Chapter 21: Yozak steps in it … again.
Yozak laughed as he sat down for lunch with Conrart. Three months had changed them both, and he found he liked the changes that being Chosen had wrought in his friend. He was slowly but surely beginning to see a lot more of his old friend. Not the Captain, not Lord Weller, but Conrart, the Conrart he'd known when Conrart's father was still alive.
Conrart smiled more often now.
Not the little smirk that hid his feelings from the world and complimented his impassive expression. Not the small smile that rarely reached his eyes and that he often gave Yuri, and not the weak smiles he'd been seeing for the past 50 yrs. These were real smiles, the kind where his eyes lit up and sparkled with warmth and mirth.
He glanced up as Austin sat down across from him, arguing about inter-country diplomatic policy with Justin. Three months had changed them as well. Austin was no longer the stuck up, pretentious, spoiled brat Companion Roan had originally Chosen. Justin was no longer the shy boy who'd literally ran into Aaron on the field after accidently setting one of the drapes on fire. In the short time that had elapsed he'd become a strong, confident Heraldic trainee. As for the twins and Sandra the three young girls hadn't changed all that much.
I'Ryn still scared the pants off of him, usually by trying to get into his pants!
Lately he'd taken to hiding behind Conrart, which didn't help the rampant rumors circulating about them, especially after Yozak found her waiting in his bed, and immediately bolted for the safety of Conrart's room, without even bothering to see if she was wearing anything under his sheets. He crashed in Conrart's room for a week after that, and taken to locking his door at night after the third time he'd woken up to an unexpected female visitor. Ironically, this had only made the rumors worse, since all of the boys had realized shortly thereafter that there seemed to be a connection between the two men.
The fact that the two of them emerged from one another's rooms almost every morning simply didn't help matters either.
Tykir showed up and joined them for lunch shortly after Austin and Justin, with the girls (including his sister, much to Yozak's horror) not far behind. The man looked a little tired, but then all he was currently doing was exercising the formally latent gifts his younger brother had awoken. Since the trainee technically should have gotten his Whites the day after his brother's unexpected and catastrophic experiment, the bulk of his classes currently consisted of learning to use his new healing gifts! The end result was that he fell face first into his bed every night, and nothing except his Companion or a major disaster could rouse him again before the morning.
They talked quietly, joked around, and just killed time in general before the start of their next classes. Yosak had gifts next, and had to admit the topic they were about to begin fascinated him to no end! Today, they would begin to learn the first level of the Truth Spell! Conrart also had Gifts, but his was the class period after Yozak's, and was with Herald Dirk and the rest of the people who had the fetching gift. Justin also had gifts at that time, but he would be out by the river with Herald Griffon.
The bell tolled, calling them to their classes.
They all rose from their seats and turned their dishware over to the trainees who currently had kitchen duty. Yozak laughed at a comment that Jissa had made, and ruffled Conrart's now shaggy hair as they set out in opposite directions. Conrart had decided to let his hair grow out after they'd gotten to Valdemar, simply saying that he couldn't mourn forever when Yosak had asked about the change. In and of itself, Yozak took that as an indication that Conrart was starting to heal. He'd first cut his hair after the war, after the drugs Gisela had given him finally wore off, and he'd been able to mourn the loss of his fallen comrades.
He'd kept it military short since then, only allowing his bangs to grow out to cover the scar that ran through his eyebrow.
It was strange how insecure Conrart actually was behind his calm, confident façade. Yozak often wondered just what it was that kept others from seeing it. Even as a little kid he'd always known when something was bothering his friend, even when everyone else was clueless! To him, Conrart was and always had been an open book!
Yozak sighed and shook all thoughts of his friend, who was currently relearning the knife under Kerowyn's careful instruction, from his mind. He had a class of his own to attend, and the concept of the Truthspell seemed fascinating. He suppressed the urge to groan though when I'Ryn took a seat right next to him and leaned up against his arm. Briefly he envisioned blowing her clear out of Valdemar with a very strong gust of wind, but that would be unheraldic, and he didn't have the elemental gifts of his people to do it with either.
