Blade Archer ~ Thirty
Apr. 28th, 2013 02:57 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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yraeMaster Banok’s office was so empty and unused that Kael suspected the blade archery master only ever used it to reprimand his students. It was less than half the size of the first general’s office, and furnished only with a solid wooden table and a chair behind it. Banok sat against the desk, his thick arms folded over a barrel chest. For a while he said nothing, plainly hoping that his intimidation would break Kael’s silence.
Kael wouldn’t allow him that domination. Banok had never been as rough as his outward manner. His warnings were never more than warnings, so Kael only stared him down with a silent challenge of his own.
‘You’re only making the situation worse for yourself,’ the weapon master announced with a shake of his head. ‘Three young men came to the healing house last night,’ he continued, his tone accusing. ‘None of them would say how they came by their injuries, but I’d say you could tell me what the wounds looked like.’
Kael gritted his teeth and stayed silent at the master’s prompting. He wanted to know just how much Banok knew before he gave the master anything new.
‘Three needle blades were missing from the belts you returned this morning,’ Banok went on. ‘If those three boys came in here now, they’d recognise you, wouldn’t they?’
Kael shook his head. ‘Wouldn’t think so.’ They wouldn’t dare to. They knew Kael still had a far deadlier brother on the streets. They knew who was worth fearing.
Banok’s eyes twitched before he snapped away from the table, his face looming black in Kael’s vision.
Kael couldn’t help flinching back from him, but he held the blade archer’s furious gaze.
‘This ends now,’ he snarled. ‘Whatever patch wars you have going on down there, you end them, or I will throw you out of this army and into the dungeons so fast your backside will be feeling the bruises for months. You do not use national weapons for personal gain. You do not attack fellow citizens. You do not start wars within your city. Do I make myself clear?’
This was the first time Kael had heard Banok make a tangible threat. The man had never threatened with anything more than a glare and an ambiguous ‘or else.’ The mention of the dungeons made his mouth dry. He’d never spent time below the Ni-Yana palace, but he’d heard of people who had. He hid the shock of hearing it with a fierce glare.
‘Ye wants me truth?’ he said, holding his voice as calm as he could. ‘Sleep in me streets fer one night and ye might have some idea of it.’
Banok’s eyes twitched. ‘I’ve had just about enough of your cheek, boy.’
‘It ain’t cheek,’ Kael answered back. ‘I been sleeping in the streets since me Ma was…’ He hesitated, decided in the split second that the nature of his mother’s death was one truth he wouldn’t share. ‘Since she died.’
There was a slight softening in the weapons master’s face. ‘When was this?’
Kael gave him a brief sneer. ‘That’s me personal business.’
‘And of course you didn’t consider coming to me or your other masters, or even the Talons, because…?’ He left the question hanging with raised eyebrows.
Kael bent his head forward, unsure how the master could ask such a question with a straight face. ‘What was ye going to do?’ he asked, hands spread. ‘Give me a blanket?’
‘Well,’ Banok began, shrugging and sitting back against his table. ‘Hypothetically speaking, if those boys had taken up residence in your mother’s house, we would have lawfully removed them.’
Kael folded his arms, disbelieving the master’s promise for one thing, and his naivety for another. ‘Ye’ve just painted a hypothetical target on me forehead fer all of Seventeenth District to aim at. Thanks. How about I just hypothetically do it meself?’
Banok gave a mockingly pleasant smile. ‘Then you’d have hypothetically painted your own target for all of the Talons to see.’
‘Talons, or Seventeenth District?’ Kael answered, making a show of weighing each in his hands. ‘I’d take the Talons. Talons are tied by yer rules. Queen’s justice don’t make a spit of difference in me district.’
‘It’s a good thing we’re only talking hypothetically, then.’
Kael allowed the master a lopsided smile, acknowledging the man was at least going to look past his indiscretions this time. Clearly, then, the girl’s body hadn’t turned up, and the boys weren’t going to mention anything of her murder. Like Kael, they knew the futility of bringing the Talons down south.
Master Banok was frowning at him, as though seeing Kael as more than just his crass accent and rougher attitude. ‘You’ve really been sleeping in the streets?’ he asked. ‘The southern streets?’
Kael shrugged. ‘Plenty do,’ he answered, fearing that the master would pull him back to the question of why.
‘You don’t have to. The crown owns more walls than just the palace.’
Kael frowned and folded his arms defensively. ‘What d’ye mean?’
‘You’re palace staff now, right? I’ve seen you working the stables. Apply for a staff house. They’re close to the palace, well-guarded from the wall and street. You should apply to rent one.’
Kael narrowed his eyes in suspicion. ‘How much?’
Master Banok shrugged. ‘I’ll check with the treasury. They’re cheap, though. Might even be free for trainees.’
