by Brian Keller
As they walked he took several glances at the little girl walking beside him. He wasn’t sure where to start, or even if he should start talking until they’d reached the sleeping bay. He decided starting to explain things now would give her something new to think about instead of whatever conditions and circumstances had brought her here.
He started relaying everything that he remembered Birt telling him, adding a few things that he thought would be important to her and omitting a few things that he felt would be better to left for later discussion. She seemed to be listening but he couldn’t be sure so he paused every few minutes and asked if she had questions about anything he’d said. He tried to keep his voice calm and gentle since this girl still looked like she’d prefer to just find a dark corner and hide. Anytime he’d asked if she had questions, she’d shaken her head, so at least he knew she was listening enough to give him a response. When they reached the sleeping bay he stopped at the door. Before he opened it he looked back at her and asked, “Do you remember how we got here? One long hallway and turned right into this hall?”. For the first time a look other than fear or apprehension flashed across the girls face, irritation. The expression came and went so quickly Cooper wondered if he’d imagined it. Her tiny voice sounded like a little silver bell, “I remember. I remember everything.”. With that last she looked, for a moment, like she wanted to cry but she shook it off and waited for him to open the door.
He opened the door and stepped partway inside and held the door, gesturing that she should walk past him. He announced, “This room is where we newcomers sleep. From the hallway we were just standing in, this is the only room you’ll enter unless someone tells you otherwise, specifically. I’ve not entered any of the other rooms, but they belong to older students. I’m told if you enter them unbidden you may get roughed up.”. With that last comment she stepped away from him and started furtively looking around the room, like she was looking for the best place to hide.”. He realized that he needed to regain some lost ground and added, “I’ve been here almost two months now and no one has roughed me up. But then I haven’t been anywhere that I didn’t belong.”. This seemed to put the girl a little more at ease and he pressed on, “You need to pick an unclaimed bunk.”, he pointed at his bunk, “that one’s mine. Since I’ll be guiding you around over the next several weeks it would make sense for you to pick a bunk near mine, but you can choose any one you like that doesn’t already belong to someone else.”. He stepped back as she looked around the room. He heard her little voice again, “You mean, one of these beds is going to be mine?”. He replied, “Yes. And the space around will be yours, too. To put anything that belongs to you.”. She looked a little confused but she walked over to his bunk and looked around his space. Cooper’s footlocker was against the wall across from his bed, not at the foot. And he had salvaged an empty crate to use as a bedside table. His collapsible ladder was stored under his bunk. She looked around at some of the other spaces and several of them had clutter and dirt from mud that had been kicked off shoes and such. She looked back at his space and saw no clutter, no scattered dirt. She looked back at him and then looked around the room again and walked to the unclaimed space straight across from his. She looked back at him, “This can be my bed?’. He nodded. She walked inside the space and sat on the bed. He walked up to but not into the space and leaned against the low wall.
He just stood there looking at her without leering or glaring or making her feel threatened. She didn’t know what to think. She’d never even had a bed, and certainly never a space she could think of as her own. She looked back at him, “How will anyone know this is mine? I have nothing to put here to show that I want it.”.
He thought, ‘It’s unlikely that anyone else will be coming in today, so no one is likely to take her space. I suppose it’s possible that someone might decide to move though. Anyway, what she needs most is reassurance’. Cooper held up a finger, letting her know he’d thought of something and would be right back. He walked over to his space, opened his footlocker and took out his bundle of weapons he’d had the smith in the Waterfront fashion for him. “Gods! That seemed like years ago now!”, he said to himself. He carried the bundle back to her space and stepped inside just far enough to allow himself to lean in and place his bundle on her bed near the foot. She raised her eyebrows in an unvoiced question. He stepped back and told her, “Don’t open that bundle.”. In fact he wondered if he could get in trouble for having those weapons. He’d decided not, since he also had the dagger Master Loril had given him and no one seemed to have a problem with that. He continued, “I am not giving that to you. This way, in case anyone comes in before we get back, they’ll know that this space belongs to someone now.”. Her expression changed from one of amazement to gratitude and something else that Cooper couldn’t quite identify right away… hope.
