Betrayals (23 page)

The others made sounds of agreement, Bron reluctant but still in agreement. There was nothing that needed immediate attention, nothing but Delin and whatever secrets he continued to hold. And after he’d drained Delin dry, Kambil vowed to begin looking for a High talent in Earth magic to replace the madman with. But until he found that replacement, he would spend some time thinking of a way to punish the fool for what he’d thoughtlessly done to the rest of them….

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Valiant wasn’t the only one in the coach who sat without speaking until the last of Gan Garee was behind them. He and Rion had gotten to the coach first, after climbing down the rope outside the window. Valiant still felt annoyed over that descent, annoyed with himself for being so much clumsier than usual. If Rion and his Air magic hadn’t been there, he probably would have gotten fully outdoors a lot more abruptly than he’d planned?

But Rion had been there, and had taken the trouble to disguise his help so that the man steadying the rope never noticed. Valiant was in his debt for that, and had tried to thank him once they reached the fancy, dark red coach waiting for them and were left alone by their guide. But Rion had refused to hear him, blandly insisting that he’d done nothing but help himself….

Valiant rubbed his bristly face with his hand, fighting to keep the coach’s smooth motion from rocking him to sleep. There were things he had to say to Tamrissa once Gan Garee was a bit farther behind them—and he had worked up his nerve a bit more. When she and Naran had been brought to the coach, she’d taken the seat beside him only, he was sure, because there was no other. He and Rion had been told to stay in the coach, and Naran, who had been helped in first, naturally sat beside the man she loved. Loved…

Tamrissa had barely glanced at him, and once those two men transferred the baggage to the coach’s boot, one of them had joined the coach driver on the box and they’d started on their way. Now Tamrissa sat as close to the window on her side of the seat as possible, looking out and not saying a word. He’d have to be the one to start the conversation, but what could he possibly say? Their relationship was probably over, but if there was the least chance she didn’t want it that way …

“I think it’s time for cautious self-congratulations,” Rion said suddenly, also looking out the window. “If I’m not mistaken, that posting house we just passed is considered the last of the city of Gan Garee. That’s the way it’s done on the road to Haven Wraithside, and the two posting houses appear just the same.”

“I’m sure you’re right, my love,” Naran agreed with a serene smile. “While we were still in the city there was always the chance that we would be stopped, but now that chance is behind us. If pursuit does come from Gan Garee, it won’t be able to catch up with us.”

“But we might too easily catch up with the convoy,” Rion said with a frown after taking her hand and distractedly kissing it. “Did Dom Meerk have anything to say about that, Tamrissa?”

“Alsin told me that the convoy had started out at a fairly good pace,” Tamrissa replied after the smallest hesitation, as though she’d been pulled away from her thoughts. “If they have places to change their horses at regular intervals, they may have no trouble staying ahead of us.”

“So we, ourselves, may end up pushing our horses or replacing them at similar intervals,” Rion said with a nod. “We needn’t worry about catching the convoy until we have a plan of action, which I assume we don’t have as yet. I, at least, have thought of nothing, so I would be pleased to learn that one of you others has been struck by inspiration.”

“Struck by a stick is more like it,” Valiant forced himself to say when the ladies simply shook their heads. He shifted his body on the seat, a body which had begun to ache a bit. “And speakin’ about sticks, I’m reminded of stones, which I deserve to have people throwin’ at me. I still haven’t really thanked all of you for gettin’ me out of the Razas woman’s house when you did. She repels me so badly that it was about to override the only thing she wanted from me, and when that happened I would have paid hard for the failure.”

“It’s odd, but you didn’t seem repelled by her,” Tamrissa commented without looking around, speaking before Rion could. “Do you suddenly find her so unattractive because she’s no longer in reach?”

“It wasn’t me findin’ her attractive, it was the drug in me,” Valiant countered, suddenly appalled to realize that he’d been considering the wrong emotion. It wasn’t his humiliation that Tamrissa had been thinking about, it was her own jealousy.

