by Spoor, Garry
“Don’t have much of a choice do I?” She replied. “As Carter is want to say, I need all the practice I can get.”
“You also need to let that wrist heal.”
“Yes mother.” She said as she waved goodbye to him with her good arm.
Kile stepped out into the compound and headed up toward the stables. She knew Luke wouldn’t worry if she was late; he hardly seemed to care if she showed up at all.
She had gone over the list of available chores and when she found one opening for help in the stables, she jumped at the chance. It was far better than anything else they were offering and she enjoyed talking to the horses better than talking to the other cadets, of course she could only do that when Luke wasn’t around. She wasn’t sure what the stable hand would say if he caught her conversing with a few of the mounts.
Joe Spence was waiting by the kitchen door as she passed by.
“You’re late.” He told her.
“It took a little longer at the hall this time.” She said, holding up her bandaged wrist for him to see. The Cook just shook his head and sighed as he handed her the carrots.
“One of these days you are not going to leave that field in one piece young lady.”
“You’re probably right.” She replied as she tried to hurry away. She knew what was coming next. The speech about how young ladies shouldn’t do such reckless things, how she should take up knitting or sewing, learn to cook and settled down with a nice boy. That was not what she wanted to hear as she quickly ducked around the corner of the kitchen before he could get started.
Luke wasn’t around when she entered the stables so she greeted the horse one by one. By now she knew each of their names, both their real names and the silly labels that their owners had given them. Some of the horses actually liked their new names or their vir names as they came to call them. Alex’s horse, whose real name was Ralo, preferred to be called by his new vir name, Illusion. Where as Carter’s horse Sabal who he called Dirk, couldn’t care one way or the other. She had spent most of yesterday evening, after Luke had left, writing the horse’s true names on their plaques just below there vir names in the hopes that some of the cadets would actually use them, although she had her doubts whether they would even notice them.
“Hello Grim.” She said as she held out the carrot. “How about today? Will you at least say something to me today?”
Grim turned his nose up at the offering and ignored her by looking the other way as he had done the last three days she had tried to give him one of the carrots.
“Come on Grim. I said I was sorry, what more can I do?” She asked as she moved to stand in front of him, but the pony refused to look at her.
“Fine, maybe tomorrow.” She said reluctantly as she set the carrot on the gate as she did each night, and each night Grim knocked it off.
She picked up the two empty buckets and set about her chores. Working in the stables was actually a lot easier than she had thought and not much different than the work she had done back in Riverport. The horses were the responsibility of the cadets. As for the staff, for the most part, they looked after their own, so it was really only the spare horses that she had to care for. Beyond that, there wasn’t much for her to do. Luke had most of the tasks done by the time she arrived and was hardly ever there, not that he gave her much to do when he was there. She spent most of her time sitting and talking to the horses. They were not as articulate as Kaza, but they were more vocal than the yarrow.
One horse, that she did enjoy speaking with, was an old stallion that went by the name of Watersaber. He had received his vir name so long ago that he had forgotten his true name. He was raised and owned by Garrett Boraro, and while the Weapon’s Master had little use for Kile, Watersaber was eager to tell her every story that he knew and a few he must have made up.
She had learned quite a bit about the Weapons Master, and the deeds that he did in the service of the Hunter’s guild and almost felt guilty for disliking the man. She had learned that Boraro actually did, single handedly, capture the captain of the black water pirates, and that he had been honored by the king for his part in bringing in Prince Jonland’s assassin, but then most of the stories were from a loyal horse’s perspective, so she had to take them from where they came, which, ironically, was straight from the horse’s mouth.
As she took the two buckets to the well to get them filled, she hadn’t seen the stable hand standing in the shadows watching her.
“I just don’t get you.” He said as she passed him. His sudden presence startled her as she dropped both buckets and spun around, preparing to defend herself. When she saw it was just Luke, she scolded herself for being so jumpy.
“Nice stance.” He said as he emerged from the shadows to retrieve one of the fallen buckets.
“Sorry sir, I didn’t see you there.” She replied as she retrieved the other.
Luke walked with her down to the well, something that actually made her a little nervous. He usually didn’t hang around when she was working, he usually made himself scarce.
“For three days I have watched you ask that Mountain pony for forgiveness, what is it that you expect him to do? What is it that you did that you require his forgiveness for?”
Okay, maybe he wasn’t so scarce. Had he been watching her for the last three days? Had he actually seen her talking to Grim, or the other horses for that matter?
“I’m not sure what you mean sir.” She said as she filled one of the buckets and took the second one from him.
“Don’t you?” He asked. “I’ve also seen the cadet’s plaques, new names were written on them. You wouldn’t know anything about that would you?”
“Names sir? I don’t think I understand what you mean.” She said as she filled the second bucket. She didn’t really like lying to Luke; she just didn’t really know how to explain everything to him without looking like a fool. Picking up both buckets, and ignoring the pain in her wrist, she made for the stables.
“Did you know those names are similar to the names the alverie gave their horses?”
