 
_  The invitation to join the secretive Guadel should have been the fulfillment of dreams Va'del didn't even realize he had. When his sponsors are killed in an ambush a short time later, he instead finds his probationary status revoked, and becomes a pawn between various factions inside the Guadel ruling body._

_Jain's never known any life but that of a Guadel in training. She'd thought herself reconciled to the idea of a loveless marriage for the good of her people, but meeting Va'del changes everything. Their growing attraction flies against hundreds of years of precedent, but as wide-spread attacks threaten their world, the Guadel have no choice but to use even Jain and Va'del in their fight for survival._

## Frozen Prospects

### by Dean Murray

_Copyright 2011 by Dean Murray_

### Also by Dean Murray:

**__**

**_**_The Reflections Series_**  
Broken  
Torn  
Splintered  
Intrusion  
Trapped  
Forsaken  
Riven  
Driven  
Lost  
Marked  
The Greater Darkness ( _Writing as Eldon Murphy_ )  
A Darkness Mirrored ( _Writing as Eldon Murphy_ )

**_The Dark Reflections Series_**  
Bound  
Hunted  
Ambushed  
Shattered  
Burned_**

**_**_The Awakening Series_**  
Reborn  
Immortal  
Endless_** ** _  
_**

**_The Guadel Chronicles_**  
Frozen Prospects  
I'rone  
Thawed Fortunes  
Brittle Bonds  
Shattered Ties

**_**_A Broken World Series_**  
The Society  
The Destroyer  
The Founder  
The Desolation_**

## Chapter 1

Va'del looked up at the tiny violet time sphere that provided the only light to the room and then hunched further down on his sleeping mat. The thin pad of woven gurra wool provided only minimal cushion between him and the cold stone floor of the sleeping chamber.

The chamber was barely three paces to a side, empty but for his one change of clothes and the dim time sphere that almost chased the shadows back to the far wall. There was barely room to stretch out let alone hide.

Even in the rambling caves where the People made their home, a private chamber was usually a sign of status. In his case it was just evidence that nobody was willing to spend any more time in his company than absolutely required. He listened to the slow drip of water somewhere out in the darkness and wished there was a way to disappear. As much as he might desire otherwise, it was inevitable that Pa'chi would eventually show up and try to drag him to weapons practice.

_She claims she doesn't want me to get into trouble, but how do I really know? Maybe she actually wants to see me humiliated. Just like everyone else._

The lanky teenager felt a twinge of guilt at the thought, which was very nearly a betrayal of the closest thing he had to a friend in the village. Even that guilt couldn't keep his thoughts from the imminent beating though.

Muffled footsteps echoed through the cold warren of tunnels, gradually becoming distinctive enough to recognize. Va'del's heart sank a little further as he realized it wasn't Pa'chi wh'd come to collect him.

Va'del scrambled to his feet just before Jas'per stepped into the dim violet light. "Come on orphan. Everyone already suspects you're a coward. You wouldn't want to miss weapons practice again and give them proof would you?"

"I practice just as hard as you do, Jas'per."

"And yet you lose every time."

Jas'per pushed Va'del along ahead of him. Any time Va'del slowed too much for Jas'per's taste the older boy shoved him again. Several times it was all Va'del could do to catch himself, shredding his hands on the uneven walls. All too soon Va'del stumbled into the best lit section of the entire village.

Jas'per smiled at the flock of girls watching the boys warming up. They giggled and smiled back. Va'del tried to look for Pa'chi without being obvious, but Jas'per rolled his eyes.

"Your little girlfriend won't be here, darkie. She can handle being around you in the dark, but not even she likes to be reminded how much of a freak you are."

Ignoring the giggles and averted eyes, Va'del crossed over to the storage racks on the wall where the practice equipment was kept. He winced a little as he shed his outermost layer of clothing. Once he actually started weapons practice he'd warm up in quick order, but until then he'd have to deal with more giggles at the way his teeth chattered in the cold.

As Va'del struggled into one of the padded jackets and simple helmets that would shield him from some of the fury of Jas'per's attacks, he tried to shy away from the bubble of resentment over the legacy his lowland mother had left him.

Before Va'del managed to work himself up too much more, Jas'per's father, the village Headman who also served as their weapons instructor, finally arrived. A subtle grimace of distaste flickered across his face and then he began pairing the students off. As usual Jas'per and Va'del were matched against each other despite the fact that Va'del lost six touches out of seven.

Hefting his blunt practice sword with its elongated hilt designed to be usable when the user was wearing heavy mittens, Va'del waited for the command to attack, and then stabbed at Jas'per. The older boy knocked his blade aside and Va'del had to duck away from a riposte aimed at his head.

Feeling his stomach sink at the force of the blow, Va'del tried to convince himself that he'd be okay. A gasp of anticipation raced around the cavern from the watching girls.

Jas'per wasn't quite as tall as Va'del despite being older, but like most of the People, he was more powerfully built. As always, he used that advantage ruthlessly. Each attack landed with a shock that made Va'del's palms tingle despite his efforts to parry so that the force of each swing was simply redirected instead of countered.

Completely on the defensive now, Va'del stepped back enough that a particularly furious attack went whistling past him, and then without conscious thought stepped forward and kicked Jas'per in the stomach before the older boy could recover.

Jas'per would have pressed the advantage ensuring that everyone was able to see his dominance. Va'del knew that would just result in him being hurt more seriously when they next squared off. He started to back away and then gasped in pain as the weighted end of the Headman's training cord snaked out and found the back of his unprotected legs.

"This is weapons training you pagan monster. If you can't attack your opponent with your blade, don't bother attacking at all. Do it again."

There may have been a collective gasp as Jas'per regained control of his breathing and moved forward, but if so Va'del was too scared to notice. Jas'per's fury was a cold thing that always made him more dangerous rather than less. The last time he'd been made to look foolish he'd put Va'del in the healer's care for a week.

Jas'per once again took the offensive, using his superior skill and strength to control the tempo of the fight. His blows had been marginally controlled before, more than a little sloppy actually. Now instead of going wide, they came at Va'del in short, brutal arcs that pressed his ability to defend to its absolute edge.

Even Va'del's slightly longer reach couldn't keep him out of range indefinitely, and finally a blow got through, a blow that wasn't pulled at the last second as it should have been. A dull crunch accompanied the sharp pain shooting up Va'del's left arm. He found himself falling to the ground as his weapon dropped from hands no longer strong enough to hold it.

##

Va'del woke to welcome darkness in a bed that was softer than his normal mat. The dull yellow light from the glow sphere was partially covered in respect to his preference for darkness.

A ginger attempt to move his arm sent shooting pain down it despite the fact it'd been bound to his side. Va'del tried to pull himself into a sitting position, and nearly fell out of bed as a sudden burst of vertigo and nausea wrenched a moan from him.

"There now youngster, don't be trying to move. Foolish thing for people to do, just shows they're still ill."

Sara, the enclave's healer, bustled in with an energy that belied her wispy gray hair, and uncovered the room's small glow sphere as she looked her patient over. "The arm will hurt for a while, but it should heal just fine. I'm more concerned about the knock you took on the head. The nausea and dizziness will probably last for a couple of days. I've already told your teachers and the kitchens that you'll be staying with me until you're better."

When Va'del didn't say anything the healer sighed in irritation. "Boy, I know exactly what happened, so there's no use remaining silent. That insufferable Jas'per can claim it was an accident all he wants, but you've been in here more than any other three boys from 'training accidents'."

_She'll start badgering me about going to the Capital again unless I can distract her._

"I suppose I'm just clumsier than the other boys."

Sara gave Va'del a hard look, but for once didn't argue. "You have a visitor, I'll send her in."

A useless protest died on Va'del's lips as Pa'chi shyly slipped around the divider that screened the sickbed from the rest of the room.

"It was so terrible, you were just lying there unconscious while Jas'per preened as if he'd brought down a snow leopard. Are you okay?"

From behind the divider Sara's voice drifted over. "It was Pa'chi who came and got me. Those motherless ruffians would have just left you there until weapons class was over."

Va'del wanted to stay mad at Pa'chi, at the whole world really, but he knew that wasn't fair.

"Thanks, Pa'chi. Nobody else would have gone and gotten Healer Sara. I hope your dad won't be angry with you."

The smile that lit up Pa'chi's face transformed it from something plain and unremarkable to a thing of beauty, and Va'del found himself smiling in response as he cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry I've been so difficult lately."

"It's okay. I know you've been worried about the crafting decision for a while now."

Va'del's mind tried to twist away from thinking about the nearing deadline for the young men of the village to find a master who would teach them a trade.

"It's not as though worrying will change anything. After being passed up two years in a row I wasn't likely to be chosen this year. Now that I'm injured I probably won't even be allowed to stay and shovel gurra manure down in the mushroom farms."

Pa'chi shook her head, no doubt responding to his darkening mood. Her smile was an obvious effort to cheer him up. "You were too busy to notice, but some of the adults had arrived by the end of your fight. They didn't seem too impressed by Jas'per's beating on you. I think some of the masters may take that into account when they consider who to take on as apprentices."

Va'del found himself once more fighting to not snap at his friend. "I guess I'll just have to hope someone takes pity on me. I obviously can't make it on my own merits."

"It's not like that. People are good. You just have to give them a chance to do the right thing."

"Maybe. I guess we'll just have to wait and see." Va'del wasn't sure how his smile could convince anyone it was genuine, but Pa'chi actually looked like she believed him.

## Chapter 2

Jas'per found Va'del within a few cycles of his being cleared by Sara to begin walking short distances through some of the dark, unused corridors near her suite of rooms. "Oh, look. The orphan finally stopped hiding behind the old lady."

Va'del fingered the knife he'd concealed in the sling binding his left arm to his side. His victim's silence seemed to unsettle Jas'per for a second, but looking back at the two friends who'd come to see him torment Va'del, the bully quickly recovered his balance.

"Maybe if you'd bothered to leave the healer's, you would've had a chance at getting a decent apprenticeship. Now I'll bet they don't even let you stay and carry waste rock up to the surface. You'll be just like a human gurra."

Va'del felt his anger spike at being compared to one of the gentle but stupid creatures that the People used to carry burdens both inside their caves, and also on the infrequent occasions when they traveled the mountain slopes to visit one of the other villages. Jas'per seemed to bask in the younger boy's fury, secure in the knowledge that Va'del would never dare attack him.

"At least whatever position I get will be earned on my own merits."

If Va'del's barb struck home there was no sign of it in Jas'per's eyes. "No, whatever position you get will be because someone felt sorry for you."

Long after Jas'per and his friends had left, Va'del sat alone fingering his knife in the cold darkness near the abandoned mining expansion. Not even his freakishly dark skin managed to hide the veins running mockingly close to the surface.

##

Va'del tried to convince Sara to let him go back to his own sleeping mat, but the healer wasn't moved by his reasoning that the sooner he was visibly up and about the more likely he'd be to get an appointment as an apprentice.

"The masters aren't as foolish as you think. They know what happened and why you are here."

_Whether that means I wouldn't get a position regardless, or whether I'll get one despite my status as an invalid she won't say._

Va'del was unhappily working his way through the readings that Pa'chi had brought him a couple of days before, when his friend came running into the healer's room.

"Actual, real Guadel just arrived. They're demanding to speak with Headman Ma'del. Everyone says there's going to be a testing."

Va'del felt his head spin. "Why would Guadel be coming now? There hasn't been a visit since before we were born."

Sara looked at Va'del and shook her head. "Guadel come to the village more than most of you realize. As for the testing, it's not the terror of blood and demons you all seem to believe it is."

Pa'chi's expression was every bit as skeptical as Va'del imagined his must be. For a second Va'del thought Sara was going to yell at them, but she took a deep breath and shook her head again. "Think back to the 'traveling healer' that gives you a checkup at least once a year youngster. Do you really think that's something I can't do myself? Va'del at least has the excuse of never being tested before, but you girls should have figured something out by now. You likely would have if the adults hadn't all bought into Ma'del's edict."

Pa'chi shrugged and turned back to Va'del. "Almost everyone is there already. They're saying the Headman will deny them guest right. People are scared of the Guadel, but they're almost as worried that the Goddess will smite us if we turn them away."

Sara stood suddenly, and pulled Va'del onto his feet. "We'd better go now. If Ma'del denies them guest right the Goddess won't have to smite anyone, the Guadel will do it for her. At least they'll likely stop after killing that pompous oaf."

Sara was one of only three or four people in the entire village that would stand up to the Headman. It was unnerving to see her hurry out of the room, obviously afraid of what was coming. Sara had once thrown a large man into a wall with nothing more than the power of her mind. If she was scared of the Guadel then maybe there was more to the old stories than anyone really believed now.

Pa'chi looked back into the dark corridors and then turned towards Va'del with a trembling lip. "What if she's wrong? For every story where the Guadel save a child from a pack of snow wolves, there are two more about them carrying people off to the Capital to serve as sacrifices."

Va'del faked a reassuring smile. "All of the stories can't be true. It isn't as if they are really twice the size of a normal man and have multiple wives after all."

Pa'chi ventured a tremulous smile in return and then nodded and started after Healer Sara.

The pair joined the stream of people presumably headed towards the Guadel, and shortly found themselves in one of the larger central caverns typically used as a marketplace. Va'del was just tall enough to make out the healer at the edge of the cleared space. If the Guadel snapped and started killing people, standing just behind Sara was probably the safest place to be. Pa'chi followed along behind Va'del as he pushed his way through the crowd.

The first thing Va'del noticed when they made it to Sara was just how large the male Guadel was. There were three of them, but the man was so imposing it was hard to notice the two women until some of the shock had worn off.

The man slowly surveyed the assembled villagers, and Va'del was struck by the sense of controlled menace that rolled off him in waves. _He moves like a snow leopard. Like he's the predator and we're nothing more than the next meal._

The multiple light sources placed throughout the large cavern played off the Guadel's face in a way Va'del hadn't ever seen before, leaving strange, disturbing shadows that made him look wholly inhuman.

One of the women placed a hand on the man's arm as if to restrain him, but he shook it off without looking and called out. "Where is the village Headman? We come to claim hospitality right."

Jas'per's father arrived, accompanied by Jas'per and four of the other top weapons students. As the Headman pushed his way to the front of the crowd, Va'del noticed that all six men were armed.

"You will of course be granted provisions and a place to stay according to the code. I will have to ask, though, that you follow more recent precedent and keep to your rooms. I'm afraid your presence here disturbs my people."

The Guadel dropped his heavy over-coat to the hard, gray floor of the cavern, revealing a frame that seemed nearly as wide as he was tall. He was more heavily muscled than even the village blacksmith. "That's unacceptable. The same laws that grant us hospitality right also demand we move around the village freely. We must ensure there isn't anything that needs reported back to the Council."

Jas'per and the other guards had their hands on the hilts of their weapons, and were nervously spreading out, but the Guadel seemed unconcerned.

More than one of the packed crowd reached towards Ma'del as if they wanted to stop the Headman from forcing the issue with the Guadel, but nobody stirred from their spots. Instead nearly every person gathered in the market square was looking at the Guadel as though they expected them to shed their human skins and begin devouring the villagers.

The male Guadel on the other hand seemed impervious to the raging fear around him. One of the two women at his back crumpled to the ground, apparently overcome by the stress of the situation. The younger woman carefully lowered her fellow to the ground, but her manner was distracted. The sense of tension ratcheted up as Ma'del started to gesture his men forward.

The Guadel shook his head, preempting the motion as he drew his weapon. "Your lack of answer can only be taken as a refusal of our ancient right."

The guards all dropped to a ready stance as they drew their own swords, but if anything, the Guadel was moving with more grace than before. Suddenly no one present had any doubt but that he could kill them all in the blink of an eye.

A moment later, Sara's diminutive form was standing in the middle of it all, glaring at the Headman. "This is foolishness. Of course the village will extend the full hospitality demanded by tradition and law."

The Headman seemed to be calculating the odds that the villagers would join the fight against the Guadel. He frowned at what he saw, and then finally nodded. "Of course. I merely wanted to save our people from any undue alarm."

Gesturing for Sara to see to it, the Headman turned to walk away, only to pull up short as the Guadel's cold voice rang out. "I think it would be best if your men were careful not to bear arms, other than the two guardsmen needed to cover the entrance. We wouldn't want any misunderstandings."

Moving with a sudden rigidity that spoke of towering anger, the Headman motioned for Jas'per and the others to follow him.

The Guadel seemed somehow to deflate. By the time he turned to help the women with their things, the menace radiating off of him was only barely more than human.

##

Va'del and Pa'chi would have faded away into the corridors with the rest of the village, but Sara ordered them to help carry the Guadel's belongings to the guest rooms. Va'del found himself marveling at how incredibly large the suite was, but he suspected it was nothing less than tradition demanded for the Guadel.

Once everything was settled, Sara hugged the older of the women and then slumped against a wall. "You can't understand how good it is to see you, Betreec, even if you all do look like you haven't aged a day since I last saw you."

The youngest woman laughed. "And to think just the other day I was thinking how old the two of them were getting, especially I'rone."

Sara shook her head. "I swear they must have little dolls hidden away in a closet somewhere that age in their place. I, on the other hand, feel like I've been aging at twice the normal rate. It's this never ending fight with Ma'del."

Mention of the Headman killed the mirth that'd been bubbling up from the two Guadel women, but Va'del had been watching their husband, and the forbidding man hadn't even smiled. Realizing the Guadel was looking at Va'del and Pa'chi with something bordering on suspicion, Sara sighed. "The boy is almost as unloved and distrusted by the rest of the village as I am. The girl has a good heart, and for all that her father is a self-centered fool, there isn't any love lost between him and the Headman. You need not worry about either of them."

Unreadable, gray eyes considered Va'del for a heartbeat longer, and then turned back to Sara.

Betreec placed a gentle hand on I'rone's arm. "I knew Ma'del was becoming more of a problem. That's part of the reason this village was left to Ja'dir's people for so long. I half thought On'li was jumping at shadows when she demanded we be the ones to stop by. Nobody on the Council seemed to know Ma'del had nearly the entire settlement cowed into defying the Goddess' laws."

Sara shrugged. "I honestly don't know how he was elected Headman. He's definitely gotten worse in the last couple of years though, so maybe he started out reasonable."

The man spoke up for the first time since the confrontation out in the marketplace. "Do we need to worry about being attacked while we are here?"

Shrugging hesitantly, Sara looked like she wished she knew one way or another. "I don't think so. He's always been very careful not to violate the letter of the law at least. I suspect he was mostly trying to bluff you into not exercising your full rights like he's done with every Guadel that's stopped by for the last decade or so."

Va'del was suddenly overcome by a spate of dizziness, but Sara and Pa'chi managed to catch him before he hit the ground. The concerned, pale, ice-blue eyes of the youngest Guadel were the last things that Va'del remembered seeing before he slipped into unconsciousness.

##

The calming darkness awaiting Va'del when he awoke signaled he was once again in the sick bed. Thoughts of Sara, of course, led to questions about the Guadel. Va'del hadn't ever quite believed that the Goddess had chained demons to her service. It'd seemed even more preposterous to think that the bargain allowed the Guadel to carry people off for unspeakable rituals that were the only thing keeping them from turning on the People. Seeing I'rone face down Ma'del had very nearly made him believe, but Sara hadn't seemed especially scared of them.

A nervous rustle behind the divider told Va'del that Pa'chi must be waiting for him to wake up. He wanted nothing more than to stay in bed for a while, but it wasn't fair to make her sit there. Cradling his useless arm in tight against his side, he struggled to his feet and tottered out from behind the privacy divider.

Surprisingly enough, although Pa'chi was indeed seated cross-legged in one of Sara's low chairs, the healer wasn't present. Sensing Va'del's question, his friend hurried to explain. "Sara will be back. She's with them—she said something about ensuring they had a complete list of the children and youth so that they could test everyone."

_I almost forgot about the testing. They'll examine all of the girls between twelve and eight, and all of the unmarried boys older than fifteen, using their strange power. Then they'll take some of them away never to be seen again._

"Are you nervous about being tested?"

Va'del shrugged, but his friend had known him for too long to be put off so easily.

"It's not that bad, at least not if it's just the annual checkup like Sara indicated. It only takes a few minutes and then you're done."

"What if they find whatever they are looking for inside me?"

Pa'chi looked uncomfortable. "I don't know. My parents wouldn't tell me anything about what happens to the people they take away, but it won't happen to you. All the stories say that almost nobody is taken away anymore. They can't be as terrible as everyone says."

_He showed absolutely no emotion at the prospect of killing the guardsmen. I think you might be surprised at what they are capable of. How many people would you have to kill before it became so commonplace?_

Va'del was saved from responding by the healer's return. "Good, you're awake. Let's go."

It wasn't until the trio turned into the corridor leading to the guest rooms that Va'del realized what must be happening. He stopped walking and thought about running, but Sara turned and looked at him with such terrible majesty and power in her eyes that he knew he wouldn't get very far. "I don't know what garbage your mind has been filled with regarding the testing, but none of that matters; you _will_ come with us and be tested."

Sara told Pa'chi to wait outside the privacy bend to the guest rooms and then pushed Va'del along ahead of her. The Guadel seemed to be expecting them, for all that I'rone didn't look up from the gurra harness he was repairing.

The women both looked at Va'del as if they'd seen too many scared young men that morning, but their individual reactions were quite different. The older woman's manner suggested a resigned acceptance of a situation she couldn't control, while the younger seemed mad enough to strangle someone with her bare hands.

The way the angry woman pointed to a low chair without saying a word wasn't reassuring in the slightest, but mindful of the fact that her husband could easily back up the command with force, Va'del did as he was told.

"I'm Jasmin. Despite what you've heard, we aren't looking for an excuse to take you out in the cold and eat you, or something equally stupid."

For just a second it looked as though Jasmin was going to say something else, but the man quietly cleared his throat, and her mouth slammed shut with an audible click. "Never mind. There isn't any point fighting decisions made centuries before any of us were born."

Jasmin sat down in the chair positioned directly in front of Va'del and leaned back. "Try to relax. Don't be too alarmed if you feel a strange pressure inside your mind. It probably won't come to that, but don't fight it if it does or you'll just make both of us tired. If you fall asleep that's acceptable."

Jasmin closed her eyes and sat motionless for several minutes. Va'del began to feel restless, but one look at the massive man, now sharpening his sword with a painful casualness, convinced him to remain motionless.

Va'del leaned back and tried to relax enough to go to sleep. As the teenager finally started to drift off he felt something alien slowly swimming through his mind.

A bolt of fear shot through Va'del as he reflexively shoved at Jasmin's presence inside his mind. _None of the rumors even touched on the idea that they might be able to invade my thoughts._

The panic hammering away at Va'del's composure spiked as he felt Jasmin strengthen her efforts and force him aside. Sharp knives of pain raked through his head as she sifted through memories and feelings that he'd thought would always be private.

The struggle raged on despite Va'del's realization that he couldn't win. Even the sheer pain involved in fighting wasn't quite enough to overcome the innate desire to maintain the sanctity of his mind.

When Jasmin finally withdrew from his mind, the young man opened his eyes and raised a shaking hand to stem the blood he felt trickling from his nose.

Sara nonchalantly handed Jasmin a cloth to staunch her nosebleed, and then turned to Va'del and offered him one as well.

"Pa'chi, you can come inside the room now. Take Va'del back to my rooms please. Don't let Jas'per or any of his cronies give either of you any problems. Come get me if necessary, or if they won't let you get away then make sure they understand that I've had it with their antics and will invoke healer's right to punish them if they push the issue."

Pa'chi's eyes widened in shock, but she curtsied respectfully and helped Va'del to his feet.

##

After the pair were gone for several minutes, I'rone rose to his feet and walked down the corridor to ensure that the two youngsters had truly left. Once he returned to the room, Sara felt her strength leak away like melting snow, and collapsed into a nearby chair.

"Powers! Since you pushed yourself and poor Va'del so hard, am I correct in assuming he has whatever it is you're looking for?"

Betreec, the older of the wives, looked as though she were torn between old loyalties and present duty. "You know we can't tell you anything about what we're really looking for in a candidate."

Sara snorted. "Please spare me. I understand why the Council wants such a ridiculous level of secrecy regarding the Guadel in these backwards villages, but I'm from the Capital. Not only that, I trained with you and remember perfectly well when you were moon-eyed over I'rone, and worried he'd snatch up a second wife before the two of you even made it through your first year together. I know exactly the kinds of things that drew you to him, and I think the boy has many of the same qualities."

"I never..." Betreec momentarily looked shocked until I'rone's gentle chuckle seemed to make her realize Sara was joking.

Jasmin pulled the cloth she'd been holding to her face away and checked to make sure the bleeding had stopped. "I don't see why we shouldn't tell Healer Sara; it isn't like most of what we look for isn't an open secret back at the Capital."

As the younger wife looked at Sara, the older woman suddenly got the feeling that beneath the pretty exterior and calm eyes, Jasmin was nearly ready to explode.

"Your boy Va'del was the easiest to link with of any male I've ever tested. Not just slightly easier, vastly easier. That being said, he still may not be a suitable candidate."

Sara started to bristle. "What do you mean he may not be suitable? That child is one of the least-judgmental people I've met. He's much more considerate than some of the potentials I saw come in while I was in training."

Jasmin held her hand up. "I won't argue with you there. You know, I'm sure, that we can't really read someone's thoughts. Another person's mind is too alien for any of us to really know for sure what a given thought means, but we can get a feeling for their emotional state, and their general character."

Sara nodded impatiently, knowing very well she gave off the air of someone who thought she was too old now to be lectured. That was only fair; she hadn't particularly enjoyed being instructed when she was younger, either.

Jasmin started pacing. "He has all of the attributes we normally look for in a candidate, but I think he's suicidal. There's a kind of darkness to him that I'm not completely comfortable with. Every man in our bloodline is more than capable of violence, but I can't tell for sure that he'll keep that capacity chained as tightly as I'rone does."

"Fifteen years ago I might have argued with you over the exact level of I'rone's restraint. I know better now. Fear is the only thing that keeps an ice wolf like Ma'del in line. If anything you dealt too softly with him. Eventually he'll slip his leash and when that happens people are going to be hurt. Doesn't Va'del's darkness have a place? He might have arrived at a more permanent solution to Ma'del than you or the Council."

Jasmin started to respond, but it was I'rone that answered. "Darkness is only valuable in as much as it is demanded by his duty. Otherwise he's no better than the Headman."

The healer finally nodded jerkily, and then put her face in her hands. "I suppose I should have expected as much, I just so hoped when you arrived that it would be possible to get him out of here."

Betreec walked over to the healer and put a hand on her shoulder. "How did it get this bad for him?"

It was I'rone who responded. "It is the Headman and his people. They mistreat him to garner support with the rest."

##

Pa'chi had reported back with a steady stream of names as the rest of the young men and the girls of the appropriate ages were tested. None of the others seemed really shaken when she saw them, and Va'del was certain his experience had been unusual.

"I think we need to get you out of here for a while, Va'del. Being stuck in here for days on end would make anyone go crazy."

"It's not going to make any difference. We're less than a week away from the decision day and none of the masters have talked to me even once. They can't choose me if they haven't found out anything about me. At this rate I'll end up forced to go to the Capital, the one place I'm guaranteed to be even more of an outcast than here."

Pa'chi shook her head vigorously. "I don't want you to have to leave. I'll...I'll talk to my father. I can convince him to select another apprentice this year. It won't matter that Sara is keeping you sequestered away here."

Jas'per's words from the other day seemed to burn Va'del's mind and it was all he could do to stop himself from yelling at Pa'chi. "I don't want his charity. I want to make it on my own."

The words came out harsher than he'd meant for them to, and Pa'chi looked as though she was fighting tears when Sara came around the privacy turn and nodded at them both.

"You're up. Good, let's go, Va'del."

Va'del felt a surge of anxiety as he remembered the last time she'd dragged him somewhere, but even his slight delay at rising kindled a spark of anger in her stern brown eyes.

Va'del's fears were confirmed as they turned off towards the Guadel's rooms, but Jas'per's friends were loitering near the guest rooms and Sara was obviously ready and spoiling for a fight. Va'del decided against protesting her choice in destinations. _I won't let them see me dragged into the guest rooms kicking and screaming like a child._

The Guadel seemed to be expecting him once again. Jasmin flashed him a kind smile, Betreec gave him an absent-minded one, and even the man seemed slightly less foreboding than usual. As before, Va'del was directed to a seat, but this time it wasn't Jasmin that sat down opposite him.

"My name is Betreec. Jasmin said you did an excellent job trying not to fight her last time you were here, do you think you can do as well or better for me?"

Va'del's fear of the Guadel hadn't gone away, but Betreec seemed very kind. Besides, one look at Sara's face told him he'd better say yes and mean it. He nodded hesitantly.

It seemed to take Betreec longer to touch his mind than it had Jasmin, but when Va'del felt the first alien tendrils touch his thoughts he found he wasn't as alarmed as he had been previously. _Jasmin has obviously told them what she found inside my mind, so in a sense this all doesn't matter anymore. There isn't really anything left to hide from them._

When Betreec finally stirred in her chair, Va'del had the barest beginnings of a headache, but he wasn't shaking this time, and neither he nor the Guadel were suffering from a nosebleed.

The older woman waved Sara away and looked at Jasmin for several seconds before the pair finally nodded at each other.

Jasmin came and kneeled before Va'del. "I'm so very sorry we had to put you through that. I'm told it's quite painful. I wish there was another way to accomplish the test, but for now, you'll just have to take my word for it that we didn't intend you harm. Luckily it shouldn't be necessary to ever repeat the experience."

"So you won't have to get inside my mind again?" The question slipped out before Va'del had a chance to remember that these weren't the kind of people to suffer questions gracefully.

Jasmin's eyes went wide, and for a second her gaze flickered back to something outside of Va'del's field of vision. Sara, standing against the wall behind Jasmin, looked surprised for a second, and then emphatically shook her head.

A moment later Betreec's frail hand came to rest on Va'del's shoulder. "What do you mean, Va'del?"

It was too late to do anything other than tell the truth. Va'del hadn't ever been a decent liar, so he spared just a moment to curse the evil powers, and then cleared his throat hesitantly. "I'm not sure. It just seemed as though there was something inside my mind that didn't belong there. I thought it was you."

Jasmin recaptured his attention, giving him a surprisingly reassuring smile. "You're a very perceptive young man, Va'del. You're right that part of the test involved us getting an impression of your mind, but you need to know that we can't really read your thoughts, we just get a good feeling for the kind of person you are. Kind of like the things a best friend would know."

_Is she telling the truth? How would I ever really know?_

Looking at Va'del with earnest blue eyes, the Guadel continued. "If you trust Sara, she can confirm everything I'm telling you and that we'll never tell anyone else what we learned."

Va'del found himself cautiously nodding, and Jasmin seemed to relax slightly. "You need to make a choice now. You can either stay here, or you can come with us when we leave."

Va'del was amazed at how quickly his body responded to the surge of fear. It was suddenly hard to think over the pounding of his heart. Sara looked at him and shook her head.

"These people aren't the ogres you've made them out to be, child. I can't tell you as much about them as I'd like, they won't permit it in case you decide to stay here, but they aren't evil. What is more, it appears you're right about the masters. That fool Ma'del and his son Jas'per seem to have them all bullied into treating you like a plague victim. This is your chance to be apprenticed. Go with them."

Fingering the knife concealed in its usual place, Va'del realized that there really wasn't anything left for him at Bitter Rocks. Even Pa'chi would be better off without him.

Looking from one Guadel to another, Va'del finally nodded, and was surprised to find it was the man's face which seemed to brighten the most at his decision.

## Chapter 3

Jasmin woke Va'del while the time globe was still giving off a very faint green glow, but he'd learned that asking questions about what was happening was almost completely useless. He simply wiped the sleep from his eyes and gathered up his few possessions at her command. Once the decision to leave with them was made, Sara brought his things. The Guadel hadn't seemed willing to let him out of their sight. _Was that because they are trying to protect me, or are they just trying to ensure I don't slip away?_

Betreec bustled around the suite of rooms, pulling shrouding cloths from a pair of light spheres, while her husband, I'rone, packed the group's possessions into an endless series of bags that were cleverly designed to easily tie onto gurra harnesses.

For all Va'del didn't have much in the way of baggage, the other three seemed to have an endless array of items, all of which took more than a color cycle to pack.

The time sphere had advanced to a dark yellow by the time the little bundles were all arranged to I'rone's satisfaction.

The massively-muscled Guadel looked at the time and then grunted at a number of empty bags. "Still no food, and we haven't seen the slightest hint of the other things we asked for."

Jasmin nodded sharply. "Nor have we seen their stock of trade jewels. You know that sorry excuse for a Headman has something dirty up his sleeve."

Betreec looked up from the chair and table where she'd been preparing their breakfast and made calming motions. "None of us like it any more than you do, beloved. Especially in light of other things we've learned here." She looked at Va'del out of the corner of her eye as she finished speaking, but there was no way of knowing just how much of their unhappiness really had to do with Va'del.

Unaware of the thoughts crashing around Va'del's head, the older woman continued. "Despite that, we can't take the kind of direct, violent action you would like us to. The code and laws are too important to dispose of. We have to work inside them."

Jasmin's ice-blue eyes hadn't calmed down in the least. "Deciding to do away with the Captain of the Guard and then proceeding to make every able-bodied young man the equivalent to a part-time guardsman isn't normal. He's all but building an army. Rather than patting him on the back for suppressing any and all real information about us, we should bring in ten or fifteen Guadel and forcibly remove him from power."

Jasmin momentarily looked like she was about to continue her argument, but then looked at Va'del and sighed. "We'll do it according to the code of course, but I maintain that serious problems are going to be caused by this Headman in the future. The Council would be far better off making sure that this village is visited more than once every year. This hands-off policy they've adopted can only lead to trouble."

Va'del tried to file Jasmin's words away for later analysis, but he didn't know enough yet to put them in the proper context.

Sara and Pa'chi were waiting for the group when they left the guest rooms. Va'del's friend looked up at him with green eyes that were shiny with unshed tears. "You're really going away?"

Unable to speak past the lump that'd suddenly developed in his throat, Va'del simply nodded.

In a whisper Pa'chi continued. "I won't see you again. Sara told me you'll never be allowed to return to this village, and I already know I'll never get the chance to leave."

Va'del attempted to smile and lighten the mood a little. "It's okay, you'll be better off without me. Once you aren't always trying to stick up for me, Jas'per and the others will leave you alone."

Pa'chi shook her head violently. "None of that matters. Sara says you'll be in a better place. I'll miss you Va'del. I'll miss you a lot."

Before he could think of anything else to say, Pa'chi wrapped her arms around Va'del's neck in a desperate hug. He opened his mouth to comfort her but she turned and ran away as the tears finally started trickling down her face.

##

Va'del reached up with mitten-covered hands and adjusted his hood slightly to try and keep the cold air further away from his face. It didn't seem to help much, but there wasn't anything else in the desolate landscape to serve as a windbreak. As far as the eye could see, there was just snow and ice broken by the occasional rock crag that'd been scoured clean.

He hadn't been outside since his parents had taken him out on short trips as a child. It had been so long ago he'd forgotten just how cold it was outside the shelter of the caves. The chill cut right through his gurra wool clothes, but the light was almost as bad. He'd never imagined light could cause his eyes to hurt, but Jasmin had explained it was possible for things to get even brighter.

The argument in the guest rooms before they left had given Va'del a vague idea of what would happen, but events had still played out much differently than he'd expected. _If Betreec and I'rone's course of action was the more peaceful, non-confrontational way of handling things, I hate to think of what Jasmin's plan was. Maybe for I'rone to start killing random people until their demands were met?_

When I'rone demanded the customary parting gift of food, and sufficient clothing and equipment to outfit Va'del, the Headman had looked nearly ready to attack the Guadel with his bare hands. It had been obvious Ma'del wanted nothing more than to order Jas'per and the others to attack the Guadel, but everyone in the cavern had known I'rone was capable of killing them all without breaking a sweat.

The food and equipment had arrived a few minutes later, at which point Ma'del had curtly informed Betreec that since his village would no longer be trading with the Capital, the Guadel wouldn't be given any of the trade jewels scheduled to be sent down with the next caravan to the lowlands.

I'rone hadn't displayed any emotion at the obvious slight. Instead he'd reminded Ma'del that the testing of youngsters wasn't dependent on trade with the Capital, and any attempts to prohibit the Guadel from continuing their traditional duties would be viewed as open rebellion. _I've never seen Ma'del truly speechless. It's a good thing I'rone got us moving before I ruined everything by laughing._

For all that the day started out with excitement, it'd quickly devolved to unprecedented levels of monotony. Walking across the crusted snow was made simultaneously more difficult and easier by the steel-spiked platforms I'rone had helped him strap to his shoes as they'd left the caves. After just a couple of cycles Va'del's legs were burning and tingling from the unaccustomed weight.

