Truth - Hidden Truth Part 18

Alissa didn't move, a drift of worry building within her. "Can't you unward them?"

He shook his head, regret in his eyes. "Only Talo-Toecan can do that. I'm sure he is close about and will get you where you belong. If not, perhaps we can climb out of here."

Alissa felt herself go white. "He's going to be so angry with me."

"Probably. But we have to get you dry before we do anything."

He took her dripping arm and gingerly set it across his own, leading her to the drop-off as if she were a grand lady, not half drowned. "Yes, thank you," she mumbled. She numbly followed his lead, her thoughts on what Useless was going to say. Her coat was a soggy, slimy ma.s.s of wool and leather, weighing heavily on her, and as they found the patch of sun, she took it off. It was going to dry to an unusable stiffness. She just knew it.

The opening that faced the sky was warmer than it looked as the wind was directed past the cavern rather than through it. Settling herself on the sun-warmed stone, she was struck by a sudden thought.

"Lodesh? You followed me down here, knowing you would be stuck behind the gates, too?"

He took a breath as if to speak. Slowly he let it out. "Yes. I guess I did."

"Thanks," she said shyly as she untied her hair ribbon and tried to shake her hair out.

He sank down beside her, sitting in the sun. "I'm sorry for making you fall in."

"It wasn't your fault," she said, grimacing as she squeezed the water from her sleeve.

Giving her a quick smile, he took the pack off his back and removed his coat. He leaned close and gallantly draped it over her shoulders. It smelled like mirth wood, and she breathed deeply. "Would you be interested in joining me for my noon meal?" he asked lightly.

It was obviously a ploy to distract her, but Alissa's looked up, intrigued. "You have something to eat?"

Clearly pleased, Lodesh opened his pack and spread a small kerchief between them. From his pack he produced a large wedge of cheese, a greasy-looking sausage, and a battered biscuit beginning to crumble. He handed Alissa the cheese and half the biscuit.

Alissa went for the cheese first, wrinkling her nose at the faint smell of sausage on it. She was raised foothills and had never eaten meat. Foothills farmers kept sheep, pigs, and goats, but they sold them to the plains. That the plains ate them only proved they were hard up for food. She had never eaten anything with feet, and she wasn't going to start now. Slightly queasy at the lingering smell, she set the cheese aside to concentrate on the biscuit. Lodesh saw her distaste and chuckled. "I make no apologies for my diet," he said, his pleasure in consuming the nasty little morsel obvious.

Trying to ignore him, Alissa sent her eyes to the view. She could almost imagine she could see the sparkle of water on the horizon. "Have you ever been there?" she asked wistfully as she blotted a crumb off her soggy knee.

"Sorry?" came Lodesh's confused voice.Alissa blinked and turned to him. Strell would have known what she meant by the tone in her voice and the direction of her eyes. "The sea," she repeated. "Have you ever been there?"

"Ah, yes. Once or twice."

"What's it like?" She sent her eyes to the distant horizon, waiting.

He shrugged. "People are born there, they live, they work, they laugh and cry. And when they die, those they leave behind mourn their pa.s.sing. It's much the same as anyplace."

"Oh." It wasn't quite what she was looking for, and unsure what to think, Alissa picked up the cheese and took a bite. "It's a shame you can't make tea appear with those cups of yours," she said, half jesting.

Lodesh surrept.i.tiously cleaned his fingers of grease on the kerchief between them. "Well, even the most skilled Master can't make food or drink."

Creating things from one's thoughts was a topic Talo-Toecan avoided like the plague. Alissa felt a smile come over her as she realized Lodesh might be a font of information if handled correctly. "Why not?" she asked, forcing her voice to be casual.

Lodesh hesitated. "You won't try it?"

"No," she agreed lightly, a thrill of antic.i.p.ation going through her.

"To craft an object with your tracings," he said, "you must first master its creation with your hands.

And since only a tree can make an apple, you can't craft one with your thoughts."

Alissa frowned. "I make bread. Why couldn't I make a loaf of it with my tracings?"

"No, you misunderstand." He met her gaze, and she flushed. The devious light in his eyes made it clear that, not only did he know she was charming information from him, but that he didn't mind. "When I was learning to craft a cup using my tracings, I first made innumerable cups on a potter's wheel. Then, when I was satisfied I could make them in my sleep, so to speak, I secluded myself from all possible distractions and crafted a final one. I was focused solely upon its creation to such a degree that it became my entire world for the s.p.a.ce of time it took."

"But it takes weeks to make a cup," Alissa protested, nibbling the cheese to nothing.

"True," he admitted. "But since time is what you make of it, you can string the pertinent memories together, skipping the s.p.a.ce where you're simply waiting. Now, when I go to create a cup, I simply relive those memories. The ward harnesses my thoughts and gives them substance. The result is what you see before you." With a tweak on her awareness so quick she hadn't a hope of seeing a pattern mirrored in her tracings, a cup materialized on the smooth floor.

"So in theory I could make a loaf of bread," she a.s.serted doubtfully as she picked it up.

