The Reluctant Mage: Book One in the Zandar Series (12 page)

“Yes ma’am. My name is Marko Kunich. I am starting my internship today.”

“Welcome, Vendeur Marko I am Hôtesse Madeleine. I was told you would be reporting here this morning. I will escort you to Journeyman Pollet. Mademoiselle Clarice, please excuse us.” Another lady got up from a stool in the back of the open room and walked over to the desk. To Marko she looked no older than eighteen.

Marko followed the women through the back doorway to a courtyard behind the compound wall. Marko had never seen the material on the courtyard grounds. It was the same gray color as the stone walls but was completely flat. It was also very hard like stone.

In front of them at the back of the compound was a huge mansion. It was made of stone with what looked to be copper roofing. The fact that it was not tarnished surprised Marko.
Do they actually have someone that cleans the roof regularly?

They turned right and approached a modest sized, single story building. The lady paused at the door and Marko realized he was supposed to open it for her. She nodded to him as she stepped inside. The entire entry room was made entirely of wood. The floors looked to be oak but the walls were paneled in some type of wood that had swirls and large knots. It was stained in a honey color. Two small desks were placed in the room facing the door. A young man not much older than Marko looked up.

“Mademoiselle Clarice. A pleasure as always. I assume you have brought Marko to us?”

“I have indeed, Vendeur Pierre. Good luck, Monsieur Kunich.” With that she turned and walked out of the room. Marko was quick to open the door for her.

“Well. You have more manners than I would have expected for an orphan.”

Marko turned around and stared at the young man. “And what manners were you expecting?”

“Now don’t get snippy with me, orphan. Just because Pollet decided to make you his little experiment doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“Well I am glad we have that straightened out…Pierre…was it?” Marko was fuming at the rudeness of this boy. He did not want to make enemies but he needed to establish his right to be an employee at House Lazard. He had expected this type of reaction.

Pierre looked like he was about to say something but stopped himself. He pointed behind him and went back to his paperwork.

Marko walked down the short hallway until he saw a sign that read simply “Pollet”. He knocked on the door and immediately heard, “Come in.” Marko walked into a small office consisting of a desk, a bookshelf, and two chairs.

“Ah, Marko, welcome. Have a seat. Get here ok?”

“It is good to be here, sir. Mademoiselle Clarice was most helpful in getting me to the outside door.”

Pollet looked at Marko and nodded his head. “Pierre, you mean. Yes, well, not everyone agreed with the decision to bring you on. Marko you need to understand that. Master Andre made the decision and he did so without even meeting you. That shows a high level of confidence in my and your teacher’s recommendation. Pierre’s younger brother did not get selected for an internship this year. Don’t worry about him. He only has four months of seniority over you. That means he has no influence with the House.”

“Now, here are two sets of House uniforms for you. You are expected to wear them anytime you are in the compound, travelling to and from it and on assignment. Now, we need to meet with Master Andre. Here is a bag for your orphan clothes and your spare uniform. Go and change. I will meet you outside.”

After Pollet left his office, Marko studied his new uniform. His pants and shirts were deep purple. The material was wool, but of a much finer quality than his school uniform. His tunic was made of green but fringed in purple like Pollet’s. There was also a scale embroidered on the chest in gold colored thread. He did not know what to do with his bag of clothes but figured Pollet did not want him to carry it to his meeting; so he set it down on the floor.

He left the building with Pollet and began walking across the courtyard. “I will give you a quick overview of what you are seeing and what we want to accomplish in our meeting. The bigger the building, the more important it is to our House. Make note that I said “our” House. When you wear that uniform you represent everyone in it including High Master Lazard.”

“The building we are walking towards is the Masters’ building. That is where all negotiation, contract signing, etc takes place. We just left the Journeyman building. We provide a tracking function for the House. We are on top of every trade, every delivery and every payment made to our House and the Guild. We pay the Guild tax which is then paid to the Empire.”