The gurra he was leading wasn't any happier to be out in the cold than he was, and frequently pulled back on its lead, tiring his arm and causing it to ache. _And I can't switch hands because the other arm is broken. I don't think I've ever been quite this physically miserable in my entire life._

Just when the teenager felt he could go no further, the party reached an outcropping of rock that served to protect them somewhat from the wind, if not the cold.

I'rone opened up one of the small bags on the gurra he was leading and pulled out objects which he passed to Betreec, who in turn handed them back to Va'del. "Drink this. All of it, and eat the dried meat too."

Va'del looked back to Jasmin who had taken the last spot in the party as they'd set out, and saw she'd already secured provisions of her own, and was consuming them with a greedy abandon that seemed to indicate he'd better get on with it or he'd miss his chance.

The break wasn't as long as Va'del had hoped, but it proved long enough for him to finish the curiously-sweet beverage inside the water skin and make substantial progress on the meat.

When the party set out once again, their path angled slightly upward and Va'del found that his breathing grew ragged and forced despite their pace being no quicker than before.

Time seemed to grind to a near halt, and for a while Va'del found himself looking back frequently to verify they were really making progress. Eventually he ceased to care; it took all of his energy, physical and mental, just to pick up his feet and move them a few inches further up the trail.

Va'del had long since passed the point where he thought he couldn't go on by the time I'rone finally led the group into a smudge of darkness that turned out to be the narrow entrance to a fairly sizable cave.

By the way they moved, Betreec and Jasmin wanted to collapse to the hard, rock floor, but they both joined a seemingly unfatigued I'rone in stripping packs off of the gurra, and setting up camp.

One of the first things Betreec did was to pull a thumb-sized ruby from a pocket hidden underneath her outer layer of clothing, and carefully position it near the mouth of the cave. Va'del suppressed his curiosity as Jasmin directed him in a variety of tasks, keeping him occupied until he noticed his breath was no longer billowing out in a white cloud.

By the time the gurra were stripped, rubbed down and fed, Va'del found himself loosening the ties on his coat. Betreec continued to shuffle about placing several more dimly-glowing gemstones in different locations inside the cave. By the time camp was set up, not only had the air temperature reached comfortable levels, Va'del found that he was no longer gasping for breath.

Jasmin looked at the amazement on the young man's face and smiled as she shed her last bulky layer of cold-weather clothing.

"The stones are somewhat like the glow spheres in your village, but they serve a different purpose." Pointing to the one by the door, the Guadel continued. "That one holds the heat in and keeps the wind out. Others provide slight amounts of heat which we can use to cook on and warm the cave, and one of them holds the air in, making it a little thicker so we can breathe more easily."

_Magic, they're powered by magic._ Overcome by amazement, Va'del found all kinds of questions charging to the surface of his mind, but he suppressed them. He was still unsure how Jasmin would respond.

Betreec looked over and must have divined what Va'del was thinking. With a laugh like tinkling bells, and kindness in her violet eyes, she pointed at Jasmin. "Don't be scared of this one, Va'del. She does get somewhat...excited from time to time, but she is also as patient as anyone I've ever met when it comes to those who have the great luck of being part of her family."

Sensing he might finally get answers to some of the questions building inside him, Va'del plunged ahead. It had become obvious that the three were more than just companions.

"You're all married?"

"Yes. I'rone and Betreec for many years, and then I joined them later. I know it's not something you'd be used to, but among the Guadel such groupings are typical."

The idea of such a marriage was almost more than Va'del could comprehend, but he chose to continue with a more conventional line of questioning.

"How do the spheres work?"

Jasmin smiled once again, and Va'del realized those smiles somehow warmed her pale blue eyes. "That's quite the question. You knew, I assume, that Sara could do unusual things."

Va'del nodded. "Yes, healer magic."

I'rone shook his head from where he was examining harnesses. "Magic is magic."

Jasmin seemed almost as startled by the interjection as Va'del, but she nodded to her husband and continued. "There are those as would argue magic isn't the proper name for it all, but he's right, it all flows from the same source. Healing, is just one aspect of a larger whole."

The slender Guadel had pulled a small gemstone of her own from a pocket somewhere while she was talking and placed it in a hollow in the center of the cave floor. Pausing for a second in concentration, Jasmin smiled as the stone suddenly started to glow.

I'rone handed his wife a basin filled with snow, to which she some water before placing it over the depression. "Those with the innate ability to perform magic, like Sara, Betreec and I, can, with great effort, eventually alter the nature of precious stones so they tap into the same place we touch to perform the wonders you would call magic."

Va'del nodded absently, not sure that he understood everything he'd just been told, but satisfied to let it simmer in his mind before asking for further clarification. "Why am I here?"

Jasmin looked at Betreec for a second before answering. "Va'del, just like not everyone has the ability to learn to become a healer, not everyone has the ability to become a Guadel like I'rone. You do, which is why you're here. We hope to be able to train you to one day help protect the People."

## Chapter 4

Va'del had been more than a little shocked at Jasmin's declaration that he might one day end up a Guadel. A few days previous, the idea of becoming as terrifying as I'rone would have scared him more than just about anything else. He no longer felt that way though. He'd come to realize the Guadel were all human, even I'rone. Va'del was convinced I'rone wouldn't have enjoyed cutting down Jas'per and the others, but however much he might have regretted the deed later, it had been obvious he'd been ready to kill whomever he needed to.

Betreec gently cleared her throat, and Va'del realized his attention had wandered from the book he was supposed to be reading.

The older woman looked at him with a smile. "I know reading about the laws surrounding the villages and their interaction with the Guadel isn't the most exciting past time, but the knowledge you'll find in there is vitally important to the People as a whole, and us as Guadel specifically."

Jasmin looked up from where she had been sitting motionless against the gray rock wall of the way cave for the last half cycle and winked at Va'del. "You may never be the legal scholar I'rone is, but I think if you give it a chance, you may find it all more interesting than you would have guessed."

_Not likely, this is dryer even than the stuff I had to read back home._

The twinkle in Jasmin's eyes combined with her next comment almost made Va'del wonder if she was reading his mind again. "Trust me on this one, you just need to read it with the aim of understanding how the laws all work together to protect the rights of the villagers—from each other, from the Guadel, and most importantly from their Headman. Once you approach it from that stance, it gets much less dry."

Va'del shrugged noncommittally, and shifted slightly, testing tired muscles for soreness. He never would have guessed having an actual instructor for weapons training would make such a difference in how enjoyable it was. I'rone still didn't say much, in fact sometimes his comments were downright cryptic, but even so Va'del had learned more from him in the last two days than he had from Ma'del in the last three months.

I'rone had started with Ma'del's style of fighting, but promised that once Va'del's arm was healed, the lessons would change. The Guadel's manner of fighting involved the use of not only the standard longsword, Va'del was familiar with, but also a long dagger that was held in the left hand and used for parries and the occasional strike. It seemed to Va'del like it would be hard to mentally keep track of both weapons, but I'rone had promised that with enough repetition the proper strikes and counters would become reflexive.

If the study of law was the low point of the past two days, and the study of weapons was the high point, the things Jasmin had asked Va'del to do were more or less in the middle. _I don't understand what possible purpose meditating could serve. She just makes me sit there and visualize a thick sheet of ice slowly melting away. Or a beaded curtain parting before me so that I can see the outside world. That and relaxing. She seems awfully concerned with me relaxing, and when I ask her about it, she just says that the mental will follow the physical._

As frustrating as the pointless exercises were, Va'del found he couldn't really generate any ill feelings towards Jasmin after what had happened the first night they'd reached the caves.

Va'del had awakened partway through the night, unable to catch his breath. Initially, he'd tried not to wake the others, but as his breathing had grown more and more ragged, he'd been overcome by a mounting sense of panic, and crawled over to where the other three were sleeping.

Jasmin had been the first to wake. She'd looked up at him with sleepy eyes for a second and then sworn and yelled for Betreec. Jasmin had hurriedly explained to Va'del that his lungs were filling up with liquid, and then joined Betreec in a trance. The better part of a cycle passed before the two women came out of the trance, but somewhere along the way Va'del found he was once again able to breathe.

Thinking about what had happened, Va'del took a deep, experimental breath. Betreec looked up again. "Do you still feel okay?"

Va'del nodded. "Yes, I have since that night."

The older woman smiled, and looked back down at the book she was reading, but Va'del decided it was time to ask the question that had been on his mind. "It only took a few minutes for my breathing to ease. What were you and Jasmin doing for the rest of the time?"

Betreec suddenly had the look of someone who'd just realized something they'd thought trivial was about to come back and cause problems. "As we mentioned before, the reason you were having a hard time breathing was that the cold, thin air this high in the mountains was damaging your lungs and causing them to fill with liquid. While we were repairing the damage and helping your body to absorb the liquid, we made a few changes so that you'll be less prone to have problems of that sort in the future."

Va'del found his fear of the Guadel suddenly swept away by the greater fear of what he would become if they had their way with him. "You changed my body without asking? Like I was a piece of stone to be molded with no thought to what it might prefer?"

Leaning into the cold wall behind him, Va'del fought off tears. "You made me even more different from everyone else."

Betreec looked devastated as he turned away, but he didn't care. For once he suppressed his concern about how others felt, and instead rejoiced in the fact that someone else felt bad.

A few seconds later a gentle hand touched Va'del's shoulder, but he shook it off. Jasmin cleared her throat, but received no response. "We're sorry Va'del. We should have asked first, but among our people, it is a fairly common thing. We expected you'd be happy you now have greater freedom to move about the mountains if you wanted."

Va'del continued to ignore the younger wife in the hope she'd leave him alone, and after a short time he heard her turn and walk away. The next hand to touch his shoulder wasn't feminine or gentle. I'rone carefully pulled the teenager around and then pressed a heavy coat into Va'del's arms. "Outside."

Still more than a little afraid of the larger man, Va'del pulled on the heavy coat and his ice spikes. I'rone strode out into the cold as soon as Va'del was properly attired.

The pair walked for several minutes, moon-lit snow crunching with each step, before I'rone stopped and found a seat.

"The women, they are different than men. I think that's good. Some tasks are better suited to our nature, and some are better suited to theirs."

Va'del listened in confusion—he wasn't sure he'd ever heard so many words from I'rone at one time.

"Women are more apt to try and change things, to fix things and people. Sometimes they go too far, like they just did with you. When that happens, it is important to make sure that they know they've overstepped their bounds, but what's done is done. Nothing is to be gained by trying to make them feel worse than they already do."

Opening his mouth to respond hotly, Va'del was suddenly struck by the understanding displayed on I'rone's weathered face. "You have always been different, but only small, stupid people make those who are different feel bad simply because of differences. The Guadel, we are all different. That is what makes us special, and your difference from the rest of your village is the reason we believe you may be able to become one of us."

The massive Guadel patted Va'del on the shoulder and then stood. "Rejoin us when you're ready."

After I'rone had left, Va'del spent a cycle outside staring at the moon before the cold finally drove him back to the way cave. _What have I gotten myself into? When they are done with me will I even be one of the People anymore? Will I even be human?_

##

Va'del's legs once again ached from the strain of trudging across the blindingly white snow, but this time he wasn't quite as exhausted. _I suppose the last few days of travel have toughened me up more than I thought._

From his position in the front, I'rone pointed to a dark smudge signifying bare rock a little ways in the distance, and Va'del suddenly realized it must be the entrance to Screaming Wind Village.

Another half cycle passed before the tiny group made it to the entrance of the village caves, but time seemed to skip forward, and sooner than Va'del expected, they were stepping inside the caves. _I wonder what creates the keening sound? Some property of the wind and rocks?_

Ten feet into the cave, a pair of guards challenged the small group, stepping aside as I'rone removed his head covering. "Honored Guadel. Para'de will conduct you all to the guest quarters."

The guard that had spoken bowed briefly and then stepped aside so that his companion could guide the small party. Va'del lost track of all the turns they took, but after stabling the gurra, and meeting a villager who'd promised to rub the beasts down, the party picked up the bulk of the packages that had been on the beasts, and continued on. Soon enough they were inside the guest quarters, and the guard was backing out of the rooms.

Once they were alone Jasmin shivered. "That howling never fails to set my teeth on edge. If we were any closer to the entrance I'd never get a wink of sleep."

Betreec smiled as she and I'rone began unpacking the few things that they would need while in the village. "The first time we were sent here I nearly drug I'rone back out to the way cave two days early. There's something about the pitch that always knots up my shoulders something fierce."

Va'del found himself smiling in shared camaraderie as Jasmin examined his arm.

"It's looking much better. The bones seem to be healing cleanly—I would expect another two weeks and we can possibly remove the splint."

Va'del could tell from her pause that she was trying to decide whether or not to say something. Finally after a couple of heartbeats had passed, Jasmin continued in a rush. "If you want, I could force the healing process. It is a simple matter which leaves no lasting change. I'd simply cause the bones to bind together more quickly than they normally would."

Trying to ignore the sudden queasiness in his stomach, Va'del did his best to examine the offer objectively, stomping on the fear that would lead to him offending her. "How quickly would it heal if you did this?"

Jasmin seemed to relax slightly, almost like a gurra trainer who'd managed to get the beast to accept a burden without kicking for the first time. "We could have the splint off in three days, and you could start training the day after that. It's possible to do it more quickly, but neither you nor I would be much good for anything other than sleeping while you were healing if we did that. Healing magic takes energy from both the healer and the patient—that's why Sara typically uses non-magical methods and lets the body heal itself at a natural rate. If she exhausted herself and then someone was more seriously hurt, she might not have the resources to heal the life-threatening injury."

Va'del didn't doubt Jasmin's word, but the thought of Sara using mystical powers seemed so unnatural that his mind shied away from the thought.

"Can I think about it for a little while?"

Jasmin nodded, seemingly relieved Va'del hadn't turned her down immediately, and turned to help with the last of the unpacking.

I'rone saw Va'del begin to unbuckle his sword belt and shook his head emphatically. Betreec smiled gently at the young man. "You'll need to remain armed at all times while we are in the village. There really shouldn't be any occasion for you to use a weapon inside, but there are those who bear the Guadel no love, and you should always be mindful of the possibility of an ambush in the darkness by someone who had a judgment go against them."

Jasmin frowned. "Sad to think that while our reception here is warmer than what we saw at Bitter Rocks, we still have to fear attack from our own people."

Va'del was about to ask for further clarification when a loud clap announced the presence of someone desiring entrance to their quarters. The man who appeared from around the privacy corner in the wall was as broad as he was garrulous, and it took Va'del only a moment to realize that the well-fed man was the village Headman.

Betreec handled the introductions, presenting Va'del to the Headman, He'lo, without any title or explanation of his presence.

He'lo seemed nearly ready to ask for clarification regarding the young man's status, before nodding and turning back to Betreec. "I'd hoped you'd be bringing a shipment with you. We're starting to run low on some things, and now that Ma'del has stopped trading with us, it's getting to the point where the kitchens turn out nothing but mushroom stew for every meal."

Jasmin smiled. "You'll be glad to know that a caravan set out from the Capital about a week after we left. They shouldn't be too far behind us. Maybe another week and a half, and your people will be able to add some variety to their diets."

He'lo nodded. "That's good to hear. You'll take our gem harvest with you I assume?" I'rone nodded and, the Headman continued. "We've got more than usual. I'll send an order with you, but what we'd really like to get is a light source we could use to grow some grain. I know those are usually sent out on an as-needed basis, but we'd be willing to forgo a substantial amount of the profit we'd otherwise see on this gem shipment if the Council would be willing to provide us with one."

Betreec seemed slightly surprised at the offer. "As you say that's out of our hands, but we'll be sure to pursue the possibility with the Council once we're back."

Once the talk turned to the testing of the young men and women, Va'del stopped paying as much attention, allowing his thoughts to wander until he heard Jasmin say his name.

"...Va'del and I can go look at the cavern where you'd like to begin farming. Possibly I'll have some suggestions on how you can maximize the yield if you're able to obtain a strong enough light source, and if nothing else it will allow us to report back to the Council regarding the level of preparation you've already made."

He'lo held up a hand as Jasmin stood. "Before you go do that I should tell you that there is a matter requiring your judgment." The previously-confident Headman shifted his considerable bulk back and forth from foot to foot several times before continuing.

"My boy was involved in a business dealing with the widow of one of the miners who was killed in an accident last month. I'll be the first to admit that the terms of the agreement are quite complex and somewhat vague in a couple key parts, but when the two of them came for judgment, I found in favor of my son. The widow is appealing my decision to you."

Betreec nodded. "That is well within her rights, especially considering the close relationship between you and your son. We'll listen to both parties tomorrow and rely on the Goddess to guide us."

It seemed as though Jasmin had heard all she needed to hear. She gathered Va'del up with a glance and swept out of the room.

Mindful of the warning that he'd received before going out, Va'del tried to remain alert to his surroundings, and ready for possible trouble, but he found it somewhat difficult in light of the wonders he was shown in the next few cycles.

_They never let the youngsters see any of this back home. If I'd been apprenticed, I'd have seen one of these areas, possibly two if I was very lucky, but not everything._

The large cavern where the village wanted to start farming was the first thing Jasmin asked to see. Once there, she showed him the clever way in which the villagers were using lichen to break rock chips down into soil. "It is similar to how they start the mushroom farms below us. Once the mushrooms have had a go at the human and animal waste, what is left would actually serve quite well as a medium for growing grain. Notice how the rock here is lighter in color than most of the walls you've seen in the village so far? The lighter rock should reflect more light back to the plants, so a weaker light source could be used."

Their guide took them through a large opening into another room, and Va'del realized that there wasn't just one cave meant to be used for growing, but two.

"Won't they need two light sources if they have two rooms?"

Jasmin shook her head. "Plants do best with alternate periods of light and darkness. They can move a single light source between the two caverns, and more than double the yield they'd otherwise get from their crops."

Va'del nodded, struck by the simple genius of the idea and realizing for the first time on a truly fundamental level just how self-contained each village was. "Where does the village get its water? Do they have hot springs like mine did?"

Jasmin shook her head. "They don't. Instead, some of the heat from the village is allowed to escape up a slim hole to the outside. That results in the snow melting and trickling down into cisterns where it is stored until needed."

"If there aren't any hot springs, what provides the heat to keep the village from freezing?"

With a smile that lit up her pale-blue eyes, Jasmin asked the guard who was serving as their guide to take them to the heart chamber.

When the trio arrived, Va'del's breath was taken away by the sheer beauty of the fist-sized sapphire resting on the stone pedestal in the center of the room.

Stepping into the amazing heat of the room, Jasmin pointed at a series of holes bored into the top of the walls, barely visible in the soft, blue light provided by the sapphire. "Hot air rises, so these allow the heated air to circulate out to various parts of the village while the ones in the bottom allow cold air to come into the room."

Va'del shook his head in astonishment. "It is amazing. If it is so powerful, though, why doesn't it give off more light?"

Jasmin laughed, but it was an easy sound, not at all reproachful like the Jas'per's braying, mocking laughter. "The creator of the Heart Stone could have made it so that it gave off more light, but only at the cost of reducing the amount of heat it provided."

Va'del momentarily got the feeling that Jasmin was going to say something else, but she looked at their guide, and then seemed to think better of it.

"We'll be fine to make it down to the mines on our own. I remember the way, and am well acquainted with Master Miner Bac'tra."

After the guard had bowed and left, Jasmin turned to Va'del. "The creator of the Heart Stone was a Guadel. In fact, she comes through our lineage."

Responding to the look of confusion on the young man's face, Jasmin continued. "There is very rarely any real family relationship between the various people in a given Guadel lineage. Instead, those trained by a specific Guadel are typically considered to be of that Guadel's bloodline. Ironically enough, although we may be quite different in appearance, generally speaking we choose to train people similar to ourselves, and consequently the men of the bloodline will have the same qualities, and seek out the same kinds of wives."

Va'del nodded despite being sure there were subtleties he wasn't grasping. Encouraged, Jasmin finished her explanation as they left the heart room. "We're of the bloodline of Stephens. It was one of his three wives that created the Heart Stone after he died and she took up residence in the Capital. It is said it took her more than twenty years to finish it, despite being one of the most powerful magic users of her day."

Once the pair arrived at the mine entrance, they were met by a short man who was almost as heavily muscled as I'rone. Master Bac'tra greeted Jasmin with a nod, listened as she introduced him to Va'del and then looked him over with careful brown eyes. "You're a bit too tall to really be a miner, at least the way we mine around here."

_I wonder if that was part of why the master miner at home never approached me about becoming an apprentice. He always seemed a relatively decent fellow._

For all that the mines weren't as exciting as the heart room, Va'del felt as though Bac'tra had casually poured weeks worth of knowledge into his head. Different types of rocks, the way that seams tended to come together, and the likeliest places to find gemstones were all covered. It was enough to leave Va'del's mind spinning but nothing stuck with him quite like Bac'tra's parting comment.

"Once we're done with an area half the work is complete towards turning it to livable space for when the settlement grows. Space is never an issue. It's always the food as is the limiting factor."

##

The mood when Va'del awoke was even more serious than normal among the Guadel. When the young man finally questioned Jasmin she explained as well as she was able. "The Headman here is for the most part a good man. Usually he's scrupulously fair in his judgments, but he's also got a temper. Add in the fact he's spoiled his son more than he should have, and this may very well be one of those instances in which the woman asking for us to review He'lo's judgment is right."

Va'del shrugged as he ate a piece of dried fruit from their food stores. "So the three of you will find against the son and that will be the end of it."

Betreec overheard the explanation and shook her head. "Sometimes it's not that easy. Tradition and law grant people the right to appeal decisions to us, but that doesn't mean the rest of the villagers, or the Headman even, can't make life miserable for the person who asked for judgment."

Jasmin handed Va'del his sword as she continued. "Also, the balance of power between the Guadel and the Headman is a fragile thing. For all it's carefully delineated, we've just come from an example of just how difficult the headmen can make things for us if they're so inclined."

Jasmin's last few words were said with a kind of studied casualness that Va'del suddenly realized signified some importance. Before he could further examine the idea, I'rone led the four of them out of the guest rooms and off to the secluded cavern that would serve as the judgment room.

Although Va'del did his best to follow everything that was said, he found himself hard pressed to understand all of the particulars of what had happened between the widow and the Headman's son.

It took several cycles before I'rone finally nodded and sat back. He'd asked quiet questions about a variety of things that never would have crossed Va'del's mind, and Va'del wasn't sure what had prompted more than half of them.

Betreec asked the widow, the Headman and his son to leave, and then signaled for Va'del to remain quiet. Once the judgment room was empty but for the four of them, Jasmin closed her eyes briefly and then swayed as she opened them. "They won't be able to overhear us now, but let's be quick or I'll be so exhausted that you'll have to carry me back."

Betreec looked at Va'del. "I know that you aren't as well versed in law and the finer points of contracts as the rest of us, but what do you think about all of this?"

"I guess it all boils down to the question of whether or not the husband's death nullifies the agreement? If the contract is still in effect, then the Headman's son has to pay out a substantial sum. If not, then the widow is left essentially penniless."

I'rone nodded. "So is it in effect?"

Va'del opened his mouth, thought for a second, and then shrugged. "I don't really know, but it seems to me that the son is a bit of a sneak who has just latched on the excuse that the husband died as a way of getting out of paying a substantial amount of money."

The honest answer startled a chuckle out of Jasmin. "I think you're right, but unfortunately the question is whether or not the law supports him on this. He took a gamble, but in all fairness so did the husband. It wouldn't be right to protect the husband, or his widow, just because we don't particularly like the son."

"I don't know then."

I'rone picked up his copy of the agreement and pointed to a section, causing Betreec to nod in agreement. "I think you're right. This kind of accidental death isn't found among the dissolving agents. The fact that we've seen a number of contracts which do detail this kind of accident as nullifying a contract doesn't really serve as an excuse to nullify this particular one."

Despite her obvious weariness, Jasmin was also nodding now. "You're right, other than to show that they should have included a provision of that nature if they really wanted the contract to dissolve under those circumstances."

Once the three Guadel were in agreement, Va'del was sent out to summon everyone back into the room, and I'rone, of all people, issued the final judgment.

The normally terse Guadel waxed incredibly eloquent as he explained the relevant points of the contract, and why they'd decided as they had. In fact, I'rone did such a good job that when all was said and done, even the son didn't seem overly upset.

For all that I'rone's speech was exactly the kind of thing Va'del usually would have wanted to remember, when the massive man finished and sat down, the younger man found that he couldn't remember a word that had been said.

_She was so grateful. The relief on her face was the most amazing thing I've seen. She really didn't have anywhere else to turn for help. If not for the Guadel, she'd never have received justice. Jasmin and the others are trying to help me, just like they helped her._

The trip back to the guest rooms seemed to pass in a blur. Once the group arrived, Va'del turned to Jasmin. "I've thought about it, and if you're still willing I'd like you to make my arm heal faster. I'm sorry I got mad when you fixed my lungs. I'm ready now for whatever changes need to happen for me to become a Guadel if you'll all still have me."

Jasmin's expression instantly changed. She wasn't angry or unhappy with him in any way, but it was obvious he'd just crossed over into serious territory.

"What's occasioned this change, Va'del?"

If the expression was merely stern, the words were almost accusatory, and Va'del suppressed a sudden flash of hurt that Jasmin, of all people, would suddenly turn on him.

"I don't understand. I thought this is what you wanted. For me to become a Guadel, to be like you."

Jasmin shook her head. "What I want isn't an issue at the moment. Please answer the question. Why have you suddenly decided you're willing to do things that were so distasteful to you just a few days ago?"

Va'del suddenly realized the repercussions of failing this particular exam could be far reaching.

"I'm not sure. It's more of a feeling than anything I can really pin down. I guess I just want to be able to help people like you all just did by sitting in judgment. There are so many people out there who don't have anywhere to turn for help, and the Guadel are the helpers of last resort. I guess I can't think of any other way I could help so many people."

Jasmin studied his expression for several seconds and then finally nodded as her face relaxed into its usual smile. "Well then, I think it's time we see about getting that arm patched up so you can be ready to lend two good hands when they're needed."

## Chapter 5

Between the long journey from Screaming Wind Village, and the two cycles of one-armed weapons practice I'rone had put him through, Va'del was possibly the most tired he'd ever been, but he didn't really care. Not even the normal cycle's worth of law homework was enough to discourage him.

As Va'del shifted his sleeping mat so that it would shield him from the cold wall he was leaning against, Jasmin came over and asked to look at his arm. "It is healing up nicely now. I think we'll probably be able to pull the splint off tomorrow morning before we set out."

"Thanks. It will be nice to be able to switch which hand is holding Sleepy's guide rope."

Hearing her name, the gurra bleated from the darkened corner serving as a holding area for the animals.

Va'del and Jasmin both laughed. Jasmin looked over to the far end of the cavern where I'rone and Betreec were engaged in a discussion of their own, and then leaned in and whispered. "Last night when I worked on your arm I also made a little change that will make it easier for you to put on muscle for the next little while."

The teenager felt his eyes go big, but remembering he'd told her he was ready for whatever changes were necessary to become a Guadel, he stammered his quiet thanks as Jasmin continued. "It isn't quite tradition, we aren't supposed to make changes like that until you are approved by the Council and become an actual Guadel. I'rone definitely wouldn't approve; he's a firm believer in pain and suffering, but as hard as you seem determined to work yourself, I thought maybe you could use a little help. Besides, it isn't as though I'm building it for you like we do to keep I'rone in top shape. I'm just making it a little easier for you to put it on yourself."

Before Va'del could open his mouth to thank her again Jasmin shook her head. "This is the least I can do. I'm only sorry that we couldn't come sooner. Most of us suspected things were getting bad at Bitter Rocks, but if I'd had any idea how poorly you were being treated I would have found a way to convince I'rone and Betreec to defy the Council and come put Ma'del in his place."

Va'del knew that most people tried to frame their past actions in such a way as to make themselves look better. Jas'per, for one, had excelled at the practice, but he somehow knew Jasmin really meant every word of what she'd just said. Nearly overcome by emotion, he momentarily found it a little hard to breathe.

Smiling once again as if to relieve the seriousness of the moment, Jasmin handed him a piece of hard bread made from dried, ground mushrooms that they'd been given at the last village. "I'd better let you get back to work. You still need to perform your meditation and relaxation exercises."

A little more than a cycle later, Va'del found himself in bed listening to the others breathing. _Is this what it feels like to have a family? It has been so long I can't really remember, but I think so. Jasmin, at least, is starting to feel like an older sister._

##

Two days later, the group found itself in the last way cave before the village furthest from the Capital. Once everything was unpacked in the sprawling, multi-roomed cavern, Betreec went outside to get a feel for the weather while I'rone started into weapons instruction with Va'del.

Mindful of the fact that Jasmin had told him he should be starting to put muscle on more quickly than normal, Va'del tried to determine if it was any easier to hold his practice sword at the ready as his feet slowly crept across the rough surface of the cave floor. _Maybe a little easier. It's hard to tell, but it's still pretty early after the change._

I'rone whipped the slender length of his steel practice weapon around in a cut at Va'del's head that the teenager ducked before riposting with a stab that the older man gently deflected to the side with his dagger.

The pair moved back and forth across the floor raining blows down on each other for half a cycle before I'rone signaled an end. The Guadel then set Va'del to practicing specific parries and blows by himself while I'rone began his own exercises.

_I know I'm not pressing him yet, and he's being very careful not to press me too hard, but I'm getting better. In fact I think with my longer reach I could probably take Jas'per now._

A cycle later I'rone patted Va'del on the back and gestured for him to go do his reading and meditation. After thanking the Guadel for instructing him, Va'del walked over to Betreec who'd been staring at a yellow sapphire since shortly after she had finished her portion of the unpacking.

Looking up with a smile, Betreec rubbed her temples. "I'm sorry, were you waiting long?"

Va'del shook his head. "No, I just came over. Can I ask what you were doing?"

"Jasmin said she showed you the Heart Stone when we were at the village?"

The teen felt a thrill of excitement. "You're making another Heart Stone?"

Betreec shook her head. "No, nothing so ambitious or grand as that. It's just another sphere that will give off heat similarly to how the Heart Stone works, but not as powerful or hot. Each time we increase the number of Guadel on patrol, we have to provide them with light, heat, a way to keep the wind out, and a way to thicken the air up if they have to spend the night at too high of an altitude."

Jasmin came over from where she'd been cooking dinner and ruffled Va'del's hair despite his attempt to duck away. "Alternatively, anytime the Council decides to try and start a new village, the same kinds of things are needed."

Va'del was suddenly struck by the amount of time associated with each sphere, and the sheer number of spheres in a given village. "That is incredible, how often do we establish a new village?"

The younger of the two women smiled at the teenager, once again seeming to know where his thoughts were headed. "Not very often. The women among the Guadel, especially those who are at the Capital for some reason or another, spend thousands of cycles preparing the things necessary for such an event. That is why He'lo's request was so unusual. Once a village is established, the healer is the one who typically provides those kinds of things."

Betreec nodded. "On the other hand, if it allows the People as a whole to become less dependent on bringing food up from the lowlanders, the Council will be inclined to approve it. Especially if He'lo is really prepared to forgo a large amount of the goods that his jewels otherwise would entitle him to."

Jasmin rose to her feet again and gestured for Va'del to follow her back to his sleeping mat. "Betreec has agreed to forgo your usual legal instruction tonight so that we can spend some more time on your meditation."

Va'del suppressed a groan. "Great more cycles of imagining curtains parting, ice melting and picks chipping away at rock walls. It's gotten to where I dream about those things more nights than not. I don't suppose you'll tell me the point behind all of this?"

Jasmin shook her head. "Nope, a little frustrated curiosity is good for you. If it makes you feel any better, though, you seem to be doing quite well."

##

The group had been traveling for about a third of the day across the hard snow when Va'del noticed a curious, high-pitched whistling. The sound was so unnatural he immediately fell back far enough to ask Jasmin about it.

Jasmin's eyes suddenly got big and then lost focus briefly. Va'del turned in time to see I'rone's coat whip through the still air as though in a wind. The curious action was repeated three times, but by the second, I'rone had stopped walking and started scanning their surroundings with even more than his usual care.

Jasmin gave Va'del a gentle push to get him started, and the pair quickly rejoined I'rone and Betreec.

Panting slightly from exertion and nervousness, Jasmin leaned toward I'rone, speaking quietly. "Va'del heard high-pitched whistling ahead."

I'rone took a deep breath and then nodded. "Bag'ligs."

Va'del felt his blood run cold. _I thought they were just myths, the kinds of things parents threaten misbehaving children with._

I'rone handed his gurra's lead rope to Betreec, who sunk to the ground and closed her eyes.

Jasmin pulled on Va'del's arm to get his attention, her voice the barest whisper. "Don't panic. Do exactly as I'rone tells you, and we should have a chance unless it is a particularly large tribe."

Taking the lead rope to Va'del's gurra, Jasmin closed her eyes and sat down as well.

I'rone had drawn both of his weapons, and was moving with the deadly grace and controlled menace Va'del remembered from back in Bitter Rocks.

The first squat, ugly shapes came around a spur of rock, and Va'del felt his heart speed up as they were joined by more and more of the hairy, long-armed beasts.

_There are so many of them._

I'rone gestured Va'del closer, and then looked at the teenager with a kind of grim anticipation. "They'll attack as a single group. Follow and guard my back. If we can keep them from surrounding us, we have a chance."

For all that the Guadel gave the impression he was reigning himself back, his strides devoured ground at such a rate Va'del had to nearly run to keep up. The teenager drew his weapons once he caught up to I'rone, and then the pair waited for the dark mass to reach them.

_There can't be more than ten or so of them, it's all just like practice. Don't forget to breathe._

One moment, the creatures were creeping towards the humans before them, and then suddenly they were running. As the two groups crashed together, Va'del was too focused on staying alive to have energy for rational thought.

I'rone cut down the first two bag'ligs to reach him with brutal arcs of his sword that left gaping wounds, and then carried the fight forward. I'rone seemed to slide effortlessly around attacks, stabbing and slashing with an ease that made his heavy weapons appear weightless, but even his momentum was finally overcome by the sheer mass of biting and clawing forms before him, at which point, Va'del was able to catch up.

The teenager swung his sword as hard as he could at one of the creatures that was trying to edge through the bloody snow around I'rone's right side, and nearly lost his weapon as it sliced into the creature's flesh.

The next few minutes of fighting were a blur of dodges and desperate parries interspersed with blows that just served to keep the bag'ligs from swarming I'rone under.

As suddenly as the charge had started, it ended, and Va'del found himself collapsing to the ground, his weapons falling from numb hands, as I'rone gracefully dispatched the last of the creatures.

Va'del tried to get back to his feet, but his body seemed unwilling to respond. While he was still trying to find his feet, I'rone easily picked him up and slung him over a shoulder. The sight of the bloody snow sliding away below him faded away to nothing as he momentarily passed out.

Va'del came to as Jasmin stripped off what was left of his coat to bind four large slashes that'd somehow appeared on his ribs.

"I don't remember those. I guess I didn't dodge everything I thought I had."

Jasmin shook her head in exasperation as she worked, but a sound off to the left captured his attention before he could ask her what was wrong.

Looking around, Va'del saw that I'rone was undergoing much the same procedure from Betreec, although for a collection of much shallower wounds. The massive Guadel looked over and once he realized Va'del was awake, a broad grin flashed across his face. "Good job. Very good indeed."

##

The trip the rest of the way to the village was blessedly short, and once Jasmin had him properly bandaged, Va'del was able to make it under his own power with only a small amount of stumbling. Even so, when the group found itself inside the dark tunnel leading to the village, Va'del's knees nearly buckled with relief.

A greater than usual number of guards had been stationed at the mouth of the cave, and once Betreec explained that they'd already dispatched the bag'ligs, there was no end of hands that were willing to steady Va'del, help unpack the gurra, and carry the Guadel's bags to the guest quarters.

##

When Va'del finally woke, it was several cycles past mid morning. He felt more than a little sheepish at having slept in so late, until he tried to sit up and the motion pulled at his wounds.

Betreec must have heard him shuffling around. She came to check on him while he was still trying to gather the things he'd need for a bath. "How do you feel?"

Va'del's groan was quite theatrical, but he honestly felt better than he'd expected to and said as much.

"Jasmin accelerated the healing process and fought off an infection already. You should be more or less back to normal in a day or so."

The Guadel shifted from one foot to the other in a way that Va'del had come to realize meant that she was trying to figure out the best way to phrase a question. Finally the older woman shrugged and just asked it.

"What is driving this sudden change? You've attacked your weapons instruction, the legal readings you've been given, and even your meditation with a gusto that's markedly different than the first little while you were with us? Frankly it has me more than a little worried."

Va'del felt confusion settle on him. "I don't understand. I thought you'd be happy I was doing so much better. I thought you'd be pleased."

Betreec sighed. "I am happy, and I don't suppose all of this really makes much sense, but the fact you're doing better isn't any more important than the _reason_ you've decided to change. Why are you working so much harder?"

