The Apprentice In The Master’s Shadow

by Ian Gregoire

  Interesting, thought Fay. “Are you sure it’s been the same apprentice every time?”

  “That’s right.” Rondario smiled at her, then added, “I guess those two are really in love.”

  As much as Fay wanted to laugh at such an absurd suggestion, she couldn’t. If current events proved anything, it was that Kayden still had the capacity to surprise her in the most unexpected ways. Maybe love really was in the air.

  “And judging by the amount of noise they make,” continued Rondario, “I have to assume they don’t get nearly as much privacy as they would like on campus.”

  Fay was silent for a long moment, thinking. The innkeeper stared expectantly at her as his wife vacated the room once more. Eventually she said, “Mr. Moriantis, just in case it wasn’t clear before, none of my apprentices are permitted to break curfew—not even Miss Jayta. None of my apprentices are entitled to special treatment and privileges—not even Miss Jayta.”

  “Understood.”

  “Good. And if you could pass on my words to anyone else who mistakenly believes otherwise, I would appreciate it.”

  “Will do.” An awkward expression appeared on Rondario’s face. It was as though he’d just remembered an inconvenient fact. “So…” he drawled. “What am I supposed to do about the lovebirds upstairs? Would you like me to turn them out?”

  The sounds Fay had heard coming from the attic entered her thoughts briefly. “No, that won’t be necessary,” she said in a conciliatory tone. “They can stay and finish what they have started. I’ll ensure that this is the last night they abuse your hospitality.” Oh, yes! She was going to disabuse Kayden of the notion that campus rules didn’t apply to her. “And one more thing, Mr. Moriantis. When the… lovebirds finally decide to fly the nest, I would appreciate your discretion in not informing them of my visit tonight. I will be having words with both of them in the morning.”

  There was nothing more to be said or done, Fay realised, as the innkeeper nodded and grunted his assent. She was now aware of the fact that Kayden had been breaking curfew for nearly six months, as well as her reason for doing so. And though the apprentice wasn’t doing anything nearly as questionable as Fay had feared, it remained the case that Kayden had been swindling the good people of Timaris, which was wholly unacceptable. But worse than any of that, Fay was disappointed to learn that despite the tremendous improvement in their relationship over the course of the last two years, Kayden still didn’t respect her enough to refrain from doing things like this.

  “Master Sanatsai,” said Rondario, snapping Fay out of her thoughts. “I realise you must think me an idiot for being taken in by your apprentice, but I would like to point out that since it is common knowledge, throughout the town, that the Vaidasovian apprentice is your favourite, the idea that Miss Jayta is entitled to preferential consideration was very plausible. Besides, when she first started coming to my inn last year she was with—”

  “Just a moment!” Fay interrupted abruptly, cutting the innkeeper off in mid-sentence. “What do you mean, when she first started coming last year? You told me she’s been coming here for less than six months.”

  “Well, her current visits started almost six months ago,” he replied. “But that was after a lengthy absence. The first time she ever showed up here was over a year and a half ago, and the man she was with then wasn’t an apprentice. He was a real Sanatsai of the Order… at least, he was dressed like one.”

  Fay couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. “Are you sure about that?” Surely Kayden had learned her lesson about having illicit sexual relations with members of campus staff after her previous indiscretion. Why would she have crossed that line a second time?

  “Of course I’m sure. They were regular visitors for a three month period. Mind you, Miss Jayta wasn’t nearly as noisy back then, if you know what I mean, nor did she ever stay as long as she does now.” Rondario added mischievously with a mirthful glint in his eyes, “I guess the other gentleman isn’t half the stud that her new beau is, eh?” He began to chortle at the observation.

  She gave the innkeeper a withering look that silenced him instantly, wiping the amusement from his face. She had heard more than enough from him, and didn’t wish to hear anything else about what Kayden had been getting up to behind her back.

