The Talented (14 page)

Adrienne estimated she had
run about four miles by the time she returned to camp, and she
waved off Ilso’s offer of stew, given grudgingly under the watchful
eye of Tam. She was sick of stew, and she had saved some of the
berries she had found the day before. Instead of joining the men
for supper, she went to the edge of camp and began the routine she
had taught Jeral those first days of his training.

She began with her eyes
closed, her feet hip width apart and her hands by her sides. She
breathed deeply for a few moments, then inhaled even deeper as she
raised her arms and tilted her head toward the sky. She folded
forward, exhaling and felt her lingering tension fade with the
familiar, calming moves. She was aware of Ilso and Tam talking, but
it was easy to block out the meaning of the words so that they were
no more than background noise.

She was aware of other
sounds, too, as she moved smoothly through the familiar moves.
Adrienne could hear the quiet rushing of the stream, the wind
whispering through the branches and leaves and across her sweaty
face. Birds sang occasionally in the hot afternoon sun, and
squirrels sent up their mad chatter. The smooth, controlled motions
took Adrienne outside of herself, away from her companions’
disapproval and the drudgery of the journal she was
studying.

When Adrienne finally
opened her eyes, she found both Ilso and Tam watching her. Ilso
sneered and looked away, but Tam looked intrigued.

“
That was very interesting
to watch,” he told her. “A dance of some sort?”

Adrienne thought about the
sounds she had heard that had seemed almost musical, and the
feelings and sensations that seemed to move around and through her
during her routine. A dance would not be the worst comparison
someone could make. “Perhaps.”

“
I saved you some supper,
though Ilso was of a mind to throw it out after you turned it down
the first time.”

Adrienne remembered the
berries she had saved, but now that she was calm and relaxed, more
stew did not sound as bad. She had eaten far worse and for a far
longer stretch of time. “Thank you,” she said. “I am
hungry.”

“
Do you mind if I sit with
you?” Tam asked. “I would like to discuss what you think of the
journal.”

When she had left the camp
for her run, Adrienne had not even wanted to think of the horribly
dry journal, but she was in a better place now, and willing to
discuss it. “The reading is slow going,” Adrienne admitted. “It is
quite clear that the author did not like or approve of people with
special abilities. He had some unusual ideas regarding the
government and the role of leaders as well.”

“
I thought his ideas rather
brilliant,” Tam said. “However, I must agree that he was not a
supporter of more people developing abilities.”

“
I can see why you thought
Old Samaroan was the best way to read the text. Subtleties are lost
in the translation.” Adrienne had started out checking between the
two texts to be sure she was reading it correctly, but it had soon
become apparent that she understood more from reading the journal
in its original language than from reading the translation. “I do
wish there was a copy that eliminated the chaff, such as his
disagreements with his mother,” she added absently.

Tam looked at her with
muddy eyes full of disapproval, his dark pate reflecting the
evening light. “Those incidents give us a glimpse into the author’s
mind. Understanding him helps us to better interpret what he is
saying when referring to people with special abilities. To
eliminate that would be disadvantageous.”

“
They weren’t random people
with abilities, these Talented. I think that they were a community,
a group with similar goals and experiences. Similar beliefs
.”

“
That is an interesting
view, but there is no evidence to support such a claim,” Tam said.
“I advise against thinking about them as a group when there is no
evidence but your mind’s interpretation. It is always best to stick
with facts.”

Adrienne didn’t agree. The
entire journal was an interpretation of events through the author’s
view, and he viewed them only in light of how those events affected
his own life. Her studies of war had meant studying groups, their
motivations and beliefs and structures, and she was fairly certain
that the book she was reading involved one man’s dislike of a
distinct group of people, even if he never explicitly referred to
them as such.

Had she been discussing
this with someone other than Tam, she might have pressed the issue.
Instead, she decided that her best course of action was to let it
lie and not argue her point. This was obviously not a part of the
theory Tam had meant her to learn about, and she doubted Tam would
be reasonable about hearing more of her theories.

“
I plan to read some more
before retiring for the night,” Adrienne said, rising from where
they sat near the fire. “Good night, Tam.”

“
Good night, Adrienne,” he
said, pulling another book from his pack before she had even left
the ring of firelight.

As Adrienne made her way
to her bedroll, she wished there was someone else she could share
this with. Ricco would hate studying the old journal, but he would
have thought that the Talented were a group, just like she did.
Jeral was so eager to learn that he would have loved all of it. She
missed both of her friends now, when she was so alone in her
studies and beliefs.

••••••

The reading did not get
easier, although Adrienne’s somewhat dusty Old Samaroan improved
greatly. Her dislike of the author, whom she now referred to as
“Pele,” the name of a soldier she had been bullied by as a child,
grew with every page, but her understanding of the Talented also
grew. She was even more convinced now that they were a sub-group of
the general population, brought together by the desire to possess
special talents and the effort it took to gain them. The author
spoke derisively of the hours the Talented spent practicing,
focusing, and training, all to disrupt what he thought of as the
“natural order.”

Adrienne wondered if Pele
had once had aspirations to become Talented, and had somehow failed
in his goal. It would explain his intense dislike of the Talented,
which seemed more personal the more she read. She had seen the same
behavior in men who had desired to become soldiers, but eventually
learned they were not suited for the profession.

While Adrienne exercised
her mind studying the old journal, she made sure to exercise her
body as well. She resumed her morning runs, and began performing
her “dance” at night. When they stopped for lunch, which invariably
took an hour if not more, she would run through forms with her
sword. Ilso and Tam always seemed displeased by her use of the
weapon, but Adrienne refused to give up the regular practice that
was so essential to maintaining her skills. She only wished that
she had an opponent to practice against, and hoped to find someone
in Kessering to train with.

