The Reluctant Mage: Book One in the Zandar Series (9 page)

The semester began to set into a routine for Marko. He began to like the contrast of learning through lectures and as practical demonstration. During the next few weeks, several guild representatives came into the orphanage to lecture about their career field.  Several of them gave a completely different feel for the field than the Teacher who had lectured on the subject.

The two remaining representatives to visit were the ones he was most interested in: the Imperial Army and the Merchants Guild.  He had pestered Teacher Brasilav to give him more information on the Merchants’ representative, but he said that they usually don’t choose someone until the day before the lecture. He mentioned that very few graduates from the orphanage get selected by the Merchants, so typically a low level guild journeyman conducts the lecture.

That was a completely different scenario from the Imperial Army. Many graduates, it seemed went into the army. Marko felt confident that his “dream training” would serve him well. He had left all his fellow students in the Steel class far behind. On third day of that week, the courtyard bell rang shortly after lunch for a general meeting in the huge, front courtyard. When Marko walked out of the commissary with his friends, his eyes nearly dropped out of his head. There were at least two squads of infantry lined up in formation! Their uniforms were perfect, with the Imperial eagle proudly displayed on the front of their leather armor.

A wooden podium had been dragged out to the center of the courtyard with two people standing on it. Marko instantly recognized Headmaster Sorrell, but he wasn’t wearing his blue tunic. Instead he had on a set of armor complete with a steel chest plate with the same eagle on it. There was a gorget around his neck, but Marko could not see the design on it from where he was standing. He had never seen an Imperial infantry officer before, but the headmaster’s uniform looked much like the one his father used to wear. The gorget marked him as a former senior officer. His father told him that gorgets were for majors and above.

The man next to the headmaster was obviously an officer too, but much younger. By his uniform, Marko guessed that he was a kapetan.  He saw two lieutenants standing next to their squads. They too were standing at attention.

“Students. We are honored today to receive Kapetan Vuk and two squads of 2nd Company, 1
st
Battalion.  As many of you know, I retired as a Majer of 1
st
Battalion. It is my honor as headmaster to announce 1
st
Battalion as the selectors of our graduate assessment this semester.”

“Members of the 2
nd
and 3
rd
squads are here today to assess our whites for selection into the Imperial Infantry. Sergeants will be coming by to pair you up with a soldier. Each student will be issued a practice blade, but each soldier will be using steel. If you do not think you can properly defend yourself, you may decline the assessment. There is no shame for you or the school. We have sixty-four whites in attendance. Our quota to the Imperial Army is forty-five. Hold your head up high and do us proud!”

The headmaster took a step back and the kapetan ordered his troops into action. Lieutenants and sergeants began walking around the group of whites and moving them into small groups where they were paired up with a soldier. Teacher Rakan and an assistant handed each white a practice sword. The rest of the students moved around the courtyard to get the best view possible. When everyone was paired up, Marko counted that fifty-five whites agreed to go through the assessment. The others, he noticed, were the smallest of the group. A couple of them had noticeable limps. They remained in the courtyard with the rest of the students.

Marko was impressed with the skill and control of the soldiers. They seemed to challenge each student’s ability without landing any serious blows. He even saw one soldier pull a strike that he was sure would have connected with a student’s shoulder.

Out of the corner of his eye, Marko noticed a peculiar thing. Baltar was also sparring with a soldier. His red tunic stood out amongst all the whites in the courtyard. From what he could see Baltar was holding his own. In fact, he thought Baltar showed more skill than most of the whites out there.

“Look, there’s another red,” said Tiber next to him. Tiber has just come back to the school. He had to work his father’s farm, while is father was ill. “The headmaster must be hedging his bets on filling the quota.”

“That makes sense,” said Marko. “When I first met the headmaster, he said something about already missing his quota.”

Marko turned to look at the headmaster who was talking to the kapetan. They both turned around and looked directly at Marko; like they could read his mind. The kapetan called one of his sergeants over and spoke to him briefly. The sergeant looked over at Marko too, but with confusion on his face. He shrugged and began walking over to the two boys.

“Which one of you is Marko Kunich?”

“I am, sergeant,” Marko spoke up.

“Come with me, then. It appears that I will personally be sparring with you this morning.”

Marko followed the sergeant in a daze. There were only two reds taking the assessment and not a single brown. Why was a gray being selected?

They stopped in an open area right in front of the podium. Marko noticed that the headmaster and kapetan both looked on with interest.

“Here you go.”

Marko turned and saw that Teacher Rakan was holding a practice sword to him. “Just remember your training, and you will do well.” With that he gave Marko a wink and walked away.

The sergeant cleared his throat. “All right, gray. I want you to spend a few minutes defending my attacks. If you become too tired or are injured in anyway, say “Yield!” immediately. That does not mean you failed. Rather it is to make sure you do not sustain any series injury. Are you ready?”

As soon as Marko nodded his head, the sergeant began attacking him with a series of strikes. His technique and control was flawless. Marko wondered if the sergeant was in fact a weapons instructor in the army.