So he simply petitioned the Great One for a fraction of the patience he'd granted Conrart. Conrart, who had so much patience that most thought he didn't have a temper. Granted, anyone who said that had never seen Conrart Weller lose either his patience or temper, and he'd seen the somewhat explosive results of both.
"You know, I find it interesting that we essentially have the same gifts." I'Ryn began to flirt, laying her head on his shoulder. "We both have Mindspeech and Animal Mindspeech, in addition to that your empathic gifts are very similar to my bardic gifts in function."
He completely ignored her.
She actually pouted at him then, and he shuddered—he looked A LOT like what he expected a female Conrart to look like. Her hair was about two shades too dark, and missing the red and gold highlights that characterized Conrart's hair. Her eyes however were the same shade of hazelnut brown, though they lacked the slit pupil and silver specks. She was tall and long in the leg, not quite as tall as Lady Cecilia, and nowhere near as well endowed, but still quite lovely.
If it wasn't for the fact that she truly looked like a female Conrart, he likely would have been more than willing to take her up on her offer, but he'd long ago discovered that sleeping with someone who looked like someone you were emotionally but not romantically involved with was a very bad idea!
Her attitude also needed adjusting badly. Besides, he made it a point not to get involved with people who would take a relationship more or less seriously than he would.
He fought the urge to jerk away in disgust when her hand came to rest lightly on his thigh; by the Great One this woman couldn't seem to take a hint! Ah hell, now she was playing with his hair!
"If we're as similar as you say we are, it would never work out, Hun; it would be like dating myself." He told her flippantly.
She jerked away from him then, and the look in her eyes – so similar to Conrart's – nearly made him give in and comfort her. His heart broke at that look and the way she ducked her head, her bangs obscuring her eyes. For a moment he almost pulled her to him to offer her the wordless comfort he so easily gave Conrart, despite the fact that his empathy was screaming that she wasn't truly hurt and his line to Conrart revealed that his friend was just fine. But she looked so much like Conrart – almost like she'd been practicing the few mannerisms of his that most people never saw.
Then she unwittingly freed him from her spell by doing something Conrart would never do. She glanced up at him coyly, batting long lashes, and he got a good look at the circular pupil of her brown eyes. In this light, Conrart's eyes would bear the telltale slit which marked them as Mazoku.
He backed away from her, rose gracefully to his feet, gathered his things, and switched desks.
"What – where are you going?" I'Ryn asked sharply.
Then he glared at her, wishing for the first time in more than a century that he was a full blooded demon, or that he at least had more prominent slits to his eyes. The slit tended to stand out more when they lost their tempers, and right now he wished he had a bit more of his father in his eyes. Scaring the lass to her senses might be the only way to get her to give up this crazy chase! That's what this was, his empathy told him mildly, she wasn't used to not getting her way, and he was the rabbit who kept avoiding the snare!
"I'm going somewhere where my personal space will be respected. Ningen!" He snapped.
She gaped at him for a moment, as did the other four trainees in his class, but at that moment he couldn't bring himself to care. He wanted away from her and he wanted it now!
Finally, I'Ryn appeared to regain her tongue. "What in the nine hells did you just call me?"
He glared at her, feeling his ire rise. It was true, Mazoku of his class didn't much care if they slept around before marriage, as long as all participants were willing, and children didn't result. However, women were NEVER this forward, and the last time that he'd been literally forced to fend off unwanted advances from either sex, he'd been undercover and in the red light district! He'd lived among the nobles too long it seemed, because his opinion of I'Ryn's worth had just dropped dramatically, taking her from the realm of people he would've been willing to bring home, and into the realm of people who he'd be willing to have a tryst or two with, but not someone he would ever seek an actual relationship with.
Before he could stop himself, he suffered an uncontrollable bout of word vomit. "Shoufu no you na kyoutsuu no josei jibun de koudou o yokusei shi te kudasai!" He snapped, which roughly translated out to 'Lady, please restrain yourself, you're acting like a common whore.' He was too annoyed to appreciate his good fortune, or even comprehend the fact that the words had come out in his native tongue.
