consistently outperforming the others in every area and this was causing some resentment. The name calling, though subtle, had become entrenched; the Whyte cell now being referred to as the ‘not-quites’, by a significant number of the other novices. The result of this was that Rose, Ash, Auriel and Lee, spent more and more of their time, in each other’s company and actively avoided the other novices.
The first-year novices were to be taken on the annual Alchemy trip to Ferndell. Every year, Lord De Lille arranged for the new novices to have a day there in order to assess and develop their plant identification and foraging skills.
Already, there were rumblings within the other cells about how the Whyte cell would have an unfair advantage, because of their pharmacon loris. Lord De Lille, having overheard one of the Blood novices discussing this with Rowan, had kept them both back after the lesson.
They stood there glumly in front of his bench as he eyed them silently for what seemed an age.
‘I can understand your wish to do well,” he said, his voice cool and stern, “ but that is no excuse for bullying behaviour, and it will not be tolerated!”
The two of them squirmed in their shoes. Rowan opened his mouth to protest, but De Lille did not give him a chance to respond.
“If I hear any more of this” he snapped, “those concerned will not be allowed to accompany us to Ferndell or indeed on any of the excursions we will be taking this year. Perhaps you can pass that message on to anyone else that you think it may apply.”
“But it’s...,” said Rowan.
De Lille’s words cut through his response.
“Lord Rowan, do not attempt to proffer me an excuse,” he said, his eyes narrowing to tight slits beneath his brows. “ This type of behaviour is inexcusable and certainly not the kind of conduct expected from ascendants of the Oratory. What we do expect is that each cell works hard at being the best that they can be, using the resources that they have access to. This is not a competition’.
“I understand Lord De Lille,” said Rowan, his voice subdued, “ and I will endeavour to change my behaviour.”
“As will I,” said Tor-el-van.
“Good,” said Del Lille. “ Then I look forward to seeing the evidence of this new leaf that you have turned, tomorrow at Ferndell.”
He averted his eyes from them, looking down at the parchment on his bench and picking up his quill pen. It was a subtle but effective dismissal.
As they closed the door of the classroom behind them, a petulant look clouded their faces.
“So now we have to learn to tolerate the ‘not-quites’,” said Tor-el-van.
“No, we don’t,” said Rowan. “We just have to make it appear that we tolerate them.”
The following day the novices were awakened early for their trip as Ferndell was a three hour carriage ride into the southern Aurum plains.
The Oratory carriage was a simply constructed wooden conveyance, decorated at each corner with hand carved fyre hawks which had been expertly embellished with gold leaf. It was pulled by four handsome and seemingly identical palomino horses.
The road was rough and cut with deep ruts caused by the trundle of hundreds of years of carriage wheels, and with only simple leather strapped suspension, the ride was uncomfortable. Added to this, the novices had little space to move around as the vehicle had originally been designed to carry only fourteen passengers.
There was little conversation at first, a general atmosphere of moody discontent, stifling any trivial chatter. Lord De Lille passed out parchments to each of them.
“You will find a list of plants that I would like you to acquire, together with a detailed description and accurate illustration of each one. The easiest to locate are the four at the top and the last three, devils bread, wolfsbane and bloodroot are the rarest.”
The novices began examining the parchments and the atmosphere subtly started to alter from dismal boredom to one of eager anticipation.
“You should forage in pairs,” said De Lille. “Please do not go off on your own, and be advised, I will deal very severely with anyone who fails to follow the safety guidelines for handling these plants. Wear your gloves and place each specimen straight into the relevant container of your occultus. Take particular care with the most toxic herbs, wolfsbane, bloodroot, devils bread, snakeweed and moonseed. They are all extremely poisonous and although having fewer of you may make the journey back a little more bearable,” he said, with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I would prefer not to explain to Lord Dux why I was unable to return with you all safe and in one piece, this evening.”
His words were followed by a few hesitant chuckles.
Lee carefully studied his parchment examining the names and illustrations of each of the ten plants. Sloley, perched on his shoulder, was looking attentively at the drawings, clicking and chattering excitedly. Ash twisted in his seat, feeling rather constrained. He gave Lee a friendly nudge.
