by Sharon Green
"I can't wait to meet the new instructor," the girl burbled on as they walked. "Our original instructor was nice and he was really impressed with your progress, but he seemed kind of limited. Maybe the new instructor will have more to teach, and then you can impress him or her as well."
This time Honrita laughed aloud, too pleased to keep the feeling inside - even if it would have done any good. The girl had the same Spirit magic Honrita did, and although she wasn't as strong as the woman she admired, she'd still learned to handle her ability with more certainty. The girl knew her words were giving Honrita pleasure, and that was what the girl intended to do. Her own standing would rise when she walked into class with Honrita, an honor there was no reason to deny the poor little thing.
It had already grown dark out, of course, but Honrita and the girl were unafraid as they walked the streets to where the class was being held. There were a fair number of people out and walking around, and a certain number of them were undoubtedly patrol members. The various patrols helped the guard, the members of those patrols having learned to link to certain guardsmen and each other. Any trouble would quickly have guardsmen on the scene, and those who were prone to starting trouble were quickly learning that lesson.
Honrita and her supporter reached the training building and walked inside. Some of the rooms in the building were lined with resin, and the class had been told that they'd practice certain things within the resin when they were ready. Honrita felt that she was ready, and would have said so to their instructor if he'd returned. She was prepared to say the same to the new instructor, and would do so if the new person didn't quickly see the truth of her position.
It was nearly time for the class to begin, so Honrita and the girl walked into the open practice room to find that most of the rest of the class had already arrived. Everyone looked up quickly when the two women entered, but then those already seated looked away again with a definite air of disappointment. Honrita was prepared to feel injured and insulted over such a reception, but then she realized that the new instructor hadn't yet arrived. So that was the reason for the disappointment…
"Let's get our tea and sit down," the girl whispered to Honrita. "The new instructor should be here at any moment."
Being told what to do annoyed Honrita, but the girl was already on her way to the tea service so Honrita did nothing but follow. For years Honrita had been forced to obey everyone else as well as bow and scrape, but now that she knew just how strong a talent she had it was time that she gave the orders. And had others bow and scrape to her. It felt marvelous to make the decisions rather than have the decisions made for her, and Honrita had no intention of returning to the way things had been.
So the foolish little girl needed to be taught a lesson about the proper way to associate with someone like Honrita. The girl was already at the tea service, holding a cup beneath the spigot, and the hot tea poured briskly into the cup. It was an action repeated so often that the girl paid very little attention to what she did - until her hand wavered and the hot tea splashed onto her skin.
The girl cried out and dropped the cup as the hot tea burned her nicely, and Honrita joined some of the others in hurrying over to soothe the poor little thing. Of course, there was no mention made of the fact that Honrita had been the one to cause the girl to momentarily lose her sense of balance. That loss had caused the "accident," but happily no one in the room seemed to have noticed.
One of the other women wrapped the girl's hand in a cloth and began to lead the girl out to find a physician. Burns could be nasty things if not treated quickly and carefully, and Honrita smiled sweetly as she offered her hope that the girl would soon be able to return to the class. Then Honrita turned to watch the two women leave - and suddenly found herself meeting the gaze of a woman she'd never seen before.
"There's a class of Earth magic users three doors down," the strange woman told the whimpering girl and the woman who helped her. "Go in there and speak to the instructor. I'm sure he'll be able to treat the burn at once."
The girl - who was no longer whimpering - smiled her thanks at the unknown woman, and then she and the woman helping her disappeared up the hall. The newcomer entered the room and walked toward the desk, proving that she was the new instructor. Honrita felt decidedly uncomfortable, a state she detested with her entire being. She'd spent most of her life feeling uncomfortable and worse, but now she didn't have to suffer like that. She had talent, and there was no reason not to use it.
Until now Honrita had kept her mind away from the strange woman, in part because she'd gotten the impression that the woman knew what Honrita had done to cause the accident. Now Honrita smoothed down the skirt of her new dress as she watched the newcomer reach the desk and turn - and without warning she sent her talent toward the woman's mind. The woman would find that she suddenly liked Honrita better than any other person in the class, and for that reason would help Honrita as much as necessary.
Only things didn't work out like that. Honrita gasped as her mind met that of the new instructor, a mind that was so much stronger than Honrita's that it didn't seem possible.
"Yes, I can see that my predecessor was right and you are a really strong Middle talent," the new instructor said to a shaken Honrita. "He was also a Middle talent, but as you've just learned, I'm not. I'm a High, and you, Dama, are no longer part of this class. Please go next door to the empty room, have a seat, and wait for me. We need to talk, which we'll do as soon as this class is over."
Honrita was mortified as well as shaken, and if she'd had the choice she would have left the building and run home. But she hadn't been allowed the choice, and despite the humiliation of being stared at by the rest of the class Honrita did as she'd been told. She entered the empty room next door, sat down, and then waited. She also suddenly remembered the day she'd registered for the class, and the two people who had been so much stronger than she. Until now the memory had gone completely out of her head, and it made Honrita furious. No one should be that much stronger than she, no one. Then the fury died along with the rest of what she'd felt, and calm took its place.
