Frozen Prospects (20 page)

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.

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."