“Your little critter is looking rather excited at the prospect of getting out in the dell.” He whispered, “Sloley really must give us a massively good chance of winning this.”
“It is not a competition,” said Auriel rolling her eyes, “Lord De Lille told us that. Remember? He said we were here to learn. That’s what is important. All this competition business is making things awkward for us and the other novices. Maybe we should let someone else be the best for a change.”
“Are you kidding me?” said Ash grinning mischievously.
He nodded towards the other novices whose glowering faces were staring enviously at Lee and Sloley.
“This is fun,” he said. “Anyway, of course, this is a competition. Winning the manna was a competition, winning Sloley was a competition and I bet there will be something equally desirable waiting for whoever brings back the largest selection of weeds.”
He winked audaciously at Auriel, grinning broadly.
“Fascinating…” said Lee shaking his head, “you actually seem to be enjoying the tension between us and the other cells. I wonder if all Muds display these macho, aggressive and overly competitive tendencies.”
Rose leant forward, interrupting them.
“Auriel and I were talking last night,” she said, “and we think that I should pair up with her and you two should pair up.”
“And your reasoning for this is?” Lee asked, quizzically lifting an eyebrow.
“Well logically,” said Rose with an ironic smile. “As Auriel has read everything ever written on Medicinal and Magical Vegetation but, unlike me, is not a strong Alchemist, I think that we would make a good pairing. You, of course, are by far the best Alchemist of all of us and you have the Pharmacon loris. Whereas Ash, well let’s just say Alchemy is not his strong suit, but, on the other hand, he is amazingly good at communicating with Sloley, which make you two an ideal pair also.”
“That does sound logical,” Lee said, “putting the strongest and the weakest together.”
Lee’s deadpan expression barely hid the subtle glint of amusement in his eyes.
“Hey now, hold on a minute!” Ash protested “I got a C in my last pharmacology assignment.”
“Was that the one Sloley helped you with?” Lee said, raising a knowing eyebrow.
“No! … Err; well he may have pointed out a few errors… Okay, you’ve got a point. I guess I’m with you.”
The carriage clattered and shook as it hit a rut in the road. They had reached the top of the hill and before them lay the beautiful wooded valley of Ferndell.
As they descended into the valley, the sounds and scents of the dell were as welcoming as a homecoming celebration. The heady scent of ripe forest fruits mingled with the pungent aromas of mint and wild garlic. A symphony of birdsong announced their arrival. This was quickly fighting for dominance with the buzzing and clicking of thousands of varieties of insects and the screeching and chattering of various species of primates that were common to the forest.
A colourful bird with long tail feathers and a l
arge beak sat on a low bough just beyond the entrance of the woods. The bird’s head was held high as its beak sniffed at the air, which made it appear strangely aloof, but its eyes followed them closely as the wagon rumbled past.
When at last they alighted from the carriage, there was much stretching of stiff arms and legs, accompanied by the usual groaning and moaning of uncomfortable boredom. However, this soon gave way to the relief and joy of finally being free to move around.
“I think my leg has gone to sleep,” said Rowan.
“It had to catch up with the rest of you sooner or later” Cedar teased. “I am with you, by the way, the girls have decided that you and I would make a good team, don’t ask me why.”
“Suits me,” he said, with some relief “Tammy wants to forage for the rare and dangerous stuff.”
His eyes closed as he used Cognito to effortlessly flick through his memorised volume of ‘Medicinal and Magical Vegetation.’
“The plants on our list are all relatively common and pretty harmless except for the snakeweed and moonseed, and I am just reviewing how to handle them safely.”
Lord De Lille called them to gather around for final instructions. He stood beside the carriage in the middle of the forest clearing. The driver had unstrapped the horses and was leading them to the nearby brook for a drink of the cool, clear mountain water.
“Gideon and I will remain here with the carriage,” said De Lille. “Everything on your list can be located within two miles
Ascension of the Whyte Page 18