“There are eleven Masters and thirty Journeymen stationed at Rau City. There are always at least three of each on duty around the clock. There are another ten Masters and fifty Journeymen in other parts of the Empire. That includes down at the docks compound.”   

“We are meeting with Master Andre. You will always address each merchant of rank, that is Journeyman and Master by the way, by their title and first name. Outside of the House you will hear people address them by their title and last name. We use the familiar name because we are of the same family.”

“Master Andre is one of the junior masters. He is in his mid-thirties. He is in charge of employment as you know, but also focuses on our cannon production. The Imperial Navy is our customer, but we have made some inroads with the Army. I think he got the cannons because no other master wanted them. We have lost money on the product for the past three years.”

“Our first goal in the meeting is to not have you say anything offensive. I am feeling good about that one. The second is that he believes you are competent. He has taken much on faith, and now your performance is a reflection on him to the other masters.”

“I will do my best, Journeyman Alexander,” Marko smiled. “I remembered from class.”

“Continue to keep those ears and eyes open. Trust me, everyone else here will.”

As they approached the large manor house a soldier, a sergeant Marko guessed by the chevron on his arm, walked up to them.

“Journeyman Alexander, Master Andre asked that I lead you and Marko to the training grounds. He just arrived from the research building.”

The sergeant led them to the left of the manor house and in between a stables and what Marko assumed were the guards’ barracks.

Pollet turned to Marko as they walked. “Most of the guards are on convoy duty. We have a capacity of fifty bunks and stalls here. Many of the guards you see here have retired from the Royal Calvary. Each is an expert rider. They also provide messenger services between our compounds and outposts.”

Just when Marko tried to guess the difference between a compound and an outpost, they stopped in the middle of a small courtyard. It reminded Marko of Teacher Rakan’s training circle at the orphanage.

A middle-aged man stood up from a bench and walked over to them.   

“There you are, Alexander. I see you brought our intern in tow.”

“May I introduce Marko to you, Master?”

“Well met Marko. I am sure Alexander already told you who I am. Probably mentioned that I am a junior master? Well, he is right. I still have to work for a living. Now, let’s see if your resume is accurate, shall we? Sergeant Toller?”

The man standing next to Marko, came to attention. “Yes Master!”

“I would like you to spar with Vendeur Marko, here. Padded leathers and wood swords please.”

The sergeant walked over to a large closet under a small awning and opened a large door. Padded armor lined the wall. Marko noticed that the quality was much better than the supply at the orphanage. The soldier walked over to Marko and handed him a set of leathers and a short sword. Marko was surprised to note that the sword was approximately the same weight and length as his Imperial blade. The practice sword was also better quality than the ones he sparred with. The guard was made of a wire basket and the handle was wrapped in leather.

The sergeant finished preparing and nodded to Marko. “Ready when you are, sir.”

It took Marko a moment to realize that the soldier had called him “sir”. All he did was put on the House uniform. He did not feel like he deserved any different treatment.

They both walked to the middle of the compound and saluted each other. The sparring went similar to the match against the Imperial soldier. This time Marko did not try any unarmed styles. He merely deflected the sergeant’s attacks. The sergeant either did not know any advanced forms or could not be bothered to raise the skill of the match. Marko was more than happy to wait him out.

Just after the sergeant backed off after a prolonged attack sequence, Marko heard, “That’s good enough.” Master Andre walked up to the soldier and patted him on the shoulder. “Thank you for your time, sergeant. Please pay my respects to Kapetan Mille.”

After Marko put away his equipment, the master turned to Marko. “Well, it seems that your skills with steel are not exaggerated. Alexander and I have talked over where to place you. Although we have an opening working in the Journeymen’s office, I don’t think that is the best fit for you. We have a shipment going to Sibenik in two days. I am assigning you to Journeyman Maurice. He is in charge of the shipment.”

“But Master, I am a student at the orphanage. I am supposed to go back every evening.”

“Don’t worry about that Marko. I am sure your headmaster will be more than happy to save some money on food. Alexander will send a note back with you this evening. Now, it was a pleasure meeting you young man. I wish you luck.” With that the man turned around and walked purposefully away.