The wait was long enough that Honrita should have been feeling something other than calm patience, and the lack of other emotions confused her. The fury and humiliation and mortification had completely disappeared as though they'd never been, but before she could understand what was happening, the door opened and the new instructor walked in.
"Dama Grohl," the woman said as she came to a chair near Honrita's and sat. "I'm Cadria Norl, and now we have time to talk. Tell me why you made that girl burn herself with the tea."
"Why, it was because she tried to tell me what to do," Honrita answered, distantly surprised at her lack of hesitation. "I spent my life being forced to listen to others, but now I no longer have to let anyone tell me what to do."
"I see," Cadria Norl said quietly, an odd frown creasing her brow. "You're making up for a lifetime of not asserting yourself, but you don't view the matter in that light. Give me the exact words the girl used when she 'told you what to do.'"
"She said, 'Let's get our tea and sit down,'" Honrita answered promptly, pleased that she could prove she wasn't simply imagining things. "The girl had no right to tell me what to do."
"The girl wasn't telling you what to do," Cadria replied calmly and soothingly, leaning a bit forward in her chair. "Her words were a suggestion, not an order, and if you think about it for a moment or two you might see that. Try thinking about it."
Honrita did as she was told, but after the moment or two she shook her head.
"The girl tried to tell me what to do," Honrita repeated. "She had no right to give me orders."
"I was afraid you'd say that," Cadria muttered as she leaned back again. "You're not the first to show this problem, and it wasn't one we were expecting as a result of the training. Do you have a family, Dama Grohl?"
"I've been living alone ever since my father died," Honrita answered. "Why do you ask?"
"I ask b
ecause there's a very special class you'll soon be a part of," Cadria replied with a smile that made Honrita feel really good. "You'll do much better if you live with that group while you're working with it, and it makes things easier that you have no family to cope with your being gone. Come with me."
Honrita rose as Cadria did, and then followed her out of the room. In the hallway there were three men standing together, and Cadria gestured one of the three over.
"Dama Grohl here will need to get some clothing and essentials, and then she's to be taken to the special group," Cadria told the man when he joined them. "Please tell whoever you turn her over to that her talent is Spirit magic."
"Yes, Dama Norl," the man agreed politely, and then he gestured to Honrita. Honrita joined the man gladly, and let him conduct her out of the building while she reveled in delight. A special class! She'd been assigned to a special class, and soon everyone would know just how good she was. It looked like she was leaving that boring job of hers even sooner than she'd expected, and good riddance to it. She was meant for much better things, and this was definitely the start of them…
Cadria Norl watched the guardsman conduct Honrita Grohl out of the building, depression touching her even after the two had disappeared. The scene she'd been a part of had gotten much too familiar in too short a time, and this was only the beginning of it…
"I take it you've just dispatched another one," a male voice said from behind her, making her turn. "Did it have anything to do with that burn I treated?"
Rebid Tantas, High talent in Earth magic, wore an expression of sympathy that Cadria could feel echoed in his mind.
"Yes, it certainly did have something to do with the burn you treated," Cadria answered with a sigh. "The woman made the burn happen because she 'didn't want to be told what to do.' The girl she burned had said, 'Let's get some tea and sit down.' Did you have any idea that these training classes would produce so many problems?"
"To be honest, no," Rebid admitted with his own sigh. "I expected accidents from horsing around or carelessness or even someone trying to do too much, but these more extreme reactions? How could anyone anticipate them?"
"I can't help feeling that we should have seen at least a part of the problem," Cadria grumbled, knowing that Rebid would understand her mood. "Under the rule of the nobility, no one was allowed to exercise a talent. Now we're not only allowing that exercise, we're encouraging it and training talent. We should have expected that some of those we trained would lose their heads to their newfound power."
"Well, if we didn't know about it before, we certainly do now," Rebid said ruefully. "What are they going to do with the ones we collect?"
"They're going to try to restore balance to their minds with Spirit and Earth magic," Cadria answered, back to sighing. "We don't know if that's possible, but we're certainly going to make the attempt. What bothers me most is what's going to happen if the balance can't be restored."
"Damn, I never thought of that," Rebid responded, his mind filled with a shocked awareness. "The woman I had to send is a fairly strong Middle talent in Earth magic. She can't be allowed to run around free the way she is, or a lot of innocent people could be hurt. If she can't be brought back to balance, she'll either have to be put under permanent control or she'll have to be put down. I don't like either option, but which one do you think they'll choose?"
"The choice won't be made by 'them,' it will be made by us," Cadria pointed out gently. "Our various Blendings have been left in charge, so we'll have to have a recommendation ready for Jovvi and the others when they get back. They're the ones who will have to give the final word of approval, but we'll have to make the decision for them. You can say it's part of the job we've been asked to do."
