Disclaimer: No…I'm still not Mercedes Lackey…woe is me…
Chapter 21 is here, hopefully a little faster than the last one…-cringes- Or not, a month later. I know, I stink, big time.
Fireblade: Yeah, I guess he's a little like the Alberich of the Healer's Collegium :D I don't know if Healers have wild parties, though. Such a shame :D
Wizard: Thanks! Yeah, if you've read Brightly Burning and know the background on his character, you can guess.
Tessabe: Thanks, but I'm glad to be moving on with the plot now. I felt like the entire thing was stagnating before my very eyes.
Oceanmate: It always does, doesn't it :D
Lurks in Shadows: It wouldn't surprise me if a couple bits were a bit awkward. I was combining what I meant to be a few different chapters into one, so I imagine the transitions were a little odd at times. Sorry about that.
Tenshi: Thanks, Trent is coolness. I have to steal some of these characters for another fic after this one is done, or maybe a couple of one-shots. I like a lot of them, but they cant all be main characters, unfortunately.
FormerlyKnownAsPhoenix: Thanks. Yeah, he interested me from when I first read about him, and I like Healers.
VioletRush: Thanks! And yes, he is. Although I'm finding I like some of the other Healers I created too much to let go of.
Xiann: Yes, I meant it that way. I felt my last story was a little rushed. I'm glad you liked it, though.
Moondance K'treva: Thanks! I'm glad you like it.
Trallgorda: I'm always glad for more readers. Thanks!
Anyway, mass drama as our young protagonist takes his fate in his hands and decides on a teacher. It's not Rith, by the way. Even I couldn't turn out enough simultaneously angst-filled, terrified and humiliated scenes to make that one work. Not that I wouldn't have fun trying, but I'm so not going there.
Pol and Satiran make a slight cameo in this chapter, hopefully not too OoC.
I don't know if I like the end of this chapter. Be prepared for a PoV switch and assorted character rambling. It'll get better, I promise.
Chapter 21: Choices
Treet added the last flourish to his first moon's report, tying it with twine. He would present it to the Dean tomorrow. He shuddered at the thought and forced his attention to the last task of the night, choosing a teacher. Neat little attribute lists were all well and good, but with balls of rejected theories and hierarchies littering the ground around him, he was beginning to despise each and every one of the seemingly affable Healers that paraded through his mind in a never-ending loop.
Then he decided to try a different tack. He would eliminate the Healers one by one, instead of extolling their virtues and wasting parchment with useless lists.
He knew exactly where to start that time. The thought of being Rith's student was laughable, however pleasant training near Lirain would be. He wrote off that possibility with only the smallest pang of regret.
Trent was another one that he could eliminate fairly easily. Deft as the man might be, as high as his standing might be in his chosen field, Treet was fairly certain that a moon of afternoon lessons with the pragmatic and enigmatic Healer would drive him into Rith's arms, and probably as a patient rather than a student!
Between three remaining Healers, Don, Sera and Ria, Treet was a little more ambivalent. All had seemed interesting and fairly convivial.
'This is where things get confusing,' he thought to himself. 'Am I supposed to be choosing based on the subject or based on the person, or some bizarre amalgamation of the two?'
Of all of them, Ria had scared him the most. She had seemed a little imposing. Impersonal, really. And Healing the "sniffles of the nobility" didn't really set him afire with longing. Haven was the first place he'd ever been in that felt even a little like home, so being assigned to a temple wasn't exactly his favorite idea either. If he had to be a Healer, he'd at least like to specialize.
With a sigh that was more relief than regret, he crossed Ria off of his list. Of the two remaining Healers, Don was the one that drew him most. Not even the most paranoid Trainee could find anything threatening in his affable manner. Treet was tempted to become Don's student, but upon examining Don's specialty, he wasn't so sure. Burning out infection. Well, Healers were supposed to have an inner prompting and Treet's was telling him that the illnesses combined with the small children he was sure he'd have no talent with should be enough to make him give up on that idea. With true regret, he decided that that path was not for him and turned to the one remaining option.
