Competitions Read Online Free PDF

mine would have about my parents trying to sell me into marriage again. Apparently Soonen had never learned that if you don’t like the way something is, you have to find a way to change it.
    Soonen spoke diffidently to one of the seated men, and after a moment he rose and followed her away from the table. He wasn’t a very tall man, a bit shorter than Soonen, in fact, and had whiskers framing his face. He wore nothing of a mustache to hide the annoyance in his expression, and was a bit on the plump side. He followed Soonen at his own deliberate pace, and when he reached my table he frowned down at me.
    “I’m given to understand that you’ve already requested an examiner,” he said in a deep, heavy voice. “Can that possibly be true?”
    “It can be and is,” I answered, hating the way my voice trembled at his obvious disapproval. “I don’t blame you for not wanting to take Soonen’s word for things, but this time she happens to be right.”
    Soonen drew her breath in angrily at that, but Gerdol first raised his brows, then chuckled.
    “Well, it’s been some time since we’ve had a lady of proper tastes in these precincts,” he said, his tone having softened as he looked me over. “Come along, my dear, and do the best you’re able. If you find it beyond you to complete the course today, there’s always tomorrow or the day after.”
    He offered his hand to help me rise, and I forced myself to take it as well as to smile my thanks. Jovvi had mentioned how easy it was to use men’s weaknesses against them, but I hadn’t understood what she meant until just this minute. Soonen complained and apparently made a nuisance of herself, but would have gotten a lot farther if the men around her wanted to impress her. If a system is designed to exclude you, doesn’t it make sense to maneuver members of that system to where they
want
to change it?
    That latest line of thought was a bit frightening, but not as much as the testing I was about to undergo. I would have preferred to think about social change, but as soon as Gerdol led me to the first practice cubicle, all my attention centered on what was about to be done. I moved into the cubicle, took a deep breath, then stepped hard on the lever on the floor in front of me. The lever caused a box to fly open and a wide cloud of soil to be thrown into the air, and then it was time to perform.
    Reaching for the power had never been very hard, but lately it had developed into a reflex like opening your eyes after hearing a strange sound. It was there almost before I realized it, already having woven my fires into the necessary patterns, sending flame to consume every grain of soil in the air. My fires had to be very hot to accomplish that trick, and when I let them fade again there wasn’t even a hint of soil left.
    “Well, that was quite impressive, my dear,” Adept Gerdol said with pleased indulgence, as if he were speaking to a precocious child. That undoubtedly meant he was able to do the same, and I was about to ask him not to talk down to me when I heard the sound of a bird scolding. I quickly looked up and sure enough, there was the brown, gold, and white chickadee.
    I still found it difficult to believe, but all morning while I practiced I’d had the company of that bird. It seemed to have no fear of the fire I used, which was strange enough in itself. Add to that its manner of seeming to support and encourage me when I’d needed it the most, and you have something that goes beyond strange. Now it seemed to be telling me to keep my mouth closed, a reminder I needed. Lately I’d found that using the power seemed to calm many of my fears and apprehensions, but fortunately or unfortunately the state of mind didn’t stay with me for long.
    “Yes, quite impressive,” Adept Gerdol was saying as I turned to him. “That’s one mastery to your credit, and if you’d like to leave the next until later or tomorrow, I’ll join you for a cup of tea.”
    “I’d be