Tears started to form in the corners of Va'del's eyes. "My whole life I've been picked on and ridiculed. I've always been different, and different has always been bad."

The teenager wiped the nascent tears away. "Now you tell me those differences are part of what makes me potentially able to become like I'rone, and I want that more than anything, so I can help people too."

Looking Betreec in the eyes, Va'del tried to will her to know the truth of what he was saying. "The widow at the last village, we were her only hope of justice, and we gave it to her. I want to help those like me, the ones without anywhere else to turn."

The older woman finally nodded and pulled Va'del towards her in a hug. "That's what Jasmin said you'd say, but we had to be sure. To be able to right wrongs, we have to have power beyond that of most people, and that power is easily misused by those who seek power simply for power's sake."

Va'del looked up at Betreec through eyes that were blurry once more. "Does that mean you aren't going to send me away?"

"No, we aren't going to send you away, and if you continue to be the same thoughtful, caring young man you are right now, I have every confidence you'll someday make a very fine Guadel."

##

For Va'del, the rest of the day had mostly been spent reading law books and meditating while Jasmin had tested a variety of scared-looking girls and anxious young men for the qualities that would make them potential Guadel or healers.

Under normal circumstances, the teenager would have been itching to get out of bed and do something physical, but whatever Jasmin had done to make him heal faster had exhausted him. Just a few cycles after he awoke for the day, he found himself lying back down and falling asleep for the night.

The next morning found Va'del awake at his usual time, keyed up and ready for weapons practice.

Surprisingly enough, I'rone had chosen to have Va'del practice with some of the guardsmen, and the teenager quickly realized just how much better he'd become since he'd left home. _I'm not the best here, but I'm not the worst either, and some of the people he's matched me up against are blooded from fights against bag'ligs._

I'rone, on the other hand, _was_ the best present, and not by a small margin. The massive Guadel was skilled enough he could take the two next best fighters three fights out of five, but watching his mentor in between fights, Va'del was struck not by I'rone's unquestionable skill, but rather by the fact he seemed just a pale shadow of the warrior the teen had seen cut down eight bag'ligs with almost negligent ease.

Suddenly bits and pieces of things Jasmin had said over the last few weeks combined with observations he'd made, creating a picture he somehow knew was right. _His wives, they're somehow making him more than human._

Once I'rone released him from practice, Va'del sought out Jasmin. "You and Betreec did something to make I'rone so much faster during the fight with the bag'ligs didn't you? You make him faster and stronger."

Jasmin put the harness she'd been mending down and nodded. "You're right. I'rone is amazing by himself, but it is the augmentation Betreec and I do that makes him capable of fighting off three or four opponents. Of course, you must not ever let anyone in the villages know that. If they find out, the female Guadel would be even more vulnerable than they are already."

Va'del nodded in understanding. "So the exercises you are having me do are what makes it possible for someone to link?"

Jasmin's eyes suddenly lit up. "Yes, and now that you know what they are for, there isn't any reason we can't link to show you what it's like."

Stretching tired muscles, the teen shrugged. "If you say so, I would have thought it'd be proscribed."

"Well, it is frowned upon. Usually you wouldn't link until just before you were accepted by the Council, but Stephens' bloodline has always been more than a little unorthodox. I'rone and Betreec have more or less approved the idea, so let's give it a try. If this all works, go back out to I'rone and he'll put you through your paces."

Va'del soon found himself meditating cross-legged on one of the thick rugs that protected the guest rooms' inhabitants from the icy cold of the rock floor.

Having a purpose to the exercises somehow made it easier to focus on the melting walls of ice, to ignore the vague sense of pressure on the outside of his mind. Va'del found he was able to vividly picture the trickling streams of water rolling down the ice, weakening it to the point where a simple push would shatter it, and then Jasmin was suddenly inside his mind.

The Guadel's presence seemed to snap into place with a mental pop, and tired muscles were suddenly energized as everything slowed down to a snail's pace. The web of light Jasmin was creating inside Va'del's mind became more intricate, and the effect increased until his body seemed to hum with power and energy.

Rising to his feet and snatching up his practice weapons, the teenager found that even a task as mundane as walking had somehow changed. The faster Va'del tried to walk, the more the cool air seemed to resist his efforts, but it didn't matter as much as it would have otherwise because his body felt strong and seemed to welcome the fight. If nothing else, it represented a way to bleed off some of the energy flickering back and forth between his limbs.

The walk out to the cavern where I'rone and the guards were practicing seemed to take far longer than normal, but once Va'del arrived and saw how slowly everyone was moving he realized just how much faster he was really moving.

I'rone looked up from the practice forms he'd been doing, and Va'del had the satisfaction of seeing the Guadel's eyes slowly widen.

At I'rone's command, the guardsmen in the cavern stopped what they were doing and fell back to create a circle. The process was slow enough that Va'del's attention wandered to other things, like the subtle tightness of his skin where his muscles had swollen beyond their normal size, or the pleasant sense of warmth flowing from his navel out to the rest of his body.

Looking up Va'del saw that three of the guardsmen had remained in the circle, and were slowly bringing their weapons up in a salute to him. An incredible sense of eagerness washed over the teenager, and he drew his own practice weapons and returned their salute while walking forward.

Normally it would have looked like the guardsmen attacked as one, but Va'del found he had plenty of time in which to analyze their expressions and determine who would strike first. It then became a simple matter to intercept the first blow with his sword while sliding far enough to the right that the second guardsman's strike was easily parried with his dagger.

The normally complicated task of monitoring two weapons had become easy due to the simple fact that Va'del had plenty of time to shift his attention back and forth between the two, ensuring each was moving in a perfect arc to land where he wanted it.

The third guardsman was a heartbeat behind his fellows, and Va'del took advantage of their dispersion to snap his foot out in one of the powerful kicks I'rone had been teaching him. The blow took the guardsman in the side and launched him back into the spectators.

The first two guardsmen had disengaged and attacked again, but Va'del easily dodged the first blow while parrying the second with his dagger. Before either opponent could recover, Va'del's sword licked out and gave each what would have been mortal wounds.

A sudden whistling sound from behind the teenager clued him into a new attack, but the air seemed to push against him as he tried to spin around, slowing him just enough that I'rone's sword gently bounced against his ribs.

As quickly as that, the world returned to normal, speeding up until it was just as he remembered it, and Va'del was left panting from exertion.

I'rone clapped his protege on the back. "Good. The blade you don't see will be the one that ends up marking you." Giving the young man a gentle push, I'rone sent him back to the guest quarters, where he found Jasmin asleep.

Betreec came out of the other room and smiled at Va'del. "The poor thing is exhausted, but she'll be okay after a good day's rest. She burned up her reserves during the fight with the bag'ligs, and with the testing we've been doing, hasn't had a good chance to replenish them yet."

The euphoric high Va'del had felt after seeing how the guardsmen had been looking at him came crashing down as he realized what it had cost Jasmin. "You're sure she'll be okay?"

The older wife nodded. "She's fine. She has a good heart that one, but even so, she wouldn't exhaust herself like that for just anyone. You're important to her, important to us all really, but especially her."

Va'del nodded past the lump in his throat. The feeling he'd finally found a family was back, and somehow he didn't think it would ever leave. _As long as I have these three, I'll never be quite so alone again._

## Chapter 6

The leave taking from the village earlier that morning had been harder than Va'del expected. It'd been obvious the villagers still didn't know everything about the Guadel and their powers, but they knew much more than the people in Screaming Wind, and as a consequence, their welcome had been warmer, and their stay much more relaxed.

The villagers had actually been sorry to see the Guadel leave, which had shocked Va'del. It was quickly becoming apparent that a small change in how the villagers perceived the Guadel made a huge difference in how I'rone's family was treated. More and more, Va'del was realizing just how little sense it made for the Guadel to exert so much effort to remain a mystery.

The path the small group followed had broadened out enough for Jasmin and Va'del to walk side-by-side. The heavy coats and hoods they all wore made it hard to tell much about what a person was thinking, but Va'del nevertheless had the feeling Jasmin was deep in thought.

As reluctant as he was to interrupt her solitude, the questions pulling at Va'del's thoughts were so insistent he finally cleared his throat.

"I thought bag'ligs were lowland beasts—what brought them up so high?"

Jasmin picked her way across the hardened snow, her breath frosting the air before her, for nearly a minute before answering. "They are lowland beasts, but they do sometimes come up this high when they have reason."

"What kind of reason would drive them up where there isn't really any food?"

The hooded figure next to him stopped for a second before pulling on her gurra's lead and continuing on. "I don't know for sure, none of us really know why such a large group would come up this high, but I'rone suspects that they were driven up here, possibly as a kind of weapon. There aren't many lowlanders who can survive up here, but if they wanted to make life more difficult for us they could always push the bag'ligs up the mountain. The elevation doesn't bother bag'ligs as much as it does people."

Va'del's question as to why someone would hate the People so much was cut short as I'rone suddenly stopped, his head sweeping rapidly back and forth, scanning an arc before them. Betreec took the lead to I'rone's gurra as Jasmin and Va'del hurried over to her side.

Jasmin took Va'del's lead and tapped his sword hilt as she gave him a nervous smile. Within moments both women had sunk into the trances that would allow them to augment I'rone's speed and strength, and Va'del's heart was racing.

As the now-familiar air of deadliness and grace settled on I'rone; the Guadel pulled Va'del to him. "Be ready to protect the women if I fall."

While the teenager was still processing the words, I'rone took off at a run through the snow towards the unseen danger. The whole situation seemed so surreal to Va'del that he had a hard time believing it wasn't all a dream until six rough-looking men rose from behind a snow drift and pointed crossbows at the lone figure running toward them.

Heart in his throat, Va'del watched six quarrels leap from the crossbows and streak towards I'rone. _He's dead. Maybe if I charge them before they can reload?_

Amazingly, none of the deadly projectiles found I'rone. Instead, he dodged some of them and even knocked one or two out of the air with his weapons before rushing forward to engage the attackers.

Va'del nearly stopped his headlong flight towards the attackers, thinking that if I'rone had been able to handle eight bag'ligs that he'd be able to handle six men. _But the bag'ligs were shorter and didn't have swords of their own. Once they've cut him down they'll use the crossbows to kill the rest of us._

I'rone cut down the first bandit before anyone else could reach him, but the next three engaged him at the same time, and he was only able to kill one of those before the last two attackers joined their fellows.

Va'del was now half way to the battle, his lungs burning from the cold air and his legs starting to tremble slightly from the effort of running with ice spikes strapped to his boots.

The four men seemed to be pressing I'rone sorely now. He still moved so quickly Va'del couldn't follow what was happening with his eyes, but streaks of red were starting to appear on the Guadel's massive body as more and more of the blows he was dodging didn't quite miss.

Va'del stumbled and fell down as a particularly complex exchange resulted in one of the men reeling away with what appeared to be a mortal wound. The teenager scrambled back to his feet just as a scream from behind him brought his head around in time to see Betreec slump backwards, a stubby quarrel protruding from her chest as a pair of gurra fled back the way they'd come.

_Oh, Powers! There was one more. He circled around behind us._

A flicker of motion as the bandit disappeared behind a snow drift to reload his crossbow told Va'del where the shot had come from, and he once again broke into a run.

_Jasmin is still okay; maybe that will be enough._

Questions about whether or not Betreec was already dead, or if I'rone was still capable of facing three men with only Jasmin's help, were secondary to the need to run, to put his body between Jasmin and the crossbow.

Under other circumstances, Va'del might have been able to make it, but not tired and hindered by the snow. Va'del hadn't quite covered half of the distance to the crossbowman when another quarrel sliced through the air and tore into Jasmin.

The sounds of fighting from behind had grown fainter, but there was no time to check whether or not I'rone had managed to kill his attackers before the loss of his wives had made him nothing more than a normal man facing incredible odds.

_Maybe she can still heal herself._

The bitter wind pulled at Va'del, but couldn't disguise the sound of footsteps behind him as he got near enough to hear the bandit swearing at his weapon and the bulky windlass that served to ready the crossbow for its next shot.

Just as the teenager felt a sliver of hope that he'd make it before the crossbow was ready, a scruffy-faced bandit appeared above the snow drift and leveled the deadly weapon.

Va'del tried to throw himself to the side, only to realize as the quarrel flashed past that it wasn't aimed at him. A crashing sound announced that I'rone had been hit, and then Va'del was upon the bandit.

Nearly overcome as he was by rage, it was fortunate his opponent wasn't very skilled with a sword, or Va'del would have been killed in the first careless exchange of blows.

Once the bandit lay dead at his feet, Va'del dropped his weapons and ran over to Jasmin. _Oh, Powers, she isn't breathing. There isn't a pulse either._

Betreec was already starting to cool, and Va'del felt his world start to crumble as tears formed in his eyes and then coursed down his face.

"Boy, Va'del, come here." The words were weak and full of pain, but recognizable, and Va'del blindly started back towards the sound of I'rone's voice.

"They're dead, they're both dead. I'm so sorry, it was my fault. I should have stayed where I was."

I'rone shook his head, which started him coughing weakly. "Don't blame yourself. Jasmin wouldn't have wanted you to think it was your fault."

Looking at the smooth shaft protruding from the Guadel's heaving chest, Va'del wondered how long I'rone could last. "The gurra ran off, and I can't carry you. Can you walk?"

I'rone shook his head. "Go back to the village. They'll send a group out with a litter."

Va'del felt tears start down his face again. "No, I won't leave you."

"You have to. There isn't any other way to get help."

##

The trip back was a thing of nightmare. Va'del couldn't run, but he pushed himself to the point where his legs trembled and his lungs burned, and then tried to find the energy to go faster. Halfway back to the village, the hint of breeze that'd been present all morning became something strong enough to provide a solid push. It brought a measure of relief to the teenager's tired body, but also increased the risk he'd be pushed into a misstep that would send him tumbling down the mountain to his death.

_I can't let that happen, I'rone is depending on me, and I can't let him down again._

Despite the tears still flowing down Va'del's cheeks, dropping to his coat to freeze unnoticed, he got the feeling he was in a state of shock. His mind struggled to protect him from feeling the full effects of the loss he'd just experienced. Even so, the exhaustion he felt as he stumbled the last few steps to the village entrance was as much emotional as it was physical.

Concerned guardsmen caught Va'del as he collapsed, and as soon as they recognized him, a runner was sent for the village Headman. Va'del's strength was gone, but he tried to choke out his message around coughs before the darkness claimed him. As he heard footsteps running down the corridor towards them, the teenager lost his battle and slipped into unconsciousness.

## Chapter 7

The darkness seemed petulant in its desire to hold Va'del. No matter how the teenager tried to fight his way back to consciousness, it seemed that a series of unexplainable forces were effectively immobilizing him.

Only after Va'del had exhausted himself in a futile effort to awake, did it occur to him to wonder why it was so important he do so. _Powers, we have to get back out there._

His sense of urgency redoubled, Va'del finally forced his eyes open and looked around at unfamiliar surroundings which were barely illuminated by a partially-covered glow sphere.

The teenager's cries for help came out sounding like nothing he'd ever heard from a human throat. It wasn't until he thrashed weakly in an attempt to get out of bed that he finally captured someone's attention. Gentle but firm hands were soon restraining him.

"Hold still, you're too weak to get up."

_She doesn't understand, I have to._

"If you don't stop now I'll gladly put you back under. Your lungs were burned worse than any others I've ever seen. I'm not about to go to the effort of clearing the liquid out of them again if you overdo it." Once Va'del stopped moving the hands disappeared and the covering was removed from the glow sphere. "If you promise to stay there I'll send for the Headman so you can ask your questions."

Not trusting his voice, Va'del nodded, and then waited while the healer disappeared behind the privacy screen. When the ancient, white-haired woman returned, she was carrying a steel tray piled with food and drink.

"You're probably too weak still to manage this by yourself."

Va'del quickly found that the healer was right. His hands were willing to make the effort, but they shook too badly.

A short time later a stocky man arrived. As Va'del looked over the balding man, he realized he'd never met the Headman prior to this.

The Headman pulled one of the low metal chairs around, and sat down facing the healer and her patient. "I'm Headman Allen; how do you feel?"

When Va'del didn't respond, the Headman sighed. "I suppose that is a foolish question for someone that has been asleep for the last two days isn't it? We sent a group out this morning. Would have sent one out yesterday, but the winds were too bad. Honestly I'm not sure how you made it back with that wind howling at you the entire way."

The slim hope Va'del had been holding out withered away. There was no way I'rone could have survived two full days in the cold without help. The teenager wanted to scream and swear at the Headman, at the healer, at the unfeeling heavens, but even in despair he knew that it wasn't really their fault. _No, it's entirely my fault._

##

The cold once again tore at Va'del's skin while a slight breeze did its best to slip abrasive snow and ice crystals through his hood to rub his face raw. He didn't bother adjusting his hood; it was such a small pain compared to everything else he was feeling.

The party of villagers had returned a few cycles after the Headman had first talked to Va'del, and it hadn't really surprised anyone that they'd brought only corpses back with them.

The burial in the village's mushroom medium had taken place the next day, despite the fact that Va'del had to be carried down to take the place of the Guadel's family. At the end of the ceremony, Ja'mi, the healer, had slipped Va'del two leather pouches that had proved to contain a variety of gemstones, some of which had given off soft light.

As he'd clutched Betreec's yellow sapphire, Va'del had been struck that it was the only legacy the trio was leaving behind.

The villagers had all shunned Va'del. Even the Headman had ignored the teenager after the ceremony other than to tell him they expected a supply train in the next few weeks, and that he'd be turned over to whichever Guadel accompanied it.

Despite there being no one to monitor or instruct Va'del, he'd resumed his legal studies as soon as Sleepy and Hungry had appeared at the village with their packs still full.

The return of the gurra had one last benefit; packed away among Sleepy's bags had been the tiny knife Va'del had secreted in his sling, and carried for so long before that. The knife was once again the teen's constant companion, and he'd taken some comfort in the knowledge that he had a way out.

By the time the caravan arrived, Va'del had been back on his feet and practicing his weapons skills for two weeks. The villagers had left food and water near the guest rooms each day, but always in such a manner as to convey their preference not to talk to him.

Once the supply train and the Guadel arrived, Va'del's hope he'd be around people who would treat him as I'rone and his wives had was quickly shattered. Va'del's interaction with the caravan had been so limited that an entire week had passed before he realized he only knew one person's name.

He'd spent enough time eavesdropping to learn a couple of other names since, but none of the rest of the party had ever acknowledged his existence. _They all just expect me to catch on as to what needs done, and then more or less pretend I don't exist._

Va'del found himself stroking the lump underneath his bulky clothing that represented his tiny knife as he remembered the handful of conversations he'd had with Pa'tric after they were on the road. He might have protested his treatment but for the fact that he knew he deserved it. He'd practically killed I'rone, Betreec and Jasmin with his own hands.

The camp the night before had been the worst. Va'del had once again found himself nudged off to one side, away from everyone else. When he'd begun practicing his sword forms, Pa'tric had come over to watch for several minutes before shrugging, disinterest plain on his handsome face. "I'm not going to stop you child, you may as well keep going. There is always a chance that they won't...well, there is always a chance."

Somehow, until that moment, Va'del hadn't really considered that he might not get a chance to pursue his education as a Guadel, that they might not give him an opportunity to atone for what he'd done.

Sleepy paused for a moment, sniffing the wind with anticipation, and then started forward with such eagerness that Va'del was nearly pushed off his feet.

A few more steps revealed the reason that the gurra was so excited. A combination of wind and unnaturally warm air had scoured the snow away from the gray rock of a mostly natural tunnel.

_We're here._

Va'del had half expected the Capital to be different than Bitter Rocks or Screaming Wind, but the entryway was nothing more than the same rough tunnels he'd known his entire life. Generations of foot traffic had worn lines into the stone, but other than that he could have been in any other village.

Va'del followed the rest of the group through the near darkness towards the musky scent of gurra. Once they reached the stables, he unpacked Sleepy and Hungry while the rest of the group ignored him. A pair of boys roughly the same age as Va'del, appeared as soon as the two gurra were unpacked and led them away with promises they'd be rubbed down and fed.

Looking up from the heavy packs, Va'del found that Pa'tric and the others had already disappeared, replaced by a pair of grim-faced guardsmen who looked unsure as to his exact status.

The older-looking guard stepped forward and cleared his throat, nervously watching Va'del's hands. "We're to see you to your assigned quarters if you're ready to go."

_What would you do if I simply refused to go? Bundle me up and carry me? I don't suppose that I deserve any better._ Va'del nodded and shouldered the entire load of baggage. It was obvious neither of the guards was going to offer assistance.

The walk down the dimly-lit corridors of the Capital towards his room was every bit as bad as Va'del's fears from before he'd left home. The trio didn't pass very many people, but the ones they did pass all stopped and stared until they were well out of sight.

For all its walls were a darker shade of gray he found incredibly depressing, Va'del's room didn't have the look of a prison cell. Still, he only heard one set of footsteps depart, so one of the guardsmen had stayed to stand guard.

Sighing, Va'del tried to ignore his empty stomach. Instead he walked over to the tiny glow sphere and used one of the nearby cloth coverings to mute the light down to a level where he could still see, but where colors started to lose their distinctiveness. _That is why he was looking at my hands in the stables. It was just bright enough for him to see that my skin was the wrong color. One more mark against me. Legacy of a dead lowlander mother._

After so many weeks of packing and unpacking his gear, it no longer took Va'del very long to put his few things in a semblance of order. After just a quarter cycle, he found himself looking at the remaining packs and wondering what to do with Jasmin's things. _I suppose someone will come take them away, and then I won't have anything left to remember her by._

Before Va'del could sink further into depression, he heard a loud clap just past the privacy turn.

The pair who walked into the room at Va'del's invitation were obviously married, and just as obviously Guadel in a manner that went beyond the paired weapons at the man's waist or his sheer size.

Va'del found himself backing up slightly without meaning to. It wasn't that either of his visitors was overtly threatening, but something in their carriage seemed to demand respect. The man was nearly as hulking as I'rone; he towered over the woman who looked old and frail enough to be blown away by a strong wind. Despite their differences, Va'del was struck by how similar they looked. _It goes past their white hair and wrinkled skin, it is almost like a similarity in purpose._

The man moved with the grace of a snow leopard and an air of command, but he was polite. "May we sit?"

Va'del nodded, taking one of the low metal chairs once the other two were seated.

"My name is Javin, and this is my wife On'li. You are named Va'del are you not?"

The teenager nodded, but found that he was reluctant to say anything. Almost as if sensing this reluctance, On'li smiled gently. "I know that you've had a hard time of things, and I doubt that Pa'tric and the others helped by doing anything as mundane as treating you like a real person, but we need to hear your story from the time you left your village."

Just the thought of relating the painful series of events was nearly enough to make Va'del refuse, but the tiny woman before him smiled once again, and pulled the loose sleeves of her tunic up past her elbows in an unconscious act that seemed to indicate she was willing to get to work to fix whatever needed fixing.

Va'del started haltingly recounting the days as he remembered them, and if tears oftentimes came, even Javin didn't seem to think that they were unwarranted. When the teenager finally told the story of the ambush that had resulted in the death of his adoptive family, he completely broke down.

"It was all my fault; if I would have stayed next to Jasmin and Betreec, I would have been able to save them."

The Guadel let him cry for several minutes before On'li cleared her throat and asked for clarification on one last point. "You say I'rone told you to protect Jasmin and Betreec?"

Va'del nodded, feeling a stab of pain at the fresh reminder of his failure.

"He didn't say specifically that you were to stay with them, just that you were to protect them?"

After the teenager had once again nodded, On'li sighed. "Va'del, I hate to ask this of you. I know that it will feel like an invasion of privacy, and I'm little more than a stranger to you, but I need to look at your mind the same way that Jasmin and Betreec did."

Javin cut in before the teenager could respond. "You should know that you are no longer truly one of the villagers, and as an apprentice to I'rone no one can do this without your consent."

Va'del found himself inclined to like both of the Guadel before him, but the thought of someone strange inside his mind again, filled the young man with something closely related to terror. It had been bad enough with Jasmin and Betreec, both of whom had believed the best about him. How much worse would it be with someone who knew he'd killed all three of his new family?

"What happens if I refuse?"

On'li was quiet for several seconds, but when she spoke she didn't seem offended at the question. "There are a number of questions currently that need answered. One is whether or not you need punished for the events that led to the death of I'rone and his family, and if so what the punishment should be."

_How can there be any question? I killed them._

"That question must, for the most part, be answered by Javin and me. The other matter before us is whether or not you are suitable for continued instruction with an eye towards becoming one of the Guadel. Ordinarily that is a matter left to the individual Guadel family until training is complete, at which point the entire Council must approve or reject the candidate."

Va'del's mind was reeling with questions he wanted to ask about all of the references to things he'd never heard about, but On'li continued before he could open his mouth.

"Given the unusual nature of all of this, there are those on the Council who will argue that you should be rejected now rather than waiting until a lengthy apprenticeship has been completed. For those individuals, a refusal to allow me to examine your mind will serve as evidence you're hiding something."

Javin appeared on the verge of saying something, but his wife placed her hand on his and shook her head.

Looking back and forth between the two, Va'del felt his desire to be punished war with the slim hope he might be able to continue the work that I'rone and his wives had been doing. _That would allow me to hunt down men like those bandits who deserve death._

The teen finally shrugged. "Do what you have to do and I'll try not to fight you."

On'li nodded and then scooted her chair forward carefully to avoid catching her flowing pants. As the frail old woman placed gentle hands on Va'del's forehead, he started to run through the exercises Jasmin had taught him.

Just as the teenager felt himself relax mentally, the barest hint of alien presence at the edge of his mind caused him to tense and fight the intrusion. Va'del immediately felt sick but he fought to relax, to endure the intrusion. _Fighting her won't accomplish anything._

Time seemed to stand still as Va'del fought to suppress the reflex to mentally shoulder On'li aside, but it seemed it was somehow slightly easier than it had been with Jasmin that first time. Even so, when the Guadel finally sighed and sat back in her chair, Va'del was almost completely exhausted.

Wiping away a thin trace of blood that had made its way down her face, On'li looked over to Jasmin's bags. "Are those their things?"

Va'del nodded. "Most of what was found. I think Pa'tric has a few other odds and ends, but that's everything else."

Suddenly remembering the gemstones in the pouch hanging from his neck, Va'del dropped his eyes for a moment. "There are also these."

Taking the proffered bag, On'li looked inside and then looked up with a smile. "What is it?"

"I don't really have anything to remember them by. Betreec was working on the yellow sapphire. She said it was still a long way from being done, so I'd hoped I could keep it."

Va'del wanted to curse himself for stupidity as soon as the words left his mouth, but it was too late to take them back.

On'li poured the gemstones out into Javin's massive hands, and then picked through them until she'd found the yellow sapphire and a slightly larger ruby. "The ruby is also unfinished—I assume it was Jasmin's. I can't promise you'll be able to keep them indefinitely, but for now I think your sponsors would have wanted you to have them."

The rest of the jewels went back into the tiny gurra-skin bag. Va'del tried to scramble to his feet as the Guadel rose, but On'li waved him back into his chair. "You need some sleep after all that's happened.

Javin reached down and easily shouldered the harness containing all of the packs. After they disappeared, it took several lonely cycles before Va'del finally managed to fall into a restless slumber.

## Chapter 8

On'li followed Javin into the empty Council room and took her usual seat at the round, stone table next to him. This early they were all but guaranteed some privacy in which to fine-tune their approach to the coming meeting.

"It's days like this that make me wish we didn't head up the Stephens bloodline. For all that sometimes I hated being out on circuit, it was a walk in the park compared to dealing with the Council."

Javin snorted. "We're too old for anything else."

"You're right. Too old, and Mar'li would be miserable out there among all of those strangers. She's never had the disposition to do field work. We're like pack gurra that are too old to carry anything so we've been retired back to just producing wool for the last few years of our lives."

Javin shrugged and turned back to business. "The boy isn't helping his case."

"You're right. He's all but begging to be the whipping boy for what happened to I'rone and the others. We'll have to be very careful to keep him away from the rest of the Council or we'll never have a shot at getting him through to his final vows. Of course if something like that hadn't left a mark he'd hardly be the kind of lad we'd be interested in getting sponsored again. Still, we'll have to manage him carefully. If he displays even a touch of arrogance or callousness over the next few months, it's done for."

"At least we can see to it he's not punished."

There was steel behind her husband's tone, but she knew how much it would cost him to lay out the arguments they'd spent the last day or so perfecting. He'd made enormous strides in the last thirty years, but at heart he was still the shy, retiring young man he'd been when they'd first met.

They sat in silence for several seconds as On'li absently leafed through Jasmin's journal. The document made a compelling case for having Va'del sponsored, but ultimately they couldn't use it to that end. After seeing I'rone and his wives cut down, it was all too likely that Va'del was going to experience some drastic personality shifts. She'd already detected a mind that was much more driven than what Jasmin described.

It was almost scary to think of sponsoring someone who could change so drastically over the next few years, but the boy held such potential. Spending more time inside his mind would increase her understanding of his character, but only at an increased risk of ruining him later on.

No person could endure the utter invasion of having someone they didn't trust inside their mind on an ongoing basis without eventually strengthening their reflexive defense to the point where it was simply too strong to overcome.

Javin rubbed slow circles on her back, sensing the serious bent of her thoughts.

"Things will work out."

"How can you be so sure? We're down to just three families in the bloodline now. That's got to affect my desire to sponsor the boy. On the other hand, the repercussions of sponsoring someone with his potential if he goes bad are almost unimaginable."

"It'll work out."

They passed the remaining half cycle before the others arrived in companionable silence, and then all too soon the other members of the Council began drifting in and taking their seats at the table. They all tended towards more experienced, if not downright old, but had very little physical similarities otherwise.

The men ranged from the impressive physiques of true warriors to the slender build of scholars or diplomats. The women were likewise disparate in form. Some of On'li's counterparts were even more fragile looking than she was while others were clearly eating far more than their share of the People's limited resources.

A'vril, currently serving as the Goddess' Heart, stood and took charge once the last pair had taken their seats.

"In my capacity as head of this Council, I call this session to order. The Arm will please seal the chamber."

A'vril's husband, Jas'on, nodded from the doorway and then swung a massive stone door, the only real door in the entire Capital, closed.

The Council ran through a number of minor items before A'vril opened the floor for discussion about Va'del.

Javin stood to be recognized, and then made his case. "With regard to the discipline of young Va'del, we, as the head of his bloodline, feel he was not directly responsible for the death of I'rone and his family."

Ja'dir jumped to his feet and pounded his well-manicured hands on the stone table. "I object to your assuming responsibility for this matter. This Va'del is clearly unsponsored, and consequently does not fall under the oversight of a specific bloodline. The question of whether or not his cowardice resulted in the death of three very promising members of the Guadel should be a matter for the Council as a whole to decide."

Javin looked at his colleague calmly, but On'li had known her husband long enough to know that he wanted nothing quite so much as to put Ja'dir in his place. "At the time of the incident, Va'del _was_ sponsored by I'rone and his family. The decision is ours."

A'vril held up a hand for a second and then nodded. "Javin has the right of this. Ja'dir, you will quit trying to contest this matter and allow Javin to apprise the Council of his decision."

Nodding respectfully, Javin continued. "There is no indication that Va'del disobeyed a direct order. By his account, I'rone instructed him to protect Jasmin and Betreec, but naught was specifically said concerning his remaining with them. Additionally, there is nothing to indicate Va'del's having remained with the two wives would have saved them, and therefore there is no charge of negligence."

On'li rose to stand by her husband, looking around the circular room at each of the Councilors. "Before you ask, I've examined Va'del's mind and deception is not part of his nature; there is every reason to believe he's telling the truth regarding I'rone's commands to him."

Ja'dir shot On'li a venomous look and she wondered, not for the first time, how so many people, most of whom she sincerely believed were trying to do their best, could spend so much time arguing. _Of course, he probably wouldn't be quite such a pompous fool if he didn't listen to the even bigger fools in his bloodline. Like Pa'tric._

"Additionally, Jasmin's journal was among the things Va'del brought back and she has nothing but praise for the young man. She indicated multiple times that he was earnest in his efforts to please I'rone's family and do as they asked. There is no doubt but that it is complete, and done in her handwriting. As for cowardice, before being ambushed by the human bandits, Va'del assisted I'rone in destroying a large group of bag'ligs. The boy dispatched two of the beasts himself."

A'vril nodded her appreciation for On'li's summary, and the older woman resumed her seat as Javin continued. "Based on this, Va'del will not be punished in any way."

## Chapter 9

Va'del was reading through Betreec's law book again when Javin's clap announced his desire to enter the teenager's room.

The old man seemed curiously formal, and Va'del prepared himself for the worst. _It's nothing less than I deserve._

"After much consideration, it has been decided that your actions were not the true cause of death for I'rone and his family. There will be no punishment as there is no fault."

Just before Javin left, Va'del called out. "Master, what will happen to me?"

"Uncertain. For now you'll work the gurra. Someone will come by tomorrow to guide you."

##

The apprentice who arrived to guide Va'del back to the gurra pens was a plump, acne-scarred boy who never offered his name. He didn't wait to be invited into Va'del's room, almost as if he was hoping to catch Va'del in one of the blasphemous rituals all of the lowlanders were said to perform.

It was just more evidence that his parentage was going to lead to the same kind of rejection here as back home. Va'del wasn't even surprised at the way the other boy's gaze lingered on Va'del's darker-hued skin.

As the pair left Va'del's room, the older boy finally spoke for the first and only time. "I won't be back to pick you up tomorrow, so pay attention or you'll get lost."

The master of the stables, a scarred and grizzled man with a pronounced limp, looked Va'del over with obvious distaste, but at least offered his name. "I am Master Callan. I don't suppose you've any experience with gurra?"

"A little. I helped take care of Sleepy and Hungry while we were on the trail."

The older man shook his head as he looked around the surprisingly-clean stables, seemingly at a loss for what to do with Va'del. "Very well, you can start by packing feed up to the animals. Once that is done, you'll help clean the wool after the gurra have been sheared."

The provender for the gurra proved to be an amazing variety of scraps that weren't needed elsewhere, combined with just enough grain to keep the animals healthy and thriving. Carrying the heavy metal buckets from the mixing container to the pens, so that one of the other apprentices could measure out the proper amount of feed for each animal, took the better part of two cycles. Va'del had only a few moments to try and stretch his aching back before Callan came by and told him to begin carrying water from the large, centrally-located storage cistern to each of the animal pens.

"I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised that you're a bit simple, not considering what you're responsible for. I guess I just always assumed that I'rone wouldn't be taken in like that."

_Everyone knows by now. The ones who aren't repulsed by my skin hate me because I got I'rone, Betreec and Jasmin killed._

Va'del carried the water, but on the return trips he found himself patting his little knife to make sure he hadn't lost it. _Still,_ _much as I may deserve death, I'm not ready to take that escape quite yet. There is still a chance that I can become a Guadel._

As soon as Va'del had finished filling the stone water containers in each pen, he asked one of the other apprentices how to find the shearing area, and despite the near-uselessness of the answer, somehow still managed to find the right place. The circular room was an enormous space dominated by large stone basins, with pens all along the outside edge, and a number of oddly-constructed racks filled with drying gurra wool.

The senior apprentice in charge of shearing the gurra was much older than Va'del, and although he didn't make any overtures of friendship, he didn't seem to notice the color of Va'del's skin. He even seemed to understand that it wasn't fair to get mad at his new charge until _after_ he'd actually explained a given task.

Any hopes of actually working with the gurra were quickly dashed. Instead, Va'del was tasked with washing the raw wool in a foul-smelling solution that removed the oil and dirt that invariably made it onto the gurras' coats despite their generally fastidious nature.

For several cycles Va'del was able to lose himself in the work, swirling the raw wool with a thin metal wand, and then moving it to other massive stone basins filled with progressively cleaner water.

There was a steady trickle of apprentices from the weavers' guild who arrived as each large batch finished dripping dry. The sheer amount of wool that they carried away for carding stretched the limits of Va'del's imagination, but cycle after cycle they continued to show up without interruption. By the end of the shift, the weavers' apprentices finally stopped coming, replaced instead by girls in uniform gray clothes rather than the common brown of the apprentices.

Although Va'del caught several of the girls stealing glances at him, none of them bothered trying to talk to him. He started ignoring them after the first few had come and left.

Once the last batch of wool was safely drying on the racks, Callan came by and found Va'del, who'd started hauling feed to the gurra once again. "Enough of that. You're to leave a couple of cycles early. I can't imagine why, but those are my instructions. Be back here tomorrow morning again ready to work."

Nodding silently, the teenager removed his heavy apron and stowed it with those of the other apprentices. As Va'del walked past the corridor leading to the shearing area, he heard a muffled thump and something that sounded suspiciously like muttered swearing.

Worry that someone had been hurt momentarily overcame his melancholy, and Va'del hurried towards the noise.

