Convergence (11 page)

"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 he 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—"

He let the words break off as Hat just strode toward the curtained doorway, ignoring Lorand as if he weren't there. He'd heard what had been said to him, Lorand knew he had, but he'd obviously decided not to do even so little as exchange good wishes. Lorand tried to pity his friend, but annoyance and disgust were rising too sharply to allow much room for the kinder emotion.

"It often goes like that," Lorand heard once Hat had disappeared through the curtain. It was the man behind the table speaking, so Lorand turned back and handed over his set of papers as the man continued, "The ones with the smallest chance are often the ones who want it the most, and by the time they get here they can't see anyone or anything but those wants and wishes. He has every ounce of himself invested in what he's about to face, so don't think too unkindly of him."

"There's nothing wrong with wanting something with every fiber of your being," Lorand answered slowly with a faint frown. "I feel the same way myself, but I happen to look at it differently. I decided a long time ago that if you can't get what you want without stepping all over other people, you aren't a winner, you're a loser. A real winner doesn't
have
to sacrifice all sense of decency."

"There aren't many people in this world who would agree with that," the man returned with a faint smile. "They would point out that someone with your strength of talent can afford to be generous, since most will never be able to match you. But that's a philosophical discussion to be engaged in at another time. Your papers are all in order, so please go through the doorway on your extreme right."

Lorand nodded his thanks, but was suddenly aware of an uneasy feeling that wasn't for
himself
. Hat had been sent to the left, and the man behind the table seemed to know Master Lugal's opinion of Hat's chances. Were they going to put Hat through something that he couldn't possibly hope to handle? Maybe if he followed after he could do something to protect Hat . . .

"It's no longer possible for anyone to help your friend," the man said with faint annoyance as Lorand stared at the doorway to the left. "He'll be facing the same thing you will, the same thing all hopefuls face when they come here. Go and take your own test, and let the Fates see to the both of you."

Lorand took a deep breath and nodded, thanked the man, then walked to the doorway to the right. There
was
nothing left he could do for Hat, and he did have his own test ahead of him. But somehow the brightness of the curtain over the doorway had lost some of its warmth and welcome.

Stepping through the curtain brought Lorand into a hall, one that was well-lit by wall lamps. Three people sat in an alcove to the left, two men and a woman, and all three rose to their feet while one of the men nodded expressionlessly.

"Follow me," was all the man said before he headed up the hallway, the other man and woman coming along behind Lorand. They made a small parade to the end of the hall and around a gentle curve, until they reached a closed doorway made of the same resin as the rest of the building.

"Leave your case out here and go inside, then sit on the stool," the man who had been in the lead said, gesturing to the closed door. "You'll be given further directions in just a few minutes."

Lorand felt an odd tingle o
f...
something
in the air, but he put his case down and did as he'd been told. The resin door swung smoothly and quietly inward to show him a round, high room that was empty of all furniture, except for the stool which stood beside the wall directly opposite the door. Lorand headed for the stool and didn't notice that the door had swung shut again until he turned to sit on the stool. For some reason that bothered him and he half rose to go over and open it again, but instead he just sank back down onto the stool. The lamplight coming through the large squares of transparent resin which circled the room at several points showed there was nothing on the inside of the door to open it with. It fit so perfectly in the space in which it was
hung,
the door seams were almost invisible.

"That's right, you can't get out again unless we let you out," Lorand heard, but from somewhere above. He looked up to see that a large square panel high in the wall had been opened, and the man he'd followed looked out of it. And now that he'd noticed the one square, he could see the others, smaller and still closed, which completely circled the room well above his head.

"This is the first of your tests, but it can also turn out to be the last," the man continued, sounding as if he spoke a prepared speech. "It doesn't matter whether or not you want to
pass,
you
have
to pass if you intend to continue living-Failure in this test means death, so you'd better keep that in mind during the next few minutes. Good luck or goodbye."