The Magelands Box Set

by Christopher Mitchell

  Killop lay asleep, dreaming that he was in bed, a woman held close in his arms. He heard her soft breathing, felt her skin against his, and opened his eyes to look upon her.

  He awoke, alone in bed, an empty space on the mattress next to him where Kallie had lain.

  He turned over onto his back, sighing. The glowstone lamp in his bedroom had been turned up, signifying that it was morning in the sunless caverns. He had lost count of the number of days that had elapsed since he had last seen the sky, but reckoned it couldn’t be far off a hundred now.

  The bedroom was furnished simply, with whitewashed walls, a plain wooden bed, two chairs and a table. Clean clothes, regular food and a bathroom added to the list of relative comforts.

  He got up, pulled on a pair of knee-length cotton shorts and a vest, and went out of the room into the main hall, from where every room in their new living quarters could be accessed. His bedroom, which he usually shared with Kallie, was next door to her own room, where she sometimes slept if they’d had a fight. Bridget’s room came next, then the bathroom, and then their large common room, where they ate the meals that were brought to them each day. The final room was fitted with blackboards and desks, and it was there they continued to learn Rahain, their lessons having expanded to include reading and writing.

  On the west side of the rectangular hall was a large gate, with steel bars running across it. Beyond was a corridor, where a squad of armed guards were stationed. Killop knew, from when they had been brought in, that there was another gate with more guards, just out of sight round a corner in the passageway. Between the two gates, where the captives were never allowed, Simiona had her office, and there were guardrooms, and a kitchen where their food was prepared.

  Killop knocked on the bathroom door, and tried the handle. Locked.

  He knocked again.

  ‘I’m busy!’ yelled Bridget from inside.

  ‘But I’m bursting on a piss!’

  ‘Well, cross yer fucking legs!’

  Killop swore under his breath, and made for the common room. Food and water had been laid out on the large wooden table by the slaves assigned to look after them.

  Killop sat, ignoring the cool water in the covered jug, and picked at the fruit. The room had several tall bay windows, letting in the bright lamplight from the cavern outside. Each window had been fitted with a sturdy set of bars, so that even if they smashed through the glass, there would be no way out. Simiona had blamed the delay in moving out from the cage in the academy basement on the extra time it had taken to fit the bars to all of the windows. In the end, it had been twenty days following their encounter with Laodoc before they had been transferred to this suite of rooms in his mansion. Throughout that time, he had been as good as his word. The tests and experiments had ceased, but it was still a squalid animal cage, and they had been happy to leave it.

  He looked up at the bars, criss-crossing the window panes of their common room. It was still a cage, just a more comfortable one.

  There was a noise behind him of a door opening, and he got to his feet.

  ‘About fucking time, I was away to…’ he tailed off as he saw the cold expressions on the faces of Kallie and Bridget, as they walked into the common room.

  He turned to Bridget as Kallie passed by, stony-faced. He shrugged, mouthing ‘what?’, and Bridget mouthed back ‘tell you later’, as she scowled at him.

  Saying nothing, he rushed into the bathroom to relieve himself.

  The room remained a marvel to Killop, with water that ran from metal taps, one for hot and one for cold. There was a ceramic bath, and a sink, and a flushing toilet, the greatest invention he had ever seen. As he washed his hands, he looked up into the mirror above the sink.

  Back in Kell, thirds could pass between seeing a clear reflection of yourself, but here he saw his own face every day, looking back at him. The novelty had worn off, but this bathroom mirror had obsessed the captives when they had first moved in, each spending time staring at themselves. They had then watched as their appearances were transformed. The new professor, who was now in charge of the captives, had decided that something needed to be done about how the Kellach looked.

  Their rags were removed and burned, and they were measured for full sets of new clothes. These looked similar to those worn by the servant classes, but were in larger sizes, and were comfortable and clean. They were all given haircuts. Kallie and Bridget had their long hair trimmed and styled into plaits, while Killop’s had been cut short, and his beard had been shaved off. For the first time since his chin had started sprouting hairs, he was bare-faced. Not trusted with a razorblade, a slave now came in every few days, with an armed escort, to freshly shave him.

