Discordant Harmonies 3: Measure of Resistance

Chapter Two

He couldn't go on. Not to say how Géta was likely broken already. Even if Géta hadn't willingly told any of their secrets—about his Gifts, about amplifying magic, about any of it—it probably wasn't far fetched to assume Géta had been so broken the Inskiti Mage had been able to pick whatever he wanted from Géta's mind.

Asthané turned his head, meeting Téus's angry gaze with a grim expression of his own. "It's a suicide mission, Téus. We won't be lucky enough to get in without being caught."

The boy blanched, glancing down at his food, then took a deep breath and raised his eyes again. He looked, to Asthané's surprise, more determined than before. "You still intend to try and rescue Géta, though, don't you?"

Unable to lie, Asthané nodded, forcing himself to eat. Téus ate a bit more enthusiastically, and Asthané closed his eyes for a moment. Géta wouldn't have been so hungry with the stress they were under right now, but he would far rather have had his own musician with him despite that. It wasn't such a bother to urge Géta to eat.

"You're going to go in after him, aren't you?"

Another nod, and Téus nodded as well, eating more. Asthané scraped in the pot, trying to imagine Géta with them, that they were on their way _back_ to their country after meeting with success. He wanted, more than anything, to have that success. Asthané had brought Géta out here with his claim of the boy as his musician. He wanted to give Géta the opportunity to return to the Capitol and find a path into the Court Musicians. It didn't matter any more if Géta stayed with him, and he felt that old fear of losing Géta's partnership petty and selfish. He'd let Géta go—nay, he'd encourage and urge Géta to follow whatever dreams the boy had—if only he could bring Géta back home.

"I'll go in with you, Asthané." He jerked his gaze to the musician now with him, and Téus offered a frail but determined-looking smile. It faded into an expression of regret. "I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't try. Maybe . . . maybe if I'd been with Géta that night, we could have fought them off and he wouldn't have been taken."

Asthané had no protests, and he had no heart to find any. He grabbed a canteen of water and dumped it with some soap shavings into the cookpot, then put the pot on the fire again. Téus dropped his bowl and spoon into the pot, grabbed a cup, and picked up the kettles in turn, sniffing their mouths before filling the cup with coffee.

Though Asthané thought to ask the lyre-player again of the prophetic dreams, he refrained, remembering the utter failure of the topic last night. He and Téus seemed to be on peaceful terms at present, and he needed to have that right now. It gave him just enough hope to keep the fear at bay.

★

Why would the Gods Bestow prophetic dreams upon Téus? This was a question neither he nor Géta had asked themselves or each other before. Now Asthané contemplated it because he realized how important the Bestowal could be. At the very least, it was a verification of his new suspicion the Gods may well have always meant musicians to be much more than what they were.

As far as Asthané knew, no country outside of the Empire trained Mages who required music to concentrate, never mind assigned them musicians to enable them to work. He'd once asked Éethin why the Empire kept him despite the apparent inappropriateness of making any kind of effort to train up and employ any Mages who required music, and she'd said it was something of a tradition set with Sethe, the first Mage. Though schoolbooks accurately portrayed Kolé as Sethe's rescuer as well as lover, few went on to say how much his music helped Sethe. Despite Sethe's ability to function as a Mage without music, his powers had come stronger and with better consistency when he had Kolé's singing to help him focus. This had apparently been deemed enough indication of the Gods' Will for the Priests to decide the Gods meant for all Mages who required music to be trained despite the fact it made them somewhat detrimental to tactics. No Mages who required music were permitted to join the Army, for instance. Most, in fact, were kept by Temples in various cities. Of Mages who needed musicians, few like him were sent out to dangerous posts unless they volunteered, and of those who didn't volunteer, nearly all were Healers, who generally didn't have to do the things other Mages did.