She watched him for a long moment, and he decided there wasn’t anything he could say. As he watched her, he could tell she’d already come up with her own conclusion and anything he might say wouldn’t matter. How could it, when she believed he was responsible for freeing the elementals? And there wasn’t anything he could do or say that would counter that. He had freed the elementals.
It was all too easy to believe he was the traitor. Everything that had happened with him fit with that story.
She reached into the bag again and removed the stack of books. There should be no harm in studying that, and yet, with everything he’d been responsible for, he worried perhaps he’d made a greater mistake than he’d realized.
Master Irina stacked the books on her lap and began to sort through them, going from one book to next, her eyes narrowing. “An interesting selection for you to have, especially considering everything you’ve experienced.”
“I wanted to know more about the elementals.”
“And you decided you would prefer to learn this way rather than from what the master shapers would teach you?”
Tolan almost said something he would regret, nearly admitting he didn’t feel as if the master shapers were all that current with their knowledge on the elementals but decided against it. If he would’ve said that, he would have essentially admitted he was responsible for freeing the elementals.
“Where is the Grand Master?”
“You are here for an Inquisition. As I said, you will not be questioning me.”
Tolan looked around. Irritation flashed within him. “Is it typical for a student of the Academy to be questioned like this without anyone else present?”
“I would advise you to be careful.”
“And why should I? You’ve already judged me. You can’t even know what happened.”
She leaned toward him, her smile widening, a predatory gleam in her eyes. “And now you admit something happened?”
“I don’t admit anything. All I admit is that you have decided your judgment already. You haven’t even taken the time to understand anything.”
“Because there’s nothing I need to understand. You were observed shaping without a bondar and performing a shaping of incredible strength. It was not the first time you were observed having such shaping prowess, and such ability raises questions, though the nature of the books you have with you raises additional questions.” She continued to sort through his pouch before setting it down and turning to his cloak. When she reached it, she went through his pocket, and Tolan’s heart sank as she pulled out first the furios and then the earth bondar.
“How is it that a student has not one but two bondars?”
What was the best course of action here? Tolan wasn’t entirely sure how he should respond. Honesty might get him free from this, but it also might not.
He swallowed again. “I was given the furios by Jory.”
“Jory?”
“The Selector who attacked the Academy, trying to free a draasin.”
Her eyes narrowed. “How is it you know this?”
“Because I was there. You might have tried to spirit shape me, but it didn’t work.” He wasn’t sure how much to say about this point, worried that if he shared too much, she might become angry, but he was starting to get angry. Why was it that she felt as if she could treat him like this?
“My spirit shaping failed?”
“Much like the spirit shaping I imagine you’re attempting now,” he said.
She leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest. The two bondars rested on her lap, and Tolan wanted nothing more than to grab them and shape himself free, but doing so would reveal his connection to the elementals.
“What makes you think I’m attempting a shaping now?”
“Just a guess,” he said.
“A guess? This from someone who continues to use bondars kept by the master shapers.”
“The other one isn’t from the Academy.”
“And how would you have acquired a bondar if not from the Academy?”
“In Ephra,” he said.
“Is that right?”
There were plenty of ways he could take it, but only one that made sense to him. “Master Daniels had it in his shop.”
Her eyes narrowed and she said nothing, watching him for long moments. “Where would Master Daniels have obtained a bondar?”
“I don’t know. He was a craftsman, so I wouldn’t be entirely surprising to me if he managed to create it himself. It’s an earth bondar, and he was a powerful earth shaper.”
She turned her attention to the bondar and her shaping built, directed toward the bondar.
“He wouldn’t have been able to create a bondar. It takes a knowledge of runes and the elementals he doesn’t possess,” she said absently.
“It would if he served the Draasin Lord, as we know he does.”
Her eyes narrowed again and she looked up from the bondar. “And perhaps you did along with your mentor. When did you acquire this?”
“During the Selection. It’s not the same as the bondars we have here. I didn’t take those.” He allowed himself a moment of hope, thinking if nothing else, she might only be concerned about his possession of the bondars. If that was her primary concern, then maybe—just maybe—he could get away with little more than a warning. He could get out of this Inquisition, and he could… What? He doubted she would return the bondars to him, and without them, he would have no way of shaping. He needed the bondars, and he needed to be able to access them in order to shape in the way he was familiar with.
“I can see it is different.” She continued to study the bondar, a trickle of shaping power coming off her.
It was clear to him the way it pressed into the bondar, the shaping energy flowing out from her and into the room. If he were to do it, he would create an elemental, and when she did it, all he noticed was power flowing away from her. How could he do something similar?
Mostly, it seemed to have to do with control. Others had it, whereas he did not. His connection to shaping wasn’t one of control. It was one of almost desperation. When he reached for power with shaping, he did so without an expectation he would succeed in reaching it. Even with the bondar, he often failed to reach the elemental, though these days, it was less and less often that he failed.
What he would like would be an ability to do as Master Irina did and have some way of shaping a controlled shaping into the bondar rather than depending upon dumping out power from the elemental.