  Kallie had looked startled when she had first seen him short-haired and beardless, while Bridget had laughed. He had stared back at them, open-mouthed. Seeing the women scrubbed up in their clean, fitted clothes, they looked beautiful.

  He had grown used to his appearance, but wondered what other Kellach would think of them looking like Rahain servants. Would his sister even recognise him? Would he want her to?

  A bell rang as he was about to leave the bathroom and he paused, waiting. One bell meant that the captives were to stay clear of the central hallway, as the guards were about to open up the gate.

  A few moments later, the bell rang twice, signifying that they were allowed to move freely around their quarters again. Killop opened the bathroom door, and saw Simiona walking across the hallway.

  ‘Good morning, Killop,’ she said.

  ‘Morning, Simi,’ he replied. ‘You’re early.’

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I wanted to catch you before Professor Geolaid gets here for today’s lessons.’

  He walked with her into the common room, where Bridget and Kallie sat. They looked up, breaking off their conversation.

  Simiona eyed the sullen expressions, and raised an eyebrow. She looked at Killop, who shrugged.

  ‘What’s going on?’ the Rahain asked. ‘Did you have a fight?’

  ‘Not that I know of,’ Killop said.

  Kallie looked away, folding her arms.

  ‘Bridget?’ asked Simiona.

  The Brig woman looked at Kallie for guidance, but she kept her eyes downwards.

  ‘Killop talks in his sleep,’ Bridget said at last. ‘Apparently.’

  ‘What did I say?’ he asked, remembering vague impressions of his dream, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

  Bridget cleared her throat. ‘This morning,’ she said, her cheeks red, ‘Kallie heard you call out for Daphne, you know, that Holdings woman we met ages ago.’

  Killop’s face paled. It had been Daphne in his dream? Shit.

  ‘I, I’m sorry,’ he stammered. ‘I don’t remember any dream about her.’

  ‘I can tell when you’re lying,’ Kallie said, keeping her head down.

  ‘I’m not lying.’

  The room fell into an uncomfortable silence.

  ‘Well,’ Simiona said, blushing, ‘I don’t really know what to say to that. There was something I was going to tell you, but I’m not sure that I should any more.’

  ‘You’ll have to tell us now,’ Bridget muttered.

  ‘It involves this Daphne Holdfast,’ Simiona said, avoiding the captives’ eyes. ‘I heard a couple of days ago that she had been to the academy, asking questions about you.’

  ‘A few days ago?’ Bridget asked.

  ‘No, sorry,’ Simiona said, ‘I only heard about it then, apparently this happened about a third ago, not long after you’d moved here. She just missed you by a day or two.’

  ‘That’s a pity,’ Bridget said. ‘I’d quite like to have seen her again.’

  Kallie glared at her.

  Bridget shrugged. ‘It’s not my fault your man dreams about her.’

  ‘I don’t dream about her,’ Killop said.

  ‘Let’s just eat breakfast,’ Simiona said. ‘We have a long day ahead.’

  ‘A long day of boring writing,’ Bridg
et grumbled, picking up a handful of olives from a bowl.

  ‘Your progress has been amazing, Bridget,’ Simiona said, grinning. ‘Neither I, nor Professor Geolaid, have seen anything like it. And you, Kallie,’ she said, turning to face her, ‘I was hoping for the next verses of the Lay of the Bear and the Hunter. I had questions about the brother and sister in it. Can I ask, are they meant to be twins?’

  ‘No,’ Kallie lied. On this topic, and anything to do with the Mages of Pyre, they all avoided the truth. The Rahain seemed to be in ignorance of the crucial position of twins within Kellach Brigdomin society, and displayed much confusion surrounding their mages’ abilities. From what they had said, it was as though they believed that fire mages could create fire, as well as control it. They also appeared completely unaware of the existence of spark mages, and how they were twinned with fire mages. The captives had all privately agreed that they would avoid helping the Rahain in these matters, and had become proficient liars when crafting their tales and songs for transcription.

  ‘Just brother and sister,’ Kallie said.

  Simiona nodded.

  ‘Killop,’ she said. ‘Another day’s reading for you.’

