Convergence (75 page)

"What about the gold?" I choked out, more furious than I could ever remember being. "We were told we'd be able to win gold, but no one said it would take so long to reach a position where it's possible. What are we supposed to meet our obligations with in the meanwhile?"

"Oh, didn't I mention that?" she asked, laughing at me silently. "I suppose it slipped my mind with everything else we discussed. Every time you master one of the first segments, you'll earn a silver din. If you move on to the second set it will be two silver dins a segment, but you can most likely forget about that. You won't get even as far as the third segment in the first set."

"Why not?"
I demanded with matching ridicule and my fists on my hips as I looked up at her.
"Just because
you
didn't?
What makes you think I'm as backward as you are?"

"We'll see who the backward one is," she growled, now showing all her hatred in her eyes. "You won't get anywhere at all, and when that happens I'll laugh."

"And if it doesn't happen, you'll burn," I said in my own growl,
then
realized how close I was getting to losing control. I couldn't let that happen, especially not in that place, but with that woman around it wouldn't be possible to calm down. "But at the moment I can use a cup of tea, so why don't you run along back to wherever you came from. If I need you I'll ring a bell."

She began to snarl something, changed her mind,
then
simply stalked off looking like a thunderstorm about to happen. I had the definite impression she'd wanted me to start the exercises immediately, before I'd regained control of myself. If I'd died pulling in more power than was wise because my judgment had become impaired, she would have been able to cross me off her list of those who might do better than her if left to their own devices.

Well, that wasn't going to happen. I walked back to the area containing tables and chairs, rang one of the bells,
then
sat at a table. I would have my cup of tea and regain control over myself, and then I would start the first of those exercises. I didn't yet need the silver din I would earn
with each mastery
, but by next week's end I would. I'd be much happier having the silver
before
I needed it, and that's why I was eager to start.
To earn the silver, not to prove something to that stupid woman. . .

The servant who appeared actually brought a cup of tea with him, expecting me to sip it while I waited for whatever else I wanted. He seemed disappointed when I said that the tea would do fine, and he returned behind the wall a good deal more slowly than he'd come out. Once he was gone I forgot about him, concentrating instead on regaining full control of myself. Men didn't interest me, neither servants nor applicants in Water magic,
especially
applicants in Water magic. I'd decided not to listen to any of them ever again, and I'd stick to that.

I had no need of anyone to protect me, and I meant to prove it. There might have been a faint tremor in my hand when I lifted the teacup, but that didn't matter. I'd show
all
of them that I needed no one other than myself, I
would. . .
I
would
...
I
would.
. . !

forty-three

Valiant spent most of the coach ride sunk deep in agitated thought. He'd fully exported Tamrissa to show
something
in the way of reaction when he told her the truth, even if that happened to be accusing him of lying. That he could have coped with, but her absolute refusal to hear him had been the most frustrating experience of his life. How do you cope with being turned invisible by the woman you've discovered you don't want to get along without?

If someone knew the answer to that, it wasn't Valiant. When the coach finally stopped beside a metal representation of the Water symbol, he still hadn't thought of anything. But Holter was leaving the coach, so he had no choice but to do the same. Mardimil had already left without Valiant's noticing, and he himself was outside with the coach beginning to move before he realized he hadn't said anything to Coll. It wouldn't have hurt to wish the other man good luck, and then he might have even gotten the wish returned.
.
..

But the opening in the milky-white resin wall didn't seem to lead
into
anything but more outside, so Valiant followed Holter with only the smallest hesitation. Just beyond the wall was an open space, with tables and chairs arranged to the right. Straight ahead about fifty feet away was a line of odd-looking cubicles, and unless Valiant was mistaken there were no back walls or ceilings to them. That came as an incredible relief, even with the presence of a large, round, white resin building visible a short distance beyond the cubicle. It might be possible to avoid going into that building, at least for a time.

"One fer each
a
us," Holter murmured, and Valiant looked around to see what he meant. Two men were coming toward them from behind the wall beyond the tables and chairs, and Holter's commenting on their approach probably showed how nervous the small man was. Valiant didn't blame him, especially since the two approaching were a mismatched set.

They were both dressed rather well, but the smaller and heavier of the two looked as if he were wearing someone else's clothes. Discomfort over clothing not yet gotten used to often produced that rumpled, ill-fitting look, and the lopsided grin the man wore did nothing to improve the image.

The second, thinner man wore a faint smile as well as showing greater self-confidence, but he also gave the impression of holding himself away from his companion. As if to avoid contamination, Valiant thought, which meant he was too late by years. His smile showed he'd already been contaminated by the assumption that he was better than the crude sort of man ever could
be,
which made Valiant sigh.

"Copper to gold I know which of those is meant for me," he murmured, loud enough for no one but Holter to hear him. "I'd also be willin' to trade him for the one who's yours. Would you like to trade?"

Holter glanced at him with the first true amusement Valiant had seen him show in days, but a firm headshake accompanied the amusement. Holter wasn't stupid, which meant Valiant was stuck with the thinner man. Valiant sighed again, which made Holter chuckle, and then the thinner man had reached Valiant while the other drew Holter aside.

