She had a sense that if she didn’t follow Elaine, these men, who were clearly stronger than she, would encourage her to do so.
What was this assignment? What did Elaine intend for her to do with her here?
She shook her head, stretched out with her staff, and jumped, pushing off the bottom of the swamp.
Holding herself balanced on the end of her staff, she turned to Elaine. “What now?”
“Now we return.”
“What?”
Elaine flipped herself up and brought her staff back around, piercing the swamp again. She flipped like that, moving five feet or more each time, heading back toward the city.
Sam watched her for far too long. By the time she pulled her gaze away, she realized that the barge had departed, making its way westerly through the swamp.
She either had to follow Elaine—or swim.
15
Understanding the Lesson
The damned air was too thick. Sam swore to herself, cursing Kyza for placing her in this position. It wasn’t the god’s fault that she was here, but it was her fault that she hadn’t found a way to get Sam help. All she wanted was some way to get out of this stinking swamp.
She managed to stay balanced on the end of her staff but hadn’t been able to move more than a few inches. Elaine had long ago disappeared. Sam’s arms quivered from the effort of holding on to the staff, and she knew that she needed to move, or she would soon be swimming.
An assignment, she thought to herself bitterly. This wasn’t an assignment so much as it was a way to torment her. Maybe it was another test, but in this test, if she failed, she would end up in the swamp. She didn’t know enough about it to know whether it was dangerous, but she had to believe that it wasn’t safe. Clearly, it was one of the barricades that protected the city. To be an effective barricade, there had to be danger present for anyone who attempted passage. And right now, she was that person.
Sam had always been confident in her ability with the staff, but seeing the way the other Kavers managed to move on the staff, balancing as they went, she felt inadequate. She thought of Raylene and the way that she managed to remain perched on the staff, almost as if she were an acrobat. For Sam to get out of here, she would have to manage a similar technique.
But each time she attempted to flip forward on the staff, she managed only a few inches, just like in the practice yard. And with each attempt, she felt her strength wane.
Why would Elaine do this to her?
Was it her way of getting rid of her? Was it her way of proving that she didn’t have what she needed to become the Kaver that the others were?
Fear of slipping down into the water had at least given her the ability to move somewhat, but it was a long way back and she didn’t think she’d make it.
What was the key?
Once again, she tried to envision what she’d seen from Raylene. The woman used an entire contortion of her body as she flipped. Was that what Sam needed to do? She had tried it before, but without having an augmentation, she didn’t feel like she had enough strength to do it.
How had Elaine disappeared so quickly?
It was possible that she had an augmentation, but Sam doubted it. If she had been augmented, she wouldn’t have been able to torment Sam quite as easily about learning how to work without one. No, Elaine wanted to prove that she didn’t need an augmentation in order for her to escape the swamp.
She closed her eyes, visualizing the way that Elaine had flipped her way free from the swamp.
It was a movement of her entire body. It required using her stomach and her arms and… everything.
Sam took a deep breath. She tightened her muscles, preparing herself, holding tightly on to the staff, and pushed off, flipping into the air.
Panic set in as she did, and she frantically worked to stab down with her staff, bringing it around so that she landed on the staff rather than in the water.
She managed to stay on the staff as she came around. Her body ached from the effort of the movement, but she was still above the surface of the water.
Sam let out a small whoop of victory.
She had moved, but how far had she gone?
And could she keep it up?
That was the bigger challenge. Now that she had done it once, could she do it over and over again long enough to escape from the swamp?
She had no choice. If she didn’t, if she failed to make it across the swamp, she would end up in the water.
Something hit her staff.
It struck with force, and Sam slipped, only a little, but enough to make her sweat even more. What struck her?
The force with which it struck felt… thick. Fear coursed through her as she remembered a similar sensation when she’d fallen into the canal. Could the damned canal eels be out in the swamp too?
She saw no reason why not. The canals connected with the swamp. The swamp was yet another protective barrier to the city, so the Scribes probably made sure they were here, too.
She needed to get moving. Delay only weakened her, which would make each flip that much more difficult.
She contorted herself and flipped again.
This time it was easier. The movement felt more familiar. More than that, now that she had repeated it, her confidence surged and she knew she could keep going.
When she landed, the water splashed below her.
That wasn’t the staff.
A face with sharp teeth appeared in the water.
Sam’s breath caught again. It was the largest eel she had ever seen. Not that she had seen many canal eels, but this one was enormous.
Kyza!
How was she supposed to keep this up? Already, her arms were shaking, quivering with the effort of trying to hold her up, but she had to keep going.
And if Elaine could do it, Sam knew that she could. She had to.
She had no choice. The thought of that eel waiting for her to slip into the water actually gave her a surge of adrenaline. Fear can do that.
