Nature's Servant (54 page)

“Come on then Everand,” Voltan said in a low, hard voice. “Attack me!”

The tall boy yelled incoherently, his voice cracking as he did so, and launched himself forward, summoning power to both fists. Voltan waited calmly, crouched and perfectly balanced.  Everand launched two hard force strikes, one from each hand, and leapt at the warrior mage, fists balled to attack him physically, but Voltan deflected both strikes with a flick of each hand and ducked beneath Everand’s flailing fists, tripping the athletic boy with a leg sweep. Everand tumbled head over heels before springing to his feet again, but Voltan was already on him, attacking him with the edges of his flattened hands, each one surrounded in a nimbus of power. Everand grunted and retreated, out-manned and desperate to defend himself. Voltan pushed him back another few steps with attack after attack before summoning power into both hands and shoving hard at the boy’s chest. He flew backwards as if kicked by a mule and landed heavily on his rump, sliding backwards in the dust.

Voltan stepped towards him, fists aglow with power, his face hard as flint. “Yield,” he said, his voice quiet and deadly.

“I yield,” Everand pleaded, spreading his arms wide and placing himself at Voltan’s mercy.

“Stand up!” Voltan barked, and he scrambled backwards, clambering awkwardly to his feet, anxious not to take his eyes off the warrior mage. Voltan stepped up close to him, his head tilted so he could look directly into the tall boy’s eyes. “I will not tolerate this kind of thing again,” he said, eyes narrowed to slits. “If I hear of you referring to the elementals as demons, or refusing to spar with Gaspi, there will be hell to pay. Do you understand?”

“Yes Sir,” Everand said, anger and humiliation warring in his face. Gaspi could tell that all he wanted was to be allowed to leave.

“Go!” Voltan said, turning his back on the shame-faced boy. Taurnil shot Gaspi a look of utter satisfaction. He looked about as pleased as a person could possibly be! Despite the fact that he’d wanted exactly this kind of justice to be done for a long time, Gaspi couldn’t help feeling conflicted. Yes, Everand was a colossal idiot, but confronting him like that could only ever have one result. He was just too proud to back down in public, and now he’d been humiliated on a grand scale! Gaspi didn’t know how a person like Everand, so obsessed with their own position and reputation, would deal with abject humiliation. Voltan had torn strips off him verbally and physically, and all he could see coming out of it was trouble. He watched Everand walk across the quad with a stiffened back that couldn’t quite hide the defeated droop of his shoulders. If Gaspi compared him to Ferast he had to admit that Everand probably wasn’t a truly bad person. Just a self-obsessed fool with too much pride and a big mouth. He decided to talk to Emmy about it as soon as possible. She would know what to do.

Voltan called them to spar with him and Jonn, interrupting his thoughts. With a sourness in his belly that wouldn’t go away, he walked back out across the quad.

…

He found Emea studying in her bedroom. She put her books away and sat with him on the bed while he told her what had happened. Loreill and Lilly were batting at each other playfully on the pillow.

“Oh dear,” she said when he’d finished. “He won’t handle that well at all.”

“I don’t think so either,” he said. “Taurnil thinks he deserves it.”

“He does,” Emmy said seriously, “but he still won’t handle it well. I think it took every last bit of his courage to apologise to you last year. But this is different. He’s been made a fool of in front of everyone.”

“Not just a fool,” he said. “He’s been made to look like he’s seriously in the wrong.”

“Which he is…” Emmy responded.

“I know,” he said, and neither of them said anything for a while. He stroked the back of her neck absent-mindedly. “So what should I do?” he asked after a few minutes. “Anything?”

She pulled a face. “I really don’t know,” she said. “I don’t think he’ll be able to face talking to you. Honestly, I think we just have to leave him to deal with it.”

“Mmm okay,” he said with a sigh. “I just don’t like seeing someone humiliated like that, even if they deserve it.”

“Even if it’s Everand?” she asked.