Now Kael was even less trusting. ‘Nothing’s free,’ he reminded the weapon master.
‘You’d probably have to pay it back when you graduate,’ Banok amended with another shrug, ‘but it’s that negligible that when you’re earning army pay, you’ll hardly notice it.’
‘Ye’re assuming I graduate.’
‘Won’t you?’
Thinking on his palu lesson that morning, Kael wasn’t so certain. He was good enough with dagger and throwing knives, but he hated every other weapon he’d laid his hands on, and it was only going to get worse. They were to begin learning theory next year. Kael couldn’t even read.
‘I’ll ask for you,’ Master Banok went on. ‘Hang around after blade archery this afternoon. I’ll have something by then.’
Kael was still frowning sideways at him. ‘Why?’
Banok shrugged. ‘Somebody had to keep you from terrorising the neighbourhood. And I can’t resist a pretty girl batting her eyelids at me.’
Kael smiled and shook his head. Ronanen. ‘Thanks,’ he mumbled. ‘Sir.’
The big blade archer laughed. ‘I must be doing something right if you’re finally calling me “sir.” Off with you. You’ve got another two lessons before blade archery.’ He stood and slapped Kael on the shoulder before ushering him to the door. ‘See you in training.’
Kael’s aim was well off through the archery lesson, and his swordsmanship regressed back to third year. When he tried to pick up on the wind to take aim and concentrate on the target, Master Banok’s offer in his mind distracted him. When he tried to watch the subtle nuances in his training partner’s grip and footwork, he could only imagine his new home. How many rooms would it have, he wondered. Might it even be built of stone in place of mud brick? What about furniture, would he have that?
His blade archery lesson couldn’t roll around fast enough. Master Banok gave him no extra attention than he would normally, but he did give Kael a grin and a wink when he entered. The gesture only served to make Kael realise how nervous he was. What if he couldn’t afford it? What if he didn’t graduate, then had to pay back more money than he could ever hope to earn? What if the queen refused him?
‘Thank you, gentlemen,’ Master Banok finally announced. ‘Belts away and I’ll see you tomorrow.’
Kael hung awkwardly behind, folding his arms to make it look as though he knew he was supposed to be there. He was nevertheless acutely aware of the boys sneering at him as they left. Only those who were in trouble stayed back at the end of a lesson.
When the boys had all left, Banok grinned at him, apparently oblivious to the looks the other boys had been giving him. ‘Sorted,’ he announced simply, then beckoned Kael with a nod of his head. ‘Come to my office. I have all the paperwork in there.’
As they walked, the master explained the basic way the palace staff housing worked. ‘It’s a silver piece per week to rent,’ he said, and Kael tried to keep his shoulders from sinking. Even if he worked solidly every night, he would only be able to keep a few copper pieces every week. But Banok hadn’t finished. ‘That works out to seventeen gold and six silvers for the rest of your training, or you can put it off until you’re finished and pay twenty-two gold.’
Kael swallowed. He’d never seen a gold piece before. ‘Twenty-two gold?’ he mumbled.
Banok shrugged one shoulder as if it was nothing. ‘Even if you end up in Twentieth Company, you’ll earn that much in your first month. You’ve got the skill for Tenth, maybe even Eighth Company if you apply yourself a bit more.’ He reached the door to his office and pushed the heavy wood aside.
Kael looked up at him dubiously. ‘They’d just… let me not pay that? For three years?’
Banok nodded and ushered him in. ‘Under the agreement that you’d pay it back, of course.’
A sheaf of papers lay on Master Banok’s table, weighed down with a lump of red rock. He pulled a draw out and rifled around for a moment until he found a stick of charcoal, then drew up his chair.
‘What’s the catch?’ Kael asked. He wanted to trust the arrangement, but in his experience nothing so big ever came without a price.
‘No catch,’ the master answered with a shrug. ‘Unless you count not participating in any illegal activity as a catch. If the Talons hold you for anything, you’re out. That includes taking army weaponry from the barracks, I don’t care what the reason.’
Kael hesitated before nodding his understanding.
Master Banok noticed the hesitation and placed his charcoal stick on the table. ‘Kael?’
‘Me brother,’ Kael excused. ‘He’s not as…’
‘You’re not your brother,’ Banok said with a shake of his head. ‘Whatever business he’s in, you just keep your nose out of it.’ He frowned thoughtfully up at the southerner. ‘Are you scared of him?’
Kael shook his head. ‘Just the people he’s angering,’ he mumbled, half hoping the master hadn’t heard.
Banok took a deep breath and let it out as a heavy sigh. ‘There’s good security there,’ he repeated. ‘Just keep out of trouble and we’ll keep you safe. And the Talons will always be there to help.’
Kael nodded, not wanting the conversation to continue.