After a few minutes, the sergeant stepped back. “Ok. You have basic competency in defense. I am going to change the types of attacks and pick up the speed. Remember, you can yield at any time.”

Marko nodded his head again and the sergeant attacked. Both Marko and the sergeant began to sweat as they moved much more quickly. A couple of times Marko came close to backing into the podium. He knew he would be hard pressed to block or dodge the attacks if the podium cut off his options. He made a point of recovering to his left, away from the podium, whenever he had the opportunity.

Suddenly the sergeant stopped his attacks. He heard his name being shouted across the courtyard. “
Marko…Marko…Marko
” He looked over and saw Tiber, Ivan and few other grays shouting his name. At first he thought they wanted his attention.  Then he realized they were cheering him on. He had been so focused on defending against the attacks that he had not heard them.

“Your defensive skills are more than adequate. We will switch roles now. You will be attacking and I will only defend. You are expected to deploy any attack form you have been taught. Do not worry if you do not score a hit. Rarely does that ever happen against a soldier. The point of this assessment is to reveal your form, control and stamina. If you are ready, attack me.”

Marko nodded his head and considered how he should approach this phase of the fight. He decided that he would start with the basic forms taught by the orphanage. He attacked the sergeant and saw that he deployed many of the same defensive forms that Marko had just used. Marko never came close to scoring a hit and only rarely met the sergeant’s sword with anything other than a glancing blow.
This attack will tire me out well before him
, Marko thought.

He decided to change tactics. Marko did not increase his speed but did begin deploying attack forms Stranac taught him. Although his practice sword was longer than the short sword he practiced with, he was able to get the point of his sword at the correct spot of the attack most of the time. He was rewarded several times with a loud
Crack
when his sword met the sergeant’s after a hasty block.

What if I deploy unarmed forms?
Marko noticed several attack forms that the sergeant did not block well.
I need to finish this soon. My arm is about to fall off my body
he thought.

Marko stepped forward and lunged with his sword. The sergeant swept his sword down like he had done before to try to pin Marko’s sword to the ground. Only this time, Marko released his grip on this sword and continued to move behind the sergeant. He brought his foot down on the sergeants left calf forcing his knee to the ground. Marko spun quickly and drove his palm down on the sergeant’s back.

The sergeant went face first into the courtyard. To Marko’s admiration, the sergeant never lost the grip on his sword. He rolled on the ground and came quickly up to his feet.

“Point to the Orphanage.”

Marko looked up and saw the smiling face of Headmaster Sorrell looking down at him. The kapetan stepped forward and said curtly, “Concur.” He looked sharply at the sergeant. Marko turned to look at his opponent. “Unorthodox. I wasn’t expecting your style. You weren’t taught that here, were you?”

Again, Marko thought about his dreams. “No, Sergeant. My father taught me unarmed as well as steel combat. He was retired from the Imperial Army, Eagle Regiment.”

The sergeant gave a smirk and said, “Training even after retirement. He honors the Eagles.” The sergeant abruptly brought his sword handle up to his chin in a salute and walked away.

Marko…Marko…Marko
.  He turned around and noticed that his friends had begun their chant again.
Marko…Marko…Marko
. This time most of the grays, browns and reds joined in the chant. It appeared that his match was the center of attention. Marko was embarrassed until he realized that the headmaster did not say that Marko had scored the point, but the orphanage. His point was a victory for all of the students. Marko did the only thing he could think of in response to the honor that was being shown him. He slowly picked up his practice sword, turned towards his fellow students and copied the salute he had seen the sergeant perform. The school erupted in cheering.
This has been a good day.

The rest of the day and the following were a blur to Marko. Students and even Teachers were regularly coming up and congratulating him. He was not sure how he felt about his newfound fame. He was proud of his score in the assessment, but he thought he had been lucky. The sergeant did not know that Marko had unarmed combat skills. Had he known, Marko was sure he would have defended himself better.

At End Day, Marko woke up with a smile. It was not from the improvement Stranac said he displayed. Today he would hear the lecture from the Merchant’s Guild representative. He could hardly concentrate during his Administration class. Besides, the orphanage often went a semester without a student being chosen for the Imperial Bureaucracy. He guessed it was ok to learn how the government functioned, but the class dealt more with forms and processes than real workings of the government. Not like the Merchants’ Guild. Even the lowest clerk in the Guild could find himself sailing on a ship to Kiev or analyzing the silver yield at some far away mine. Not to mention that it was the Guild Masters who live in the mansions on top of the City’s hills.
Not a bad incentive to do well.

When he walked into the classroom he saw his teacher talking with a man in a green tunic fringed in purple cloth. His teacher waited until all the students were seated before he softly cleared his throat.

“Class, we are honored today to have a guest lecturer representing the Merchants’ Guild. Joining us today is Journeyman Pollet from the House Lazard. He has been briefed on our progress this semester through the curriculum. I have asked him to focus his lecture on those areas we have covered. Journeyman Pollet will also be taking applications for House Lazard internships. There is no guarantee of employment afterwards, but real-world experience in any Merchants’ Guild House, is not to be passed up.”

