01 - The Price of Talent (37 page)

“Let’s hope so,” I replied. “We’ve likely been gone too long already.”

“Hah, you’ll be the hot topic du jour tomorrow,” said Meredith. “Judith is a bit of a gossip, so everyone will know of your… skill.”

“I would rather as few people know of this as possible,” I said.

“Better they think we were fooling around and that you’re a stallion than the truth,” she said with a wink.

“Funny,” I replied. “With jokes like that, at least you won’t have to act pleased with yourself when we leave.”

              Once inside this room, we found a setup much like the other rooms. It contained a desk and then a large number of shelves containing files. A few minutes time finding the most recent files and we managed to find both her file and mine.

“Tyr, you should review your file while I read mine,” Meredith said. “See if it gives any hints as to what happened to your friends. I want to see what mine says about my father.”

              She then handed me my file and took a seat at the desk, leaving me to stand in the middle of the room. My “file” such as it was, was just a folder containing parchment documents about me. Not knowing what else to do, I started leafing through it. The first couple of pages detailed my training here at Caer Sud. Also, it contained some speculation about the extent of my powers, more than a few notes, in what must be Claudius’s hand, saying my progress in mental magic was “sub-optimal”. After that rather frank appraisal of my failings, there was another document detailing my involvement with Devlin and his friends. They seemed to have a good idea of who most of the band was, and there were notes as to where to get files containing more information on the individual members. There was a newer note from Claudius indicating his getting the local authorities to send out some soldiers to the eastern forest to destroy the group. This was followed by another entry which stated:

“Reports from local authorities in Sudchester, Forsburg and Nordhsire indicate that, while they were able to find these rebels’ base, that when they arrived, they found that there was no one there. Authorities then put the buildings to the flame, plowed the crops into the dirt and confiscated the livestock. Indications within the buildings were that the occupants left in haste, as there was quite a bit of food, clothing and sundries left behind. Conclusion is that they knew we were coming and fled. Agents are in place, monitoring the area to see if anyone returns to the scene. All who return will be taken in for questioning.”

              This reassured me. I had been worried about what happened to Devlin and the gang. Still, it left more questions unanswered than answered. Where had they gone? What were they doing? And how was I going to find them when we escaped? But, then, if the church knew the answers to these questions, my friends would likely be dead. So it was a bit of a mixed blessing not knowing.

              Passed these notes in my file, was much older parchment. It was crackly and dry in its age. It discussed the arrival in Forsburg of a refugee couple from parts unknown, but believed to be from the far East, well past the mountains. Their names were Sif and Donar Janus. They settled outside of town in a farm that had fallen into disrepair after its owners had died. Sif was apparently pregnant at the time, because the file said that spring she bore a son named Tyr.

              This had me taken aback. First, that the church had been monitoring my parents since the time of my birth; second, that my parents were not from the Holy Empire originally. This was especially surprising as I did not have particularly foreign features. Neither did my parents for that matter. As I thought about it, my parents never had spent much time discussing their past or their families. I had asked about my relatives, but they had said that their parents’ families had died before I was born. That there were no other entries in my folder indicated that wherever my parents were from, and whatever their stories were, they had not done anything remarkable after coming to Forsburg and having me.

              Just as I was contemplating this, Meredith broke into my reverie.

“Ah hah!” she exclaimed. “There we have it. My father was taken to Caer Nord for questioning after you were captured.”

“Well, that should narrow down our destination after we escape,” I said.

“Did you find out anything about your friends?” Meredith asked.

“Yes, apparently they escaped the forest hideout before the authorities arrived,” I said. “They still put the whole thing to the torch though…”

“I’m sorry to hear it,” said Meredith. “But it’s good news that they managed to get away before the troops arrived. We could stop by the hideout on our way to Nordshire.”

“There’s a slight hitch to that plan,” I said. “The report indicates that the local authorities are keeping an eye on that area with orders to capture and question whoever goes near the place.”

“Hmmm… Well, maybe my father will have some idea how to track down your friends, Tyr,” said Meredith.

“Yeah, let’s hope,” I said.

Chapter 21.

              Our trip out of the library sub-basement was uneventful. It took some time for Meredith to relock each of the doors, so it wasn’t a quick trip back to the main library. But we both thought it was a good idea to hide that someone had been down in the basement, so we took our time. We were so careful that we even made sure the rooms we had visited were put back in as close to the exact condition they were in when we arrived as we could. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do about the dust we had disturbed. Paranoid perhaps, given that likely all the high level priests had access to these rooms so no one would think something was amiss if the dust had been disturbed or it was not exactly as they had left it. Still, when on clandestine missions, prudence is a wise course of action.

