AN. Hi guys, please read and review, no seriously please? With all the stuff that I've been dealing with my ego needs a bit of a boost. Please read and review. Anywho hope you enjoy. If you can find the Tamora Pierce Quote we'll give you an e cookie.

Chapter 15: Testing, testing, 1, 2 … ah crap

Herald Elden winced. How was he going to get out of this one? How much information should he give the young man in front of him? Somehow, he didn't think Conrart was the type to just let things go when his curiosity had been aroused.

: He's not. Vanyel says to give him the basics of what a lifebond is, but let him draw his own conclusions. : Ratha said calmly.

Sending his Companion a wave of appreciation, he turned his attention back to the young man in front of him. Conrart looked pale, he was slightly flushed, and his breathing wasn't as even as it should have been for a man who'd spent the majority of his day in bed. It reminded him that this trainee had almost died just four days ago.

"A lifebond is a bond that forms between two people when their souls are particularly compatible with each other. They happen regardless of age or gender, and upon occasion have been known to happen between species. I'm not sure if what you have is a lifebond or just a really strong mind link, which has been known to happen as well. You'll find out more about them later; for now, I have come to test you for placement in your classes."

~~~***~~~

Elden suppressed a sigh. The boy was smart, but his handwriting was simply atrocious. He couldn't really blame the boy for this, he was born on a different world, and while the Dyheli could give him the knowledge of the language, they could not give him the muscle memory that came with writing it. He'd have to earn that on his own.

He was definitely going to need to work on his handwriting.

The entire issue was damned frustrating both for him and Conrart. The young man had on several occasions reverted back to writing in his own language. It had actually gotten to the point where he had asked the boy to answer the questions verbally. The young man's script was actually quite eloquent in his own language. Elden couldn't make heads or tails of it, but it was lovely nonetheless.

Sighing, he set a map down in front of the young man, and asked him to read it. He was pleasantly surprised when the young man not only read it but started to give him the times it would take to cross from Haven to particular places on the map both by horse and by Companion. He'd also begun to point out strategic places to camp, including a few that Herald-Captain Kerowyn had missed. The young man then began to prattle off about several military things he didn't understand in relation to the movement of men and equipment, among other things.

He couldn't wait to see the look on her face when he told her tonight as they dreamed.

On second thought, he'd tease her about it earlier… his lifebonded had a wicked temper, and he didn't fancy sharing Ratha's stall… again. Kero was not above evicting him from his own quarters for the night as soon as she returned from a trip if he annoyed her sufficiently on the ride home. Kerowyn was leaving Bolton (the home of her Skybolts) sometime today, which meant she'd be back in Haven in about a week's time.

So what classes did the boy need?

He would need Basic Geography, but he obviously didn't need map reading. Briefly he wondered if the boy even needed strategy or any of the military based classes, before dismissing the whole thing as something his other teachers could look into later. Conrart didn't need figuring, since he'd written out and solved several equations that made absolutely no sense to Elden that apparently had to do with force, wind variance, trajectory and vectors! According to Conrart, it was useful in sailing. The young man would need law and history. From what he could tell, Conrart would be taking exactly the same classes as his friend. He found the situation vaguely humorous.

Elden nearly jumped in surprise when he felt Elspeth's mind brush his own. He hadn't realized just how much time had passed. The young woman was on her way over, accompanied by trainee Yozak, to test Conrart for the mage gift. Apparently she felt it prudent to do so now, before he regained his full strength , since the young man had thrown three people and a lot of furniture around upon rejoining the land of the living yesterday afternoon.

A moment later Elspeth entered the room, Yozak at her heels. The tall man leaned against the doorframe, a cocky grin – which Elden was beginning to suspect was habitual- plastered on his face. Conrart turned his attention to his door, his eyes lingering briefly on Elspeth, before locking on Yozak.

"Enjoy your last class?"He asked simply.

