by Liam Carrack
I was walking casually down the street and I kept slowing that Aahurn might walk beside me and talk with me that I should be able to ascertain the viability of the Knowledge I had gained. He was walking a step or two behind me, and try as I might I couldn’t change it. I stopped short and he stopped a step behind.
“Does my lady wish to shop further? Shall I wait upon her here, or go ahead without her?” That was incredibly formal and proper. Had this man been in the employ of the Dynaly nobility before the wars had ravaged his homeland?
“No, I wish to walk with you beside me that we might converse.” I turned to face him as I said it, but again could not catch his eye directly.
“That would not be proper my lady. I must not walk beside you, as this would be above my station. I am not your equal.”
“But it is my wish, surely you could set aside formality and do me this small favor?”
“What would your peers think my lady? Look around you. Even now they stare at my impertinence.” He was right. Several women were eyeing us with odd expressions as they went about their business.
None could see my face to know my expression was plaintive of this man. I turned and walked at a steady stride until we entered much less populated streets and then attempted something different. I moved him. Without his consent or foreknowledge I pushed him the stride or two it took to put him beside me.
“Buhhhgg? What was that?” Now he looked me in the eye with anger. “What do you do here? Such Doings are…” He was truly angry with me. Good, at least he wasn’t playing that insipid subservient routine any longer.
“I moved you because I needed to know some things and your whole… routine… was getting in the way of it.” My voice was louder than I had anticipated, and a couple who had been meandering down the street before us turned to glare in our direction. I quieted. “You have the Gift. You could have Blocked me if you wished.” Perhaps that was a bit cold.
“I… You just… You can’t go around… doing things like that. You have been taught RULES haven’t you?” he hissed the last at me. He took hold of my elbow sharply, and a bit painfully, and steered me on toward my compound.
“Yes, I’ve been taught rules, but I thought you said you were lesser. Your performance was so well rehearsed. I began to think you believed it yourself.” I was hissing back at him now. His grip loosened but I was still being propelled forward.
“Garvyn said you were a willful girl.” I went cold and stopped short again. I was a lead weight. I hadn’t been near anyone in nearly three years who had been willing to talk of my brother, and I still missed him badly. If he was going for shock value he had accomplished his task mightily. I was angry now.
“How dare you! Were you listening in on our conversation? Did you think to win yourself a higher wage?” He was near laughter now and we were nearly at the Compound’s rear entrance. I hadn’t meant to bring myself in this way. When had we turned down this street?
“Calm yourself Llawylla girl …” My mouth fell open. He HAD known Garvy. No one else ever called me that after father died and never outside in public. He had been the guide that led us to this point. He had stopped talking abruptly. What was he looking at? Sound broke through my shock. It was as if I had been deaf for the last few exasperating moments. A man was yelling. He was furious, but I couldn’t understand a word of it. Aahurn covered my ears with his hands as my brother had done when we were young and a Salissari trader had gone into a tirade. I hadn’t understood of word of that either. I tugged them away as I stared on at the strange scene before me. A man in tattered and singed finery hustled three women before him while shouting over his shoulder. There was the sound of swords clashing. Aahurn was suddenly in motion.
“What …”
“He is Lord Fistall. Second Lord to King Jeivall. I must go to his aide.” The first was uttered as if it should be common knowledge, and I some untutored fool. The second was said over his shoulder as he reached… Fistall’s side? The women had caught sight of Aahurn, and followed his progress back toward me and made for me directly. They too wore bedraggled finery and one was clutching a whimpering child. A boy I had not seen before was at my side as well. He was not nearly so well dressed, and yet his clothes were the better for not being ripped, charred, or travel stained. Surely he had not been a part of this party. He shouldered the pack Aahurn had unceremoniously dropped in the road and I thought he might be a thief thinking to make good on an unexpected bit of chaos. He looked to me then with clear intent to follow where I led just as the three maids stopped before me.
This had to be the most bizarre situation I have ever been in. This Lord was an important person in a failing nation. I could leave him and his strange entourage out here to face whatever was coming, but just yesterday I had decided to do something charitable with my life hadn’t I? I suppose this could all be some kind of confidence scheme, but the clothes really were quite fine once and the plight of these ladies and the child in their arms looked nothing if not heart achingly real.
In an instant I made up my mind to help them, and to hear their story. If I could get nothing from Aahurn so be it. Surely, if I offered to succor these people they might enlighten me to their predicament. My back straight, I leapt into action. I marched to the rear entrance of MY Compound and shooed them inside, the three women first, then the boy. Aahurn saw my maneuver and blinked, then ushered this Lord in ahead of himself just as I saw a man in armor come sprinting down the lane. Aahurn bellowed some call, and the man looked up sharply and made for us. I shut the door tight as I heard his pursuers make it into the alleyway behind the gate. Aahurn and the now panting man in armor leaned against it holding it fast.
