Ascendant (22 page)

It was Koren
’
s turn to grit his teeth.
As much as he wanted to tell Bart that he had saved the princess, not once but
three times, while the princess
’
personal guards had floundered uselessly in the water, he had
promised Paedris that he would stick to the agreed story.
“
She fell into the water
when the boat flipped over-
“

“
Ha!
”
Bart scoffed.
“
What I hear, is you fell
into the water, tripped over your own feet and fell in, and she rescued you.
Sounds a lot more likely a story, right, boys?   Or you want us to
believe fairy tales about you scaring away a bear, and a pack o
’
bandits?
”
All the servants laughed
at that.

“
You know what else I hear?
”
Bart continued.
“
I hear you
’
re a jinx, you
’
re cursed. Cursed, and
there must be a reason for a curse like that, don
’
t happen for no reason. What
’
d you do, to get a curse
like that?
”

“
I
’
m not a jinx! Paedris says
there is no such thing!
”

Bart shook his
head slowly.
“
Boys,
he
’
s as
gullible as he is stupid. Course the wizard told you you
’
re not a jinx! Told you
what you want to hear, he did. Why you think he
’
s got you living in his tower? So he can keep
an eye on you, and stop your curse from hurting anyone else, that
’
s why! It
’
s plain as the nose on
your face to anyone else, you
’
re
too dumb to see the truth.
”

Koren paused,
mouth open. He had been thinking of a good insult to throw at Bart, but the
other boy
’
s
words struck him. There was a ring of truth to what Bart said. The wizard had
only offered to let Koren live with him,
after
Koren told him about
being a terrible, dangerous jinx.

Bart laughed
and pointed at Koren.
“
Look
at that mouth open! A mouth like that needs a hook in it, doesn
’
t it, fishy?
”

“
Shut up!
”
Was all Koren could think
to say in return, any clever insults had temporarily left his brain.

Bart was
encouraged by Koren
’
s
obvious anger.
“
Another
thing, your parents abandoned you? I don
’
t
blame them. Any ungrateful son like you deserves to get dumped in the woods.
”

“
I am not ungrateful!
”
Koren shot back hotly.

“
Oh, no? Your family was
forced out of their home, because of you. You caused all the trouble, you
stinking, cursed
jinx
. The decent thing to do was for you to run away by
yourself, and not make your parents leave their home, because of you.
”

“
I, I didn
’
t-
”
Koren didn
’
t know what to say.

“
Admit it! You didn
’
t care about your par-
”
Bart
’
s thought was cut off,
when a hand grabbed the back of his shirt collar and yanked him back roughly.

“
Bart!
”
Cully said as he released
hold of the other boy
’
s
shirt collar.
“
You
making trouble again, with your pack o
’
ruffians? Shirking, when you should be working?
”

“
Stay out of this, Cully!
”
Bart warned.

“
Cully, I can fight my own
battles.
”
Koren
said, but Bart
’
s
words about how he should have run away, and saved his parents from being
exiled, that stung him badly, and he didn
’
t
have much fight left in him.

Cully edged
sideways to stand next to Koren.
“
Yeah,
but you doesn
’
t
always have to fight your battles alone. Shoulda told you about old Bart here,
the big lummox, he don
’
t
like to see anyone working round the castle, makes him look bad.
”

“
I
’
m warning you, Cully!
”
Bart shouted as he raised
his fists, looking around the courtyard to judge whether it was safe, for the
moment, to get into a brawl.

“
And I
’
m warning you, Bart
Lummox, that I
’
ve
thumped you before, and I
’
ll
thump you again.
”
Cully
stood his ground, not afraid of the bigger boy.
“
Now, you git! Git outa here, or I
’
ll thump you bad enough,
you
’
ll be
shirking in the hospital.
”

Bart took a
step back. Cully had thumped him before, twice before. The smaller boy was
surprisingly fast, and Cully fought
dirty
. Bart saw the stricken look on
Koren
’
s face,
and knew he had hurt the wizard
’
s
brat badly enough with his words, fist weren
’
t needed. And trouble would only get Bart
assigned more working, and less shirking.
“
Bah,
”
Bart scoffed with a wave
of his hand toward Koren,
“
his
lordship
’
s not
worth our time, boys, let
’
s
leave him here with his servant Cully.
”

Cully helped
Koren carry the firewood to the wizard
’
s
tower, then left, warning Koren to avoid Bart Loman. And also warning that, if
Koren continued to dine at the palace like he was royalty, he shouldn
’
t be surprised that some
people, Cully included, got irritated at the special treatment.

