The Talented (28 page)

“
Master Ruthford,” Louella
said in her firm healer’s tone, “Adrienne was badly hurt. She needs
to rest now.”

Ben looked slightly
abashed, but he didn’t back down. “I’m sorry, but the commission
has asked to see her immediately.”

“
Maybe the rest of the
commission should come down here and see what was done, and then
they can determine whether what Lieutenant Rydaeg needs right now
is a lecture!” Louella said, her voice rising in pitch as her ire
grew. Ben’s shoulders hunched up around his ears as he shook his
head.

Adrienne was not so tired
that she could not feel anger, and that anger bolstered her, giving
her the energy she needed to speak. “It’s all right, Louella,” she
said, though it was anything but. “I’ll visit you when I
can.”

Adrienne followed Ben
toward the large library in silence. The streets were filling
again, but there was no business being done. The talk was of the
violence and death that had come so suddenly to the normally
peaceful city. The bodies still lay there, and Adrienne wondered
idly who would come to remove them.

People fell silent when
Adrienne passed them on the street, watching her warily until she
was well past them before resuming their hushed conversations. It
was beyond even their usual level of fear, which had dissipated
only somewhat in the months she had been in Kessering. She caught
snatches of conversation, and realized for the first time that her
clothes were covered in blood. There was a rip in the sleeve of
her
swa’il
that
she had not noticed, and her now-healed thigh was bared for all to
see by the large, bloody tear the sword had made in the leather
before reaching flesh. She lifted a hand to her cheek, and it came
away wet from blood. The blood wasn’t hers, and she wiped it on her
ruined leathers.

To the townspeople, she
must finally look the part of the monster they had always imagined
her to be. They would have heard by now about how she had used her
Talent to kill those men. The fire had just become another weapon,
and one they could not defend against or anticipate the way they
could a sword. She was surprised that they did not run screaming at
the sight of her.

“
Don’t pay attention to
them,” Ben said, surprising Adrienne. She had not expected any
words of comfort from him. He gave her a reassuring look and she
felt some of the tension leave her. When they came to the library
and Adrienne took her place before the commission, Ben remained at
her side in a show of support rather than taking his place at the
table. She felt a warm gratitude for him in that moment.

“
We have heard about the
fight,” Elder Rynn said without preamble. “We also heard that you
used your ability against others, resulting in the loss of several
lives.”

“
I used whatever means were
available to take out the men threatening the lives of the
defenseless citizens of Kessering,” Adrienne replied. She squared
her shoulders and—though it was an effort to stand upright—refused
to show weakness by favoring the leg so recently run through with a
sword.

“
We never gave you
permission to use your ability in such a way,” Elder Rynn said, his
normally frail voice strong in anger. “The people will panic. There
will likely be mass hysteria after this.”

“
Better they panic about me
now that they are safe than be left to panic under the marauders’
control,” Adrienne argued. “The men who invaded the city had
already killed several people before I arrived, and as for using
fire…I couldn’t take on all the remaining men alone with just my
sword.” She remembered well the feeling, the pain, of an enemy
sword tearing into her flesh, and her anger grew as she remembered
that the remaining guards of Kessering had stood there doing
nothing while she stared down a blade wet with her own
blood.

Her eyes were hard and
flat as she stared into the eyes of Elder Rynn. “I did what I had
to do to keep more people from being killed. To keep myself from
being killed.”

“
That is why we have
guards,” the old man replied, not giving an inch. Lady Chessing
smiled, looking as if she was relishing every word.

Adrienne opened her mouth
to defend herself, but Ben spoke before she had a chance. “Three of
the guards are among the dead,” Ben told Elder Rynn. “And Adrienne
was badly injured during the fight. I believe she did what was
necessary.”

Elder Rynn nodded. “I had
heard that not all of the guards survived,” he said, not asking how
Adrienne fared now.

“
Three guards dead, and two
seriously wounded and unable to help,” Ben told him. “The others
had injuries that were less severe: some cuts, a few broken bones
which would have hampered any aid they could have provided
Adrienne. Only two of the guards were unscathed.” Adrienne was glad
that it was Ben speaking, not she. Anything she said to the
commission would merely sound defensive.

“
Then surely those two
healthy young men could have helped even the odds,” Lady Chessing
said with a smile. “Especially with the wounded helping where they
could. If this…woman had not jumped to such extremes—”

“
Reports say those two
uninjured guards never tried to fight off the attackers,” Ben said
uneasily. “And she did not use fire until after she herself was
stabbed.”

Franklin frowned. “What do
you mean?” he asked.

“
One of the men stabbed
Adrienne in the thigh,” Ben told him, gesturing to her leg. The
blood soaked leather gave the testimony that the smooth skin could
not.

“
No, not about her leg,”
Franklin said impatiently. “What do you mean about the guards not
helping?”

Adrienne wondered if
Franklin would have cared about her leg if she had still been
bleeding. She shoved the thought aside and returned to Franklin’s
question. “The guards froze,” Adrienne said, knowing that Ben
wouldn’t know—or be able to explain—what had happened to the
guards. “When their officer fell, the remaining guards froze. They
were completely unprepared to face an enemy like the one they did
today.”

“
All of our guards had
training.” This time it was Elder Rynn who sounded
defensive.

“
Not enough,” Adrienne
said. “Not for this. They were sloppy. Their skills were minimal,
especially when it came to working as a team.”

“
That is no way to speak of
the dead,” Elder Rynn said. The rest of the commission looked
similarly outraged. Even Ben looked uneasy at her harsh words and
shifted slightly away from her.

