Chapter 7
*
By the time she reached the Dean's office, she had suppressed the unwanted rage at the unfairness of life into the deep, dark corner of her soul were she hid her pain, and she was empty and impassive, free from all the emotions that only made life hard.
Dean Gareth summoned her promptly into his office, and sat looking at her gravely.
"I understand you insulted Herald Jilla during your language class today, Liara." He spoke quietly, with no emotion in his soft voice.
"Yes, sir." Her voice rivaled his for expressionlessness.
"In Rethwellan."
"Yes, sir."
"Which was, in fact, the language she had been trying to teach."
"Yes, sir."
"And I have similar reports here from the instructors of your morning classes."
"Yes, sir."
After this he paused before speaking again. "Tell me, Liara," he said with a sigh. "Who taught you so well that you are able to best the instructors at their own jobs?"
The question startled Liara, and she blinked. "My parents, sir." She answered finally.
The answer confused Gareth. She had said at their original interview that she had no family. From the lack of emotion she had shown to this statement, he had assumed that they had been dead for a long time, but that did not fit with this new statement.
"I thought that your parents were dead!" he spoke without thinking, startled, and he cursed his unwary tongue.
"They are, sir." She replied, the lifeless, empty look returning to her face.
"When did they die?" he asked, more gently this time. He had to get to the bottom of her problems.
"Twelve days ago, sir." There was so little inflection in her voice that she might have been discussing the weather.
Gareth was appalled by her answer. To have so crushingly recent a tragedy, and to feel no emotion -
Something was terribly wrong with this girl.
Suddenly he remembered asking his Companion, Seren, to ask Deilan what was wrong with the girl. The answer came clearly from his memories.
:He won't say. He just says that he came too late.:
A sudden suspicion filled Gareth.
:Seren,: he asked. :How long ago did Deilan Choose?:
:Twelve days ago,: replied his Companion.
Was that what Deilan had meant? Too late to save her parents?
:I don't think so,: Seren told him suddenly. :Deilan was sworn to secrecy, and he can't get around it, but he does want us to find out what happened to his Chosen, and I don't think that's it.:
"Liara," He asked her, staring into her dead eyes, "How did your parents die?"
If he hadn't have been looking at her eyes, he would have missed it, but there was a brief flicker of emotion - pain/grief/hatred/despair- that was abruptly cut off.
"I don't see that it's any of your business, sir." She said. The crushing blow of emotion that had suddenly obsessed her was gone.
"I want you to tell me." He was losing patience with her uncommuniation.
"They were murdered." She said at length. She spoke defiantly, as though daring him to disbelieve, but her voice still showed no grief or pain. "They were murdered by a mob of angry villagers."
Now a moment of horrified shock struck him, before common sense reintruded. That couldn't have happened. He would have heard, such a crime would have been heard of and the criminals brought to justice. Unless . . .
How had Liara learned Rethwellan so perfectly? Could she have lived there?
:No.: Seren informed him. :Deilan says that you're on the right track, but - not Rethwellan.:
Where then?
"Liara," he asked, trying to get the answer in a roundabout way, "What languages do you know?"
She was baffled by the sudden change in tactics, and answered without thinking. "Valdemaran, Hardornen, Rethwellan, and Karsite."
If not Valdemar or Rethwellan, perhaps Hardorn?
:No,:
Not -
:Yes,: Seren said, :I think it's Karse. Deilan wouldn't answer me.:
But Karse?
Well, it would at least explain her parents murder; perhaps they were gifted, too. Magic in any form was illegal in Karse, and perhaps suspects would be killed by mobs. Valdemar knew so little about Karsite customs.
"Why were your parents murdered, Liara?" Gareth continued his investigation, needing proof - and perhaps he would discover some reason for her - deadness.
She said nothing. Anything she said would bring back the memories - and the screams. She couldn't bear hearing the screams again -
"Your parents were killed because they practiced magic, and it's illegal in Karse, weren't they, Liara?" Gareth prompted her, determined that he would find out the truth.
