A Simple Darkness (The Young Ancients: Tiera)

by P. S. Power

  "I've rather noticed that. Still, it was well done all the way around. Do remember, Tiera, that he doesn't actually hold responsibility for this in the minds of your fellows. You're in for a time of it, no doubt. I know it will be hard, but I suggest you do a lot of bowing and asking for forgiveness for the next year or so."

  She took a deep breath and tried not to speak, but the words came anyway and sounded sassy. She just couldn't help it, but at least the near dark they rode in was enough to help hide her face a bit. She felt her face twist up in a scowl.

  "Why do you all keep going over the same things? I get it. I was wrong and will have to pay, and pay, even though it wasn't anything I could have avoided without being evil. This is all..." She wanted to blame someone else, but it wasn't about fault. Even she could see that. She'd had the needed data, but she also had conflicting information and that set her up to look bad. So she growled a little instead.

  No one spoke for a while, until Sir Kolbrin did, changing the subject.

  "In the morning you need to report to the training area. Your morning classes will change to the afternoon section. I'll see to that. You won't have as much free time, so get ready for that. Not keeping a double major area of study. Try to get what rest you can tonight. I know that it's exciting, but you'll just have to contain yourself."

  She looked where the voice was coming from but didn't answer, since it was just what she had to do, if she wasn't going to leave school. She might still, she knew. It wasn't fair, but she'd really botched things and she doubted that she was going to stay cool with everyone for the long term, if they all kept after her. She'd nearly destroyed the dining facility earlier, hadn't she? Even if it wouldn't have done much to the well armed group of builders at the time. At least until she'd had their clothing off.

  She sighed and realized that she was going to have to deal with them too. That part had seemed like a good plan at the time, so they couldn't hide any weapons, but that one boy, Guide, he'd been so embarrassed that he'd probably be looking to get her back. That would probably have something to do with her being left naked in the commons too. All he'd have to do was come up behind her and turn her amulets off. Timon could do it, and had, so she didn't doubt that any of the others could too.

  Well, it was probably fair enough, wasn't it? Not what she wanted to happen, but what could she do about it? On the good side no one else would really care that much. People didn't walk around naked at school, but a lot of them came from places where public nudity wasn't a huge issue. Communal baths and all that, or at least Regina had said so.

  That was another thing she really needed to see about. Her old roommate. Either she'd been trying to cause Tiera to make mistakes and telling her lies to that end, or it was all just a misunderstanding and she needed to know not to do the same thing herself. For the time being she had to assume they were still friends, since doing anything else would hurt too much.

  The craft set down in the woods, rather than the central commons, and they all had to try and move silently back to their own places, which meant going in different directions for David and Sir Kolbrin. Karen was with her, and changed her nice gown into something dark and close to her skin. Tiera did the same, making her normal student browns go black, not knowing what else she could come up with that would really work. Instead of boots she used soft soled slippers however. If they'd been real they would have been destroyed after a few steps, but while they collected dirt and grime, they were magical, so it wouldn't matter in the long run. She could fix it instantly.

  The sneaking they did wasn't exactly smooth, but they kept to the shadows near the buildings and since things weren't brightly lit at nearly two in the morning, no one saw them. When they got in the room Karen turned on a magical light that had been nailed to the wall. It was something her brother had made, which meant that Karen was either rich, or a good friend of his.

  Then, instead of going instantly to sleep, the large woman gestured for Tiera to sit and changed her own clothing, eyes closed for a few seconds, into a nice sleeping gown.

  "Alright. You made some mistakes tonight. First, you should have been more attentive to Davie. Even if you don't want to sleep with him, he was your date. Small bits of contact, spaced out over the entire meal would have worked. You didn't say goodnight to him properly either. True, that was a pretty strange way for the whole thing to end, sneaking in from the woods like that, but in a normal situation you'd want to give him at least a chaste kiss." She smiled a little and then laid back on her bed, closing her eyes for a minute. When she spoke again her voice was a little drowsy. "You did well with Peterson. Just the right level of flirting. Now you can visit him and no one will think it's anything more than a visit for a discreet meeting. That's a good idea. People will think you're a bit free, but if you make it seem like you're everyone's lover no one will question constant visits."

  There was another pause and Tiera didn't speak, feeling a bit like a total failure already. She'd thought she'd been decently close to having it right and the idea of even having to fake being that way made her feel horrible.

  "Tovey... You really should have hugged him. Any normal girl your age would have done at least that. People will have noticed and they'll think there's a rift between you if you don't. The same with Count Lairdgren. The rest went well enough however, as far as social graces went. A little heavy handed at the end there, introducing yourself to everyone, but that will make you memorable. You didn't stand on your title either, which made it seem special. Like you wanted to know them all as people. That should work pretty well."

  Tiera started to speak, just to say that she'd try to fix it all, but Karen didn't let her.

  "Now, from a combat perspective, you were a wreck. You need to keep weapons ready all the time. You did have a shield on, didn't you? If not, I swear I'm going to beat you for an hour in the morning." She yawned, but didn't actually sound angry about it.