Once it appeared that she had accepted everything he had told her, “Let’s go to the Quartermaster and get you some real clothes.”. “Oh, and before I forget,”, he handed her the token that Master Worthan had handed him, “this belongs to you, until the person that gave it to you comes to get it back.” At the mention of clothes, her eyes got big, but this time he thought he detected a bit more excitement than fear. As they walked to Master Loril’s shop, he explained the significance of the tokens, what they meant, how they were used, and the importance placed on them. He also introduced her to the notion that they’d be delivering messages throughout the city over the coming weeks, but that he would guide her during that time.
As they entered the quartermaster’s shop Master Loril greeted him with a “aHA, MISTer COOper!”, in a voice just a little softer than a bellow. Cooper wondered what he had done to merit such a boisterous greeting. In response to the commotion, Loryn had instinctively scuttled behind Cooper, and stayed there. Cooper gave Master Loril a look that was a mixture of apology and accusation before he turned and knelt down in front of her. He took her hands in his and she didn’t pull away. He said, “Loryn, you needn’t fear Master Loril. In fact, I’d wager that if someone came to bother you within his sight, it’d be them that’d have reason to fear.”. Loryn kept her chin down and looked unsurely at him.
From the time she arrived, Loryn felt overwhelmed by everything that was happening around her. She had followed Cooper from her bed, “HER bed…?!?”. She never would’ve thought that she’d ever have a bed of her own and now Cooper was telling her that the entire space around it was hers! As she followed him down another hall she listened to him talk about tokens. Some of what he said she already understood, Miss Camilla had explained some of it when she gave the token to her. It made her feel more confident in Cooper to hear that what he was saying was consistent with what Miss Camilla had said. Cooper, well, Mister Cooper seemed genuinely interested in helping her understand what was going on. Of course, he was just doing what Master Worthan had told him to do, and he wouldn’t want to get himself in trouble. Master Worthan seemed very nice, but then she’d also heard his voice sweep across the room where all those boys were. She shuddered when she remembered the strength in that voice. Mister Cooper was telling her about taking messages into the city. She wasn’t sure where these messages were coming from, but she was starting to feel comfortable walking with him. She figured if he was a cruel person, he’d have had plenty of opportunity to be bad to her when they were alone and he was helping her select her bed. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a hairy giant of a man shouting something and walking quickly towards her. He was so big, so powerful, and so fast!
Cooper said, “It’s ok, Loryn. You’re safe here.”. He turned and looked over his shoulder at Master Loril and she followed his gaze. Master Loril was looking at her with a look that she just couldn’t recognize, it looked a little bit like pity but it wasn’t. His expression was an unvoiced apology! Master Loril shifted his gaze to Mister Cooper and gave him a nod and turned to start sorting through clothes, selecting some of the smallest pieces and setting them to one side. He buil
t a small pile rather quickly and he stepped away towards the back of the shop and turned to watch the children. Cooper stood and turned towards the piles of clothes that Master Loril had stacked neatly. He let go of one of her hands but held onto the other and he coaxed her to walk with him. “Let me help you pick out your clothes. Unless you’d rather pick them out for by yourself.”. He started picking up tunics and holding them up to her to estimate how it might fit. The fabric was a rough cloth. Cotton with hemp fibers woven all through. Durable, nothing fancy but they seemed like the finest clothes she’d ever seen. She looked from one to the next to the next, trying to make a choice. She settled on one with a pleasant color but was a little too big for her. The tunic was short sleeved, but the sleeves went most of the way to her elbows, and the bottom of the tunic went halfway to her knees. He tried to suggest that a couple others might fit her better but she had appeared to make her choice. This gave him an idea, and he laid out several pairs of breeches for her to choose from. He told her that she could NOT pick out a pair that had legs that went past her feet. She actually giggled a little bit, and in that moment it seemed to Cooper as if a small ray of sunshine had managed to find its way in and brighten her face. He told her, “I want to speak to Master Loril for a few minutes, I’ll be right over there.”. He pointed at Master Loril, “Are you going to be alright here picking out the rest of your clothes?”. She nodded, “Um hmm.”.