  “Mr. Moriantis,” she began, “I will be leaving now. Once again I apologise for intruding upon you and your wife. I also apologise for the behaviour of my apprentice—deceiving you into granting her free use of your establishment. If you wish to be reimbursed, please have an invoice drawn up for all the occasions you were made to provide a room free of charge, and have it delivered to Antaris campus. I will see to it that you are compensated.”

  If the manner in which the innkeeper’s face lit up was any indication, Rondario very much liked the sound of that suggestion. “Oh, thank you, Master Sanatsai,” he said excitedly. “Please allow me to walk you out.”

  “That won’t be necessary; I will see myself out. Goodnight.” Fay promptly turned on her heels, heading for the door. Unlike her entrance into the innkeeper’s quarters, she exited in the conventional manner—opening the door, stepping out of the room, then closing the door behind herself.

  Out in the darkened saloon she carefully navigated her way through the arranged tables and chairs towards the exit. As she approached the locked and bolted door of the inn she pulled the hood of her cloak over her head, invoking Raytandushay to become invisible. When she reached the door she immediately invoked Naymutandushay to become intangible, allowing her to pass right though it without stopping as she departed the building, into the night.

  Taking no more a dozen strides from the inn, Fay turned around to peer up at the top of the building. You can have your fun tonight Kayden, she thought to herself, but come the morning you and I are going to have a serious conversation. Until then, Fay was going to arrange for twenty pairs of eyes to be trained upon the inn so no harm could befall the apprentice. She invoked Makfayshulat to levitate into the air on a short journey to the northern outskirts of Timaris where the twenty plain-clothed Sanatsai she’d requested should be awaiting her arrival.

  An illumination orb floated above the bed of the spare room in the attic. Its unusually intense glow cast light upon the naked perspiring bodies of the two lovers below.

  Kayden was on her back, pinned beneath the body of her partner, her legs wrapped tightly round his waist as he thrust fervently into her. It was getting ever more difficult for her to to maintain coherent thought as his rhythmic movements became more urgent, threatening to push her right over the edge… yet again. Her breathing was becoming more laboured—as was his. It was only a matter of time before her body surrendered to him once more.

  Minutes later, Kayden was so close to orgasm she couldn’t bear it any longer. She gazed fixedly into his eyes, placing both hands on his chest. She knew she needed to tell him something… but what? She couldn’t think straight. Oh, yes! That’s it. “Don’t stop! Don’t stop!” It wouldn’t be much longer now. She was so close, so very close. “Give it to me! Give it to me!”

  Suddenly, an incoherent cry issued forth from Kayden as she was sent over the edge. Waves of ecstasy radiated rhythmically outwards from her centre, robbing her of the ability to think. Squeezing her eyes tight shut against the mind shattering sensation racking her body, she barely noticed the body above her becoming rigid seconds later, to spasm several times as Lazar spent himself inside her for the third time that night.

  Finally, Lazar languidly rolled off from on top of her, and Kayden opened her eyes to stare contentedly up at her illumination orb while she slowly reclaimed full control of her breathing and the ability to think clearly. When the urge to giggle like a schoolgirl came upon her, moments later, she quickly suppressed it before it could escape her. How Lazar, of all people, was able to have the effect on her that he did, she couldn’t say, but it was embarrassing. There was no way she would let him know that the things they did together made her want t
o snicker like a little girl. All she wanted to do was lay there and bask in the afterglow. Then they could make their way separately back to campus.

  For a few short minutes the two apprentices lay side-by-side, not exchanging any words, both seemingly oblivious to the other’s presence. Eventually, it was Lazar who rolled onto his side—propping his head up with one arm—and slowly reached out for Kayden. He gently laid a hand on her bare midriff, casually caressing her smooth, clammy skin.

  The fingers gliding languorously across her abdomen intruded upon Kayden’s thoughts, but she didn’t tear her eyes away from the illumination orb above the bed. A half-smile curled her lips, in spite of herself. What is he doing? she wondered as Lazar’s deft fingers traced haphazard patterns on her belly. If he was hoping he’d just planted in baby in there, surely he had to know that every female apprentice was taught how to use her Zarantar to prevent that outcome from occurring? There would be no miniature Lazar entering the world nine months down the line.