Trauma Healing. With Sera. Who seemed intelligent and fairly kind, as well as interesting. And her field was intriguing to Treet, being closer to the types of afflictions that he had grown up around than any of the others thus far. In fact, his Gift had unfolded in the first place by allowing him to sense injuries to workers around the Holding.
It would do, he decided. Overthinking the situation would in all probability lead to ruin. It wasn't as though any of the Healers were particularly odious choices.
Surprised that his decision had actually been reduced to a manageable before midnight, Treet closed his books and went to bed with a tired yawn and only a small twinge of fear for the interview that lay ahead for the morrow.
The Dean's office seemed to be filled with ghosts. Treet had no idea how this could have happened, given that they had only had half a Candlemark to occupy the place, but despite this handicap, they seemed to have done a fairly thorough job. He carefully averted his eyes from the chairs against the wall of the small office. It almost seemed as though he could see himself there, although he was certain he must look at least two years older than the small figure crouched there.
Looking to the other wall was no better. Rith and Lirain seemed to take up their places, replaying their entrance over and over again, and the Dean hadn't moved from her spot behind her desk. Of course, she really was there, was supposed to be there, and was, in fact, currently gazing at Treet with an expression of slight annoyance. Treet was too busy counting the grains in the wood of the floor to notice this.
"I brought my first report," Treet said hesitantly after a long moment of silence. The Dean looked up from her papers, seemingly for the first time since Treet's entrance. She shook her head slightly, flipping her dark curls over her shoulder, and gazed at Treet in nonrecognition for a moment.
"Ah, Trainee Tretin?" She asked, seeming to suddenly remember Treet's existence.
Treet felt a flood of relief. Maybe she had forgotten him. If only he could be so lucky. Eliminating the witnesses wasn't exactly his style, and he supposed it wouldn't fit his Healer's image, such as it was, but he couldn't say he hadn't wished for a few bouts of temporary amnesia, including one for himself.
"That's me. I brought my first report." He refrained from expounding on the beauty of the aforementioned report, although when he proffered it in all its glory, he had a slight urge to enshrine it somewhere.
"Very good." She took it from him noncommittally and placed it on her desk with a similar pile, all equally beribboned. Beside them lay a smaller and slightly more smudged pile which Treet assumed belonged to the older Trainees.
The Dean looked down at the pile of papers in front of her again. Treet hesitantly cleared his throat.
"I-decided-on-a-teacher." He blurted as fast as he could. The Dean blinked, her mouth moving slightly as she tried to translate. "Oh yes, of course. Forgive me for not asking. Who did you chose, and I'll enter it in the Collegium Rolls."
"Healer Sera, I think." Treet enunciated as clearly as he could.
"Good choice," the Dean said. "I'm sure you two will get along, and you'll learn a great deal." This seemed to be some kind of a formulaic response, as the Dean did not even look up as she said it. Treet took this as a dismissal and left with as much dignity as he could muster.
He shut the door, still remembering. He could almost imagine Karissa standing outside the door snapping at the Dean. He never had found out what she had been arguing about. Karissa! Treet suddenly realized that he hadn't seen the Herald since he had woken up to find her sprawled in a chair next to him. He hadn't seen her conscious since before he'd been an official Trainee.
He didn't stop to think about it. He hadn't much to do for the rest of the week, and he knew he'd only talk himself out of the idea if he lingered. Soon he was blinking at the bright sunlight, walking as fast as he could towards the Heraldic Collegium.
There were Companions scattered around the Collegium grounds, out with their Chosen. They were probably around his own age, newly-Chosen, he assumed from the overawed expression in their eyes as they talked quietly to their Companions, occasionally laughing at a witty comment.
Treet walked up to the nearest one, lying in the grass with his Companion chuckling softly. "Excuse me?" He asked quietly.
The boy didn't quite look up. "Trainee Herald Pol at your service!" He laughed at something his Companion said. "And Companion Satiran, of course." He smiled affectionately at the white form beside him.
"I was wondering if you might tell me where I could find a Herald?" Treet continued softly.
"Any Herald or one in particular? From what I've learned so far, it's usually us that come looking for you! Usually succeed as well, from what I hear!" Pol said in a jocular tone, although his eyes shadowed slightly. He had clearly done a lot of thinking about what it might mean to be a Herald as the Karsite Border was heating up. They said that things might come to a head during the lifetime of the current generation, but nobody was quite sure when.