Cooper walked over towards Master Loril. As soon as he turned toward him, Master Loril had a sheepish grin on his face. As he drew closer Master Loril said, “I didn’t even SEE that slip of a girl with you until she’d moved to hide behind you.”. Cooper smiled back at the hulk of a man, “I think we’re ok, sir. I told her that you were harmless.”. He noticed Master Loril bristle just a little bit and Cooper winked and quickly added, “at least harmless as far as she’s concerned.”. He wondered if he’d managed to overstep his bounds, so he felt the need to explain and related exactly what he’d told Loryn about him. This brought a chuckle from the huge man. Master Loril told him, “Mister Felis came to visit me several days ago. He was flipping his token between his fingers. He commented on your new attire and added that you had spoken of your appreciation for it.”. Master Loril was giving him an appraising look. Cooper replied, “Actually, sir, that’s what I wanted to speak with you about. I wanted to know how much I owed you for these,” gesturing at the belt, pouch, and dagger, “since Felis said that I had an account.” He took a quick breath and continued, “I haven’t inquired how much I have on account but wanted to know so I could see how long it might take me to pay you for it. I also wondered if I might purchase another item or two. Either outright, or on account.”. Master Loril chuckled and replied, “Depends on what you’re looking for. If you want a blade to match the one you have there, I’d say that’s possible for me but might be a bit beyond your reach. But a new pair of boots or something like that would be no problem. As for the belt, pouch and blade, I had told you that you could choose to pay me back anytime, or not at all. If you insist on paying the total would come to about twelve and a half gold crowns.” Cooper felt all the color drain from his face. Twelve and a half crowns?!? And Master Loril had spoken about it as if it were a paltry sum. That much coin was a veritable fortune! He recovered his composure and said, “I’ll have to inquire from the Master of Coin how much I have on account.”. He continued, “Which brings me to my next request. “Sir, do you have a sash with metal threading? Something along the lines of my belt? Except…. girly?”. At that last Cooper was looking pointedly at Loryn. Master Loril chuckled again and said, ”I think the word you’re looking for is ‘feminine’. And I’ll have to look around but I think I may have something. If you’re hoping for her to wear it when you leave, I’ll need to start looking right away.” Cooper looked back at her, “In order for her to keep that oversized tunic where it belongs, I think we’ll need it right away, if you can find it, sir.”.
By the time Cooper returned she had found a suitable pair of pants. They were snug enough in the waist to stay on her hips and short enough in the leg that she didn’t quite walk on them when she took a step. Her legs looked like they were completely swallowed by the fabric. The pant legs could be half the diameter and they’d still be a little too large. It appeared to be the closest fit available however so the choice had been made. By the time he had helped her find a pair of shoes that fit properly Master Loril returned with a red sash made of a shiny cloth. He handed it to Cooper, “On account.”, he said. Cooper nodded in reply. He didn’t know enough about fabric to know what it was, but it seemed pretty strong. He could see the metal threading that was woven into it but it was harder to see than the threading in his belt. The red material shimmered as it seemed to capture and reflect some of the light in the room. Loryn looked at the sash and her eyes lit up, “Ohh, what a beautiful sash.”. He smiled, reached down and looped it around the small girl’s waist. His movement was sudden causing her to utter a quick, short squeak and she drew her hands up in front of her face as she tried to pull away from him and escape. The fact that the sash prevented her from getting away served only to amplify her fear into something closer to terror. Cooper didn’t know what to do. He let go of the sash. She had been pulling away and with the unexpected release of his grip on the sash, she fell to the floor. With surprising speed she scuttled to the wall on the far side and tried to tuck herself into a cubbyhole filled with boots. He picked up the sash and bunched it up in one hand. He approached her, her eyes were darting around the room, trying to decide where she could run to escape. He moved very slowing and with a soft voice began telling her, “It’s your sash. I bought it for you. To welcome you to the Guild. It’s your sash. You said it was beautiful. It’s yours. I was only putting it around your waist. I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it. I should’ve told you what I was doing. I should’ve told you it was yours and just handed it to you.” He could see realization begin to sink in for her, then her eyes got big again. Cooper heard a gentle rumble from behind him and Master Loril confirming what he’d been saying, “It’s true. He bought it for you, little girl. He came to me and asked if I had any kind of belt that was…’girly’.” Cooper had involuntarily ducked his head the moment Master Loril spoke. He had no idea the man was even there! How does a man so big move without making a sound? And covering the distance so quickly besides!