It was only because he was actively scanning her mind that he caught the edges of her enraged mental shout.
:DEILAN!:
Despite the deafening mindcall, he kept his attention steady - in her rage at her Companion, maybe her impenetrable shields would have loosened somewhat . . .
They had, but somehow she detected his stealthy tendril of thought, and blocked him out with a backlash that stung.
"Stay out of my head." Liara told him, the storm-racked sea of emotion he had sensed now completely undetectable in her lifeless eyes. "You won't like what you find in there."
With those words she stood and walked from Gareth's office, leaving the Dean stupefied and speechless.
*
Some time later, Seren spoke into his head. :Deilan is unhappy. The girl has blocked him out completely. He can't get through her shields even to explain.:
:Tell him she'll get over it.: Gareth told his Companion, hoping that this would be the case.
:You don't understand,: Seren said, his distress evident. :She isn't just shielding, she is actively trying to repudiate the Companion-bond!:
:What? That's unheard of! No herald has ever repudiated his Companion!: Once or twice, Gareth remembered, it happened the other way around, with a Companion breaking the bond between him and his Chosen, but that was very, very rare. It hadn't happened in over a century.
:Deilan won't let her, though.: Seren continued, mindvoice bright and sharp with his unhappiness. :He says without the bond, she would be even worse than she is now. He says that she's been healing, a bit, since she was Chosen, but that you just made it worse by questioning her.:
Gareth winced with the guilt that statement caused. But he needed to discover her problems! He could not afford to have a dysfunctional Monarch's Own!
:Have Kirstie find out about her,: Seren suggested. :And get Kirstie to tell you. According to Deilan, the girl opened up to Kirstie quite a bit. It might work.: Seren considered this for a while. :And you should put her in Kirstie's classes. That might help.:
The Dean considered this for a while. :But what if Liara doesn't know enough?:
Seren responded with a deep mental chuckle. :From her actions in class,: he said, :That girl probably knows enough to make full herald!:
*
By the time she reached the Dean's office, she had suppressed the unwanted rage at the unfairness of life into the deep, dark corner of her soul were she hid her pain, and she was empty and impassive, free from all the emotions that only made life hard.
Dean Gareth summoned her promptly into his office, and sat looking at her gravely.
"I understand you insulted Herald Jilla during your language class today, Liara." He spoke quietly, with no emotion in his soft voice.
"Yes, sir." Her voice rivaled his for expressionlessness.
"In Rethwellan."
"Yes, sir."
"Which was, in fact, the language she had been trying to teach."
"Yes, sir."
"And I have similar reports here from the instructors of your morning classes."
"Yes, sir."
After this he paused before speaking again. "Tell me, Liara," he said with a sigh. "Who taught you so well that you are able to best the instructors at their own jobs?"
The question startled Liara, and she blinked. "My parents, sir." She answered finally.
The answer confused Gareth. She had said at their original interview that she had no family. From the lack of emotion she had shown to this statement, he had assumed that they had been dead for a long time, but that did not fit with this new statement.
"I thought that your parents were dead!" he spoke without thinking, startled, and he cursed his unwary tongue.
"They are, sir." She replied, the lifeless, empty look returning to her face.
"When did they die?" he asked, more gently this time. He had to get to the bottom of her problems.
"Twelve days ago, sir." There was so little inflection in her voice that she might have been discussing the weather.
Gareth was appalled by her answer. To have so crushingly recent a tragedy, and to feel no emotion -
Something was terribly wrong with this girl.
Suddenly he remembered asking his Companion, Seren, to ask Deilan what was wrong with the girl. The answer came clearly from his memories.
:He won't say. He just says that he came too late.:
A sudden suspicion filled Gareth.
:Seren,: he asked. :How long ago did Deilan Choose?:
:Twelve days ago,: replied his Companion.
Was that what Deilan had meant? Too late to save her parents?