              When we finally got back into the main library, we were careful not to make any noise opening or closing the door. Then Meredith set to locking it again. Unfortunately, just as she was finishing up, we both heard footsteps coming down the hallway towards the area of shelves on the back wall where we were hiding.

“Uh, Meredith, not to rush you, but someone is coming…” I said in a whisper.

“I know, I hear it too. Just a second…” She replied.

              As she said this she finished locking the door and stood up. Unfortunately, just as she did this, someone stepped around the corner…

“Oops, sorry, didn’t know this area was occupied,” said the person.

              Upon hearing the voice Meredith slid forward so that she was pressed closer to me. Then, using my body as a visual shield, she slipped her lock picks into her pocket.

“Hmmm?... Yes, this area is occupied, please, do go away.” She said smoothly while removing her hand from her pocket.

“Hah, sorry to intrude you two…” the person replied and quickly walked away.

              The voice of the person was clearly male, but the footsteps were singular, so he was probably alone. Still, with the door closed and locked, and Meredith making it look like we were embracing in the back of the library, I don’t think we gave the person any reason to suspect we were up to anything more sinister than fooling around.

“What do you suppose he wanted?” I asked in a whisper.

“Probably just some pervert trying to catch a glimpse of other people messing about,” whispered Meredith. “The library is supposed to offer more privacy than the dorms, where everyone can hear you, but it is open to all the initiates.”

“Regardless, we should probably get out of here…” I whispered back.

“I think it’s better if we wait,” she whispered back with a smile. “If we were to head for the exit, likely we would bump into that guy again, and in better light he would be more likely to recognize us.”

“Then, what are we going to…” I said, but was quickly shushed by Meredith.

“If you keep talking, it’s going to ruin our disguise,” she whispered.

              And with that I became intensely aware of our closeness. Moreover, I became intensely aware that she was pressed up against me, and me against the door. She then reached up, cupped the back of my head in one hand and kissed me. More than that, her other hand had slipped behind me and grabbed my bottom.

              When she released me I think I spluttered something unintelligible. The shock of what just happened had robbed me of my powers of speech.

“Hah, you should see the expression on your face,” said Meredith. “All wide-eyed with surprise. And is that a blush of embarrassment on your cheeks? No, not embarrassment, because that wasn’t a sword hilt jabbing me in the stomach.”

“W… What!” I continued to splutter.

“Well, that should help you look flustered when we pass Judith at the desk,” said Meredith with a smile. “Your attempts at acting when we got here were pretty bad. You should thank me. Now you don’t have to act flustered at all, since you’re actually flustered; that’s far more convincing.”

              With a big smile on her face, she turned and headed for the main pathway between the shelves back to the library entrance. Not knowing what else to do, and still being a little dazed, I followed her out.

              When we got to the main entrance, Judith was still there, and quite a bit farther through her book. When we came by she looked up and smiled at us in what I suppose was supposed to be a knowing grin.

“Well, hello you two,” she said. “Find all the, ah, studying materials you needed? Or were you just lost in the stacks?”

“Why, yes, I do believe we found what we were looking for,” said Meredith with a grin. “Though we may need more study time in the future…”

“Hah, I don’t doubt it…” Judith replied. “Anyway, have a good evening!”

              Through this little exchange I didn’t have to act embarrassed. Meredith was right, actual embarrassment is WAY more convincing than feigned embarrassment. Regardless, I followed Meredith out the front door and into the cool night air. It was refreshing really, and might have taken some of the blush out of my cheeks. Either that, or I could pass it off as rosiness caused by the cold.

              The walk back to the dorms was uneventful as well. It seemed like the party in the dining hall was finally coming to an end as the noise had died down to a dull roar. Upon getting back to the dorms, it seemed like the festivities in peoples’ rooms had reached a low simmer too, as there were far fewer noises to giggle at as we made our way back to our respective rooms.

              Upon arriving at Meredith’s room, she opened the door and turned around to face me.

“Thanks for coming with me tonight,” she said.

“No problem, I’m glad I found out that my friends are ok, if in hiding somewhere,” I replied.

“Yeah, and knowing where they took my father finally gives us a destination once we escape this place,” she said. “Now, unless you’re coming in, I suggest you head back to your room and get some sleep.”

“Well, if that’s an invitation…” I said with a smile.

“Idiot, go to bed,” she replied, also smiling, before shutting the door leaving me outside.

              The walk back to my room was one spent in blissful confusion. Not knowing if Meredith was actually coming on to me, teasing me, or just entertaining herself, didn’t bother me nearly as much as it probably should have.

