by Sharon Green
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 after 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…
… only to stop again just a few steps beyond it. The wall had hidden the most—utilitarian area Lorand had ever seen. A very large building with arched entrances stood before them, made of uniform gray stone three or four shades lighter than the stoned approach. It took no effort to feel the controlled strength that had been used to construct the building and approach, but less had gone into the planting and care of the grass surrounding the stone of the approach. The grass struggled to survive without Encouragement, an odd situation where there were supposed to be so many strong talents.
“Look at all the people coming in,” Hat murmured from his left, obviously having stopped when he did. “They’re using all those other gates, but only a few are headed toward the entrance we were told to use.”
It was strange that Lorand had actually missed noticing the people, but Hat’s mentioning them brought sight and awareness of them. There were dozens of people moving in and out of the immense building, men and women alike. Those coming out moved briskly in a businesslike way, as did some of those going in. Most of the others, though… Most of the others seemed like himself and Hat, nervous, unsure, hesitant, maybe even frightened. And most of them were alone which made Lorand grateful for Hat’s presence.
“No sense in just standing here,” Lorand said after taking a deep breath. “It’s already past noon, and we’ll have to find someplace to stay before it gets dark. Let’s go tell them we’re here and find out when the testing will start, and then we can go looking for a place to live until it’s our turn.”
“Which won’t be too long after our silver runs out,” Hat agreed sourly, joining him in walking toward the building. “I don’t know why official doings have to take so long to happen, but they always do. Remember the five-year-old tests?”
It had been a long time ago, but Lorand did remember. Every child in every district went to registration at the age of five, when they were enrolled in school and given their first tests. Lorand could also remember his father muttering about fool wastes of time, the elder Coll hating the need to allow anyone else access to his children. And allowing them a say over those children. Camil Coll would have kept his children illiterate if the law hadn’t refused to let him do it, but Lorand hadn’t known that at the time.
All the five-year-old Lorand had known was how strange everything looked, since that was his first trip off the farm. He hadn’t been allowed to go along when his older brother had been registered, but he’d been a baby then, not even three. Now he was five and it was his turn, and his walk had become a strut every time his father wasn’t watching.
The registration for school had taken only a few minutes, then had come the wait for the testing. Lorand had started out eager to find out what would happen, then he’d grown impatient, and then finally he’d gotten bored. It was taking so long to get to him, and he didn’t know any of the other boys and girls there, and his father was watching him so closely despite the conversations he had with some of the other fathers there… That was probably why Lorand had forgotten the strict orders his father had given him before leaving the farm.
“I’ll never forget how long it took for them to get around to me at the five-year-old testing,” Lorand answered ruefully. “It was so long that I forgot all about what my father had said about not showing off. I really wanted everyone to know what I could do, but if I’d remembered the orders I’d been given… Do you think that’s why they made us wait so long? So we’d forget what we’d been told?”
“Since my father didn’t tell me anything but to do my best, I doubt it,” Hat answered distractedly, his gaze on the entrance they meant to use. “They were just acting true to form and showing everyone how important they were by keeping us waiting. What do you think these tests will be like?”
“I … don’t know.” Lorand hesitated before answering the question they’d both been careful to avoid all during the trip. “And I’d rather not even think about it. Master Lugal said we have to be ready for anything and everything, and you can’t do that if you decide something has to be a certain way—”
“Well, I am ready, and I’ll bet I know what they’re going to do,” Hat interrupted as if he hadn’t heard what Lorand had said. “I know what they’ll do and I can handle it
easy, so I don’t have to worry about passing. I will pass, and after it’s all over I’ll be a High.”
