Internally, Will tried not to panic, but he knew with certainty that he wouldn’t last another minute, much less ten. What do I do? What do I do? His thoughts ran in circles without providing solutions. I need to absorb turyn faster. He stretched outward, trying to make his outer shell, the boundary that he drew turyn in with, larger. He failed, but he kept pushing.
Something happened then, and it felt as though his body was slipping away. For a split second he was looking down on himself, as though he floated in the air. Unfortunately, his control also vanished. The energy stopped completely, until his perspective snapped back into its accustomed place, and then he had to work furiously to catch up. The brief loss of control had put him even further behind.
Sweat rolled down his forehead, and the world began to turn gray as he came to the end of his supply of turyn. Oddly, something occurred to him then, a memory of a lesson in alchemy. “The rate of diffusion of one solute into another is dependent on the difference in concentrations.” Who had said that? Arrogan, or perhaps Professor Karlovic, it hardly mattered. It worked for liquids and gases, surely it would be the same for turyn as well.
Desperate, he split his concentration as he tried something new. He pushed outward with his absorption shell, while at the same time pulling inward on the turyn that entered it, keeping the turyn compacted at the center to create an energy vacuum within most of the space around him. It had just been a vague notion in his mind, but it made sense, and somehow, it worked. His rate of turyn absorption increased, and as the seconds ticked by, he began to feel hopeful. It seemed he was absorbing close to the same amount of turyn he was using.
He wasn’t sure if it was slightly more, or slightly less, though. Time would tell. “Are you holding up?” asked the instructor worriedly. “This is taking longer than I thought.”
Will opened his eyes to stare at Duncan, but he didn’t dare speak. The world was spinning, and he felt as though the slightest disturbance might cause him to topple into disaster. He gave a faint nod, then closed his eyes again. Watching them didn’t help his state of mind. It just made it seem as though time was passing even more slowly.
I can do this, he reminded himself, trying to deny the panic bubbling up just beneath the surface of his conscious mind. Don’t think about the time. His breath came in short gasps as his strict turyn control left his body bereft of its normal energy for autonomic functions. He had to consciously remember to breathe. As if I don’t have enough to worry about.
An eternity ticked by with agonizing slowness. He began to think he might make it. The instructor and the workers had to be close. It was then that his heart began to lose its rhythm, and unlike breathing, he had no idea how to manage it consciously. It felt as though it was racing, then his chest tightened with pain and the world started to grow black.
“It’s ready! Let go, Will!” came the instructor’s words, ringing loudly in his ears. With a gasp, Will released the spell and forgot everything as his body jerked and he fell to the ground. A convulsive spasm shot through him, and he thought he might be dying, but then the tightness in his chest faded and his vision began to return to normal. He didn’t bother trying to stand up. Lying down was enough, and he focused on breathing.
“Is he alive?” asked Duncan, leaning over and looking down at Will.
Stephanie answered acidly, “It appears so, unfortunately.”
“He saved our lives, Miss Beresford. You ought to be grateful for that,” snapped the instructor with a stern expression on his face.
The young noblewoman didn’t reply, but Will spoke up faintly to reassure his teacher, “I’m fine. I think.”
Stephanie found her tongue then. “You won’t be after I report your assault.” She rubbed conspicuously at her wrist as she stared down at him.
Will caught sight of the red skin which was probably the first sign of a bruise. In his panic he had probably gripped her arm far too firmly, but then again, if she hadn’t been trying to abandon them, he wouldn’t have had to do so. Ordinarily he would have felt bad about having hurt her, but instead his fatigue and the look of spite on Stephanie’s face combined within him to produce a different reaction.
He began to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” she demanded, staring at him suspiciously.
“You,” said Will, still chuckling.
“You won’t find it a laughing matter once everyone knows about your awful behavior,” she snapped. “Once I explain to them what you tried to do to me!” Her visage had taken on a look of almost gleeful malice.
Still lying on the ground, he looked up, meeting her eyes evenly. “Really? Is that what you think? Are you sure you’ve thought this through properly?”
Stephanie had never shown herself to be particularly bright in class, or anywhere else that he had seen, but as he watched her face, he could almost see the moment that her mind finished the social calculus, and she realized her error. A hint of uncertainty showed in her eyes. “They’ll believe me when I show them this,” she insisted, lifting her injured arm.
He sat up, shaking his head sadly. “I used to live in fear of people like you. You twist the truth to suit your whims, and regular people, people like me, are forced to simply accept the results. But that isn’t the case anymore, is it Stephanie? Maybe you should rethink your plan for revenge against me for saving your life. There’s two ways this can play out after we return.
“One, you can stick to the truth, and we’ll both leave out the part about your shameful cowardice. Or two, you can spread lies and we’ll see who winds up with more shit stuck to them in the end. You remember who my wife is now, don’t you?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Assuming she doesn’t cast you aside after she hears what—”
Will rose, dusting himself off. “Go ahead,” he said, interrupting. “Selene trusts me, and not for any reason you’d understand. We’ve been through fire and blood together. Unlike you, she doesn’t judge people according to their wealth or social standing. She’ll see through your lies before I even tell her my side of the story.”
He turned his back and began walking away. “So say whatever you wish when you get back. I would personally recommend the version in which you heroically assisted me in keeping this dam from failing, because the story you were thinking about telling ends with you bringing shame to your family.”
Chapter 2
Will spent hours more at the dam assisting Duncan in making sure his makeshift repairs were stable before eventually being told to get some rest. He was only too glad to accept that order. The ride back to Wurthaven took nearly two hours, and he had to share the carriage with Stephanie. She made a point of pretending he didn’t exist, and he returned the courtesy. Still, it made for an awkward period.
Back at the college, he disembarked and began walking toward his new home, one of the larger buildings among the private residences set aside for the senior masters of the college. In fact, it had once been the chancellor’s manse until just a decade ago, when funds had been set aside to build the chancellor a newer dwelling more in keeping with the modern trends in architecture. The vice-chancellor had been considering a move when Selene’s influence took the choice out of his hands. Will still marveled at the speed with which she had moved.