“Guess so,” he answered, and was surprised to discover that he really meant it.

Emmy sidled closer to him, placed her hands gently on either side of his face and looked him in the eye. “I love you Gaspi,” she said with utter seriousness, and kissed him. The elementals stopped playing and curled up together on the bed.

“What did I do to deserve that?” he asked when she pulled back, floored by her sudden ardour.

“I love that you are still concerned about Everand, even after everything he’s done to you.”

“Anyone would be,” he said with a shrug.

“No they wouldn’t,” she responded, “but I also love that you think they would. You have a big, wonderful heart Gaspi.”

She kissed him again, sliding her arms around his neck, making him tingle from head to toe. She had never kissed him quite like that before. He pulled her in close. She stood up and sat back down on his lap, running her fingers over his face as if exploring it for the first time. Gaspi surrendered himself to her completely, letting her love him. Her lips, fingertips and tongue were all telling him with perfect eloquence how much she felt for him, and in that moment he realised that he’d never felt so perfectly loved. Everand was pushed from his thoughts completely, as was the Measure, and even magic itself, as he yielded to her affection, his soul watered by every last drop of her adoration.

…

“Do you think that was a good idea?” Hephistole asked.

“It needed to happen,” Voltan said fiercely, pacing to the window of Hephistole’s study, his hands clasped behind his back.

“I’m not so sure,” Hephistole said quietly. “He’s just a boy.”

“An arrogant, dangerous boy who’s spreading lies and prejudice when we need people to stand together.”

Hephistole sighed. “I understand why you did it. There aren’t any clear answers sometimes, and making an example of Everand may yield some kind of positive result, but my heart tells me there was another way.”

“Which is?” Voltan asked sharply, spinning round to face the chancellor.

“Voltan, I don’t mean to criticise you,” Hephistole said, spreading his hands wide. “And I don’t know what the other way is. Let’s speak no more of this. You had good reason for what you did, and besides, what’s done is done. Let’s just make sure we don’t give Everand any reason to think we have abandoned him. Don’t force him and Gaspi to spar, as it might just make things worse. Include him in all pre-tournament talks, act as if nothing happened, and treat him like you treat the others.”

“I can do that,” Voltan said. He stood for a moment longer and then sat down. “I just don’t have your soft side Hephistole,” he said, his shoulders drooping as if in admission of weakness.

“You may well have been right,” Hephistole mused. “But I can’t help thinking of what happened with Ferast. He was in our care, and even though he was asking all kinds of worrying questions, I failed to address the issue in time. Several of his mentors refused to teach him, but I wasn’t nearly quick enough to catch onto the severity of the situation, and by the time I tried to reach out to him, he had already left the college. I failed him badly Voltan, and I don’t want to see that happen again with Everand. Who knows what kind of trouble Ferast might get himself into without any guidance?”

“He was a dark one,” Voltan said.

“All the more reason to help him,” Hephistole responded. Neither of them spoke for a while.

“We’ll just watch how this one plays out and be ready to intervene if it’s
needed,” Hephistole said.

“As you say,” Voltan responded.

…

Gaspi pushed his desk chair backwards, trying to balance it on two legs while he talked to Rimulth. Loreill had chosen to remove himself from harm’s way, and
was napping on the floor in a sunbeam. Pushing the chair back once more, Gaspi caught the tipping point and held it there for a few seconds, wobbling back and forth slightly as he tried to balance with jerky movements of his torso. The chair finally tipped back too far, and despite Gaspi’s out-flung arms, it fell backwards, spilling him onto the floor with a loud crash. Loreill’s head shot up in alarm, but on seeing the cause of the commotion, he rested it back down on his front paws and closed his eyes again. Rimulth, who was sprawled out on the bed, laughed loudly at Gaspi’s expense.

Just then, a loud, formal knock sounded at the door. Gaspi scrambled to his feet, exchanging a curious look with Rimulth. None of their friends knock
ed like that.