The muttering grew louder until he turned a corner and found one of the oddly-dressed girls trying to lift an oversized bale of wool. Without thinking Va'del picked up her burden. "Are you okay? I heard a crash."

The girl pulled her short blond hair away from where it had been hanging in front of her face and nodded sheepishly. "Thanks, I accidentally dropped it, and then couldn't pick it back up from the floor."

_She's beautiful_.

Va'del suddenly realized that the girl was looking at his face, and turned to hide a brief flare of anger. _Beautiful, but just like the rest of them._

"My name is Jain. I haven't seen you around before; did you come from a different part of the Capital?"

Looking back at the girl with her slender build, and blue eyes just a shade darker than Jasmin's had been, Va'del found that his anger quickly evaporated.

"My name is Va'del, I just arrived a few days ago."

One of Jain's eyebrows rose slightly at his name, which obviously placed him as coming from one of the outer villages, but she didn't press at his obvious reluctance to provide details.

Va'del shifted the wool around to a more comfortable position and pointed up the corridor. Jain seemed to understand that he was offering to carry it the rest of the way, and unlike most girls, also seemed able to sense that he wasn't in the mood to talk.

## Chapter 10

Va'del didn't particularly like working at the stables. The rare occasions when he got to work with one of the gentle gurra were actually quite enjoyable, but Callan mostly just assigned him whatever menial task the stable master thought would tire the teenager out the quickest. As a result Va'del ended each day so exhausted that it took an incredible act of will to make himself practice with his sword and dagger.

The one offsetting advantage to the menial labor was that Va'del continued to bulk up at a prodigious rate. Even that was cheapened by the knowledge that it was in large part due to the forbidden changes Jasmin had worked on his body. As much as possible he was trying to avoid the notice of the few adults in his life. _Can't have Jasmin's memory tainted even further._

Va'del was just about to put down the law book he'd just finished reading through for the second time, when a quiet clap announced someone seeking entrance to his room.

Javin and On'li had been the only people to ever visit Va'del, so maybe it shouldn't have surprised him when after more than two weeks of absence On'li was the one to slowly walk around the privacy corner to his room.

The slender old woman waved Va'del back down before he could fully stand to greet her. "I see you've been reading. What do you think?"

The question caught Va'del by surprised, and he looked at On'li in an effort to understand what she was getting at, but he didn't know her well enough to read her expression.

"I like it, I suppose. I mean, I don't understand everything I read, and it can be pretty dry, but Jasmin told me to look at it as a way for the rights of the villagers to be protected. I like that there is a way for people to appeal to someone other than the village Headman for justice in those cases when the Headman is wrong."

There was a flicker of something in On'li's eyes as she nodded.

_Pity? Is that how she stops herself from hating me?_

Obviously unaware of his thoughts, On'li pointed to Va'del's weapons. "Do you still practice with those as well?"

Va'del had no sooner answered in the affirmative than On'li instructed him to follow her along a set of corridors he hadn't been down before. A few minutes' journey brought the pair to a large, roughly finished cavern filled with men, both young and old, engaged in weapons training.

On'li walked over to one of the knots of figures without stopping. "Master Branar, I've another trainee for you."

The man who turned in response to On'li's voice was one of the most unprepossessing men Va'del had ever seen. The weapons master was only of average height, well-muscled, but so lean it looked like I'rone or Javin could have broken him in half.

"The next beginner class doesn't start for a month, Councilor. He'll have to wait until then."

On'li shook her head. "He isn't a beginner, I believe you'll find that he can keep up fairly well with your more experienced students. I'm afraid this isn't just a simple request."

It looked for a moment as if Branar would still refuse, but there was steel in the Guadel's manner that apparently had him unwilling to match wills with the tiny woman.

"Very well, I'll throw him in with the second-years and see how he manages." The arms master pointed to a group along one edge of the cavern, and then turned back to the students he'd been haranguing when they'd arrived.

On'li looked at Va'del for a moment before sighing the way one does when considering an especially unwanted burden. "Well, there isn't anything for it but to jump in and give it your best. You'll find that there are a number of Guadel candidates at the Capital currently, and they train here as well. For all practical purposes, they and the guardsmen trainees all outrank you, so make sure you're polite and don't cause trouble."

The Guadel gave Va'del a smile that was still tinged with something he couldn't identify, and then turned and left.

##

_It wouldn't have mattered if I was polite or not. They were determined to hate me from the start._

The second-year students had stared openly at the newcomer's skin before returning to their practice bouts. If that had been the worst of it, Va'del could have dealt with things, but Alir, the senior apprentice in charge of the second-year students, seemed to be set on making things difficult for him.

Alir had directed Va'del to a rack containing practice swords of various weights and sizes, and then mocked him when he'd asked for a practice dagger as well.

"What do you think you are, a Guadel? You'll learn how to fight properly with one weapon before I hear any talk about you needing a second one."

The other students had then proceeded to square off against Va'del one at a time, attacking with force that in many cases would have been more than enough to break bones. Alir was scoring the matches, and was obviously favoring the other boys by failing to recognize about half of Va'del's points.

Despite the unfairness, Va'del had managed to win the first three bouts before fatigue began slowing his movements.

_I keep getting more tired, while they come in fresh, one after another._

Va'del wasn't fighting to win anymore, not when the other boys were so obviously out to make sure he wouldn't be able to come back and train with them in the future. Instead, Va'del was trying to make sure that the blows landing on him wouldn't be incapacitating.

The sixth opponent came in with an overhead blow that would've broken Va'del's neck. He only just managed to bring his sword up and deflect the strike away. It still glanced off his left shoulder with enough force to make the arm tingle and add to an already impressive collection of bruises.

Alir yawned. "Point. That was a very sloppy block, I've seen better out of children who've never held a sword before."

Va'del's opponent redoubled his efforts, launching attacks with such speed that it was all Va'del could do to dodge and parry the first few before a straight thrust took him in the chest with enough force to make his ribs creak.

A number of young men and women drifted over to watch the next bout, which went much the same way as the previous one. Va'del dodged a number of blows, before exhaustion caused him to bungle a parry and take a blow to the stomach that knocked the wind out of him.

A number of the watchers laughed as Va'del was once again knocked to the ground, and he blushed.

Alir waved the victorious boy away and shook his head at Va'del. "Go get some water and then come back and we'll see if your technique is really as bad as it looks."

Va'del pulled himself to his feet and was walking around the gray-clothed observers when one of them, a tall, handsome boy, snickered. "He's a bloody coward, won't even attack. I'rone sure screwed up picking that one. I guess the bloodline shows through. An inept candidate for a stupid ogre of a Guadel. Looks like he managed to get himself killed off none too soon."

It had become reflex for Va'del to ignore slights against himself, but somehow the same kind of insults directed against his adoptive family bypassed his carefully crafted controls. Hot rage poured through him and before anyone else could respond, he turned and knocked the older boy to the ground with a punch that left his hand tingling.

For a split second nobody moved, and then as one, the other boys turned on him with a hail of blows aimed at driving him to the ground.

A deep voice suddenly rang out, and the blows stopped almost as quickly as they'd started. "Enough."

The crowd surrounding Va'del parted and he saw a thin, but heavily muscled, man with the paired blades of a Guadel approaching. "There will be punishments handed out left and right for this, I assure you."

Pointing to one of the gray-clothed girls, the man continued. "What happened here to make these Guadel candidates think it was acceptable to turn on one boy like a pack of starved snow wolves?"

The girl looked supremely uncomfortable, as if trying to weigh the displeasure of an adult against the displeasure of her peers. The instructor opened his mouth, but before he could say anything one of the other girls stepped forward.

"Be'ter insulted the trainee, and then insulted Guadel I'rone. The trainee struck Be'ter, knocking him to the ground, after which the rest of the candidates attacked the trainee."

The girl turned to look back at Va'del and he realized it was Jain. _Maybe she isn't like all of the rest after all._

The instructor nodded. "Is there anyone who would dispute that telling of the events?" When nobody spoke up, the man turned to Va'del. "We don't brawl. There are no exceptions to that rule, regardless of the insult."

The rage that had made Va'del act without thinking was still present and nearly strong enough for him to do the unthinkable and argue with an adult, but On'li's voice seemed to play again in his mind, reminding him that everyone outranked him. _I'm nobody, and nobody will take my side on anything._

Satisfied with Va'del's nod, the instructor turned to Be'ter. "You deserved what you got. You had no reason to insult the boy, and even less reason to sully the memory of one of the finest Guadel to serve the People in the last century."

Be'ter looked up at Va'del, and there was such hatred and rage in his eyes that Va'del unconsciously stepped back.

"I demand challenge right."

"Candidates can't challenge each other." The instructor turned as if the matter was settled, but Be'ter shook his head. "He isn't a candidate. He isn't even a guardsman, and he has sullied the honor of the Guadel. I demand satisfaction."

A ripple of indrawn breath went through the watching youth as they realized Be'ter was serious.

"No, there is no precedent for anything like this. I won't have you boys killing each other."

"I've read the law, there's nothing forbidding me from defending my honor."

The instructor turned and roared at Be'ter. "You stupid child! You know nothing of honor and haven't yet earned the right to defend the honor of the Guadel. The Council would decide in my favor but I'll allow it as long as practice weapons are used."

Va'del didn't even wait for the instructor to turn to him before answering. "I accept."

Sighing heavily, the instructor nodded and then pointed to a weapons rack a little distance away. "You, go arm yourself with a dagger if you so desire. Be'ter, run the cavern."

The surly teenager looked like he was going to argue, but the Guadel moved into the other boy's personal space. "You challenged him, which means he can pick the time of the duel. Do you really expect him to fight you now while you're fresh and he's been through numerous bouts? You'll run until I tell you to stop. At least with you both tired there is less chance you'll kill each other."

Be'ter turned away and started jogging around the circular cavern, but his manner seemed to say that it wouldn't matter, that he'd win regardless.

Va'del found a practice dagger that was the right size and weight, and then paced back and forth across the slightly-rough rock floor to avoid cooling down and tightening up too much before the fight.

The Guadel forced Be'ter into a more rapid pace, and then, once the candidate was panting and sweating from the exertion, finally allowed him to stop. Va'del shortly found himself across from Be'ter, surrounded by a circle of youth and adults, nearly all of whom seemed to be hoping Be'ter would seriously injure him.

Va'del was familiar with the rules surrounding an honor duel. He'd learned everything he could about them while still at Bitter Rocks. The idea of challenging Jas'per to a duel had been a heady fantasy until it became obvious Jas'per would always win.

_Everywhere I go there are bullies. Just need to force him out or execute a strike that would be considered killing._

Be'ter moved in, now only slightly winded from his run, and executed a simple set of strikes designed to test his opponent's skill. Va'del stepped back out of the way of some, and parried the rest with his sword. _Convince him I'm not very skilled with the dagger?_

Va'del launched his own attack, slashing at the older boy's head, but the blow was deflected by Be'ter's dagger. _Not bad, but not as good as I expected either. I think I have a chance._

As much as possible, Va'del dodged, trying to force movement, trying to take advantage of the fact that Be'ter's legs might be tired. Be'ter attacked relentlessly, trying to force Va'del to use his exhausted arms to deflect blows that were increasingly brutal.

As the fight progressed, even the faces of the youngsters in the circle became grim. Be'ter obviously wasn't going to be satisfied by pushing his opponent out of the circle. Every blow was being delivered with bone-shattering strength and one of them would eventually get through.

Va'del did his best, but his strength quickly wore thin. The tempo of the fight subtly changed, and it became apparent that Be'ter was now controlling the engagement. _He's a better swordsman, but I don't think he's been exposed to some of the dirty tricks that Jas'per used to use on me when his father wasn't watching. He's also starting to rely on the fact that I'm not using my dagger for anything._

Be'ter came in with a complicated double attack, for what he obviously assumed would be the last pass. Va'del blocked with both his sword, _and_ the dagger he'd been carefully not using up to that point.

A flash of surprise crossed Be'ter's face, and then Va'del's forehead crashed into his nose. Before Be'ter could recover, Va'del spun him around and pressed a practice dagger to his throat.

In the awkward silence that resulted from Va'del's unexpected win, the Guadel who'd been overseeing the fight proclaimed the younger boy victor.

Carefully releasing his opponent, Va'del backed away, and turned to leave, only to hear a gasp from the crowd as Be'ter rushed him. Va'del spun around to find that the Guadel weapons instructor had blocked a downward strike that otherwise would have broken Va'del's neck. Before anyone else could move, the instructor kicked Be'ter in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. Be'ter stared up from his back, shock evident on his face while the Guadel called for someone to get his sponsor.

Forgotten in the ensuing pandemonium, Va'del racked his practice weapons, and slipped away into the darkness.

## Chapter 11

Jain picked up a new spool of gurra wool yarn that she'd finished carding and spinning the week before, and wished once again that her life wasn't quite so regimented as she began stringing her loom.

Mali looked up from where she was working next to Jain, and sighed as she pulled her long black hair away from her face. "I can't believe that vile boy broke Be'ter's nose."

_On the other hand, it's a very good thing they keep such a close eye on us considering how foolish some of us are._

The rest of the girls in the room twittered at the reminder that Mali had a crush on the older boy. "Don't worry, Mali, Healer Pati will fix him up just as handsome as always."

_The last thing anyone needs to be doing is encouraging her to set her heart on that monster._

The shock that anyone could believe such stupidity made Jain forget her normal timidness. "Be'ter deserved that, maybe worse, for the way he acted yesterday."

"How can you say that? That _failure_ attacked him for no cause. He was well within his rights to challenge, and then the boy used such underhanded tactics to win. Why, I've never seen someone drop their sword like that. It was shameful. No wonder Be'ter got a little angry."

Jain briefly considered a stronger response and then mentally shrugged. It was becoming evident to her that nothing was going to convince the other girls that Be'ter wasn't who he pretended to be. Even the instructors seemed to be realizing what a snake Be'ter was, but the rest of the Daughters seemed largely to think he was perfect.

"He insulted Va'del, lost the fight fair and square, and then tried to attack Va'del from behind. You can't say the attack on Be'ter was unprovoked but the one on Va'del wasn't. Be'ter ended up with a fat lip and a broken nose—Va'del would have been killed if Guadel Fi'lin hadn't stopped the blow."

Mali tossed her hair and then turned her back to Jain. "You sound like you like the ugly, scrawny thing. _You're_ obviously not objective."

The willful, honest corner of Jain's mind that inevitably got her into trouble wanted to press the argument, but it was obvious the rest of the girls were all firmly on Mali's side.

Sighing once again, Jain returned to her work. _He's actually quite attractive. Exotic, dark skin, and he's not scrawny, just tall._

As she listened to the other girls fawn over Be'ter, she wondered if even the Council would be smart enough to stop him from being made a full Guadel.

##

On'li walked into the suite of rooms her family shared and wished for the thousandth time that she and Javin didn't have to sit on the Council.

Mar'li looked up from the book she'd been reading as her sister-wife arrived. "Bad day?"

"Very much so. The girls in my class seem more inane every year. I refuse to believe I was ever that foolish as a teenager."

Mar'li chuckled as On'li kicked off her shoes and buried her toes in the thick, red gurra wool rug. "Careful. It wasn't that long ago that I was in your class behaving as if I didn't have a brain. You'll hurt my feelings."

"Hardly. It's been more than ten years since you were a student, and even when you were, you were too quiet to have possibly said half of the stupid things I hear on a regular basis."

Mar'li got up and poured a cup of tea. "Be that as it may, you've had plenty of time to accustom yourself to the frustrations of teaching. There must be something else going on to put your back up like this."

Accepting the tea with a nod of thanks, On'li sighed. "You wouldn't have heard yet, of course, even though the rest of this part of the Capital is positively abuzz with the news, but Va'del was in an honor match against Be'ter."

Mar'li's soft eyes momentarily showed a brief, poorly-hidden flash of pain at the reminder of her isolation from the rest of the Guadel, before her mind processed the rest of On'li's statement. "He what?"

"Apparently Be'ter mocked him, and then insulted I'rone and his wives. Va'del knocked him to the ground, which wasn't the most diplomatic action, but doesn't really surprise me. That boy is a bundle of raw nerves about everything that happened. I think the four of them became much more attached to each other than I'd have expected in such a short time."

Holding up the book she'd been reading, Mar'li nodded. "Jasmin's journal indicates as much. It isn't surprising though, you know how much of a sucker all of the women in our bloodline end up being for the emotionally injured. We can't help it after marrying who we marry and seeing how far they've come from the wounded little things they were when they were selected."

On'li took another sip of tea. "Of course, and on Va'del's side, the three of them rescued him from a state of utter misery. He was almost completely unloved, so it's only natural he'd come to love them, especially considering how personable Jasmin in particular is...I mean was."

Both of the women were silent for a moment as they tried to fight off the feelings of grief that were part of losing someone in the close-knit family of a Guadel bloodline.

On'li was the first to speak. "I understand why Va'del reacted as he did, but it was less than ideal for us. While Fi'lin was trying to reprimand both boys Be'ter demanded an honor match. Since Va'del isn't really a candidate, or even a trainee right now, there's enough fuzziness in the law that Fi'lin decided he couldn't get away with refusing Be'ter."

"Not with bladed weapons, surely?"

On'li's cup was empty. She thought about pouring herself more water and indulging in a second cup, but tea had to be brought up from the lowlands, and consequently wasn't something even a Councilor could really indulge in on a regular basis. _Or maybe I should say especially a Councilor. We should be the first to go without for the benefit of the People, but there are a few of my fellows who can't seem to understand that._

"No, he bluffed Be'ter into accepting a match fought with practice weapons. Not that it would have made much difference from what I hear. The boy was out for blood, and if Va'del had been one bit less skilled, he'd be in the healers' care right now, or possibly even dead."

Mar'li's eyes widened again. "You mean Va'del won?"

"He did. Even more astonishing, considering that Be'ter's got at least a couple of years of instruction on him. Of course you know how that fool is. He spends more time making sure his sponsors are wrapped around his fingers than he does actually trying to learn anything. Fi'lin said he came into the fight overconfident as anything, and then Va'del tricked him into thinking he didn't have to worry about the boy's dagger."

"He'll be Va'del's enemy for life after having lost an honor match. Powers, that's the last thing the boy needs with everyone else's hand already turned against him."

On'li rubbed her temples, hoping to stave off the headache she felt starting to build, and nodded. "Worse than that, Be'ter lost his head and attacked Va'del after the match. So, now he is disgraced even more, but there isn't anything we can do about it because as long as his sponsoring family continues to support him, he'll continue with his training."

Mar'li rinsed her sister-wife's teacup and then sat back down with Jasmin's journal. "I've never liked that rule. It lets far too many of Be'ter's type get away with too much."

"I agree in his case, but it's also what we are counting on to get Va'del back as a candidate despite half the Council being convinced that I'rone's death was all the poor boy's fault."

An expression of pained sympathy crossed the younger woman's face. "Isn't there something you can do about that? Somehow make people understand he wasn't to blame, so they'll stop ostracizing him?"

On'li shook her head. "We've already interfered enough that certain people on the Council have tagged him as our special project, and will oppose his advancement solely on the basis of trying to cause us problems. If he shows the level of sorrow that everyone expects it will go easier."

"Can't you tell him and just have him pretend to still blame himself?"

"I wish we could, but he wears his thoughts on his sleeve. He's just not deceptive enough to pull something like that off. We'll have to wait until Piter and his wife get back next month so that they can sponsor him."

The twinkle in Mar'li's green eyes was something few people ever got to see, but it heralded some of the gentle teasing she was so fond of with her close friends and family. "And there is, of course, no doubt that Piter and Bay'del will choose to sponsor young Va'del. After all, Piter thinks you and Javin can do no wrong, so even if Bay'del doesn't want to sponsor the boy, Piter will bully her into it."

The mental image of mild-mannered Piter bullying his wife into anything drew a short laugh out of both women. On'li shook her head. "Fat chance of that. The closest Piter gets to bullying is simply setting his foot down regarding some issue and refusing to budge until Bay'del finally decides it isn't worth the effort to keep arguing. Which has happened all of twice that I know of in the last five years."

On'li shrugged. "I do however think that they'll choose to sponsor him. The boy has more potential than anyone we've seen in the last century. Not only that, I think he has the hunger to help people, and it would be a true shame if he never got to do so."

"Jasmin said as much in her journal, but I still find it hard to believe he could be that easy to link with."

"It's the truth. Half-trained as he is, there was still barely more resistance when I linked with him than some of the boys we've shepherded over the years just before they took their final vows. When I think of what he'll be able to do when he's had another year or two of training and truly trusts the person linking to him, it takes my breath away."

Mar'li nodded, probably lost in thought at the idea of what it would be like not to have to fight Javin's mind at the same time she was trying to shape the magic that gave him, however briefly, superhuman speed and strength.

"What about the darkness you said is starting to take root in his mind?"

On'li cocked her head to the side and considered her sister-wife. There was obviously more to Mar'li's question than just her concern about Va'del. The three of them had been together for years, but there was still a little part of the younger woman that had been kept secreted away from her spouses.

On'li had a suspicion that it was somehow linked to Mar'li's reluctance to link with Javin, but the time still wasn't right to try and tackle the issue. Instead she returned to their discussion about Va'del.

"I don't know. Most of the Stephens men have a little darkness inside them as candidates. The things they've gone through can't help but lend themselves to that kind of thing. With Va'del, though, it's worse. He really believes that he killed the three people who loved him most in this world. I hope we can save him, but part of me fears that my need to replenish the bloodline is overcoming my common sense. He could end up as bad as Be'ter if he's not handled just right."

## Chapter 12

Va'del leaned back against the hard stone of the cave wall and was once again grateful he'd found a refuge. A small spring in the center of the cavern heated the air and walls to a comfortable temperature. Bitter Rocks had been heated in the same manner, but after seeing so many villages heated by worked stones he'd almost begun thinking that Bitter Rocks was the exception rather than the rule Betreec had told him it was.

_Makes sense. When the Goddess led the People here there probably wasn't time to create heat spheres, so she brought them to a place where they could survive without them. Bitter Rocks was probably settled for the same reason._

The teenager had held out some small hope that beating Be'ter would win him a little respect. It hadn't. Instead, all of the apprentices and candidates had closed ranks against him. In the several weeks since the fight, he'd found it rare to make it through an entire cycle, let alone an entire day, without being tripped, shoved or otherwise harassed.

The violence was always kept to a level that the trade masters and instructors couldn't really respond to, even assuming that they noticed it and wanted to. That saved Va'del from serious injury, but the small hurts he took over the course of the day added up. Especially bad was the way that everyone, even girls so thin as to hardly weigh anything at all, had taken to stepping on his feet.

_Back home it was really only the boys who were mean to me. I wonder what's set them against me so badly here._

The ever-degrading state of Va'del's feet had finally led him to this quiet pool where he could soak them each night while practicing the meditation exercises Jasmin had taught him.

As an added bonus it got him out of his room and yet still away from everyone else. He hadn't realized how much of a prison the tiny space would become. He'd expected the isolation to be roughly the same as what he'd experienced back at Bitter Rocks, but there at least he'd had Pa'chi. Having no one at all was making a bigger difference than he'd expected.

Loneliness and despair had become near-constant companions, but thoughts of Pa'chi brought them back with even greater strength than usual.

_I wonder how she's doing. Have Jas'per and the girls in the village left her alone now that I'm gone, or is she completely friendless now?_

Blinking away tears that tried to form in his eyes, Va'del slipped his feet into the spring, wincing slightly at the heat as he tried to clear his mind. Despite his best efforts, his mind refused to settle down and he instead found himself fingering the little, wickedly-sharp knife that now more than ever went everywhere with him.

_It wouldn't take much. Nobody would miss me for days. Maybe even weeks._

All the reasons for and against had been through Va'del's mind so many times that he sometimes dreamed about them, but he once again put the blade away. _There's still a chance. I can't give up yet._

The sound of feet drew Va'del's attention away from his exercises once again, and he opened his eyes to the soft white light of a heavily-muffled glow sphere making its way around the corner in the tunnel that led to the springs.

Anger that someone was about to find his hiding place and deprive him of his sanctuary raged through him in a powerful wave, before subsiding to a resigned acceptance of his fate.

_There isn't anything I can do, but at least most people my age are kept on a shorter leash than I am. I should be able to find another cavern, and the Capital is full of so many empty caverns that they won't be able to sneak out often enough to discover it very quickly._

The person who finally came into view was the last person Va'del expected, but she was the one person who might not torment him. _Jain's never done anything mean to me._

The pretty young lady jumped a little, her delicate face blushing slightly when she saw Va'del, barely visible in the darkness. "Oh, I didn't see you at first. Why are you sitting here in the dark?"

Va'del looked up for a moment and then, to his surprise, found himself answering honestly. "I've always liked the darkness. Plus I don't want anyone to notice a light and come looking to see who is here so late."

"I guess that makes sense. Do your feet hurt?"

Shrugging, Va'del shifted his feet in the hot water. "Yes. Having people step on them all day tends to do that."

Jain seemed a little embarrassed at the reminder of just how cruel everyone was being, but after a second she walked further into the little cave. "Can I use the pool too?"

"Is that why you came here?"

"They made us start learning unarmed fighting today. I pulled my right calf. One of the apprentice miners saw me limping and said I should spend some time in a hot pool. I heard there were a bunch in this area, so I slipped out of the dormitories and wandered around till I found one."

Va'del slid over slightly to free up room on the ledge he was using as a bench. "Make yourself comfortable."

The pair sat in silence for quite a while, and Va'del had just about managed to quiet his mind enough to practice his mental exercises when Jain spoke up. "Why did you attack Be'ter?"

Even in the near darkness, it was probably hard to interpret Va'del's expression as anything other than disgust, and Jain's blush said she knew how her question sounded. "I mean after all of the other stuff I see people doing to you that you don't fight back against. I think it's all wrong, but I don't understand why you attacked Be'ter but don't do anything to the others."

Va'del shrugged, but then decided that answering the question would provide him a chance to learn more about her. "Be'ter didn't just insult me, he insulted the family that sponsored me."

Jain nodded even though Va'del was fairly sure she didn't really understand. He thought about pressing the issue, but there wasn't anything to be gained by trying to explain further. "Can I ask you a question now?"

Again a nod, even though it was plain she was worried he was about to ask something 'difficult,' like why she didn't stand up to everyone else regarding their cruelty. "Why did they make you carry all of that wool by yourself the first time I met you?"

Jain ducked her head in embarrassment. "I argued with Guadel Ah'bi that day, so she punished me."

The image of the quiet, seemingly well-behaved young lady next to him arguing with a Guadel nearly made Va'del smile, but he suppressed the desire so she wouldn't think he was mocking her. "Can I ask what the argument was about?"

Jain dropped her eyes for a second. "She was going on and on about how important the traditions and law around Guadel sitting in judgment are. I told her that it was all fine in theory, but it almost never happened. As long as the villagers are careful when they elected their headmen, they'll have an honest man. If they don't have an honest man for their Headman, then it's their own fault, and maybe they didn't deserve to have a Guadel come in and confirm or overturn the judgment."

In response to Va'del's look of amazement Jain dropped her eyes again. "She probably wouldn't have punished me, but it made the other girls laugh."

The pair sat in silence for several more seconds before Jain turned towards Va'del again. "Aren't you going to tell me you think I'm right? Everyone else does when I tell them she made me carry the gurra wool back all by myself."

Va'del shook his head. "Well, you didn't actually have to carry the wool very far because I helped you, but apart from that I think you're wrong."

For a second it looked like Jain was going to get mad, but then she cocked her head to the side. "Why?"

"Well, the headmen are elected to such long terms that sometimes the wronged villager wasn't one of the people to vote for him. Maybe they moved into the village after the election, or maybe they were too young to vote when it was held. I don't know that you can say they are always responsible for who ends up as Headman."

Jain looked more than a little astonished, but nodded after a second. "I guess that makes sense."

Va'del continued, warming to the subject as he thought about the widow at Screaming Wind Village. "Not only that, sometimes the Headmen change while they are in office. Maybe they started out relatively honest, but over the course of twenty or thirty years started putting the interest of family or friends over that of the village as a whole."

Jain looked positively surprised now, and Va'del suddenly realized how naive and sheltered she was. _They start training the girls as soon as the mage gift shows up. She may have been sequestered away from her family as young as eight, and put into a regimented environment designed to make sure she wasn't exposed to anything before the Council was ready for her and her classmates to experience it._

"Plus, people are more complicated than just good or bad. Most people seem to have some of both in them. Maybe the Headman is mostly good, but has a weakness where a specific family member is involved. In that case, the fact that the wronged party can request judgment from the Guadel may be the only hope they have. Or possibly the fact that the Headman's decision _may_ be overturned by the Guadel is enough to make him choose correctly to start out with."

Jain seemed lost in thought, and Va'del let the silence stretch for a few minutes before pulling his feet out of the pool and putting on his boots. _My feet are turning wrinkly, and I'm not going to get anything else done tonight. It's time to go to bed._

"I'm done for the night. Goddess protect you, Jain."

"You too, Va'del, Goddess protect."

##

Jain waited while the rest of the girls filed out of the well-lit room where Guadel Ah'bi had just finished up her lecture on the finer points of challenge law. The class had held the girls' attention much better than most of her lectures, largely due to Be'ter's recent challenge of Va'del and the gossip it had spawned.

When the instructor looked up and saw Jain standing a few feet away from her, she sighed as if expecting another argument about why a particular piece of law was poorly conceived. "Shouldn't you be headed to lunch?"

Jain ducked her head nervously. "Yes, Guadel Ah'bi, I just wanted to apologize for the other day. Someone pointed out to me that there are many ways villagers could find themselves being judged by a Headman that they had no voice in electing. Then they pointed out that headmen are people too, so it's possible they might change over their term of service."

The older woman's eyebrows rose a little in surprise but she nodded slowly. "That is true, and I appreciate your apology, even coming as it does so long after the fact."

Seeing her young student blush, Ah'bi held up her hand. "On the other hand, I owe you a bit of an apology as well. I should have spent more time trying to explain those same things to you and less time assigning punishment. Outside worries shouldn't be allowed to influence my treatment of you girls, and I'm sorry I let them do so."

Jain nodded, somewhat surprised to hear the stern instructor admit an error. "Guadel Ah'bi, you don't by chance know anything about the ex-candidate Va'del, do you?"

The eyes that had been softening somewhat became hard as flint again. "I wouldn't have thought you one to go looking for more tidbits to feed into the rumor mill, Jain."

"No, mistress. I've just seen him at training, and the time you sent me for wool. He seems kind, but I don't really know anything about him."

Ah'bi studied her student for several seconds before finally nodding. "I don't suppose there are many who can say they know much about him. Maybe none who can say as they actually know him well."

The older woman stared off into the distance as her right hand absently reached up to brush her short brown hair out of the way. "I knew his sponsors well. I'rone wasn't much for speaking, I don't suppose any of the Stephens men are, their women are all too prone to pick the boys as have a bundle of hurt inside. For all of that, I don't know as if I've ever met a man with a finer mind. At least not in the area of law. We tried to get him to teach this class, but he kept putting us off. Either because he wanted to be out and about doing things, because teaching would have involved more speaking than he normally did in a year, or because Stephens' bloodline is dwindling so badly that his wives needed to find a lad to sponsor. I suppose it could have been a combination of all three."

Jain suddenly found herself full of even more questions than she'd started with, but she fought down the desire to ask them, hoping that doing so would lead Guadel Ah'bi to continue talking. It was rare that any of the Guadel shared much in the way of information about their fellows, and Ah'bi was more tight-lipped than most.

Shaking herself slightly, Jain's instructor continued. "I don't suppose as all that really matters except that I had a bunch more respect for him and his wives than most. Whatever boy they picked to sponsor had to have real potential."

Jain felt a curious flutter in her heart, but Ah'bi shook her head. "That being said, you'd best steer clear of him, girl. A thing like what happened to him changes a person, and he was no doubt a wounded thing to begin with. I suspect that On'li and her husband are thinking they'll try to get him sponsored when Bay'del and her husband get back, but even so there is a powerful group of people who don't want to see that day. Barring that, there are as many or more who'd see him rejected before he could take his final oaths. Not all are as wise as to make sure that the one they want to crucify for something is really deserving of the punishment. 'Tis too much human nature to want to blame someone when something goes wrong, and not all Guadel, or even all on the Council, are immune to it."

Jain nodded, not really sure she understood all that had just been said, but reeling with new ideas regardless.

"You mind me, girl, and stay away from him for now. At least till we know as if he's been too damaged by all that's happened. And don't go repeating this to any of those young fools as seem determined to make things worse for him."

## Chapter 13

Va'del slipped his feet into the hot spring once again and sighed as the familiar ritual finally made it feel like the day was coming to a close. The last couple of weeks had gone on much the same as the previous ones, but the few small changes that had occurred improved his outlook more than he would have believed possible.

_I continue to put more muscle on, and at a rate that bears out the idea that Jasmin really did something to me. Probably more drastic than she made it sound at the time too, Goddess bless her. For making the change and bless her for minimizing it to me. If it wasn't for the fact that I'm now so much stronger than I was, there isn't any way I'd be able to continue weapons training._

Fi'lin, the Guadel weapons instructor, had gruffly handed Va'del a practice dagger one day and told him to use it before turning back to the Guadel candidates who were his real responsibility. Alir hadn't liked it of course. He'd even stopped providing Va'del the minimal instruction he'd been giving previously. Instead he simply continued to pit the boys against Va'del one at a time. Alir provided each of them with critiques of their skills at the end of each bout, but remained conspicuously silent regarding Va'del's weakness and strengths other than to point out how the other students could use them to their advantage.

It should have bothered Va'del more than it did, but Fi'lin occasionally mentioned a particular thing 'that young students often need to improve on' in passing. With the Guadel's occasional, subtle guidance, Va'del was steadily improving, and he treasured the fact he was once again practicing with two weapons.

None of the dedicated guardsmen used two weapons, and the citizen guards who made up the bulk of the cadre were likewise trained only in the use of a single weapon. Va'del's training with sword and dagger, informal as it was, was a sign that he still had a chance to be sponsored.

Va'del's increased strength also meant that it no longer took him as long to perform his duties at the stable. Callan had started shifting additional duties Va'del's way until he realized that doing so was encouraging sloth among the 'real' apprentices. That had promptly stopped, and now that the shearing was done Va'del found he was able to absent himself for a cycle or two in the middle of the day to study law or perform his mental exercises.

Those spare minutes were prized both because they freed up Va'del's evenings slightly, and because they got him away from the stable apprentices who'd responded to his unique status by becoming even more relentless in their tricks and harassment.

Things had come to a head when one of them got a little too violent and Va'del had dropped him gasping to the ground with a kick to the stomach. For a second it had looked as if the other three boys who'd been watching would all jump him simultaneously, but Callan was hell on brawlers. In the end, they'd simply picked up their retching comrade and retreated, having finally determined that they could only push him so far. That didn't, of course, stop them from pushing him right up to that line.

When it came to the candidates and Jain's fellow Daughters, things hadn't changed much, but there were a few who no longer participated in the teasing. _I wonder why they stopped. Maybe they saw that Jain wasn't doing it and that was enough?_

Va'del wondered what time it was and then tried to relax. Jain would either manage to sneak out or she wouldn't. Fretting about it wouldn't change things in the slightest. He'd worried a little about a large group of candidates or apprentices arriving at his secluded pool the first few nights. In the absence of any adults there was no telling what might have happened, but they'd never shown up. Instead, Jain had started sneaking out and coming to the pool several times a week.

Something had changed between the first time they'd talked and the second. Much of the awkwardness was gone now. Jain had even found another copy of the law book she was studying and given it to Va'del so they could discuss the things she was learning.

The light sound of footsteps approaching made Va'del smile.

"Va'del, are you here?" Jain had stopped bringing a glow sphere, trusting in the darkness to help keep them hidden.

"I am. How was your day?"

Va'del slid over on the ledge as Jain's footsteps reached him.

The next cycle or so was even more enjoyable than Va'del had hoped. He could talk to Jain almost as easily as he could have Pa'chi, and they had the added benefit of both sharing an interest in law.

As they finished up discussing the reading on Council tradition, Jain sighed. "I agree with you, but I think maybe that you may hold too much of a belief in the infallibility of the various members of the Council."

Va'del considered her point and then shrugged, even though he knew the gesture was invisible in the inky darkness. "You're right, but there are already an incredible number of safeguards in place that should hopefully make sure we get the best the Guadel have to offer for those seats. What else could the Goddess have put in place?"

"I don't know, but what if the best some of the bloodlines have isn't good enough?"

There wasn't an easy answer, so Va'del didn't try to provide one, instead sitting in silence as he wondered what Jain knew that made her ask the question.

Jain reached out and placed a hand on Va'del's arm. "Thanks for going over this stuff with me. My scores have gone up a lot since you started helping."

