by Sharon Green
"Vallant Ro, how could you just walk past me without a word?" she asked, sounding mortally wounded. "I've been waitin' here for half the day, waitin' for a gentleman, but if this is the way you're goin' to act, you can find another girl to wait for you. If you think you can find one to match me, that is."
Vallant stopped pulling things out of a chest and took a deep breath, understanding that he'd made another mistake. Mirra Agran's father had almost as profitable a shipping business as his own family did, but where he had four brothers and two sisters, Mirra was an only child. That had spoiled her to a large degree, but she'd never been able to walk all over Vallant the way she did with other men and she seemed to like that. She would force him to be stern with her, and then she would let him take her to bed - where she gave him an experience much like being in a skiff in a rainstorm. He probably never would find another woman filled with as much passion, not to mention one with the sort of business connections his daddy had suggested he encourage…
"Mirra, I really must apologize," he said as he turned, making no effort to smile at her. "Somethin' has happened, and I thought it best to spare a lady like you the weight of my mood. If you choose to leave at once, I'll certainly understand."
"What's happened?" she demanded, immediately dropping the great-lady-wounded attitude. "My daddy can probably help even if yours can't, so tell me right now."
"No one can help," he returned, just short of a growl. The idea that her daddy could do what his couldn't was usually amusing, but today… "I have to go to Gan Garee to test for High, the law insists on it. If I don't make today's coach under my own power, they'll arrest me and put me on it. But it shouldn't be long before I'm back, so don't you worry your pretty head. And don't let any of my brothers move in on you while I'm gone."
"No chance of that," she assured him with a sound of scorn. "They may all be as big and broad-shouldered as you, with the same platinum hair and light blue eyes, but none of them is like you on the inside. But I do recall tellin' you not to show off so much with your talent, and it seems I was right. If you hadn't brought yourself to their attention-"
"Nonsense," he denied, turning back to his packing chore. "I said almost the same thing when that Guild fellow first mentioned goin' to the capitol, and he set me straight. Guild people check everyone on a regular basis until the age of twenty-five, since no one has been known to develop significant strength past that age. They don't have to find you doin' somethin' complicated; even waterin' a garden with your talent can be enough. It has somethin' to do with the feel of the strength you put into the smallest effort… None of us can tell, but Guild people can. And they do."
"But this is awful!" Mirra wailed, suddenly projecting a sense of tragedy. "Your bein' away will delay your promotion from that awful boat to a proper office position, and that in turn may delay our weddin'. You told me yourself your daddy won't do anythin' for his sons that he doesn't do for his other employees, so-"
"Mirra, where on earth did you get the idea that I mean to give up my ship?" Vallant demanded, turning back to her again. "The one time we discussed the idea, I told you I had no interest in takin' a promotion to the office. You seemed to understand, but now-"
"Oh, Vallant, don't be silly," she interrupted, peremptorily gesturing away what he'd said with a shake of her auburn-haired head. "You have no idea what's really good for you, but when the time comes I'll make sure you do the right thing. And the first of those things is that you can't take the coach today. I couldn't possibly be ready to go with you so quickly, but the day after tomorrow should be fine. You just tell them that, and then we can enjoy the rest of today the way we planned."
Her smile had turned inviting with its usual promise and she stepped forward to press herself against him, but Vallant was suddenly repelled. She'd been playing a game with him all this time, pretending to obey him while planning their life together to suit only herself. Any number of people considered him high-handed, but he'd never once tried to force a decision on her about something that concerned the two of them. That was the reason he'd told her he'd be remaining at sea right from the beginning, to keep from hiding things. Apparently she hadn't felt the same…
"Mirra, stop it," he said, gently but firmly pushing her back away from him. "Listen to what I'm sayin', and try to make yourself understand. I have to take the coach today, or I'll be arrested. It isn't a matter of choice, but of necessity. One thing, however, is a matter of choice, and that's the fact that I will not give up my captaincy for a place in an office. Since that doesn't agree with what you want out of life, I suggest that you see other men after all. You'll never get what you want from me."
"Oh, Vallant, you keep sayin' these silly, childish things," she told him with a sigh and a pout. "You're the man I've decided on, so why would I bother with anyone else? And once we're married you'll change your mind about that stupid boat, I promise you will. Right now I'm leavin', but only to go and speak to Daddy. He'll talk to those Guild people, and then they'll understand that they can't arrest you. Miss me while I'm gone, but have that special present waitin' for when I get back."
She blew him a kiss, her smile now radiant, and then she left. Vallant stood staring after her for a moment, feeling almost dazed. How could he have missed seeing what she was really like all this time? He must have let her beautiful face and lush body blind him to the truth, a blindness that could have trapped him for the rest of his life. He shuddered at the thought of that, then quickly went back to his packing. Like other men, he'd always been attracted to the most beautiful women, but he felt cured of that now. If he couldn't find a plain woman to suit him, he'd visit courtesans.
He finished the rest of his packing morosely then went back downstairs. He had just enough time to have a meal before he'd have to leave for the depot, so he took a table and ordered. He'd put his packed seabag on the floor beside his chair, and that had brought him curious stares but no questions. If Jako, the owner of the Roaring Sailor, had been there it would have been different, but Jako was away and his current crop of serving girls didn't know him well enough to ask.