“Come in,” he called. The handle turned and the door swung open to reveal Everand, s
tanding stiffly in the hallway.

“Everand?” Gaspi said
hesitantly, surprised by the large boy’s presence. Everand was the last person he’d expect to turn up at his room.

“Can I talk to you?” Everand asked. His tone was wooden, brittle even, and beneath that fragility Gasp
i could sense his uncertainty.

“Er…sure,” Gaspi said, and Everand stepped into the room, letting
the door swing shut behind him.

“Thank you,” Everand said. He took a deep breath, as if bracing himself for something. “I’ve come here to apologise.”

Gaspi just sat there, his mouth hanging open stupidly.

“I was wrong to call the elementals demons,
and as Rimulth is here too, I’ll apologise to all three of you,” Everand continued. Silence reigned for several moments while Gaspi figured out that he was referring to Loreill, as well as to himself and Rimulth. Rimulth pushed himself up off the bed and stepped up close to Everand.

“
I don’t know how you plainsdwellers do these things, but where I come from, if a man offers you an apology, you are honour bound to accept it. If you had stolen my goods then they would need to be returned of course, and if you had harmed me physically it would be my right to harm you equally in return, but as you have done me no real harm, an apology is enough,” he said, extending a hand to Everand in the manner he’d learned since being in Helioport.

“Thank you
,” Everand said, losing a bit of his stiffness. He looked at Gaspi for a moment, uncertainty flowering in his eyes. Gaspi felt conflicted. On the one hand this was exactly what he wanted, and apologies usually went a long way with him, but Everand had also tried to steal his girlfriend.

“I suppose that’s all,” Everand said when Gaspi failed to respond. He looked like he was about to leave, but then the room was lit by a brilliant flash of g
reen light. The tall boy stood transfixed, staring in amazement at Loreill, who had transformed into spirit form.

“Loreill!” Gaspi exclaimed, shocked that the elemental would cause himself the discomfort of transforming while out of his natural environment. The spirit ignored him and
glided through the air towards Everand. Everand continued to stare at Loreill with wide eyes, caught somewhere between fear and wonder. Loreill drew within inches of Everand and stopped, looking intently into the tall boy’s eyes. Gaspi could feel Loreill’s pain through the bond, pain that was caused by the absence of greenery and soil, but he could also sense that the spirit thought this was important enough to endure that discomfort. Loreill held Everand’s gaze, examining him inside and out, and then finally he turned away and zipped to Gaspi’s side, where he transformed back into bodily form. Gaspi felt Loreill’s relief through the bond, but he could also clearly sense Loreill’s acceptance of Everand’s apology.

“Loreill believes you are sincere,” Gaspi said to Everand. “If it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for me. We both accept your apology.”

“Thank you,” Everand responded, tearing his eyes from the elemental and meeting Gaspi’s gaze. “I thought about apologising to Emea and Lydia as well, but I thought you might prefer to pass on the message instead.”

“Yes that might be best,” Gaspi responded.

Everand nodded. “And to the other elementals as well,” he added, glancing once again at Loreill. Gaspi thought he could detect a note of wonder in the handsome boy’s face.

“I’ll do that,” Gaspi responded.
When no-one said anything else for a few moments, the silence became awkward.

“Well that’s all I
have to say,” Everand said, turning to leave.

“Thanks Everand,” Rimulth said as he reached out for the door handle. Everand nodded once more as he pulled the door open and stepped out. Gaspi picked up his chair and sat down on it
once the door had closed. He let out a huge breath and absent-mindedly picked Loreill up, placing him in his lap.

“Well that was unexpected,”
he said.

Rimulth sat back down on the bed, nodding thoughtfully. “Yo
u don’t seem pleased,” he said.

“I am, sort of,” Gaspi responded, frowning in thought. “It’s good that he apologised for how he treated the elementals.” He glanced down at Loreill as the spirit chittered approvingly. “But he also tried to take Emmy from me, and I didn’t hearing him say sorry about
that
.”