Chapter 12 Playing the Game

"Dmitri, stop it! We ve only just finished breakfast. It s too early for this nonsense!" I protest as Dmitri ties a blindfold over my eyes. "Do you live to annoy me or something?" "Why would you think that?" he questions with obvious amusement. "Is a blindfold really necessary?" "Well, I can t have you going back to the place I m going to show you on your own." "What place? I thought we were going to the library." "We were, until last night. Now I think other things are slightly more important. You can read books and do research on your own time, certainly. My parents have determined that you re more than educated enough for their tastes and probably won t insist on further lessons for you." "You should take me to the music room." "An excellent idea. I ll do that after lunch." "Fine. Where are we going now?" "You ll find out when we get there. Now, here, take my hand and we ll be on our way." His hand, large and warm and slightly roughened from some sort of work, envelopes mine and pulls me along the corridor behind him. I truly do not enjoy being blindfolded and manhandled in this way, but I know I won t learn what I want to learn if I argue with him. I do have to wonder what the servants must think, seeing us like this, but after only a minute or two I hear the distinctive sound of a wall panel opening and know that servants seeing us will not be an issue at all. "Watch your step. We re about to go down some stairs," Dmitri warns me. "You know, you wouldn t have to tell me these things if you d just let me see where we re going," I inform him in a wheedling tone. He just chuckles and tugs rather roughly on my arm, nearly making me lose my balance as I descend the slippery, narrow staircase, then mutters something unintelligible as I regain my footing without his help. "Now, where s the fun for me in that?" he asks. The stairs have ended and now he pulls me behind him through tunnels, the width and height of which I can roughly guess by the echoing of his footsteps. "I thought we could simply enjoy each other s conversation on a pleasant stroll through the tunnels beneath your home." "Only my home? Is it not also yours?" "In due time, but I do not yet consider it so. It is hard to feel at home in a place that one tours while blindfolded." "Come off it, will you? The secrecy is only meant to protect you, I swear." He sounds sincere, but I m sick and tired of secrets and half-truths. "I have had enough of being protected in such a way." We stop suddenly and I can feel his hot breath on my face. "Aerys, please try to understand. Everything related to what we talked about last night can only be discussed or worked with in absolute secrecy. I know the schedule here; you, so far, do not. Later, after a few more weeks, you will have more freedom, but for now I have to ask you to play this stupid game with me." "Game?" "Yes, I m sure you re familiar with it. The one where you convince figures of authority that you are completely submissive while subverting the rules behind their backs." Suddenly, all of this makes a lot more sense and I wonder how I didn t see it myself. "Of course, of course. Forgive me for being irrational. Let us proceed." I can somehow feel that he is smirking, but we continue walking through the tunnels as though nothing has happened. His footsteps seem loud to me, though I know from the way they sound that he is trying to be quiet. "How do you move so noiselessly?" he questions, frustration evident. "I ve tried everything I know and I feel that I still might as well be a galumphing elephant." "I don t know. It s a skill I cultivated over many years in my grandmother s chateau. It doesn t help that the walls down here are bare stone. The slightest sound makes an echo," I reply smoothly, in soft, dulcet tones that make whispery echoes like wind in willow branches. "How can you tell that?" he demands, as though he suspects that I can see through the blindfold. "From the way the echoes sound." At this news he releases a breath of relief. "You are truly a wonder." A door opens. "Only if you think so. Is there a way you can use your...exceptionality to help silence your movements? For I believe I have channeled mine to that purpose." "Unfortunately, no. Mine is not designed for silence or stealth. I wonder that yours is." He pauses for just a second and I hear a door close, and then we resume our journey. "I believe it to have many interesting peculiarities." "Perhaps we shall unearth them in due time. Ah, here we are. Stairs up. Let me go first." I oblige and let him lead me up the stairs, which spiral upward for what seems like forever. It is somehow more difficult than usual to maintain my footing. The stairs seem somewhat slippery, and Dmitri s