A'vril held up a hand for a second and then nodded. "Javin has the right of this. Ja'dir, you will quit trying to contest this matter and allow Javin to apprise the Council of his decision."
Nodding respectfully, Javin continued. "There is no indication that Va'del disobeyed a direct order. By his account, I'rone instructed him to protect Jasmin and Betreec, but naught was specifically said concerning his remaining with them. Additionally, there is nothing to indicate Va'del's having remained with the two wives would have saved them, and therefore there is no charge of negligence."
On'li rose to stand by her husband, looking around the circular room at each of the Councilors. "Before you ask, I've examined Va'del's mind and deception is not part of his nature; there is every reason to believe he's telling the truth regarding I'rone's commands to him."
Ja'dir shot On'li a venomous look and she wondered, not for the first time, how so many people, most of whom she sincerely believed were trying to do their best, could spend so much time arguing. Of course, he probably wouldn't be quite such a pompous fool if he didn't listen to the even bigger fools in his bloodline. Like Pa'tric.
"Additionally, Jasmin's journal was among the things Va'del brought back and she has nothing but praise for the young man. She indicated multiple times that he was earnest in his efforts to please I'rone's family and do as they asked. There is no doubt but that it is complete, and done in her handwriting. As for cowardice, before being ambushed by the human bandits, Va'del assisted I'rone in destroying a large group of bag'ligs. The boy dispatched two of the beasts himself."
A'vril nodded her appreciation for On'li's summary, and the older woman resumed her seat as Javin continued. "Based on this, Va'del will not be punished in any way."
Chapter 9
Va'del was reading through Betreec's law book again when Javin's clap announced his desire to enter the teenager's room.
The old man seemed curiously formal, and Va'del prepared himself for the worst. It's nothing less than I deserve.
"After much consideration, it has been decided that your actions were not the true cause of death for I'rone and his family. There will be no punishment as there is no fault."
Just before Javin left, Va'del called out. "Master, what will happen to me?"
"Uncertain. For now you'll work the gurra. Someone will come by tomorrow to guide you."
##
The apprentice who arrived to guide Va'del back to the gurra pens was a plump, acne-scarred boy who never offered his name. He didn't wait to be invited into Va'del's room, almost as if he was hoping to catch Va'del in one of the blasphemous rituals all of the lowlanders were said to perform.
It was just more evidence that his parentage was going to lead to the same kind of rejection here as back home. Va'del wasn't even surprised at the way the other boy's gaze lingered on Va'del's darker-hued skin.
As the pair left Va'del's room, the older boy finally spoke for the first and only time. "I won't be back to pick you up tomorrow, so pay attention or you'll get lost."
The master of the stables, a scarred and grizzled man with a pronounced limp, looked Va'del over with obvious distaste, but at least offered his name. "I am Master Callan. I don't suppose you've any experience with gurra?"
"A little. I helped take care of Sleepy and Hungry while we were on the trail."
The older man shook his head as he looked around the surprisingly-clean stables, seemingly at a loss for what to do with Va'del. "Very well, you can start by packing feed up to the animals. Once that is done, you'll help clean the wool after the gurra have been sheared."
The provender for the gurra proved to be an amazing variety of scraps that weren't needed elsewhere, combined with just enough grain to keep the animals healthy and thriving. Carrying the heavy metal buckets from the mixing container to the pens, so that one of the other apprentices could measure out the proper amount of feed for each animal, took the better part of two cycles. Va'del had only a few moments to try and stretch his aching back before Callan came by and told him to begin carrying water from the large, centrally-located storage cistern to each of the animal pens.
"I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised that you're a bit simple, not considering what you're responsible for. I guess I just always assumed that I'rone wouldn't be taken in like that."
Everyone knows by now. The ones who aren't repulsed by my skin hate me because I got I'rone, Betreec and Jasmin killed.
Va'del carried the water, but on the return trips he found himself patting his little knife to make sure he hadn't lost it. Still, much as I may deserve death, I'm not ready to take that escape quite yet. There is still a chance that I can become a Guadel.
As soon as Va'del had finished filling the stone water containers in each pen, he asked one of the other apprentices how to find the shearing area, and despite the near-uselessness of the answer, somehow still managed to find the right place. The circular room was an enormous space dominated by large stone basins, with pens all along the outside edge, and a number of oddly-constructed racks filled with drying gurra wool.
The senior apprentice in charge of shearing the gurra was much older than Va'del, and although he didn't make any overtures of friendship, he didn't seem to notice the color of Va'del's skin. He even seemed to understand that it wasn't fair to get mad at his new charge until after he'd actually explained a given task.
Any hopes of actually working with the gurra were quickly dashed. Instead, Va'del was tasked with washing the raw wool in a foul-smelling solution that removed the oil and dirt that invariably made it onto the gurras' coats despite their generally fastidious nature.
For several cycles Va'del was able to lose himself in the work, swirling the raw wool with a thin metal wand, and then moving it to other massive stone basins filled with progressively cleaner water.