"Probably not. The more components an object has, the less likely you will be successful. A cup is made of clay, glaze, heat, and lots of effort. True, the glaze is often formed of many things, as is the clay, but in your thoughts, they're one thing. Bread is flour, lard, yeast, milk, and any number of things. They exist in your mind as separate ident.i.ties, no matter how much you would like to believe it otherwise. It would be too difficult. Most Keepers only manage one or two objects," he said. "Masters have more time and so generally have a lots of things they can make. But if you observe closely, you will note they specialize in only one medium. One may craft things of wood, another of clay, a third of fabric. It's easier."

"Talo-Toecan seems to excel in everything," Alissa said, sure he had an answer for that.

"Yes, well, he doesn't care what anything looks like and skimps on the time spent perfecting each object. His bench has splinters, the st.i.tching on his cus.h.i.+on is loose. He glazed his cups that ugly brown because he was too impatient to find anything better.""M-m-m-m." Alissa thoughtfully turned Lodesh's cup over in her grip. "So every cup you make is identical to the last one you crafted by hand?"

"Exactly right," he agreed. "That's why you don't imprint a form upon your consciousness until you're sure you can make it the way you want. Once you have a form, you can't replace it with anything similar, or it falls apart because your thoughts weren't decisive enough."

"Oh!" she teased. "So every cup you make will have that spot of glaze missing from the underside of the handle?"

"Missing!" Lodesh shouted. "Where?" He took the cup from her, and his shoulders slumped. "Oh no," he moaned, and Alissa's eyes widened as he threw the cup out the window. "I never noticed it before. Now I'll see it every single time."

"The ward," she said, ignoring his distress, "draws from your source, uses your memory to fix the energy into your idea of a cup, then turns your thoughts to reality."

"Ah-yes," he stammered. "But please, Alissa, don't try it. It's very complex and draws upon many diverse areas of practice you have yet to be introduced to."

"Doesn't it use up a lot of source?" she asked.

His head bobbed. "Yes, as a matter of fact, it does. But as Warden, I've been instructed how to circ.u.mvent that problem."

"How?"

Talon streaked into the cavern, chattering wildly. They turned to see a dark shadow cover the opening. "Look out!" Lodesh shouted. He lunged, grasping her around the waist and pulling her into the shadow at the edge of the opening.

A huge gust of wind buffeted them. Alissa impatiently brushed the hair out of her eyes, gasping as a raku was suddenly standing where she had been only a moment ago. "Useless," she cried as she disentangled herself from Lodesh and struggled to her feet. "You heard me!"

He s.h.i.+fted to his human shape in a tight swirl of gray mist, solidifying with his arms crossed disapprovingly. "Why are you wet?" he snapped, glowering down at her.

"I fell into the water," was her soft response, and Lodesh snickered.

"Into the cistern!" he cried, looking aghast, and Alissa winced, resigning herself to a lecture. Talon took refuge upon her shoulder but silently winged out as Useless gave the bird a black look. "What are you doing down here in the first place?"

She shrugged. "I saw a hole in the floor; I went down it." His eyes grew dark, and his lips pressed together. "You never said I couldn't!" she said defiantly.

"Didn't you feel the warning on the bars?" he demanded.

"Yes," Alissa protested, "but they didn't hurt me."

Lodesh came even with her, brus.h.i.+ng his clothes free of imaginary dirt. "She was unaware the warnings were for her," he said mildly.

"Stay out of this, Warden," Useless said coldly, and Lodesh raised a placating hand and took a symbolic step backwards. Alissa blinked in surprise but became all the more determined the day wouldn't end with them looking like errant children.

"Your curiosity," Useless said, "hasn't only endangered you, but Strell and the Warden."

Lodesh cleared his throat. "I was never in danger. And you did ask me to keep an eye on her," he said, then stiffened at Talo-Toecan's warning finger."Lodesh pulled me out," Alissa said, beginning to become angry. "I would have drowned if not for him."

Useless turned to her, his eyes carrying an anger she had never seen before. "I heard you taking instruction from him," he accused, and Alissa felt herself go pale, suddenly afraid.

"He, um... I-" she stammered, realizing her mistake. "I'm sorry," she said, honestly contrite. "I wasn't thinking."

Lodesh drew himself up. Placing one arm before him, one behind, he executed a formal bow. His eyes never left her teacher's. "My apologies, Master Talo-Toecan. It was harmless information, weighted to pa.s.s the time. I accept the penalty you see fit for my-choice."

"There is no such thing as harmless information, Warden," Useless said, and Alissa held her breath.

"She is my student." Leaning close to Lodesh, he barely breathed his next words. "Respect my authority in this matter."

Lodesh's green eyes went still. "Of course, Master Talo-Toecan."

Useless made a sound of dissatisfaction. He turned away, took a breath, and straightened, seeming to have put the matter behind him. "I'll take you both out by air," he said softly. "I'm not going to remove the ward on the eastern gate. You will not come down here again. And if you do, you won't be able to get out without my help. Understand?"