“She told me all about that drug,” Valiant continued as quickly as possible. “It tickled her that a sedative could be used to inflame a man, somethin’ she hadn’t known about before. When I tried to refuse to play, she threatened to lock me in a tiny crate. That left me with nothin’ to do but to pretend I didn’t remember her or understand what was goin’ on. She didn’t like that either, and was in the process of threatenin’ again just before you walked in.”

“Then I apologize for the comment I made,” Tamrissa replied, still sounding distant as she continued to gaze out of the window. “Please feel free to go back to your conversation with Rion.”

“But it isn’t Rion I’m interested in talkin’ to,” Valiant said, wishing he could touch her. Normally he would have, but now something told him he’d be a fool to try…. “You’re the one who needs to be apologized to more, to have explained to you that I couldn’t help myself. First I couldn’t stand the way I’d been humiliated in front of you, and then I thought I’d lost you because of losin’ my ability. That would be harder than never bein’ able to touch the power again….”

Very briefly Valiant was ashamed of himself for trying to hold Tamrissa with pity, but considering what she meant to him the regret was extremely short-lived. He’d spoken the absolute truth when he said losing her would be worse than losing his ability, and when she suddenly turned to look at him he thought the plan had worked. But then he saw her expression, and her following words confirmed the dread abruptly gripping him.

“You’re saying that you thought I’d turn my back on you because you’ve lost your ability,” she accused, fury flaming in her beautiful eyes. “So now we know at last what you really think of me: that I’m a shallow, stupid woman who can’t be relied on to act like a decent human being! And if you want my opinion on what was really bothering you, here it is: you couldn’t stand the fact that you had to be rescued by me, a woman. If it had been Rion or Lorand showing up just in time, you never would have been so bent out of shape. Go ahead and deny it, I dare you!”

Valiant began to do just that, but his protests sounded hollow even to him. She’d hit on what really was the truth, but not for the reason she thought. He finally decided that the matter had to be explained, but before he was able to start he was abruptly interrupted.

“Oh, spare me!” she snapped, dismissing his excuses with a sharp wave of her hand. “Everything you’ve said boils down to the fact that you have to be the big hero, and you’re far too selfish to share something that important with me. Well, it’s time for me to admit that I’m just as selfish, but what I won’t share is a relationship. Not with you, at any rate, so please do me the favor of not speaking to me again.”

“Tamrissa, you’re wrong,” he tried, putting a hand to her arm as she deliberately looked back to the window. “That isn’t at all what I—”

Valiant suddenly sucked his breath in sharply, the reaction caused by the brief but very intense heat touching his face. It hadn’t precisely been painful, but he’d been left with the definite impression that it could easily have been just that. The hand he’d quickly pulled away from Tamrissa’s arm moved to his face, where he gingerly examined what had been done.

“Now you no longer look like a derelict who needs to be hidden when we reach an inn,” Tamrissa said, that same cold shoulder still pointed in his direction adding to the shock he felt. “I’m sure you’ve never had that kind of shave before, at least not one that close. If you ever touch me again, you’ll find out what close can really mean.”

Considering how smooth his face felt, there was nothing Valiant could think of to say. She’d obviously burned away his beard stubble without doing any damage to his skin, showing once again what it meant to be a High talent in Fire magic. He’d obviously done it good this time, getting her so angry that she’d had to do something to show it. Only a High in Water magic might have a chance to defend against her anger, and he no longer qualified….

Valiant took a deep breath before sitting back, forcing himself to accept the fact that pushing Tamrissa’s power-backed temper right now was a very bad idea. Rion and Naran looked even more shaken than he himself felt, and he didn’t blame them. He’d caught a glimpse of the very intense fire Tamrissa had used, and colored circles still floated before his eyes. They must have had a much better view of the thing, and caution was now keeping them as silent as he.