Another contortion, and she flipped again, heading toward the city. Each time she landed, she grew more confident. But she’d not escaped her tormentor. The eel seemed to follow her openly, swimming around the base of her staff, though it didn’t smack into the staff again. Those in the city canals weren’t nearly as aggressive—at least they weren’t as willing to make their presence known. Why would the eels in the swamp be different?
But why wouldn’t they? There was nothing here to scare them away. There was no reason for them not to be fearless. Few barges made their way through here, and there weren’t people to throw things at them, not like there were in the city.
Everything in the swamp would be prey to the eels.
Sam swallowed. Her mouth was dry and she was thirsty, but she didn’t dare drink from this water.
She flipped again. The city didn’t feel any closer, but it had to be, didn’t it?
The eel stayed with her, swimming alongside almost like an escort… or a guard.
“Go away,” Sam yelled. Her voice sounded weak, even to her. She wouldn’t intimidate an eel, and certainly not one that was so daring as to swim next to her.
She flipped, again and again, losing count of how many times she did it. A few times, her hands slipped, and she had to push herself back up to the top of the staff. Every so often, she would pause and wrap her legs around the staff to give her arms a break. Balancing became easier the longer that she did it. The fear of falling into the swamp helped, though she would never admit that to Elaine. It had seemed like hours before the edge of the city finally came into view.
Her arms shook. Only a few more flips, and she would be able to reach it, but she feared she didn’t have the strength. Not anymore. It was a matter of stamina. She had spent everything she had getting this far, and going any farther seemed to be beyond her.
Sam rested, keeping her legs wrapped around the staff, holding herself in place. She looked toward the edge of the city, where she would reach land. Her visio
n blurry, but she had expected to see Elaine waiting for her.
She wasn’t there.
Could she have abandoned Sam to the swamp?
That was surprising. Why would Elaine have left her… unless she had presumed that Sam would make it. Or she knew that she would not.
Anger surged within her again, and she found the strength to flip a few more times, finally reaching the edge of the city. She fell onto the shore, collapsing in a heap. She clutched onto her canal staff and looked down at the end, fearing that the eel had taken a chunk out of the end, but there was no damage.
After resting for a while, she managed to pull herself to her feet. She looked out over the swamp, wondering how far had she gone.
Farther than she would’ve thought possible. But she had done it. Yes, her body ached, and all she wanted at this moment was to fall into bed and sleep. But she had made it. Had she been augmented, she would not only have made it across the swamp more quickly, she would have had no reason to fear the eel. Even if she’d ended up in the water, her strength would have allowed her to outswim the eel. And if Alec could have given her thicker skin—making her denser—the eel would have been unable to harm her. The augmentations could have helped her in any number of ways.
But no. Elaine needed to have her tormented. She needed to send her out into the swamp, to almost die.
And that captain had been a willing participant.
All of it made her blood boil.
She leaned on the staff as she headed back into the city. The air here was so much more humid than it was in the Caster section. It cooled off closer to the sea, but Sam was surprised how different it was here. She was surprised how different much of the city was.
Sam’s strength returned now that she was back on solid ground. She moved quickly, heading back toward the palace. She was tempted to pause at the university, but anger propelled her forward, and she suspected that Elaine wouldn’t even allow her to pause at the university. She had likely set some other barrier up to thwart her.
It was nearly nightfall by the time she reached the innermost sections of the city. The moon was high overhead, nearly full, and a few wispy clouds surrounded it. A faint breeze wafted through the city, cooling her. She would’ve liked that breeze when she had been out in the swamp.
When she reached the canal separating this section from the university, she paused.
Why shouldn’t she go see Alec?
Now that she knew how to balance on her staff, and now that she knew how to cross through the swamp, why shouldn’t she use those new skills to reach her Scribe?
Did she have the strength that she needed?
She didn’t even know.
At least she didn’t fear the canals here quite as much as she feared the swamp. She didn’t want to end up in one, but if she did, she didn’t think she would end up eaten.
She hesitated for a moment. She must stink, and she didn’t want to go to Alex smelling like this. She could head into the palace and take a bath, but that meant she would have to confront Elaine, and she wanted to do that with a calmer head. Right now, she was simply too angry.
She found flowers and smeared them all over her, rubbing them into her cloak. If nothing else, she hoped the fragrance would distract from the stench of the swamp.
When she reached the edge of the canal, she stopped. Even if she reached the university, would she be able to find Alec? It wasn’t as if he would be simply waiting for her, would he?
She didn’t want to distract him from his studies. But could she pass up this opportunity? She only hoped she didn’t find him with Beckah.
She faced the canal.
She jumped, flipping, and landed on her staff. She would not be kept from Alec any longer.
