Breaking an Empire (12 page)

Those words of effusive praise ringing in his ears, Tarranau fled from the room, looking not to clean his robe, but to remove himself from the presence of that teacher. Tarranau’s first thought was to head to the cliffs for a view of the sea and a place of peace and quiet, but that option was stolen away when he looked upwards, for growing winds and grey clouds told Tarranau that a storm was coming. Up on those sheer rock walls, there would be no barrier between him and the wind and rain, and fog could easily disguise the drop from the cliff’s edge.

Tarranau shuddered as he remembered the events of the spring of this year, when a young student had fallen from the crags, and thus the apprentice turned his feet from the path to the cliffs, heading instead to the harbour, where an open bar and a few coins would let him forget Magister Gothren for an hour or two.

Tarranau arrived at the bar to find that he was not the only student from the school. A few of the rough around the edge lads, ones who had been born into sailor families, had already gotten a start on the day’s drinking. The boys were swapping stories and talking with the fishermen and other denizens of the docks, the people amongst whom they had been born. Tarranau heard their raucous laughter from where he stood near the door, looking for a quiet table to sit and ponder Magister Gothren’s recent threat.

Spotting a booth in the back that looked quiet and small enough to discourage others from sitting with him, Tarranau went to the barkeep, getting a drink brewed from one of the seaweeds that grew along the shores of the island. Tossing a coin onto the bar, he sat in the booth with his back to the door and stretched his legs, enjoying a peaceable moment for the first time today. An image of the grim Gothren swam back into the forefront of his mind, causing him to reach for his drink and wonder what to do. Tarranau came from a family of mussel farmers, and it was expected that he would repay them by becoming a full-fledged ship’s mage, entitled to good pay, prime choice amongst the houses of Tregonethra, and eventually perhaps a position teaching at the school. However, a mage spent long hours, days, and weeks on ships, travelling from Tregonethra to Miath Mhor, up the coast to Arnich and Massick, or south and west to Buid, Dulais, Niam Liad, and even round the peninsula and through the islands to Bethra and the other westernmost towns. These were all long trips, some that might take months in either direction. After the first two weeks of the voyage, he would be eating salted pork and dried biscuits, living out of a cabin smaller than his room was now, with rancid water and the eternal rocking of a ship at sea.

While Tarranau knew many to whom that style of life appealed, he was not among them. The apprentice looked for a role where he could own a house and enjoy the comforts of home and fresh food, small things perhaps, but rare enough for those who would set out on the ocean. One of Tarranau’s friends, a young man who had completed his apprenticeship a year before, possessed no home and kept what few things he owned in a crate, using whatever room was spare on those few times that he spent days in port. Money was easy for a man who had nothing to pay for, but no house and no roots was not a life that Tarranau looked for, and so, with the end of his apprenticeship in sight, he wondered where he could go. He could work with the crops, helping the waters reach the plants, but this was a wet island and work of that sort was often unneeded. Beyond that, there were many minor tasks that could be done, but none of those would pay as well as a ship’s mage, leaving Tarranau in the predicament of turning his back on the poverty of his family, the anchor that kept him firmly attached to the prospect of being a ship’s mage, even if it was not what his heart desired.

Sipping at the dregs of his cup, Tarranau put his feet up and waved at the bartender to bring another one of the same over. Tarranau made sure the man noticed by placing two coins on the table in front of him, quickly swept up and replaced by a filled mug and a nod, the barkeep an experienced server who had seen many a person disappear into thoughts and drinks. Tarranau ignored the rumbling in his stomach and sank back into himself, seeing his face many years down the road, creased and weather beaten from salt and spray and wind, still alone and unmarried. He had spent too much time on the sea to have a wife and child, his parents were dead from old age, siblings gone their separate ways, and he was wealthy. It was a scenario that appealed not at all. However, no other option presented itself to Tarranau as he sat there, morosely staring into the fast emptying mug before him, thinking empty thoughts of wished for employment.