Trying to ignore the way his heart had sped up at the touch, Va'del cleared his throat uncomfortably. "There isn't any reason to thank me. I enjoy it, and it gives me a chance to keep learning the kinds of things a candidate would be learning."

"Why do you want to be one of them so badly? All they've ever been is mean to you."

The question was more personal than the kinds of things they normally talked about. Va'del wasn't sure he wanted to answer, afraid it would somehow change their newly forming friendship.

"Some of them aren't as bad now. Others are worse, but some of them are getting a little better for some reason."

Jain shifted uneasily, and Va'del turned towards her. "You know what changed, don't you?"

"I said a couple of things. Not to everyone. Definitely not to Be'ter, but a lot of the boys follow us girls around whenever they get the chance, trying to win our interest. It gets pretty bad because you're never sure if they like you for you, or if they just are hoping to catch a wife so that they can become a full-fledged Guadel. I told a couple of them that I didn't consider it manly or funny to gang up on someone who hadn't done anything to them. I'm sorry I can't do more."

It was Va'del's turn to squeeze Jain's arm as he felt tears start to burn in his eyes. "Thanks. There aren't many people who've ever taken a stand to try and help me. It means more than you know."

The reluctance to answer Jain's first question suddenly evaporated as he finally became sure she wasn't just fishing for information to use against him later. "I guess that there are a few reasons why I want to be a candidate. The most important is that I want to be able to help people who aren't able to protect themselves, and the Guadel do that more than anyone else. They protect them from unethical village headmen, they protect them from snow cats and bag'ligs, they even protect them from bandits."

Va'del felt his throat closing off with sorrow as he thought about Jasmin, Betreec and I'rone. "I don't think I've ever wanted anything as badly as I want to become a Guadel, but that probably won't happen now. I didn't really have a reason to believe it would, but somehow I kept hoping all of this time. It's been so long now though I don't think it will happen."

The earnestness in Jain's voice caught Va'del off guard. "No, don't say that. Something one of the Guadel told me indicated that they thought the head of the Stephens bloodline is just waiting for a Guadel pair to return to the Capital. Once that happens, you're sure to be sponsored again."

The mix of emotions that washed over Va'del was too intense and varied to be fully described. Unable to speak, he sat in the darkness next to Jain and tried to gain control of himself. As the strength of the emotions started to fade slightly he realized that foremost among them was something he hadn't felt since I'rone and his wives died. Hope.

## Chapter 14

Mar'li leaned back from the tiny ruby she'd been working on for most of the day. With her sister-wife and husband largely confined to the Capital as Council members, and her shyness precluding her from teaching, she had unfortunate amounts of free time.

She helped Pati or one of the other healers fairly often, but the majority of her magical energy was spent creating a heat sphere that could be used by patrolling Guadel when in way caves, or even more importantly, when they were forced to spend the night in one of the light tents they used when caught in a snow storm or otherwise unable to make it to a cave.

Mar'li's gift was much weaker than those of most of the female Guadel, but she still made fairly respectable progress. The fact that she didn't have to worry about being awoken in the middle of the night to augment Javin, so he could fight off bag'ligs or some such threat, helped. Even so, changing the nature of the gemstone so that it could draw power and order it to a specific purpose was a task measured in years at the very least.

_Which is more than a little depressing. Then again, it's slightly warm to the touch now when I activate it, so I should just be satisfied with my rate of progress. Bay'del will be jealous anyway. She's lucky if she gets to work on hers a few times a year. I guess that's the price of being married to a young husband who wants to be out and about on patrols._

Her insides were starting to feel raw from all the magic she'd done so far today, but she wasn't to the point of feeling serious pain. She'd leaned back down to do just a little more work when she heard footsteps out in the corridor.

_Too light to be Javin, too early to be On'li back for lunch. Oh well, I'll put some water on to heat anyway. It won't hurt anything if it turns out not to be her. She's under so much stress right now that the least I can do is have a cup of tea in the works when she comes in._

It was indeed On'li that came around the privacy bend, but her face was such a mask of pain and hurt that for a moment Mar'li had a hard time believing it was her sister-wife she was looking at.

"What's wrong?"

On'li looked like she wanted to collapse into a chair. Instead she wrapped her arms around Mar'li as if to shelter her from the coming news.

"It's Piter and Bay'del. One of the villages sent a messenger. They're both dead."

Mar'li felt her world tremble and fade out of focus. Bay'del had been her best friend all through training, the one who convinced her she'd be happier as a Guadel than as a healer somewhere trying to offset some fool Headman's influence and power.

"How did it happen?"

On'li hugged her sister-wife tighter. "It's hard to tell since there weren't any survivors this time, but it looked like the same kind of ambush that took down I'rone and his wives."

Mar'li wanted to turn and run away, but she knew doing so would hurt On'li's feelings, so she collapsed into the older woman and let her sobs run their course.

"I'm so sorry, my heart. I know how close the two of you were."

Mar'li's tears hadn't stopped, and she could still feel the pain eating away at her insides, but she knew from past experience that the quickest way to heal involved looking outside herself for others.

"What about Va'del? What will happen to him now?"

On'li looked at her sister-wife with amazement and pride before shrugging painfully. "I don't honestly know. The Stephens bloodline is nearly gone. There are just the three of us, Ba'loc, and Pavir left."

Mar'li felt a new twinge of pain as she realized that On'li was right. The Guadel as a whole had diminished in numbers over the last few hundred years, but Stephens' line had borne a greater share of the loss than most. "It's like we're being punished, like our men being driven to make a difference is an affront to the Goddess. It's like she disapproves of their efforts at ensuring others aren't suffering the injustices that made them into what they are."

On'li shook her head. "It's not our place to question Her actions. Not every trial comes because of an affront to her eyes, sometimes they come about for unrelated reasons."

"Ba'loc and Pavir can't take Va'del; they're already sponsoring Mi'lo."

On'li's sigh sounded as though she'd aged decades in the last few cycles. "And we can't take him because traditionally the duties of sitting on the Council preclude the kind of time and energy required to sponsor someone." As she finished, a sliver of anger edged into the loss that still was dominating her expression.

Mar'li let go of her sister-wife and stepped back a little so that she could look her in the eye. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. Under normal circumstances, we might be able to convince the Council that we have to sponsor to ensure our bloodline doesn't die out. Right now however, Ja'dir is dead set on blocking just about anything Javin and I put forward. The fact that we're losing so many Guadel in general may work in our favor, but that also reminds everyone that Va'del was there when I'rone and his wives were killed."

The mention of their husband made Mar'li start guiltily. She hadn't yet thought about how Piter's death would affect Javin. "Oh, Powers. How is Javin taking it?"

"Badly. About as badly as you could fear. We both feel so old, we've seen so many of our friends, both the children we sponsored, and others die. Javin feels like he should be out there hunting those animals down. It's bad enough when it's bag'ligs or when he knows that the ones responsible are already dead like with what happened to I'rone. This is far worse—he's barely functioning. He's stronger than anyone else I know but this is attacking the weakest part of his will, cutting at the scar tissue formed over the wounds he took as a child."

Mar'li looked at her sister-wife and sighed. "We'll just have to do what we can to shore Javin up, but you have to promise me you'll do something about Va'del. Whether you decide to try and get him approved as a candidate or not, you need to talk to him. I understand that you didn't want to do anything to spark a fight in the Council before you had to, but if you aren't going to sponsor him, it won't matter if you or Javin spend some time explaining things to him. If you do push for him to be accepted as a candidate, then your talking to him doesn't matter because you've already provoked as much fight as you're going to see regardless of what else you may do."

##

Va'del wrapped his blanket more tightly around himself to ward off the ever-present chill. He sighed as he leaned back into the thick brown padding of his low, metal chair. It was all he could do not to yawn as he turned the next page in the law book Jain had found for him. _Goodness, this is dry stuff. I wonder how Jain is making out with it._

It was relatively rare that Va'del preferred his work at the stables to studying or working on one of the other skills that a candidate needed, but today looked like an exception. He had a feeling he wouldn't have any regrets when the time came to put the book away and go feed the gurra their second meal of the day.

After wading through the legal guidance on who was to administer the deceased's belongings depending on which family members were still living, Va'del was just about to start the next section when a quiet clap alerted him to the fact that someone was waiting outside his room.

Va'del asked whoever it was to come in as he shed the blanket and rose to his feet, only to find in surprise that it was On'li who'd come to visit him. She hadn't visited since taking him to start weapons training. Seeing her now, with her eyes bloodshot and her hands shaking, was an incredible surprise.

After looking around the sparsely-furnished room as if to verify that they were indeed its only occupants, or possibly as a way to buy time, On'li turned back to Va'del and took a deep breath.

"Va'del, I'm sorry I haven't taken the time to sit down with you and explain everything that's going on. I appreciate you being patient and not causing any problems over the last month or two. I know that probably hasn't been easy, especially in light of how the candidates and apprentices as a whole treat you."

The hope sparked by Jain telling him there were plans to try and get him sponsored, battled with the fact that On'li didn't look like someone about to deliver good news.

"You probably don't know very much about the sponsoring process. We try to keep the candidates fairly ignorant about certain things, though a fair amount leaks out from well-meaning instructors at some point or another."

She took another deep breath, as if she was having a hard time controlling her emotions. "The fact of the matter is that traditionally nobody has the right to dispute a sponsoring decision. The Council can refuse to let a candidate take his final vows and marry, but nobody can stop a sponsoring family from putting him through the training if that's what they want to do. I shouldn't say this, but that's largely the reason Be'ter is still here, despite the fact that most of his instructors are confident he isn't suitable and is actually ruining some of the other candidates."

The things that On'li was telling him for the most part meshed with what Jain had told him, but Va'del's mind was still reeling from the fact that someone who actually knew what was going on was trying to explain it all to him.

"Javin and I had counted on that tradition to get you sponsored by Guadel Piter and Guadel Bay'del. Obviously it would have been their decision, but I was confident that after Bay'del saw your potential she'd agree to do so."

There was a catch in On'li's voice now. "Unfortunately that isn't an option any longer. They were both killed in an ambush similar to the one that killed I'rone and his wives."

Va'del felt his world start to crumble, but he forced himself to listen to On'li, if only to try and keep from thinking about the fact he was never going to become a Guadel.

"Javin and I are going to do everything we can to still somehow see that you are sponsored, but the chances are honestly not very good. If it were to happen, it would be the first time something like that had ever been done. Even people who otherwise might not be against your being sponsored are going to be very much against the precedent it would set."

Va'del nodded numbly. It seemed On'li could tell it didn't matter much what she was saying, but it apparently wasn't enough to stop her. "Va'del, I really do think you have the potential to make a very good Guadel. If you need to talk about anything I would be more than happy to spend whatever time is necessary to answer any questions you might have."

The teenager shook his head. "No, that isn't really necessary. I'm sure you're both very busy, and you've already told me everything I need to know."

On'li reached out and placed a hand on Va'del's arm. "Still, the offer is open. Would you be willing to come have dinner with our family next week on first day?"

Va'del would have agreed to anything at that point if he thought it would end the conversation sooner so he could run away somewhere to be alone. The teenager nodded as he fingered the tiny knife hidden in his pocket.

On'li smiled. "Very good. I'll send Javin by for you that afternoon."

As soon as she'd been gone long enough to be out of sight, Va'del left his room and ran in the direction of his pool.

_Just a little longer and then I can escape for good._

##

The day was looking as though it would be longer than Jain had expected. Even law from Guadel Ah'bi was dragging by slower than usual, and it had become her favorite subject. _Who would have thought that would ever happen? Definitely not Ah'bi after that first class. At least it's nearly lunchtime._

Ah'bi was in the middle of describing some very subtle points of inheritance law when her husband, Fi'lin, stepped into the classroom and caught her eye.

"You girls finish reading through the section and don't talk to each other. I'll be back in a moment or two."

Jain hardly had a chance to begin reading before Ah'bi was back in the classroom obviously struggling to maintain her composure. "Girls, I have some terrible news. Guadel Piter and Guadel Bay'del have both been killed in an ambush similar to the one that claimed I'rone and his wives two months ago."

Gasps came from around the room as the girls tried to process the idea that yet another Guadel family had been cut down. Years, or even decades, were known to go by without any of the Guadel dying from anything other than old age. Five dying by violence in just a few months was unheard of.

Ah'bi wiped away the tears that had started trickling down her face despite her near-legendary self-control. "Please be considerate of the Guadel in this trying time, as well of any of your peers that might have known the fallen. There are many who will be greatly affected by the loss of two with such potential. You're free to go to lunch now."

It could have been Jain's imagination, but it seemed almost as though Ah'bi's gaze rested on her for a split second longer than it had the others.

_Who do I know that this would affect? Oh no! Va'del. They were to sponsor him._

Jain pushed her way past the other girls, most of whom were leaving the room at a more sedate, sorrowful pace. A couple of them shot her nasty looks, but with any luck most of them would just assume she was overcome by distress and seeking a place of solitude.

The teenager ran down the hall towards the stables, frantic with worry that she might not get to Va'del before someone else told him the two Guadel were dead.

Jain came around the last corner and all but ran into a surly-looking man who was nearly as wide as some of the guards.

"What are you doing here, missy? I can't imagine that your instructors granted you permission to be running around without supervision."

For a second she was breathing too hard to answer, but she finally managed to get words past her gasps. "I'm sorry, sir. I wouldn't have come here but I need to talk to Va'del. Where is he?"

The stable master shook his head. "You didn't answer my question, but I don't suppose as it matters because Va'del isn't here. He's long overdue to be watering the beasts. If you see him, tell him he'd better get here soon or I'll be for whipping him in front of the other apprentices."

Jain had turned and started off at a run again before the words had even died on the air. _His rooms? I don't even know for sure where they are. The pool, he has to be at the pool._

It took only another minute or so for Jain to reach the section of corridors that led to the hot spring where she met Va'del whenever she could sneak away from the dormitories. The glow spheres were only placed in the corridors that were regularly traveled, so she was forced to slow to a walk once out of sight of their soft light or risk colliding with a wall in the darkness.

Panting as she was, Jain half expected Va'del to challenge her before she even made it all the way to the cavern, but only silence greeted her as she rounded the last corner.

"Va'del, it's me, Jain. Are you here?"

There was no reason to think there was anyone else in the cavern, certainly no breathing other than hers stirred the warm air, but Jain had to be sure so she reached out to the energy she was still learning to manipulate, and shaped it into a tiny ball of light.

The scene that confronted Jain was enough to bring tears to her eyes. Va'del sat on the edge of the pool, with a tiny knife in his right hand and tears staining his face.

"Don't try to stop me, Jain. There isn't anything left for me. I can't become a candidate and everyone hates me here, just like they hated me back home. Everyone who's ever really loved me is dead. My parents, I'rone, Betreec and Jasmin. Everyone."

Jain wanted to break into sobs, but she controlled herself despite the tears slowly escaping her eyes. "I'm so sorry, I came looking for you as soon as I heard."

Va'del shook his head, dully, almost as if he didn't hear her. "It doesn't matter. Nothing matters anymore."

Jain carefully sat down. "I can't stop you physically, or even using magic for that matter. I'm the weakest of all the girls in my year. Before you do it, will you at least tell me what happened? All of it. If I'm going to watch you kill yourself I at least want to know the truth about what brought you to this point instead of a bunch of silly rumors."

Jain felt her heart break as Va'del looked at her with the eyes of a wounded animal, and she momentarily wondered if he was too far gone to even understand her. After a few heartbeats Va'del opened his mouth and told her about his childhood, about the ephemeral, barely-remembered parents that he thought must have loved him, and about cruelty that equaled or surpassed anything that had been done to him at the Capital.

Jain crept over and wrapped her arms around Va'del as he started talking about the trio who had sponsored him, the first adults to treat him like a real person, the first ones to answer his questions since his parents had died.

As he described their deaths, Jain felt tears of sympathy course down her face at how badly he hurt, both now and then.

The end of the tale recounted the cruelty of nearly everyone he met at the Capital, as well as the seeming indifference of the two people who had the power to punish him or grant his fondest dreams.

As Va'del finished, they both found that they'd cried themselves out. Jain pulled back to wipe the tears from her face and had a sudden realization. "That's the other reason you want to go on and become a Guadel. Because of them. To honor their memory."

There wasn't any need to ask who she was talking about and she wasn't surprised when Va'del nodded. What did surprise Jain was the way that he pulled away from her after he finished talking.

"What's the matter?" The words sounded stupid considering what he'd just finished telling her, but somehow he knew what she meant.

"You're not going to want to hang out with me now. Not after you know what I'm really like. That there isn't anything good about me."

Jain felt another surge of emotion that had nothing to do with the fact that Va'del was fingering the knife again.

"That isn't true. There are so many good things about you, not the least of which is that you care for people. You are so careful with their feelings it hurts me to think how careless they are with yours."

Jain slowly wrapped her arms back around around Va'del. "I don't care what you think. I like you. Maybe more than like. I want to be with you."

Va'del was still gently rocking back and forth, but he wasn't playing with his knife anymore. That was enough for now.

## Chapter 15

On'li rubbed her temples as the other Council members finally trickled out of the room. It was the kind of gesture that simply couldn't be permitted when there were others present to notice the possible weakness, but her head hurt too badly to do otherwise now that they were alone.

Javin helped her to her feet and then followed her out of the Council room. She was so focused on the idea of using the short break to get back to their rooms and eat, she almost ran into Per'ce before realizing that the other Councilor was waiting for them.

"I beg both your pardons. I imagine that you're quite anxious to get back to Mar'li, but Sens'si and I would like to invite you back to our chambers for a brief meal."

The overture was so unexpected that On'li couldn't speak for a moment. Javin was forced to answer on their behalf. "Of course, we would be honored."

The journey to Per'ce's rooms didn't even begin to last long enough to properly consider all of the ramifications of the invitation. On'li was mentally running through the probable bargaining chips that would be dusted off and brought into the imminent negotiations when Per'ce offered his guests chairs.

"Sens'si will return shortly with the meal. I wonder if we might pass the intervening time, however, discussing your impressions of our most recent Council session."

"You mean the panicked group of toothless old gurra that should have the maturity required not to panic when things turn bad?"

Javin's lips twitched as he suppressed a smile. Per'ce in turn smiled at Javin's reaction and then nodded.

"Your point is well taken. Much of what has been proposed today is little more than desperate hoping. I'm glad to see that the current crisis hasn't made off with your typical bluntness."

"Somebody needs to be blunt around here. Nearly the entire Council has been convinced that Va'del was the entire reason that I'rone and his wives were killed. They've been looking for a scapegoat so they can go on ignoring the fact that Betreec and the others were just plain outclassed."

Per'ce nodded once again. "I have my own share of reservations with regards to the boy, but you're right when it comes to the response of most of our fellows. This idea of bringing up lowlander mercenaries, for instance, is very ill-advised."

The trio fell silent as Sens'si returned, trailed by a pair of kitchen workers. Once the boys had departed, Per'ce said a brief prayer over the food and resumed.

"Any soldiers brought up from the lowlands would invariably sicken and die. It's unlikely that they would have the skills or the constitution required to survive long enough to be of any use."

Javin passed On'li a bowl of soup and shrugged. "If they don't die off, we're just training the next batch of bandits."

Sens'si accepted a slice of mushroom bread from her husband before looking up gravely at her guests. "We aren't particularly worried about the motion passing. There are enough others on the Council who understand that our real security has always derived from the fact that none outside the People know the safe routes up the mountains, or even where our various enclaves are located."

Sensing an opening, On'li leaned forward. "So what _are_ you worried about? Surely you don't think the motion to suspend the food caravans will pass? Even the biggest fools on the Council would have to understand that would be the end of our civilization. Once the flow of food and other necessities out from the Capital ceases it will only be a matter of weeks or months until the outer villages die off completely."

"No, neither my husband or I really believe that will pass, although I think you may be underestimating just how prepared certain members of the Council are to get behind the idea and really push."

It was Javin that cued in on the probable cause of concern. "You're worried about Ja'dir?"

"Correct; as you've no doubt noticed, we tend to favor the status quo. Sens'si was approached by one of the wives of Ja'dir's contingent. She'll remain nameless for now, but she was very concerned over a proposal that Va'ma will be putting forward later today."

On'li felt her eyebrows climbing in surprise. "If Va'ma is putting it forward, then it's fully Ja'dir's idea. Does that mean one of Ja'dir's contingent is actually dissatisfied enough that they're working against him?"

Sens'si shook her head. "I think that is perhaps putting things a bit too strongly. Rather say that she feels Ja'dir's at the point of going too far. He wants sanction to begin actively recruiting some of the older daughters as wives for a select group of Guadel. He desires to go beyond the two or even three wives that tradition enshrines, and marry dozens if possible."

A slight tremble to Sens'si's hand was the only signal that she was just as horrified by the thought as On'li. "He's trying to create some kind of elite warrior class? Doesn't he understand how destabilizing it would be to concentrate that kind of power in the hands of so few?"

Javin's smile was a bitter, humorless thing. "He understands exactly. That's the point. The bandits are just a useful pretext."

Per'ce held a hand up. "I think it a bit premature to be calling him a traitor."

"My husband calls it as he sees it. Those wives won't do Ja'dir a bit of good for months still. His mind will be too busy fighting them for any augmentation to happen until after a real bond of trust is developed. This proposal isn't aimed at stopping the bandits, and it has all of the appearance of a coup in the making. It's our duty to apprise the rest of the Council of the possibility."

Sens'si placed a restraining hand on On'li's arm. "Please. We're not ruling out the possibility, but you must understand that any more infighting on the Council could be potentially fatal to the People as a whole. We must resolve the current crisis before we start worrying about Ja'dir's long-term goals."

On'li almost shook the other woman's hand off, but Javin gently pulled her back into her seat. "What do you propose?"

"We need to kill both of the current motions before the Council and then do the same with Ja'dir's plan to create super Guadel. Beyond that we need to look to the decline of the Guadel as a whole and use this crisis to put forward a solution that actually has a chance of preventing further reduction in our numbers."

"Javin and I have been on the Council long enough to know you and Per'ce already have a plan. Let's hear it."

"We've been studying the roles and registers that have survived the centuries since the Exile and while the fact that the number of Guadel has diminished is inescapable, there's an important corollary. The women number nearly the same as always, it's the men who are fewer and fewer each year."

On'li leaned back in her chair and nodded. "That would tend to explain the fact that by all accounts there are more multi-wife pairings than were common when the Goddess walked with us."

Sens'si nodded excitedly. "Exactly. The problem isn't the size of our population, which is much larger than it was even just a few hundred years ago. It's the fact that more and more of the outlying villages know too much about the Guadel and the testing process. It's becoming all but impossible to find boys who are suitable material to become candidates."

On'li briefly considered keeping her mouth shut before mentally shrugging.

"I understand the concern. Of course, understanding the problem and letting an idiot like Ma'del continue to run Bitter Rocks are two different things. It's past time we stopped overlooking his methods just because we're hoping to someday be able to recruit from that poor batch of idiots as elected him."

Per'ce put a calming hand on his wife's arm before she could respond.

"You can hardly blame Ja'dir and the rest for that, On'li. The number of women who are strong enough to test a potential candidate who knows the real purpose of the testing are very few. Your bloodline has been fortunate in always having been blessed with a high number of truly powerful women, but some of the other bloodlines would have no hope of finding additional boys to sponsor if not for those few pockets like Bitter Rocks."

"That argument only works if we were actually finding boys to sponsor in Bitter Rocks. Va'del's been the only candidate to come out of there in almost twenty years. Even the prospect of using his people to start up a new village in fifty or sixty years doesn't really justify the way we're letting him trample precedent and tradition."

Sens'si seemed to have regained her composure. "For now Bitter Rocks is a closed issue, the last vote was very decisive. However, if we can find another way to grow the segment of the People who serve as suitable testing candidates, you may very well get your wish of personally making the trip out to yank Ma'del up. We want you to put forward a motion to approach the lowlanders at Crimson Rocks about adopting some of their foundlings."

Both Javin and On'li rocked back at the sheer novelty of the plan, and On'li tapped the table as she thought her way through the idea. "It's unorthodox. There would be resistance to it for that reason alone. You're not thinking just of Crimson Rocks. That kind of news would spread like an avalanche. You'd quickly have offers of all kinds. Young, young children, mostly. The kind too small and weak to work, who are a drain on the resources of those around them. The older children will already be earning their keep."

"Exactly. We don't want the older children. The younger they join with the People, the easier time they'll have with the transition. Transporting them up the White Spikes will be difficult, but not an insurmountable task."

Javin took a considering breath. "They'll be a drain on our resources as well for quite some time. It would be a risk."

Per'ce shrugged. "We must try something different if our way of life is to survive. It's possible we can get some measure of support from the lowlanders in return for supporting their orphans. More importantly, it's possible that some of the children will turn out to be Goddess-touched. If so, the worked stones they make over the course of their lives would more than offset the added strain on our food supplies."

"You've got Javin half convinced, I can see that already, but this is no more of an immediate solution than Ja'dir's dozen wives. We need something in the short term that will allow us to deal with the threat represented by the bandits."

Sens'si finished up her soup and nodded. "Agreed. Practically speaking, there is nothing to be done but to increase the size of the Guard. There are plenty of old men or part-time guardsmen who could be enlisted full time. They couldn't be sent out to search for our attackers, but they'll serve to keep the peace and stand guard over the entrances to the villages. That will then free the better-trained guardsmen for convoy duty and scouting parties."

"They'll need to be added to the existing command structure. No changes can be allowed there."

Per'ce nodded at Javin's observation. "Agreed. The existing system has worked since the Exodus. No reason to change that and we don't want to encourage any more empire-building than we're already seeing."

"So why do you need Javin and me to present this whole plan? Surely you'd have just as much luck presenting it yourself."

"Frankly, Sens'si and I are worried at what Ja'dir would do if he perceived a power block coalescing against him. Currently, the two of you stand almost completely alone in your ongoing opposition to everything he puts forward. That opposition has largely succeeded because those not already in his corner are generally willing to hear you out, and there's always sound thinking behind the positions you take."

"You just finished saying that we were over-reacting in thinking Ja'dir was planning some kind of coup."

"We don't think it is likely, but you are correct in stating that some of the pieces have fallen into place for such an event. Regardless, we don't want to be seen as anything other than a completely neutral party."

"Leaving Javin and me to stand alone to weather the storm?"

Sens'si chuckled before visibly suppressing the reflex. "I'm sorry, but we haven't noticed as that it's slowing you down in the slightest."

On'li forced her face into a polite mask. "Don't mistake duty for enjoyment. We do what honor demands but the path would be easier with allies. If the two of you want our aid it will come with a price."

"Your Va'del. We suspected that might be the case, but as I said before, my wife and I both have some reservations still where the boy is concerned. More even than just the precedent that would be set, we're worried about what he would become. Neither of us is unsympathetic to your plight, to the fact that the Stephens bloodline has been seriously decimated, but we can't allow that concern to override other worries."

"This isn't about our bloodline. I've been inside the boy's mind and have the best feel for his potential. He needs to be sponsored. If he turns into some kind of monster like Be'ter you can count on the fact that I'll see he never takes his final vows. Short of that, there's no reason for him not to be sponsored."

"Perhaps another bloodline. If you're truly not concerned with the decline of your bloodline, possibly another sponsoring family could be found. Va'ma's Glor bloodline might be a suitable place for someone with the martial potential he's demonstrated."

"With all due respect for Va'ma's people, none of them really know the first thing about bringing a boy back from the kind of hurt this one's experienced."

Per'ce turned to exchange a long look with his wife before turning back and nodding. "Very well. As you say, we can hardly pass by a potentially suitable candidate, not if you're truly ready to see that he is stopped should he become some kind of threat. I don't think our support will be enough to get him actively sponsored right now, but we can at least help see that he is included in the candidate classes so that his training proceeds."

Javin stood and helped On'li to her feet. "We will do what's required."

"Not a day goes by but that I rely on that fact. Go with the Goddess, you two. Bring up the motions we've discussed and we'll do our part."

##

Javin hadn't really said anything to Va'del when he arrived, but the teenager found he didn't mind the silence. _It is almost like being back with I'rone. He never said very much either._

Va'del had never planned on attending the dinner when he'd accepted On'li's invitation. He'd sincerely planned on killing himself long before then, so at the time he hadn't worried about the prospect of dining with a group of people that he didn't really know.

After Jain had convinced him not to kill himself, he'd been worried that Callan would whip him for being late to feed the gurra, which had still kept him from worrying about the dinner. It wasn't until Javin arrived that his stomach had started tying itself up in knots that even the thought of Jain couldn't settle.

_I don't know what I could have possibly done to deserve her friendship but she is the most amazing person I've ever met._

The thought generated a twinge of guilt. It felt more than a little unfair to Pa'chi, who'd stood with him as long as he could remember, but he'd never shared the kind of things with her that he'd shared with Jain.

_I was always worried that if Pa'chi found out about the real me she'd stop being my friend. I never trusted her with the fact that I wanted to kill myself. I suppose she probably guessed as much but as long as I didn't say anything we could both pretend otherwise. Jain, on the other hand, knows, and she likes me anyway._

Looking at Javin's broad-shouldered form ahead of him left Va'del with a feeling of near-despair. Even all of Jain's efforts hadn't quite managed to convince him that the Goddess would somehow direct his life for the good even if he was never able to become a Guadel.

Va'del's thoughts were still chasing each other around his head when Javin turned off from the main corridor into a smaller tunnel that led to the suit of rooms he shared with his wives.

On'li smiled at her husband, and then waved to Va'del before introducing him to her sister-wife Mar'li. "And this young lady I think needs no introduction."

Va'del felt his mouth drop as Jain stepped into the room.

The three older people all smiled at their guests' obvious astonishment at seeing each other.

On'li pointed everyone towards seats around the low table. "I must apologize, Va'del. I should have thought about the impact the news of Piter and Bay'del's death would have on you and arranged for you to have a couple of days off after I shook your world like that. Unfortunately I wasn't thinking very clearly at the time."

Va'del tried to protest as he sat but On'li wouldn't have any of it.

"No. Grief is no excuse. Luckily Jain found Javin that night and despite the fact that she was no doubt terrified of him, managed to explain that you hadn't been able to return to the stables."

Jain found Va'del's eyes and seemed to be desperately trying to tell him without words that she hadn't betrayed any of his secrets. He smiled at her, trying to let her know he hadn't worried that she'd do so.

"She didn't add that she'd already been sentenced to a spectacular penance for having missed part of her afternoon classes, but we found out about that and did what we could to lessen her punishment."

Mar'li quietly reappeared from the other room with a number of dishes, and Va'del was startled to realize that some of the food had been cooked in the Guadel's rooms. With heat sources being so dear, almost everyone had to get their food from the communal kitchens. On'li's family preparing some of their own food was a clear sign of just how important they were.

Javin left to help Mar'li with the rest of the food and On'li turned back to Va'del and Jain, whom she had seated next to each other. "I trust that neither of you object to the other's presence here?"

Both of the teenagers shook their heads and then sat in embarrassed silence until the food had been brought in. The dinner was so reminiscent of his time with I'rone and his family that Va'del nearly found himself tearing up on more than one occasion.

On'li, and to a much lessor extent Javin, carried the conversation, asking a variety of questions of their young guests. Mar'li didn't say anything all night, but it was evident to Va'del long before the dinner was over that there was a very sharp mind behind the shy, unassuming exterior she showed the world. More than once the younger of the two wives caught Jain or Va'del's eyes, seeming to share a secret joke or laugh with them at something On'li or Javin said. _They do sound awfully old sometimes._

Despite Mar'li's lively humor, there was an undertone of sadness to the meal that Va'del could only guess resulted from Piter and Bay'del's death. Va'del felt more than a little ashamed that he'd been so busy worrying about what the news meant to him that he'd never stopped to think about the fact that Javin and the others had actually known Piter and Bay'del.

As everyone started in on a rare dessert of grain and gurra milk that was one of the two dishes that Mar'li had prepared in their rooms rather than collecting from the communal kitchens, On'li looked over to Javin, who nodded as if to say it was past time.

"Va'del, I promised you that we'd do what we could to see you sponsored as a candidate. We haven't managed a full sponsorship yet, but the Council has finally agreed to allow you to take classes with the candidates."

Va'del felt as though he'd been struck, and it wasn't until he looked over and saw Jain's equally amazed expression that he decided he must have really heard the Guadel correctly.

On'li held up her hands in warning before her guests could respond. "This is a very small victory for us, one that costs the Council nothing to grant and which can be revoked at any time. You are not a candidate and may never be granted full candidate status."

Va'del felt his face fall, but once On'li seemed sure she'd delivered a healthy enough dose of reality, she seemed content to shore him back up a little. "On the other hand, I have every confidence that you'll exert yourself to the greatest extent possible, and that you'll soon be the star pupil in all of your classes. That should go a long way to convincing certain members of the Council that you should be permitted to stay and even someday allowed to take your final vows as a Guadel."

There was no question as Va'del returned to his rooms that he was happy about the fact that he was one tiny step closer to becoming a Guadel, but he was surprised by just how happy he was.

He still didn't understand why On'li and the others hadn't done more for him sooner than they had, but he was more and more convinced that they really did want to help him out. He wouldn't mistake them for family, or even friends, but he was happier than he'd been at any point since I'rone, Jasmin and Betreec had been killed.

## Chapter 16

Va'del dropped back into a crouch as his shorter opponent edged towards him. _He usually rushes me. Half the time he gets me before I can take him down. Of course, the other half I make him look like a complete idiot. Fi'lin is serious when he tells Bi'li not to take wild gambles. Time to show him it's stupid to risk your life on a fifty-fifty chance._

Bi'li did indeed rush, but his weight shifted a little too far to the right, telegraphing what he was going to do. Va'del slid just far enough to the left to avoid the attack while simultaneously landing a blow that would have taken Bi'li's arms off at the elbow.

Even Alir wouldn't have been able to ignore such on obvious strike, and Fi'lin immediately ruled that Bi'li was disabled.

Va'del wasn't tired yet, not with the additional muscle he'd put on. Of course, the fact that Fi'lin didn't throw opponent after opponent at him until sheer exhaustion caused him to lose bouts helped too. Regardless, the teenager stretched quickly to try and keep himself loose. He didn't want tension to rob him of energy he'd need later.

After verbally flaying Bi'li for the better part of five minutes, the whip-thin Guadel looked Va'del over for a second with an odd gleam in his eye before turning and calling out Se'ath's name. As quickly as that, Va'del felt his stomach drop.

_Se'ath is Be'ter's best friend. His teasing is even more vicious than most._

As if the Goddess was looking down and had decided that Va'del's impending humiliation wasn't nearly severe enough, the sudden sound of footsteps and giggling signaled the arrival of Jain and the rest of the Goddess-touched Daughters.

_Fi'lin has always been fair before this, why is he trying to humiliate me now?_

There was no time to consider the question further as Fi'lin called the two boys together and instructed them. "It will be Ba'tier rules for the two of you and I'll have the ears of the boy who permanently damages the other or breaks any bones. You hear me?"

Se'ath and Va'del both nodded their understanding and then backed away and put their practice helms on.

Va'del tried to focus, but it was hard. Ba'tier rules didn't allow the match to end until one opponent had conclusively demonstrated his superiority over the other. If Va'del wasn't able to hold Se'ath off, then the other boy would have the chance to hit him again and again until Fi'lin finally declared the winner.

_He really does want me humiliated._

The two boys bowed to each other and then clashed in a whirl of arms that only the most skilled could have differentiated from the battles of the full guardsmen fighting on the other side of the cavern.

Va'del had gotten so used to seeing Se'ath triumph over all but the best fighters among the candidates that he was more than a little surprised when the blond boy didn't disarm him in the first pass.

_He's strong, but not stronger than me. Seems to rely on his sword too much, just like Be'ter._

For the next pass, Va'del tested his theory and was rewarded with a near touch when the older boy's dagger almost wasn't in place quickly enough to block a blow that would have been fatal in a real fight.

By the third pass Va'del had completely lost any fear of Se'ath and instead started pressing the boy as hard as he could across the rough floor of the cavern. The gathering crowd of observers seemed to drop away and fade from focus, leaving only the match.

Se'ath was good, and he was obviously doing his best to connect with his attacks, but for every one he landed, Va'del scored twice.

An attack that Va'del recognized at the last second as the fourth movement from the third form nearly gained Se'ath another touch, but was executed poorly enough that it left him open to a basic slashing attack. Va'del pulled the blow, but he knew it would leave a nasty bruise on the face that nearly a quarter of the girls sighed over every night before they went to sleep.

Another handful of minutes passed before Va'del sensed an almost imperceptible shift in the tempo of the fight. Acting as much on instinct as anything else, he pressed Se'ath even harder and found that the other boy was almost completely on the defensive.

_He's tiring._

Thoughts of winning were now secondary to the need to defeat Se'ath in such a way that he'd be too ashamed to harass Va'del in the future, and the younger boy found that his blows were landing again and again with just a hair less than bone-breaking force.