"Good morning and welcome," the man said, his voice deep and melodious and somehow out of place. "I'm Wimand, the Adept assigned to show you around. Your companion will be seen to separately by Podon, as we've learned that group introductions to our precincts are most often less than successful. We'll sit and have the tea I've already ordered, and I'll tell you what we're all about."

"My friend doesn't seem to be havin' tea," Valiant observed as he followed Wimand to the table the other man had gestured toward. "He and Podon are goin' straight to that first cubicle on the left, and Podon is tellin' him somethin'."

"He's telling him about what each of the practice rooms is used for," Wimand replied as he
sat,
his smile completely unperturbed. "Those of the common class usually have very little patience, so we routinely let them go through the tour first. I promise you it won't make any difference, and in a short while you and he will be taking turns using the rooms—for as long as he can keep up, that is."

"What makes you think he won't keep up?" Valiant asked as he watched a servant approach with a tea service. "Holter and I were in the same session, and he's had no trouble keepin' up until now."

"It's rather sad, but it
is
a fact of life," Wimand replied, letting the servant pour tea for them and leave before continuing. "Yes, it's very sad, but lower class applicants never get very far beyond this point. Success depends on strength, and strength very often depends on self-assurance. They know they're not as good as we are, you see, and that knowledge defeats them every time. But let's discuss the things
you
must know, like what Podon is about to demonstrate."

Valiant turned to look at the other Adept without comment, but not because he had nothing to say. He simply knew how useless it was to argue with a man's prejudice, especially one that involved self esteem. Those who spent time talking about how inferior others
were,
were actually saying how afraid they were that
they
were inferior. Finding something different that couldn't be denied—like having been born into a lower class—let these people feel superior without their ever having to do anything to prove the contention.

"That first exercise room and the one next to it have the same purpose, but use different methods," Wimand explained. "Your task will be to create spheres of water around first one group of objects and then two groups, and then more all the way up to six separate groups. The first room has a large vat of water for you to work with, but in the second you'll need to draw your moisture from the air."

The man Podon was in the midst of demonstrating the thing to Holter, and Valiant could see that six head-sized globes of water had been created around six round forms of resin standing on movable pedestals. The exercise wasn't particularly easy, but it would certainly be easier than drawing the necessary water from the air.

"The next set of rooms contains oblong boxes of the sort bread is often kept in," Wimand went on after sipping at his tea. "In each of the two rooms you'll be able to see the boxes, and you'll need to put a globe of water inside each of the boxes. You'll begin with doing one box at a time, then two at a time, and then move all the way up to six. As with the first set of rooms, one will have a vat of water, and one won't."

"How will I be able to tell if I've positioned the water properly?" Valiant asked, watching Holter and his Adept guide move on to the second set of cubicles. "Seein' it leak from the bottom of the box won't tell me if half the globe ended up on the far side, and only
seems
to be comin' out from the inside."

"If you see any leaking before pulling the release cord, you haven't done it properly," Wimand explained, gesturing to the two who now stood staring at an oblong box. "The inside of each box is made to funnel the water into a holding dish with a false bottom, and pulling the release cord springs the bottom. But the funneling into the dish will happen only if you position the globe
properly,
otherwise you'll get leakage from the sides. Again, only one of the rooms contains a vat of water."

"Why do you have those duplicate arrangements?" Valiant asked, the oddity finally taking his notice. "Anyone able to do the exercises by taking moisture from the air should be able to do it with a supply of ready water even more easily. I can understand startin' with the two different methods, but why keep on with them?"

"For the most part it's a question of flexibility," Wimand responded smoothly, giving Valiant the strange impression that the explanation was . . . prepared. "We've discovered that having applicants practice in only a single way makes them forget there
is
another way, which I'm sure you'll agree is rather limiting. The rest of the reason is that taking so much moisture from the air is far from easy, and most applicants do better when they begin with ready water. Ah, see? That's what the box does when the sphere is properly placed."

Valiant turned back to see that Podon had pulled on a rope, and water was obediently pouring out of the box and into a bucket. He wondered just how large the proper area inside the box really was, but didn't ask. Once he began to practice, he'd certainly find out.

"The third set of rooms is naturally the hardest," Wimand commented with a small chuckle. "If you watch, you'll notice that Podon will explain to your companion about it, but won't demonstrate. That's because he can't, of course, not without using more power and concentration and effort than he cares to show in front of an applicant. This exercise is the one he never quite got the hang of."

"What's so complicated about it?" Valiant asked, making no mention of the fact that Wimand hadn't yet done
any
of it. He talked a good game, but sitting back and smirking at someone else's efforts isn't the same as bettering those efforts.

"The fact that the boxes are hidden behind curtains makes the exercise harder," Wimand replied, surreptitiously watching Valiant closely. "You must use your power to locate the things before you can put spheres of water in them, and the box sizes get progressively smaller behind the curtains. Anyone who reaches the point of being able to fill the smallest size using nothing but air moisture
deserves
to move on to the competitions."