16
A Friend Visits
It was late, and the water lapped at the shore of the canal, its soft burbling the only sound that broke through the night’s silence. Alec stood staring over the water, looking at the faint candlelight glowing in the windows of the palace. Longing filled his heart, and he wished he could cross, but when he’d tried, he’d been turned away. He needed to find Sam, to make sure she was okay. But had she wanted to come to him, to do something other than send word that she was well, she would have. And he knew that he needed to continue his studies. If he didn’t, if he abandoned them, what use would he be to her?
A shadowed form moved on the other side of the canal. Alec watched, thinking that perhaps it might be Sam, but it appeared to be nothing more than one of the guards.
He turned. The canal was widest around the palace. It formed a barrier, a defense that other parts of the city did not have. It was more than simply the width of the canal and the physical barrier, it was the eels swimming within the canal. He didn’t totally understand how the early Scribes had created this magical barrier that prevented the Thelns from reaching the palace. But he believed what Master Eckerd had told them.
There came a splash, and he scanned the water, thinking that perhaps one of the canal eels had broken the surface, but saw nothing.
“Are you waiting for me?”
Alec spun and found Sam standing behind him. She wore the dark, shimmery cloak that she had worn since he first met her, and the hood was pulled up, concealing her face. In her hand, she held her long, slender staff. It was a weapon, and it was something else. A means to freedom for her. It was something that he didn’t understand, not well, but he knew it was important to her.
“Where have you been?”
“Alec—”
“No. I know that you’ve sent word. But the one time you didn’t, I—”
Sam nodded. “I know. You placed an augmentation. I appreciate that.”
“Appreciate? That’s all I get?”
Sam sighed and took a step toward him. She smelled of a floral perfume, and a hint of mint was there with it. She approached slowly, with heat radiating from her body. “That’s not all you get, but I’ve been kept busy. Elaine has been trying to train me, wanting me to know how to work without my augmentations.”
As she said it, Alec could hear the annoyance in her tone. “I thought she had been doing that before.”
“She had. And I’ve been training, but after the attack… Well, let’s just say that she had a renewed urgency after the attack. She thought I needed to be better prepared to handle myself if I was confronted by someone who had augmentations and I did not. Apparently, that’s something all Kavers must do during their training.”
Sam took a position next to him, and she stared out over the canal. Ever since he’d met her, she had done the same sort of thing, and he had always enjoyed standing next to her, looking out into the darkness, wondering what she was thinking. This time, he wished that she would share more than she usually did. He was growing tired of not knowing, and tired of worrying about her.
“We need to practice together,” he said.
“Can we? How much paper do we have left?”
Alec thought about their supplies. The number of sheets they had remaining was dwindling, but still there was enough for them to practice, wasn’t there? He could write small. The size of the writing didn’t matter, it was the content.
“Enough to keep practicing.”
Sam stared at him, and for a moment, he thought that she might share something, but she only sighed.
“I want to practice, too, but, though I hate to admit it, I think Elaine is right. We do need to know how to work without our augmentations. I need to know what I can do without enhancement.”
“Is it because of what Marin was able to do?”
Sam’s face darkened. Beneath her hood, it was difficult to tell, but he knew her too well. “Marin was able to counter me even without augmentations. She knows something, Alec.”
“Then we need to find her. We can go after her, find where Tray has her, and—”
“Tray found me.”
“What do you mean he found you?”
She sighed again and turned toward him for a
moment. She couldn’t seem to look him in the eye. Her gaze drifted out over the water and then down to the ground.
“What is it that you don’t want to tell me?”
“That night when I didn’t check in.”
“Tray found you then? Is that why you weren’t able to get to me? Oh, Sam, I didn’t need to place an augmentation then. I felt so foolish doing so, and even Beckah thought I was overreacting.”
“No. You weren’t overreacting. I… I needed that augmentation. Without it, I would have been trapped.”
Alec frowned at her. “Trapped? I don’t like the sound of that.”
Sam rubbed her wrists. “I didn’t like the way it felt, either. I was following someone—”
“Tray?”
“Yes. I was following Tray, thinking that I could get to Marin. But Ralun caught me.”
Alec blinked. He didn’t know what to make of what she was telling him. Why wouldn’t she have come to him when she found Tray? It was her brother, but she also knew how dangerous he was—how dangerous he had to be—especially given his heritage. He was half Theln and half Kaver. They didn’t know what that made him, other than someone to keep an eye on. Other than that, what was he? Did he still share the same bond to Sam as he had before? Did he view her differently now since learning he wasn’t her birth brother? Would he put her in danger?
That last was the one that he cared the most about. Alec knew what Sam would do, and he knew the steps she would take to avoid harming her brother, thinking that she could protect him from himself, but how well did she know him anymore?
He and Sam had spent significant time together before he left for the university, and during that time, she seen much of Tray. Because of that, how well did she know him anymore?
But it was what she said last that concerned him the most.
“Ralun? Isn’t that the same Theln who poisoned the princess?”
Tormina: The Book of Maladies Page 14