Adrienne thought of the
fallen men and felt pity, and she looked into Elder Rynn’s face and
felt more. She knew the pain of losing men in battle. But now was
not the time to stop and mourn. And it was not the time to soften
the truth to protect the dead. It was beyond ridiculous to put the
memory of the dead before the welfare of the living. “I am merely
stating the truth. The guards here lack the skill and experience
necessary to defend Kessering against the bands of outlaws that
roam Samaro looking for rich cities to plunder. And the force of
guards is much too small.”

“
The size of the guard has
always been more than adequate,” Elder Rynn told her stiffly. “They
handle any trouble that arises in the city.”

“
Trouble like thieving and
drunken brawls,” Adrienne agreed, “but today Kessering was attacked
by a group of men intent on killing, torturing, and looting. Your
guards crumbled before them because they were not properly prepared
for such an onslaught.”

The commission began to
disagree, loudly and passionately. Lady Chessing’s shrill voice
spoke of exaggeration and barbaric soldiers, Franklin said
something about the guards regrouping and “routing the invaders.”
Elder Rynn sat quietly, listening, and Adrienne wished she could
know his thoughts.

“
Adrienne is right,” Ben
said, stunning everyone into silence. “There were twelve men, maybe
more, who came into the city and started hurting people. Three of
our guards died, but they only killed one of the…one of the
attackers. If it weren’t for Adrienne, for her skills, for the fact
that she used her ability to kill those men before they could kill
her, everyone who could have defended the city would be dead,” his
voice wavered slightly. “Only the Creator knows what would be
happening now, if not for her.”

“
It may not have been so
bad,” Franklin said. “We cannot know what those men would have
done. Had we simply allowed them to take what they
wanted—”

“
They killed six unarmed
men and women and injured others, including defenseless children,”
Adrienne said, ruthlessly driving home each point. “These men would
have continued to terrorize your people until they tired of
Kessering. Then they would have stolen what they could, destroyed
what they couldn’t, and left.”

“
You don’t know that,” Lady
Chessing scoffed, but her dark eyes shifted uncertainly.

“
I’ve met men like those
that attacked today,” Adrienne told her, told all of them. “I have
spent time cleaning up such groups and restoring order to villages
that have been ravaged by them.” Memories of Pelarion came to her
once again. Rarely had any atrocity haunted her so, but the
innocent girl laid in a grave refused to leave her mind, no matter
how many months had passed since that day.

“‘
Cleaning up,’” Lady
Chessing repeated. “A nice way of saying ‘killed.’ Isn’t that what
you mean? That you spent time killing groups of men.”

Adrienne raised her chin.
“Killing groups of thieves, rapists, and murderers,” she confirmed.
“Those that we capture are turned over to the proper authorities
for judgment, and are hanged for their crimes. But if we kill them,
that action is sanctioned by the government, by King Burin, as part
of what is necessary to keep his citizens safe.” Sometimes the
king’s name seemed to have an almost magical effect on the
commissioners, as if anything the king agreed with was absolutely
acceptable. This was not one of those times.

Lady Chessing looked about
to respond when Elder Rynn raised his hand. “Violence solves
nothing,” he said. “Killing solves nothing.”

“
I disagree,” Adrienne
said. “I haven’t just come to cities to clean them up; Sometimes
I’ve come too late. I’ve watched cities burn. If I prevented that
today, if I saved lives today, I believe that solves a lot.
“

Elder Rynn shook his head,
but again Ben spoke up in her defense. “Adrienne is right,” he
said, though he looked uncomfortable supporting her actions in such
entirety. “This commission was formed with the purpose of fighting
Almet. We must accept that fighting—even killing—is sometimes the
only option.”

“
We were brought together
to end the conflict,” Elder Rynn corrected. “That does not
necessarily entail fighting.”

Adrienne suppressed the
urge to laugh. An army without a plan was doomed to failure, and
she wondered if the scholars on the commission were aware that the
more they changed their plans, the more likely the failure of the
commission was.

“
What would you have had
her do today?” Ben asked. “If you could change what Adrienne had
done, how would you alter the events? Allow the other guards to be
slaughtered, and Adrienne along with them?”

Elder Rynn was silent for
a long moment. Whatever he decided, the death of one group would
still have been the price of saving the other. “It seems that,
despite the crude methods, there was not a better means of dealing
with these invaders today,” he reluctantly admitted. “Perhaps
Adrienne’s actions were in the best interests of the
city.”

“
I would like to continue
to do what I can to help this city,” Adrienne said as a thought
began to take shape in her mind. “You will need to replace the
guards lost today, and I would like to train them.”

“
Surely the remaining
guards should be in charge of the training,” Lady Chessing said,
glaring at Adrienne. Adrienne knew she was lucky that it was Elder
Rynn, not Lady Chessing, who made the final decisions in such
matters.

It was an effort of will
that kept Adrienne from telling the woman exactly what she thought
of the remaining guards training the replacements. “With their
commander dead, that will be difficult,” Adrienne said instead. She
did not mention that with how poorly trained the guards had seemed
that day, any men trained by them could not hope to be much
better.

“
I also suggest at least
tripling, the number of guards the city has.” Adrienne thought that
sixty guards would be a better number than forty, but if she were
to ask for so many, she knew she might as well ask for the moons
and stars with them for all the good it would do.

“
That won’t be necessary,”
Elder Rynn told her. “Fifteen guards have always been enough. This
attack was an aberration that has been taken care of.”

“
Men like those that
attacked today will always set their eyes on places like
Kessering,” Adrienne argued. “Cities with riches and minimal guards
are easy targets. After the outcome of today’s fight, Kessering
might appear to be more of a challenge, but soon memories of that
will fade. For the long term safety of Kessering, I believe a
larger, better trained force will be necessary.”