  ‘Great,’ he said. ‘More children’s stories about Toam and Tyella.’

  ‘It’s what every Rahain child uses to learn how to read,’ Simiona said.

  ‘Every child?’ he asked.

  ‘Apart from the majority of slaves, and the peasants,’ Simiona said, blushing. ‘Sometimes I forget how lucky I am.’

  ‘Lucky?’ Bridget said. ‘You’re a fucking slave, Simi, just like us.’

  ‘It’s different for me,’ she said, her tongue flickering. ‘I was born a slave, and this, believe me, is the best it gets. Some of my previous masters…’ She shuddered.

  Killop gazed at the young Rahain woman, as she closed her eyes for a moment.

  ‘Whereas you,’ she said, opening them again, ‘knew freedom all your lives, until the soldiers came and took you away.’

  ‘It was a bit more complicated than that,’ Killop said.

  ‘Was it?’ Simiona shot back. ‘I know next to nothing about the war to conquer your lands. I’ve heard the propaganda, of course, about the noble and valiant Rahain army, and their glorious victories, but I doubt if every second word of that was true. So tell me, what was it like?’

  ‘A nightmare,’ Kallie said.

  Killop looked at the floor, memories flooding him. What could he say to Simiona, that could make her understand what they had been through?

  ‘The Rahain took everything they could,’ Bridget said. ‘Destroyed everything else.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Simiona whispered.

  The bell rang once, breaking into the sombre silence of the common room.

  ‘That will be the professor,’ Simiona said.

  They waited for the bell to ring twice, then stood, and went into the hall.

  ‘Good morning, everyone,’ Professor Geolaid greeted them, pausing by the door to the classroom. Her long, flowing black robes swung as she turned. She noted the downcast looks on their faces.

  ‘Oh dear,’ she said. ‘And what have you been talking about this morning?’

  ‘The war, professor,’ Simiona replied.

  Geolaid’s expression darkened.

  ‘Stupid girl,’ she glowered at her. ‘The war is not an appropriate topic for you to be discussing with the Kellach Brigdomin. Am I understood, slave?’

  ‘Yes, professor. My apologies.’

  Without another word, Geolaid strode into the classroom.

  ‘Didn’t mean to get you into trouble,’ Bridget said.

  Killop felt ire on Simiona’s behalf. Geolaid treated her as just another slave, and often spoke to her out of turn, humiliating her when she offered a contrary opinion, and constantly playing down her role in the work they were doing. The professor spoke to them, the reputedly savage barbarians, with more respect than she did Simiona.

  ‘She feels threatened by you,’ he said. ‘Can’t stand that you know more than her.’

  ‘The professor is an eminent and accomplished scholar,’ Simiona said, ‘for whom I have complete respect.’

  Bridget sniggered as they turned and walked into the classroom.

  The morning dragged for Killop, as so many of them did. He had to read out loud, and answer questions about little Toam and Tyella’s trip to their uncle’s farm, while Bridget shook her head at him in silent mirth. She had passed this stage a half third previously. While he was still stuck on children’s books, she had progressed to more advanced literary works on history and science, and her knowledge was expanding rapidly. She was also assisting with transcribing the songs that Kallie knew, or rather the songs that she and Kallie twisted, and partly created, as they spun their own versions for the Rahain to record.

  Geolaid remained in a bad mood throughout, snapping at them, and making a fuss over every mistake Killop made. She left them over lunchtime, returning to her own comfortable rooms beyond the second gate, where she lived.

  Simiona, who had been relentlessly bullied by the professor all morning, also went to her own room to lie down, complaining of a headache.

  After lunch Geolaid returned, her face grim.

  ‘Stay seated,’ she said to them as she entered the classroom. ‘I apologise for my temper this morning. I lost a very good friend of mine during the war in your lands, and hearing about it reminded me of a commission that I have been asked to undertake by the patron of this academy. A commission I have been putting off.’

  The captives waited for her to continue.

  ‘Councillor Laodoc,’ she said, ‘has asked me to produce a written record of the conflict, from your point of view. We must document everything you saw, and everything you remember about the war. The councillor wishes this to be a major part of the book he is intending to publish, and the thought of it stirred up some sad memories for me. As it will do for you too, I’m sure.’