Yozak chuckled. "Actually yes, Gifts is quite the interesting class. I can shield now, and I can actually put a name to my gifts, so at least I know I'm not crazy."

Conrart raised one eloquent brow. "If you say so, Yozak," he replied in a tone that clearly questioned his friend's sanity.

"Hey!" Yozak yelped, doing his best to look offended. "I was going to bring you your things, but now I think I'll let you suffer and waste away from boredom."

They both dissolved into laughter.

"Could you do me a favor Yozak, and check the hilt of my sword? I think the grip's coming undone."

Yozak inclined his head briefly. "Lo – Gwendal left something in his coat pocket for you."

Conrart nodded slightly in response, as Elspeth made her way to his side.

Elden rose from his seat in Conrart's desk chair, and offered it to Elspeth. She smiled and sent him wordless thanks before settling herself down onto the chair. Elden went to lean against the desk, while Yozak pulled the door closed, and then calmly perched himself on the foot of his friend's bed. Elspeth reached out with one eloquent hand and touched the boy's forehead, closing her eyes, and Elden knew the young Adept was focusing out and down with her gifts in an attempt to read the young man in front of her.

She whistled abruptly. "That's one hell of a Fetching Gift, youngling." She muttered; her voice thick with appreciation. "Mindspeech, both projective and receptive; strong and still developing," She pulled her hand away and rubbed at the bridge of her nose. "He also has Foresight, and Farsight. They're nowhere near as strong, but both are useable; he'll need to learn how to control them."

"Mage gifted?" Elden asked simply.

Elspeth sighed. "No, he is a channel, but he is not a mage and honestly, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. The Vrondi cling to him. Elden, I've never seen the Vrondi cling to anyone the way they cling to these two." She dragged one hand through her silver hair. "Conrart, Yozak, I have a question for you and I want you to answer it truthfully."

"Okay" Yozak replied calmly. Conrart simply nodded.

Elspeth took a deep breath—to her knowledge, the only people who could see the Vrondi were Adept Mages. By the terms of Herald-Mage Vanyel's spell, the Vrondi watched mages in Valdemar, and reported their presence to the Herald-Mages. At least that was how it was supposed to work. Since Vanyel had been the last Herald-Mage, the Vrondi had simply hovered around the mage gifted, either driving them mad, or driving them out of Valdemar entirely. However, during the war with Ancar, the great mage dismantled the centuries old spell, thus protecting the Heralds from the debilitating wave of magical backlash that would have resulted from it being torn asunder. Then a few years after that, Vanyel himself had sought the Heavens. So the fact that the Vrondi were literally clinging to these two trainees, who bore no mage gift, was downright alarming.

To make matters worse, she wasn't entirely sure that what was hovering around Conrart actually were Vrondi. They looked similar but they were too… well, solid, but fluid. They swirled around like liquid in a jar, reminding her of extremely watered down light blue ink.

It almost seemed like the little things were desperately trying to get their attention - like they had a purpose - a reason for being there.

"Can the two of you see the Vrondi?" she asked calmly.

Elspeth was genuinely startled by the expression on trainee Conrart's face. It was awash with fear, yet there was mutiny in his eyes. For a moment she wondered why, before she remembered that the young man had very nearly died for the gifts she and others took for granted. He had nearly died, simply because some Healer had mistaken his gifts for a sign of mental instability and given him far too much of an experimental drug.

The boy had been in Valdemar all of four days, yet there wasn't a single full-Herald in the circle that didn't know his story. She closed her eyes briefly, took the boy's past into consideration, and modified her question.

"They are air elementals; they look like blue mist with eyes. Seeing them in no way compromises your sanity. I ask simply because they seem to cling to the two of you, and I need an idea of why."

She watched the two men carefully, trying to see how they responded to her question. They shared a brief look, and she wondered just how much control the two had over their ability to mindspeak. The two seemed to actually be communicating via that look.

Finally, just when she thought they wouldn't answer her inquiry at all, Yozak reached out and took hold of Conrart's hand. He squeezed lightly, before he replied. "We can see them."

