Venom's Taste - Lisa Smedman [83]
But a master was sitting just across the room from him.
Zelia had taught Arvin, in a single evening, to uncoil the energy in his muladhara and reach out with it to snatch his glove from the air. Perhaps there was something that Tanju could teach him, too. Some power that would help him confront Zelia-or at the very least, to defend himself against whatever else she might throw at him.
“That ‘mind thrust’ you used on me when I first arrived,” Arvin said. “Could you teach it to me?”
“I’m surprised you don’t know it already,” Tanju said. “The five attack forms-and their defenses-are among the first things a psion learns. What lamasery did you train at?”
“I didn’t,” Arvin said. “My mother was going to send me to the one she trained at-the Shou-zin Lamasery in Kara Tur. Unfortunately, she didn’t live long enough to-”
Tanju’s eyebrows lifted. “Your mother trained at Shou-zin?”
Arvin paused. “You’ve heard of it?”
Tanju chuckled. “I spent six years there.”
Arvin’s mouth dropped open. “Did you know my mother? Her name was Sassan. She was a seer.”
Tanju shook his head. “She must have trained there after my time.” He paused. “How old were you when she died?”
“Six,” Arvin said, dropping his gaze to the floor. He didn’t want to discuss the orphanage, or what had followed.
Tanju seemed to sense that. “And those who cared for you after her death never thought to send you to a lamasery,” he said. He pressed his palms together and touched his fingertips to his forehead then lowered his hands again. “Yet you know how to manifest a charm.”
Alvin’s cheeks flushed. “It didn’t work, did it?”
Tanju shook his head.
“Did it anger you?”
“No.”
Arvin glanced up eagerly. “Will you teach me the attacks and defenses?” As he spoke, he stifled a yawn. The long walk had left him weary and exhausted; he was barely able to keep his eyes open.
“Tonight?” Tanju chuckled. “It’s late-and I’m as tired as you are. And I have an… assignment I need to attend to. Perhaps in a tenday, when I return to Hlondeth.”
Arvin hissed in frustration. “I haven’t got that much time. The mind seed-”
“Ah, yes,” Tanju said, his expression serious again, “the mind seed.”
“I’ll pay you,” Arvin said. “The trollgut rope is yours, regardless of whether I learn anything or not.”
Tanju stared at the rope. “For what you ask, it is hardly enough. The secrets of Shou-zin are living treasures and do not come cheaply.”
“I know how to make other magical ropes. If you wanted one that could-”
“Your ropes are of less interest to me than your eyes,” Tanju said. “You’re Guild, aren’t you?”
Arvin hesitated. “What if I am?”
“I may need a pair of eyes within that organization, some day,” Tanju said. “If I agree to help you, can I call upon you for a favor in the future?”
Arvin paused. If he agreed, Tanju would be yet another person to whom he’d be beholden. Then again, in four days’ time the promise might not matter, anyway. At last he nodded. “Agreed.”
Tanju smiled. “Then in honor of your mother-may the gods send peace to her soul-I’ll teach you what little I can. But not until tomorrow morning, when you’re rested and your mind is clear.”
“In the morning? But-”
Tanju folded his arms across his chest.
Grudgingly, Arvin nodded. He’d hoped to begin his walk back to the city at dawn’s light. But Naulg had survived this long. An additional morning probably wouldn’t make much difference. “All right. In the morning, then.”
Tanju turned toward the doorway.
“Where are you going?” Arvin asked.
“To join my companion,” Tanju answered. He paused, his palm against the blanket that was the shelter’s doorway. “I’m reluctant to sleep in here with you. The mind seed…” He shrugged.
Arvin hissed in frustration, but held his temper.
“Sleep well,” Tanju said. He stepped out into the night, letting the blanket fall shut behind him.
CHAPTER 14
26 Kythorn, Sunrise
In his dream, Arvin gasped as the mental blast slammed against the shield he had thrown up, shattering it. The shield exploded into a bright nova of individual motes of thought, which swiftly vanished. Immediately, before