That little bit of information had stopped Kile in her tracks. That was something she hadn’t known, but then why would she. She didn’t make up the names; they were the names that the horses told her.
Luke took the bucket from her right hand and proceeded ahead of her to the stable. She had to run to catch up.
“You see, back when the alva lived on this land, they had, what some would call, a horse mistress or a Lamai. She was a wise woman, whose job it was to watch and care for the horses. When an alverie rider selected a mount, they would take it to the Lamai and she would tell the rider the horse’s true name. Strangely enough, those names were similar to the ones written upon the plaques.”
“How did she know their names?” Kile dared to ask. The last thing she really wanted was to prolong this line of conversation, but she had to know the answers.
“It was said that she ask them, and they told her.” Luke replied as he emptied the bucket into a large trough that supplied water to several stalls. It usually took six or seven trips to the well to completely fill it up.
“Do you believe that’s possible?” She asked.
“The alverie considered the horse to be one of the sacred animals, blessed by the goddess Thaladona. The Lamai was, in some ways, a priestess of Thaladona. Whether she spoke with the goddess or the horses themselves was known only to her. She would only pass this knowledge down to the next Lamai.”
“Are there any Lamai left?”
Luke fell silent for a moment, and then took the second bucket from Kile. He didn’t say anything, he just poured the water into the trough, and although he stood beside her, he seemed miles away.
“I don’t know.” He finally answered. “There are none in this land. The alverie left Aru… centuries ago, when they could no longer live side by side with the vir. Whether they still exist somewhere out there is anyone’s guess.”
There was a sad, far away look in the man’
s eyes, one that suggested to Kile not to ask anymore questions about the alverie.
“Why don’t you call it a day?” He told her as he took the empty water bucket from her. “You should rest that wrist.”
“But there are things that need to be done.”
“I’ve been doing fine for years without any help; I think I can manage one day, besides, if you’re planning to practice with your friends tonight, you’ll need all the rest you can get.” He said as he walked off.
She stared after the man that knew a lot more about what was going on than he led anyone to believe.
Kile never went back to her cell. She went out behind the stables and sat in the secret little place that she had hidden in for the beginning part of the first year. There was a cool breeze blowing in from the north which heralded the coming of winter once again. Where had the time gone she wondered as she ate the carrots that Grim had refused. She was actually acquiring a taste for them, which would have made her mother laugh. She had the hardest time trying to get Kile to eat her vegetable, now it was pretty much all she did eat.
Between thinking of home and wondering what the Weapon Master had in store for her tomorrow, she must have dozed off, because she was suddenly awakened by a hyperactive chipmunk.
“Hey Kile Girl. See guys, I told you she would be here.”
Kile blinked her eyes opened to see Alex standing in front of her, pointing as he called out to the others. He could be really annoying sometimes she thought, and if she had a little bit more energy, she would show him just how annoying he could be.
“What time is it?” She asked as she looked up at the sky. The blue had given away to gray as there was a bit of overcast. It looked as if they would be treated to rain tomorrow. She loved the rainy days, she just didn’t like training in them.
“You missed supper, if that’s what you’re asking.” Carter told her as he shoved the two practice swords into the ground and began to pull on his gloves.
“I ate already.” She replied.
“You can’t live off vegetables. That’s why you can’t hold a sword, you’re too weak.”
Spoken like a true carnivore she thought.
“How’s the wrist?” Daniel asked as he took her arm and felt the bandages.
“It’s still there.” She told him, pulling her hand away.
“Hey, did you hear the news? Somebody broke into one of the exhibits in the Great Hall.” Alex exclaimed. “They’re saying that a couple of artifacts went missing.”
“What exhibit?” She asked, although she was afraid she already knew.
“Oh yeah, I heard about that. It was that dragon slayer guy.” Carter replied, waving it off. “What was his name? Quinton Nash wasn’t it?”
“No, it was Qualon Nissa… or was that Nassa, something like that.” Alex added. “He slew the Gattor dragon.”
“Quaineess Nyn, the slayer of Gator the Ash Creator.” Kile corrected as she returned to her seat
“Yeah… that's him, the Quinessa dude.”
“What was missing?” She asked.
“Oh… they said a set of scales, but I don’t remember seeing any scales in the great hall.”
“Not scales that you weigh with stupid, scales like in… fish scales.” Carter replied.
“Oh… I don’t remember seeing any fish scales either.”
“That’s because they were supposed to be Dragon scales.” Daniel corrected.
So, that was what he was after, the two dragon scales, but why? What possible interest were dragon scales to Eric? Was there any monetary value in the sale of dragon scales, or was it something more than wealth? She couldn’t really see Eric risking his chances at the academy simple to pad his purse, there had to be more to this than meets the eye.
“You okay Kile?” Daniel asked.
She focused back to reality.
“Oh, it’s nothing.” She said. “I was just thinking.”
“Dragon scales or fish scales, I don’t care one way or the other.” Carter said as he pulled one of the swords from the ground and looking down the blade. “All that matters to me right now is getting in a little practice.”