  ‘Is that why you took this job?’ Bridget said. ‘Because of your friend?’

  ‘Yes, partly, I admit,’ she said. ‘To come face to face with the people that killed my… never mind. Not that I meant you personally killed him, of course.’

  ‘What happened?’ said Killop, feeling sorry for her. Aside from bullying Simiona, she didn’t seem to be a bad person, and, excepting other slaves, she was one of the only Rahain who seemed to treat the Kellach as people, rather than mindless savages. ‘Maybe if you tell us, then it won’t seem so bad.’

  Kallie gave him a scathing glance.

  ‘Maybe,’ Geolaid sighed, resting her elbows on the desk in front of her. ‘My friend, he was not a soldier.’ She paused. ‘He was a skilled worker of metal, and had taken on a contract as an armourer in the forces sent to the tribal lands. I mean, the Kellach Brigdomin lands. Half a year in, he was with the army when there was a large battle with the Kellach warriors. The warriors attacked the baggage train at the rear of the Rahain army, and slaughtered everyone there, slaves mostly, but also the merchants, smiths, carpenters, cooks, doctors. And the armourers.’

  Killop, Kallie and Bridget shared a glance, but Geolaid was paying them no attention.

  ‘It was massacres like that one,’ Geolaid said, ‘that really turned the Rahain people against you. At the start of the war, there was some sympathy here for your plight, but when word of the atrocities came through…’

  The captives rose to their feet in outrage, and Geolaid took a nervous step backwards, her hands rising instinctively.

  ‘You destroyed our country,’ Bridget shouted, ‘and complain because we fucking fought back?’

  ‘I saw Rahain soldiers cut down old folk that would be no good as slaves!’ Kallie cried.

  ‘And they murdered our chief in cold blood,’ Killop said, pointing at Geolaid, ‘when he tried to negotiate.’

  Simiona walked in at that moment, and Killop realised he must have been too enraged to hear the bell ringing.

  ‘Everyone, please!’ she c
alled out, her voice high.

  Killop glanced from her to Geolaid, who looked terrified and ready to bolt for the door. Killop sat back down into his chair, and after a moment, first Bridget, and then Kallie, joined him.

  Geolaid gazed over them, her expression calming.

  ‘I see that this will be a testing time for us all,’ she said. ‘There will be no classes this afternoon. Instead, I want you to think about your threatening behaviour just now, and reflect upon the fact that I have the authority to send you back to the clearing-house if I feel that your temperament is not conducive to an atmosphere of learning.’

  She paused to gather her composure, and left the classroom.

  ‘What did she mean?’ Killop asked, as the double bell sounded a few moments later.

  Simiona walked over and sat down by the captives. ‘She said, if you lose your temper again, you’re going back to the slave pits.’

  ‘Is that true?’ Bridget asked. ‘Can she do that?’

  ‘My master would never allow it,’ she said. ‘He has all kinds of plans for you. What did the professor say that angered you all?’

  ‘Some bullshit about how we were the bad guys in the war,’ Bridget snapped.

  ‘And,’ Killop said, ‘about how we killed some Rahain who weren’t soldiers, during a battle.’

  ‘Oh?’ Simiona said. ‘The battle where the professor’s friend died? I remember hearing about it at the time. You, I mean the Kellach warriors, attacked the baggage camp, to distract the Rahain army while you burned their mangonels.’

  ‘Their what?’ asked Killop.

  ‘Stone-throwers,’ Bridget muttered. ‘Six of them.’

  ‘You know of this battle?’ Simiona asked.

  Killop suppressed a curse. Was she talking about Marchside, where he had led a company in an attack of the rear camp of the Rahain? Where he had personally cut down many non-combatants, while his sister Keira had torched the giant stone-throwing machines? Had he killed Geolaid’s friend?

  ‘We’ve heard of it,’ Kallie said.

  ‘Many of the peasants here in the capital rioted when the news arrived,’ Simiona said, ‘demanding the army take revenge for the atrocity. There was a tangible feeling of anger in the air, a taste of which has recently returned, after the terrorist attack on the coal depot.’