This I noted over my shoulder, as one of the women in this bizarre entourage slumped to the ground silently. I sensed a need for subterfuge so I called the lad to me and gave him terse instructions for Cook. The boy took off at top speed as I loosened the woman’s kirtle with the help of one of her fellows. The one holding the baby sat in the dirt and crooned to it. I must do something for the children. An orphanage? I could employ some of the Dynaly people to look after and care for the littles, thereby hitting two birds with one stone, and if I could convince a few Priests, and several of their flock it would be seen not as a weakness but as a strength to my credit. I hoped.
Aahurn was locked in conversation with both his Lord, and the fighter. Or, I assumed it was his Lord, though he certainly acted with none of the false subservience he had used with me. He broke converse and knelt beside the maid carrying the baby. He had his head tilted in true beneficence and whispered over it. What was going on here?
Horice
Llanalla was quick and concise. I was proud of her. She explained the situation without the slightest hint of histrionics, nor did she understate the situation. The babe will be a fun little toy for the three young ladies for the first few weeks, but I can see in both Scinna and Resnila’s eyes that they expect to be caring for the boy before the season is over.
Where one child is welcome… well, better to ask forgiveness that permission right? Out we go then Horice old boy.
I haven’t left this compound in years. What excuse do I have to go out I wonder? What do I wear? This might do. It wasn’t too threadbare. Nor did it have a single patch. Perhaps new robes were a good enough reason. “Ouch!” Oh yes, how could
I forget. The explosion yesterday! I had beakers and bowls to replace. Off to the alchemist with me.
Ahh, it appears Yesmena has won the argument as it was she who held Maersyn now, but I think the babe is the only one who is aware of my absence. Perhaps I should ask Llanalla if she would try strengthening the wards around the compound, for the safety of the child of course. Whether those searching for him can pierce these I don’t know, but that he could test them all by his wee self was without doubt.
Outside the Compound life in the city had changed. The number of dispossessed men, women, and children was ghastly, and their numbers only increased as I approached the c
ity center. It then thinned again abruptly at the edges of the true center of commerce. The ranks of the city guard must have swelled considerably as well.
When had all these specialty shops sprung up? Did one truly need to hop from shop to shop in order to acquire beakers, bowls, and herbs? Surely one alchemist could carry all the necessary goods? Sigh. Give up and quit this incessant bumbling about man. Then Harborry’s caught my eye. I had taught a young man by that name. If it were he, perhaps he would have the good sense to gather necessary alchemic items all in one place before purveying them.
A series of bells jingled as I entered the establishment. This was an incredibly well tended and orderly place, and… aha… it carried all I needed. At last someone with sense. There were a few other patrons milling about, and a loud nasal voiced woman was haggling near the back of the store. I slowly gathered all the items I had come for that were not locked away in cases and placed them in the basket I had brought to transport them. A heavy hand dropped to my shoulder just as I was reaching for a second copper bowl.
“And what do you think you’re on about? Just walking in, and taking what you like, eh? You’ll be coming with me then.” This rude young man had taken my basket from me and was now leading me forcefully down an aisle toward the back counter.
“What sort of mischief is this? I am here to do honest business. Take your hands off me.”
“Good business? Yes I’m sure it would be. You couldn’t afford it, so you take it? Not here you won’t”
“Your accusations are groundless. Does not one collect the things he desires before paying for them?”
“One with a mind to purchase does not sneak about in the shadows shoving items outside his ware-with-all to buy into a shabby old basket.”
I was outraged. My attire did leave much to be desired, but I was no common vagabond. Who was he to treat me in this fashion? “See here man! I have done no sneaking, nor have I been collecting things beyond my ability to purchase, unless the price of copper has gone up more than considerably in the last twelve year! Unhand me this instant!”
A new voice entered the fray. “Hu Hah! I’d know that tone anywhere. What have you been doing that leaves you so, Sage Horice?” Both the hulking brute and myself were startled at that. It WAS my old student. At least this one had some sense.
“Harborry. My-my you have grown a bit since the wee lad I knew of old.” I gestured to the wares around me. “You’ve done well for yourself. Would you please dismiss this colossal bully who has seen fit to drag me about your store raising eyebrows and attention to me.”
“I think I can handle him Vorill.” The ox just stood there a moment deciding whether I was truly a threat or not, but eventually acquiesced to the greater sense of his employer.
“Can a man no longer gather items for bargaining before beginning that ritual, or must a merchant be dragged will-he-nil-he through his store a thousand times a day?”
“Well old man, you don’t exactly look like you’re here to conduct business. What have you been up to that has left you so ill-kept?” I looked down at my robe again. It wasn’t new, but it had been of the best quality. Then I glanced around me and noted for the first time that no one else wore anything resembling the cut of my garment.
“I am house Sage and tutor at Gellissarn Hall.” I stated with complete candor.
“Truly Horice, such a thing to say. Look at you. Such as they would never let you out of their sight in such rags.” He didn’t believe me!