              Once back in the room, I found myself not quite tired enough to head for bed. Fortunately, my sword was in a talkative mood.

Well, you seem to have had a good time tonight…

Oh, and what do you know of it? I’m never sure how much of what I experience you know about.

Good, I like to keep you guessing. But in this case, it’s written all over your goofy smile and flushed cheeks. You two didn’t just find the information you were looking for did you?

I don’t kiss and tell.

Except you just did.

Well, yeah, I guess I did.

Let me guess, you were caught messing around with the locks to the basement stairs and she kissed you to hide what you were doing.

You were peeking into my head!

No, in this case I just had to find a reason why an attractive, otherwise seemingly sane woman would want to kiss your ugly mug.

Ha, ha. I’m not so bad looking.

Yeah, right. That’s what your mom told you right?

Well yeah, but still!

Ever heard the expression “A face only a mother could love”?

I’m not ugly!

I think he doth protest too much…

              With that I decided I didn’t really want to talk to my sword after all. Besides, I had better things to think about, like figuring out a way to find out where my friends in the woods had gone. I didn’t want to go to the longhouse after we escaped as I knew it was being watched, but I was worried that would be precisely what I would have to do in order to find out where everyone had gone.

              I thought about this while I got ready for bed, and then fell asleep still pondering it. In the end, I hadn’t come up with a better plan than risk capture to find my friends by going to the longhouse.

              The next morning dawned bright and early. I was quite tired, but happy that I had grabbed that nap before making that excursion to the library basements. My morning practices with Claudius didn’t go all that well, probably due to my lack of sleep. Everything took more time and was less effective. Claudius told me it was punishment for going out and partying. I guess he assumed I had joined in at the festivities in the dining hall. Not wanting to dissuade him and pique his curiosity, I pretended like that had been the case.

              By the afternoon I was quite tired. Fortunately, all the inquisitor initiates were in worse shape. They had trouble finding me unless I used a lot of power, and they had even more trouble trying to best me in sparring matches. Even target practice was lackluster. Probably because the sun was then low enough on the horizon to get into their eyes. As I had learned the one time I was hung over, that can be a killer to a head still fuzzy from the night before.

              That evening, after dinner, I found myself with nothing to do, since Meredith was working late at the hospital. Instead of my usual haunts of the library or the practice field, I headed back to my room. I decided I wanted to work on my levitation. As I said earlier, this was not a power I wanted Claudius or the rest of the priests to know I was trying. I worried that if I did manage to usher enough force to fly, even for short distances, that I would not be given so much time alone inside the walls of the castle.

              Once back in my room, with the door shut, I sat down on the floor in the middle of my room cross legged. I let my mind settle and focused on the task at hand. I then drew in a lot of power. Then I tried to draw more. I got to the point where my head was starting to pound with the energy. Then I slowly released a telekinetic push down. Nothing happened. I slowly continued to open the taps, when I was at about 75% effort I felt myself slowly raise off the floor a few inches. Buoyed by this success, I opened the taps to 85% effort. I managed to raise up off the floor maybe a foot or two.

              I was so surprised by this that I lost my concentration and fell back down the floor.

Boy you are an idiot. I hope you broke your tail bone just so you would have to go explain yourself to Meredith. I can see it now “Wait, how did you break your ass?” “Hur, dur, I was trying to fly while sitting on a stone floor in my room right next to my soft bed and pillow.” “Are you stupid? I can’t believe I kissed you!”

Oh, like a sword knows anything about flying.

You send me flying all the time during your solo practices. At least on the practice field I could land on dirt instead of stone. Also, I’m made of enchanted steel, you’re made of spongy meat and twigs. If I landed on the floor I would just complain. You could actually hurt yourself.

Ok, I get it. I’ll use my mattress.

              So then I went over to the bed and sat on it. Following the same process of centering myself, drawing in as much power as I could and then slowly releasing it, I managed to float again. Unfortunately, the bed frame started making ominous creaking noises due to all the force being exerted on it. So I slowly cut the flow of power and sank back down.

I would have laughed so hard had you broken your bed. Try explaining that one to Meredith or Claudius. “Yeah, I broke my bed while I was all alone in my room. Nope, certainly not vigorously touching myself. I was using magic!”

So, mattress on the floor then?

Yeah, sounds like a plan, moron.

              So I dragged my mattress onto the floor. I left all the linens by the bed frame so they would not go flying. When that was taken care of, I lowered myself onto my mattress and followed the same steps a third time. This time I opened the taps to 90% effort and managed to get a couple of feet off the ground. I then slowly, because my butt actually did hurt from my first rough landing, pulled back on the power and lowered myself to the ground.