  Tiera looked at her and squinted a bit.

  "I did, and still do, have my shield on, thank you. I have weapons too. Side pocket on my dress. I just hid it in the pattern so that it wouldn't stand out." She felt a little attacked, but Karen grinned in response.

  "Good. Do that all the time from now on. Have weapons on even in the bath. Petra took hers off to bathe with her fiancée about a month ago. He had his people grab her and tortured her for weeks. This was the man she was supposed to marry. I probably would have done the same thing, wouldn't you? Who wears a shield into the tub? From now on we can't let our guards down. They got your little brother with poison... do you know about that?" She sounded sad suddenly, talking about what had happened to people.

  She felt her lips tighten into a frown.

  "Countess Alan and a Larval gave him some kind of sleeping drug. It made him so calm he couldn't fight and just fell asleep. Then... They did things to him." It was bad and she knew that it was torture and rape, but that was all she'd been told. Karen, somehow, knew more.

  "That's right. They used a special kind of pain compound from Austra that's so severe it makes all other tortures seem like sweet caresses. The Countess and the Larval abused him sexually while under extreme pain, and then the lady nearly unmanned him with a knife. After that he managed to fight back and free himself, but he was dying while it happened. That's what you have to be prepared for Tiera. It's the level of commitment you need too. He took off his own legs to get fee. Not what I'd recommend, but you have to be ready." There was a second yawn then and the woman closed her eyes again. "Not trying to scare you, but you really should be. There's a very good chance that these assassins will come for you next, to try and get at Tor. Timon said it won't work, but you're a girl, which means that Tor might do more to protect you than he would a boy. He probably can't help it."

  Then, almost instantly, the bigger woman stretched out, rolled over and went to sleep, with the light still on. It was low, so Tiera left it, not falling asleep herself for a long time.

  In the morning she got up, ha
ving managed a few hours of sleep at least. That was one thing that the Count had gotten right, she didn't really need much that way. Most nights she got a full seven hours, since things were boring after dark anyway, but she could get along with a lot less. She felt fine after the three hours or so that she'd had and took care of her morning routine early, before the other girls were there in the bathing area to mock her or anything.

  Then she sat at the little work desk in the space and ate some magically dried fruit, which was light and less expensive than the regular kind. It was almost fluffy and had a crisp texture to it. It was mainly apple, since that was what had been cheapest and she needed to make certain her funds lasted for a while, so she wouldn't be driven to the dining hall in desperation and forced to eat other people's bodily fluids. The idea left her shuddering for a bit, her appetite gone. That wasn't good, if she was going to be working hard all the time now. She had to eat, but it was just so sickening to think about. She made herself take a few more bites, knowing that if she didn't she'd regret it later.

  Karen woke up about then and muttered something unintelligible at her, then got up with a sudden surge and walked out of the room, presumably toward the restroom. It was the first thing most people did at least. Tiera didn't wait for her, since it was no doubt safe enough for her to walk to her class alone. She had all her gear on, including her flying rig and Tor shoes. That would let her run away pretty well if anything happened and anyone that could beat all that wouldn't be stopped by another body being in the way, she didn't think.

  There were a few people in the weapons square when she got there, most stretching gently, or starting into some exercises with the stones. She followed along, trying not to seem like she didn't have a clue as to what she was doing, and tried to do what a rather homely giant of a man was, swinging huge rocks around and then lifting the biggest ones multiple times. She had to go with smaller ones the whole time, but when the man finished he waved to her, indicating she should take the one he'd been working with, which had to weigh hundreds of pounds. It wasn't the biggest one there either, so she copied what he'd been doing and lifted it with both hands. She only managed three times but the man smiled at her, his teeth nice and white for all that he had pock marked skin.

  It made her hands hurt a lot though, when she looked down she saw that the skin had broken. No blood came out at least. He glanced at them and nodded.

  "That will take some time. On the heaviest weights it will always happen anyway, when you push yourself hard enough. That one weighs in at nearly six hundred pounds. It's going to do damage." He didn't act overly impressed, though clearly it was something special. She was a lot smaller than he was and she could work out the math, after all. It was nearly seven times her weight and probably about twice his.

  He waved to her again and moved to the practice table where he found a leather strap for her to wrap around her right hand, then handed her a practice weapon, which was basically just a heavy club.

  "Pells. You're little, so you'll have running too, right? We always make the tiny people do that. Try hitting this pole a thousand times, as hard as you can. Then run... I don't know how far people run. I generally do a circuit of the school myself, but the good runners head to the next town and back. Who's your trainer?" He looked around, but clearly thought that it would be one of the other students, since she was new.

  "Sir Karen Derring."

  The words got the man to laugh for some reason and then wave at the pole that was stuck in the ground. It was about three feet thick and had huge chunks taken out of the sides from previous beatings, mainly with less than sharp metal, she guessed.

  "That makes sense then. It explains why you're out here this early, to get a jump on things. Good fighter, but hard. I'll leave you to this. Enjoy it, since it's likely going to be the fun part of your day. I'm Havar, by the way." He gave a half bow, since he was no doubt above her here.