Elspeth sighed, not quite sure if this was a good thing. These two trainees were the first in history to see Elemental spirits, when they themselves were not mage-gifted or evoking the Truthspell.

"Are your people strong mages?" she asked, calmly trying to make sense of the issue.

The two men shared a look, and Elspeth got the impression she would grow to hate that look. Again it was Yozak who answered her inquiry.

"No, our people are not mages. We are Mazoku."

Elspeth blinked, trying to clear away the mental images associated with the word Mazoku. For a moment she didn't understand why Yozak had brought up his species, but then she began to understand. Magic was not something they associated with themselves.

Human magic hurt!

They were something entirely different; human mages used something called esoteric skills that relied heavily on a stone focus. Forcing the elements to bend to their wills, Maryoku or the Mazoku magic was by nature more symbiotic. They didn't force the elements to bow to their command; they manipulated the ebb and flow of their element under the terms of a contract with full knowledge and consent of that element.

Abruptly she understood. Conrart and Yozak were Mazoku, and Mazoku were by their very nature elementals! So the Vrondi clung to them, awaiting their command.

"So you are air elementals?" she asked, more for clarification than actual need.

Again the two men shared that look. This time however, it was Conrart who replied.

"We are only HALF Mazoku." He said as if that summed the matter up completely.

Elspeth paused. What did that have to do with anything? When she asked, he elaborated in a tone that made it quite clear the idea had been drilled into his head from an extremely early age.

"The human blood that courses through our very veins taints our souls to the point that the very elements we should treat with would be unwilling to soil themselves with us."

Elspeth took in the truly flabbergasted expression on the red head's face before he masked it, growling something under his breath. She shot a look at Elden. His concern was almost palatable. Conrart's words rang with the sound of mental and emotional abuse, and she longed for nothing more than to find the uneducated, pompous, bigot and drag him out to face Heraldic justice. But whoever the culprit was he or she was safely beyond her reach on another world. All she could do now was try to convince his victims he was wrong.

She took a deep breath, and sent a silent plea to Gwena for help, before she addressed the young men in front of her. "I don't know about tainted blood, but I can tell you this, the elementals in this world seem quite taken with the two of you."

Conrart looked at her for a moment, and something in his eyes told her he wanted to believe her, but that some part of him simply could not. She got the impression that he would have responded, had Yozak not shot him that look. This time she knew they were communicating, and she got the distinct impression that Yozak was far from happy.

"They have never seen Mazoku before; they are probably just curious." Yozak replied.

Elspeth reached for Elden with her mind, and gave the mental equivalent of a knock. She felt him open his shields to her and their minds brushed in the intimate dance of Mindspeech. She pulled her mind away from his after establishing that she needed to speak with him later, and out of earshot of the two trainees.

"Have you finished testing him?"She asked calmly.

Elden inclined his head. "Yes, I've finished. He's in all the same classes as his friend here. I also want to assign him a tutor his penmanship needs a lot of work."

Conrart flushed an interesting shade of crimson at the mention of his penmanship, and muttered something that even with her newly acquired knowledge of his language sounded like pure gibberish! Yozak burst out laughing.

"Nice—is your elder brother aware that your grasp of the human tongue is so extensive?"

Conrart glanced over at the other man, "No, Gwendal is blissfully unaware of the extended vocabulary I gained at Belar's hand."

Yozak raised an eyebrow. "At Belar's hand, or the hand of his men?"

"Depends on how long it will be before we see Belar again. We don't need another diplomatic incident."

"I thought he killed you, I lost my temper."

"That's an understatement—you burned down half his palace!"

"I stopped once I realized you were breathing."

"From what I heard, there was nothing left for you to burn anyways."

"I could have burned Belar."

"That's a bit dramatic don't you think?"

Whatever Yozak might have said was cut off by near hysterical laughter. They turned and took in the sight of the normally quite composed Herald-mage doubled over in laughter and the completely confused expression on Herald Elden's face.