Hat spoke with such intensity that Lorand was sure he really spoke to himself, unaware of having actually voiced the thoughts. And he made no effort to share his conclusions with Lorand, which was faintly disturbing. It was true that they would be competing against each other, but they were supposed to be friends… Did their friendship come down to so little that it was put aside so easily? Lorand didn’t really want to know what Hat had thought of about the testing, but what hurt was that Hat hadn’t even offered to share…
Lorand was disturbed as they reached the archway they’d been told to use, but once he stepped through it was awe that suddenly filled him. The area inside was nothing less than vast, the ceiling so far above their heads that it was difficult to see. People walked as quietly as possible inside that vastness, and those who spoke to one another whispered. Every ten feet or so a torch burned in an ornamental sconce on the walls, but the torches did little beyond making the inner dimness a bit less intense. All the way down at the other end of the building it was possible to see some daylight through other arches, but that also did nothing to brighten the place.
“Coach tickets, please,” a brisk voice said, and Lorand took his attention from the vastness to look at the man who sat behind a small table just a few feet inside the entrance. The man was dressed in the sort of wide-sleeved shirt Master Lugal usually wore, and he hadn’t spoken in a whisper. But the silence around them seemed to soak up the sound of the words so that no one more than five feet away would hear them. Lorand moved closer to the table and produced his ticket stub again, and he and Hat handed the stubs over together.
“Well, well, you’re both right on time,” the man said, looking at a long piece of paper that had what looked like lists of names. He made checks beside two of those names with a marker, then looked up at Lorand and Hat again while reaching into a small box.
“I’m going to issue you identity tags,” the man said slowly and clearly, as if he spoke to those who weren’t very bright. “You’ll wear these tags at all times, even out on the street. They identify you as participants in the testing, and won’t be taken away again until and unless you fail your test. Do you understand?”
“Of course we understand!” Hat snapped before Lorand could answer a bit more civilly. “We may not come from this city, but we’re not complete idiots.”
“The man was just explaining things, Hat, not trying to insult us,” Lorand said quickly and soothingly, putting his hand to Hat’s shoulder. “A lot of the people coming here must be too frightened and confused to think, so spelling everything out is really a kindness. No sense in getting hot over something like that.”
“He should have known we’re not like that,” Hat muttered as he shook free of Lorand’s hand, but at least most of the belligerence was gone. Lorand saw that the man at the table was busy writing on the rectangles of heavy paper he’d taken from the box, but the tightness in the man’s jaw said an apology would have been in order. Lorand briefly considered suggesting that to Hat, then immediately rejected the idea. Hat was too wound up to apologize to anyone, and trying to talk him into doing it anyway would just make things even worse.
“All right, here are your tags,” the man finally said after another few minutes, pushing them toward Lorand and Hat. Once their names had been put on the tags, the man had attached a wide loop of fine chain to an eye in the middle top of the tags. Those loops would fit over their heads, and the tags would hang in the middle of their chests.
“Thank you,” Lorand said with as much warmth as he could muster, taking the tag with his name on it. “Can you give us any idea of how long it will be before the first test? We know we’re not the only ones here for the purpose, but even a guess would help us to—”
“I can do better than guess,” the man interrupted, leaning back and looking only at Lorand. “I can tell you exactly when your first test will be, since you’ll be going for it as soon as you leave here. We don’t believe in wasting time here in the capitol, so you’d better get used to it. Take these papers, and Jamrin will show you where to go.”
Lorand took his set of papers woodenly, shocked to hear that the testing would begin so soon. But it wasn’t his expression that the man behind the table was watching. The man’s faint smile was a reaction to the way Hat had paled, as well as to the visible unsteadiness of Hat’s hands as he took his own sheaf of papers. The sudden appearance of another man, from a group of three in the dimness to the right rather than out of thin air, caught Lorand’s attention, but Hat had to be nudged with an elbow before he could gather himself together well enough to follow the newcomer.
Their guide led the way across the vastness of the building without looking back, and Lorand had to deliberately keep himself from running to keep up. Lengthening his stride did the job well enough, not to mention keeping him from looking like a scatterbrained fool. He still felt shaken at the idea that the testing would start so soon, but he refused to lose himself to mindless fright.