  “You are something else, do you know that?” Lazar intoned dreamily. “Being with you is just so… so… I don’t have the words. There are no words.”

  The broken silence perturbed Kayden a little. It wasn’t so much what was said, it was how it was said. If she didn’t know better, Kayden would have sworn she’d heard something in Lazar’s voice she hadn’t heard before: affection.

  “The way you feel, the way you smell, the way you taste,” Lazar droned on, barely above a whisper. “I’ve never known anyone like you.”

  Kayden turned her head slightly, glancing sideways him. If she thought his tender words were troubling, the way he was looking at her was even more so. As he held her gaze, his hand slid away from her midriff to take hold of her hand, which he promptly brought to his lips to plant a lingering kiss upon it.

  She frowned at him. “What are you doing?” The tremble in her voice was unintended and she instantly regretted it.

  “I think we should talk.”

  “Why? I like that we don’t talk.” And there was no good reason for that to change, thought Kayden. “Besides, what is there to talk about?”

  “You and me. Where we go from here,” replied Lazar making it sound so obvious. “Is all this sneaking around really necessary any more? If people knew about us, I could court you openly and—”

  Sitting up sharply in bed, Kayden grabbed hold of the bed sheet, pulling it up to cover her bare breasts.

  “Have you been telling people about this?” she snapped. Her voice rose further still as she added, “I warned you what would happen if you told anyone. I told you what I would do to you.”

  Lazar looked completely unconcerned by the vehemence of her tone. “You can cool your boots, as you like to say,” he said in placation, “I haven’t told anybody… yet. But I don’t understand your opposition. Things would be so much easier if our relationship was out in the open.”

  “Relationship?” It was impossible for Kayden to conceal her incredulity. “What relationship? You think that just because I choose to lay with you sometimes, we’re now in a relationship?”

  “I realise this started out as a mutually beneficial arrangement, but… things have changed. There’s something meaningful developing between us, Kayden. I think we should see where it goes.”

  What the…? Kayden couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The silly dunderhead had actually gone and developed feelings for. Now he was trying to ruin everything.

  “Do you honestly think that what we do in this room means something to me?” she said. “Laying with you is no more meaningful than running through a field, or paddling in a stream.” She tried to make her tone as disparaging as possible but Lazar didn’t look particularly stung by her words. Clearly, she needed to say something much more hurtful to encourage him to abandon whatever romantic feelings he thought he had for her. “I obviously wasn’t clear enough about this from the start, but you need to get this through your thick skull because I’m only going to say it once. All I want from you is what you have between your legs. The fact that the rest of you is attached to it is something I reluctantly tolerate.”

  Lazar chuckled. “Is it me you’re trying to convince of that,” he retorted, “or yourself?”

  There was a cocksure look upon his face that Kayden couldn’t understand. For whatever reason, he didn’t believe what she was saying. But how much clearer could she be about not wanting anything more from their liaisons than she was getting? “I’m not trying to convince you of anything,” she said. “If your pride won’t allow you to accept that not every woman in this world aspires to be your wife, someday, and have your babies… well, that’s your affair.”

  “Oh, Kayden, Kayden!” Lazar was evidently highly amused by something—it was in his voice and written all over his face. “I realise you dislike the idea of acknowledging that there is something between us—we’ve never been on good terms, after all—but you cannot tell me in all seriousness that things haven’t changed in the last two weeks.”

  “What are you on about, you dunderhead?” snapped Kayden. He was irritating her, and the conversation was beginning to grate. “What has changed, huh? Go on, tell me! Just what is it about the last two weeks that’s been different from all the previous weeks?”

  Lazar slowly sat upright to meet her gaze at eye-level. He didn’t reply right away but Kayden instantly became aware, again, of the closeness of their bodies. While holding his gaze, waiting for him to answer her questions, she also remembered why so many people on campus referred to him as ‘Pretty Boy’ Lazar. She grudgingly had to acknowledge how physically appealing he was.

