Chapter 8
Three days into their walkabout, and both boys were miserable. Henry was miserable because his feet were sore and his body ached from the abuse he'd already subjected it to, and his mentor was miserable because Henry wouldn't stop complaining about all of his aches and pains.
"Look," Cedric pointed out, trying to be reasonable. "At least it's early summer and not late fall. The weather these past few days has been perfect, the food in the packs has been good, and we're nearly to our first village. You'll be able to get a hot bath, a hot meal, and a comfortable bed tonight."
Henry looked at him suspiciously. "I thought you said that it was all camping out and cooking our own food," he pointed out.
"I lied."
It was only another hour or so of walking until the pair of journeyman mages topped a rise and saw their destination spread out below them. The village was a good size, and Henry could see a number of people bustling around the main streets. Based on what he knew of village buildings, the prince could identify a town hall, an inn, and at least two taverns. As they started down the road toward an actual destination, Henry felt better than he had all day. He was disappointed when they actually reached the village though, as their arrival didn't cause any stirring of interest on the part of the villagers... not even a curious look in their direction.
"You take the mules around to the stable and get them unloaded and brushed down while I secure our room," Cedric directed him when they reached the inn. "With this village being so close to Master Rylan's, there shouldn't be any pressing problems that need looking after, so we'll only stay two nights."
Henry had no idea what, exactly, he and Cedric were supposed to be doing while touring the kingdom, but he did as he was told and led the mules over to the large, clean stable. The stable boy on duty noticed his arrival right away and rushed over to take the mules' lead reins, and Henry was happy to pass them over. When Cedric returned from securing their lodgings, the prince was leaning against the stall door and feeding one of the mules a handful of oats.
"I thought I told you to brush the beasts down," his mentor scolding, and Henry shrugged.
"It's the stable boy's job," he commented without apology. "Why should I have to do it when there's somebody here to do it for me?"
Cedric sighed and bent down to pick up his saddlebags and one of the packs of foodstuffs.
"Come on then. You can leave the camping supplies here with the tack, but grab the other bag of food."
Henry followed Cedric across the courtyard and into a large, clean common room. There was a large bar across the back, and doorways that he assumed led into the kitchen bracketed the bar on each side. The space, which was swept clean of dirt and dust, was filled with an assortment of tables of various sizes, and there was a large fireplace at either side of the room. Both fires were currently laid, but unlit, given the warm summer's day. A staircase leading upstairs to sleeping quarters was to the left of the bar, tucked beside the kitchen doorway, and Cedric led him upward and then down to the end of the hallway.
"The room isn't much to look at," Henry was told as the door was pushed open, "but we have a limited amount of money, so get used to this level of luxury."
Luxury was not a word the prince would ever have chosen to describe the tiny space into which he was ushered. There were two narrow beds that he was certain were as hard as the wood they were made of, with a worn rug that lay between them. A tiny window above the rug was open to catch the non-existent breeze, and there was a lantern hanging on a peg below the window. That was it.
Cedric put his burden down on the floor and used his foot to slide everything under the bed, and Henry did the same after a few moments. Comments about the lack of amenities in the room ran through his head, but he had to admit that after a few days of camping beside the road, even the hard bed was looking not too bad. He lay down and stretched out.
"What are you doing?" Cedric asked immediately. "We have work to do."
"Work? What kind of work?"
Cedric sat down on his bed, resting his elbows on his knees and letting his hands dangle loosely. He fixed Henry with a serious expression.
"You really have no idea what goes on in this kingdom, do you?"
Before Henry could answer, the other boy shook his head.
"Of course you don't," Cedric observed. "You spent half your life in the palace, and the other half in school."
"If you're so smart, why don't you tell me what's going on in my kingdom," Henry snarled.
"It's my kingdom too, at least as much mine as it is yours, your Highness. Right now, you just live here, so I'll thank you to drop the attitude."
Henry made a dismissive gesture and Cedric rolled his eyes.
"As I'm sure you do know, Mythesti is not a rich kingdom. While the kingdom is fairly large in terms of geography, there are very limited resources. The mountains to the south are impassable, and those within our borders to the west tend to yield gems and gold only rarely. We do have plenty of copper and tin, but little else as far as mining goes. The northern area produces the best agriculture, and there are salt mines in the east, near the coast. Trade by water is controlled mostly by Calyso, though we do have a small fleet of fishing boats, but the majority of our kingdom is good for nothing except grazing."
"And? This is, as you pointed out, all information that I already have," Henry pointed out. "What does any of this have to do with work?"
"Mages are trained in order to serve the kingdom," Cedric continued, ignoring the interruption. "Each of us has an elemental gift, and it is our duty to use our magic in a way that increases the yield of our limited resources. Mages are what keep the populace from starving, some years, and we are going to use our magic here to help increase the yield of the crops."
"You want me to use my energy to make plants grow?" Henry's tone of voice was incredulous, and Cedric fought not to roll his eyes again.
"Yes, Henry, I expect you to help make the plants grow. This village, which is the first of a number of villages we are going to visit in the northern part of the kingdom, is growing food for the rest of the people in this kingdom. The better the crops grow, the more yield there will be, and the less likely we'll have people starving in the winter. So get up off your butt and let's get to work."
"And we're going to do this in every village?" Henry asked as he pushed himself upright.
"No, not every village. We will help the crops to grow while the growing season is upon us, then we will help with the harvest. As we move through the kingdom, we will help with the mining as well, and anything else that falls under the purview of an Earth mage."
Henry groaned as he made his way down the stairs and back out into the summer sunlight. Staff in hand, he followed Cedric through the village and toward the fields that lay beyond the buildings. The closer they got, the farther the fields of crops seemed to stretch out away from them.
"How many fields are we casting the spell on?"
"All of them. That's why I took the room for two nights. We'll work until the farmers come in from the fields tonight, and we'll be back out just after dawn tomorrow."
Henry muttered unflattering things about his mentor as he took up a place at the head of a row of knee-high plants. Raising his staff, he ran his thumb over the symbol he needed for the growth spell before beginning to chant his spell. Closing his eyes, Henry could see the area of the field that his spell covered, and he took a few large steps to the side before casting the spell again. Slowly the prince made his way through the field, ensuring that none of the growing plants were left out. And when he finished the first field, Henry made his way to the next and started over again.