by Derek Palmer
"We think that it's too imperious, but quite suitable for people who think way too much of themselves. Once you go there, young man, remember that it has been done like this on purpose, in order to keep the incomers humble."
Then they turned to the left.
"This way, we're sure that we can still use the side entrance and avoid some pompous commissionaires."
True to their word, we walked almost two blocks to the left until we came to a hidden entrance and without any extra hassle we soon found ourselves inside a small room with one woman in a long dress and hair in a tight bun. From the hugs the three women exchanged it was clear that all the women were friends.
"So good to see you two. This place hasn't been the same without you!"
That was how the sisters knew how to do this! What then followed was a discussion between the three women which gave me some idea of the reason for the sisters leaving the University. It also made me aware that the twins were some sort of important people by their origin, almost nobles - even if they probably had broken all contacts to their family because they had refused to behave as they should have behaved. Like succumbing to some old university teacher because that would have given some benefit to their birth family. The feeling I had gotten from the twins was that they had checked on me for some reason, but as a family member I would be 'untouchable'. There was something in those two women that brought me shivers.
"This young man is now a part of our family and we heard that he's supposed to come to the University. Luckily he spoke to us before contacting the high auditors as he had been instructed. He's really a smart one, but unfortunately with a patrimony that he can never claim."
'A patrimony he can never claim' - quite a nice way of saying that someone is a bastard. I couldn't help smiling a bit when I heard that. The secretary turned towards me.
"So, in order to get rid of you, your father sent you here, right?"
"No, in fact it was Her Highness who did that."
I couldn't help smiling a bit when the lady secretary raised her eyebrows.
"There was an unlucky coincidence that I was the only one of his sons who looked like His Highness."
Her laughter was genuine and, after a moment, she shook her head and sat down behind the desk.
"Do you happen to have any letter of recommendation?"
"Of course I do... here you are."
The woman took the letter and started reading it. After a moment she raised her head and looked at me.
"Can you really do the things mentioned here?"
I couldn't really help smiling a bit.
"But of course, how could someone lie in an official document like that..."
Then I let my guise drop.
"Seriously, my mother made sure that I had some good teaching. Unfortunately part of our agreement is that in the future I cannot see her as often as I would like to. Luckily she was able to marry a decent man and is happy now."
What followed was a moment of activity and the sisters actually helped the woman with some documents. The end result was that Stian Holth would be allowed to study any University topic, except Magic. Anything except Magic. That was much more than I could have ever hoped for!
When I made a gesture towards my inner pockets the woman behind the desk tried to stop me.
"No, young man. If you are part of the twins’ family, it would not be right... "
"Nonsense, Eira. Stian, here, was prepared to pay much more for acceptance and even with that larger sum he would not have had as wide access to the resources as he has now. Besides, this is probably the safest place there is to change those gold coins to silver ones. We think you should take at least thirty Crowns since we know that you have a family to support."
I nodded to the twins and laid two one hundred Crown gold coins on the desk. The previous evening I had asked about this, since I knew that carrying a lot of money - especially gold coins - around was neither wise nor safe. One silver coin was about the limit and even that could get you killed in the wrong place. Sometime later, there were several happy people, Eira was happy because of the extra thirty Crowns and I was happy because of almost unlimited access to study at the University and because those silver coins could actually be used here without problems.
Three days later, I wasn't quite as sure if I had made a good deal in joining the family. The weather had been extraordinarily hot, and one of the tasks that had been waiting to be finished was the installation of new barrels for the privies. Mr. Solberg had taken care of these things until he hurt his back last spring. In a way, I should have been happy, since that was one of the reasons I had been offered the ability to live here. Okay, I could not really blame him, since he was there sweating with me even though I was the one doing almost all the heavy moving and lifting.
"Stian, please, call me Frode. I've never been a 'Sir' and 'Mr. Solberg' makes me feel even older than I really am. Or feel."
I looked at the man who was sitting in shadow at the back yard of the house. Last night we had helped the city nightmen take the old privy barrels and we had installed the new ones. Normally this work would be done during the wintertime, but because of Frode's back issues it had been postponed. I nodded at him and breathed in - which was a mistake since the smell seemed to stay here even if the barrels were already gone.
"Okay, Frode... I hope that this was the worst task there was in queue for us."
The older man snorted.
"Most likely it was at least the smelliest. However, there may be some very dirty tasks, but probably not this smelly."
His answer confused me a bit, since I was quite certain that we had already cleaned most of the rubbish out of the house. I could feel Frode's eyes on me, like he was waiting something. Then, suddenly things clicked inside my head.
