Master Harrison made a few notes, and then he guided the group of students away from the jaundice man, heading to another station. Alec paused and reached for the record to see what Master Harrison had documented.
He scanned the page and was not surprised to see that his notes reflected what Alec had said, but he was surprised to see that Master Harrison had included a notation that Alec had been the one to suggest it.
“What is it?” Beckah asked.
“It’s nothing,” Alec said.
“It’s something—”
Beckah looked over his shoulder, and when she saw the notation, her eyes widened. “You should be pleased.”
“I don’t know whether to be pleased or concerned.”
“Why would you be concerned?”
“Not concerned, but…” Alec looked around. “I’m not trying to draw additional attention to myself.”
“You’re not trying, but you do it so well.”
“That’s just the problem. I don’t want to do that well. I want to help people, and I don’t have any problem with the knowledge that my father taught me being used in that way, but I feel like I’m not getting the kind of attention that I should be.”
“What kind of attention do you think you should be getting?”
Alec didn’t know. “We should move on. We can’t linger. It’s just one more way to draw the wrong kind of attention.”
Beckah smiled. “Well if you wouldn’t keep letting your mind drift off, maybe that wouldn’t be a problem.”
“My mind is not drifting off, but what if Master Harrison wants me to draw attention?”
“You can’t believe that Master Harrison is involved in this."
Alec shook his head. “As I said, I don’t know what to make of anyone anymore. It could be that any one of the physickers could be involved.”
“How will you figure it out?”
Alec frowned to himself. “Somehow, I have to find a way to get them together, that way Sam could sneak in and maybe listen in. She said she thought she would recognize the Scribe’s voice.”
“Your plan is to bring the masters together and see which one she recognizes?”
“If I can’t figure it out otherwise, maybe I will have to.”
“We still haven’t found Master Helen. Maybe she can help us still.”
Stefan hadn’t been able to provide any answers, or arrange for them to meet with Master Helen. He wasn’t exactly close to his grandmother, not in the way that would allow him to bring his friends in front of her to ask questions.
“Maybe.”
As they headed on to the next person, Alec nodded to Master Jessup as he brought in his group of students. The man smiled widely, wrinkling his bushy eyebrows, and led his students to the far side of the room. If only Alec knew whether Master Jessup was a Scribe or not. If he was, he could ask what he knew about the other Scribes. Without knowing, he couldn’t risk asking, and was left with more questions.
19
Confronting the Kaver
The inside of the palace was dark. Anger still rolled through Sam, and she knew that she needed to control it, but after what Elaine had done to her, she found that more difficult than she thought she would have. But her anger was tempered by the fact that she had actually learned something during her horrific experience, and as a result, she would no longer be trapped on this island. Now she could flip her way to freedom. Even without an augmentation, she could balance her way across the canal.
When she reached Elaine’s room, she pounded on the door.
Elaine pulled it open and nodded. “You survived.”
“That’s all you have to say to me?”
“I had no doubt that you would survive, Samara. Had you not figured out how to make your own way back, the barge would have picked you up and brought you here,” Elaine said. “What more did you want me to say?”
“The barge left.”
“The barge would not have left. You might not have seen it, but they were there in case you failed.”
“And what of the eels?”
“The eels avoid the swamp,” Elaine said.
“Not the one that followed me,” she said.
“You must be mistaken.”
“Mistaken? I think I’d recognize an eel.”
“It’s unlikely that you would have even seen an eel,” Elaine said.
“Seen an eel? The damned thing watched me! It swam alongside me as I was flipping my way back to the city. Why wouldn’t it have followed me? It probably saw me as lunch.”
Elaine was silent for a moment and then she sighed. “You were in no danger.”
“No danger? I have felt the bite of an eel before,” Sam said.
“And I’m telling you that you were in no danger.”
Sam pushed her way into Elaine’s room, and Elaine closed the door behind her. It was a simple room. A thick rug covered the floor, a simple table and chair sat in a corner, and a narrow bed rested along one wall. It was the kind of room that appeared to be more for utility than for comfort. Sam hadn’t spent much time in the room, though partly because she had avoided Elaine as much as she could. She was willing to train with her mother, but she didn’t want to have any sort of relationship with her, especially given that Elaine was reluctant to have one with her.
“The eels would not have bitten you,” Elaine said.
“And I’m telling you they have in the past, and they would again.” Sam glared at Elaine for a moment. “Why are you so determined to tell me what the eels would and wouldn’t do? Why is it that you think you know everything about them?”
Elaine shook her head. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s something, otherwise you wouldn’t appear so confident about it.”
“I’m glad you made it back. You have proven that you now have the ability to cross the canals without an augmentation. Now, your training can begin in earnest.”
“My training? You would have me believe that all of this was about my training?”