  “When this first started,” he said, finally, “you were so adamant about no kissing. And on that one occasion when, in the heat of the moment, I forgot and kissed you on the lips, you slapped me so hard it took a good quarter-hour for the ringing in my ears to stop. Do you remember?”

  “Yes. And?” Kayden tried her best to convey she didn’t understand the relevance, but she knew perfectly well where Lazar was going with this.

  “Well, tonight—and the last half dozen times we were together—not only did we kiss, but you initiated the kissing each time.” He casually began to stroke her exposed thigh. “You’re an amazing kisser by the way,” he added with a cheeky smile.

  “Oh, keep your flattery to yourself,” she said, slapping his hand from her leg. “So what if we kissed? You think that means we’re in love now, is that it?” Indignation simmered within her as she continued, “Listen, you idiot, I want nothing more from you than I’m currently getting. If our arrangement is no longer acceptable to you, tell me now so I can replace you with someone who is capable of sticking to the terms of the agreement. There isn’t a single man on campus who wouldn’t want to be in your place right now.”

  “I think old Master Zando might have something to say about that,” quipped Lazar. A thoughtful expression appeared on his face before he added, “Assuming he can still get it up, I strongly suspect his heart would give out within five minutes if he attempted to lay with you.”

  As an image of the portly, elderly Sanatsai flashed though her mind, Kayden wanted to laugh out loud, but she held it back; she didn’t want Lazar thinking she was going soft on him.

  “Besides,” continued Lazar, slowly reclining back down in bed, looking decidedly pleased with himself, “I think I can categorically state you’ll never find an adequate replacement who can do for you what I do for you.”

  “Oh, please!” said Kayden dismissively, scowling at her cocksure counterpart. “You are so full of yourself, and you have no reason to be.” Although she suspected his assertion was probably correct, there was no way she was going to give Lazar the satisfaction of agreeing with him. “Just for the record, you’re not even that good anyway.”

  The verbal jab provoked an outburst of smug laughter from Lazar, raising Kayden’s hackles to the point where she had to restrain herself from hitting him.

  “What’s so funny?” she demanded to know.<
br />
  Lazar stopped laughing, but the smug look remained upon his face. “Kayden! If you’re not ready to admit there’s something between us, that’s fine. I’ll accept it… for now,” he said. “But please don’t lie to yourself by denying you enjoy my company as much as I enjoy yours. No matter what hollow words you utter to claim otherwise, that sensational body of yours has already betrayed you… many times over, these past four months.” He flashed a knowing smile at her. “I know your responses so well, now, I can always tell when you’re about to climax for me. You gaze into my eyes with a manic intensity that quickly gives way to this faraway look, just before you start speaking mumbo-jumbo. Then it’s only a matter of time before that smooth, toned body is quivering and trembling uncontrollably for me.”

  It was hard to hear those words—perhaps because they were coming from Lazar. Yet it was pointless trying to deny the effect he had on her, Kayden realised. She certainly did respond to his enthusiastic attention; her body had indeed betrayed her. But, so what? As long as no one else found out, there was no reason why she couldn’t continue to enjoy it.

  “Mumbo-jumbo?” she queried, confused. “What are you talking about?”

  “Well, you sound something like this.” Lazar adopted a breathless falsetto for his mimicry. “Uh, uh, uh! Ga-nee-wa! Ga-nee-wa! Uh, uh, uh! Ban-jin-may! Ban-jin-may! Uh, uh… Aaaaaahhh!”

  Kayden successfully suppressed an outbreak of hysterical laughter, but she couldn’t keep the amusement from her face. Lazar’s attempt at imitation was ridiculous; she didn’t sound anything like that.

  Suddenly, she frowned.

  Then she felt affronted, having realised what Lazar had just said… or more to the point, what he’d tried to say. “Hey!” she snapped before slapping his bare chest. “That’s not mumbo-jumbo. That’s Zenoshanese—my parents’ mother tongue.”