A few more mugs of that drink left Tarranau with a muddled head, and he began the slow process of crawling back through the evening twilight to the school. Too late for dinner, he made his way into the room where he slept, fumbling with the latch as his uncoordinated hands tried to remember how to open a lock. Inside, he stumbled to bed, not bothering to undress or perform his evening ablutions before collapsing in a tipsy stupor, sleep quickly enfolding a dark, thick blanket over him.

Tarranau awoke the next morning with a parched mouth and a throbbing head, reminding him of the morose and downbeat state of mind from the evening before. Struggling to the desk, he washed his face and drank some water, while his stomach complained bitterly about missing dinner. Tarranau went quickly to the food chamber, still dressed in the robes required, crumpled and worn after a night’s sleep. Grabbing at whatever seemed edible, he soon had a plate full of food, stuffing it down in order to make it to his class on time.

The bell rang while he was only halfway done, and Tarranau scampered off, blue robes swishing around him as he strode to his class room, a baked roll still in his hand, idly munching on it as he made his way across the campus. Sitting down on the bench, off to the side so he had a wall to lean against, Tarranau looked around, wondering where the rest of the students were, and why Magister Holbenth hadn’t filled the board with writing and assignments, as was usually his wont for the early morning classes. Shrugging and slumping against the wall for support, Tarranau waited there, trying to remember if he had missed an announcement that today would be a day spent studying water on the ocean. Unable to recall any such event, he waited a few minutes, napping against the wall, before deciding that wherever the class was, he had missed it anyway. Grabbing his things and straightening his robes, the student walked out of the class building, back towards his dormitory. Tarranau had half an hour before his next class, so he might as well freshen up some more.

“Oh blast, I forgot, today is rest day.” It was the one day a week where the students were not required to be learning, and could be the young boys that they were. Glancing around showed Tarranau a few other students sitting in normal clothing, laughing and chatting, having only just made their way out of bed into the bright sunshine of the morning. Smiling to himself at the realization that he had free time, the apprentice’s step lightened, a bounce coming into his stride as made his way to his room, changing into rougher, sturdier outdoor clothing, putting together a few pieces of food and drink to go with them, appropriate gear for climbing and hiking along the cliffs and seashores outside of the city. A grinning smile took him south out of Tregonethra, along the well worn road that branched into a dirt track as it left the urban sprawl behind and meandered up on the cliffs, glowing walls of stone constantly sprayed and battered with water. The roaring of the surf made a throbbing background noise, a low contrast to the high-pitched squawks of the sea birds as they fled along the cliff front, nesting in the crevices and little nooks dug into the face of the stone.

Tarranau continued walking, heading to a little spot that was rarely bothered by other people. It was a small cove set between the cliffs where they sloped down, forming a little inlet that had stone walls and a sandy floor, hemmed in by dunes that marked the high tide line. Here, he would often spend his rest days, sunning himself as he lay on the beach, freed from the stifling robes. Now he stood atop of the path down, where it curved from the westerly spit to the sandy beach. Grinning, Tarranau saw no one on his shore, and jogged down the path, eager to enjoy the rushing water and welcoming sand. Piling his food and clothes in a dent in the beach, he lay down, eyes entranced by the natural beauty of the surroundings, lit by brilliant sunshine reflected off of the blue waters of the sea. However, the apprentice had too much energy for contemplation this day and he dove into the waters, swimming out into the waves, enjoying the cooling feel of the ocean on his skin, a boy at play in a warm and welcoming sea.

He spent the rest of the day out there, alternately sunning himself in the warmth of the blue sky and swimming in the azure sea that flowed beneath, riding waves as they came up the little inlet onto the beach. Finally, the sun rolled down the horizon, deepening into the red as it touched the waves, and Tarranau gathered his things, squeezing what moisture he could out of his damp clothing. The remains of his food packed away, he headed up the path, watching the sun set, free of the nagging worries that had haunted him the day before. With little but idle thoughts on his mind, the student made it back to the school, grabbing some food to eat from the dining hall as he went to his room, sluicing himself down and cleaning away the salt of the ocean. Refreshed, exercised, and full, Tarranau collapsed into bed, dreams quickly snuffed out as deep sleep overcame him.