  She went lower.

  "Tiera. As you guessed, the new person."

  The man gestured at her and then stood back as she tried to hit the thing in front of her hard enough to do something. The post shook a bit, but the pounding made her hand feel weak after a minute. She could hang on, so she kept after it, silently counting to herself. She was only getting about sixty hits per minute, so she doubled it, not wanting to take half an hour on the project.

  The man was working his own post, but with a metal blade, his focus straight ahead. He called out to her with a booming voice, which everyone else ignored.

  "Alternate, high then low. Faster!"

  Then he did the same, so she had a clue what she was doing, with him calling out for her not to give up. There was, she realized, a real reason for that. Her arm ached bitterly after a few seconds and she was pretty certain her palm really was bleeding now. She didn't stop, since the man seemed to be saying not to. It was hard though, since it really wasn't pleasant. The man stopped after nine hundred blows, but she kept going. It was all she could do to keep the heavy club in her hand the whole time, but she did it, stopping only when the last blow was counted. She didn't drop the piece of wood, because it had frozen into her hand.

  "Excellent. Half the new students drop the blade the first time when they finish. If you did that I'd have beaten you until you could pick it up. Keep that in mind for later, if it's your turn with the new person." He held out his hand for the club, smiling. "You did better than most."

  She started to give the thing to him, then frowned.

  "Wait... Is this a trick too? I hand over what seems to be my only weapon and then you beat me for that too? I'm armed. Explosive weapon and force lance, plus a shield." She glared at the man who laughed at her.

  "Ooohhh, a smart one! Exactly my plan. You're really armed like that? Why? I mean I am, but I'm a paranoid monster that goes around expecting everyone else to be too."

  Tiera smiled, finding herself liking the man, even if he wasn't great looking. He had a nice personality, she decided. Not overly servile or anything.

  "Same with me. Plus, I made some people around here angry at me. I don't doubt I'm in for some real beatings soon. The Lairdgren group is probably coming for me and having these weapons won't help a lot with them. Shield either. I can't kill them and that's probably the only thing that would work."

  The giant rubbed his face and moved back in front of his pell, hitting it a few times before speaking.

  "Go ahead and rack the weapon where I got it from. Then, I don't know, practice running? There's a path that way." He pointed toward the back of the place. "Keep your shield on and do a few laps. You'll probably have to do more later, but it can't hurt to not look lazy on your first day."

  She took the advice and did what he said, since he knew a lot more about the whole combat training thing than she did, clearly. The running path was just beaten dirt, but was clear enough she didn't worry about getting lost, even in the woods behind the school compound proper. They were leafy, but there wasn't a lot of dense undergrowth for people to hide in. She kept an eye out anyway, in case of ambush. She wasn't kidding about feeling a little bit like everyone was sort of out to get her right now. No one else seemed to be awake yet, until she padded back into the combat area about forty minutes later. She hadn't run fast, but it was at least a few miles.

  Karen was standing next to Kolb, looking upset, which got a glare trained on her from both of them before she got halfway over to them, still keeping to a slow and steady run.

  The head Instructor took a step toward her and growl, which was more than a little frightening. It was enough that she triggered her shield with a tap, in case he lashed out at her.

  "Where have you been young lady? I told you to be here after you had breakfast, that didn't mean to sit in the dining hall chatting with your friends for half an hour, keeping us waiting."

  Tiera didn't care for the tone he was using with her at all. She bit her tongue, until Karen moved in on her.

  "You left hours ago! Where were you?" She at least didn'
t seem ready to beat her personally, like the bully next to her was.

  She moved her hand to her pocket, to get out her explosive device. If she had to fight she really didn't think that she stood a chance, even with that kind of weapon, since everyone here had shields, but she wasn't going to just be beaten, if she could help it. Not when she hadn't done anything wrong. She had the thing out, but held by her side when Havar walked over.

  "There she is. She beat you two layabeds out here by hours. Worked a full stones rotation with me, nearly matching what I did, including the heavy stones, then did introductory pells without messing anything up and ran the outer perimeter twice. Now leave off, will you? We finally get someone with half an ounce of promise and you want to scare her away on the first day?" He smiled about it all though and his words got the others to relax, a lot.

  Sir Kolbrin bowed toward her slightly.

  "Ah, I'm used to working with students that are a bit more reluctant than that. Your brother for instance. Forgive my mistake." He stood up, the scar on his cheek wrinkling a bit. "Also, please put the weapon away. Force Lance?"

  She did it, but shook her head.

  "Explosive. A Force Lance wouldn't work on your shields. I could hit the ground at your feet to kick up a distraction with this though. Maybe even cause you to stumble." They didn't have flying rigs on as far as she could see. She didn't either, but she had one with her, of course.

  For some reason that got everyone to laugh at her, as if it were a silly idea. She still thought it might work. She hadn't tried it, but shield or not you had to stand on something, right?

  The men moved away and Karen gestured to a place off to the side, where they could work together and not be in anyone's way.