Se'ath dropped his weapons and turned to run, and only Fi'lin's sudden roar stopped Va'del from pursuing.

Almost as if awaking from a dream, Va'del came back to himself and realized that he was dripping sweat, tired and bruised in more places than he could count.

Fi'lin sent one of the guardsman after Se'ath to verify that the boy wasn't seriously injured, and then turned back to Va'del.

_He's going to reprimand me for using too much force. For attacking too aggressively, for almost chasing a retreating training partner._

The triumph and glee that Va'del had been feeling seconds before faded away to be replaced by guilt over how close he'd come to really hurting Se'ath.

Fi'lin studied Va'del for several long seconds with dark eyes that didn't give away even the slightest clue to the thoughts behind them. "Are you okay?"

Va'del found that he wasn't able to speak, and nodded cautiously.

"You both came very close to seriously hurting each other, but I think he's relatively undamaged, so I won't have to take your ears after all."

The Guadel leaned in close with a stern look on his face. "I don't think you'll have to worry about him hassling you anymore, but don't get a taste for humiliating your fellow students or you'll end up facing me across the ring and I'll give you a lesson you won't be forgetting."

_Was I just chastised or commended?_

Va'del couldn't be sure, but he was starting to suspect that he had a nominal ally in the arms master. The teenager turned to look for Jain, only to feel hurt and confused at her brief wave. When he turned back after racking his weapons, she was gone.

##

By the time the messenger finished his tale it was so quiet in the Council chamber that On'li wasn't sure that anyone was even breathing.

A few weeks ago the message that one of the Guadel had been struck down would have brought shouts and recriminations echoing off of the ornately-carved walls, but now there was just a tired resignation to the fact that the Council had already done all that they could in the face of this new threat.

A'vril was the first to speak and seemed mostly interested in clarifying one last point. "So the guardsmen we sent with Guadel Gia'to and his family were also dead? The corpses were left where they fell, only those of the Guadel showing signs of having been looted?"

The messenger nodded and then bowed his head respectfully as he was dismissed.

Per'ce said what most of the Councilors were thinking. "They were after the glow and heat stones that they were carrying, but why?"

On'li shrugged. "We have no real contact with any lowlander mages, a decision that I wholeheartedly agree with, but one that means we don't know what they are really capable of. Possibly those worked gemstones represent items of value great enough to justify undertaking these attacks. Replacing the worked stones we've lost in the last two attacks will take decades and for all we know the lowlander mages no longer have the secret of their manufacture. If so, even a single stone would be of incalculable value."

Even Ja'dir seemed subdued by the knowledge that another of their number had fallen. _Then again, this time it was from one of the two bloodlines currently allied with him, so maybe he's thinking more of the fact that it might make it harder to keep someone in line than that someone we all knew, at least a little, is now dead._

"Let's not jump to any conclusions yet. Yes, the worked stones are missing, but the Guadel were obviously the leaders of the group—it is only reasonable that they would be searched for valuables. It is entirely possible that these attacks are still motivated primarily by the desire to weaken the People in preparation for some kind of invasion."

Per'ce didn't look like he wanted to agree with Ja'dir, but he nodded, sending his perfectly-arranged hair swaying. "There is still the rise in bag'lig activity to consider."

Ja'dir jumped on the idea like someone running from an avalanche. "Exactly—the bag'ligs are likely being driven up the mountains by the same people who are attacking our patrols. If we can tie all these pieces together we'll know who to go after down in the lowlands to make sure that all of these problems stop."

On'li didn't like the way Ja'dir was acting, but she was even more disturbed by the fact that none of the rest of them had thought to approach the problem from the standpoint of seeing which lowlanders had an interest in causing the People problems.

Apparently the rest of the Council felt the same way, and it took less than a quarter cycle for a motion to be made and seconded that a group be sent down to the lowlands in an effort to determine what was going on.

Shortly thereafter, the Council session was adjourned and On'li and Javin returned to their rooms where Mar'li had lunch waiting for them. It wasn't until On'li was on her second cup of tea that she finally managed to push her worries about Ja'dir out of her mind so she could focus on the items that would be covered in the next meeting.

##

Jain felt bad about snubbing Va'del, especially knowing what he'd been through in the last few months, but she kept telling herself that she had a right to be angry.

_I can't believe he forgot my birthday. I told him about it weeks ago before Piter and Bay'del were even killed. He's had plenty of time to come up with something, but he didn't do a single thing for me yesterday. He didn't even say anything last night when I snuck away to see him._

Some of the Daughters had already mastered the ability to work magic while angry or in the grip of other powerful emotions, but Jain wasn't one of them. Instead, she generally found that if she was anything other than completely calm she couldn't conjure anything more complex than a simple ball of light.

For all that Jain wasn't one of the more powerful students, she had always dedicated herself to her studies and learned new things quickly. It wasn't a surprise when Guadel Bell quickly realized that there had to be something wrong for Jain to be fumbling the basic working they were practicing today.

"Come now, Jain, this isn't at all like you. What is the problem?"

Jain looked around at the other girls, unsure of whether or not she wanted to say anything where they could overhear. More than one of the Daughters was jealous of the amount of attention Jain's attractive features and uncommon blond hair brought from the candidates.

Luckily, Mistress Bell caught the look and gently pulled her to her feet. "Come now. I think we need to talk in my office."

The Guadel's 'office' was little more than a storage closet with a cloth door, but by long-standing tradition once it was occupied she worked a complex bit of magic that stopped sound from passing out of it, thereby guaranteeing that anything discussed inside would stay confidential.

Jain felt more than a little foolish now that she was sitting across from Guadel Bell, but the older woman smiled at her. "Now, now, don't go having second thoughts on me, the magic's already done."

When Jain didn't immediately respond Guadel Bell smiled once again, an expression that lit up her hazel eyes. "You know my policy, you all have to feel like you can ask me questions. If not you'd probably all end up killing yourselves and each other with magic gone awry. How can I expect you to ask the big questions that will save all of our lives if I'm not willing to discuss the smaller things?"

Mistress Bell had a reputation as the most approachable of all the Guadel, and watching her patiently await an answer, Jain decided she really could trust the older woman.

Almost before she knew what she was doing, Jain spilled the entire story to her instructor, everything except the fact that it was Va'del she was mad at.

Bell nodded once her student was done. "Did you have a good birthday other than that?"

Jain nodded, smiling a little. "All of my friends remembered—everyone but him."

"All of your girl friends remembered yes, but what about the other candidates?"

Jain had to think for a second before shaking her head. "No, a couple of them did, but not all."

"Child, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. It's the result of all my years of experience as a wife, and though it seems the simplest thing in the world I think it accounts for more of our heartache than most of us would believe. Men and women are different."

Jain felt her eyes go big as she tried to reconcile the statement with the teachings of all her other instructors who routinely said that women and men were equal.

"Notice I said different. I didn't get into one being better than the other, because I don't think that's the case, but they are different. In some things the difference is minimal, in others it's like snow and bare rock."

The Guadel didn't give her student a chance to interrupt. "Women never forget, but the Goddess made them capable of forgiving. Men, on the other hand, almost never forgive, but are blessed to be able to forget."

"That's stupid, why would she make them forget instead of being able to forgive like we can?"

Mistress Bell smiled again. "To us, of course, our way of being seems superior, but I think that there are reasons for the differences."

Jain shook her head in confusion. "I don't understand the purpose to something like that."

The Guadel looked away for a second, and there was pain on her face when she turned to Jain again. "Sometimes duty requires that terrible things be done to ensure that worse things don't take place. Forgetting in those instances, even if the forgetting takes years, can sometimes be easier than trying to forgive yourself when the memories of the hurt you've caused are always fresh and vivid."

Jain slowly nodded. "I suppose also that there are things that shouldn't be forgiven, and a man could lend strength there where we otherwise might forgive those unworthy."

Mistress Bell squeezed Jain's hand. "That is right, but without the forgetting, they'd carry around every little slight we'd ever done them, never able to let them go. Always remember, my child. Men are different, but it's a difference that lends them strength just as our difference from them lends us strength. Try not to be too hard on your young man; his forgetfulness stems, at least in part, from how he is made, and not solely from neglect, like you might otherwise think."

##

Va'del knew it was dangerous to pace in the darkness, but he couldn't quite stop himself. It was a compulsion, like fingering the two partially-worked gemstones that were his only legacy from I'rone's family.

_I wish Jasmin was here. She was female, but she was easy to talk to. I could have asked her what I did to make Jain mad._

The teenager had long since lost count of the number of laps he'd made around the cavern, one hand on the rough wall, the other at the pouch hanging from his neck, when the soft sound of footsteps finally heralded Jain's arrival.

Va'del rushed to apologize before Jain could say anything. "Powers, I'm so sorry for whatever I did wrong. I didn't mean to make you mad."

Jain remained silent for a second, and then suddenly there was a softly-glowing ball of light in the center of the cave. In the light, Va'del could see tears that matched his own sliding down Jain's cheeks.

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry. I shouldn't have let something so little bother me. I was worried that you wouldn't be here tonight, that you'd decide that I wasn't worth the headache of trying to keep happy."

Va'del reached out and pulled Jain into a hug, amazed by the fact that her thoughts had so exactly mirrored his own. "No, never. I was worried that you'd feel that way about me though. What did I do?"

"Yesterday was my birthday."

Va'del felt his heart skip a beat. _Powers, she did say something about it being in the fourth month, I just forgot about it. I don't even know today's date. I'll have to find out from someone else so I can write down her birthday and not forget next year. I don't even have anything to give her._

As Va'del opened his mouth to apologize again, he had an idea. Fumbling at the cord around his neck, he pulled the pouch out from under his shirt and selected the larger of the stones by feel alone.

"I...I want you to have this. For your birthday. I'm sorry I didn't remember yesterday."

Jain took the glittering ruby from Va'del and seemed to stop breathing for a second. "No, I couldn't."

Va'del tried to close her hand around the stone. "It was Jasmin's. It's partially worked. It really belongs with someone who can turn it into what it was meant to be. You're the only one I would want to work on it."

Jain shook her head. "Va'del, she was your favorite. I know you loved all three of them, but I can tell that she was your favorite. I couldn't take that from you. Keep it and remember her. I know that you don't have anything to give me. I should have thought about the fact that you don't even get the small stipend that the candidates get."

Va'del tried to protest, but Jain deftly placed the stone back inside his pouch and tucked the warm leather inside his shirt. "It really just means a lot that you'd be willing to give it to me."

Va'del meant to protest, to insist that she take it, but then Jain's soft lips found his and he became unable to think about anything other than their warmth.

It was Jain who broke the kiss as suddenly as she'd initiated it. "I'd better go. I'll see you as soon as I can sneak away again."

The ball of light disappeared as Jain fled the cavern, and Va'del sat alone in the darkness for at least a cycle, trying to understand what had just happened and how Jain could go from being so angry with him to so happy in the space of a few cycles.

## Chapter 17

On'li's headaches had become increasingly worse with each new set of bad news that had arrived at the Capital over the last several weeks. Mar'li had exercised her little talent in an effort to heal them away, but they were caused by nothing more sinister than worry, and consequently returned almost as fast as the younger woman finished healing them.

On'li walked past the privacy turn into their rooms and gingerly lowered herself into a chair. Mar'li saw her sister-wife rubbing her temples again and opened her mouth, probably to offer another healing, but On'li waved her quiet with a wry smile. "I'm fine. It hurts of course, but the cycle or two reprieve you could buy me just isn't worth the exhaustion it would cost you. It is only a matter of time until we either find the base these Powers-be-cursed bandits are operating from, or Ja'dir's people figure out who to apply pressure on down in the lowlands to ensure that they are called back and put on a leash. Or hanged. Lowlanders seem to favor hangings."

"I don't understand why we haven't been able to find them yet."

On'li's laugh was bitter, but she was long past trying to maintain any kind of pretense with her sister-wife. "You, me and the entire Council. We know these mountains better than anyone. Before this I would have said that there wasn't another group of people in the entire world who could even survive this high up for an extended period of time. These animals aren't just surviving, they are all but bringing our civilization to a grinding halt."

Mar'li's eyes got a little wide, and On'li mentally cursed herself for letting so much of her anger show. "I'm sorry, dear heart. It just seems like things can't get any worse and then they do. We lost three Guadel families, so we started sending them out two at a time to walk the circuits, only to see a food convoy with a Guadel family and no less than six guardsmen ambushed and killed."

Javin looked up from the corner where he was cleaning his weapons. "The defender can never be strong everywhere, not unless they have the attacker completely outclassed."

On'li nodded. "I tend to agree with you—we'd be better off worrying about increasing the number of people we have out hunting these guys instead of continuing to increase the size of our escorts. On the other hand, we can't really afford to lose very many more shipments of food or people will be starving. Only the very oldest settlements are completely self-sufficient. The rest of them wouldn't last more than a month if food shipments stop completely."

Mar'li looked so forlorn that Javin put away his weapons and went over and hugged her. "It's not all bad news."

On'li took the hint and switched gears to the few things that were moving along positively. "That is true, Va'del is currently the top student in half his classes, and in the top three or four in the rest. He's advancing at an incredible rate under Fi'lin's instruction, and in a year or so will be able to not only outfight all the current guardsmen, but half of the Guadel as well, at least when they're unaugmented."

Javin released Mar'li and walked across the thick, red rug to pour tea for both his wives. On'li accepted with a nod of thanks despite the fact that it was her second already for the day. _At least Mar'li didn't try and protest that she doesn't deserve one as well. She works every bit as hard as anyone else in the Capital._

"The Guard is a positive spot as well. We've had more part-time guardsmen than expected volunteer to move to full-time. Of course, that places more pressure on the various tradesmen who are now losing apprentices or journeymen. The various guild masters are screaming, but it dramatically increases the number of people we can send out hunting in the short term, and does so much more quickly than training them up from scratch."

Mar'li nodded, smiling tentatively as she started to relax again. "What will you do with all those guardsmen once this is all over?"

Javin and On'li shrugged at the same time. "Nobody is quite sure yet. Some of them may decide that they want to go back to their trades, but there will no doubt be a group that doesn't. A few ideas are already under consideration, though. We could send them down a little ways to hunt. Snow leopard pelts are worth almost as much as gems, and any meat they brought up would also help ease the cost of their upkeep."

On'li stopped for another sip of tea and finally felt herself relaxing slightly. "Ja'dir seems to want to use the extra men as a kind of mercenary force for the lowlanders. He thinks we can help keep the brigands down there under control in return for some kind of consideration from the petty lords who claim to rule the area."

Mar'li tilted her head to the side for a moment. "Why is Ja'dir so interested in what happens in the lowlands?"

On'li shook her head, but it was Javin who answered.

"Power."

"Javin's right. He's a diplomat. The more dealings we have with them the more power and influence he has on the Council."

"Even though it violates centuries of isolationist tradition that has kept us safe from the wars and plagues down there?"

Javin nodded. "Even if it exposes us to all of that."

On'li didn't blame Mar'li for looking lost in the face of Ja'dir's ambition, but unlike her sister-wife, she didn't have the luxury of hoping that someone else could stop him. She reached out and pulled Mar'li into a hug.

"If we can just come up with a way to stop these bandits, it should go a long ways to nullifying his power base."

##

Jain shifted uneasily in her chair across from Guadel On'li. It wasn't unheard of for one of the Council to develop an interest in one of the Daughters as they neared the completion of their education, but it wasn't a common occurrence.

_It is more likely that she called me here because I'm in trouble. I haven't done anything big enough to merit censure from the Council though. Even if they know that I've been sneaking out for months now it would be something that my instructors, or possibly the Mistress of the Daughters, would handle._

On'li finally finished conversing with the messenger who had been in the room since before Jain had arrived, and waved the man out. Before turning to Jain, the Guadel frowned in concentration for a second.

"There, now nobody can eavesdrop on us. No doubt you're wondering why I asked you to come by this afternoon."

Jain nodded cautiously. "I appreciated your invitation to dinner, but was surprised when you called for me again so soon."

On'li's smile was nearly as disarming as the few Jain had seen Mar'li dispense the night of the dinner, and she found herself relaxing almost despite herself.

"You're not in trouble, if that's what you're worried about. You seem to be Va'del's best and only friend, and I was hoping you could give me an idea of how he is doing. I don't want you to feel like I'm trying to pressure you to reveal any confidences, but there is only a limited amount of inquiry that I can make to him or his instructors without being seen as taking too much of an interest in him."

"But Mistress, you and your family are practically his sponsors. Who would take offense at your taking an interest in him?"

On'li sighed. "It's that 'practically' that's the problem. The simple fact is Va'del isn't sponsored, and there are parts of the Council that don't ever want him to be sponsored. We've managed to get him into the classes that the candidates are taking, but if we proceed too quickly we risk reversing all of the progress we've made."

Jain knew she didn't understand enough politics to really comprehend everything On'li was telling her, but she trusted the older woman. It was all too easy to believe that there were people who didn't want Va'del to be a full candidate.

"It's so unfair. He fights better than any of the others his age and more than a few who are older. I think his studies are probably about the same-he probably thinks rings around the other boys, but he's too quiet to say the things that would prove he was ahead of them."

On'li nodded. "You're not far off there; luckily his instructors are largely sharp enough to realize that he's absorbing their material at an incredible rate. I've considered asking you to prod him towards being more assertive in his classes, but am not sure it's the right course. I think he's already made enemies of all the other boys who are going to hate him. Making them look stupid shouldn't make them like him any less, but I can't be sure. It's a tricky line we're trying to follow. Anything you can tell me could help prove he should be here."

Jain nodded and told On'li the kinds of general things she felt wouldn't be disclosing anything Va'del wanted kept secret. She kept things like just how close he'd come to killing himself, and the fact that they'd kissed, to herself. Even omitting those pieces, she managed to paint a fairly accurate picture that despite some tough times he was doing better than he had at any time since I'rone, Jasmin and Betreec had died.

On'li was obviously paying close attention to everything that Jain said, and nodded as the young lady finished. "So you would say that he is happy?"

Jain thought for a second. "I think that the fact that he doesn't know if he will ultimately be allowed to become a Guadel hangs over his head and makes him worry. He's still teased by certain of the candidates, and it would be nice if he had more friends than just me, but he likes what he is learning. That's probably as close as he'll be to truly happy until things are really sorted out."

On'li studied Jain for several heartbeats. "I'm working on the first, and Fi'lin seems to be making progress on the second, but there isn't a single thing I can do about the last item you mentioned."

The older woman seemed to think for several seconds. "Jain, _are_ you really Va'del's friend?"

Jain felt herself blush from a combination of emotions that she couldn't even begin to sort out. "I think so. I try to be considerate of him like he is of me, and I enjoy the little time I get to spend with him. Has he told you that he doesn't feel like he can trust me?"

On'li waved the question away. "He's hardly in the habit of discussing much of anything with me, but I have no indication that he has any worries in that direction. No, it is more curiosity than anything. Va'del is a Stephens man through and through. Maybe a little more talkative than most, but still intensely shy, and not one who will ever make friends easily."

Jain nodded as On'li continued.

"Given all that, and the amount of grief you've likely taken from your peers, I'm curious why you've ended up his friend."

The question caught Jain completely by surprise, and she found herself amazed by how difficult it was to verbalize her reasons.

"I guess I'm not really sure. Not exactly."

On'li seemed content to wait while Jain worked everything out in her head. "I guess it's the fact that he's so considerate. No, that isn't quite it, there are plenty of boys that are considerate of me, but Va'del seems like he would be considerate of everyone. The other candidates are interested in me because I'm pretty, or because of the power I would represent as a wife, but not Va'del. I think he likes me for who I really am."

Jain felt hot tears form in her eyes and trickle down her cheeks. "If they all knew that I'm the weakest out of all the girls in training right now, a lot of them wouldn't even talk to me anymore. Va'del knows. It slipped out one day, but he doesn't care. He likes me anyway."

The politely distant Councilwoman from a few moments before had vanished, and On'li reached out and wrapped her arms around Jain as tenderly as her mother ever had before she'd been taken away to study.

"Oh, Jain. Boys being boys, I don't know that something you mentioned in passing necessarily stuck with him like you think it did, but I can tell you that from what I know of the boy, when he does understand what it means, it won't change how he feels about you. The Stephens men don't value someone for what they can do, but for who they are. It is just too bad that we can't get them to value themselves in the same manner."

Once Jain had control of herself again, the Guadel smiled at her. "Officially you're much too young to be developing strong feelings for someone, young lady. Unofficially I understand that when it happens it happens. Just go slowly. None of us know the future, but even if we're able to survive the current crisis there is no guarantee that you'll ever be able to be anything more than his friend."

Jain nodded and wiped away her tears. _There isn't any guarantee, but I'm going to do everything I can to help make sure that we get the opportunity to at least find out._

##

Va'del gingerly shifted against the cool rock wall of the cave and wished he could dunk his whole body in the hot pool. He hadn't been so sore since before he'd started weapons training back in Bitter Rocks. He'd actually been excited when Fi'lin had mentioned wanting to move him up to a more advanced weapons class. _I thought it meant I was getting good enough to handle myself against the older candidates. I think he just wanted to humble me._

The teenager had just reached up to finger Jasmin and Betreec's gemstones when Jain arrived. Va'del tried to get up to give her a hug, but the groan that escaped him as he tried to move brought her over to him before he made much progress.

"No, don't get up. Are you okay?"

"I think so, but I'm not looking forward to tomorrow. I'll hardly be able to move."

Even in the darkness, Va'del could tell Jain was smiling. He had no problem visualizing exactly the way her dark blue eyes would light up, but found himself wishing he could see it for himself anyway.

"What happened?" Suddenly the teasing was replaced with concern. "The candidates didn't do this to you, did they?"

"Yes, but not how you think. The teasing is gradually dying down as I'm steadily getting better than most of them with a sword. Nobody jumped me, Fi'lin just moved me up a level. I'm now facing people who are much better than I am and they wasted no time proving that fact by leaving me quite bruised."

"Somehow I doubt they're that much better than you. Fi'lin wouldn't have moved you up if you didn't at least have a chance, but it may take a while before you come out the better in the matches all the time like you did against the younger boys."

Va'del nodded, knowing that as close as they were sitting she'd feel the gesture despite not being able to see it. "You're probably right, as usual."

"Please, you're the one who is getting into the habit of always being right. You've taken the correct position on every single legal point we've argued about for the last two weeks."

"Well it only makes sense. I've had Guadel Ah'bi slipping me the answers for the last three weeks. She said something about wanting to humble her star law pupil."

Jain tensed up in indignation before she realized Va'del was joking. "You get me every time. I think it is because you tease so rarely."

"I can stop if you want."

"No, your teasing is fine. It never makes me feel bad. Not like most people."

The pair had actually managed to get ahead in their separate law classes, so they simply sat in silence for several minutes before Jain rested her head on Va'del's shoulder.

"Va'del, what's happening with the attacks on the People? Nobody will tell us girls anything, but everyone seems to be getting more and more worried. I overheard something earlier that made it sound like we might not survive."

"I probably don't know a whole lot more than you do. I think the advanced tactics class is being fed pretty much the whole story, but us beginners only get bits and pieces."

"Still, you have to be getting more than we are. All I hear are the little tidbits you boys drop to make yourselves seem important and knowledgeable."

Va'del laughed gently at the frustration in Jain's voice. "Kind of like the secrets you all keep about everything magical in an attempt to make yourselves seem mysterious and powerful?"

"Stop that, you know we don't have a choice. We get in all kinds of trouble if they find out we tell you anything about magic."

"I know. To answer your question, there is some kind of large group of bandits out there who keep attacking the Guadel walking the circuits."

"Like they did you and your sponsors?"

The pain was still very real, but the sharpness of the memories was starting to fade slightly, and Va'del found he could now mention it in passing without tears trying to take him over. _Why does that make me feel so guilty?_

"Y-yes, just like they did to us. I'm not positive that they are telling us now each time a Guadel family is killed, but we know that it has happened at least three times."

Jain clutched at Va'del's arm and buried her head further into his shoulder. "Why would they do this to us?"

"I'm not sure. Our instructors keep pointing out that we can't even survive without trading to the lowlanders for some of our food. The fact that the mountains are so inhospitable has always served to discourage any attackers. Why come and try and invade us for the jewels when they can always just wait for us to mine for them, and then trade at fairly favorable rates for something as simple as food?"

"You know something else. What is it?"

Va'del sighed. "This is little more than guesses, but they have had us run several simulations where we're attacked by bag'ligs—larger than normal groups like the ones that I'rone killed shortly after sponsoring me."

Jain didn't seem to understand, but Va'del knew it wasn't because she was stupid. She just hadn't been trained to think in terms of strategy and tactics yet. "I think that attacks like that are happening and they are trying to use the beginning strategy class to try and come up with answers that they haven't been able to find through other routes. They don't know how to respond for sure, but they don't want to panic us by saying that there are bag'ligs crawling all over the mountains right now."

Jain's near gasp told Va'del he'd worried her, but when he stopped talking she squeezed his arm again. "Keep going. I want to know."

"Ok, but you can't tell anyone else, especially not the other Daughters. The instructors would kick me out if they thought I was letting these things get out and causing a panic."

"I won't tell anyone."

"All right. Remember that I don't know any of this for sure, it is just guesses based on what they are having us do in class, and the fact that it seems like they aren't working from a script anymore. It is like they prepare our lessons the night before class, even. It's been that way for a couple of weeks now. I think that the Guadel are worried about the food convoys. Maybe none of them have been attacked yet, but they've had us run simulations on the runs up from the lowlands, the supply runs from the Capital out to the villages, and the runs between villages."

Va'del could tell that Jain was trying to be brave, but he knew she was worried, so he hastened on to the good news. "I know it all seems scary, but eventually we'll find where they are operating from, and then a strike force of five or six Guadel with some guardsmen in support could probably wipe out the whole group of bandits in half a cycle."

"Why haven't they found them yet?"

"Probably because of the season. It is always windy this time of year, and we get more snow than other times too. By the time we find where there has been an ambush, the tracks we could otherwise use to track them back to their base are already covered."

Jain nodded. "That makes sense. When the snows and winds die down we should be able to find them then, right?"

"Yep—if nothing else it should just be a matter of time."

"I'm scared, but I won't tell anyone else. I don't suppose that any of us are old enough or trained enough to be out there hunting, so it would just worry them for no reason."

Va'del smiled and kissed the top of Jain's head. "I suspect you're right. Things would have to be awfully bad before they sent all of us out there."

Suddenly Jain's hands were pulling Va'del's face down to hers, and neither of them worried about anything for the next few minutes until she had to sneak back to the dormitories.

## Chapter 18

On'li shifted positions on her metal chair, convinced that the gurra wool pad that cushioned the hard steel had somehow grown thinner over the last two months.

Jo'sep and Garth, Master of Strategy and Master of the Guard respectively, were obviously uncomfortable with delivering their latest batch of bad news.

Jo'sep finished his report and waited for questions. Ja'dir was the first to start pointing fingers despite the fact that the fierce-looking Master of Strategy belonged to an allied bloodline.

"So what you're telling us is that an entire village was raided by these animals? That numerous people were killed, that a month's supply of food was taken, and nobody even considered that this might be a possibility?"

Garth looked for a moment as if he would lose his temper, but Jo'sep restrained him with a barely-noticeable gesture. "No, Councilor. What I'm telling you is that we considered the possibility, that it was pointed out to this body, but given our shortage of trained personnel it was decided that other areas were more likely to be attacked and therefore a higher priority."

Ja'dir looked as though he was about to say something characteristically cutting, but Va'ma stepped in to defend Jo'sep who was a member of his bloodline. "The decision to focus on protecting other vulnerabilities was made as much or more by the Council as it was by our Master of Strategy. Trying to assign blame at this juncture is pointless."

Ja'dir looked somewhat repentant, possibly realizing that he might be pushing his ally too far.

"Agreed, but we have to find a way to stop this from happening again."

A'vril nodded. "Of course, but as I understand the realities of the situation, we've already stripped the Capital and stronger villages nearly bare in an effort to cover the food shipments and help ensure that the Guadel walking circuit are more protected."

Ja'dir waved away the concern with a casualness that betrayed his almost complete lack of understanding. "So we pull the necessary men from somewhere else. The parties searching for the bandits' base of operations have been completely useless. Reduce the number and size of those groups."

This time it was Jo'sep who looked ready to lose his temper, but he was saved from saying something brash by the fact that Javin slammed his fist down on the gray stone table. "That's suicide. If we do that we completely give over the offensive and the bandits will be free to continue to pick targets of opportunity until they've completely wiped us out."

Jo'sep and Garth both shot Javin looks of gratitude, and Va'ma nodded. "He's right, finding those Powers-blasted bandits is our only hope of bringing this to a successful conclusion."

The argument raged for nearly half a cycle before On'li stood, and after being recognized by A'vril, began laying out a plan. _They aren't going to like this. None of them are really going to like it, but it's the only way to come up with additional bodies who have even a chance of doing us some good._

##

Va'del was more than a little surprised when a messenger tracked him down and delivered a note requesting he come by On'li's rooms. _Then again, nobody else has arrived at class yet today, not even the instructor, so something must be going on._

After stopping a number of people for directions, the teenager finally found himself standing before the appropriate corridor.

A clear 'come in' answered his questioning clap. Va'del entered to find On'li reading through a report.

"Please sit down."

"Yes, Guadel On'li."

"We need to talk."

_Did I do something wrong? Did Jain get caught sneaking back into the dormitories?_

Va'del felt his insides tense up as he realized that there was a much more obvious reason for the Guadel to have to talk to him. _They're pulling me from the classes. They finally made a decision, and I won't ever be sponsored._

"Don't look at me like your world is about to end, boy. You haven't done anything wrong that I know about, and you aren't being barred from attending classes. You are, however, about to be put into some very difficult circumstances."

The relief that he wasn't about to be banned from classes was enough to offset any worry about what the future might hold, and Va'del waited expectantly for On'li to continue.

"I've been talking to Jo'sep, and he thinks you've probably figured out much of what is going on based on the coursework you've been given in his class the last month or so. If that is the case you won't be surprised to find out that the bandits are pressing us quite severely."

Va'del nodded cautiously, unsure why the Guadel would go to all the effort of trying to keep the fact secret from the younger candidates only to have On'li tell him now.

"We just got a report that Black Rock Village was attacked. In addition to a fairly large cache of gemstones, the village also lost half their guardsmen and most of their food. The Council has had to come up with ways to reinforce the villages without pulling people away from the search for the bandits' base of operations. It's vital that we find them."

On'li paused just long enough for Va'del to nod in understanding, and then continued.

"Part of those reinforcements are coming from the Guadel and guardsmen who normally teach full time. Parts of the Council will take over guarding the caravans going to the nearest villages, which will free up additional manpower. Since there aren't going to be any teachers here for you youngsters to learn from, you'll all be going out to the various villages to double as a kind of improvised guard until we can root out these villains and thin out the uncommon swarms of bag'ligs currently running around up here. Then we can bring you all back and things can more or less return to normal."

It all made sense, and in fact Va'del couldn't help but wonder why something similar hadn't been done previously, but it didn't account for the 'difficult circumstances' On'li had mentioned, and the teenager couldn't help the trace of puzzlement he felt make its way to his face as he nodded.

"The difficulty comes in that you're being fostered out with a pair of Guadel who would like nothing more than to see you fail."

On'li sighed and rubbed her temples as if fighting a headache. "This whole plan of cleaning out the Capital like this to reinforce the villages was our idea, and certain people on the Council are worried that our stars will rise too high if the plan works, so this is their way of trying to set things up so that there is a brake on us later. We tried to fight the decision, but they pushed it through because they are sure that you'll give them cause to throw you out of the training programs. Your failure will then reflect negatively on us, preventing any kind of new power bloc on the Council from forming. It's not fair for you to be treated as a pawn in the political intrigues some on the Council seem to love so much, but there is nothing else Javin and I can do at this point. The survival of the People has to come before even the needs of our Bloodline."

Javin and Mar'li both appeared from the other room and each gave Va'del a smile that bolstered his spirits somewhat as On'li continued. "All that means to you is that you have to be very careful. You'll be going through Black Rock. Those are still members of the People out there, but they're going to be scared. They may very well try to blame you and those with you for what happened, but you absolutely have to make sure that you don't do anything to make relations worse."

"Yes, Councilor. I'll do my best."

Satisfied that Va'del was taking her seriously enough, On'li waved him to his feet and out the door. "You'll be leaving tomorrow morning. I'll have someone drop by later to see what additional cold-weather gear you'll need. Get packed, and then stay out from underfoot. Everyone is going to be scrambling to get ready, and more than a few tempers are going to be strained."

Va'del nodded, and then paused at the privacy corner. "What will happen to all of the Daughters?"

"That hasn't been decided yet. Most of them have no real experience traveling in the snow, but there is no doubt but they'd be useful out among the villagers if we have more casualties."

His real question still unanswered, Va'del turned once again to leave when Mar'li spoke up. "She'll do what she can to see that Jain is stationed in the same village as you if they do go, Va'del."

On'li snorted, but it wasn't an unkind sound. "She's right, and I shouldn't let myself get quite so caught up in the doom and gloom. I know that you're fond of each other and I'll do what I can. Just make sure you both behave."

##

Va'del rubbed sleep out of his eyes and checked over Hungry and Sleepy again. Both of the gurra had been happy to see him despite their long-suffering disappointment that he hadn't brought them some kind of treat.

Stable master Callan had conscripted Va'del as soon as he'd arrived and put him to work harnessing up the two gurra while the rest of the party filtered into the bustling stables.

Working out of habits developed while on the trail with I'rone, Va'del quickly harnessed both animals and then tied his many small packs to Sleepy. As he finished, someone stopped by and left another pile of packs, but he knew better than to tie them to Hungry. _Jasmin always said knowing where you'd put every piece of your gear could save your life. "No Guadel worth his oaths lets someone they don't know extremely well pack his things or tie them to his gurra."_

By the time Va'del had double-checked both gurra, and Callan had been by with a rare word of praise for the job he'd just done, the rest of the Guadel seemed to have arrived.

A weathered, old Guadel waved Va'del over and presented him to another pair of Guadel who looked roughly as old as Javin and On'li.

"You'll be Va'del?"

"Yes, sir, I am."

"Good, I'm Si'mon. This is Guadel Cindi and Guadel Oh'scir. You'll be under their direction for as long as we are away from the Capital. Unless you have an order otherwise from me as the Caravan Master, you do exactly what they tell you."

Va'del nodded as he tried to unobtrusively examine the pair On'li had warned him would be trying to ensure that he never got the chance to become a candidate.

Si'mon smiled. "Good boy, I'm told you've been out on the snow before. Keep your head on and you'll do just fine."

Guadel Cindi sniffed delicately, as if she were too polite to say what she really thought about her young charge. On such a large woman, managing a delicate sniff was a fairly impressive feat.

Oh'scir smiled absentmindedly at Va'del as he rubbed the top of his bald head, and then looked around. "We're supposed to have someone else traveling with us. I'm not sure why she isn't here yet. What was her name? June, maybe?"

Cindi shot her husband a long-suffering look. "Jain. Her name was Jain. She probably overslept, which means we'll get to leave her behind. The whole caravan can hardly wait for one truant teenager."

Va'del's momentary elation at finding he was going to be able to travel with Jain was washed away by worry that she wouldn't arrive in time.

He debated trying to sneak away to find Jain, but quickly discarded the idea. His odds of making it back in time were dismal and if he was late, Cindi would no doubt jump at the excuse to leave him behind.

Jain arrived a few seconds later, out of breath and barely recognizable under the many layers of clothing she was wearing.

"Child, you shouldn't put your coat on until you are almost ready to go outside. Otherwise your body gets used to not having to work as hard to stay warm, and you'll freeze once you're out in the cold." Oh'scir made the statement in a much more kindly manner than his wife probably would have, but Jain still looked crestfallen as she started half-heartedly pawing at the fastenings on her coat.

As soon as both of the Guadel had turned away, Va'del stepped forward and undid the fastenings with practised ease. As he helped Jain out of the coat and the heavy wool overshirt she'd been wearing, he whispered to her. "It's okay. Pretty much everyone makes that mistake their first time out. We need to try and make sure that you don't get a chance to sweat though. Gurra wool does a pretty good job of drawing moisture away from your skin, but anytime you start feeling hot you need to open up your coat or do something similar to cool down a little. Otherwise sometimes it cools against your skin and steals your body heat."

Jain nodded. "There is just so much I don't know. I'm not used to feeling quite so useless."

Va'del patted Jain on the arm, and then took the last pack she'd brought with her and looked over at the pile next to Hungry. "These others are yours, right?"

"Yes."

Jain looked back and forth between Va'del and the two Guadel who were conversing with some of their peers.

"I'm so scared. I didn't think it would come to this; things must be worse than we thought."

"It will be okay. The odds are we won't see a single bandit, and that the cold will be our only real enemy. Hungry and Sleepy here both took good care of me the first time I was outside. Stick close to them and they'll do the same for you. Now let's get everything tied to a harness."