Hat, though, seemed to be another story. Lorand’s longtime friend did run a few steps in an effort to keep up, after having almost forgotten to take his case of clothing and possessions with him. And it looked like he had forgotten that Lorand was there. All his attention centered on the man they followed, his thin shoulders hunched as if in an effort to block out the rest of the world. Hat radiated terror, but this was the chance he’d been waiting for and he obviously had no intention of missing it.
Lorand would have tried speaking to Hat if they hadn’t been moving so briskly, so he decided it might be a good thing they were. Hat clearly wasn’t going to let anything interfere with his dream, not even someone who had been a lifetime friend. Lorand could understand his attitude to a certain degree, but beyond that his understanding broke down in confusion. He had no more intention of crawling home in failure than Hat did, but it didn’t seem necessary to reject everything else in his life in order to get what he wanted.
At the brisk pace their guide Jamrin set, they crossed the wide stone floor rather quickly. Lorand wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d been taken to one of the flights of steps that led higher in that gray stone building, but instead they were guided to one of the far archways leading outside again. Jamrin went down the two steps at the same brisk pace and headed across another stone walkway, which meant Lorand had no chance to stop and stare at the five buildings which stood in a circle beyond the building they’d just left. The five buildings were each rather large in their own right, but not as incredibly big as the one which guarded the approach to them.
Jamrin began to circle to the right, but they didn’t have far to go. The first building on the right had a brass plaque with the symbol for Earth magic right beside its front door, and Jamrin stopped about ten feet in front of that door.
“That’s where you go,” he said, negligently throwing a thumb over his shoulder toward the building. “They’ll tell you what to do next once you’re inside. Now you can give me my tip.”
“A tip for what?” Lorand began to demand. “You didn’t do anything but race us here, so why—”
“Come on, Lor, don’t be so bloody provincial,” Hat interrupted with a strange grin, looking almost fevered. “We’re here and we’re about to test, and once we pass we’ll have all the gold we want. What’s a little silver more or less?”
He tossed a piece of silver to Jamrin before striding away toward the building’s door, which meant he missed the flash of amusement in their former guide’s eyes. Hat had fallen for some trick, then, but at least he’d saved Lorand from also being taken. Ignoring the expectant look Jamrin now wore as be held his hand out again, Lorand walked past the man and followed Hat to the building.
And now that Lorand had the time to notice, he could see that the building was made of oak resin rather than stone. The resin could only be extracted from trees by the concerted efforts of three talents, Earth, Water, and
Spirit. It came out in a semi-liquid state, and hardened so slowly that it was possible to shape almost anything out of it before it reached its final solidified state. Lorand had never seen an entire building made out of resin, but he’d heard they were popular in areas which had regular earthquakes. Even solidified, the resin had a slight rubbery resilience which would let a building move with an earthquake rather than fall. But that left the question of why they had one—no, five—such buildings here in Gan Garee.
But Lorand had no time to consider a question like that, not when he’d reached the doorway leading into the creamy-white building. Hat was already inside, standing in front of another table with another man behind it, so Lorand joined him. The entrance area was fairly large and completely unfurnished except for the table and the chair the man sat in, but the lamps on the walls turned the area warm and friendly. The cream-colored resin was responsible for that, of course, being a good deal more cheerful than even light gray stone.
“All right, Hattial,” the man behind the desk said, looking up from the sheaf of papers Hat had given him. “Everything is in order including Lugal’s final evaluation, so we’ll get right to the testing. Go through that doorway all the way to your left, and you’ll be taken care of.”
Lorand looked toward the doorway at the same time Hat did. The front entrance had had a large metal door on strong hinges standing open, but this inner doorway had nothing but a curtain covering it. The curtain was brightly colored in reds and yellows and oranges and pinks with white running through, which helped add to the friendly atmosphere of the room.
“Let’s wish each other good luck now,” Lorand began as he looked back toward Hat. “We may not get the chance later, so—”