burn me to ash surrounded me completely, but somehow I was now able to perceive a …
level
they weren’t operating on. I’d never before been aware of that level, but now I could perceive it clearly—and knew I could use it. It would take my ability
around
the attacks somehow, and if I liked I could even attack in return.

But mounting my own attack didn’t seem wise, not when it would cause a delay in my achieving the final mastery. It would do more good to hit the two so-called Adepts in a way that would hurt them in a different manner, and I knew just the thing. So I turned my attention back to the final feather, burned it cleanly, then slumped against the side of the cubicle and turned a weary smile on Gerdol.

“Done at last, and just in time,” I told him weakly, pretending I saw nothing of his efforts to destroy my shield. “I really need to sit down now, Adept Gerdol, and will appreciate your arm in assistance—as soon as you declare the final mastery.”

Gerdol turned white and the attack faltered, showing he’d probably pulled out of the joint effort. A moment later Soonen’s efforts stopped as well, and a glance in her direction showed me she’d collapsed into a seated slump against the back curtain-wall. They’d put everything they had into their final effort, and it had turned out not to be enough.

“C-congratulations, Dama, congratulations,” Gerdol stuttered, his face still white with fear. “You’ve now achieved the level of master, and as soon as I seat you at a table I’ll fetch your master’s bracelet and silver dins. Here, take my arm.”

Gerdol fussed over me nervously until he got me into a chair at the nearest available table, and only when he hurried off after ringing for a servant did I release my hold on the power. The world swirled dizzyingly for a moment then, but despite utter exhaustion I didn’t faint. I needed desperately to eat, drink, and rest, but other than that I seemed perfectly all right.

I gasped out, “Food and tea, quickly!” to the servant who came up to me, and once he rushed off I simply sat there and waited. It would have been nice if I’d had two strong arms around me to hold me up in the chair, but—

My mind clanged to a halt with the shock of that thought, especially since I knew exactly whose arms I’d been thinking about. It was Vallant Ro I wanted, Vallant Ro I’d wanted all along. I no longer had the strength to deny that, no matter
how
frightening the idea was. Constantly getting angry at him had been an escape reflex, to keep myself free and uninvolved.

But now I no longer seemed to
want
to be free, at least where he was concerned. I kept dreaming about being in his bed tomorrow night, and each of those dreams, both sleeping and awake, were filled with desire. I really,
really
wanted his arms around me, and tomorrow night I would have them.

Rather than having to fight a shiver of fear, I found myself smiling in anticipation. Even my real-world attitudes seemed to be changing, and I wondered if that was due to the power as well. I didn’t see how it could be, but the question wasn’t important enough to be disturbing. I simply sat back and smiled, and waited for Gerdol to return with my dins. And a master’s bracelet, which I’d have to remember to question him about.

And tonight … tonight I just might tell Vallant Ro how much I looked forward to being fair…

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Homin was right there to greet Lord Rigos when the Advisory agent arrived, for once feeling less than completely terrified. The relatively peaceful and quiet days he’d passed in his own home had done wonders, so now it was just Rigos himself who brought Homin a generally broad fear. The small man seemed to have one or two character traits in common with the late Elfini, a circumstance which made Homin’s hands tremble even as he forced a smile.

“Ah, good day to you, Lord Homin,” Rigos said as he strolled past the servant holding the door without looking at the man. “Hosting our weekly meeting has given you the benefit of being precisely on time, but I do hope the intrusion won’t disturb your father. How
is
Lord Aston, by the way?”

“Actually, he isn’t here,” Homin answered while hurrying after Rigos, who was in the process of walking toward the main reception room. “He’s gone to the lake house to recover from his ordeal in peace, and so far has sent word only to tell me that he arrived safely.”

Rigos nodded casually at that as he kept going, bringing Homin the hope that the subject of his father would be dropped. Lord Aston Weil was not only in need of physical healing, he was also in jeopardy of losing his social and professional positions. Too many people now knew what his relationship with his wife had been, a knowledge which could well have ruined his political position for all time.

Homin’s father had explained that he needed to be out of touch until he was physically fit again, and then he’d shocked Homin by crying while saying a temporary goodbye. He and his father had never been all
that
close, and the only time they’d cried together was when Mother had died. The same hadn’t happened over Elfini’s death, and in fact they’d never even spoken about her.

“And how are
you
bearing up in the aftermath of the tragedy?” Rigos asked as he reached the tea table, pausing to glance at Homin. “I now understand your previous comments about being unable to practice, by the way. I hadn’t realized that Lady Elfini would be so foolish as to interfere in an Advisory matter, but apparently she overestimated her husband’s political strength. You really should have told me, and I would have taken care of the problem.”

“I … couldn’t tell anyone about it,” Homin said, immediate and intense apology in his tone. “I had no way of knowing it would make any difference to you, and couldn’t imagine what you might do in any event.”

“What I
would
have done was have you moved at once to the residence you and the others of your group will soon share,” Rigos replied, turning with a cup of tea in his hands to stare expressionlessly at Homin. “Don’t you understand
yet
how important this matter is to us? If it were possible to replace you, it would have already been done. Your government needs you, Lord Homin, and what we need we protect.”

“Yes, of course, I should have realized,” Homin murmured as Rigos carried his cup of tea to a chair. What he actually realized was how serious the government really was about that competition business, and how angry they would be when he and his group disobeyed them and won. The thought was enough to make Homin wish he were with another, more docile group, but the wish lasted only a brief time. He still needed to be out and on his own, and then his father’s wives would no longer concern him. Others might think his father had learned to moderate his desires, but Homin knew better. And then he really heard something else Rigos had said.

“Excuse me, sir, but what was that about a residence the group is going to be moved to?” Homin asked while returning to his own chair and cup of tea. “I thought we were told we all had to remain in our own homes.”

“That applied only to the time of the preliminary process,” Rigos answered after tasting his tea, bringing that intense gaze of his back to Homin. “I’ll go into details about it once the others are here, and that way I won’t need to repeat myself. Until they arrive we can talk about other things, like the tragedy so recently past. Have the authorities found the culprit yet?”

“No, not yet,” Homin answered with a sigh, resigning himself to discussing the matter he would most prefer to forget. “It took a short while before the investigators were completely convinced that I had nothing to do with the murder, but happily Delin’s father’s household staff works around the clock. I was somewhat upset when I reached the house so Delin told them to keep an eye on me, and they did. One or another servant looked in on me constantly even when I was asleep, and they were able to tell that to the investigators.”