He tossed the sword to Kile, who grabbed it in her right hand and regretted the action when a sharp pain ran up her arm. She quickly switched to her left hand; if nothing else it drove any thoughts of scales out of her head.
“You’re really going to fight left handed against me.” Carter remarked as he took his place in the small circle that they had made. The object was to stay in the circle, but it usually got a little out of hand and they would end up just about anywhere but the circle.
“Actually I thought I would just try to survive with my left hand.” Kile replied as she reluctantly took her place opposite him.
“Suit yourself.” Carter said before launching into his first attack.
She found herself put on the defensive, but then that was where she usually ended up. It wasn’t that she couldn’t read his moves. That was the easy part. It was trying to get her sword up between his weapon and her body that she was having trouble with, and forget about countering. By the time she reacted to his openings he was well into his next move.
Her only means was to grip the sword with both hands, but this had a tendency to throw her off balance, and what with her right wrist hurting as much as it did, she wasn’t able to follow through with any of the swings. Eventually Carter had pushed her back to the stable walls.
“Yield.” She said reluctantly as she stuck the sword in the ground.
“Come on Kile, you’re not even trying.” Carter frowned as he backed off.
“The sword's just too… awkward.”
“You’re going to have to get the hang of it if you want to graduate.” Daniel reminded her.
“Surely there are lighter, better balanced swords.”
“Well yeah, kind of.” Carter replied. “But this is the standard size and weight.”
“So, why can’t she just use a lighter one?” Daniel asked.
“Actually these are the lighter ones.” Carter explained. “If you want to go even lighter, then you’re looking at the common short sword, which is like… half this length.”
“Good way to get yourself sliced up.” Alex added.
“There’s always the chance of you picking up one of the other weapons to study, like the mace, the flail, the battle hammer, even the battle ax.” Carter added.
“Oh yeah, I can hardly lift a sword, you expect me to swing those things around.”
Alex started to laugh. “Yeah, she’ll get herself going with one good swing and we won’t be able to stop her. She’d probably screw herself into the ground.” He said.
“What about the staff?” Daniel suggested. “You were pretty good with that.”
“Staff won’t cut it.” Carter replied. “It has to be a lethal weapon, as explained by guild law.”
“Well, that’s just something else I’ll have to worry about later.” Kile sighed as she pulled the sword from the ground. “You’re next.” She said, holding it out to Daniel.
Daniel took the sword and took his place in the circle, opposite Alex, who instantly launched into a wild attack. He had no style, no finesse and yet would probably pass his Weapon examination where as Kile wouldn’t.
“Don’t sweat it.” Carter said as he came to sit down beside her. “You’re getting better; you just have to work on some upper body strength.”
“Somehow I don’t see that happening anytime soon.” She replied.
Could days get any worse she wondered? She wasn’t sure how, but then she thought that same thing yesterday, and possibly the day before. She stood in the rain, ankle deep in mud with sword in hand staring across at her opponent. Murphy stood opposite her with a malicious grin on his face and she knew that no matter what happened it would not end well.
As soon as Master Boraro signaled the start of the dual, Murphy launched his first attack; an over the head cleaving shot which she found was typical of most of the
boys at the academy. It appeared to be the ‘lets end this as quickly as possible’ maneuver, it seldom worked. She diverted that shot and knew it would probably be the last one that she could deflect that easily, she even managed to attempt a counter attack, but she was too slow. When she attacked, he wasn’t there, in fact, she had lost him completely. She spun around to see him picking himself up out of the mud.
Kile waited until Murphy got to his feet, he had to wipe mud from his face and out of his mouth before he could do anything. She could have ended the battle quickly by scoring a hit when he was down. This, although unsportsmanlike, was acceptable in Master Boraro’s world, but she just couldn’t do it. She had been the one picking herself up off the ground enough times to know that it was humiliating enough.
When he was finally able to see, he couldn’t find his sword. Kile nudged it over to him and he grumbled a thanks before retrieving it and getting back into position. He launched his second attack, learning from his first. This one was lower and slower. She parried and used the slickness of the mud to slide around him as he came in on her again. He went down on one knee and she held her counter attack. He didn’t even bother trying to get to his feet; he simply lunged at her from his kneeling position. It took her a bit by surprise as she jumped back out of the way and never regained her footing on the slick ground, this time they both found themselves in the mud. Kile quickly rolled to her feet falling into a defense stance only to see Murphy go down again. She stuck her sword into the ground and went to help him up.
“What are you doing Cadet Veller?” Boraro demanded as he came up behind her.
“Sir?” She asked, almost dropping Murphy after being startled by the Weapon Master’s voice.
“He is your enemy Cadet. Would you show that much compassion for a valrik that was trying to cut off your head in battle?”
“No sir.” She calmly replied as she got Murphy to his feet, although she wasn’t sure how much help she was since the guy was twice her size.
“Then what do you think you’re doing?” Boraro demanded.
“I am showing compassion for a fellow cadet who is not trying to cut off my head in battle… sir.”