As his Teacher was further introducing the Journeyman and what to expect from his lecture, Marko studied the man.
He could not be a day older than twenty-three
, he thought. He was very thin and a few inches taller than Marko. His chin and nose reminded him of Maurice and several of the teachers at the orphanage.
An aristocrat
, he guessed.

“Thank you, Teacher Machon. I appreciate your kind words. I hope I live up to that introduction.” He smiled and turned to the class.

“During this lecture, I will explain the structure of our Guild, the role it plays in the Empire, and our expectations of new clerks.”

“First off, I was recently a clerk myself. I was promoted to the rank of Journeyman only last year. Unlike other guilds, a Journeyman in the Merchants’ Guild does not leave the Guild. Instead, they are given a posting as far away as their clerked office. I began my career in Benkovac. If you have not heard of it, I rest my case.”

“Merchant Houses exist on charter from the Emperor. There are seven Great Houses and ten Minor Houses. House Lazard is a Greater House. Only House Lazard and House Pitre operate in both Zandar as well as Kastav.”

Marko and the rest of the class gave a collective gasp. The Journeyman gave a little chuckle.

“I know I was supposed to keep my lecture to material you have already covered. I could not help myself there. You see both houses existed in Kastav City before the Empire formed. Neither House Lazard nor House Pitre are in contact with any of their former houses in the Kastav territories.”

“Now, back to where I left off. The Great Houses are tasked with all the vital supplies of the Empire. We specialize in food, weapons, medicine, clothing, building materials, transportation and energy. Each house is ultimately responsible for only one of these, but most are involved via contract with the others. The Minor Houses are involved with all other goods. These include art, liquor, spices, pottery, etc. Each of the Minor Houses is free to trade in any goods with the exclusion of the seven mentioned earlier.”

“Excuse me, sir,” said one of his students. “Can a Major House trade those goods under contract with a Minor House?”

“That is a good question. The answer, however, is no. Major Houses cannot be absolved from their responsibilities. Contracts can be made between the two levels for minor trade goods or for the movement of those goods. For example, House Pitre is responsible for transportation. It enters into agreements with all houses for the shipment of goods. I understand you have covered tariffs in great detail. All I will say on the subject is that the Emperor through his Council sets the rates on goods. Rates are generally locked in for one year. Can anyone guess why?”

“So that Houses can be assured a profit?” said one of the students.

“I wish it were true,” the man smiled. “No. The Emperor does not guarantee profits, just his justice if we do not deliver our services.”

Marko tentatively raised his hand. “Is it so that Houses can live up to their end of contracts between each other?”

“That’s close enough. Unless there is some amount of certainty regarding tariffs, Houses cannot set price. If we cannot set price fairly, then those farmers and manufacturers we deal with also cannot price their goods. The end result is that everyone will increase their rates to deal with the uncertainty. If there is one thing you learn working for a House, uncertainty is the downfall of a society. The Emperor knows this and understands that uncertainty all begins when a man goes to sleep not knowing if they can afford a loaf of bread for his family the next day.”

The remainder of the lecture produced similar insights. Marko was amazed at the breadth of knowledge the Journeyman possessed. He knew that he had to have the internship his teacher mentioned.

At the end of the class, Marko waited until all the students left before approaching the Journeyman.

“Excuse me sir. I would like to apply for the internship you have available at your House.”

“Ah. The boy who answered my question correctly. I can usually count on that one stumping a class. Now I will have to come up with a new one.”

Marko’s teacher walked up to them. “This was the student I mentioned to you, Alexander. His name is Marko Kunich.”

“So you’re the famed duelist? From what I hear you have a promising career in the Imperial Army. Goodness knows we need all the capable soldiers we can muster. Why then would you be interested in the Merchants’ Guild?”

“I have nothing against the army, sir. My father was a kapetan in the infantry. It’s just that the whole Empire operates because of the Merchants. Without the economy you create and grow, there would be no Empire to defend.”

“Would that more people understood those exact points, Marko. So, you understand our importance. That does not mean you will be successful in our world. With a name like “Kunich” you wouldn’t exactly fit in when having tea with a Master.”

“Agreed, sir. I don’t come from the aristocracy. But you yourself mentioned the reason, if indirectly, in your lecture. House Lazard must deal with the Minor Houses, farmers, crafters, and others to be successful. Most of all, you deal with the military in the trade of weapons, equipment and clothes. Who better to deal with those groups than someone from their same social class? In fact, by building that social connection to those groups, you will have an advantage over the other houses. Leave the aristocracy to deal with the aristocracy, but bring me in to uh…deal with people like me.”

The Journeyman raised an eyebrow and looked over at his teacher.

“I told you, Alexander. This boy’s got a head on his shoulders. He has top marks in his class. Would be a shame to waste him in the infantry. We’ve talked about creating this class of clerks before.”

The Journeyman turned back to Marko. “I can make no promises, Marko. My Master makes all employment decisions. Still, having a clerk who actually knows which side of a sword to hold can be useful in our convoys. I also think you’re the kind of person who doesn’t mind getting a little dirty, unlike the clerks running around this city. You should know our decision within a week.”