“I have not ventured out of the compound in nearly eleven years, and in that time Gemsman Daddyn, his wife, his son and his sister Trefalla have all passed. None but my Lady Llanalla is left, and her mind is to study, not to fashion. It is hardly my fault that I am not in the mode. I never was as you may recall. I am, however, perfectly capable of paying for these goods and a few others ranged about the place in cabinets and cases.” My tone was so matter of fact that he could not dispute me, I thought.
“Hmmm, and what of these did you bring in with you?” He was testing me or goading me. I was sure of it.
“None of it. I continued down the avenue until I found a shop whose keeper had sense enough to display everything in one place.” Shock was plain on his face for a moment and then he began to take me seriously.
“Do you truly mean to purchase all of these?” I hoped that was curiosity. I was no longer amused.
“Yes and a good bit more. I can send a gentleman around for the rest later if you can not make a delivery.” He looked about him and retrieved a wax tablet.
“Lead on old man.”
“I would appreciate it if you would not refer to me as ‘Old Man.’ Horice is just fine thank you.”
We then collected a fair sized pile of goods on that same back counter I had been so unceremoniously lead to and began haggling over prices. The cost of some of the items had actually gone down since I had last purchased them, but others, sadly, had gone up considerably since the fall of the Dynaly Kingdom. Perhaps someone should comb the streets for those of the Dynaly who could produce those items here in Phirra? I doubt that any of these merchants would be willing to gamble so, on those they thought inferior, much to our detriment.
Finally I came to the end of my purchases and pulled several purses from about my person. By the look on his face when he saw my ready coin, he had been skeptical of my ability to pay. Perhaps he had not driven as hard a bargain as he should have thinking, I could not possibly pay for it all. His blunder was my good fortune. All in all I had spent far less than I expected to.
I collected all that I could manage on my own, and negotiated for the delivery of the rest. This place was, by the very nature of its goods, filled with the Gifted and Talented. I had not been paying attention to the draw that each new individual gave my senses as they perused or haggled about me. I was struggling out of the shop wondering why I had thought that I could make it home with all of these when the very thing I had been wanting most nearly knocked me over in an attempt to escape some pursuer I could not yet see. With some of the same mystery agility that had aided me in my flight this morning I adeptly set down half the packages without the sound of breakage (those must have been expertly packaged), and caught the child by the arm. Even with all the Gifted that had barraged my senses since entering this range of shops the jolt sent through my body at the touch of this, this, six year old, perhaps seven on the outside, was unbelievable.
“Not a threat. Not a threat. Not a threat. Let Go. Let go and forget. I’m not taking any …”
“I know you’re not robbing me child, but what are you running from in such a hurry that you nearly knocked me down?” I thought it with a tone I used with wayward students.
“Wha, what?” His face was rife with surprise. “You can HEAR me?”
At that moment he opened his mind a crack and I collected all I needed to know of his present situation. I unceremoniously dumped the remaining parcel into his arms as I projected a need for complicity. I collected the other two parcels, and he walked along behind me at a slow but steady rate toward the Compound. He had not asked questions yet, but I knew he would. I saw the merchant he had run from. A cart vendor of some sort. “He does not see you now. You were a faceless Dynaly urchin to him and now you are just as faceless as a delivery boy. Now, what is your name… what would you have me call you?”
He kept walking. Outwardly he looked every inch the part I had asked him to play. He was subservient and plodded along at a pace with me, with no visible agitation, but inwardly he seethed. “How dare he just expect me to do his bidding and answer his questions. They’re all alike. I’m just some ugly, no account kid from Dyna …” I surprised him again in the midst of what he obviously thought I could not hear, his Openness of earlier had not been Closed. He was so very exposed in this state. Anything could sweep in and use the vessel here, and who would say it was wrong? He was right. Our people had classified the Dynaly as less then human it seemed.
“Boy, since you will not give me you
r name, you must needs learn some control. Your present state will land you where you would least like to be. I think many of my kind would not have helped you evade your pursuer, but would have had you in for breaking the laws of Compulsion. Have you been told of these?” I could tell by his face his was incredulous of anything I had here-to-for imparted. “You stole food, and for that I can not condemn you, or the little you would bring it to. I do not think you my servant, nor do I think you ugly or stupid. You read me far from the mark.” His face again showed shock, and his mind snapped shut, but not as firmly as I thought prudent. He still leaked errant thoughts. Was this really what I had come to find? I had thought it a good idea. Take children who needed training off the streets. But it did not look to be as easy as I thought, and this one was still so young. “I think you more than intelligent and extremely Gifted. You must have training in the Gift if you are not to cause yourself or those around you harm.” I smiled at him, hoping to ease his mind about me and my intentions. Evidently this child was as beyond his years in experience as he was in his Abilities. His mind spat out the image of rape, child rape. I shuddered from those images. Had such a thing befallen this one? “No! No child, I would never, nor would I knowingly traffic with any who would. Take that from your mind.”