Which, in a way, was too bad. Questions might have distracted him from the hurt he could no longer deny, the unexpected pain of finding out that Mirra wasn't the joyously abandoned companion he'd always considered her. Being the center of a beautiful woman's universe was always pleasant for a man, but when she joined him there and teased him in that very special way… He hadn't realized how much he'd been looking forward to having that for the rest of his life, the togetherness, the sharing, the fun…
But she hadn't really felt any of those things, not in the same way he had. She'd marked him out as her private property, complete with deciding his entire future just the way you would do with a pet you valued and were fond of. He wasn't a person to her, just another someone she could manipulate into giving her what she wanted, and that really hurt. She might well love him, but only as his "owner."
His food began to come, so Vallant forced away the brooding and applied himself to eating and planning. It would take about a week to get to Gan Garee, and the same coming home. How much time he would have to spend in the city itself was what he didn't know, but surely it couldn't be longer than a week. From what he'd heard it would be best if he were eliminated from the contests early, and then he'd be free to leave. And he would be eliminated early, he'd make sure of that.
"Excuse me, Dom Ro," a woman's voice said, causing Vallant to look up. "Since we have some business to take care of, I'm sure you won't mind if I join you."
"That's Captain Ro," Vallant corrected, watching the woman take a seat without waiting for permission. She was the one who had accompanied Torrin onto the Queen's deck earlier, and she was prettier than he'd realized. Considering his most recent resolve, her presence was one he would have preferred to do without.
"Merchants like my daddy are addressed as 'Dom'," Vallant continued, "not people like myself. That probably means whatever your business is, you'd be better off tak
in' it up with him. I'm gettin' ready to leave the city in just a little while."
"I know," she responded, a certain satisfaction hidden in her eyes. "You've learned that you won't be allowed to disobey the law no matter how rich your family is, or how big and strong you are. I'm the one who was put in charge of getting you to Gan Garee, and finally it's almost done. I've brought your tickets and spending money in silver, and all that's left is to bundle you onto the coach."
She put the tickets and pouch of silver onto the table between them, then smiled at him with pretty, white teeth. The smile was probably supposed to look friendly, but all that enjoyment behind it turned it into something closer to a laugh. He was twice her size and could probably buy and sell her entire family without needing his daddy's help, but she'd still bested him and was now laughing about it. Vallant held his temper with fists of steel and tried to simply continue eating, but she wasn't through crowing - or pushing - yet.
"Actually, you weren't all that hard to handle," she commented, clearly trying not to drawl as she leaned back in her chair. "If I'd gone directly to you about the problem, I'm sure you would have smiled your very handsome smile and then tried to talk me around. So I went to your father instead, and explained how you would not be allowed to break the law simply because you were his darling boy child. I was surprised when he saved me the trouble of having to turn down a bribe, and simply agreed to take care of the matter."
Vallant looked up quickly at that, but he wasn't mistaken. The woman was deliberately insulting him and his family, hoping he'd - do what? Obviously she wasn't terribly fond of people with money, but she'd already gotten what she wanted. What else could she possibly be after?
And then he had the answer, which was really rather obvious. She had gotten what she wanted, but not quite in the best of ways. She would have been happiest if he had had to be put on the coach in chains and under arrest, so she'd decided to provoke him into doing something to make it happen. Like forcing him into blowing up and refusing to go after all. He didn't know the cause of her hatred and couldn't fully understand it, but that was hardly the first time he'd ever seen it.
"Yes, you were one of the easy ones," she went on when he stayed silent. "No trouble out of any of you, and now you're going to the depot like a little lamb. I'll really have to mention in my report what a good boy you are."
Under other circumstances, that would have done it for Vallant. He would have blown up with a roar, thrown the table across the room, and then would have sent her on her way with a smack to the bottom and his refusal ringing in her ears. But since that was exactly what she wanted, he smiled at her instead.
"I'm glad you noticed," he drawled, letting his eyes move over as much of her as he could see. "It's too bad we don't have the time for me to show you just how good a boy I am, but that can be seen to when I get back. Since I'm sure you'll still be hangin' around, just come up and remind me. I won't make you wait too long."
The arrogance of that speech turned her first pale and then flushed, as though she couldn't quite decide how to react. She parted her lips to say something, blushed even harder when she probably realized he'd turn anything she said into more of the same, then she gave it up. She stood and marched away without a single glance back, and Vallant was able to finish his meal in peace - while seriously considering the idea of giving up women entirely. Disillusionment had really set in, making him wish with all his heart that he was back at sea.
Vallant paid for his meal and left the tavern, having more than enough time to stroll to the depot that was only a few streets away. He intended to use the walk to take a last, remembering look at Port Entril, to make sure he had what to think about while he was away. He no longer had a woman to fill his thoughts, and memories of the Sea Queen would be almost as painful. Home port was a place he'd long since gotten used to leaving, though, not to mention thinking about without a sense of permanent loss. He could-
Screams suddenly came from some of the other people on the street, and Vallant turned fast to see what the trouble was. For an instant the sight of the raging fireball confused him, but then he realized what it had to be. That Guild female, looking for a more effective way to delay his reaching the coach. He would be so busy keeping himself - and others - unburned that he would lose track of time, giving her the perfect excuse to show up with those two bully boys and a set of chains.