"You mean that we need to clean the places inside the walls, too?"
The man broke into smile. "I told them that you'd figure it out, I told them!"
I shook my head since I had no idea what Frode was talking about. The man kept on smiling.
"The Lykke twins were certain that you'd not figure it out by yourself while I was sure that you would. Mind telling me how you did it?"
I fact I would mind, since I had been suspicious and examined my room in detail and I had found out that one part of the wall felt different than the others. Then I had counted the width of the room with my steps just like I had counted the steps at the corridor.
"The number of steps. The difference between them in the corridor and inside the room was so big that I started to wonder..."
"Do you always count your steps?"
"No, it was purely accidental that I remembered the number of steps I had taken, but after that, I made the decision to check things."
The older man nodded.
"In a way it doesn't matter - Or as a matter of fact, it makes things easier. I just need to have a quick talk with Mrs. Hansen."
That was the end of the discussion for that day, and soon I was sweating again while making some plaster. There were places in the walls that needed a new layer of it, and now there was someone capable of putting that layer there. Frode was mostly silent when he was holding the stepladder for me, only sometimes he told me some casual facts about the city and the surrounding houses and neighbors.
Nothing about this house though, nothing about the people living here with me. Nothing. But he did question me about my youth, about things I had been doing and what I could do. During that time I really had to become Stian Holth instead of Stian Elder.
In a way, it wasn't too difficult. My story was that in my childhood I had been able to visit the forest and I had even learned some tracking and hunting from an old hunter who had felt sorry for my mother. So, I could set snares for rabbits and I could make food out of them - and then I could do some fishing. Then, later, my mother had started working with another woman who was a merchant. The last few years I had been helping there - and I'd probably would have stayed there, except that the mercha
nt woman had been killed while doing some shadier business. Since the business collapsed with her, my mother made the decision to get in touch with my father.
As Hantaliel had explained it to me - use the real events whenever possible. She had mastered it while visiting Aston and getting work here while gathering information. 'Lies are too difficult to remember.' It was difficult enough for her to keep her ears hidden and look old and ugly. In a way it was much easier for her, since nobody usually cared to look at that kind of women too closely.
Two days later, Frode took me around the city and his tour was totally different when compared to the short one the twins gave me. Frode seemed to know almost all the buildings, which ones were connected to each other, where it was possible to get to the roof and where was it possible to come down again.
"This city looks totally different from the rooftops at night. There's not the same smell as here at the street level and the few lights here and there make the view almost magical. You can see the Aston river, the harbor, the sea..."
I could hear how the man missed it. Frode was still strong even if he was wiry like me, but the pain in his back prevented some of the acrobatics that would be needed to reach most of the roofs.
"Would you let me try to give your back a massage? Maybe it would help with the pain."
Frode gave me a sharp look and it took me a moment to understand what he was thinking. I shook my head. It seemed that Alva hadn't shared everything about me with the other tenants. I shook my head.
"Sorry, you look good for your age, Frode, but you aren't really my type."
The man next to me was silent for a moment, but then he stopped at the corner of the street and looked at the people walking towards the market. Then he looked at me again.
"I heard some discussion that you had had something going on with some older women out there? I wasn't at all sure if I had heard it correctly."
I knew that Alva had spoken at least to Mrs. Hansen. I shrugged.
"Maybe. I don't really want to boast about those things."
The older man smiled.
"Very wise behavior, very wise. However, I probably should warn you that if the twins ever talk to you... let's just say that they want to be strictly in charge, if you know what that means."
The image of two older-looking versions of Ceveneth formed inside my head and I couldn't help shivering a bit. I could play those games occasionally if I was prepared but two persons of that kind at the same time would be just too much - especially when submission was totally against my own nature. Frode must have seen my reaction as he laughed and patted my back and laughed.
"I thought so. Now, let's go and meet an old friend of mine. I want to see if you are able to defend yourself, if necessary."
When we moved to a bit shadier part of the city and met Frode's old friend, I got the final confirmation of Frode's profession - or former profession. A man who seemed to know all the buildings in the city, who used to be able to move from roof to roof and climb some of the walls up all the way up to the roof. However, he didn't seem like a common thief and the way he spoke hinted about very good schooling. Besides that, his clothes had always been a good quality.
There was nothing that classy in Frode's old friend. No, he looked like those two guys in front of the whorehouse in the town where I had started my boat trip. Except ten times harder, and with many more scars.
"Geir, old friend. I brought our new tenant here so that you could check how useless he is if there comes a need to protect someone..."
