Blade Archer ~ Thirty-One
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yraeFor a nerve-wracking two weeks, Kael waited while his application was processed. He didn’t dare go back to his mother’s house, in case Ynuk or any of his numerous enemies might be waiting there for him. Instead he took once more to the streets, reasoning that this time he could see the end. It was just until he was approved.
Despite Master Banok’s assurances that he would be approved, and that such a wait was perfectly normal, Kael couldn’t help but worry. He’d lied so many times in the application, especially about his scars and previous criminal activity. Nobody from the southern districts was as clean as he was making himself out to be. Someone was sure to notice.
On the sixteenth day after Master Banok had handed in his application, the blade archery master came back to him with news. Kael had been accepted. He did his best to keep the delight and relief from his face, but Banok’s broad grin made it difficult.
‘When can I start living there?’ he asked, struggling to hold a casual air.
‘Today!’ Master Banok announced, slapping him on the shoulder. ‘Now, even! The house is officially yours. Well, not yours, technically it’s still property of the crown, but you live there now. There.’ He held one of the parchment sheets to Kael, which had a map of Ni-Yana’s streets drawn on it.
‘I can’t read,’ Kael reminded him. The roads were all just scribbles on the page so far as he could see.
The blade archery master shrugged. ‘I’ll show you there. I had a place in the area when I was training. I moved downstream from Ni-Mytaa, just me and my sister. We rented there until we found our own feet. Just about everyone living in District Three works at the palace. Come on.’
‘What, now?’
The master spread his arms. ‘Why not? Have you got anything better to do?’ Without waiting for an answer, he headed out of the archery range, anticipating that Kael would follow.
Kael grinned and shook his head before catching up to the blade archery master.
The district Banok led him through was nestled right in the corner formed by the palace and the Main Road, still on the southern side but far nicer than anywhere Kael had thought he could live. The houses were still built of mud brick, but most had two rooms, some even with three, the third perched on top like a small tower. Shade cloths were strung up between some of the houses, and the streets were a good deal wider than what Kael was used to. In some places, they were even wide enough that palm trees grew between buildings.
As Banok had promised, Talons in their dark uniforms were never far away, making Kael feel more on edge than protected. He was normally the person who they protected normal citizens from, not someone they protected. The palace outer wall was a giant red cliff overlooking the district, and Kael could see the silhouettes of no less than three guards up there at any one time. He would have a hard time associating them and the Talons with safety.
It was a quiet district, with most of its residents still working at the palace until late in the evening, but Kael passed by several pubs that had opened their doors in preparation for the after-work rush. All of them were warm and inviting, with solid wooden furniture and flickering log fires.
Two doors down from such a pub, Banok stopped walking and surveyed the house he stood in front of, looking at his map then up and down the street. Finally, he folded the sheet up and stuffed it in his pocket, then held out a hand to the fluttering canvas door. ‘Welcome home,’ he announced.
The house was solidly built with much newer and better-maintained mud bricks than the crumbling structures Kael was accustomed to, and its walls were at least two feet thick. It had only one level, but when Kael pulled the canvas aside, his fingers tingling in excitement, he saw an archway leading through the rear wall to a second room. Aside from that doorway, the second room was completely enclosed so that none of the day’s heat could penetrate it. Even during the most smouldering of Raykin’s heatwaves, he would be able to sleep soundly in there.
Along the same wall was a fireplace and a chimney, as if Kael would ever be able to afford wood to fire it. The place was empty of furniture, but Kael had never owned any before, anyway.
‘Nice,’ he said with a nod.
Banok almost had to duck to get through the door. His face showed mild disgust, reminding Kael that, despite his charity, the man had once ridden with the King’s Own. He probably didn’t see this house as somewhere fit for his pets. ‘It’s more… basic than I remember,’ he said diplomatically. ‘I’m sure it’ll be more homely once you move your things in here.’
Kael shrugged. ‘I’m wearing everything I got.’ He almost considered showing the blade archery master what he’d come from, but thought the better of it. He was proving himself a higher class of citizen, now. Seventeenth District was behind him. ‘Don’t spread it round that I moved, right? I don’t want me brother finding me here.’
Banok nodded once. ‘You’re sure you don’t want the Talons involved?’
‘Dead set.’