~~~***~~~

Yozak blinked, startled. Herald-mage Elspeth was doubled over in near hysterical laughter, but Elden just looked confused. Truthfully, he'd forgotten they were there the moment Conrart had mentioned Belar. Just the thought of his friend in Belar's hands still made him wish he'd gotten the other half of the palace as well.

He could understand why Elspeth was laughing; to somebody who hadn't seen what a mess Conrart had been when he'd first rescued him, he supposed their conversation was probably quite funny. He suppressed the urge to shove the memory of finding his friend's battered body at the woman, mostly because he knew Conrart would be utterly humiliated if he did so. Even though Conrart was the most sensible member of the royal family, he had just as much 'princely pride' as either of his siblings.

What he couldn't grasp however, was Elden's reaction. He could understand if the man looked thoughtful or even worried, but confused? It was Jissa who filled him in on what he'd missed. Apparently, he'd inadvertently reverted back to his native tongue when Conrart had decided to exercise his latent linguistic skills. Conrart it appeared had followed his shining example and used their native language as well, thus Elden was left out of the loop in their somewhat playful bickering.

After a few minutes, Elspeth managed to get herself under control. "Did you really burn down half of the man's palace?" she finally asked.

Yozak blinked. How should he reply to that?

"A little over half actually," he said at last.

For a moment Elspeth bore a shocking resemblance to a landed fish. Elden simply gaped at him for a minute before he found his tongue.

"You burned down half of some lord's palace?!" The man cried, his voice carrying undertones of alarm and amusement.

Yozak simply looked at him for a minute then shrugged, making up his mind to clarify the issue completely. He got the impression that this man would understand.

"King Belar captured King Yuri when our king asked Conrart to escort his daughter to the home of Lord Gagenhuber. The bastard sent us a ransom notice that basically said he'd be willing to make a trade, King Yuri for the last son of the Weller line delivered to him, unarmed and helpless." He paused and took a deep breath, trying vainly to free himself of the terrible memories that accompanied that tale.

He took a deep breath and reached for Conrart's hand. "Conrart surrendered himself to save our king. I was the agent Lord von Voltaire sent to retrieve him. The Belar line has never been the sanest of monarchs, so needless to say it wasn't pretty."

Conrart sighed, raising his chin slightly as he addressed his friend, the very image of noble pride. "It wasn't that bad, as torture goes."

"Not that bad?" Yozak snapped, completely galled by his friend's penchant for extreme understatement!

"I only had to bear his company for two and a half weeks." Conrart replied mildly, shrugging his shoulders.

"And when I found you I thought you were dead, Conrart."

"But I wasn't. I'm fine, I lived."

"Only because you are too stubborn to give up and die!" he shouted and ran right over his friend when the younger man opened his mouth to protest. "You spent the next two and a half months in bed recovering from your 'time in his company'. That's one month for each week you were there. 'It wasn't that bad'—from the looks of you he didn't even bother to feed you!"

Conrart made a rude noise. "He was trying to break me, and it wasn't working."

Yozak couldn't help it. He gaped at his friend; only Conrart could discuss his own torture so candidly. He took a deep breath. "Conrart, I know you make it a point to take everything in stride, and to forgive just about anything, but don't you think this is a little much? For crying out loud, if I hadn't shown up when I did that man would have branded you with a hot iron, like nothing more than cattle! You're damned lucky Big Shimaron's population as a whole is so bloody intolerant about same sex pairings that Belar wouldn't dare soil himself or one of his men on you, or you likely wouldn't have made it out with your virtue intact."

Conrart paled briefly. "If you'll excuse me, I'm supposed to be resting." He said curtly.

Yozak got the distinct impression he was being dismissed, and that his presence would not be welcomed by "Prince Conrart" this evening.

A.N. So now you know what happened with Belar.