But he refused to remain silent forever. No matter how dangerous it turned out to be, he was determined to find a way to make Tamrissa listen to him. It wasn’t selfishness or male pride that had caused him to act the way he had, but being shamed in front of the woman who meant everything to him. The situation would have been better even if it had been Jovvi rescuing him, as long as it wasn’t Tamrissa who had seen him so weak and helpless and humiliated. But it had been Tamrissa, and now she refused to hear and understand. …

Just as she’d refused all those times in the past. Valiant leaned back in his seat as he suddenly remembered that, the fact that Tamrissa never wanted to hear things from his point of view. It was as if his own feelings were unimportant next to hers, unimportant and decidedly secondary. And she never shared those with him either, those very important feelings of hers. She never asked him why he said or did something, and she never explained why she said and did things.

Maybe that was what they would have to talk about, whether or not his ability was ever restored….

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The sun had almost set by the time our coach pulled into the front court of a rather large inn. The trip had been extremely silent, and there was no need to wonder why. A short while after our … discussion had ended, Valiant had actually fallen asleep. So much for his intense desire to “apologize” to me….

I stirred a bit as the coach slowed, trying to work the aches out of my body so that I’d actually be able to walk. I hadn’t realized how physically numbing and exhausting a trip like that could be, and Rion and Naran apparently felt the same. Not that they were even looking in my direction, either of them. My little explosion of temper seemed to have affected them a good deal more than it had the man it had been aimed at.

A twinge of conscience tried to take my attention, but I refused to let that happen. Valiant had brought that exhibition on himself by touching me, and I didn’t regret having done it. Talk about adding insult to injury … No, Tamrissa, I don’t think much of you as a person and I don’t even care how you feel, but I want to put my hand on you so I will. We both know you won’t dare do anything about it.

Well, I had dared, and as I got ready to leave the coach behind Rion and Naran, I made certain not to look at the man to my right, who was just beginning to awaken. Valiant Ro had nothing to say that I cared to hear, not anymore. If what I’d done didn’t convince him of that, I felt perfectly ready to find another lesson that would.

“I was just telling the others that we’ll spend the night here,” Alsin said as he helped me down. “I sent one of my people to follow the convoy on horseback at a discreet distance, and then he’s to meet us here, at the first inn beyond Gan Garee, to report. Not many people leaving the city early stop here since it’s less than a full day’s ride from the city, but those getting a late start and people coming from not very far away in the other direction are plentiful enough to keep it in business.”

“As long as it has a bath house and a private room with a bed for me, I don’t care if it’s full or empty,” I said, reaching up to massage my left shoulder. “This coach rides more smoothly than most, but tomorrow will be twice as bad as today so I’d like to get some real rest tonight.”

“We’ll get rooms and have something to eat, and then we’ll use their bath house,” Alsin said, putting a hand to my elbow to start me toward the inn. He’d first glanced back to see that Valiant Ro was finally with us, so there was no reason to continue standing there. “I’ve stayed at this inn a few times, so I know you’ll be comfortable and will enjoy the food. Lidris will play servant to us, and after taking care of the horses he’ll eat in the kitchen.”

He obviously meant the coach driver, who was already moving the coach toward the stable area. The rest of us were heading for the inn’s front door, Alsin busily brushing dust from his clothing. None of us was exactly neat and tidy, but riding on the box had added a layer of road dust to the man. He stopped brushing when he reached the door, opened it, and stood aside to let me enter first, then he strode forward to receive the host’s friendly welcome.

Alsin really was known, at the inn—under another name— and we were treated very well. Four rooms were assigned to us, and our baggage was taken upstairs by houseboys while we went into the dining room. The common area had only been partially filled, and there were even fewer people in the dining room. We all sat at a large table, and a serving girl began to bring out bread and soup. Dinner would be pork roast and yams, a mix of vegetables, and a choice of desserts.

The food was just as good as Alsin had said it would be, and we were sitting there considering dessert when a man walked into the room. Conversation had been rather desultory until then, but once the newcomer brought over a chair and sat down beside Alsin, that abruptly changed.

“Those people you’re all interested in stopped to camp for the night a couple of hours ago,” he said softly, speaking mostly to Alsin. “I had the impression that they leave the road early because their … cargo has to be cared for before the drivers and guardsmen can see to their own needs. I also had the impression that they’ll be moving on again tomorrow rather early.”