The Talented

by J. R. McGinnity

  “I meant we can’t stay in Kessering,” Malokai said, drawing her from those bleak thoughts and focusing her attention more fully on him and what he was saying.

  “What?” Adrienne hadn’t expected that.

  “You heard the commission,” Malokai told her. “They aren’t going to train anyone else like us.”

  “They will,” Adrienne told him. “Ben said they would, when it becomes necessary.” They had all talked about it. Adrienne, Malokai, Louella, and Pieter had spent hours discussing the decision the commission had made, trying to understand it and what it would mean for them and for the future of the Talented. Adrienne and Malokai had continued to discuss the situation even after they had left Kessering, and she was sure Louella and Pieter had done the same.

  She wondered about the other Talented in the city. With Adrienne and Malokai gone for the time being, it was likely that Louella and Pieter had spoken with the others. Did they find all of this wrong, too, or were they relieved? Grateful, even, that no more soldiers would be coming to their city for training? Adrienne had never gotten to know them, had hardly met any of them except for Maureen, and could not guess at their thoughts or feelings regarding the commission’s decision.

  “Who decides when it is necessary?” Malokai demanded. “The commission? How many need to die, in what numbers, before they decide it is ‘necessary’ to train more Talented like us?”

  “I don’t know.” It was something Adrienne tried not to think about. She reached up and worried the cord of her necklace between her fingers. “Maybe the king—”

  Malokai’s harsh laughter cut her off. “You’re counting on King Burin to make this right?” he asked. “You have no more respect for the king than I.”

  “He formed the commission,” Adrienne said. “He must want—”

  “He wants to keep his throne, and his head,” Malokai said. “Even in the mountains we know this. He’ll have to weigh whether or not people will be more upset by Talented with abilities far beyond their own or what is happening on the Almetian border. It could take the king longer to make a decision than it takes the commission. And if he decides that we Talented put his position in danger, he will never allow more of us to be trained, no matter what happens with Almet.”

  “Then what do we do?” Adrienne asked. “Talk to the commission?”

  “No. We have to leave Kessering,” Malokai repeated.

  Adrienne rolled to her feet and began pacing, feeling suddenly nervous. The grass, brittle as they approached the end of the dry season, crunched under her feet as she turned to face Malokai. “We can’t.”

  “Yes, we can,” Malokai said, standing as well. He did not pace, but watched her movements like a cat watching a mouse.

  “Even if we could,” Adrienne argued, “what would that accomplish? We would be taking away the only offensive abilities they have.” She doubted the commission would even bother to replace them if they left. She and Malokai leaving would probably result in making the commission even more hesitant to train soldiers in the future.

  The two of them would no doubt be seen as a threat if they left, dangerous renegades who had slipped the chain of the commission’s control. The commission might well consider it too risky to train more soldiers if they worried that those soldiers, upon developing a Talent, might leave Kessering and the control of the commission.

  “We could train more Talented ourselves,” Malokai told her, grabbing one of her arms to stop her pacing and spin her around to face him.

  “We can’t,” Adrienne said, meeting those hard blue eyes with her own. Despite the fact that she felt herself teetering on the edge of breaking the chain of command by disobeying the commission, she would not allow that to happen. She would not allow this situation to change who she was. “The commission would never allow it.”

  “Forget the commission,” Malokai growled, taking her by the arms and shaking her roughly. “The only thing the commission is going to do is get a lot of people killed.”

  “But we can’t just go against them,” Adrienne said. “We can’t leave Kessering to go out and train others. The commission is in charge.”

  “In Kessering,” Malokai agreed, “but not outside the city walls.”

  “The commission is in charge of us, Malokai. They’re in charge of people with abilities. They’re in charge of the Talented.”

  “Why?” Malokai asked. “What makes them our leaders?”

  “King Burin,” Adrienne said. “He chose the commissioners, he placed them in charge of finding a way to end the conflict with Almet. And the commission made us, Malokai. We are Talented because of them.”

  “We are Talented because of us,” Malokai told her. “All they did was show us how. They have no experience with war, no Talents that help them fulfill this mission. The commission is working against the cause, not for it. The only useful thing they’ve done is train us, and that’s over now. They taught us to hunt and gave us spears, but now they forbid us to use them. They are not following the mission, they are following their own desires.”

  “I can’t go against my leaders,” Adrienne said. She struggled to cling to the person she was, the person who had been shaped by the chain of command she had followed all of her life. She was a part of that chain and couldn’t separate herself from it, no matter how logical Malokai’s arguments. Breaking that chain would break her as well.

  Before Kessering, being a soldier had made her what she was, and she had owed everything to the army. Now she was Talented, and though the chains rankled, she owed the commission for that.

  “To what lengths would you go to follow your leaders’ orders?” Malokai asked. “If you knew the mission would fail and you would die, would you still follow their orders?”

  “Yes,” Adrienne said without hesitation. It was impossible to truly be a soldier without accepting the chance of injury and death. Adrienne had made peace with it long ago.

  “What if your commander told you to murder a family?” Malokai asked. “Not people opposing you, not anyone armed or posing a threat, just an innocent family. A mother, a child.” The intensity of his eyes was frightening, but she focused on the question he’d asked, not the emotion behind it.