Elaine crossed her arms over her chest. “Tell me, Samara, did you not just successfully cross the swamp with only your canal staff? Were you able to do that without an augmentation?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Yes. You are here. As I’ve said, you managed to cross a section of the swamp with only your staff. Eventually, you will be able to cross the entirety of the swamp with only your staff.”
Sam’s eyes widened. “The entirety of the swamp? And will you let me have augmentations then?”
“Why would you need augmentations when you can do this without them?”
“Because the augmentations make it easier.”
“Easier doesn’t mean that it is better or even right. Easier only means that you have given up on using your own gifts.”
“And if I cross the swamp and have no strength to fight if necessary?”
“If you are able to cross without the benefit of augmentation, it means you have the strength and the ability on your own. That same strength would see you through any possible confrontation.” Elaine paused, watching Sam for a long moment. “I have made that crossing many times. Only once have I ever used an augmentation, and that was when Thelns were chasing me. Trust me when I tell you that you do not need your augmentations.”
Sam breathed out heavily. Elaine had crossed the swamp many times? Even the small section that Sam had gone across had been difficult, she couldn’t imagine making that crossing multiple times. And to do so without augmentations?
She had challenged Elaine’s method of “training,” but maybe there was more to what she was trying to get Sam to learn than what she was giving her credit for. What else might there be that she didn’t know? What else might there be that she needed to learn so that she could be a more effective Kaver?
Wasn’t it the same reason that Alec wanted to stay at the university? He knew that there were things they could teach that he couldn’t learn otherwise. That was the very reason he had gone to the univ
ersity in the first place. There were things that Sam couldn’t learn any other way than training with other Kavers. That was why she was here.
“What now?” Sam asked.
“Now your training will continue. It does not get any easier, Samara. Do not think that I will take it easy on you because you are my daughter. I can’t.”
“What do you mean that you can’t?”
“I can’t be perceived as favoring you, and giving you an easier pathway to understanding your abilities than anyone else who has come here to train. There are few enough of us as it is, and we must be challenged so that we can be as skilled as we possibly can. The threat is real—and significant. We must be ready to oppose it.”
Sam didn’t know what to say. Instead, she simply stared. These were the things that Marin knew, and the things that Sam did not yet know. She had defeated her once, but had it only been because she was lucky? If she didn’t train and learn what she needed to know as a Kaver, would she ultimately end up on the wrong end of one of Marin’s attacks?
She needed to prepare.
“What about Marin and the Thelns? What about Ralun?”
“Do you see that you’re not ready?” Elaine asked.
“I don’t see anything other than that there are answers I want that I can’t get. You aren’t telling me anything.”
“Do you think that you are the only one who has questions that have gone unanswered? Do you think that you’re the only one who has been wronged in all of this?”
“Why can’t you be more forthcoming with me?” Sam said. She wanted answers, and Elaine was not giving them to her.
“Get some rest, Samara. Your training will continue tomorrow. And as I’ve told you, it will not be any easier.”
Sam stared at Elaine for a moment before finally sighing and turning away. There wasn’t anything else for her to say.
As Sam walked out the door, frustration surged through her. Elaine wasn’t going to share anything more than she already had, and it annoyed her to no end. But even the little her mother had shared made Sam finally admit to herself that she knew even less than she thought, and that she needed to listen to Elaine and be willing to follow her lead. Sam wanted to know more about what Marin’s Scribe might be after, but it was clearer than ever that she wasn’t prepared to face Marin, not without help.
The door closed behind her, and Sam debated going to her room, but she didn’t think she could sleep. Her mind was racing, and all she could think about was what she had experienced.
A part of her wanted to go back to the university and to speak with Alec, but even that wouldn’t be appropriate. He needed to have time on his own to study, and she’d already tasked him with something that hopefully would get her more information.
There had to be something she could do. If she couldn’t sleep, and if she was no longer confined to this island, what should she do?
She stopped outside the palace grounds, staring up at the moon. It was late, a time of night when she was accustomed to sneaking. She tapped her canal staff on the ground, enjoying the way that it rang out, a soft sound that was muted by the night.
Taking a deep breath, she glanced up at the palace and the lights glowing inside. Did Elaine know that she had departed the palace?
Sam wouldn’t put it past her to keep tabs on her, but what did it matter if she did? Once she left this section, there wouldn’t be quite the same ease for Elaine to track her.
And though she might not know nearly as much as Marin, that didn’t mean she couldn’t collect information. It didn’t mean that she had to be reliant upon Elaine to provide her with what she wanted to know. She could go off on her own, to the place where she might learn some of the answers she sought.
But would Bastan help?
20
An Old Friend
You never came back.”
Sam stared at Bastan. His gray hair was slicked back, and he was dressed well in a black jacket and pants, clothing that would fit in any highborn section. Where had he been? Papers were stacked on his desk even higher than they had been before, and he shifted a page, as if trying to conceal something from her. Typical of Bastan.