The blade archer shrugged. ‘Then let’s give your local watering hole a test run, shall we?’
‘So long as ye doesn’t go comparing it to yer own local, sure.’
‘Nothing compares to my local, so no danger there,’ Banok answered with a toothy grin. ‘Come on. I’ll shout you.’
Kael grinned back. ‘Now ye’re talking.’
Over the next few days, Kael saved his earnings to buy a blanket to sleep under, and new clothes to replace the street clothes he’d been sleeping in for many years now. Finally he bought a small wooden box with a sliding lid, rough and nondescript to keep his future savings in. He scratched out a hole in the back of the fireplace wall to hide it in, knowing he would never light a fire there. He’d never needed a fire before, and he wanted to save every coin he could. The palace would make him meals whenever he needed them, he didn’t have to pay his rent for years yet, and now he owned enough clothes and blankets to keep him warm at night.
For months, he was able to save near every coin he earned, only spending money when he went to the pub with Aen and Kelon, or for the occasional fresh fruit bun in the morning when the bakeries were smelling too good to resist. Every night when he arrived home, his ears thudded with nervousness as he pulled his money box from the back of the fireplace, but every time it was just as heavy as when he had last replaced it.
He stood by his fireplace now, looking at the neatly stacked piles of silver and copper coins in his rough wooden box. There were ten stacks of copper coins and two of silver, totalling a little over three gold pieces’ worth of money. He was certain that someday, someone would come into his house and find the hiding place of his savings, but so it seemed safe.
His last savings box had totalled almost two gold coins’ worth, but its purpose was long gone now. It had been for a meal he would now never have, at some fancy restaurant with his mother to show her how far he had come. This money box, he promised, would have far grander plans. He carefully placed his newest silver coin on top of its stack, slid the lid closed and fitted the box snugly back into its hiding place.
~ ~ ~
I suddenly realised none of these weapons masters are anything like the modern-day Own riders. So here's Banok to set things straight.
Nobody's been reading this (or at least commenting on it) since I rebooted it but I don't care. My mild OCD-ness demands that my WIP folder be empty before I even think about starting on Gold so at least I'll feel good about myself when I do. Year four is essentially finished, three years to go. Man it's been a long time since I wrote a lengthy story without a chapter-by-chapter outline. No wonder it keeps rambling.
Despite Master Banok’s assurances that he would be approved, and that such a wait was perfectly normal, Kael couldn’t help but worry. He’d lied so many times in the application, especially about his scars and previous criminal activity. Nobody from the southern districts was as clean as he was making himself out to be. Someone was sure to notice.
On the sixteenth day after Master Banok had handed in his application, the blade archery master came back to him with news. Kael had been accepted. He did his best to keep the delight and relief from his face, but Banok’s broad grin made it difficult.
‘When can I start living there?’ he asked, struggling to hold a casual air.
‘Today!’ Master Banok announced, slapping him on the shoulder. ‘Now, even! The house is officially yours. Well, not yours, technically it’s still property of the crown, but you live there now. There.’ He held one of the parchment sheets to Kael, which had a map of Ni-Yana’s streets drawn on it.
‘I can’t read,’ Kael reminded him. The roads were all just scribbles on the page so far as he could see.
The blade archery master shrugged. ‘I’ll show you there. I had a place in the area when I was training. I moved downstream from Ni-Mytaa, just me and my sister. We rented there until we found our own feet. Just about everyone living in District Three works at the palace. Come on.’
‘What, now?’
The master spread his arms. ‘Why not? Have you got anything better to do?’ Without waiting for an answer, he headed out of the archery range, anticipating that Kael would follow.
Kael grinned and shook his head before catching up to the blade archery master.
The district Banok led him through was nestled right in the corner formed by the palace and the Main Road, still on the southern side but far nicer than anywhere Kael had thought he could live. The houses were still built of mud brick, but most had two rooms, some even with three, the third perched on top like a small tower. Shade cloths were strung up between some of the houses, and the streets were a good deal wider than what Kael was used to. In some places, they were even wide enough that palm trees grew between buildings.
As Banok had promised, Talons in their dark uniforms were never far away, making Kael feel more on edge than protected. He was normally the person who they protected normal citizens from, not someone they protected. The palace outer wall was a giant red cliff overlooking the district, and Kael could see the silhouettes of no less than three guards up there at any one time. He would have a hard time associating them and the Talons with safety.