Alexander walked Marko back to his office. “I am sure you know the orphanage’s rules by now. Here is a copy of the House’s. Study them the next two nights. Any master or journeyman is within their rights to quiz any vendeur about them. It does not matter if you just started or have been passed over for promotion many times. You are expected to know and follow each one. Reputation makes a House. The way we behave matters to our success as much as our performance. Now follow me up front.”

Marko followed Alexander to the reception area. “Pierre. I want you to instruct Marko on ledger entries for arms shipments. Use the one that came in yesterday as a reference. I want him to be able to make accurate entries by the end of day tomorrow.”

Notwithstanding Pierre’s attitude, Marko had to concede that he was competent in his job. He even managed to make it through most of the day without referencing Marko’s social class. What Marko found most interesting was the way the House referenced everything they shipped. He was not surprised that they took meticulous records of the goods shipped. But they also tracked the horses, wagons even the food the soldiers were issued prior to the trip. Marko blanched a bit when he saw an entry for “returned food.” He hoped that would not be reissued on his trip!

At the end of the day, Marko trudged back to the orphanage. He was not physically tired but he had acquired a pounding headache. Reading was one thing, but studying numbers and referencing them across ledgers was mentally exhausting.

Marko arrived just in time for dinner. He was starved. Marko saw the journeymen filing out of the building at noon, but Pierre had told Marko that there were far too busy to break for lunch. He suspected Pierre was sneaking snacks when Marko was off running various errands during the afternoon. He did not see any of his friends in the hall so he sat at the white’s table and chatted with his new colleagues.

The next day turned out to be much like the first sans the sparring. The only difference was that Pierre seemed to be quiet, and almost, but not quite polite. Marko helped him to record a delivery of wool that morning. In the afternoon, Marko learned how to write a shipment summary. It listed the delivered value of the shipment minus all costs. He found the cost calculation to be much more difficult. Marko had to take into consideration the amount of goods that were found to be unusable. He also factored in the pay of the guards. He was curious to learn that the three House employees’ costs were not taken into consideration. Pierre said they were a fixed cost and went on to explain why that cost was not considered in the profitability of the delivery.

That evening Marko walked back to the orphanage, mentally running through a list of things he needed to pack. Pollet told him to expect the trip to last two weeks. Marko knew that Sibenik was a large military outpost along the border. He did not know that it was also the largest House trading outpost. In fact, every major and minor house had some sort of presence in Sibenik.

When he arrived back in his room, Baltar was sitting at this desk. “There you are! I thought I was sentenced to a night of math problems. Now I have an excuse to get out of these walls.”

“Sorry Baltar, I’ve got to pack tonight. Tomorrow’s my big trip!”

“Nonsense. We can’t have you go on your little merchant adventure without giving you a send-off. The boys would never hear of it. Plus, you have not shown off that spiffy House Lazard uniform. Let’s go collect Tolkar and Klor. I am afraid the rest have duty tonight.”

When Marko walked into the Rusted Crown, he noticed that most of the tables were empty in the main room. Baltar gave a smile and nod to the bartender and headed upstairs. On the way over Marko was pestered with questions from the three fellow whites. Klor went as far as saying that the orphanage might as well graduate Marko. His argument was that if House Lazard would take him on extended duty, then Marko had no chance to attend classes. Marko had to admit that he had a good point.

After they sat down at the upstairs bench a serving girl walked up to them. She immediately approached Marko. “Welcome to the Rusted Crown, sir. We have a fine ale this evening, or will it be wine you’ll be having?”

“Uh, ale will be fine. Perhaps you can bring some for my friends, too?”

The young woman smiled. “Certainly, sir.” She turned around and quickly rushed back downstairs.

Baltar started laughing. “Well if that does not beat all! We whites can’t get anything good to drink and we have been coming here for years. Marko strolls in wearing a house uniform and the bar maid practically swoons over him.”

“Not to mention Marko scored us to ale too!” said Klor.

