Convergence (8 page)

"What sort of stupidity is this?" I demanded out loud, certain that whoever had created the fireball could hear me. I also stopped it before it could reach me, of course, but the mental command I gave for it to disappear wasn't obeyed. Someone with a good deal of strength had created the thing and set it practically in my lap, and banishing it wasn't going to be possible.

And that managed to focus every bit of anger and fear and hatred and uncertainty inside me onto the latest intruder into my life. This whole thing could very well be something done at my parents' urging, to show me how futile my hopes were in regard to passing the tests for High. You'll never escape us, the crackling flames seemed to say, not until we've burned every bit of use and humanity out of you. Even your talent won't free you, not ever, never, never. . . .

"I'll show
you,"
I whispered, so lost to insanity that I actually spoke to the flames. "I
will
get free, I
will,
I wi
ll!"

And then I reached to the fireball with my own talent, causing a second fireball to come into being around the first-Fight fire with fire the old adage advised, and that was exactly what I would do.
But not in any ordinary sense, oh no, nothing ordinary for
this
girl.
Brute force combined with exquisite finesse, yes, that's what would do it.

I seem to remember muttering darkly to myself while I spread my own flames completely around the intruder flames. Encasing someone else's creation wasn't supposed to be possible for two people using the same aspect, but I was in no condition to remember that. Half the time it was my husband whom I surrounded with flames, and the rest of the time it was my parents. I was intent on showing them all, proving that they would no longer be allowed to do as they pleased with me.

And once the intruder flames were completely surrounded, I caused my own flames to burn hotter and hotter and hotter. Only a crazy woman would try to burn flames, but there was something else I did as well. With
my
flames using up all the air around the intruder, there was nothing left for
it
to burn in. The hotter my flames grew, the fainter
its became
, until there was nothing but a shrunken shadow left inside my inferno. I waited until even the shadow had disappeared, extinguished my flame and the small fires my efforts had started in the surrounding garden, then stumbled to a nearby stone bench. Once I'd collapsed onto it I began to shake, buried under the memory of what I'd done. The madness had disappeared with the intruder, and all that was left was unadorned terror.

"And that's what you can look forward to if they manage to get possession of you again," I whispered from out of the terror, knowing it to be the truth. "You'll go mad and use your talent to kill them, and then you'll be sentenced to the Demon Caverns for the rest of your life. Everyone left alive in the Caverns is mad, and no one ever escapes. You
have
to stay out of their hands, so you
have
to pass those tests."

A lot of have-
to's
for a woman already half crazy, but what choice did I have?
None that I could live with, none that anyone else involved would live
through.
I had to stay free no matter what,
had
to . . .
had
to. . . .

That was harder than I'd thought it would be, and I'm glad it's behind me now. I'm not usually that intense, not out where others can see it, at least, but I'm supposed to tell the truth in this narrative. The others insist I was as biting as my flames when we first met, but I'm sure they're just exaggerating. Or mistaken, which is perfectly possible. You see, it all began with a plan and a misunderstanding, when—

Oh, yes, I
have
forgotten somebody, haven't
I?
The last of our five, the arrogant Valiant Ro.
Well, if you insist. . .

Five

vallant ro—water magic

There weren't many people in Port Entril—or any other Southern port—who didn't know the Ro family and their fleet of transports, and most of the ones who didn't were either drunk or children. Neither description fit the group on the dock, so Valiant wasn't surprised when they made a beeline for his ship as soon as the
Sea Queen
was docked. Then they got close enough for individuals to be recognized, and Valiant cursed under his breath. The man in the lead was his oldest brother Torrin, which had to mean trouble.

Torrin was first up the gangway, but the group behind him wasn't
far
behind. The deck was, as usual, a madhouse, with seamen trying to batten down for port and getting the cargo offloaded, and passengers clutching their belongings while trying to debark. Torrin and his escort made an effort to ignore it all, but they were swimming upriver against a stronger current than they knew. Valiant leaned a shoulder against the deckhouse, folded his arms, and watched their approach with open amusement.

"I'm glad you're havin' such a good time, little brother," Torrin growled when he finally fought his way close enough to Valiant. "Too bad the fun has to end—and so abruptly— but you can't say you didn't ask for it. Get your things together and start movin'. Captain Vish will take over from here."

"The hell he will," Valiant answered, no longer amused as he straightened. "The
Queen
is
my
vessel, and another man captains her over my dead body."

"Right now I wouldn't much mind arrangin' that," Torrin countered, his expression showing he wasn't joking. "And Daddy would probably name me sole heir if I did. He's been chewin' walls for the past week, which hasn't done his health any good.
He
wanted to come down here to meet you, but none of us would let him. Havin' the head of your family arrested for murder can be embarrassin'."