I'Ryn opened her mouth, and frankly at that point he could have cared less what she replied. It had taken every ounce of his will power not to be even less charitable than he had been. He ignored the gaping youngsters in the room with them. He wasn't their father and he wasn't going to temper his tongue around them just because they were young. Not one of them was under 16, and while that may have been prepubescent by his standards, he was well aware of the fact that they were all adults or nearly so in the eyes of the Crown. Ningens . . . their lives came and went in a heartbeat by his standards. If he tempered his tongue until they were 'old enough', they'd be dust in the ground, and he would never again be able to utilize his extended vocabulary.
He was spared the travesty of her obviously ill educated tongue and feminine guile by the arrival of Herald Keren, who took one look at her class and promptly ordered them all back to their studies. Grumbling under his breath in his own tongue about loose and vexing females who would drive him to permanently seek the company of other men if he let them, he settled himself back into his chair and watched Keren closely.
: Yozak? : Conrart asked into his mind, preoccupied with Kerowyn and his own lesson but still curious as to what had put his friend out of his good mood.
Yozak sighed, his temper leaving at Conrart's gentle touch. The man was like a balm on his bruised equilibrium – but then, Conrart had always had the ability to take him immediately down from a killing rage to a soft simmer. : Nothing to worry about, I just lost my temper with I'Ryn. I swear that woman is so loose, and she wonders why I'm not even remotely interested! I think I've lived among you nobles for too long – I'm beginning to think like one, at least in regards to who and what I'm willing to bring to bed. : He sent back, his mental voiced laced with sordid humor. He'd always had a well developed sense of the brawdy.
: Very well, I'll leave you to it then. Enjoy your class. : Conrart replied, and abruptly he was gone.
Yozak groped after the falling link in surprise. Conrart's mental voice had been light, but laced with a surprising amount of pain. : Conrart? Conrart?: he called, trying desperately to reestablish the line of communication, and reached the other man, only to find himself faced with the mental shields Conrart had perfected in the last few months!
He suppressed the urge to groan and gave the mental equivalent of a knock, only to have Conrart ignore him. It took every ounce of his will power to remain in his seat. The last time Conrart had barred him from his mind was when he'd been pretending to be Balar's man! And his shields hadn't been nearly as impressive then! Now they were a great damned fortress!
Annoyed, he reached for Jissa, only to receive an answer he already knew; somehow he'd hurt Conrart. He sighed and turned his attention back to his class—he would talk to Conrart after their classes were done, even if he had to do it verbally!
Keren was currently describing the Vrondi, and how they were used in the casting of the Truthspell. "Picture a light blue cloud with eyes," she said descriptively. "These are the Vrondi. The Vrondi are an air elemental, and they cannot abide the shifts in the individual currents of energy that are produced by telling a falsehood. Because of this, they disappear when a person tells a lie. Until a little over a decade ago, invoking the Truthspell was the only bit of true magic Heralds could perform. With the return of the Herald-Mages, this of course has changed. However, this spell remains the only true magic those of us who don't bear the mage gift can utilize."
She smiled lightly at them then. "There are two stages to this spell. The first level of the spell doesn't force the truth from a person; it only registers whether or not the truth is spoken. The second level of the spell does force the person that it's cast upon to speak only the truth. This spell manifests as a blue mist around the head and shoulders of the person it has been cast upon. This mist is visible to everyone save the person under the spell, and during the first level, disappears when lies are told. Like many low level spells, this one is actually a cantrip and requires a little rhyme to get it started, and no, you don't have to say it aloud."
The bell signaling the end of class tolled then. Keren sighed. "You will be learning both stages of the Truthspell tomorrow; after that, there is nothing further I can teach you. How far you advance from here will depend on the limits of your individual gifts and how well you hone them with practice. You're all dismissed, and I'll see you tomorrow for our final class."
Yozak sighed, gathered his stuff, and left the room quickly. He'd been assigned a new class, and today would be his first day attending 'courtly graces', which would teach him how to deal with the Valdemaran nobles. If they were anything like the nobles in his country, he wouldn't have a problem.
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A.N yay another chapter. Okay guys please read and review. let me know what you think.