be?
Jain stopped trying to read her history book
and instead just listened to Mali's simpering voice.
"I know. He'll surely pass the rest of his
tests and then he'll propose and we'll be married. We'll have to
follow his sponsors around for a year of course, but then we'll
lead a group down and create the first ever standing diplomatic
mission to the lowlands. He's been studying lowlander culture for
months now. Nobody else begins to know who the real power players
down there are like he does. It's almost assured with the way
everyone's still worried about where the bandits came from."
The conversation continued on in the same
boring vein for several minutes, and Jain found herself wondering
what had her so out of sorts. It wasn't just the book or the fact
that she had to listen to Mali's foolishness. There was something
else fundamentally wrong.
Jain had almost decided to retreat back to
her room and go to sleep early, when she heard Mali say something
interesting. "What would I change about him? I don't know. He's
almost perfect except for the fact that he is always asking which
of the Daughters is more powerful than someone else. He always
blows it off as a joke, but he does it so often."
I'll bet he asks about the prettier girls
more often than the plain ones too.
Only Mali and her friends would be stupid
enough not to realize that Be'ter was trying to figure out which
Daughters would bring the most power into a potential marriage.
What a jerk. If there was even the slightest bit of justice in the
universe Mali would be the weakest of all the Daughters rather than
one of the most powerful in the last several years.
Overcome with disgust at how naive Mali was,
Jain stood to go to her room, only to turn and look with everyone
else as Ah'bi entered the room.
"Jain, I need to speak with you at once."
Her mind whirling with questions about what
she might have done wrong, Jain grabbed a cloak from where it was
hanging just inside her room, and followed the quickly-moving woman
out into the corridor.
The Guadel didn't say anything until they had
been walking for several minutes. "On'li stormed into my room a
cycle ago demanding I explain why we'd modified Va'del."
The older woman waved off Jain's
protestations of innocence. "I don't think you told her, I don't
even think that Va'del told her. If either of you were going to do
that you would have done so long ago. All that isn't important.
What is important is that I don't think that Va'del is in a good
way right now."
Jain felt a wave of worry crash through her,
and almost broke into a run. Ah'bi grabbed her student before she
could take more than a couple steps. "Hold on you foolish child.
I'll take you to his room so that you don't get in trouble. If he
isn't there, then it will be up to you to find him, but I can at
least get you that far."
The trip to Va'del's room seemed to take
forever, but finally they were there, and Jain rushed inside as
Ah'bi turned and headed back down the corridor.
Va'del looked up as she
came in, and Jain's heart skipped a beat as she took in the
incredible pain shining out of the blue of his eyes. Oh Powers, he has the knife out again.
Neither of them had ever talked about the
little knife that Va'del had owned for so many years, but Jain knew
that he kept it nearby so that he could kill himself if things ever
got too bad for him to go on.
"Leave me alone, Jain. On'li knows. I
threatened her, but no matter what I do you'll get dragged into it.
This is the only way I can protect you."
As she stepped more fully into the room, Jain
saw that he already had the blade pressed against one of the veins
on his arm.
"What about me? Don't you understand how much
I'll suffer if you kill yourself? If you do this, you kill more
than just you."
Va'del shook his head, causing tears to fly
wildly around the room. "You'll be better off this way than if you
continue to get more attached to me. Don't you see? They won't ever
let us be together. You
Jain stopped trying to read her history book
and instead just listened to Mali's simpering voice.
"I know. He'll surely pass the rest of his
tests and then he'll propose and we'll be married. We'll have to
follow his sponsors around for a year of course, but then we'll
lead a group down and create the first ever standing diplomatic
mission to the lowlands. He's been studying lowlander culture for
months now. Nobody else begins to know who the real power players
down there are like he does. It's almost assured with the way
everyone's still worried about where the bandits came from."
The conversation continued on in the same
boring vein for several minutes, and Jain found herself wondering
what had her so out of sorts. It wasn't just the book or the fact
that she had to listen to Mali's foolishness. There was something
else fundamentally wrong.
Jain had almost decided to retreat back to
her room and go to sleep early, when she heard Mali say something
interesting. "What would I change about him? I don't know. He's
almost perfect except for the fact that he is always asking which
of the Daughters is more powerful than someone else. He always
blows it off as a joke, but he does it so often."
I'll bet he asks about the prettier girls
more often than the plain ones too.
Only Mali and her friends would be stupid
enough not to realize that Be'ter was trying to figure out which
Daughters would bring the most power into a potential marriage.
What a jerk. If there was even the slightest bit of justice in the
universe Mali would be the weakest of all the Daughters rather than
one of the most powerful in the last several years.
Overcome with disgust at how naive Mali was,
Jain stood to go to her room, only to turn and look with everyone
else as Ah'bi entered the room.
"Jain, I need to speak with you at once."
Her mind whirling with questions about what
she might have done wrong, Jain grabbed a cloak from where it was
hanging just inside her room, and followed the quickly-moving woman
out into the corridor.
The Guadel didn't say anything until they had
been walking for several minutes. "On'li stormed into my room a
cycle ago demanding I explain why we'd modified Va'del."
The older woman waved off Jain's
protestations of innocence. "I don't think you told her, I don't
even think that Va'del told her. If either of you were going to do
that you would have done so long ago. All that isn't important.
What is important is that I don't think that Va'del is in a good
way right now."
Jain felt a wave of worry crash through her,
and almost broke into a run. Ah'bi grabbed her student before she
could take more than a couple steps. "Hold on you foolish child.
I'll take you to his room so that you don't get in trouble. If he
isn't there, then it will be up to you to find him, but I can at
least get you that far."
The trip to Va'del's room seemed to take
forever, but finally they were there, and Jain rushed inside as
Ah'bi turned and headed back down the corridor.
Va'del looked up as she
came in, and Jain's heart skipped a beat as she took in the
incredible pain shining out of the blue of his eyes. Oh Powers, he has the knife out again.
Neither of them had ever talked about the
little knife that Va'del had owned for so many years, but Jain knew
that he kept it nearby so that he could kill himself if things ever
got too bad for him to go on.
"Leave me alone, Jain. On'li knows. I
threatened her, but no matter what I do you'll get dragged into it.
This is the only way I can protect you."
As she stepped more fully into the room, Jain
saw that he already had the blade pressed against one of the veins
on his arm.
"What about me? Don't you understand how much
I'll suffer if you kill yourself? If you do this, you kill more
than just you."
Va'del shook his head, causing tears to fly
wildly around the room. "You'll be better off this way than if you
continue to get more attached to me. Don't you see? They won't ever
let us be together. You
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