  “Why?” Adrienne asked.

  “Does it matter? Your commander told you to do it.”

  Adrienne struggled with the question. “No army commander would ask that,” Adrienne finally said.

  “You know that’s not true. You’re not that naïve.”

  Adrienne tried to meet his eyes but couldn’t. “No good commander would ask that,” she amended, knowing even that answer was weak. “And that’s not what the commission is asking of us.”

  ”Through their inaction, the commission is facilitating the slaughter of families.” The rigidity with which he held himself told her that his words were more personal than she could guess.

  Adrienne started to say something, but Malokai wouldn’t allow it.

  “This struggle with Almet doesn’t affect only soldiers,” he said. “We could help stop it. Talented fighters could help stop it.”

  “I can’t break the chain of command,” Adrienne said in little more than a whisper, her eyes begging him to understand. “I am a soldier.”

  “Soldiers are meant to protect,” Malokai said. “You told me as much. If that isn’t what your commander has you doing, if he is instead forcing you to stand back and let innocents die to no purpose, then it seems that the chain is already broken.”

  Adrienne thought of Captain Garrett, who had told her to go to Kessering. He had believed that her mission was righteous, and that it would help the effort that they were all working toward.

  She thought of the commission, who had trained her but wouldn’t use her when she could be making a difference and saving lives.

  She thought of King Burin, who only cared about himself and those that could help further his own needs.

  Adrienne thought of families dying by Almetian blades while she sat uselessly in K
essering. The vice that had been constricting her chest fell away, and her mind was clear for the first time in what felt like ages.

  She could think again.

  “We have to leave,” Adrienne agreed.

  ••••••

  Adrienne and Malokai returned to Kessering the next day. They stopped at Louella’s shop before bringing their things back to the inn, and found Pieter there as well, as though he had known they would be returning today.

  “You’re back,” Louella said. She looked at them more closely, taking in their travel gear, and her face changed subtly. “But you’re not staying.”

  Adrienne nearly smiled. Trust Louella to figure out their plans without them saying a word. “We can’t.”

  Louella nodded and told them to sit down as she went about fixing an early lunch. “Ben has been asking after you. I told him that you and Malokai went camping, and that I didn’t know when you would be coming back.” She deposited plates piled high with bread, thinly sliced ham, and boiled yams in front of Malokai and Adrienne. “Will you tell him before you leave?”

  Adrienne shook her head. “It’s best if he doesn’t know. I don’t think the commission will be pleased that we’re going, and he might try to stop us.”

  Louella nodded. “Then you had best let Pieter and I make most of the preparations,” she said. “We’ll buy whatever supplies you need, since no one will suspect us of leaving. You’ll just need to get your things from the inn when it is time to go.”

  Adrienne surprised Louella by standing up and hugging the slender woman. “Thank you,” she said.

  Louella returned the hug, patting Adrienne on the back. “Sit back down and eat. You’ll need to make me a list of everything you need. I’ve never traveled.”

  Adrienne and Malokai worked on a list of supplies while they ate, and soon Louella and Pieter went out to purchase what they could find. Adrienne was surprised by the sadness she felt at the prospect of leaving her friends, but knew that there was nothing else to be done. She and Malokai had thought of asking Louella and Pieter to leave with them, but at the last moment had decided against it. It was unlikely the pair would want to leave their homes, and Adrienne and Malokai were still unsure of where to go.

  Adrienne wanted to return to Kyrog. She had told Malokai that they would not need to stay at the soldiering camp long, but Kyrog was close, only three weeks from Kessering, and if they really meant to train more Talented, then the elite camp was an ideal place to find soldiers for the task. She didn’t tell him that she badly wanted to see her friends, and was afraid that if they spent months traveling to the Modabi Mountains too much time might pass in a camp like Kyrog. Soldiers did not stay in one camp forever.

  Malokai had been just as adamant about returning to the mountains. There were other warriors there, as well as people skilled in other professions who might have the potential to become Talented in other areas, such as healing or smithing.

  “The Modabi Mountains are months away,” Adrienne pointed out once they were alone in Louella’s house, starting up the argument they had been having since the night before. “Especially since you don’t have a horse.” And Malokai was adamant about not getting one. According to him, the M’bai did not ride. “We could go to Kyrog first. It’s not in the direction of the mountains, I know, but then the months spent getting to your home could also be spent training new Talented.”

  Malokai shook his head, his dark faced creased with a frown. “More than two people moving across the countryside will call attention. Do you want the commission to know where we are going?”

  She hesitated. “We don’t know what they will do. What can they do, without soldiers?”

  “This commission was formed by the king,” Malokai said. “The king has his own army.”

  “It could take months for them to reach us,” Adrienne said. “If they decide to pursue us at all.”

  “Are we to fight them if they do? Are we to fight anyone that the commission sends after us, soldiers or not?”

  Adrienne didn’t like the idea of fighting anyone sent by the commission. Leaving might anger the commission, but raising arms against them…It would be better not to let the commission find them. “They’re going to guess that we went either to Kyrog or the Modabi Mountains,” Adrienne pointed out. “Why would we go anywhere else?”