“It was Tray.”
“I know it was Tray. But you were supposed to do something for me.”
“Your contact was dead.” Sam didn’t want to tell him that it might have been Tray who had been the one to take out his contact. Or it might have been Ralun, though neither explanation made a whole lot of sense. She still didn’t know how Bastan had known where to find Tray and didn’t know why Ralun would have a shared interest in the contact of Bastan’s.
“So I’ve heard. My sources of information out of that section now are limited.”
“I doubt that’s true. I suspect you have multiple contacts there.”
“I have a few,” Bastan said.
Sam shook her head, laughing to herself. “You have a few. Knowing you, you have more than that.”
Bastan clasped his hands on the desk, looking over at her. His eyes hardened slightly, and his gaze swept over her, taking in her cloak and her staff. He looked like he wanted to say something, but bit back whatever it was.
“What is it?” Sam asked.
“It’s you,” Bastan said.
“Yes? And what about me?”
“You and your disappearance. You’ve been gone, and I don’t care for it. I don’t like worrying about you.”
Sam chuckled softly. “You don’t have to worry about me. I know how to take care of myself.”
“I understand that. But I’ve grown used to keeping tabs on you.”
“You’ve been keeping track of me all this time?”
“Not this time. You’re silent to me in that section.”
Did he know how much time she’d been spending in the palace? Knowing Bastan, he likely would try to use that, thinking that Sam could help him somehow, and knowing her, considering how much Bastan had helped her over the years, especially lately, she would feel compelled to at least consider helping him.
“I don’t like not knowing what’s happening with you.”
Sam started to smile, but she saw the irritation on his face, and her smile faded. She’d always known that Bastan had a soft spot for her. He used her for some of the best jobs, and though he had forced her to work for him, she also knew that he was responsible for keeping her safe. There had been plenty of times over the years when she could have been in much more trouble, had it not been for him. It was known throughout Caster that Bastan always made sure to protect her, and that fact kept her safe from other unsavory types in the city.
“I’ve been fine,” she said.
“All I need to know is that you are well, Samara. Whatever else happens, just make sure that you send word to me.”
Sam frowned. She had to send word to Alec, and now she would have to send word to Bastan? “I haven’t exactly been able to get away before now.”
“Are they holding you against your will?”
“I think it was more of a training exercise,” Sam said. “It appears I have passed, so I’m hopeful that things will get better.”
“So why have you come to me now, Samara?” Bastan asked.
“I’m hurt that you would think I’d hold off on coming to you,” she said.
“I doubt that you’re hurt. There’s only been one thing that I’ve seen hurt you in the time that I’ve known you, Samara.” When she shot him a look full of irritation, he waved his hand. “You do understand that your feelings for Tray are transparent?”
“I want to do whatever I can to help him,” Sam said. “I don’t know if he knows what he’s gotten himself into.”
“Do you understand what he’s gotten himself into?”
“Maybe better than Tray does.”
Bastan stared at her for a moment before sighing. “What do you need from me?”
“A favor,” she said.
“What kind of favor? And why do I have a feeling that this favor is going to benefit you
far more than it will benefit me?”
“What if I could make certain that it would benefit you?”
Bastan leaned back in his chair and put his hand up to pinch his chin thoughtfully. “That might be worthwhile,” he said. “But it would have to be something that would make sense for me.”
“You trade in information, Bastan. All I’m asking is that you be somewhat free with the information you have.”
“You want to know what I’ve heard about Marin.”
The fact that Bastan knew what she was looking for shouldn’t have surprised her. He had an uncanny knack for knowing such things. It was how he was always one step ahead. He made certain that he was prepared, knowing in advance when people might be coming to him, and for what reason.
“I was hoping you might have heard something,” Sam admitted.
“I shared with you what I knew before, and you didn’t complete the job I asked you to perform in return.”
“The job was wrong,” Sam said.
“Wrong? You wanted to know about your brother, and I gave information about where to find him.”
“The information that you gave me ended up with me being attacked, Bastan. Is that what you intended?”
He stared at her for a long moment before shaking his head. “You know that it wasn’t.”
“What happened?”
Bastan breathed out. “I don’t know. It shouldn’t have happened that way. I have connections there that should have prevented such a catastrophe.”
“Losing a contact was a catastrophe?”
“Yes. Almost as much as nearly losing you.”
That surprised Sam. Bastan had never struck her as someone who was particularly sentimental, and maybe it wasn’t that he was sentimental as much as the fact that he valued his contacts because of the information they provided. Yet Bastan treated Sam with kindness, and there was a part of her that wondered if perhaps she misread Bastan and misread his intentions.
“Who was this contact to you?”
Tormina: The Book of Maladies Page 17