But that wasn't the way it was going to happen. The woman had obviously forgotten what his talent was, which made her stupid as well as vindictive. Sending fire after someone with Water magic… Vallant snorted and put his seabag down, then began to reach for every bit of moisture around. The horse troughs, the clouds in the sky above, the very air of a port city only a few streets from the sea.
It was all his to use, in any way he cared to use it. The fireball had begun to roll at him, threatening to burn him down where he stood, but it was the one that had to veer off. He'd hung a fine curtain of mist in its path, but not so fine that the curtain hadn't begun to put out the leading edge of its flames. The fireball drew back and started to circle, trying to reach him, but it was already too late for that. By then he'd surrounded the thing with a ring of water, and the more water he called into the ring, the faster the fire began to shrink.
It took no more than minutes before the fire was completely drowned, and then Vallant was able to free the water to return to where it had been, retrieve his seabag, and continue on his way. He kept his eyes open for the woman's appearance with her men, but oddly enough the coach arrived before she did. Or maybe not so oddly. She must have seen her latest plan in ruins, and finally got smart enough to give up. About time, too, before he really lost his temper.
Vallant handed over his seabag and then climbed into the coach, grimly determined not to think about what he left behind. Soon it would be what he was headed back to, and then he could think about it. Now he just had to concentrate on making the interval in between the shortest it could possibly be.
All right, now you've met all of us. Of course, things didn't start to happen until we met, or at least not much of anything. We all knew what we wanted and intended to have, but the prophecy had already begun to enter our lives to make certain things inevitable. And then there was what our ruling class wanted, and what our friends and relatives and enemies wanted, and what our ultimate opponents wanted. And let's certainly not forget about the Ancients and what they wanted.
Goodness, it's a miracle we accomplished anything at all, not to mention survived. There were all those times we were sure we wouldn't, especially after we really got together. That was a time, let me tell you… All right, all right, I'll show them. It all began shortly after the others reached Gan Garee, where I already was…
CHAPTER SIX
"We made it, Lor, we're actually here!" Hat's voice was low but intense, underscoring the way Lorand felt himself. "And I can't believe how big this place is! It took an hour of driving through the city for the coach to reach here."
"We'd better get our cases before the coach leaves with them," Lorand told him, reluctantly pulling his stare away from the immense walled area they'd been brought to. "I wonder if that's where we're supposed to go."
"Sure is," the coachman unpacking their cases from the rear of the coach said with a grin. "You go up to one of them guards, tell 'im you're here for testin', and he'll let you know where you go next. Good luck t'you, an' have fun."
Lorand thanked the man as he took both cases, Hat still being too immersed in staring open-mouthed to join him. But once the coach pulled away, Lorand moved the few steps to Hat and pushed his case at him.
"Take this thing, will you?" he said, nervousness making him faintly irritable. "It feels like you packed half the county along with your clothes."
"Well, I had to, now didn't I?" Hat replied with a laugh as he took the case. "Since I won't be going back again, I had to take what I'll need. I wonder if they'll give us time to find a pretty lady or two first - or maybe they'll supply some aft
er we pass."
"First worry about passing," Lorand advised, beginning to lead the way toward the gated wall. "If we don't, none of the rest will matter."
"Women will always matter," Hat countered, but not as lightheartedly as before. It was now really beginning, and Hat was starting to feel that as strongly as Lorand already did.
The immense wall clearly surrounded an area that wasn't open to the general public, the presence of sword and spear and armor-clad guardsmen reinforcing that observation. Lorand slowly approached one pair that were already staring at him and Hat, but when he reached them he didn't quite know what to say.
"We're - we're supposed to test," Hat stumbled in explanation, now sounding as uncertain as Lorand felt. "Can you tell us where we're supposed to go?"
"Let's see the coach tickets you used," one of the guardsmen rumbled without inflection, putting out a large, blunt-fingered hand. Lorand and Hat exchanged an uneasy glance, then dug for what was left of the coach tickets they'd been given. They'd had to relinquish an inch of ticket for each leg of their journey, which had left them with little more than stubs. But they produced those stubs and handed them over, and the guardsman inspected them briefly before handing them back.
"You go to the main building right behind this gate," the guardsman told them, drawling the words in a way that said he'd repeated them any number of times before. "Use the entrance second from the right, and turn in these tickets when you're told to. They'll let you know what to do next."
And then the two guardsmen were stepping out of their way, giving them clear access to the gate. Lorand felt the strangest urge to wipe his sweating palms on his tunic, but he couldn't stand the thought of doing it in front of the guardsmen. There was already a definite gleam of amusement in the dismissive glances he and Hat had been getting, as if the guardsmen knew these two bumpkins had no chance to pass the tests. Well, Lorand did have a chance, and he meant to make the most of it. Hat still stood unmoving beside him, so he took a better grip on his case and resolutely moved through the gate…