told me yourself. If I don't become a
Guadel they won't let me marry you, not even if you decide to
become a healer. The longer I'm alive the worse everything gets.
For both of us."
Tears were making their way down Jain's
cheeks now, but for the first time since Ah'bi told her that Va'del
might be in trouble, she was thinking clearly. "We still have other
options. We can run away, go down to the lowlands and keep
traveling until we are far enough away that the Guadel will never
be able to find us."
The surprise on her beloved's face would have
made Jain laugh in another time and place. "That's right; you don't
have to do this. You don't have to kill yourself. You don't even
have to remain here in the Capital dancing their tune. We can steal
whatever we'll need to leave, and just go."
Va'del started to tremble, almost as if the
emotions inside him were too much for his tired body to contain any
longer, and then he let the knife slip from his fingers.
"I'm so sorry."
Jain reached out and wrapped her arms around
him. "It's okay. You should have come to me before it got this bad,
though."
"I didn't want to be a burden. I thought I
finally had everything under control after last time, but when
On'li turned on me it was just too much."
Brushing dark strands of hair back from his
face, Jain kissed him. "It doesn't matter. You aren't a burden. We
help lift each other up, that's what families do. And that's what
we are, a family."
Chapter 9
Va'del watched Tim'i practice a new slashing
combination, and then moved in and adjusted the boy's arms. "You're
letting your left arm drop too far after the second movement."
The younger boy nodded, and then tried the
attack again. "Like that?"
"That's it, now practice it another hundred
times and you can go. We both know you'd rather be in your books
than here trying to learn how to stop some bag'lig from making you
his next meal. Watch your technique though. Practicing it
incorrectly is worse than not practicing it at all."
I never would have guessed that I'd enjoy
teaching this much.
After Jain had convinced him not to kill
himself, Va'del had been at a loss for what to do next. He'd known
that he'd never be allowed to become a candidate, and consequently
going to class had seemed completely pointless.
He didn't know if Jain had said something to
Ah'bi, who in turn had talked to her husband, or if Fi'lin had just
turned up on his own, but the Guadel had strode into Va'del's room
early the day after he missed all of his classes and all but
dragged him to weapons practice. "You can miss your other classes
if you want. I talked to your instructors and they all said you'll
do fine studying by yourself, but you will be to weapons practice
every day or I'll have both your ears."
The weapons master had then proceeded to make
Va'del his third assistant, despite the fact that Va'del wasn't
even a candidate, let alone a Guadel like the other two.
Teaching filled up the depressing cycles that
Va'del otherwise would have spent thinking about Be'ter's promotion
to what everyone was calling a sub-Guadel. With the new position
Be'ter no longer had to take a full load of classes, just the one
or two that the testers had judged him deficient in.
Not only that, he could start his field work
at any time--all of the rumors said he was just waiting to marry
before proceeding with the extended tour of the villages that would
mark his last real test before being raised to a full Guadel. A
year from now Be'ter would be a Guadel unless the majority of the
Council refused to ratify the decision, a scenario that was highly
unlikely considering that they hadn't gotten rid of him
already.
Va'del stopped to show one of his students
where to place his foot in the sixth movement of the second form so
that the poor boy would stop losing his balance, and then continued
his circuit.
Interestingly enough, Jain seemed to think
Be'ter was trying to delay picking a wife. She seemed to think
Be'ter was still
Guadel they won't let me marry you, not even if you decide to
become a healer. The longer I'm alive the worse everything gets.
For both of us."
Tears were making their way down Jain's
cheeks now, but for the first time since Ah'bi told her that Va'del
might be in trouble, she was thinking clearly. "We still have other
options. We can run away, go down to the lowlands and keep
traveling until we are far enough away that the Guadel will never
be able to find us."
The surprise on her beloved's face would have
made Jain laugh in another time and place. "That's right; you don't
have to do this. You don't have to kill yourself. You don't even
have to remain here in the Capital dancing their tune. We can steal
whatever we'll need to leave, and just go."
Va'del started to tremble, almost as if the
emotions inside him were too much for his tired body to contain any
longer, and then he let the knife slip from his fingers.
"I'm so sorry."
Jain reached out and wrapped her arms around
him. "It's okay. You should have come to me before it got this bad,
though."
"I didn't want to be a burden. I thought I
finally had everything under control after last time, but when
On'li turned on me it was just too much."
Brushing dark strands of hair back from his
face, Jain kissed him. "It doesn't matter. You aren't a burden. We
help lift each other up, that's what families do. And that's what
we are, a family."
Chapter 9
Va'del watched Tim'i practice a new slashing
combination, and then moved in and adjusted the boy's arms. "You're
letting your left arm drop too far after the second movement."
The younger boy nodded, and then tried the
attack again. "Like that?"
"That's it, now practice it another hundred
times and you can go. We both know you'd rather be in your books
than here trying to learn how to stop some bag'lig from making you
his next meal. Watch your technique though. Practicing it
incorrectly is worse than not practicing it at all."
I never would have guessed that I'd enjoy
teaching this much.
After Jain had convinced him not to kill
himself, Va'del had been at a loss for what to do next. He'd known
that he'd never be allowed to become a candidate, and consequently
going to class had seemed completely pointless.
He didn't know if Jain had said something to
Ah'bi, who in turn had talked to her husband, or if Fi'lin had just
turned up on his own, but the Guadel had strode into Va'del's room
early the day after he missed all of his classes and all but
dragged him to weapons practice. "You can miss your other classes
if you want. I talked to your instructors and they all said you'll
do fine studying by yourself, but you will be to weapons practice
every day or I'll have both your ears."
The weapons master had then proceeded to make
Va'del his third assistant, despite the fact that Va'del wasn't
even a candidate, let alone a Guadel like the other two.
Teaching filled up the depressing cycles that
Va'del otherwise would have spent thinking about Be'ter's promotion
to what everyone was calling a sub-Guadel. With the new position
Be'ter no longer had to take a full load of classes, just the one
or two that the testers had judged him deficient in.
Not only that, he could start his field work
at any time--all of the rumors said he was just waiting to marry
before proceeding with the extended tour of the villages that would
mark his last real test before being raised to a full Guadel. A
year from now Be'ter would be a Guadel unless the majority of the
Council refused to ratify the decision, a scenario that was highly
unlikely considering that they hadn't gotten rid of him
already.
Va'del stopped to show one of his students
where to place his foot in the sixth movement of the second form so
that the poor boy would stop losing his balance, and then continued
his circuit.
Interestingly enough, Jain seemed to think
Be'ter was trying to delay picking a wife. She seemed to think
Be'ter was still
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