"Air?" came Lodesh's faint whisper. "Er, Talo-Toecan? I would be the first to admit you are a strong flyer, and the largest beast the skies have seen, but either one of us will be too much for you to carry."

Useless raised his eyebrows and eyed Lodesh. "I managed the piper," he finally said. "And I will have built up a great deal of momentum by the time I catch you."

"C-catch?" Lodesh stammered.

Alissa pulled her contrite eyes from the floor and was shocked at Lodesh's paleness. As she watched, the self-a.s.sured man went whiter still, taking a step back. "Er- thanks, Talo-Toecan, but I'll go back the way I came."

Useless turned to him, a savage humor in his eyes. "How?" he questioned harshly. "You can't pa.s.s the gate. Correct?" The Master leaned close and looked at Lodesh as if he were going to strike him if he disagreed.

Lodesh glanced at the drop-off frantically. "Ah, yes. Right."

Useless eased back and adjusted his sash. "Just so. You will both go by air."

Lodesh shot a furtive look behind him. "If you must punish someone, punish me. But don't do this to Alissa. She's only a child."

"I am not!" she said loudly.

"There's no other way," was Useless's firm decision, and Lodesh cringed. "I will take Alissa first, as is proper for the lady she deems herself."

"Alissa," Lodesh apologized. His hands taking hers tightened spasmodically. "I'm sorry. I didn't think he would get this angry."

Alissa stared at him in confusion. "What?"

"He's going to take you by air...."

"So what?"

"Jump," said Useless.Slowly, Alissa blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Jump," he repeated.

Her eyes went to the drop-off. White in the bright light of the afternoon, she could see clouds, big puffy ones, looking small as sheep between her and the unseen ground. Only now understanding, she took a step backwards and shook her head. "No."

"I don't have time for this," Useless growled, and saying no more, he picked her up and threw her out in a flurry of skirts and kicking ankles.

Her stomach dropped. Alissa tried to scream, but the force of the damp wind in her face forbade it.

Her ears hurt, and for the first time she was thankful for her wretchedly long hair as it covered her eyes.

She could see nothing. Useless, she thought frantically, he will catch me. On that thin cord, her sanity hung, but he didn't, and just as she was beginning to believe he had, in his anger, decided to let her perish, there was a terrible snap. Now she screamed, her surprise, prohibiting any other response. The wind blew back her hair. Realizing how close he had let her come to the ground, she shrieked again.

The trees were a bare wing's length below her.

Useless climbed furiously, and her ears popped. He began to dip and swoop in a horrendous example of the worst drunk at the best of markets. Alissa's belly rolled. As the Hold came underneath them, he dropped like a stone, pulling up at the last moment to lurch to a landing at the uppermost balcony in the tower. There was a tug on her thoughts as the ward was disengaged from the window, and then they were through.

Breathless, Alissa nearly collapsed as his grip about her middle loosened. She staggered to a stand on the wide balcony. Useless dropped her wet coat from between two talons before s.h.i.+fting to his man guise. His expression was decidedly smug. "Oh, Useless!" Alissa cried. "Can we do it again?"

He stiffened, his satisfied air evaporating, scowling in disgust.

She leaned over the railing to estimate the drop. "If I jump from here, can you catch me?" Turning, her elated smile vanished at the anger in his face.

"Get yourself out of this tower," he said darkly as he proffered her coat. "Don't ever go back down there again. Do I make myself clear?"

"Why?" she asked, her curiosity stronger than her alarm at his obvious anger. "What's down there I shouldn't see?"

Useless took a wrathful breath, then seemed to slowly collapse. "Nothing," he said softly. "There's nothing down there you shouldn't see." Shaking his head, he slumped further into himself. "You frightened me out of a hundred years with your call. Why didn't you answer me?"

Her eyes widened. His anger was from his fright. She had worried him. "I couldn't hear you," she said. "I wasn't sure you even heard me."

"Hm-m-m. We will take care of that directly. Meet me at the firepit tonight. You will practice until we get it right every time."

Alissa started to smile but then squashed it. She was in disgrace. Her extra lesson wasn't a reward.

"Yes, Useless," she said meekly. She wiggled out of Lodesh's coat and handed it to Useless, s.h.i.+vering in the sudden chill.

Apparently satisfied, he turned to leave but hesitated, looking at her with pleading eyes. "Did you really fall into the cistern?"

She nodded, and he pa.s.sed a worried hand over his eyes.

"Don't tell anyone, all right?"Mystified, she nodded again, guessing she had violated some raku taboo. Lodesh, though, hadn't seemed to think it was a problem. Besides, who would she tell?

"I'm going to get that Warden out," he grumbled. "You would do well to leave him alone. You showed a horrible lack of discretion in allowing him to instruct you on the theory of wards of creation."

He smiled faintly, as if in a memory. "Not that I can truly blame you." He stepped lightly to the top of the thick railing of the balcony, and Alissa gasped, reaching out for him before he turned and smiled rea.s.suringly. There was a strong tug on her tracings as he s.h.i.+fted. As a raku, he dropped into s.p.a.ce.