Had someone entered Master Loril’s shop at that time they’d have seen a little boy and a huge, hairy beast of a man cooing and cajoling a little girl out of a cubbyhole. As if they were trying to coax a scared kitten out with a saucer of milk.
Several long minutes later Cooper and Loryn were walking back down the hallway. She still looked a little shocked but she kept looking down admiring he sash around her waist every few steps. Even when she wasn’t looking at it her hand never left it, letting her hand glide along it, feeling the fine, smooth fabric. Before they’d reached the dining hall she actually allowed herself to start to relax again.
The cooks told them, “Lunch is in two hours. That’s when we serve food. We’re busy.”. Cooper told the ladies, “Please, it isn’t for me. I had breakfast and it was delicious, but Loryn here arrived an hour after breakfast, she was too late to get anything to eat. She’s just arrived! Who knows the last time she’s eaten, and it surely couldn’t have been as good as what you ladies can do.”. The older cook put her hands on her hips and said, “Now see here. There isn’t any sweet talkin’ me into servin’ lunch early.”. She stepped out far enough to see Loryn peeking out from behind Cooper. The woman almost seemed to deflate a little at the sight of her but quickly regained her composure. She resumed a harsh stance, but to his eye the woman seemed to be softening. She looked sidelong at Loryn, “Just arrived you say? Then you’d still have your token. Show it to me.”. Loryn reached into her pouch, pulled out her token and held it out in her outstretched hand. The woman leaned over and squinted at the token. She opened her mouth, took in a breath, then took on a conspiratorial
expression as she spoke in a loud whisper, “Let me see if I can’t just find you a little bread, meat and cheese. Wait right here.”. The lady went back inside. Cooper suspected that the lady would’ve given Loryn some food no matter what token she held out, and the woman was just playing a harsh role. From inside the kitchen he could hear the sounds of conversation but too indistinct to understand the words. In a less than two minutes the cook came back through the door, calling back into the kitchen, over her shoulder, “Yes. You heard me correctly. Miss Camilla’s token!”. She was holding a plate that was balancing a couple thick slices of dark bread, several small pieces of sausage, a little wedge of cheese and a finger bowl of what looked like steaming gravy. In her other hand she held a mug of milk. She set them down on the table and turned to Loryn, “Show me yer hands!”, she demanded. Loryn obediently held out her hands and the older woman ‘tsked’ a few times and said, “Don’t you eat yet! I’ll be right back.”. She went back through the kitchen door but could’ve only taken about five steps and she was back in the dining hall with a basin and a towel. She set them down on a stand next to the kitchen door. She turned back to Loryn, “Now you come over here and scrub and dry yer hands, and then show ‘em to me again!”. Her tone said she’d not accept anything but obedience on this matter.
Less than five minutes later, she had emptied the plate and used the last crust of bread to soak up the last of the gravy. Cooper remembered well what it felt like to be hungry. It had taken him more than two weeks before he’d stopped loading his plate to almost overflowing with food at each meal. And he had not wasted any of the food.