‘Now,’ Banok said, lifting his charcoal once more. ‘Current address?’
~ ~ ~
Chapter thirty and 50 935 words, woo! I'd say there's still a good 20-30k to go before it's actually finished, though. Still, milestones are fun :D
Kael wouldn’t allow him that domination. Banok had never been as rough as his outward manner. His warnings were never more than warnings, so Kael only stared him down with a silent challenge of his own.
‘You’re only making the situation worse for yourself,’ the weapon master announced with a shake of his head. ‘Three young men came to the healing house last night,’ he continued, his tone accusing. ‘None of them would say how they came by their injuries, but I’d say you could tell me what the wounds looked like.’
Kael gritted his teeth and stayed silent at the master’s prompting. He wanted to know just how much Banok knew before he gave the master anything new.
‘Three needle blades were missing from the belts you returned this morning,’ Banok went on. ‘If those three boys came in here now, they’d recognise you, wouldn’t they?’
Kael shook his head. ‘Wouldn’t think so.’ They wouldn’t dare to. They knew Kael still had a far deadlier brother on the streets. They knew who was worth fearing.
Banok’s eyes twitched before he snapped away from the table, his face looming black in Kael’s vision.
Kael couldn’t help flinching back from him, but he held the blade archer’s furious gaze.
‘This ends now,’ he snarled. ‘Whatever patch wars you have going on down there, you end them, or I will throw you out of this army and into the dungeons so fast your backside will be feeling the bruises for months. You do not use national weapons for personal gain. You do not attack fellow citizens. You do not start wars within your city. Do I make myself clear?’
This was the first time Kael had heard Banok make a tangible threat. The man had never threatened with anything more than a glare and an ambiguous ‘or else.’ The mention of the dungeons made his mouth dry. He’d never spent time below the Ni-Yana palace, but he’d heard of people who had. He hid the shock of hearing it with a fierce glare.
‘Ye wants me truth?’ he said, holding his voice as calm as he could. ‘Sleep in me streets fer one night and ye might have some idea of it.’
Banok’s eyes twitched. ‘I’ve had just about enough of your cheek, boy.’
‘It ain’t cheek,’ Kael answered back. ‘I been sleeping in the streets since me Ma was…’ He hesitated, decided in the split second that the nature of his mother’s death was one truth he wouldn’t share. ‘Since she died.’
There was a slight softening in the weapons master’s face. ‘When was this?’
Kael gave him a brief sneer. ‘That’s me personal business.’
‘And of course you didn’t consider coming to me or your other masters, or even the Talons, because…?’ He left the question hanging with raised eyebrows.
Kael bent his head forward, unsure how the master could ask such a question with a straight face. ‘What was ye going to do?’ he asked, hands spread. ‘Give me a blanket?’
‘Well,’ Banok began, shrugging and sitting back against his table. ‘Hypothetically speaking, if those boys had taken up residence in your mother’s house, we would have lawfully removed them.’
Kael folded his arms, disbelieving the master’s promise for one thing, and his naivety for another. ‘Ye’ve just painted a hypothetical target on me forehead fer all of Seventeenth District to aim at. Thanks. How about I just hypothetically do it meself?’
Banok gave a mockingly pleasant smile. ‘Then you’d have hypothetically painted your own target for all of the Talons to see.’
‘Talons, or Seventeenth District?’ Kael answered, making a show of weighing each in his hands. ‘I’d take the Talons. Talons are tied by yer rules. Queen’s justice don’t make a spit of difference in me district.’
‘It’s a good thing we’re only talking hypothetically, then.’
Kael allowed the master a lopsided smile, acknowledging the man was at least going to look past his indiscretions this time. Clearly, then, the girl’s body hadn’t turned up, and the boys weren’t going to mention anything of her murder. Like Kael, they knew the futility of bringing the Talons down south.
Master Banok was frowning at him, as though seeing Kael as more than just his crass accent and rougher attitude. ‘You’ve really been sleeping in the streets?’ he asked. ‘The southern streets?’
Kael shrugged. ‘Plenty do,’ he answered, fearing that the master would pull him back to the question of why.
‘You don’t have to. The crown owns more walls than just the palace.’
Kael frowned and folded his arms defensively. ‘What d’ye mean?’
‘You’re palace staff now, right? I’ve seen you working the stables. Apply for a staff house. They’re close to the palace, well-guarded from the wall and street. You should apply to rent one.’
Kael narrowed his eyes in suspicion. ‘How much?’
Master Banok shrugged. ‘I’ll check with the treasury. They’re cheap, though. Might even be free for trainees.’
Now Kael was even less trusting. ‘Nothing’s free,’ he reminded the weapon master.
‘You’d probably have to pay it back when you graduate,’ Banok amended with another shrug, ‘but it’s that negligible that when you’re earning army pay, you’ll hardly notice it.’