That evening I was sore all over, and I had some nasty bruises on my face. I kept on throwing glances at Frode. Had I had any idea of keeping some of my fighting skills hidden I had to forget them as soon as that brick wall called Geir started moving. No, I had had to use all my non-magical talents just to stay out of his reach since as soon as he caught me that round was over. Yes, we went through multiple 'rounds' as Frode called them. Each fight lasted as long as the other person was able to fight, or until Frode confirmed that the other one had been able to land a match-ending - or killing - strike or move. I didn't lose all the rounds. Maybe I could have won a few more, but I didn't want to show quite everything I had learned.
"Sorry, Stian, but this was by far the fastest way of figuring out your skills. Damn, where did you learn to fight like that?"
I glowered at the older man who had set a beer in front of me, and who looked way too smug for my taste. I was also a bit worried, since this was something where I needed to improvise. None of us had had any idea that my fighting skills would really be tested. The Elves had had to learn how to fight and defend themselves in their old home world. Being females and smaller than the others had forced them to develop methods to overcome those disadvantages. Over the last years they had taught some of those to me.
"Do you think that it's easy to grow up as a bastard?"
Apologies, mother, apologies. However, that answer knocked some of the smile off his face.
"No, Stian. I'm sorry."
I was still pissed at him, so I decided to push on.
"Why don't you tell me how someone with a noble background ends up knowing which the buildings you can access from their roof and who is also friendly with a person like Geir?"
That question finally wiped the smile away from his face.
"I hated it all my life. All that hypocrisy, all those lies and games that they play. Just to get a bit more power, just to become a bit more favored by the Royal family. All that for nothing, since they don't even have any real power even if they may think so."
When we finally found our way back to our house, we both were more than a bit drunk. I'd had absolutely no plan to get drunk again, since I still remembered the hangover after that one harvest festival. However, now I knew much more about Frode. He really was a second son of one quite high noble and even if he now was disowned by his family he was wealthy enough to live a comfortable life the way he wanted to live it.
The main reason he had broken with his family back then was that he should have married a girl he didn't love and who couldn't care less about him, while the girl he had loved had to become a concubine to the one of higher Royals. Someone to pass around when he felt like it. She lasted five years before she died in 'an accident.' An accident of hearing or seeing too much.
Yes, Frode was a thief - but he was a thief with a conscience. Usually, he had only stolen stuff that needed to be returned to their rightful owners - or something. I wasn't quite sure how it was decided who was the rightful owner. I didn't really care, either. Once I had helped totally wasted Frode to his room, I went one more time down to the kitchen and forced myself to drink as much water as I could. Then, after a quick visit to the back yard, I retreated to the safety of my own room.
I resisted to urge to just lie down on my bed, but I forced myself to take off my clothes and even wipe myself a bit with a wet cloth before going to bed. All those bruises hurt and I knew that the following days would be terrible.
Surprisingly, I didn't have a hangover the following morning, but it didn't mean that I would have felt good. I had bruises on my bruises and I moved as though I was more than a hundred years old. The only good thing was that Frode had a hangover and therefore we didn't start the cleaning of those hidden passages before noon. It was hard enough during the afternoon.
In a way, those secret passages inside the house were a disappointment - since that's exactly what they were. Narrow, dusty, secret passages inside the house. My job was to make sure that the entryways remained hidden and worked flawlessly, and that the passages were clean so that they are not revealed by some dusty footprints coming out of the wall. Oh, I did say that they were narrow and dusty - and dark. Even with Frode's help the job took two whole days.
All those passageways were connected to each other - except one. One leading to the second room the twins occupied was more like a second, partly hidden entry to the house; and that was how it was used, occasionally. I made an effort not to think abou
t the twins and their activities too much. Still, it was a bit fascinating to live in a house where you could enter or leave without using the main entrance. Even though it wouldn't be fast or easy if you wanted to do it silently. While doing the cleaning, I also found that it was the wood used in the room walls that had the dampening effect on my sensing. In a way it was scary, inside the dark passageways when the feeling of presence suddenly changed when the amount of the protective wood changed.
"Who would build a house like this, do you have any idea?"
Frode shook his head.
"No idea. It was part of Mr. Hansen's legacy and since Mrs. Hansen wanted to get away from their old house, she moved here. Miss Dahl was already living here and some of the rooms were empty. One of the ideas is that this was built to be a high-class bordello and therefore these extra passageways. I think that nobody knows for sure. Mr. Hansen didn't know and Hanna - I mean Miss Dahl had figured out the second entrance to her room years ago by accident."