“Dammit, Holbenth, bring that lantern over here. I want good light when I find what I’m looking for. That boy has never performed as well in my classes as he has as anyone else’s, and I’m sure he’s doing it just to show me up. This is probably his idea of revenge for being assigned extra work to make him catch up with the rest of his class. I’m sure its somewhere in his chest, that boy said he saw Tarranau carrying it this evening. Plus, no one had seen him since the morning. He was probably plotting how to get that amulet from me. Bloody insubordinate wretch of a child.” Magister Gothren’s invective trailed off, more from running out of air than from any lack of things to say. He had the upper half of his body in the chest at the foot of Tarranau’s bed, the contents strewn around the room, having been picked over as Magister Gothren searched. Magister Holbenth hovered nervously over him, carrying a lantern fired by oil rendered from fish. The light was fitful and not that bright, and Gothren continually muttered or yelled for more light, or light closer to him, or some other directive to Holbenth.

Tarranau came awake with a start at a particularly loud expletive from Gothren. “What? What are you doing in my room? Get out of my chest! Those are my things, and I’ll have them folded and put back, right now!”

Gothren extracted himself from the chest, stretched to his full height and walked over to the bed. He towered over Tarranau, who was trapped in the sheets and blankets, and groggy from waking up. “You, boy, have been accused of stealing a valuable amulet from my room, and reported as carrying that amulet by another student. Now, I am exercising my right as a senior teacher of this learning institution to search your room. Magister Holbenth is here as the required observer. You will sit still and not interfere with this investigation, or you will be presumed guilty for trying to interrupt my rightful act of search.” Gothren had been glaring down at Tarranau this whole time, and now turned his eyes toward the other teacher in the room, holding a glare no less stern than that given the student. “Holbenth, if he needs clothes, hand him a few of the ones already searched. And while you may like Tarranau as a student, I would suggest not doing anything foolish, unless you wish to join him on his way out of this school.”

“I… I’m sorry Tarranau. Magister Gothren woke me from my bed, handed me this lamp, and dragged me to your room. I don’t really know what is going on here any more than you do. I just wish we’d followed proper procedure, and waited till morning.”

Gothren spun away from the chest, his eyes locking onto Magister Holbenth’s. “Wait till morning? Wait till morning? Had I been so foolish and inept as to do that, my amulet would have been gone, disappearing with that child” his arm waving at Tarranau, “probably to be sold down on the docks to whatever trader would offer him a half acceptable price. And this is the proper procedure, dolt, and I’ll not have you questioning my motives. Now tie your mouth shut and bring that lamp here, so I can see what I’m doing.”

Holbenth gave Tarranau a resigned shrug, indicating there was nothing that he could do in this situation, and that they all just needed to play along. Tarranau gestured at a few of the clothes laying around the room, and the Magister handed them to the apprentice, who dressed himself, feeling a little more appropriate and less vulnerable now that he was properly clothed. Even so, there was nothing Tarranau could do, aside from watch Gothren tear and paw through his clothes and belongings.

It went on for some time, with Magister Gothren grubbing around in every pocket and seam, searching for the lost amulet. He finally came to the bottom of the chest, emptied and with no amulet to show for it, and rounded on Tarranau. “Where did you hide my amulet you little scamp? I know it’s in this room! I will find it, and you will show me where it is! And for your own safety, you shall not have sold that amulet already or I will exercise every ounce of my power to see you ruined, your family ruined, and your career so destroyed that you will have to flee this island and lie about your very name to earn a job as a ditch digger. Find me that amulet!”

Magister Holbenth placed his hand on Gothren’s shoulder, easing him upright from where he had been bent over Tarranau, shouting directly into the apprentice’s face. Holbenth took a step back when Gothren’s eyes turned on him, but steadied and regained some composure. “I do think you’re being too hard on the boy, Gothren. After all, have you considered that if you don’t find the amulet here, someone else might have hidden it, and that Tarranau might not be the one who took it? After all, he is a well regarded student here at the school.”