“Where did you find this in Master Daniels’ shop?”
“It was in the back of one of his cabinets. He had tools below it, and I was surprised the tools were still there. Since the shop had essentially been abandoned, I expected the tools would’ve been stolen.”
“The shop should not have been abandoned. When you were Selected, and when he was recalled, another was to handle his responsibilities.”
“Did those responsibilities involve working in his shop?”
“The shop gave him something to do while watching for movement from elementals. It is that way for all who serve the Academy.”
He kept his gaze locked on the bondar. He longed to have it back. Watching her, noticing the way she held on to both the earth bondar as well as the fire bondar, he doubted he would see them again.
And here he had feared this was all about his reaching for elementals. That wasn’t it at all. Instead, she was far more concerned about his use of the bondars and shaping power he shouldn’t have.
“Why are you concerned about my shaping?”
She looked up. Something had shifted in her when she had discovered the bondars, and either she realized he wasn’t lying to her or she had her answer. Tolan wasn’t entirely sure which it was.
“You have been one we haven’t known quite what to do with,” she said.
“I’m aware of that.”
“What better way to infiltrate the Academy than to send someone who can learn from us and who can facilitate a shaper in finding
something that should be hidden from him and then to reveal an attack on the city.”
He began to understand what she implied, and his heart raced. Did she think he was somehow a part of what had transpired?
“I don’t serve the Draasin Lord.”
“It has been difficult to detect what you do serve. With most, I have some ability to test them, and I can understand what they might be doing, but with you… I have found it difficult. It’s almost as if you had some ability to spirit shape before you ever came to us. And that is incredibly rare.”
Tolan sat stiffly, staring at her. “I don’t know how to spirit shape.”
“It’s possible you don’t. Unfortunately, the questions continue. Were it only one situation, we would have questions, but we wouldn’t have brought you in like this. The fact you continue to be involved in various situations raises the concern that you serve the Draasin Lord.”
“I don’t. I wouldn’t.”
“And yet everything you have done, including these,” she said, patting the books and then holding up the bondars, “suggests you are involved far more than you have admitted. I will get you to answer, Shaper Ethar. You will reveal your connection to the Draasin Lord, and when you do, we will have our answers.”
Tolan’s heart hammered. What sort of answers did she think he had? If she believed he served the Draasin Lord, then would she think he would have information about where he’d been?
Tolan met her eyes, wishing for some way of getting her to understand he wasn’t a part of what she thought. Master Irina looked back at him, no compassion in her eyes, and he knew she wouldn’t believe anything he would have to say.
“There will be more questioning. You will find we will get the answers we seek. Eventually, you will share with us what we need to know. The city—and Terndahl—will be protected.”
She got up and left, setting his pouch along with the books and the bondars in the corner of the room. A shaping built from her, and he suspected it was one that created a barrier around the bondars and his pouch, and it wasn’t until she was gone that he went to try to reach for them and found he couldn’t.
It was almost a taunt. As much as he wanted them, and as much as he might want to shape, he was still so far from being able to get to them.
He stared at the door, unable to say anything. He was trapped, and he had no doubt other Inquisitors would come to him, questioning him, and when they did, what would he say? Would he continue to be able to withstand their shaping?
Eventually, he suspected he would fall. This was an Inquisition. Eventually, everyone succumbed.
15
Sounds outside the door stirred him awake and Tolan sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. It had been only a few hours since the last questioning, and he didn’t even know the name of the Inquisitor who had been here demanding answers. There had been a steady stream of Inquisitors, one after another, and with each one, he felt as if his ability to resist was crushed more and more.
The door opened and the Grand Master entered, joined by the Grand Inquisitor.
“I will be fine with this one,” the Grand Master said.
The Grand Inquisitor looked at him. A shaping built, directed at the Grand Master, before she nodded and turned to the door. “We will have answers from him,” she said.
“I have no doubt you will.”
The Grand Master stared at the door for a moment until it closed, then he turned to Tolan. “How are you holding up?”
“I didn’t do these things,” he said. “I’m not the traitor. I don’t serve the Draasin Lord.”
“I know,” the Grand Master said. “You forget, Shaper Ethar, I was there along with you. I know you didn’t have a hand in this.”
“Then why are they still holding me?”
“Because the role of the Inquisitors is to obtain information about those who have betrayed Terndahl. They take that role quite seriously, even if they haven’t needed to use it recently. In the days when the Draasin Lord was gaining power, many were accused of serving him. The Inquisitors were there, helping to ensure the safety of Terndahl, as he was quite persuasive. It was his ability to shape spirit, as I suspect you know. With that ability, he managed to convince many others to side with him. Doing so allowed him to gain strength, and with strength and numbers, he gained credibility. Were it not for the Inquisitors, it’s possible the Draasin Lord would have succeeded in his goal of overthrowing Terndahl and releasing the elementals for him to subjugate.”
Tolan glanced at the door. “Why won’t they release me?”