"A particular one, actually," Treet admitted, smiling despite himself.
"You could ask the Dean of Heralds, if you like. Herald Tebren is in his office. If you just want to know if they're on circuit or not, though, I could probably ask Satiran." Pol looked over questioningly at his Companion and apparently got an affirmative answer.
"Herald Karissa," Treet supplied, unsure who he was supposed to direct the query to. Pol listened for a moment, in that way Heralds had, and replied "Satiran says she's on one of the northern circuits. She left a few weeks ago, he says."
"Oh. Well, thank you." Treet said.
"No problem." Pol assured him before returning to his conversation with Satiran.
Treet was at a loss. He couldn't believe he had forgotten all about Herald Karissa. It was as though the whirlwind of the Collegium had swept him up in his new life so fully that he had had no time for regrets or for looking backwards.
He wondered if she had noticed his absence, or if she had been too busy being a Herald. He wondered if the fragile Mindhealing he had tried to do had unraveled, as he was certain that it would do over time. Incongruously, he also wondered if she had ever found any use for that pot of glue.
Lessons with Sera would start soon, and classes at the Collegium. He wondered where he would be when he next saw Karissa. He wished he could discuss his first week with her. She probably knew all sorts of useful things, and he could have talked to her about Lirain.
Lirain. There was definitely something odd there, Treet was sure of that. She seemed to be forever making excuses to touch him, appearing behind him at odd moments or gazing at him when she thought he wasn't looking. He figured he was supposed to resent this. He knew what his brothers would have said, or rather, sniffed. "Shows why women aren't meant for much outside the kitchen. Soft, all of them." He could almost hear their voices.
He searched inside himself, looking for something of the kind, but there was nothing. The fact was that if anyone else had done it, he would probably have been repulsed. Because it was Lirain, it was right. Anything she did was right.
He had seen Trainees holding hands in the hallways before. Of course, they were usually engaged in spirited discussions about curing fevers or something of the sort, but occasionally they said other things. Not that he specifically listened, but it was hard to avoid.
Treet sometimes wanted to stare into Lirain's storm gray eyes and brush back her emerald hair. He wanted to tell her that he thought she was wonderful. He wanted her to hold his hand and snuggle close to him over a textbook, although he had to admit that since he didn't have many textbooks and he doubted he would understand hers, this might present a small problem.
Not that he admitted any of this is the daylight hours, but he dreamed about her often. He tried to dismiss it. Besides, what would she want with the likes of him?
You don't care about people. You just don't do it. The thought was unformed but not unfelt, and often after a particularly vivid dream about Lirain, he would lapse into awful nightmares. The thought of being near her caused him to break out in a cold sweat, his hands trembled when he saw her, but it was worse when he didn't see her. He felt hyper aware of her every movement. Even when she wasn't around, he fancied he knew where she was, which was absolutely ridiculous, he told himself firmly.
By this time, he had fretted himself all the way back to the Collegium and it was lunchtime. Lirain was waiting for him, and after lunch, he would tell his Orientation instructor that he wanted to sign up for classes at the Heraldic Collegium.
Lirain hooked what she could of her hair behind her ears. It had been a long morning, to say the least. She rarely studied in the mornings anymore, relying on her supposed free time for that. Mindhealers were stretched too thin, and she was trained enough to take some of the burden from Rith.
She smiled at her teacher and gathered her things, preparing to leave for lunch. As she reached the door, Rith called her back. Lirain turned, slightly annoyed. She was hungry, and lunch meant a chance to see Treet.
As though Rith had read her mind, she looked at Lirain enquiringly and asked "By the way, how are things going with your Holderkin boy?"
Lirain had a tendency to smile at the very mention of Treet, which she did, blushing slightly. "He doesn't flinch when I touch him anymore. I fell asleep on him the other day."
"And he did nothing? A good sign, on the whole." Rith grinned wickedly. "Was he comfortable?"
Lirain blushed redder. "Yes. He's so cute when he's not thinking about it."
"Off you go to lunch, then. Sounds as if you two are doing admirably so far."