  “They’ll probably check Kyrog first,” Malokai said. “It’s closer. Even if they head to the mountains first, we will get there ahead of them.”

  “On foot?” Adrienne asked skeptically. Even the nags Tam and Ilso had ridden were faster than two people on foot.

  “No one the commission sends is going to be willing to travel from sunup to sundown,” Malokai said. “But you and I are.”

  Adrienne nodded. She would push if she had to, run if necessary, to stay ahead of anyone pursuing them. But she still wanted to go to Kyrog first. “I still think—”

  She fell silent as Louella and Pieter returned. They each were loaded up with supplies, mostly food in fresh or dry forms. Pieter had recovered some tools from his shop, and Louella held what appeared to be a cloak.

  “What’s this?” Adrienne asked when Louella handed her the greenish cloth that was indeed a long green cloak. The material felt smooth as silk and shimmered slightly with every movement.

  “A gift for you, from the Talented weaver.”

  Adrienne looked the cloak over more closely, achieving Oneness and examining it again. The fabric had clearly been made using a Talent, but other than the shimmer of the fabric and the surprising texture, Adrienne did not see how it was different from other cloaks.

  It was a strange gift, and not only because it was from someone she had never met. In this part of Samaro, cloaks were unnecessary for the most part. Unless it was raining, a cloak would only add to the heat of the day. “I see,” Adrienne said.

  The color was nice, the silky feel rather decadent and decidedly unsuitable for travel. All the cloak would do was take up valuable room in her saddle bag.

  “Aren’t you going to try it on?” Louella asked.

  The healer seemed so excited by the gift that Adrienne had no choice but to slip the cloak over her shoulders. It fell about her perfectly, and was lighter and cooler than she had expected, as if she was not wearing a cloak at all. Perhaps it would not be such a nuisance, though she still could not imagine wearing it while traversing the plains.

  “It looks good,” Louella said. “And you don’t look excited at all.” She laughed, as if she found something amusing in Adrienne’s reaction.

  “It’s a nice cloak,” Adrienne said, in case Louella was friends with the Talented weaver, though the healer had never introduced the woman to Adrienne in all of the months they had been friends. “I’m just not sure how useful it will be.”

  “You might want a cloak once we get to the mountains,” Malokai said. “It gets colder there.” But Malokai did not look impressed by the gift either.

  “I suppose that you don’t know what it does.” Louella shook her head. “You never did get to know the other Talented. Barbara, the weaver, said that this cloak will blend into the background. It will help you to hide, should hiding become necessary.”

  Adrienne lifted an eyebrow skeptically.

  “She said to wrap the cloak around yourself—cover yourself with it completely—and achieve Oneness. The cloak will hide you.” Louella smiled. “It’s also water proof and should keep you warm on a cold night, if hiding is not what you need.”

  Adrienne was not sure that she believed Barbara’s tales, but the one thing she had learned in Kessering was that when it came to Talents, anything was possible. She nodded and folded the cloak into a small bundle before setting it on top of the other supplies.

  “And Malokai,” Pieter said. “I’ve made something for you.” He handed over a knife in a plain leather sheath.

  Malokai unsheathed the knife to reveal a blade of magnificent blue. Adrienne let out a whistle of appreciation. The slightly curved
blade was easily six inches long, and she knew without testing that it would be wickedly sharp.

  “I figure a warrior can always use another knife,” he said. “I would have tried making a new blade for your urahu, but I wouldn’t know where to start.”

  Malokai smiled and accepted the knife. “It’s a great gift,” he said. “Thank you.”

  “Thank you both for this,” Adrienne said, pulling out her purse and taking out the coins needed to pay Louella and Pieter back for what they had purchased. “I’m sorry that we have to leave so soon.”

  Pieter nodded and offered Malokai and Adrienne firm handshakes and well wishes. Louella’s smile was tremulous, and her eyes bright with tears. “I’m going to miss you so,” Louella said as she pulled Adrienne in for a hug. “You’re not mad that we aren’t joining you, are you?”

  “Of course not,” Adrienne assured her.

  “Because this is the only home I remember,” Louella said. “I’m not ready to leave yet.”

  “Louella,” Adrienne rested her hand on the blonde’s shoulder and held it there until Louella met her eyes. “Don’t feel bad about staying here. It’s best that you stay with the other Talented here in Kessering. Both you and Pieter.”

  Louella smiled despite the tears that glistened in her eyes. “Can you at least say where you’re going?”

  Adrienne shook her head apologetically. “I don’t want you to have to lie to Ben.”

  Louella nodded. “Be safe.” She turned to Malokai and pulled him into a tight hug. Her head went only to his chest, and he tensed for a moment before relaxing into the embrace.

  The initial tension Malokai had shown when he first met the petite blonde, which Adrienne had finally concluded must be due to Louella’s obvious Almetian heritage, had faded as Malokai had gotten to know the healer, and Adrienne thought that he might now miss Louella as much as Louella would miss him. “Both of you be safe. Come back if you can.”