impatient tugging on my arm further complicates things. I trip a bit at the top of the staircase and fall against his chest. Instantly his hands are on my hips, keeping me from falling. "Are you all right there?" "You did that on purpose," I accuse lightly, pushing myself back onto my own feet. His hands remain on my hips, holding me nearer to him than I d like. My breathing will not settle into a regular pattern and nor will my heart. "Why would I do that?" His voice is teasing, flirtatious. I wish I could see. "Enough nonsense. Where are we?" I demand. Information is more important than these feelings, whatever their source. He jolts a bit and pulls away from me after making sure that I am in fact standing on my own. "In a room. Hang on. I ll show you in just a moment." His aura intensifies for a few moments and then I hear the whoosh of flames all around. A second later he is behind me and his fingers loose the blindfold from my face. The room is long and rectangular, lit by torches spaced at even intervals along the walls. Everything is dark and shadowy, and from the light there is I can tell that the floor is composed of multiple substances. It looks to be a training area of some sort, based on the other furnishings. "You don t want me coming here on my own?" I inquire, somewhat perplexed. "Not until you learn the schedule. My parents use it. They wouldn t want you here." "So it s a training room for elementals." "Something like that, yes." "And you brought me here because...?" "You wanted to practise with water, didn t you? Clearly you can do it, based on what happened last night." "I don t see any water here. How is this supposed to work?" "Before I lit the torches, there wasn t any fire here, either. You have to look beyond what you see." This seems more than a little odd to me, but I ll humor him, I suppose. I close my eyes and focus, trying to find the water within the room or else to make it myself. Time passes. My concentration deepens. My whole body begins to tremble with the magnitude of my mental efforts and Dmitri s hands again find my hips, trying to steady me. A moment later water erupts from the ground beneath us, separating us and dousing a torch or two. I land several feet away very roughly on my face. "Well, that was exciting," I mutter, pushing myself up into a sitting position. "Are you all right?" Dmitri asks. He s more concerned than he should be. "Tired but fine." A flash of heat bursts through the room, followed by a fireball to relight the torches I inadvertently extinguished. "Not bad for a beginner. Though I do wonder at how it worked..." "Mysteries we ll work out in time, I imagine." "Can you try again? Or are you too tired?" "Why not? Might as well, while we re here." "Stay sitting this time. It might be easier." "I ve probably ruined this dress." "We re going horseback riding again after this anyway. We can blame it on that. Roderick won t tell anyone." "If you say so." I settle into a comfortable position and resume my concentration. Minutes tick by, agonizingly long. My whole head aches and throbs, but I can feel energy collecting this time and move the collection point from below me to somewhere along the wall with tremendous effort. I can t keep holding it much longer after that. The energy explodes in a wave that douses me thoroughly and tumbles me across the floor, directly into Dmitri s waiting arms. He is as soaked as I am. But I am trembling from exertion and cold and he is steady, warm, alluring. He holds me tightly against his chest, letting his inner flames warm me through our clothes as he slowly dries our clothes with his power. The room is dark but for one persistent, sputtering torch in a corner that my wave somehow missed. "You re more powerful than I thought," Dmitri remarks, brushing still-damp strands of my unruly auburn mane out of my face. I smile weakly in reply. I feel completely drained, like I could sleep for days. "Maybe I should just take you to bed, instead of riding." "That would be preferable," I whisper, hiding my face in his shirt like a child. His flame warms considerably at that. Interesting. "Shall I carry you, then, milady?" he teases. "You don t want me to see the way anyway, right?" "Fair enough. Let s be on our way, then." "What will we tell the maids?" "We re not going to your room. There s a wing of guest rooms near here that are always made up and never used. No servants will be in that part of the mansion today. We ll use one." "We?!" I have violent mixed feelings about that idea. "Yes, we. But only sleeping. You re not up for anything else." "But...but..." "You ll have to get used to sleeping next to me sometime," he reminds me, his voice little more than a seductive whisper. "And there s no time like the present."