Koren hauled
the firewood up the stairs in several trips, and stacked it, and added some
logs to the fire in the chamber where the wizard was working. When Koren
brought lunch to the wizard, he paused on his way out the door, and asked
“
Paedris, sir, um, are you
sure I
’
m not a
jinx? That, you
’
re
not using your wizard power to stop me from hurting people, from making bad
things happen?
”

“
What? Of course not, what
a ridiculous idea. Who told you that?
”
Paedris was a powerful, master wizard. Unfortunately, he was also
a terribly unskilled liar; while he spoke, he tried to smile, but the smile was
not in his eyes. The frozen smile on his lips didn
’
t convince Koren at all.

“
Oh, no one. I, uh, was
just wondering.
”
Koren
knew Paedris was lying.

“
Well, you don
’
t listen to such silly
ideas, Koren.
”

“
I won
’
t, sir. Can I get more
wood for the fire?
”

“
No, no, I
’
m fine. Are you all right?
”

“
Yes, sure. I
’
m, um, going to eat. Enjoy
your lunch, sir.
”
Koren
went to his own room, where he sat on the bed, looking at his own plate of
food, then pushed it away. He didn
’
t
feel like eating.

Bart
’
s words had stung him,
because Koren knew they were the truth. Why hadn
’
t he left, on his own, without causing his
parents to be exiled from the land they owned, the successful farm they had
built themselves? He had been a bad son, an ungrateful son. It wasn
’
t his parent
’
s fault that their son was
a jinx.

Tears rolled
down Koren
’
s
cheeks, and he wiped them away angrily. His father had told him that moping around
and feeling sorry for yourself didn
’
t
do anyone good. If you did something bad, hurt people you care about, then do
something to make up for it. Or, at least, resolve not to do it again.

Koren stood
up, went to the washbasin, and cleaned his hands and face. Then he got changed
into his best clothes, scrounged up a few coins that Paedris had given him, and
walked down the stairs.

Crebbs Ford
had been too small, too poor to have a church, instead a priest had come
through the town twice a year, in Spring and during harvest season. The priest
performed weddings, blessed people
’
s
crops and animals, and sometimes conducted a ceremony under the big oak tree in
front of the Golden Trout, if the weather was nice. Koren
’
s parents had only brought
him into town twice to see priests, he remembered the first priest was an old
man, who seemed tired, bored and anxious to get onto the next village. The
second priest was a cheerful young woman, who had happily blessed the Bladewell
’
s best cow. Koren had
liked her. Within the walls of the castle, on the side opposite the wizard
’
s tower, was a chapel for
the royal family, although anyone could go there. Koren walked up the steps,
pulled open one of the doors, and looked inside the cozy building. In the
middle of the day, the chapel was empty.
“
Hello?
”
Koren called out, and
stepped inside, carefully closing the door behind him. As it wasn
’
t cold inside the chapel,
someone must have a fire going in one of the side chambers.

Koren had
never been inside a church, certainly nothing as grand as the royal chapel. The
ceiling soared high above him, and the inside of the thick stone walls were
painted a cheery blue. Tall windows along both sides were made of colored
glass, depicting scenes of people doing good deeds; healing the sick, defending
the weak, helping each other. Koren walked along one wall, gawking up at the
beautiful windows, until he came to a window which showed a farm family;
mother, father, son and daughter. The family looked happy, grateful for the
help of their neighbors to harvest their crops. Koren reached up and traced the
outline of the son with his fingertips. He remembered times like the one
depicted in the window; families in Crebbs Ford always helped each other at
planting and harvesting time.

Koren backed away
from the window. The son
’
s
eyes in the painting were staring at him, following him as he moved. Staring at
him, accusingly. It was creepy. He turned away from the window.
“
Hello? Mother Furliss?
”
He called out the name of
the priest who called the chapel her home; Koren had met the kindly older woman
once, when she had come to visit Paedris.

“
Hah?
”
A man
’
s voice answered.
“
What do you want?
”
Whoever the man was, he
sounded irritated.

“
I, uh, I
’
m looking for Mother
Furliss? And, um, and I have a donation for the church, sir?
”

“
A donation, you say?
”
A rather unhappy-looking,
almost bald man stepped out from a side chamber, still holding a chicken leg.
He finished chewing, and wiped his mouth of the sleeve of his brown priest
robes.
“
Oh.
”
Seeing Koren, the man
’
s face fell. A servant was
unlikely to bring a substantial sum as a donation. Hardly worth the priest
’
s time.
“
Give it here, boy.
”

Koren was
uncertain, he thought donations went into a box, but the priest held out his
hand, so Koren gave him the coins. The man frowned, bit into one of the coins
to test it was real, and slipped them inside his robes.
“
Mother Furliss isn
’
t here, she
’
s out in the city this
week, caring for the sick. I
’
m
Father Gruch.
”
Gruch
’
s home church lay on the
outskirts of the city, he only was assigned to the royal chapel a couple times
a year, when Mother Furliss was called elsewhere. If it had been entirely up to
Mother Furliss, Gruch would stay in his home chapel, but she needed to give all
the priests under her care a chance to serve in the royal chapel.