Adrienne was running
through the sword forms, and just starting the transition from
defensive to offensive moves, when a sense of wrongness trickled
through her concentration. It was nothing she saw or felt, no
sensory input, but a gut-deep feeling. She scanned the woods around
them and the road to their right, straining her eyes and ears for a
clue as to what had alerted her. She had experienced this feeling
before, and her grip on her sword firmed as she readied herself for
whatever was coming.

“
Ilso, do you hear
something?” she asked in her best lieutenant’s voice, still
scanning the woods for signs of danger. They had all been grateful
for the shade the grove offered, but she wished now they were
camped out on the grassy plains, where she would be able to see
further into the distance.

“
No, why?” Ilso’s response
to her commanding tone had been automatic. He spit on the ground in
disgust. His dislike of her had only grown over the two weeks they
had spent in each other’s company. Adrienne thought that the
frustrated guard was coming to hate her, and the fact that he had
felt compelled to answer her would not help that.

But Ilso’s feelings toward
her were unimportant now, and Adrienne forced thoughts of them
aside. He was the only other person around with even rudimentary
skill with a weapon. “Something is wrong,” she said. “Grab your
sword.”

“
I will not,” he objected,
glancing over at the sword piled on top of his saddle bags beside
the fire.

“
Grab your sword and begin
saddling the horses,” she ordered, her voice velvet over steel. “I
am going to check the perimeter.”

“
Adrienne, dear,” Tam said
in the patronizing tone he used whenever he felt she was
interpreting something wrong in the journal, “do you think perhaps
all of that sword practice has made you paranoid? Welcoming such
violence into your life cannot be healthy. Neither Ilso nor I heard
a thing.”

Adrienne’s rage boiled
over. “I don’t know why the two of you wanted to bring a soldier to
Kessering in the first place, since you seem to disapprove of me
and all other soldiers, but something is wrong!”

As she spoke the last
word, two men, unkempt and brandishing wickedly curved scimitars,
leapt from the thick forest surrounding them. Ilso fell back as
quickly as Tam, moving even further away from his sword in the
process, and Adrienne allowed herself a grim smile. Ilso would be
of no help to her.

“
I’ll deal with the chit,”
the smaller of the two men said. His long black hair was matted,
and it was nearly impossible to distinguish where dark skin ended
and dirt began. “You can—”

Whatever the taller man
could do was lost in his cry of surprise as Adrienne leapt forward
suddenly. She darted in and out, the razor edge of her sword
leaving a thin line of blood on the man’s arm.

“
Bitch!” he said, and both
men turned away from Tam and Ilso and rushed at her.

Adrienne smiled in
anticipation as she watched them run toward her.

The dual assault might
have been effective had they come at her from different directions,
but they were both rushing her from the front, getting in each
other’s way in an effort to reach her. The two men were poorly
trained, that much was obvious, and in minutes they were lying on
the ground. Neither would be getting up again.

“
Merciful Creator,” Ilso
said, staring at the men on the ground in shock. Each of them had
outweighed Adrienne by at least sixty pounds, yet she had
dispatched them with swift efficiency, her sword moving as an
extension of her body.

“
Was it really necessary to
kill them?” Tam asked once he had found his voice. “Couldn’t you
have simply disarmed them instead?” His tone was shaky and
uncertain, and when he looked down at the bodies there was horror
in his eyes.

Adrienne looked away from
the bodies of the two outlaws to shoot Tam a look of disbelief. She
decided to ignore the ridiculous question. “Saddle the horses,” she
told Ilso again.

“
Surely that is not
necessary now that you have…dealt…with these men,” Tam said.
“Although a spot away from the, uh, bodies might be preferable,” he
added after looking at the bloody corpses.

“
No, not just a different
spot,” Adrienne said. “We don’t know that these men were alone. We
should keep on until dark, and keep our guards up.”

“
You’re not in any position
to issue orders,” Ilso said, his expression dark and angry. “Just
because some fool gave you rank back in Kyrog doesn’t mean anything
out here.”

“
Saddle the damn horses,”
Adrienne snapped, her eyes skimming the bodies before traveling up
to meet Ilso’s.

Ilso’s eyes fired, and Tam
stepped between the two of them. “Adrienne, I know that you must be
upset, but I am in charge of this mission, and—”

“
You’re in charge?”
Adrienne turned her anger on Tam. “I’m the only reason the two of
you are not the ones lying dead on the ground.” She saw the fear in
Tam’s eyes as her words hit their mark, but it did nothing to cool
her temper. “Maybe my rank in Kyrog doesn’t matter here,” she said,
including Ilso in her scathing words, “but this,” she raised her
sword, “means that when I say move, you move.”

“
I—”

Adrienne took a step
forward, and Tam took two quick steps back. “I’ll start packing
up,” he said. “Ilso, get the horses ready.”

Adrienne stood back and
kept an eye on the surrounding forest while the two men worked to
pack up camp. When she was reasonably sure that no one was in the
woods and that Tam and Ilso were fully occupied with their duties,
she gathered up the scimitars, knives, and coin purses from the
thieves’ bodies and bundled them in with her own possessions. There
was no point in leaving the weapons to rust, or the coins to be
scattered by scavengers come to feed on the dead.

Kessering was a small but
sprawling city.

The people in the streets
wandered every-which-way, and Adrienne thought they lacked the
commonality of purpose that most of the people at Kyrog had shared.
Adrienne had traveled to other towns and cities before, and had
observed in nearly all of them such a separateness of purpose
amongst the people there, but it was strange to think that she
would remain in such a disorderly place for an extended period of
time. The soldiers in Kyrog had training to bind them together, but
the people who lived in cities went about their business almost
completely independent of each other.