“Eventually, they will. They have no reason to hold you, and there will come a time when they have no choice but to release you. As long as you don’t keep anything from them, and as long as you aren’t in fact serving the Draasin Lord, there would be no reason for them to hold you.”
Tolan shook his head. “I’ve been trying to tell them what they want to know.”
“I’m sure you have. And I’m sure this is terrifying for you. It’s unusual for the Inquisitors to hold a student like this. And I have been trying to convince them to release you, but when it comes to this, I’m afraid the Grand Inquisitor is the one who must make that decision.”
If Tolan were to understand what the Grand Master was saying, all he needed to do was find a way of holding out, and when he did, he could be released. There wasn’t anything to share, as he didn’t have anything he was keeping from the Grand Inquisitor.
Other than the fact he was using the bondars to shape the elementals.
So far, they hadn’t asked that. The accusation of his connection to the Draasin Lord had been enough, and she hadn’t begun to question him about the nature of his shaping. And perhaps she wouldn’t. If she continued to attempt spirit shapings, would there come a time when he wouldn’t be able to withstand it?
“Do you think you can hold out?” the Grand Master asked.
Tolan met his gaze, wishing the Grand Master was the one who was doing the Inquisition, but he nodded while knowing that eventually, he would fall to the spirit shaping.
“Do you?” he asked again.
Tolan nodded.
The Grand Master smiled. “Good. I will keep my pressure on the Grand Inquisitor to get her to release you, and eventually, this will be over.” The Grand Master clapped him on the shoulder before nodding and making his way to the door. When he was there, he tapped on it, and a shaping Tolan hadn’t felt was released. The door opened and the Grand Master departed, leaving Tolan alone again.
He took a seat, not knowing what else to do, and stared at the walls. His belongings still rested there, out of reach as a taunt, the kind of thing that told him the Grand Inquisitor knew exactly what she was doing when it came to him and his shaping—or inability thereof. She had left them as a way to remind him that without his bondars, he was unable to get to his belongings, but had he some normal way of shaping, it wouldn’t be an issue.
He dragged himself over to it, reaching for the bondar, but his hand hit the invisible barrier. He had reached fire without a bondar—and earth—but each time he had, there was no real control. What he needed was a way to slide through the barrier and grab his belongings. He didn’t care quite as much about the books on the elementals. Those belonged to the library, and he had little doubt they would be returned. Besides, he had long since memorized the contents. If he were pressed, he would be able to recite everything about the elementals written within the pages.
Which connection would give him the best chance of reaching through the barrier?
Probably earth, but only if he were able to burrow beneath the barrier. That required a level of finesse and control with shaping thast Tolan wasn’t sure he could manage.
Seeing as how he had time, he took a seat in front of the barrier. As he sat there, feeling the pressure from the barrier, he ran his hands along the surface. Power radiated from it, though he wasn’t able to push through. He rested his hands along the surface of the barrier, waiting, and focused on ea
rth.
What he needed was some way of finding a link to that deep connection within him. If he could somehow tap into that stirring sensation, even without the bondar, maybe he could reach beneath the barrier and grab the bondar.
And if he could do that, did he really even need the bondar?
His thoughts turned back to the Grand Inquisitor. This was what she wanted. She wanted to prove he didn’t have any shaping ability—and he didn’t. She wanted to force him to reveal his lack of shaping ability. And with that, what did she hope to accomplish? Did she think to get some sort of confession out of him?
He didn’t serve the Draasin Lord, regardless of what she said, and he would do everything in his power to withstand her attempting to accuse him of that.
Irritation bubbled within him, and Tolan struggled to tamp it down. Getting irritated and angry would do nothing. He needed calm. He needed to have quiet. He needed to be able to find peace. It was there, somehow, within him.
If only he could find that stirring sensation, that deep part of him that connected to the elemental.
What had he done when he had reached earth before? There had been fear. During the attack on the city when the disciples of the Draasin Lord had come, he had somehow found a way to resist. He had used earth, and he had created elementals, drawing them out of the bond, and had shaped without a bondar.
There came no sense of earth.
What of fire?
Tolan had more experience with fire, and had even managed to nearly release a draasin, though he didn’t know whether that was real or not. If he could use that knowledge, could he unleash the same shaping?
If he did it, he would need to find a way of pushing through the barrier. Fire would be destructive, nothing like earth that he thought he could burrow beneath, and if he managed to destroy the barrier, Master Irina would know.
That was something he didn’t want to reveal—not yet.
He wanted to get the bondars and hide them.
Focusing on fire, he tried to slip it beneath the barrier. There came a faint burning, and Tolan tamped that down, connecting to that fluttering as he converted it, shifting it toward smoke. For some reason, he was able to do this without needing to connect to a bondar. It wasn’t nearly as strong as what he’d done in the classroom, and as the smoke continued to build, he tried to force it beneath the barrier, but there was nothing he could achieve. The barrier went into the stone.
The Water Ruptures Page 18