“What about ale?”

Marko looked up and saw Margaret standing next to him with Anne right behind her.

“Hi, Margaret. Marko here is working for House Lazard. He leaves on a caravan tomorrow. We are giving him a send off. That maid did not recognize him in his uniform. So now we are celebrating in style with ale!”

“Congratulations, Marko. You look very nice in that uniform.” Margaret winked at Marko as she sat down next to him. “What do you think, Anne? Care to join  in the festivities?”

Anne sat down across from the two and blushed. “I guess one can’t hurt. Especially seeing as Marko will be leaving us? You will be leaving us, won’t you?”

“Well, the caravan should take a week to get to Sibenik. Then a week back. I have been told that we could turn around immediately or spend at least a few days there. It is the largest office besides the one here, so I shouldn’t have to wait long.”

Margaret smiled and leaned over to Marko. “That sounds exciting. I can’t wait to graduate and travel. Do you think you can get me a job at House Lazard?”

Marko froze. Margaret was leaning in a little too close. He looked over at Anne and she frowned. “Well, I am not really an employee of the House. I am just an intern. I have to prove myself to them first. If I can convince them that lowborns have a place in the House, then that will open the doors for others.” Marko looked across the table. “How about you Anne? Would you like to work for the House, too?”

Anne looked up and a smile played across her face. “Yes, Marko. That would be wonderful. I am not sure what skills the houses need. How did you get your job?”

Much of the first round of drinks was spent talking about the various houses and how orphans might convince them to give them jobs. Tolkar had an interesting idea about having orphans join the house guards without serving in the army. His argument was that there were plenty of house guards that could train a newly graduated orphan and that the orphans would not cost nearly as much as a veteran to employ. Marko knew that not requiring orphans bent on a military career to bypass the Imperial Army or Navy would be difficult. The Emperor needed every soldier he could muster. Tolkar countered this by saying that many orphans are not accepted by the Army due to some physical condition. If a man could not march in the infantry, it should not stop him from being an archer in a house caravan.
 

Anne also had an intriguing idea; one that Marko had no way of knowing its viability. Anne’s ancestors had been farmers. She said that they would sell their harvest to a co-operative. The co-operative was mostly a collection of local farmers. The co-operative would hire a local factor to represent them to the trading houses. She said that the factors were the richest people in any town. The rumors have always been that factors cheated the co-operatives and skimmed off the profits of the transaction. Anne’s idea was for a house to negotiate directly with the co-operative. This way the house and the co-operative could share in the savings of eliminating the factor from the transaction. Marko had no way of knowing the amount of savings that could be realized from Anne’s idea, but made a mental note of following up on it.

When the evening ended, everyone was feeling very happy. Marko’s throat was sore from several ballads the boys had sung for the girls. It was one of the best nights Marko could remember. The best part was when they got up to leave. Anne hung back as the boys began walking down the stairs to the door.

“You know Marko, Margaret was right about you. You do look nice in that uniform. Please come back safe.” She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on his right cheek.

Marko could not remember the walk back to the Orphanage. He knew Baltar and the other boys were talking and cracking jokes, but he could not focus.
She kissed me! Anne actually kissed me!

Marko woke up early the next morning. His backpack was already packed and he double checked his sword for nicks. He had so much energy with what had happened last night and this impending trip, that he could not stay in his bed any longer. He actually ran around the Orphanage for a mark before he felt rested enough to eat breakfast. Marko left the Orphanage after several handshakes and a few hugs. He even bumped into Headmaster Sorrell when he was walking towards the gate.

“Good luck, Marko. The whole faculty wishes you fortune on your journey. I can’t express how important this trip is not just for you, but for the entire Orphanage. You represent an opportunity for all the students here and ones to come.”

As Marko walked through the streets, he considered the Headmaster’s words. Did he really want to accept all that responsibility? How would he behave any differently knowing that he is representing the Orphanage as well as himself?
No difference at all
, he thought. This opportunity would put him on his path for the rest of his career.