##

The caravan made very poor time the first day. The cold journey was brutal for the old and young alike. Va'del's daily weapons training sessions had helped keep him fit, but even so he had muscles that were burning from unaccustomed usage by the time the Caravan Master called a halt for the day.

_Poor Jain, she's got to be in even worse shape, but she's kept plugging on, regardless._

From his position at the tail of their little party, it was obvious to Va'del that Cindi was struggling as much or more than Jain, but he found it hard to be very sympathetic toward the older woman.

Cindi had used every single rest pause to find something wrong with Va'del. Everything from the amount of slack on Sleepy's lead rope to the way his coat had been fastened had come under condemnation at some point. Watching Jain get steadily slower and more exhausted, it had been all Va'del had been able to do not to snap back at Cindi that she needed to shift her 'kindly' oversight to Jain, who actually needed the help to ensure she didn't end up with a bad case of frostbite, or worse.

Va'del rubbed the soft brown wool on Sleepy's head while waiting for the front of the caravan to make its way into the cave that would shelter them for the night. Jain suddenly started to collapse, and only the fact that he was standing so close allowed Va'del to catch her before she hit the ground.

Taking both lead ropes in his left hand, Va'del wrapped his other arm around Jain's tiny waist and helped her stagger past a pair of Guadel busy setting out glow spheres, heat spheres and the other worked gemstones that would help make the cave habitable for the night.

Va'del lowered Jain to the floor and looked up to see Cindi glaring at him. Jain followed his gaze and patted his hand. "I'll be fine, go take care of the gurra."

Va'del didn't like leaving Jain, but she gave him a weak smile, so he nodded and led Hungry and Sleepy over to the part of the cave that had been marked off for the beasts. It took Va'del nearly a cycle to unburden and wipe down the gurra while Oh'scir set about making food and Cindi paced their little corner of the cave and complained under her breath.

It wasn't until the beasts of burden were seen to and the various caravan members had sat down to consume simple dinners, that Va'del realized that Jain was still sitting completely motionless in the corner where he'd left her.

When Jain didn't respond to her name, Va'del ran to her. _She's asleep. No, her breathing isn't right for that. It is too rough._

Cindi saw Va'del's sudden motion and stalked over. "I'll not have you bothering that poor girl. Oh. Why didn't you say something? Her lungs are filling up. Stupid boy, if I hadn't caught this, we'd have found her dead in the morning."

Angry words of reproach died behind Va'del's lips as he realized pointing out that he had been rubbing down the gurra wouldn't make any difference to the older woman. "Can you do anything for her? Jasmin did something to my lungs the first time out. She cleared out the fluid and made them so that they could handle the thin air better."

"That's Guadel Jasmin to you. I'll not have you dishonoring her memory, boy."

Va'del bit his lip to remain silent, and was rewarded a second later when Cindi nodded to herself. "We should be able to have her back to normal by tomorrow if I can get some help. Boy, go get the Caravan Master and tell him I'll need his wife to thicken up the air in here and then come help me."

The Caravan Master's wife, Sophie, proved to be a thin, plain woman who smiled easily and proved incredibly adept at countering Cindi's attempts to place blame. The pair had hustled Jain off to a corner where they could work on her undisturbed, and Va'del found himself unsuccessfully trying to eavesdrop in an effort to find out whether or not Jain was going to be okay.

The Caravan Master saw Va'del's apparent stress, and took a few moments to come speak with him. "She'll be just fine, boy. It's my fault really. All of us old hands tend to forget that the only reason we can survive out in the thin air is the modifications someone did to us decades ago. I should have thought to check and make sure all of you youngsters had been taken care of. We've got four other cases. None of them quite as bad, but don't you worry. The ladies will have your friend and all the rest of them fixed up and ready to go by the time morning rolls around."

A quarter cycle later, while Va'del was fingering a narrow package that Javin had dropped off for him the night before, Oh'scir ambled over to tell him that Cindi wanted them both to go to sleep so that they weren't tired in the morning. The younger man nodded and wrapped himself up in blankets, but closed his eyes sure that sleep would be a long time arriving. _Javin said to leave it wrapped up until things got their worst. Does Jain's illness count as something terrible enough to unwrap his gift?_

When Va'del finally awakened, it was to glares from Cindi, who seemed to have been waiting for him to stir. "What are you doing with worked stones? Did you steal them?"

Still somewhat confused from having so recently been asleep, it took Va'del several seconds to understand that the Guadel was talking about Betreec's and Jasmin's gemstones. The teenager's hands darted to his chest to make sure that the pouch containing the two stones was still there.

"Yes, those two. Did you really think that I wouldn't sense them? It doesn't matter. I'll have them now."

The action seemed to tear at Va'del's heart, but On'li's warning that he needed to be very careful not to defy Cindi and Oh'scir pounded away at his thoughts. The teenager had worked the pouch free from his shirt by the time he realized that the weak movement behind Cindi was Jain, and that she was shaking her head emphatically.

"No," he said. "They were the lifeworks of Ja...Guadel Jasmin and Guadel Betreec. Guadel On'li gave them to me for safekeeping. I have to keep them until she asks for them back."

The expression of surprise on Cindi's face at Va'del's refusal was almost an exact mirror of what he felt himself at having stood up to her. For a moment Va'del worried that he'd done the wrong thing, but his trust in Jain was absolute. He could only hope that she knew something he didn't about what was happening.

Guadel Cindi's face instantly flushed with anger. She glared for several seconds and then stalked off muttering about disrespect and the unworthy state of the current generation of youth.

Once they were as alone as was possible in a roughly-circular cave filled with people, Va'del crept over to Jain. "Are you okay?"

Wrapped in more blankets than Va'del had suspected could be found in the caravan's baggage, Jain nodded. "I'll be fine. They patched me up, and did the alterations that make you all able to breathe out there without having your lungs fill up with fluid."

"I'm sorry. I should have remembered and said something."

Jain quietly laughed, but as always there was nothing of mocking in it. "Please. I should have remembered it. We learn how to do the procedure, for Powers' sake. With all of the excitement, I guess we all just forgot."

Va'del shrugged, still somehow feeling like he'd failed Jain.

"It's okay. You don't have anything to be sorry about. You all but carried me up the last few steps into the cave last night."

Va'del wished he could lean in and give Jain a kiss, but Oh'scir was up now and looking their direction. "I'll get Hungry packed and take care of any of the chores that would otherwise fall to you. See if you can't go back to sleep for a while. You'll need all of your strength if they're really going to make us travel today."

##

The Caravan Master had indeed been unwavering in his desire to move out, and although Va'del understood that Black Rock Village was probably only a week away from starvation, he had bitterly wished they could wait for even one day while Jain and the others recovered.

He'd been sore enough when they'd started out in the morning that he'd known each step must have been sheer torture for her. Unable to do anything other than lighten her burden, Va'del had tied Hungry's lead rope to Sleepy's pack, and led both gurra to save Jain from having to fight one of the sometimes stubborn beasts.

Yesterday's relatively good weather had disappeared, replaced by a wind that was bitingly cold, if not overly strong. For the first time Va'del could remember, Jain was obviously shivering just as badly as he was. The fine, stinging particles of ice that the wind was propelling into the openings in everyone's clothing despite their best efforts to stop it left Va'del feeling as though his skin had been abraded against a rock wall.

_At least the wind is at our backs, so Jain and the others don't have to fight it as well as their own aching muscles._

Each time the Caravan Master stopped in the temporary shelter of a rock outcropping, Va'del handed Jain a water skin and tried to ignore the fact that she was obviously closer to total exhaustion with every passing cycle.

Somehow they all made it through the day. Of almost equal amazement to Va'del was the fact that he'd managed to continue to bite his tongue in the face of Cindi's repeated attempts to find fault with everything he did.

The next day promised to be even worse. Everyone's muscles were in the worst shape of the journey so far. Jain had started the morning pointing out, with something very nearly like her usual cheer, that at least the gurra all would have an easier time of things since their loads had been lightened by two days' provisions.

The statement had managed to draw a smile out of Va'del despite his worry about her, but as the day wore on, Jain once again retreated into herself, as if simply putting one foot before the other was all that she could possibly handle.

Jain collapsed into her blankets as soon as she finished dinner that night, and Va'del was forced to endure Cindi's endless remonstrations alone. He understood the need to avoid further straining relations with the villagers, but it hardly mattered next to his worry that Jain wasn't going to make it to the village.

The next day went much better for everyone, whether because they were starting to accustom themselves to the journey, or possibly because they knew the warm sanctuary of the village awaited them at the day's end.

Whatever the reason, the caravan made excellent time, and Va'del saw the dark smudge that signaled they'd arrived at the village at least a cycle sooner than he'd expected.

The subtle straightening of the backs of each member of the party as they entered the village seemed to signal that they, like Va'del, had been carrying tension and stress they hadn't known about, but which evaporated as they finally made it safely to the village.

_For all that we spent most of our time and energy worrying about fighting off the cold, I don't think that most of us ever forgot that there was a very real chance that we'd be ambushed by the bandits along the way._

The Guadel tasked the rest of the party with taking care of the animals and getting their gear to the guest rooms, and then left with the headman.

Va'del tried to convince Jain to leave the care of Sleepy, Hungry, and the other two gurra to him, but she gamely insisted on helping despite not knowing very much about caring for the animals.

The two of them managed to finish up with all four beasts about the same time as the rest of their party, and then tiredly picked up their own things and followed the others to their rooms. Jain was recovering more slowly than the rest of the Daughters. Va'del had shouldered more than half of her things, but they were still moving so slowly that they almost lost sight of their quickly moving companions several times.

Once they finally reached the guest rooms that had been reserved for them, Va'del wanted nothing quite so much as to lie down and go to sleep, but he forced himself to leave his things in a more or less orderly pile, and head back for Oh'scir and Cindi's things.

Seeing Jain turn to follow him, Va'del shook his head. "You should stay here and rest. For all we know we'll be on the road again tomorrow."

Jain looked around, and seeing that nobody was looking their direction, squeezed Va'del's arm. "Don't be silly. You're even worse with directions than I am. Besides, if you stand here and argue with me we'll just end up even further behind everyone else. I'll come help, otherwise we'll still be looking for you tomorrow when her highness is ready to get back on the trail."

Va'del chuckled a little at the image of Cindi stomping around, quite put out because he'd had the gall to go off and get lost, and then nodded. "You're probably right."

Once the pair was out of sight of the guest rooms, Jain broached the subject that he'd wanted to ask her about, but hadn't yet had the opportunity. "Jasmin and Betreec's stones properly belong to their bloodline. Since On'li and Javin are the head of that bloodline, if they gave them to you, there is nothing Cindi can do to take them away."

Va'del nodded, finally understanding why Cindi had backed down. "Thank you for hinting that I should stand up to her."

"You don't need to thank me for that. I know how much they mean to you. Besides, I hate watching her pick at you all the time. She's completely unfair."

Va'del shrugged uncomfortably. "She's the Guadel though. I have to keep her happy or I'll never have a chance to be a real candidate."

"That doesn't make what she's doing right."

Even with Jain picking their direction of travel the pair made two false turns. It wasn't until they heard the rest of the caravan headed back from the stables that they found the correct corridor and made it to the stables. Anxious to try and catch back up to the others, Va'del quickly loaded himself up with as much of the Guadel's baggage as he could carry.

None of the symbols at the cross tunnels looked even remotely familiar. The clatter of their party was so faint as to be all but useless, so after several seconds Jain shrugged and pointed down the left passage. "I suppose one way is as good as the other. We can't stand around and wait for Cindi to come find us."

Va'del hadn't ever noticed just how similar tunnels could look when you didn't know the meaning of the sigils at the crossroads. Still, after several minutes they realized that they'd unsurprisingly taken the wrong tunnel. What did catch Va'del off guard was the fact that right before he decided to turn around, they somehow ended up in a dead end containing three off-duty guardsmen who were passing around some kind of dust.

"It's the bloody kids from the Capital."

"Right; we get overrun by those Powers-blasted bandits, left out here to starve for two weeks, and then when help finally comes it turns out to be a few old people and some kids to help defend the whole bloody village."

All of the men's eyes were somehow wrong—too bright, and not tracking quite right—but one of them seemed less affected by whatever they were taking than the other two.

"Lay off, Vin'i. They're just kids, they don't have any more say about what happens than we do. Besides, the Council has to have a good reason for not sending more help. This must be all there was that could be spared."

"Shut up, Dom'niv. My father was born in the Capital. He told me all kinds of stories about how big the Guard was there. There are plenty of people to spare; they just didn't want to send us any help. They sit there and get fat on our work just like they always have."

Va'del tried to pull Jain back, hoping that if they left the guardsmen would turn on each other, but the slight motion brought all three to their feet.

"You think you can just leave? Why haven't you answered us?"

Va'del stepped around Jain, placing himself between her and the guardsmen. "We're sorry about what happened. We've brought food, and will do everything we can to help protect your village."

The guardsmen were all fairly tall men but the largest one, apparently named Vin'i, swore at Va'del and pushed him. "Shut up, you skinny punk. You shouldn't even be breathing our air."

Va'del saw the shove coming. His unarmed training had given him three or four responses ranging from things that would leave the attacker howling in pain, to ones that would leave nothing more than a corpse at his feet, but Cindi's voice had merged with On'li's now in telling him that he wasn't to do anything to worsen the situation, so he didn't use any of them.

There wasn't room for Va'del to dodge the shove, not in the close quarters of the tunnel, not without tripping over Jain, so he absorbed the full force of the attack, and careened into the dark stone wall, hitting his head before somehow ending up on the ground with a sharp pain in his chest.

Va'del lost a few seconds as he tried to recover from the dizziness that seemed determined to chain him to the floor. When the teenager was finally able to open his eyes without wanting to vomit, he saw one of the guardsmen grab Jain and then recoil as she slapped him.

Va'del pulled himself to his feet as another of the guardsmen grabbed Jain from behind to restrain her.

All thoughts of trying to smooth over any differences with the villagers had been subordinated by the need to protect Jain, and Va'del threw himself towards the guards.

Va'del's first kick took the nearest attacker in the right knee, causing him to drop to the ground clutching the destroyed joint, as the teenager slipped past and hit the next man in the small of his back.

The flurry of blows that followed was brief and relatively one-sided as Fi'lin's teaching proved true, and Va'del landed a punch to the base of his opponent's throat. It wasn't a killing blow, not like an attack to the top of the man's throat would have been, but it stunned him and allowed Va'del to render him unconscious a few seconds later.

A scream from Jain brought Va'del around in time to barely deflect a knife blow that would have otherwise taken him in the kidney.

Custom forbade all but full Guadel or candidates from wearing swords inside the village, but Va'del had absentmindedly buckled his dagger back on before leaving their rooms, and he scrambled to draw it now, all the while trying to evade or deflect a variety of attacks that left him bleeding from half a dozen small wounds.

Fighting solely with daggers was a more advanced course, one that Fi'lin hadn't covered extensively yet, but Va'del knew he had to protect his weapon until he'd immobilized his opponent's knife.

The brutal journey they'd just completed left Va'del without his normal reserves of strength, and now he felt what little strength remained him slowly draining out of the wounds he'd already taken.

The silence from where Jain had fallen also served as a goad, but Va'del forced himself to be patient and allow the fight to develop naturally instead of rushing in like Bi'li and getting himself killed.

_He's a more skilled knife fighter than I am, but whatever they were passing around has affected him oddly. His movements are jerky, faster, but less coordinated than they should be._

A wise fighter would have let Va'del weaken from his wounds, but Vin'i apparently didn't have that kind of patience, instead rushing his smaller opponent with a howl of rage.

Everything happened so quickly that Va'del's conscious mind couldn't follow and he instead reacted with the reflexes developed by long cycles of training as Vin'i bore him to the ground.

It wasn't until the larger man stopped moving that Va'del knew that he'd succeeded in burying his dagger in Vin'i's chest.

Rolling the dead guardsman off of him, Va'del stumbled to Jain. Taking in the large bump on her head, Va'del picked Jain up and carried her, taking random turns until he finally found people and collapsed at their feet.

##

When Va'del finally regained consciousness, he was in a strange room replete with the familiar scents he'd grown to associate with Healer Sara. As Va'del's sluggish mind cast about for a reason why he would be in a sick room, he remembered Jain's injuries.

The croak that his body emitted in response to his desperate attempts to speak wasn't recognizable as Jain's name, but it brought a pair of people around the privacy divider that sheltered Va'del's bed from the rest of the room.

Surprisingly it was the Caravan Master who stood next to Jain. Relief at the fact that Jain was okay caused Va'del to miss the first part of what the Guadel was telling him.

"...Glad that you're awake. Do you understand me?"

In response to a weak nod, the older man continued. "Terrible business that, but I questioned both of the surviving guardsmen and this young lady myself. Of the three stories, hers best matches the physical evidence we found. Not only that, but their stories didn't even match up with each other. Based on that, the Headman reluctantly agreed to confine those two beasts. You'll have to be questioned by the Headman tomorrow, but it really should just be a formality."

Va'del once again nodded his understanding, and the Guadel smiled. "The village healer and half of our women worked themselves into a state of exhaustion patching the four of you up, something that had me more than a little nervous considering that for a bit there it looked like the villagers would riot and try to kill us all."

Jain's eyes widened, like she hadn't realized just how much danger the entire party had been in. Va'del wanted to reassure her, but the Caravan Master was speaking once again.

"Now that things are stable, the rest of us have to leave. I don't like leaving the four of you here with all of the attacks lately, but the next village on our route must be running low on provisions by now. We'll leave tomorrow morning. If everything goes well, you should be able to catch up with us by the time we reach the second way cave, and I'd wager the bandits can't be operating within a three- day radius of here. They never would have been foolish enough to attack this village if it were anywhere near their base of operations. Rest now—you'll have a hard journey ahead of you."

Once the Guadel was gone, Jain squeezed Va'del's hand. "The last thing I remembered was the sight of him going after you with a knife. When I woke up I was so scared that I was going to find out you were dead. They had to bring me in here to see you still breathing before I would believe you were really alive. Even then, I was worried that you had somehow been hurt too much for a healing to work."

Va'del squeezed Jain's hand and croaked out a request for water that she somehow understood. Once Va'del had finished the cup of water he found that he was able to speak again.

"You're okay then?"

Jain nodded. "I'm fine. The Healer and some of the Guadel fixed me up without any problems. A concussion is fairly straightforward as healings go. Restoring lost blood, on the other hand, is much more difficult."

"What happens next?"

Jain shrugged uncomfortably. "I think more or less what Guadel Si'mon told you. There will be an inquiry, but you weren't in the wrong. They essentially started everything, and were the ones to first use deadly force. Even if the village Headman were to decide that you were at fault and try to discipline you, that's properly the prerogative of the Council, so he can't keep you here."

Va'del figured that things weren't as cut and dried as Jain was trying to make them out to be, or she wouldn't be looking for reasons that the Headman couldn't discipline him. "How do you figure?"

"Well traditionally, only the sponsors of a candidate can discipline him. In some circumstances the Council has stepped in, but no Headman has ever been allowed to interfere in Council business like that."

"Except that I'm not a candidate."

Jain was flushed now, either in anger that Va'del was being difficult, or in fear that he was right. "It won't matter. You're acting in the capacity of a candidate, and even Cindi won't be stupid enough to create that kind of precedent."

Va'del nodded, but he wasn't convinced. Jain probably knew him well enough to know that was the case, but she didn't press the issue.

"Things will be okay. Just get some more sleep for now."

Va'del was about to tell her there was no way he was going to be able to sleep again after just having woken up, when she reached out to touch his forehead. Darkness claimed him before he could get the words out.

##

The Headman, who had looked solemn and tired before, now looked like the only thing keeping him up and moving was fear that if he stopped to rest something catastrophic would happen.

Va'del had been saved from talking to Cindi earlier that morning. The village healer had refused her entrance to the sick room on the basis that Va'del needed to be checked over to ensure that he would be in a fit state for the inquiry, which had been moved to early afternoon.

Looking at the heavy-set Guadel now, Va'del wondered if he should have convinced the healer to let Cindi in earlier. _She looks like she's going to try and kill me with her bare hands. Maybe if I'd taken the verbal beating she wanted to deliver then, she wouldn't be quite so mad now._

The Headman looked at Va'del and sighed. "Please describe the events which led to the death of guardsman Vin'i. As you know..."

Cindi interrupted whatever the Headman had been planning on saying. "This is not a trial. This _candidate_ does not fall under your jurisdiction, and consequently this whole procedure is nothing more than a farce!"

The scowl that flashed across the Headman's face should have intimidated anyone—it certainly scared Va'del—but Cindi seemed entirely oblivious.

"I'm very well aware of the traditional immunity granted your people, Guadel! I do, however, have the right to ask for testimony from anyone in my village up to and including the cursed Council. If for no other reason than to determine what levels of punishment are appropriate for those individuals who are under my jurisdiction. Now, you'll kindly shut up and let me get on with this or I'll lodge a formal protest to the Council."

Satisfied he had Cindi temporarily cowed, the Headman turned back to Va'del. "Please proceed."

Relieved that Cindi was indeed treating him as a candidate for the purposes of the investigation, Va'del explained what had happened as carefully as he was able.

The Headman rarely interrupted, despite the fact that it was obvious he wasn't interested in the parts of the testimony surrounding how the two teenagers had ended up in the cavern with the three off-duty guardsmen.

Instead most of the questions concerned what had happened just before the fight broke out. "So they were angry with you?"

Va'del shook his head. "Not quite, they were more angry with the Council and the Capital in general."

Cindi made as if to protest that point, but the Headman again fixed her with a glare. "You may find it hard to believe, Guadel Cindi, but there is currently a great deal of ill-will towards the Council among my people. I'm doing what I can to defuse the situation, but nearly a third of the village was all but ready to try some kind of ridiculous march through the snow to the Capital, so kindly remain silent."

Turning back to Va'del, the older man continued with his questions. "And you didn't do anything to make the situation worse? I was a young man once and know how hard it can be at times to swallow a slight like that."

Va'del was startled by the seeming softening of the Headman's manner until he realized that it was probably an attempt to trap him into saying something that would make him look worse. "No, sir. I think I apologized and told them we were here to try and help."

The Healer, who had been sitting next to the Headman the entire time, spoke up for the first time. "Please tell me about the dust you said Vin'i and the others were passing around."

"I didn't really get a very good look at it. I think it was gray."

If the poor woman was exhausted and irritable from having spent the better part of two days healing Va'del and the damage he'd caused to the surviving two guardsmen, she managed not to show it. "Can you describe the effects it had on those three?"

Va'del thought for a second before nodding. "Their eyes were different than they should have been, I think. And they moved fast. Faster than I expected, but their reflexes weren't right."

The healer sat back and nodded. "By the time we found them there wasn't any sign of the dust, and they'd had time for it to work its way out of their systems, but he's describing the effects of White Out almost perfectly. Especially the increased strength that would have led to faster movement, and the loss of coordination that he would have thought was problems with their reflexes."

The Headman leaned back and rubbed his eyes before nodding resignedly. "Very well. We'll have to meet with Ta'lor. They were guardsmen, so he has the right of punishment. Knowing him he'll push for something suitable. If not we'll lean on him to make sure that they don't get off with just a slap on the wrist."

Turning to Va'del, the Headman sighed. "I'm very sorry that this happened here in my village. I'm glad that you weren't even more seriously hurt, and that you were there to save the virtue of that young lady. I won't be pursuing the matter with the Council as I think you acted in a reasonable manner. Good luck on your journey."

If Va'del had thought the end of the inquiry was anticlimactic, Cindi seemed determined to make up for it once they were back to the guest rooms. "That was one of the most irresponsible things I've ever seen anyone do!"

His mind reeling from the attack which he'd somehow stopped anticipating, Va'del couldn't muster a response.

"There are a hundred things you could have done to avoid that whole situation. You could have gone by yourself so that Jain wasn't ever in danger. You could have asked for directions so that you didn't run into the guards in the first place. At the very least you should have avoided killing one of the fools!"

Jain looked like she wanted to come to Va'del's defense, but Cindi quieted her with a look and continued the verbal beating. Most of the complaints followed the same vein, accusations that Va'del hadn't taken what Cindi thought were ordinary, reasonable precautions.

About the time that the teenager finally recovered enough to respond with the indignation he was feeling, he realized that doing so would be pointless, and managed to school himself to silence. _Just don't say anything. Maybe if I don't fight her right now she'll decide it wasn't bad enough to push for me to be barred from classes once we get back._

Cindi's diatribe finally started to wind down, but Va'del's hope that the worst had passed was suddenly shattered as the older woman looked back and forth from him to Jain.

"And don't think I haven't noticed the way the two of you look at each other. It's completely improper, and for that reason if nothing else, I'll do everything in my power to ensure that you are never accepted as a candidate. You've all but ruined relations with one of the few villages left where we still have a reasonable chance of finding children that can be sponsored.

"That isn't the kind of thing that would be forgiven in a full Guadel, much less some incompetent boy who couldn't even keep his sponsors alive in a simple ambush. I will see you banned, Va'del. If it is the last thing I do, I'll see you banned and exiled from the Capital so that you can't make any more trouble. Not for the Guadel and not for Jain either."

##

Even Oh'scir had looked less than excited about the idea of leaving so late in the day, but if the group really intended to try and reach the safety of the caravan, every cycle would make a difference, and a little thing like spending the night outside of the shelter of one of the way caves wouldn't be allowed to influence Cindi's decisions.

Va'del had heard plenty of stories from Jasmin about miserable nights spent in what she'd called cold camps. As bad as the next leg of their journey was shaping up to be, the teenager would have gladly made it a dozen times if he thought it would somehow allow him to still attend classes once they finally got back to the Capital.

Jain looked back at Va'del frequently during their four-cycle trek, but even the knowledge that she was worried about him couldn't take the edge off of his despair.

Oh'scir finally convinced his wife to make camp for the night, but even after the light tent that would shelter the party was up, there wasn't any chance for the teenagers to talk. Va'del could see Jain growing steadily more frustrated with the situation, but couldn't bring himself to care very much.

_We can't talk. I can't give Cindi any more excuse to hate me. Jain will just have to understand that. Maybe once we get back to the Capital things can be different again._

Once Cindi had finished setting up the tiny metal platform that held the worked stones, she'd activated them, and all four travelers had hunkered down in their blankets trying to sleep as the heat stone managed to heat the small tent up just enough that they wouldn't freeze during the night.

Va'del fell asleep fingering his tiny knife for the first time in weeks.

The next day's travel was even worse. Cindi demanded that they rise early in the day and push through at the best pace they could manage in the heavy wind. The effort of fighting the sudden, extremely dangerous gusts and the bitter cold left everyone physically exhausted. Even the prospect of sleeping in one of the way caves wasn't enough to generate a real lift in anyone's spirits.

The unrelenting criticism Va'del was suffering through had worn away at his spirit as much as the brutal journey had depleted his body. By the time the party stumbled into the cave, the teenager wanted nothing so much as to simply collapse into his blankets, but his sense of duty made him see to Sleepy and Hungry while Cindi set up the worked gemstones and Jain started on dinner.

Oh'scir started on the last two gurra as Va'del got the packs off of his and Jain's gurra and began rubbing them down.

The tiny Guadel worked in silence for several minutes before clearing his throat nervously. "I'm sorry about the way that she's been going at you. I know it isn't fair and I'll do what I can to soften her disposition once we get to the next village."

Oh'scir took in Va'del's confused look and smiled, an expression that looked strangely out of place on the slender man's normally dour face. "I'd have said something to her already, but there hasn't been any privacy, and if she feels like I'm undercutting her authority with you, then things will get even worse."

Va'del nodded numbly, understanding at last, but unconvinced that anything could deflect the grim future that Cindi had spent the last two days painting for him.

As the teenager finally finished up with the animals, Oh'scir clapped him on the back. "She isn't as bad as you think. Just old and set in her ways. She's more scared than you can know that she's wrong about all this, but she doesn't know any other way."

Dinner was an emotionless affair. Jain spent the whole meal trying to catch Va'del's eye. He spent the whole dinner avoiding looking at the person who was arguably his best friend, in the hopes that he could avoid giving her encouragement. That would only lead to her trying to talk to him, thereby getting them both in more trouble.

Cindi on the other hand spent the time complaining about the world in general, and Va'del specifically. Jain was on the receiving end of a couple of fairly scathing comments, which Va'del knew had to have hurt more than she let on. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, but the desire melted away when confronted with his resolve not to give Cindi anything else to hang them with.

It wasn't until Va'del went to his bed roll that the reason Jain had spent so long digging through the pile of packs before dinner became apparent.

_It's Javin's present._

Somehow with everything that had happened, the wool-wrapped bundle had slipped Va'del's mind. _I suppose this is about as bad as things are going to get. She couldn't come up with any other way to comfort me, but she never stopped looking for something to help buoy me up._

Tears filled Va'del's eyes, blurring his vision. Somehow the teen still managed to pick loose the knots to the cords binding the long swath of cloth around the present.

The knife revealed once the wool had been unwrapped was a plain, if well-crafted, weapon that Va'del had seen before. Tracing the engraving of a pair of scrolls on the blade, Va'del felt tears break free and streak down his cheeks.

_I'rone's dagger. The one he was using when they killed him. Usually weapons go back to a Guadel's sponsor, or potentially a favorite friend in their bloodline. Javin couldn't have picked any other gift that would say so emphatically how much faith he thought I'rone and his family had in me. And by extension how much faith Javin's family has in me._

Va'del's knife had been seized as part of the inquiry, and Cindi hadn't seen fit to demand it back, apparently feeling it only just that her wayward charge lose the symbol that everyone associated with the Guadel and candidates. _Only Guadel and candidates fight with paired blades. She was as much as saying by such a small gesture that she didn't think I deserved to be counted among their ranks._

The teenager wiped away his tears and then slipped the sheathed blade onto his belt, hoping he hadn't already betrayed the trust Javin had placed in him.

## Chapter 19

Va'del didn't really feel any better about his future when he awoke, but he'd achieved some measure of catharsis the night before as he'd realized he couldn't possibly appease Cindi. All he could hope to do was avoid giving her additional reasons to push for his dismissal and then pray that Javin and On'li could manage to convince the Council to leave him in the candidate classes.

As a result, the normal spattering of critical remarks didn't strike as deeply, and Va'del was even able to catch Jain's eye at one point during breakfast and mouth his thanks to her.

Cindi was in a particularly foul mood, seemingly disappointed that they hadn't covered more distance. "We'll press on hard today, and should be able to rejoin the caravan a half cycle or so after dark."

Even Oh'scir seemed to doubt the wisdom of traveling after dark, but his wife quelled him with a look. "There should be a full moon tonight. Assuming there aren't any clouds, we'll have plenty of light to travel by. If not, we'll go ahead and make camp as normal, but I'd rather not spend another night out in the cold."

Once camp had been broken, the pace that Cindi demanded was even more punishing than normal. Jain had led Hungry herself without complaint the last two days, but it was evident to Va'del that she was tiring too quickly to make it through the entire day, so at their first water break he'd slipped up and tied Sleepy's lead rope to Hungry's pack and then relieved Jain of her lead rope with a wink.

Cindi saw the change before they set back out, but didn't say anything, apparently having come to the same conclusion. Jain simply hadn't had enough time to develop the endurance needed to cover the kinds of distances they were traveling each day.

Sometime after their second break for food and water, Va'del noticed an odd rock outcropping above the trail they were following. _It's a wonder the wind keeps it bare of snow. Especially considering how deeply drifted everything is on this side of it._

As the party came even with the slender finger of stone, Oh'scir seemed to sense something unusual. Va'del was craning his neck in an effort to try and determine what had caused the Guadel to signal a halt, when a sudden rumble brought him spinning around just in time to see a wall of white crash into him.

The teenager tried to remember what he'd been told by Jasmin about surviving avalanches, but fear and panic were tearing at his sanity. Va'del remembered something about a curious motion Jasmin had showed him, one that was supposed to help him rise to the surface of the churning snow, but he'd felt silly practicing it, and actually trying it while being swept down the slope was nearly impossible.

After what seemed to be forever, but which probably was little more than a couple of seconds, the blinding rush of snow seemed to lose momentum, and Va'del brought both hands to his face, pushing out to create a breathing space.

Jasmin had been right, there was only a heartbeat or two between when the snow stopped moving, and when it hardened to a stone-like consistency. Va'del's efforts to increase the size of his breathing space proved futile, his arms were unable to make any impression in the snow.

_I'm probably going to die. Jasmin and Betreec said that one in two families caught in a snow slide don't survive._

Betreec had shrugged when Va'del had asked why more families didn't survive. "Any number of reasons. It's actually surprising that so many survive. It hinges on one or more of the wives being strong enough to use her power to dig herself out of the snow. There are countless scenarios where that isn't possible. The wife may not be strong enough to tunnel out with her abilities, or may end up buried so deeply that even one with strong abilities may not be able to reach the surface. Alternatively, they may suffer some injury while being carried by the snow."

Jasmin had nodded. "Some of them die because they leave their mouths open to scream and instead find it filled with snow. Others are broken against the rocks before the snow stops moving."

The whole conversation had been little more than an abstract exercise at the time. The trails used by the Guadel to move from village to village had long since been mapped out to minimize exposing travelers to avalanches, and it was now mostly just a concern for those specialized Guadel used to scout for new village possibilities.

_Only now it's an eventuality that has suddenly become real. Maybe Jain or Cindi were sheltered by the rock. If not, I don't think Jain is strong enough to free herself. Cindi might be, but she is the last person I would trust to keep her head under a stressful situation._

Va'del realized that his thoughts were still tinged with panic, and tried to get a grip on himself. _The more frightened I am, the faster I'll use up my air._

The thought suddenly didn't hold as much fear for Va'del as it had a second ago. Dying in an avalanche would be a kind of release. It was failure, but a failure that wasn't Va'del's fault. It was likely the closest he would have ever come to actually succeeding.

Va'del tried counting heartbeats as a way of measuring the passage of time, but soon abandoned the effort. As the minutes passed, the cold gradually started to seep into his limbs. It was a steady process that seemed to mirror a rising inability to think. _Air must be going bad already._

Va'del lost consciousness never expecting to awaken.

At some point the welcoming blackness turned hard and cold as it pushed him away, back to a world of light and chilling wind. Cindi slapped him, and then made as if to repeat the blow.

"I'm awake."

"You have to get up and start moving around or you'll freeze to death."

Va'del stared stupidly at the Guadel for several seconds before the words finally penetrated and he struggled to his feet with her help.

"Walk in circles while I dig out one of the gurra."

Questions of how Cindi had freed herself seemed strangely unimportant, and the teenager set about walking back and forth across the broken surface of the snow while the old woman walked several steps and then knelt down.

Va'del was too far away to see what the Guadel set down before her, but within a few seconds the snow started to sink, forming a cone-shaped depression. Cindi paused and glared at the snow before reaching down and picking something up and then depositing it a foot away from the depression.

The procedure was repeated four more times, and each time the new depression was deeper than the last, so that taken as a group they formed a kind of ramp down into the snow.

As Cindi picked up what Va'del had to assume was a heat sphere for the last time, she waved him over and pointed at a spot just beyond the end of the ramp.

"One of the gurra is here. You're going to have to dig it out. If I use the stone, we'll soak all of the supplies and render them useless."

Va'del started trying to dig away at the snow with his gloved hands, but Cindi shook her head. "Use your knife or you'll never get it out."

The teenager started to protest that he didn't want to risk hurting the animal, but his thoughts must have been written plainly on his face. The older woman shook her head once more, this time with a gentleness that was completely at odds with what Va'del knew of her.

"Use the hilt to avoid damaging any of the supplies, but you don't have to worry about hurting the animal. It died before I could get you out. They aren't smart enough to form air pockets like you did."

Va'del wanted to cry, wanted to scream that she should have hurried faster, should have dug it out first, but he knew that wouldn't be fair. Instead he drew out I'rone's knife and started chipping away at the stone-like snow, all the while trying to ignore the tears blurring his vision.

The gurra that was gradually taking shape beneath the cleared snow turned out to be Hungry, and Va'del felt his heart suddenly tear as he realized that he hadn't even thought of Jain since he'd been pulled out of the snow.

"Where is she? Where is Jain?"

Cindi grabbed the teenager before he cleared the ramp leading up from Hungry. "She's not dead, boy. At least she's not buried in the snow like the rest of us were."

All of the pieces suddenly fit together with an exactness that Va'del wouldn't have imagined possible a day previously. "The rock outcropping must have protected her from the snow. But she isn't down here helping. Bandits, it was all just another ambush."

Cindi looked at her young charge with something that bordered on respect for the first time since he'd met her. "Aye. I think you're right. We have to have the supplies on that gurra, though, or we're both dead."