"What in hell are you talkin' about?" Valiant
demanded,
so out of patience that he forgot to watch his tone. The Master-of-the-vessel snap that made him a captain no one talked back to caused Torrin and the others to
flinch, even that
fool Vish. Vish the Fish, most seamen called him "Why in every blazing blue hell would Daddy be angry at
me?
I think you're tryin' to cod me, Torrin, and if you are—"

"Damn
it,
watch your mouth, Val!" Torrin hissed with a glance at the gaggle behind him, and Valiant finally noticed that there was a woman in their midst. She wasn't bad looking, especially with that faint blush now in her cheeks, but this wasn't the time for women.

"Answer my questions, big brother," Valiant ordered, this time using the tone of command deliberately. "Tell me what's goin' on, and why you're trailin' a pack of lubbers."

Vish bristled up at that and jutted out his bearded chin, but everyone managed to ignore him.

"Valiant, you're supposed to be on your way to Gan Garee!" Torrin answered with exasperation, but without any more bush-beating or hesitation. "It's the
law,
little brother, and you know how Daddy feels about the law. No child of his will ever break it and
stay
a child of his, not while there's an ounce of breath left in his body."

"You can't be serious," Valiant said with a frown, finally understanding. "I have no interest in testin' for High, and I told those fools that. I'm a seaman and captain of my own vessel, and that's all I
want
to be. Now take this pack and get off my deck."

"Val, you can't refuse to test!" Torrin said slowly and forcefully, clearly ignoring the way some of his followers started to turn away in obedience to Valiant's orders. "It doesn't
matter
whether or not you want to be
High
, the law says every confirmed Middle has to test for it. There's a coach leavin' on the Gan Garee circuit in less than four hours. If you aren't on it voluntarily, you'll be arrested and
put
on it with an escort. And Daddy will have to pay expenses for the escort."

Valiant immediately looked around at the people behind Torrin, and the way the two biggest men avoided his gaze said they were the ones who would be arresting and escorting.
Or trying to do those things.
That they weren't at all eager to be about it showed how wise they were, but that had nothing to do with the most important point. He hated the idea of leaving the sea even temporarily, but he'd rather die than bring trouble down on his family and disappoint his father.

"Tell Daddy I apologize, and that I didn't understand," he grudged at last in a growl without looking at Torrin. "I'll pack my belongin's and be on that coach, but get Vish off my deck.
You
supervise the offloadin',
then
put Palafar in temporary command of the
Queen.
He's been my second long enough to be in line for a captaincy of his own, and I can trust him to take care of the
Queen
until I get back."

"Now you're bein' reasonable," Torrin enthused with a smile, then lost his smile as he looked around. "But if you don't mind, I'll put Palafar in charge of the offloadin' as well. It's been years since I last stood on a deck, and I haven't missed it. Not to mention that I never captained and everyone knows it. You go ahead, and I'll see to what needs seein' to."

Valiant nodded and turned away toward his cabin, noticing that the woman seemed to want to say something, but he ignored her. Now he really wasn't in the mood for women, or much of anything else. He would be land-bound for weeks, and that was
his
version of a fate worse than death. Not to mention the fact that he also had to collect a few things from his rooms above the tavern in town. And pay his quarterly rent. And say a temporary goodbye to Mirra. Mirra would hate seeing him rush off again right after getting in, but she would understand. She'd know he'd miss
her
as much as he'd miss the sea, and that he wasn't leaving out of choice.

Torrin and his flock were gone by the time Valiant got back to the deck with his seabag, and Palafar had everything moving smoothly. Most of the crew came over to say goodbye, and Valiant made sure they understood that it was a
temporary
farewell. He would be back even if every blue demon in the universe tried to stand in his way. They seemed to know that already, so he left the
Queen
feeling slightly better.

More than the usual number of people stopped him on the way to the tavern where he lived when in port, and he had to be polite for the sake of future business. But that meant there was less than two hours left to coach time when he finally reached the Roaring Sailor Tavern. Realizing that darkened his mood again, so much so that when he went upstairs and walked into the first of his rooms to find Mirra lounging in a chair, he barely glanced at her. Stomping on through to his bedchamber without a word seemed more to the point, but that didn't keep her from following.

"Valiant Ro, how
could
you just walk past me without a word?" she asked, sounding mortally wounded. "I've been waitin' here for half the day, waitin' for a
gentleman,
but if this is the way you're goin' to act, you can find another girl to wait for you.
If
you think you can find one to match
me,
that is."

Valiant stopped pulling things out of a chest and took a deep breath, understanding that he'd made another mistake. Mirra Agran's father had almost as profitable a shipping business as his own family did, but where he had four brothers and two sisters, Mirra was an only child. That had spoiled her to a large degree, but she'd never been able to walk all over Valiant the way she did with other men and she seemed to like that. She would force him to be stern with her, and then she would let him take her to bed—where she gave him an experience much like being in a skiff in a rainstorm. He probably never would find another woman filled with as much passion, not to mention one with the sort of business connections his daddy had suggested he encourage. . . .