There was a steady trickle of apprentices from the weavers' guild who arrived as each large batch finished dripping dry. The sheer amount of wool that they carried away for carding stretched the limits of Va'del's imagination, but cycle after cycle they continued to show up without interruption. By the end of the shift, the weavers' apprentices finally stopped coming, replaced instead by girls in uniform gray clothes rather than the common brown of the apprentices.
Although Va'del caught several of the girls stealing glances at him, none of them bothered trying to talk to him. He started ignoring them after the first few had come and left.
Once the last batch of wool was safely drying on the racks, Callan came by and found Va'del, who'd started hauling feed to the gurra once again. "Enough of that. You're to leave a couple of cycles early. I can't imagine why, but those are my instructions. Be back here tomorrow morning again ready to work."
Nodding silently, the teenager removed his heavy apron and stowed it with those of the other apprentices. As Va'del walked past the corridor leading to the shearing area, he heard a muffled thump and something that sounded suspiciously like muttered swearing.
Worry that someone had been hurt momentarily overcame his melancholy, and Va'del hurried towards the noise.
The muttering grew louder until he turned a corner and found one of the oddly-dressed girls trying to lift an oversized bale of wool. Without thinking Va'del picked up her burden. "Are you okay? I heard a crash."
The girl pulled her short blond hair away from where it had been hanging in front of her face and nodded sheepishly. "Thanks, I accidentally dropped it, and then couldn't pick it back up from the floor."
She's beautiful.
Va'del suddenly realized that the girl was looking at his face, and turned to hide a brief flare of anger. Beautiful, but just like the rest of them.
"My name is Jain. I haven't seen you around before; did you come from a different part of the Capital?"
Looking back at the girl with her slender build, and blue eyes just a shade darker than Jasmin's had been, Va'del found that his anger quickly evaporated.
"My name is Va'del, I just arrived a few da
ys ago."
One of Jain's eyebrows rose slightly at his name, which obviously placed him as coming from one of the outer villages, but she didn't press at his obvious reluctance to provide details.
Va'del shifted the wool around to a more comfortable position and pointed up the corridor. Jain seemed to understand that he was offering to carry it the rest of the way, and unlike most girls, also seemed able to sense that he wasn't in the mood to talk.
Chapter 10
Va'del didn't particularly like working at the stables. The rare occasions when he got to work with one of the gentle gurra were actually quite enjoyable, but Callan mostly just assigned him whatever menial task the stable master thought would tire the teenager out the quickest. As a result Va'del ended each day so exhausted that it took an incredible act of will to make himself practice with his sword and dagger.
The one offsetting advantage to the menial labor was that Va'del continued to bulk up at a prodigious rate. Even that was cheapened by the knowledge that it was in large part due to the forbidden changes Jasmin had worked on his body. As much as possible he was trying to avoid the notice of the few adults in his life. Can't have Jasmin's memory tainted even further.
Va'del was just about to put down the law book he'd just finished reading through for the second time, when a quiet clap announced someone seeking entrance to his room.
Javin and On'li had been the only people to ever visit Va'del, so maybe it shouldn't have surprised him when after more than two weeks of absence On'li was the one to slowly walk around the privacy corner to his room.
The slender old woman waved Va'del back down before he could fully stand to greet her. "I see you've been reading. What do you think?"
The question caught Va'del by surprised, and he looked at On'li in an effort to understand what she was getting at, but he didn't know her well enough to read her expression.
"I like it, I suppose. I mean, I don't understand everything I read, and it can be pretty dry, but Jasmin told me to look at it as a way for the rights of the villagers to be protected. I like that there is a way for people to appeal to someone other than the village Headman for justice in those cases when the Headman is wrong."
There was a flicker of something in On'li's eyes as she nodded.
Pity? Is that how she stops herself from hating me?
Obviously unaware of his thoughts, On'li pointed to Va'del's weapons. "Do you still practice with those as well?"
Va'del had no sooner answered in the affirmative than On'li instructed him to follow her along a set of corridors he hadn't been down before. A few minutes' journey brought the pair to a large, roughly finished cavern filled with men, both young and old, engaged in weapons training.
On'li walked over to one of the knots of figures without stopping. "Master Branar, I've another trainee for you."
The man who turned in response to On'li's voice was one of the most unprepossessing men Va'del had ever seen. The weapons master was only of average height, well-muscled, but so lean it looked like I'rone or Javin could have broken him in half.
"The next beginner class doesn't start for a month, Councilor. He'll have to wait until then."
On'li shook her head. "He isn't a beginner, I believe you'll find that he can keep up fairly well with your more experienced students. I'm afraid this isn't just a simple request."
It looked for a moment as if Branar would still refuse, but there was steel in the Guadel's manner that apparently had him unwilling to match wills with the tiny woman.
"Very well, I'll throw him in with the second-years and see how he manages." The arms master pointed to a group along one edge of the cavern, and then turned back to the students he'd been haranguing when they'd arrived.
On'li looked at Va'del for a moment before sighing the way one does when considering an especially unwanted burden. "Well, there isn't anything for it but to jump in and give it your best. You'll find that there are a number of Guadel candidates at the Capital currently, and they train here as well. For all practical purposes, they and the guardsmen trainees all outrank you, so make sure you're polite and don't cause trouble."