Va'del felt something that was a close cousin to despair wash through him at the thought of Jain in the hands of the kind of men who had murdered Jasmin, I'rone and Betreec, but he stopped the emotion just before it was able to take him over, fighting it down, restraining it to a corner of his mind so that he could think rather than collapsing as he wanted to.

Dropping back into the hole where Hungry's body was trapped, the teenager worked with an urgency that simple survival hadn't been able to conjure inside of him. _We need the supplies, but once we have them I can go after the bandits. There can't have been many of them or they'd have just attacked us. Maybe I can somehow pick them off one at a time and free Jain._

Cindi was unusually quiet the whole time Va'del was digging out the gurra, and it wasn't until he had dragged the various packs to the surface that he thought to wonder why.

The Guadel was kneeling in the snow, silently staring at a spot no more than a couple of feet in front of her. Va'del approached the heavy-set woman and saw tears trickling down her face.

"He was such a good man. All the things I put him through for so many years, and never a true word of complaint."

Cindi's grief was a palpable thing, strong enough to momentarily tear Va'del's thoughts away from the horrible fate no doubt awaiting Jain. Looking at the Guadel's face, he was struck by the fact that she looked decades older than she had when they set out, and suddenly he was filled with uncertainty.

_It was so much easier to hate her. To think of her as something less than a real person, but she is a real person. One I don't understand most of the time, but someone who is just as vulnerable in her own way to loss as any of us are._

Fighting against the sense of awkwardness that told him he shouldn't have to be the one to shock Cindi out of her grief, Va'del sorted through his packs, leaving the unnecessary things like his books next to Hungry and then draping the harness across himself so that he could carry the food and blankets.

"Guadel Cindi, it will be dark soon. We have to find shelter or we'll both die."

The words didn't have any effect on the older woman, and for a moment Va'del nearly gave up, but the knowledge that he was Jain's only chance made him cast about for another avenue of attack.

"This is a chance to destroy the bandits once and for all. We survived their attack; we can trail them back to their base of operations before the snows tomorrow hide their tracks. We can stop this from happening to anyone else."

For a heartbeat it still didn't look like Cindi would respond, but then her tear-filled gray eyes sought him out and she nodded.

"The rest of the gurra are buried too deeply for us to get at them, even using the heat stone. At least not in the time we have left. We'll have to leave them and Oh'scir here for now." The Guadel's voice caught as she said her husband's name, but she wiped away her tears with snow-covered mittens and pointed up to the trail they'd been walking on when the avalanche had struck.

"They couldn't have just chanced upon us. They must have had some kind of shelter up there to be able to wait for someone to walk into their trap."

Va'del nodded, more than a little surprised that Cindi could think so clearly while so obviously beset by grief. "It may still be up there so that we can shelter there for the night."

The trip back up the mountain took at least two cycles. The avalanche hadn't carried them nearly as far as Va'del would have thought, but they still had a considerable distance to climb, and the snow they were walking on varied between rock-hard and a fine powder that even the wide platform of their snow spikes couldn't manage.

The very real risk that Va'del or Cindi would freeze to death was mitigated by their exertions on the climb, and by the time they reached the trail once again, Va'del had opened up his coat in an effort to keep from sweating. For all that he was hot, he knew it was phantom heat. He was consuming reserves of energy that wouldn't be there indefinitely. Their tent had been on one of the other gurra, so if they didn't find the bandits' cave soon, they'd quickly freeze once they became exhausted.

The snow was heavily trampled in the slender section that had been protected from the avalanche by the rock outcropping, and Va'del got the distinct impression that there had been a struggle.

Cindi must have seen his anger in the set of his shoulders. She reached out to Va'del and shook her head with more than a little of the imperious manner he'd grown used to on the trip. "Anger won't serve any purpose. We have to find shelter."

Va'del shook her hand off, but walked over to the tracks left in the snow and began following them back the way they'd come.

_They went a different direction as they left, so their shelter should be unguarded._

Despite his confidence that they should be relatively safe, Va'del drew both his weapons from the scabbards where they'd somehow stayed despite his having tumbled down the mountain.

It was impossible to truly move silently in the snow—it crunched and shifted too much for that—but it also served as a kind of damper that absorbed at least some of the sound. There was still a possibility that someone a little distance away might not hear him.

Cindi followed along behind, close enough that she wouldn't lose sight of Va'del, but far enough back that distance served to muffle slightly her heavier footfalls.

The light was failing quickly now, but enough still remained for Va'del to see that from his current vantage point it was easy to watch the trail for more than a mile in each direction. _They would have had plenty of time to move their people into place to trigger the ambush._

The air was cooling, and Va'del was moving more slowly now. He found himself temporarily sheathing I'rone's knife so he could tie his coat closed once again. It was nearly full dark by the time that Va'del finally found the first of the shelters.

_It is a cave all right, but one dug into the snow itself. Who would have thought of something like that? The snow is so cold, how can it possibly serve as a shelter?_

The questions were forced out of Va'del's mind as quickly as they appeared, and he made himself stand motionless as he waited for Cindi to catch up. _I can't go inside. There's barely enough room to crawl, I'll be all but helpless if there is someone inside the cave waiting to dispatch me. Maybe she can tell if there is someone inside or not._

## Chapter 20

Cindi had confirmed that the snow caves were indeed empty, and the pair then crawled into one of them and found something that, in their desperate state, felt like paradise.

The snow caves wouldn't ever be as warm as a proper cave with worked gemstones to seal off the entrance and heat the air, but it quickly heated up to the temperature of the surrounding snow which was considerably warmer than the air outside had been.

Still, the blankets that had been in Va'del's packs barely sufficed to keep the pair warm, and worry for Jain continued to gnaw at his thoughts. Only the fact that Va'del knew he needed to replenish his strength was enough to force him to lie down and try to sleep.

Cindi had spent the night in silence, but Va'del had a suspicion that she'd been quietly crying most of the time. It hadn't really mattered; both of them had been content to be alone with their grief.

As the sunlight trickled through the snow, the pair crawled out of the cave and Va'del was astonished to find that Cindi was planning on returning to the village.

"We have to go back and get reinforcements. The two of us couldn't possibly defeat a group of bandits."

Va'del shook his head. "It's going to snow tonight. If not tonight, then sometime in the four days between now and when we could get back. That's even assuming that we can convince the Headman to let us take any guards."

Cindi's face once again took on a familiar expression of contempt. "That is foolishness. Of course he'll let us take guards. There isn't any other course."

Va'del shrugged and then opened his packs, splitting up the food and blankets. "I'm not going back. We're Jain's only hope, and if we don't follow the trail now while it is fresh we'll never find her. Here's your share of the supplies. Go back to the village if you want, but I'm going after her."

"You're disobeying me? You'll die, and if you somehow don't I'll have you exiled as a coward."

Shifting his packs around, Va'del laughed—a humorless biting sound. "That doesn't matter now. Nothing matters but getting her back. If I can't save her, at least I can die trying."

The Guadel looked at her charge for several seconds. "You really love her, don't you?"

"I don't know. I haven't ever thought about that. I just know that she's my best friend and I'm the only chance she has."

Cindi finally shook her head. "I can't make you go back with me, so I suppose I'd better see what I can do to help. It isn't like I have much left to live for anyway."

##

Va'del's fear it would snow proved well-founded, and only a couple of cycles passed before a light snowfall started.

The pair continued to push on, hoping they'd either be able to find the hideout before the snow filled the tracks completely, or that it would stop without putting down enough moisture to hide the trail.

Va'del wanted to travel faster, but his body was simply too exhausted to muster a better speed. Judging by the trouble Cindi was having keeping up even with his slow amble, she was in as bad or worse shape than he was right now.

_Jasmin always said that the first rule of outside travel is to make sure that you have plenty of safety margin. Plenty of reserves, plenty of food. Always stop with plenty of light left to the day so a freak storm doesn't catch you too far away from shelter. We're running on the ragged edge now. If anything even remotely serious goes wrong, we're dead. In another day or so we won't even have the food we'll need to keep up what little strength we have left._

Va'del tried to push the doubts away. He refused to even consider that once they found the bandits they were still going to face some very long odds.

The trail curled around to the shelter of a pair of rock outcroppings, and Va'del took the opportunity to stop and dig some food and water out of the packs. The teenager was halfway through his portion when Cindi caught up and took her share.

"We're running low, aren't we?"

The Guadel shrugged at Va'del's nod and kept eating. "It doesn't really matter. We have to eat to keep moving, so rationing it won't do any good. We'll just have to hope that they picked Black Rock Village to raid because it was close to their base. If we somehow survive getting Jain out, maybe we can capture enough food to get us back to a village before we all starve."

The break was over all too soon, and then Va'del was once again trudging through the cold with legs that ached from the exertion of walking with his heavy snow spikes.

The snow had very nearly filled in the tracks, but there was just enough of an impression left to follow. Va'del had been walking for another cycle, mind continuing to shut down from cold and exhaustion, when a loud hiss split the air and a lance of fire slammed into him.

_Crossbow._

Va'del looked around frantically for the source of the shot, afraid that the bandit would have time for a second, more lethal attempt before he could close, but a shabby form rose up from behind a snow drift and threw itself towards him with a howl.

It was all that the teenager could do to get his weapons drawn before the larger man was upon him, slashing and stabbing with a slightly curved blade.

Va'del dodged the first blow, and turned the second with his dagger, thereby buying himself enough time to go on the offensive.

The bandit was strong and fairly skilled, but his blows came slightly too slow, and were a little awkward.

Va'del forced himself to ignore the slight trickle of blood from the quarrel still embedded in his side, and parried another blow, bringing it up enough to pass over his head with less than an inch to spare.

_I have to finish the fight soon. Going to bleed out and weaken unless I can kill him in the next few passes._

On the next exchange, the teenager put his full strength into a blow and was astonished to see his opponent's feet shift slightly. Va'del would have dismissed the movement as nothing more than his imagination except for the fact that the bandit's next few blows had the frantic quality of someone who was trying to regain his balance.

One of the stabs was a little too quick for Va'del to parry completely, and he paid for his discovery with a shallow wound to his arm, but he forced the pain away and upped the tempo of the fight as much as he was able.

A heartbeat or two later, the bandit slipped while trying to dodge one of Va'del's attacks. Va'del never gave him a chance to recover.

Va'del collapsed into the bloody snow next to the corpse, and seemed to lose a few minutes. It wasn't until Cindi made it to him and gasped in surprise that the teenager started thinking again.

"What happened?"

"Bandit attacked me. Must not have seen you. Thought I was a lone scout. Got hit with a crossbow."

Cindi swore as she saw the quarrel sticking out of Va'del's side, and then looked around. "There's a snow cave over here. Can you make it? I can't chance you dying from exposure before I can get it out of you."

Va'del nodded, and staggered to his feet with Cindi's help. Crawling into the snow cave was almost more than the teenager could handle. There was barely enough room for him in the entrance, and several times he accidentally brushed the quarrel against the floor of the tunnel.

Having somehow made it into the snow cave without passing out from pain, Va'del collapsed onto a pile of blankets and lay motionless while Cindi made her slow, laborious way into the larger-than-expected enclosure.

The Guadel looked at the quarrel one more time and then shook her head. "This is going to hurt, and I don't have energy to waste on dulling your pain."

Va'del started to nod, only to pass out from the agony as Cindi reached over and began removing the projectile.

##

Va'del finally regained consciousness partway through the night. There were makeshift bandages around his stomach and arm. He was light headed as well, but he was in much better shape than he'd expected.

_She must be a fairly skilled healer. I don't think Jasmin could have taken care of so many aftereffects of a wound like that. Not after two days of grueling travel, anyway._

Cindi had placed a glow sphere on a little shelf in the snow, so there was just enough light for Va'del to tell that she wasn't sleeping.

"How do you feel?"

"Better than I'd hoped. Thank you."

The Guadel waved away his thanks. "One of your parents was a lowlander, weren't they?"

Va'del nodded cautiously.

"Don't worry, boy. For all of my other faults, I try not to judge someone solely based on where their parents may have hailed from."

The pair sat in darkness for a while before Cindi continued. "How did they feel about your being sponsored by Jasmin and Betreec?"

It had been so long since Va'del had thought about his parents that he'd started to think maybe he was beginning to heal from the loss. He found, though, that the few memories of his time with them were strangely raw. _Or maybe not so strangely considering all of the other people I've lost recently. Considering the fact that I may never see Jain again._

"They died a long time ago. I was a ward of the village. Nobody was really sorry to see me go. The Headman put up a token fight, but he seemed more interested in chipping away at the Guadel's authority than in really keeping me in the village."

Cindi shrugged, but when she spoke there was a curious catch in her voice. "It's always tough being an orphan. It makes you an easier target than the kids with parents."

Va'del felt surprising amounts of interest. Almost as if despite himself he wanted to learn about what made the older woman the way she was. "You were an orphan too, then?"

"That I was. My mother died in childbirth, and my father in a mine collapse. Of course being a girl, I showed the ability to work the power fairly early, so I didn't spend as long as an orphan as you probably did. I do remember it being a hard time though. I suppose that's part of why I'm so rock-headed. Everyone was so determined to prove I was worthless that I had to be confident in myself or I would have just given up and died."

Neither of the pair said anything for several minutes. Va'del was uncertain if it was appropriate for him to ask questions, and Cindi seemed lost in thought.

Finally the Guadel continued almost despite herself. "As old as I am, I should know better, but sometimes you end up at the wrong conclusion based on things that you thought were important. Based on the opinion of people you respect. I guess what I'm saying is I'm sorry. I should have given you a chance to prove yourself one way or the other instead of just setting out to make sure that you weren't allowed back in those classes once we returned to the Capital."

Va'del found himself unable to speak. The apology meant more than he'd expected it to. It was surprisingly sincere coming from a woman he hadn't thought capable of admitting to even minor mistakes.

There was a part of Va'del that wanted to forgive Cindi, but he couldn't bring himself to just forget everything she'd put him through. Her recognizing she'd made a mistake was a good start, but she was still essentially the same person she'd always been.

Cindi looked at Va'del expectantly for several seconds and then nodded at his silence. "I don't suppose as I can blame you for not being prompt to forget everything between us. Knowing myself, I don't think I could do it if I were in your place. I guess I was just hoping that you're a better person than I am."

Va'del suddenly realized that the Guadel had been stalling, that she hadn't wanted to tell him something. "What are you holding back?"

"I don't know that you had time to think things through, but the bandit you killed wasn't just sitting out here by chance. He was a sentry. We're only about a cycle or so from their base at most. Close enough that I can barely feel where they are and that there are more people there than we'd feared."

The despair that had been hammering away at Va'del's resolve for the last two days seemed to drain him dry at the news, and he found himself slumping back down into his blankets. "How many of them are there?"

"More than ten, fewer than twenty. From so far away it isn't possible to tell exactly how many."

"Then we don't have any chance? Our efforts were doomed before they even started."

Cindi nodded. "It looks that way. Not many candidates of much less than a year could have defeated a brigand one on one like that. Your family did an admirable job when they selected you based on your raw ability, but odds like that are too deep even for a full Guadel to face."

Va'del felt like the Goddess had brought them this far only to abandon them at the last second. "That isn't why they picked me. I'rone was always pleased with my progress when it came to weapons play, but On'li seemed to think it was something about my ability to link that made Jasmin and Betreec decide on me."

Cindi nodded, and began speaking as though agreeing with something other than what Va'del was saying. "You linked with On'li after arriving at the Capital?"

The teenager shook his head in confusion. "No, she went inside my mind to see what kind of person I was, just like Jasmin and Betreec did before sponsoring me. It was Jasmin who I linked with. Before they were all killed."

Cindi's mouth gaped open in surprise. "You mean you linked with Guadel Jasmin after only a few weeks? Effectively linked, to where you were faster and stronger? Do you understand how exceptional that makes you?"

Va'del shook his head once more, but the older woman hardly seemed to notice. "Most men aren't really able to link until they've spent years practicing lowering their mental barriers. Even then, the link isn't really all that effective until they're married. Nothing else gives them the ability to trust anyone enough to stop fighting the link."

Even the despair washing through him wasn't enough to make Va'del completely oblivious to the hope that had started to permeate Cindi's voice.

"We've found their base, there is a little food here, but not enough to see us back to a village. Our only chance would be to fight our way in and take from their food stores. We'll have to kill them all, or at least enough of them to make sure that we aren't followed."

Va'del shook his head. "You said so yourself. I can't possibly beat two or three of them at the same time, yet alone more than a dozen of them. We have no chance!"

Cindi's smile held more than a little regret in it. "No, Va'del. We do have a chance, but one which depends more on you than on anything else. We can link. I'm one of the more powerful Guadel currently living. On a good day, all by myself I could make Oh'scir strong and fast enough to defeat six men."

"Isn't...isn't that forbidden?"

The Guadel snorted. "Of course it is. Only married partners, or sponsors are allowed to do something like that, but it's more a matter of trust that enforces the policy than anything else. Few men can allow others into their minds uncontested. That very fight to protect their minds in turn burns up the power of whichever woman is trying to augment them."

Va'del's head seemed to be spinning, but the belief in Cindi's tone was unmistakable and he suddenly started to share in that hope.

"It all depends on you, youngster. If you can suppress your natural desire to fling me from your mind, if you can trust me with the knowledge of who you are, we may have a chance. The odds are still long, but at the very least we'll sell ourselves more dearly than we would have otherwise."

Va'del found himself unable to respond for several minutes. By the end it hadn't really bothered him to think of Jasmin being inside his mind. She'd been his friend first and foremost.

Cindi, on the other hand, was someone whom he hadn't trusted from the moment they'd met. There was no little amount of hate that had grown in his feelings towards her since then, and he found that he was incredibly scared to let her see who he really was.

_What will she do if she can tell I hate her? What if she sees things that confirm her old belief that I wasn't worthy to be a candidate?_

Rationally speaking, Va'del knew Cindi would see the link through despite any hate he felt towards her; to do otherwise would result in her death too. Somehow, that wasn't enough to calm his worries.

The fears chasing each other around the teenager's mind seemed to grow, multiplying until they swallowed all his strength.

Va'del was almost ready to tell Cindi no, to announce that he'd attack unaided and die rather than let her inside his mind. As he opened his mouth, he suddenly remembered the look on Jain's face when he'd awoke after saving her from Vin'i and the other two guardsmen.

_She trusts me. She'd do anything she possibly could to help me, in a large part because she believes that I'd do anything I could to protect and help her. Dying here in a failed attempt to save her isn't the betrayal that simply turning and walking away would be, but it's still a form of selfishness. All I have to do is let Cindi inside my mind, and we may be able to save Jain. She'd do that or more for me—how can I do less for her?_

Va'del's throat seemed to have closed in. He could barely breathe. Talking was completely out of the question, so he simply nodded.

Cindi sighed, and her expression seemed to say she had a very good idea what the agreement had cost him. "We should move while it's still dark. If you can catch some still in their beds it will improve our chances."

##

The pair ate what was left of their food and water and set out. Va'del's fears still gnawed at his resolve to go through with the linking, but having agreed to it already, it became easier to force the doubts back into a corner of his mind.

The first part of the journey went by quickly, but Va'del started moving slower and slower as they got closer to where Cindi had indicated the bandits were holed up.

_She can't continue to use her power to look for them. Have to watch for ambushes._

Straining his eyes in the light from the now-waning moon, Va'del finally detected a slight motion ahead of him in the darkness.

The teenager drew his weapons and waited for Cindi to catch up, praying the whole time that she could stay quiet enough not to alert the sentries.

Va'del pointed out the location of the sentries and then started off towards them. As previously agreed, Cindi didn't follow, instead settling down in the new-fallen snow and closing her eyes in concentration.

When the link started to form, Va'del nearly tripped. _No, don't fight it. Let her in. It's the price you have to pay for saving Jain._

The shadowy, alien presence slowly invading Va'del's mind continually tripped his defenses, but he suppressed the reflexive desire to push her away, forcing himself to continue creeping towards the sentry as strength poured into his tired limbs.

The augmentation Cindi was providing went beyond what Jasmin had done for him, and in addition to the strength and altered time sense, Va'del found that his movements were somehow becoming more graceful, his senses more acute.

A muffled oath in the darkness was the only sign that he'd been seen, but Va'del acted on that information without hesitation. The brigand was still falling backwards, desperately trying to draw his sword, when Va'del exploded over the top of the snow drift between them and struck him down.

The noise brought a second guard up from where he'd been relaxing against a snow bank, but he had made even less progress towards getting his weapon out and in action before Va'del tore his life away with a lightning-fast slash.

A few yards away the sound of someone yelling established beyond a doubt where the mouth of the brigands' cave was, and Va'del sprinted towards it with a speed that he would have found unbelievable if he'd had time to stop and consider how fast his limbs were moving.

The entrance to the cave was closed off with hanging furs, but as Va'del swept past them, he found that the cavern inside was much larger than he would have expected.

The slim form of a man dressed in furs was kicking the brigands awake when Va'del appeared inside the cave as if by magic. The first two bandits fell to the teenager's blades before they could finish rolling out of their blankets, and then the fight began in earnest.

Va'del's two blades raced back and forth, weaving a nearly impenetrable wall before him. He seemed to have plenty of time to parry or dodge each attack aimed at him, as often as not scoring a blow on one of the bandits. Three more of his opponents fell in short order before the remaining six were able to close ranks.

His back to a wall, the teenager quickly realized that parrying each and every blow wasn't leaving him any chance to attack, so he started trading his blood for the chance to kill his opponents. A weak slash opened up the front of Va'del's leg, but earned him a decapitating stroke on the man who'd delivered it.

The remaining five men renewed their onslaught at the sight of Va'del's blood, and he had to trade two more fairly deep wounds to dispatch the next two swordsmen. Cindi's augmentation seemed to be weakening, and the teenager had a split second to wonder how long he'd been fighting before the fight once again took all of his concentration.

His wounds seemed to be taking their toll as well. Va'del found himself slowing further so that it was all he could do to avoid being struck down by the remaining three swordsmen.

One of the bandits, bare feet numb from the cold, suddenly slipped and Va'del's sword licked out and reduced his opposition to two.

A hissing sound was Va'del's only warning, and then a crossbow quarrel was streaking through the air towards him. For all that time was still moving slower than normal, his augmentation was starting to fade, and Va'del's attempt at knocking the projectile out of the air with his dagger was only partially successful.

A line of agony tore into Va'del's side as the slightly-deflected quarrel struck him, and then his breathing become labored as one lung started filling with fluid.

Va'del forced the pain from his mind and used his snow spikes in a kick that was even more lethal than normal, to dispatch another of the men, in return for a long cut on his right arm from the sole survivor.

As Va'del finally cut down the last bandit with a complicated pass that Fi'lin had taught him just weeks ago, the skinny, fur-clad man reappeared from the darkness where he'd taken the shot with the crossbow.

The man's face was full of hatred as he raised his arm and let a bolt of fire fly towards his young opponent.

Va'del just managed to throw himself out of the way as he felt Cindi's presence fall away from his mind. _Please, help me save Jain._ Va'del hadn't realized that the plea was a prayer until it had already formed inside his mind.

The sudden sense of another alien presence inside his mind made the teenager assume that the Goddess had answered the prayer, somehow granting Cindi enough strength to augment him for a few more seconds. Va'del reached inside to suppress mental defenses once again, only to find that they weren't triggering, that the presence, while still undoubtedly alien and different, was somehow familiar, somehow one he instinctively trusted. _Jain._

As fresh strength poured into his limbs, Va'del clumsily rolled away from another ball of fire. His speed wasn't even a tenth as great as it was with Cindi, and Va'del heard himself scream in pain as the passage of super-heated air burned the right side of his body.

Seeing his opponent stumble, the furred mage smiled and raised his hand once again to strike Va'del down, only to blink in amazement as I'rone's knife came spinning through the air to embed itself in his throat.

The blow wasn't one that killed instantly, and for a second Va'del was worried he'd be consumed by flame before the other man could die, but the mage seemed unable to wield his power through the pain.

Shivering from exhaustion and coughing up blood, Va'del limped around the cavern, desperate to find Jain. He found her on the far end of the cavern floor, bound and gagged, but alive and sobbing with joy.

Va'del just managed to cut through Jain's bonds with his sword and tell her that Cindi was outside somewhere, exhausted and in danger of freezing, and then he collapsed into unconsciousness.

##

Once again Va'del found himself in darkness, a friendly blackness that drew him down further and further inside himself. After a time though, the darkness gradually turned cold and hard, pushing him back to consciousness and life.

Jain started crying when she saw he was awake. The cuts and bruises Va'del had missed seeing in his exhaustion the night before were very much evident on her face now, and the teenager realized that she and Cindi must have used all of their healing on him, leaving none to speed her recovery from whatever the bandits had done to her.

"I thought you were dead. All that snow, it was terrible. And then you were here, and I could feel Cindi working the power."

Va'del stroked Jain's hair. "It's okay. You should have known she could augment me enough to face off those bandits."

"No, it wasn't enough. I kept waiting for the working to stop because they'd cut you down. Then it did stop. Only I reached out, and you were there."

Cindi tottered into view. For once she didn't seem disapproving of their clasped hands, or the fact that Jain was crying into Va'del's chest.

It was several minutes before Jain calmed down enough to finish telling her story. "It was the worked stones he wanted. He was a mage, but apparently the lowland mages don't know how to work gemstones. Somehow he learned of our ability and set out to steal the knowledge of making them from the People."

Cindi patted Jain on the arm and nodded. "It looks like he recruited someone from lands further north who knew enough to keep most of his men alive in the cold and snow, but once he secured some worked stones he wasn't skilled enough to decipher the means of their construction."

Jain wiped away her tears and picked up where the Guadel had left off. "So he set out to capture a Guadel. Only he got me, who couldn't really tell him how to do it. Luckily he didn't figure that out or he would have just killed me."

Cindi rose to her feet and turned to walk away. "You're a good man, Va'del. You have a capacity for violence and darkness I don't think you're fully aware of. That scares me more than you could possibly understand, but you're a good man all the same, and I'm in a better position to know that than most. I'll do what I can for you when we get back to the Capital."

Va'del found that his voice worked with only a little more than usual effort. "Will we get back?"

Jain nodded. "There are plenty of supplies, and even a couple of captured gurra. We can stay here until you've healed, and then make the trip back."

Cindi smiled. "Who would have thought we'd not only kill off all of those beasts, but also survive to return home?"

Va'del found himself returning the smile, for the first time feeling no hatred towards Cindi. "It was because of you. I never would have believed I could do something like that; you really are powerful."

Cindi shook her head, seemingly disturbed by something. "No, I did my part, but you've got far more potential than you know."

The Guadel turned to Jain and wagged her finger in admonition. "I know that the two of you have a bond now that goes beyond the friendship you might have had before, but please spare an old woman's blushes and remember that you're not wedded yet."

Va'del had a split second to wonder what Cindi meant about a bond, before he remembered that Jain had been inside his mind while she was augmenting him at the very end of the battle.

The sudden fear that she would be repulsed by what she had seen was so powerful as to nearly sweep away Va'del's ability to think, until he looked up at her and saw the tender concern that hadn't left her eyes from the moment he'd awoke.

_She knows. She knows exactly who I am and loves me anyway._

The contentment that filled Va'del was as strong as his fears from a moment before.

* * *

Curious how I'rone, Betreec, and Jasmin all met?

Find out in _I'rone_

—The Story Continues in _I'rone _& _Thawed Fortunes_—

**Publisher's Note:**

_If you've enjoyed Frozen Prospects, gplease consider signing up for the author'smailing list. By signing up you'll receive $10.00 worth of free books. We'll be offering a special discount to existing fans for the first week each new book is live, so signing up for his mailing list will mean that you'll always know about new releases with plenty of time to take advantage of the new release discount._

**Acknowledgments:**

_Thanks needs to go out to a number of people who've served as advanced readers for this book. Cassy, Monika, Mark, Matthew, Natalie, and Larry. Additional thanks to Nate, Vaughn and Brian for reasons they'll understand._

_Finally thanks to my wife, Katie, who is my most dependable reader, and who puts up with me being locked away behind my keyboard more than is healthy._

_If you enjoyed Frozen Prospects please help spread the word. Forums, reviews-either on the big sites like Amazon and Barnes and Noble or on your blog, all help. The question of how many of the stories currently rattling around in my head get written in the next few years depends in no small part on my fans, and the way in which they spread the word about my writing._

**About the Author:**

_Dean Murray is a prolific author with more than 20 titles across multiple pen names and more than 300,000 copies of his work currently in circulation._

_Dean started reading seriously in the second grade due to a competition and has spent most of the subsequent three decades lost in other people's worlds._

_Things worsened, or improved depending on your point of view, when he first started experimenting with writing while finishing up his accounting degree. These days Dean has a wonderful wife and two lovely daughters to keep him rather more grounded, but the idea of bringing others along with him as he meets interesting new people in universes nobody else has ever seen tends to drag him back to his computer on a fairly regular basis._

_Keep up to speed on Dean's latest projects atdeanwrites.com._

## Thawed Fortunes Excerpt

Va'del kept expecting the cold to stop bothering him, but if anything the closer they got to the Capital, the more it bit at his extremities. He'd come to realize that truly untiring viciousness could only be found in nature.

The teenager slowed for a moment and looked back to make sure Jain and Cindi were still following him. Jain's face was hidden by the elongated hood of her coat, but Va'del had learned to read more into her posture over the last two weeks than he would have thought possible.

While Va'del was watching, Jain went from a state of obvious exhaustion to walking with the perky little bounce she used when trying to convince him that she'd be fine. Va'del shook his head in amazement. Physically Jain had been through more than he and Cindi put together, but she hadn't complained even once.

Satisfied that Jain was exhausted but not on the verge of collapse, Va'del's gaze strayed to Cindi. If the trip had been the hardest physically for Jain, Cindi had been the one to suffer the most emotionally.

The older woman had been a member of the Guadel, the elite group responsible for protecting the People and serving as a court of last resort, for more years than the younger pair had been alive. She was one of the most stubborn, opinionated people he knew, but all those years of service still deserved better than she'd received.

Losing a spouse to an avalanche, and then being forced to leave their body buried under tons of snow, was about the worst way to lose someone. Cindi hadn't complained, not really, but Va'del had noticed that Jain practically had to force the older woman to eat. Va'del hadn't stopped worrying about Cindi any more than he'd stopped worrying about Jain, but he'd finally decided there was nothing to be done but get her home. Hopefully her friends would be able to do more for her than he or Jain had managed so far.

When Va'del had first met Cindi, he would have flatly refused to believe he'd ever feel anything but hatred and resentment for the older woman. He'd had his heart set on becoming a candidate, and then eventually a full Guadel. Cindi had been determined to ensure that neither event ever happened, and done her best to build a case for why he couldn't ever be allowed to achieve that dream.

When Jain's life had been on the line Cindi had come through despite Va'del's doubts. Rather than insisting that she and Va'del return to the nearest village, she'd helped him follow the bandits back to their cave. She'd then proceeded to augment Va'del enough for him to fight his way in and rescue Jain.

The ability to use magic to strengthen their husbands beyond the limits imposed on normal men, was a key part of what allowed a woman to become a Guadel. Similarly, being able to trust someone enough not to fight the mental invasion augmentation required, was necessary for a man to become a member of that privileged group.

For all that the ability to augment or be augmented was a vital requirement, it wasn't the only one, and the Guadel seemed to operate under many rules that Va'del didn't know about in addition to the ones he had figured out.

One of the chief laws seemed to be that the link, and the augmentation that flowed from it, was only to be shared between husband and wives. There were occasional exceptions allowed for those women who had chosen to sponsor a young man as a candidate, but even that was rare.

Worry over what kind of punishment might be awaiting them once they returned to the Capital had resulted in several fitful nights, but he'd been unable to get a straight response from Cindi. Each time he'd attempted to talk to her, she'd looked at him with pain-filled eyes, and he'd choked the words back down.

The woolly pack gurra behind Va'del, bumped him with its head as the wind picked back up, reminding him they needed to get moving again. Gently tugging on the pack animal's lead rope, Va'del set off down the winding trail.

The little party traveled for another color cycle before the dark smudge on the horizon grew enough to be identifiable as one of the two main entrances to the Capital.

Jain and Cindi, obviously on the last dregs of their strength, stumbled into the cave entrance and Va'del followed with a sigh of relief. This had been the worst trip he'd been on yet. Hunger had played a factor as the provisions they'd taken from the bandits had been less than expected, but he suspected it had more to do with the fact that he'd been in charge on this trip.

He'd always known that constantly battling the environment took a lot out of a person, but adding in the recurring worry that some mishap was going to result in one of them being seriously injured had been more depleting than he'd expected. Making it to the Capital meant he'd finally be able to wake up and not still be hungry and exhausted from the day before.

The guards, who emerged from the near darkness at the first bend in the tunnel, weren't the smiling, friendly pair Va'del expected. Instead, there were no less than five heavily-armed men, all of whom looked like they expected a dozen bandits to come swarming into the caves at any moment.

Va'del felt himself tense up until he remembered that nobody at the Capital knew the trio had destroyed the bandit threat. Increased security was just a side effect of the attacks and not anything for Va'del or the others to worry about.

The teenager continued to think that until Alir, a guardsman trainee who'd never liked Va'del, realized who was approaching.

"Sir, that's trainee Va'del."

The large, stocky guardsman who seemed to be in command of the contingent wasn't anyone Va'del recognized, but the older man had his weapon out and pointed towards Va'del almost before the teenager knew what was going on.

"Please keep your hands away from your weapons, trainee. Under the authority of the Council, I hereby place you under arrest until the Council members can question you regarding the events reported by Guadel Cindi."

Va'del felt a lifetime of respect for authority war against the habit of command he'd picked up over the last few days, and the inherent injustice of what was happening. With both Jain and Cindi between him and the guards, there was nothing they could do to stop him from drawing his weapons, but challenging five to one odds when he was unaugmented was nothing less than suicide.

Cindi broke the monetary standoff, shaking herself as if to force her mind back from somewhere distant. "You will ignore that arrest order. There have been further developments since my last written report to the Council. You'll treat this young man with all due respect until I get things straightened out."

Alir laughed before his commander could respond. "On whose authority?"

The commander shot his impetuous trainee a look that said words would be exchanged later, but let the comment stand.

Cindi seemed momentarily confuse. "On my authority as a Guadel, obviously."

The guards all shook their heads. "No disrespect intended mistress, but I know all the Guadel by sight, and you aren't one of them. You're most assuredly not Guadel Cindi as you tried to imply. In fact I can't think of a Guadel that you look less like. Even if you were who you claim to be, the orders couldn't be overridden by anyone less than someone from the Council."

Cindi looked back at Va'del, obviously unable to believe what was going on, and then the same realization flashed in her eyes that had just occurred to him. The woman who'd left the Capital nearly a month ago had looked very little like the woman standing before the guardsmen now. She'd lost so much weight that her clothes hung around a frame that was only slightly more than half as big as it'd been previously. Even more drastic was the way she'd aged since Oh'scir had died. Try as he might, Va'del couldn't blame the captain for not recognizing her.

Something changed in Cindi's expression, and for the first time since they'd saved Jain, some of her old fire was back. "Fine, send one of your men for a Councilor and we'll clear the record right now."

The Captain shook his head again, and movement behind him revealed the presence of newly-arrived guards with crossbows. His expression seemed to say that he wasn't going to back down, and he was even less likely to send for one of the Guadel to come running like some kind of errand boy. Not based on nothing more than the say so of an old woman and a couple of kids.

Va'del placed a hand on Cindi's arm and shrugged as she looked at him. "We aren't getting anywhere. There isn't anything left but to let them take me while you get everything straightened out."

Jain's sharp intake of breath eloquently stated how she felt about the idea, but after meeting Va'del's gaze for several seconds, Cindi finally nodded. "I'll get you out of there as quickly as I'm able."

As the guards roughly disarmed Va'del and then closed ranks around him, Cindi shot the Captain a look that should have frozen his blood. "Treat him with as much respect as your orders allow, or by the Powers you'll be sorry before I'm done with you. My word on it as a Guadel."

There was a small chance the threat would be enough to encourage the guardsmen to be gentler than they otherwise would, but Alir's spiteful gaze seemed to indicate otherwise.

## CHET: Whispers From the Past

### By Larry Murray

Meet Charles Tucker, he has spent nearly 30 years living in denial, trying desperately to hide from his past and the events that shattered his heart beyond any possibility of healing. He can't let anyone close, for doing so would open him up to being hurt again, and there's no way he could survive another wounding.

Meet the Saunders family, new to the neighborhood and teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. Mark, the father, talks a good story but is that all he is? His plan could hold the key to reversing his family's financial misfortunes, or it could wipe out everyone involved.

Meet Chet, a battered old '64 Chevy pickup that was there on the night Charles' life imploded. For nearly three decades, he has been locked away in an old barn, safely out of sight if not completely out of mind. For 29 years Charles has blamed the old pickup for the destruction of his life, now he's about to find that the vehicle that destroyed his life might be the key to his healing and a journey of unexpected miracles.