"And since we didn't refuse to begin with, we're now stuck with it," Rebid said, his tone having grown morose. "I'm suddenly finding the idea of running away from home more attractive than it's ever been."
"Let me know if you decide to do it," Cadria told him with something of a smile. "I may let you come with me."
Rebid returned the weak smile, but Cadria knew he was no more amused than she was. Running away would have felt awfully good, but unfortunately that wasn't one of the options available to them…
Driffin Codsent entered his private bedchamber in the warehouse and stopped short in surprise. Idresia was not only out of bed, but she'd obviously been doing quite a bit of cleaning. Dirty clothing no longer lay in piles, the bed was neatly made with what looked like clean linen, and a lamp brightened the room's previous dimness. Idresia herself sat in a chair near the lamp with a book, and when she looked up and saw him she smiled.
"I'm glad you're back, Driff," she said, putting the book aside before standing and walking toward him. "How did the new class go?"
"Obviously not as well as my out-of-class work," Driffin said with a laugh of delight, opening his arms to gather her up. "Are you sure you're strong enough to be doing this much this soon?"
"I did very little," Idresia assured him, looking up into his face with the same expression Driffin knew he wore. "It's only because of you that I'm not bedridden any longer, so I thought I'd give you a small part of the reward you've earned. Tonight I'll give you another part of it, but right now I'd like to hear how things went. We'll do that while we get you something to eat."
Idresia had spoken so firmly that Driffin simply laughed again and agreed. His lady was a woman of Fire magic, and arguing with her was usually a waste of time. Now that she was beginning to get her strength back it would be harder still to avoid doing what she considered necessary. Not that Driffin really wanted to argue. The hollowness inside him said that it was more than time he had a meal…
"Before you tell me about your day, I have some good news," Idresia said as they left the bedchamber holding hands and headed toward the kitchen area. "Affli Domore has been hired by a merchant to design and Encourage a garden at the back of his house. The man made her the offer today at the end of Affli's school training class."
"That's what you consider good news?" Driffin asked, eyeing Idresia as they walked. "Affli is really talented in Earth magic, but she's still too young to leave school. And anyone who hires a schoolgirl instead of a mature practitioner is trying to get a job done without having to pay what the job is really worth."
"Normally I would agree with you, but there are a few points you don't yet know about," Idresia told him with an impish smile. "The merchant won't hear of Affli's leaving school, and will only hire her if she continues to go to class. She'll be permitted to work only after school, and she'll be paid two thirds of what a mature practitioner would charge for the same job. She'll gain experience - and earn silver - while still in school, and the merchant will have the job done at a lesser cost. Also, his wife and daughters will be there whenever Affli is, so we won't have to worry that the man wants something other than a garden."
For the second time that day - and the hundredth time in the last week or so - Driffin felt confused and almost completely at a loss. He'd made a lot of plans when he'd first found out about the training classes, but for some reason his plans weren't working out as well as they usually did.
"Something's bothering you," Idresia observed after a moment or two of his silence, her hand tightening around his. "Why don't you tell me what it is."
"Your talent should be Spirit magic rather than Fire magic," Driffin informed her ruefully. "You always seem to know when I'm bothered by something, but this time I don't think you can help. It looks like I've started to lose my edge."
"What makes you say that?" she asked, tilting her head a bit to one side to study him. "To me, it looks like you're more alert and ready than ever."
"That's only what it looks like," Driffin disagreed with a distracted shake of his head. "On the inside I'm so confused I can barely stand it, and I'm beginning to think that someone has put me into another world while I wasn't watching. Worst of all, though, I can't decide whether or not I like this alien world."
"You'd better know that I'm monitoring your body readings," Driffin warned her as she left him to go to the stove. "If I catch you starting to overdo, you'll go straight back to bed."
"I wish you had more faith in how strong a talent you have," Idresia said with a glance over her shoulder as she bent to see if there was wood in the stove. "Overdoing gets harder every day, a development that's been delighting me. Sit down and start to talk to me."
"When I first found out about the training classes, I made some plans," Driffin said after a very brief hesitation, seating himself at the large kitchen table. "The new system was full of holes that were meant to be used by those who were smart enough, and I was prepared to start that using as soon as possible. Now…"
Driffin's words trailed off, and he barely saw Idresia light the wood in the stove with her talent before she reached for a pan and some eggs and cheese. Trying to put his feelings into coherent sentences was difficult.
"Now you obviously feel differently," Idresia said, apparently paying less attention to the cooking than to the conversation. "What made you change your mind?"
"As I look back, I think my mind began to change on the very first day of training," Driffin answered, his own attention returning to the day he spoke of. "I walked into the class expecting to find oh-so-superior instructors who taught very little but expected to be bowed down to for that little. Instead, our instructor was this shy little woman with a big talent who quietly encouraged everyone in the class no matter how strong or weak they were."
"And the people in the class made every effort to learn rather than to curry favor by boot-licking," Idresia added as she broke open the eggs. "I remember you telling me that when you got home."