‘Ye’re assuming I graduate.’
‘Won’t you?’
Thinking on his palu lesson that morning, Kael wasn’t so certain. He was good enough with dagger and throwing knives, but he hated every other weapon he’d laid his hands on, and it was only going to get worse. They were to begin learning theory next year. Kael couldn’t even read.
‘I’ll ask for you,’ Master Banok went on. ‘Hang around after blade archery this afternoon. I’ll have something by then.’
Kael was still frowning sideways at him. ‘Why?’
Banok shrugged. ‘Somebody had to keep you from terrorising the neighbourhood. And I can’t resist a pretty girl batting her eyelids at me.’
Kael smiled and shook his head. Ronanen. ‘Thanks,’ he mumbled. ‘Sir.’
The big blade archer laughed. ‘I must be doing something right if you’re finally calling me “sir.” Off with you. You’ve got another two lessons before blade archery.’ He stood and slapped Kael on the shoulder before ushering him to the door. ‘See you in training.’
Kael’s aim was well off through the archery lesson, and his swordsmanship regressed back to third year. When he tried to pick up on the wind to take aim and concentrate on the target, Master Banok’s offer in his mind distracted him. When he tried to watch the subtle nuances in his training partner’s grip and footwork, he could only imagine his new home. How many rooms would it have, he wondered. Might it even be built of stone in place of mud brick? What about furniture, would he have that?
His blade archery lesson couldn’t roll around fast enough. Master Banok gave him no extra attention than he would normally, but he did give Kael a grin and a wink when he entered. The gesture only served to make Kael realise how nervous he was. What if he couldn’t afford it? What if he didn’t graduate, then had to pay back more money than he could ever hope to earn? What if the queen refused him?
‘Thank you, gentlemen,’ Master Banok finally announced. ‘Belts away and I’ll see you tomorrow.’
Kael hung awkwardly behind, folding his arms to make it look as though he knew he was supposed to be there. He was nevertheless acutely aware of the boys sneering at him as they left. Only those who were in trouble stayed back at the end of a lesson.
When the boys had all left, Banok grinned at him, apparently oblivious to the looks the other boys had been giving him. ‘Sorted,’ he announced simply, then beckoned Kael with a nod of his head. ‘Come to my office. I have all the paperwork in there.’
As they walked, the master explained the basic way the palace staff housing worked. ‘It’s a silver piece per week to rent,’ he said, and Kael tried to keep his shoulders from sinking. Even if he worked solidly every night, he would only be able to keep a few copper pieces every week. But Banok hadn’t finished. ‘That works out to seventeen gold and six silvers for the rest of your training, or you can put it off until you’re finished and pay twenty-two gold.’
Kael swallowed. He’d never seen a gold piece before. ‘Twenty-two gold?’ he mumbled.
Banok shrugged one shoulder as if it was nothing. ‘Even if you end up in Twentieth Company, you’ll earn that much in your first month. You’ve got the skill for Tenth, maybe even Eighth Company if you apply yourself a bit more.’ He reached the door to his office and pushed the heavy wood aside.
Kael looked up at him dubiously. ‘They’d just… let me not pay that? For three years?’
Banok nodded and ushered him in. ‘Under the agreement that you’d pay it back, of course.’
A sheaf of papers lay on Master Banok’s table, weighed down with a lump of red rock. He pulled a draw out and rifled around for a moment until he found a stick of charcoal, then drew up his chair.
‘What’s the catch?’ Kael asked. He wanted to trust the arrangement, but in his experience nothing so big ever came without a price.
‘No catch,’ the master answered with a shrug. ‘Unless you count not participating in any illegal activity as a catch. If the Talons hold you for anything, you’re out. That includes taking army weaponry from the barracks, I don’t care what the reason.’
Kael hesitated before nodding his understanding.
Master Banok noticed the hesitation and placed his charcoal stick on the table. ‘Kael?’
‘Me brother,’ Kael excused. ‘He’s not as…’
‘You’re not your brother,’ Banok said with a shake of his head. ‘Whatever business he’s in, you just keep your nose out of it.’ He frowned thoughtfully up at the southerner. ‘Are you scared of him?’
Kael shook his head. ‘Just the people he’s angering,’ he mumbled, half hoping the master hadn’t heard.
Banok took a deep breath and let it out as a heavy sigh. ‘There’s good security there,’ he repeated. ‘Just keep out of trouble and we’ll keep you safe. And the Talons will always be there to help.’
Kael nodded, not wanting the conversation to continue.
‘Now,’ Banok said, lifting his charcoal once more. ‘Current address?’
Chapter thirty and 50 935 words, woo! I'd say there's still a good 20-30k to go before it's actually finished, though. Still, milestones are fun :D