Convergence Read Online Free Page B

traveling, but her blue-green eyes sent the same message they always did. It should be interesting to see what did happen in the capitol.
    "Possibly I should have known rather than you, but that's no excuse for what happened," Allestine continued stiffly once the door had been closed and they were alone. "If you had warned me, I would have been able to take steps to avoid the situation entirely."
    "How could I have warned you when I didn't know myself?" Jowi countered, unimpressed with Allestine's sharp annoyance. "What do I know about talents and aspects and such? I still don't really understand what happened, or why I'm suddenly being sent to Gan Garee."
    "There happens to be a law that says all Middle practitioners of magic—in any of the five aspects—have to go to Gan Garee to test for the position of High practitioner." Allestine's annoyance had grown rather than lessened, so she took a chair in an obvious effort to calm herself. "You happen to qualify as a Middle in the aspect of Spirit, something that Guild man discovered not long after he joined you in your suite. If I'd had any idea, I never would have given him that appointment with you."
    "But how can I qualify as anything at all when I never tried to qualify?" Jowi pressed as she took a chair of her own, needing the answer. The last few years had gone exactly according to her plans, but now it was clearly time for new plans. "And that man never did anything every other man doesn't do, so how did he know when no one else did?"
    "He's a freak," Allestine said flatly with heavy disapproval. "I asked around afterwards, and found that out. Normal people are born with more or less talent in a single aspect, like mine with fire."
    She turned very slightly to point at the fireplace, and flames obediently leaped high among the logs set in place against the cool of the evening. Then she made a small gesture of dismissal, and the flames disappeared again.
    "Anyone born with Fire magic can do that, but the really talented can handle a hundred times more than I can," Allestine continued. "That goes for the other four talents as well, but freaks aren't like the rest of us. They're born with something of all five talents inside them, only they can't use any of the five. All they can do is tell when someone else is using one, and they're taught to recognize the level of strength. I was told that your extreme popularity among our patrons stems from the use of a very strong talent in the area of Spirit magic."
    "And that's why my appointments always end so satisfyingly for my patrons?" Jowi asked, brows high. "I would have considered body a good deal more important than spirit."
    "You still don't understand," Allestine complained, her annoyance rising again. "I've heard it said that no Blending can be complete without the aspect of Spirit magic, since that's the talent that brings the other four together, makes them a unified whole, and smooths their efforts into successful completion. Without Spirit the other aspects fight each other for independence and dominance, and even when they deliberately work together there's still a whisper of disharmony present. Spirit magic quiets that whisper."
    "I see," Jowi commented, which was in part a lie. She now understood how important people considered her talent to be, but not what they expected to get out of her in particular. She knew nothing about Blendings, and that suited her perfectly. There were enough other things she did know about, like where she intended her life to go.
    "So now we need to discuss how quickly you'll be back here," Allestine went on, the look in her eyes having sharpened. "The law may demand that you go and take the tests, but most don't come within a prayer of passing. Once your duty to the Empire is done, I'll expect you to return to me on the first available coach."
    "You'd better explain that particular fact of life to Eldra," Jowi said with an easy laugh, certain Allestine had overheard her conversation with