It was a quiet district, with most of its residents still working at the palace until late in the evening, but Kael passed by several pubs that had opened their doors in preparation for the after-work rush. All of them were warm and inviting, with solid wooden furniture and flickering log fires.
Two doors down from such a pub, Banok stopped walking and surveyed the house he stood in front of, looking at his map then up and down the street. Finally, he folded the sheet up and stuffed it in his pocket, then held out a hand to the fluttering canvas door. ‘Welcome home,’ he announced.
The house was solidly built with much newer and better-maintained mud bricks than the crumbling structures Kael was accustomed to, and its walls were at least two feet thick. It had only one level, but when Kael pulled the canvas aside, his fingers tingling in excitement, he saw an archway leading through the rear wall to a second room. Aside from that doorway, the second room was completely enclosed so that none of the day’s heat could penetrate it. Even during the most smouldering of Raykin’s heatwaves, he would be able to sleep soundly in there.
Along the same wall was a fireplace and a chimney, as if Kael would ever be able to afford wood to fire it. The place was empty of furniture, but Kael had never owned any before, anyway.
‘Nice,’ he said with a nod.
Banok almost had to duck to get through the door. His face showed mild disgust, reminding Kael that, despite his charity, the man had once ridden with the King’s Own. He probably didn’t see this house as somewhere fit for his pets. ‘It’s more… basic than I remember,’ he said diplomatically. ‘I’m sure it’ll be more homely once you move your things in here.’
Kael shrugged. ‘I’m wearing everything I got.’ He almost considered showing the blade archery master what he’d come from, but thought the better of it. He was proving himself a higher class of citizen, now. Seventeenth District was behind him. ‘Don’t spread it round that I moved, right? I don’t want me brother finding me here.’
Banok nodded once. ‘You’re sure you don’t want the Talons involved?’
‘Dead set.’
The blade archer shrugged. ‘Then let’s give your local watering hole a test run, shall we?’
‘So long as ye doesn’t go comparing it to yer own local, sure.’
‘Nothing compares to my local, so no danger there,’ Banok answered with a toothy grin. ‘Come on. I’ll shout you.’
Kael grinned back. ‘Now ye’re talking.’
Over the next few days, Kael saved his earnings to buy a blanket to sleep under, and new clothes to replace the street clothes he’d been sleeping in for many years now. Finally he bought a small wooden box with a sliding lid, rough and nondescript to keep his future savings in. He scratched out a hole in the back of the fireplace wall to hide it in, knowing he would never light a fire there. He’d never needed a fire before, and he wanted to save every coin he could. The palace would make him meals whenever he needed them, he didn’t have to pay his rent for years yet, and now he owned enough clothes and blankets to keep him warm at night.
For months, he was able to save near every coin he earned, only spending money when he went to the pub with Aen and Kelon, or for the occasional fresh fruit bun in the morning when the bakeries were smelling too good to resist. Every night when he arrived home, his ears thudded with nervousness as he pulled his money box from the back of the fireplace, but every time it was just as heavy as when he had last replaced it.
He stood by his fireplace now, looking at the neatly stacked piles of silver and copper coins in his rough wooden box. There were ten stacks of copper coins and two of silver, totalling a little over three gold pieces’ worth of money. He was certain that someday, someone would come into his house and find the hiding place of his savings, but so it seemed safe.
His last savings box had totalled almost two gold coins’ worth, but its purpose was long gone now. It had been for a meal he would now never have, at some fancy restaurant with his mother to show her how far he had come. This money box, he promised, would have far grander plans. He carefully placed his newest silver coin on top of its stack, slid the lid closed and fitted the box snugly back into its hiding place.
I suddenly realised none of these weapons masters are anything like the modern-day Own riders. So here's Banok to set things straight.
Nobody's been reading this (or at least commenting on it) since I rebooted it but I don't care. My mild OCD-ness demands that my WIP folder be empty before I even think about starting on Gold so at least I'll feel good about myself when I do. Year four is essentially finished, three years to go. Man it's been a long time since I wrote a lengthy story without a chapter-by-chapter outline. No wonder it keeps rambling.