The Guadel gave Va'del a smile that was still tinged with something he couldn't identify, and then turned and left.
##
It wouldn't have mattered if I was polite or not. They were determined to hate me from the start.
The second-year students had stared openly at the newcomer's skin before returning to their practice bouts. If that had been the worst of it, Va'del could have dealt with things, but Alir, the senior apprentice in charge of the second-year students, seemed to be set on making things difficult for him.
Alir had directed Va'del to a rack containing practice swords of various weights and sizes, and then mocked him when he'd asked for a practice dagger as well.
"What do you think you are, a Guadel? You'll learn how to fight properly with one weapon before I hear any talk about you needing a second one."
The other students had then proceeded to square off against Va'del one at a time, attacking with force that in many cases would have been more than enough to break bones. Alir was scoring the matches, and was obviously favoring the other boys by failing to recognize about half of Va'del's points.
Despite the unfairness, Va'del had managed to win the first three bouts before fatigue began slowing his movements.
I keep getting more tired, while they come in fresh, one after another.
Va'del wasn't fighting to win anymore, not when the other boys were so obviously out to make sure he wouldn't be able to come back and train with them in the future. Instead, Va'del was trying to make sure that the blows landing on him wouldn't be incapacitating.
The sixth opponent came in with an overhead blow that would've broken Va'del's neck. He only just managed to bring his sword up and deflect the strike away. It still glanced off his left shoulder with enough force to make the arm tingle and add to an already impressive collection of bruises.
Alir yawned. "Point. That was a very sloppy block, I've seen better out of children who've never held a sword before."
Va'del's opponent redoubled his efforts, launching attacks with such speed that it was all Va'del could do to dodge and parry the first few before a straight thrust took him in the chest with enough force to make his ribs creak.
A number of young men and women drifted over to watch the next bout, which went much the same way as the previous one. Va'del dodged a number of blows, before exhaustion caused him to bungle a parry and take a blow to the stomach that knocked the wind out of him.
A number of the watchers laughed as Va'del was once again knocked to the ground, and he blushed.
Alir waved the victorious boy away and shook his head at Va'del. "Go get some water and then come back and we'll see if your technique is really as bad as it looks."
Va'del pulled himself to his feet and was walking around the gray-clothed observers when one of them, a tall, handsome boy, snickered. "He's a bloody coward, won't even attack. I'rone sure screwed up picking that one. I guess the bloodline shows through. An inept candidate for a stupid ogre of a Guadel. Looks like he managed to get himself killed off none too soon."
It had become reflex for Va'del to ignore slights against himself, but somehow the same kind of insults directed against his adoptive family bypassed his carefully crafted controls. Hot rage poured through him and before anyone else could respond, he turned and knocked the older boy to the ground with a punch that left his hand tingling.
For a split second nobody moved, and then as one, the other boys turned on him with a hail of blows aimed at driving him to the ground.
A deep voice suddenly rang out, and the blows stopped almost as quickly as they'd started. "Enough."
The crowd surrounding Va'del parted and he saw a thin, but heavily muscled, man with the paired blades of a Guadel approaching. "There will be punishments handed out left and right for this, I assure you."
Pointing to one of the gray-clothed girls
, the man continued. "What happened here to make these Guadel candidates think it was acceptable to turn on one boy like a pack of starved snow wolves?"
The girl looked supremely uncomfortable, as if trying to weigh the displeasure of an adult against the displeasure of her peers. The instructor opened his mouth, but before he could say anything one of the other girls stepped forward.
"Be'ter insulted the trainee, and then insulted Guadel I'rone. The trainee struck Be'ter, knocking him to the ground, after which the rest of the candidates attacked the trainee."
The girl turned to look back at Va'del and he realized it was Jain. Maybe she isn't like all of the rest after all.
The instructor nodded. "Is there anyone who would dispute that telling of the events?" When nobody spoke up, the man turned to Va'del. "We don't brawl. There are no exceptions to that rule, regardless of the insult."
The rage that had made Va'del act without thinking was still present and nearly strong enough for him to do the unthinkable and argue with an adult, but On'li's voice seemed to play again in his mind, reminding him that everyone outranked him. I'm nobody, and nobody will take my side on anything.
Satisfied with Va'del's nod, the instructor turned to Be'ter. "You deserved what you got. You had no reason to insult the boy, and even less reason to sully the memory of one of the finest Guadel to serve the People in the last century."
Be'ter looked up at Va'del, and there was such hatred and rage in his eyes that Va'del unconsciously stepped back.
"I demand challenge right."
"Candidates can't challenge each other." The instructor turned as if the matter was settled, but Be'ter shook his head. "He isn't a candidate. He isn't even a guardsman, and he has sullied the honor of the Guadel. I demand satisfaction."
A ripple of indrawn breath went through the watching youth as they realized Be'ter was serious.
"No, there is no precedent for anything like this. I won't have you boys killing each other."
"I've read the law, there's nothing forbidding me from defending my honor."