:I don't think so,: Seren told him suddenly. :Deilan was sworn to secrecy, and he can't get around it, but he does want us to find out what happened to his Chosen, and I don't think that's it.:
"Liara," He asked her, staring into her dead eyes, "How did your parents die?"
If he hadn't have been looking at her eyes, he would have missed it, but there was a brief flicker of emotion - pain/grief/hatred/despair- that was abruptly cut off.
"I don't see that it's any of your business, sir." She said. The crushing blow of emotion that had suddenly obsessed her was gone.
"I want you to tell me." He was losing patience with her uncommuniation.
"They were murdered." She said at length. She spoke defiantly, as though daring him to disbelieve, but her voice still showed no grief or pain. "They were murdered by a mob of angry villagers."
Now a moment of horrified shock struck him, before common sense reintruded. That couldn't have happened. He would have heard, such a crime would have been heard of and the criminals brought to justice. Unless . . .
How had Liara learned Rethwellan so perfectly? Could she have lived there?
:No.: Seren informed him. :Deilan says that you're on the right track, but - not Rethwellan.:
Where then?
"Liara," he asked, trying to get the answer in a roundabout way, "What languages do you know?"
She was baffled by the sudden change in tactics, and answered without thinking. "Valdemaran, Hardornen, Rethwellan, and Karsite."
If not Valdemar or Rethwellan, perhaps Hardorn?
:No,:
Not -
:Yes,: Seren said, :I think it's Karse. Deilan wouldn't answer me.:
But Karse?
Well, it would at least explain her parents murder; perhaps they were gifted, too. Magic in any form was illegal in Karse, and perhaps suspects would be killed by mobs. Valdemar knew so little about Karsite customs.
"Why were your parents murdered, Liara?" Gareth continued his investigation, needing proof - and perhaps he would discover some reason for her - deadness.
She said nothing. Anything she said would bring back the memories - and the screams. She couldn't bear hearing the screams again -
"Your parents were killed because they practiced magic, and it's illegal in Karse, weren't they, Liara?" Gareth prompted her, determined that he would find out the truth.
It was only because he was actively scanning her mind that he caught the edges of her enraged mental shout.
:DEILAN!:
Despite the deafening mindcall, he kept his attention steady - in her rage at her Companion, maybe her impenetrable shields would have loosened somewhat . . .
They had, but somehow she detected his stealthy tendril of thought, and blocked him out with a backlash that stung.
"Stay out of my head." Liara told him, the storm-racked sea of emotion he had sensed now completely undetectable in her lifeless eyes. "You won't like what you find in there."
With those words she stood and walked from Gareth's office, leaving the Dean stupefied and speechless.
*
Some time later, Seren spoke into his head. :Deilan is unhappy. The girl has blocked him out completely. He can't get through her shields even to explain.:
:Tell him she'll get over it.: Gareth told his Companion, hoping that this would be the case.
:You don't understand,: Seren said, his distress evident. :She isn't just shielding, she is actively trying to repudiate the Companion-bond!:
:What? That's unheard of! No herald has ever repudiated his Companion!: Once or twice, Gareth remembered, it happened the other way around, with a Companion breaking the bond between him and his Chosen, but that was very, very rare. It hadn't happened in over a century.
:Deilan won't let her, though.: Seren continued, mindvoice bright and sharp with his unhappiness. :He says without the bond, she would be even worse than she is now. He says that she's been healing, a bit, since she was Chosen, but that you just made it worse by questioning her.:
Gareth winced with the guilt that statement caused. But he needed to discover her problems! He could not afford to have a dysfunctional Monarch's Own!
:Have Kirstie find out about her,: Seren suggested. :And get Kirstie to tell you. According to Deilan, the girl opened up to Kirstie quite a bit. It might work.: Seren considered this for a while. :And you should put her in Kirstie's classes. That might help.:
The Dean considered this for a while. :But what if Liara doesn't know enough?:
Seren responded with a deep mental chuckle. :From her actions in class,: he said, :That girl probably knows enough to make full herald!: