rising quickly to her feet. “You’re even more stupid than you are useless, you ignorant peasant, and it will be my pleasure to—”
Once again Razas’s words broke off, this time with a small shriek as she stumbled back. She’d begun to stalk toward the door, but a heavy wall of flame had erupted into the air in front of her, driving her quickly back. At that point. Valiant could have wept. It was Tamrissa who had appeared, and she’d seen everything.
“ ‘Useless’ isn’t precisely the right term to apply to me,”
Tamrissa said, her words still very dry. “As you can see I do have one use, and I’m still extremely good at it. Have you ever seen someone of my strength burn something from the inside out? The trick is to keep the outside from going up until the inside is completely consumed, but it isn’t nearly as hard as it sounds. For the second and last time, get out of the way so the servant can dress him.”
“How far do you think you’ll get once you leave here?” Razas demanded, nevertheless moving back to allow the husky male servant to reach the pile of clothing on the floor beside the chest. “I’ll have the guard after you so fast that you’ll think they appeared out of thin air! And when Lanir gets his hands on you again, you’ll spend a long time regretting whatever trick you used to get away from him!”
“Lanir won’t ever be getting his hands on anyone again,” Tamrissa commented, faint amusement now in her voice. “You fools had a lot of nerve, letting him call himself the Seated High. Seated Middle was more like it, but he isn’t even that any longer. And you really ought to understand: if you send guardsmen after me and force me to kill them, I’ll consider myself honor bound to come back and do the same to you. Even if you run away and try to hide. I’ll still find you, and then you’ll learn the most efficient way to slow-roast meat.”
Razas paled at that, and the hands of the nervous male servant dressing Valiant began to tremble even more. It wasn’t possible to believe that Tamrissa wasn’t serious, and both of her listeners knew it.
“But you can’t take him,” Razas whispered, her pasty complexion showing the fear which now touched her. “They’ll be here to reclaim him tomorrow morning, and if I can’t produce him—! I’ll pay you gold. Name a price and it’s yours.”
“You can’t afford me,” Tamrissa commented dismissively. “And if his being gone will bring you grief, so much the better. What were they going to do with him?”
“Why should I know or care?” Razas countered, beginning to look frantic as she bent to retrieve her wrap and put it on. “But you can’t let this happen to me, not to me. I’ve almost gotten the power I was always meant to have, so you simply can’t interfere. I’ll give you a thousand gold dins if you just go away, or I’ll use that thousand to buy someone with Fire magic stronger than yours.”
“For some reason you seem to be deliberately trying to miss the point,” Tamrissa said, without the anger which could normally be expected. “There’s no one left with Fire magic even as strong as mine, never mind stronger. Even the Blending we faced in the final competition couldn’t match us, and I suspect that the same can be said of the Seated Five. None of your misnamed Highs and Adepts could do anything like— this, for instance.”
Razas shrieked as the wrap she’d put on began to burn, then terror silenced her as well as freezing her in place. She stood trembling with her fists and eyes closed tight, and in a moment the wrap was completely consumed.
“There, you see?” Tamrissa asked lazily. “There’s nothing left of your wrap but ash, and yet not the least bit of your skin was burned. That should show that I can reach you even if you try to hide in a tight knot of innocent servants, so remember what I said about summoning the guard. Now we’ll be leaving, so help him up.”
That last was to
Once again Razas’s words broke off, this time with a small shriek as she stumbled back. She’d begun to stalk toward the door, but a heavy wall of flame had erupted into the air in front of her, driving her quickly back. At that point. Valiant could have wept. It was Tamrissa who had appeared, and she’d seen everything.
“ ‘Useless’ isn’t precisely the right term to apply to me,”
Tamrissa said, her words still very dry. “As you can see I do have one use, and I’m still extremely good at it. Have you ever seen someone of my strength burn something from the inside out? The trick is to keep the outside from going up until the inside is completely consumed, but it isn’t nearly as hard as it sounds. For the second and last time, get out of the way so the servant can dress him.”
“How far do you think you’ll get once you leave here?” Razas demanded, nevertheless moving back to allow the husky male servant to reach the pile of clothing on the floor beside the chest. “I’ll have the guard after you so fast that you’ll think they appeared out of thin air! And when Lanir gets his hands on you again, you’ll spend a long time regretting whatever trick you used to get away from him!”
“Lanir won’t ever be getting his hands on anyone again,” Tamrissa commented, faint amusement now in her voice. “You fools had a lot of nerve, letting him call himself the Seated High. Seated Middle was more like it, but he isn’t even that any longer. And you really ought to understand: if you send guardsmen after me and force me to kill them, I’ll consider myself honor bound to come back and do the same to you. Even if you run away and try to hide. I’ll still find you, and then you’ll learn the most efficient way to slow-roast meat.”
Razas paled at that, and the hands of the nervous male servant dressing Valiant began to tremble even more. It wasn’t possible to believe that Tamrissa wasn’t serious, and both of her listeners knew it.
“But you can’t take him,” Razas whispered, her pasty complexion showing the fear which now touched her. “They’ll be here to reclaim him tomorrow morning, and if I can’t produce him—! I’ll pay you gold. Name a price and it’s yours.”
“You can’t afford me,” Tamrissa commented dismissively. “And if his being gone will bring you grief, so much the better. What were they going to do with him?”
“Why should I know or care?” Razas countered, beginning to look frantic as she bent to retrieve her wrap and put it on. “But you can’t let this happen to me, not to me. I’ve almost gotten the power I was always meant to have, so you simply can’t interfere. I’ll give you a thousand gold dins if you just go away, or I’ll use that thousand to buy someone with Fire magic stronger than yours.”
“For some reason you seem to be deliberately trying to miss the point,” Tamrissa said, without the anger which could normally be expected. “There’s no one left with Fire magic even as strong as mine, never mind stronger. Even the Blending we faced in the final competition couldn’t match us, and I suspect that the same can be said of the Seated Five. None of your misnamed Highs and Adepts could do anything like— this, for instance.”
Razas shrieked as the wrap she’d put on began to burn, then terror silenced her as well as freezing her in place. She stood trembling with her fists and eyes closed tight, and in a moment the wrap was completely consumed.
“There, you see?” Tamrissa asked lazily. “There’s nothing left of your wrap but ash, and yet not the least bit of your skin was burned. That should show that I can reach you even if you try to hide in a tight knot of innocent servants, so remember what I said about summoning the guard. Now we’ll be leaving, so help him up.”
That last was to
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