Techromancy Scrolls: Adept (16 page)

I pulled it over my head and smiled and dashed over to the mirror. I was no longer Laney Herder. In her place stood a Squire of the Realm. I turned to where Celeste had been just standing silently, watching me. I smiled at her and ran my fingers along her coat of arms on the sash. “I'm of your house.”

She nodded then said softly, “Take a minute to clean up and get into your new clothing. Perhaps... maybe we can just call down to the kitchen for a meal in our quarters here. It would be nice to just sit and decompress from all of the excitement of the day.”

I nodded and she stepped out of the room and called back as she wandered out, “There is a washroom with running water in the door next to yours. You go first. I need to inform the page in the hall of your station.”

Running water? I dashed out and into the other room, there was a basin there and two chains above it. I pulled tentatively on one of the chains and water started flowing from a cut in the granite in a smooth sheet into the basin. I felt the cool water. When I released the chain, the water continued to flow for a minute before stopping. I pulled the other chain and the flow started again and I was floored when I put my hand in the stream and it was warm!

I giggled to myself at the wonder of water inside of the building. I had only seen something like this at the hospital. Only it was just cold water there. It was a whole different world here. I looked at the polished silver mirror over the basin. Then behind me where there was a seat that had a box suspended high on the wall with another chain. I pulled the chain and I heard water under the seat flowing. I pulled up the seats, there were two. And looked into another basin filling with water.

I pondered this a minute then wondered why they needed two basins. One that allowed the water to flow away and one that held the water until you pulled the chain. Was it just opulence to have two rather than just plug the other one?

I grabbed one of the many washcloths and towels from a stack and was about to kneel and start washing in the basin, but all the sounds of flowing water reminded me that it had been hours since I relieved myself and I begun to shimmy. So I walked out into the great room in search of a chamber pot. There wasn't one, so I looked in my chamber, there wasn't one, but there was a basin with a pitcher of water in it. I knew that was for washing myself in my own room.

I danced over to Celeste's alcove and peered in from the great room and there was no chamber pot I could see and I didn't want to intrude into her space without permission. I headed back to my room to wait for her to return. I took two steps when she walked back in.

I did a little shimmy dance and scrunched up my face at her. “I can't seem to find a chamber pot.”

Her eyes glittered in extreme amusement, and I said, “I'm glad my bladder amuses you.” Then I looked at the floor quickly for being so flippant.

She reached out and took my hand. “Follow me.” She led me back into the washroom and pointed at the seat and pulled up the top seat. The second one had a hole in it.

She said, “It is an auto-pot. Sit there and umm do your thing. When you are done pull the chain and it all gets washed down into the city sewers. If you umm, you know. Then there is a stack of soft papers that you can clean yourself off with and they just get washed down to the sewers too.” It was far too cute how uncomfortable she was talking about bodily functions.

But then I paled. Shit! I was about to wash my face in that basin! It was an indoor outhouse. I wondered why they kept water in the basin, I'd ask later when I wasn't blushing in embarrassment. I whispered, “You must think me a barbarian.”

She shook her head and said plainly, “No, I just forget how I reacted to all of this all those years ago. It is a different world, and I'm still not sure I am suited for it.”

I took her hand and was immediately afraid of being so bold and told her, “You are a Lady no matter your past. Tell me about how you came to be of this world?”

She squeezed my hand once and smiled. “I will trade you that story for the story of how a young herder came about finding a village of the Before Times.”

I nodded back then smiled and pushed her gently by the waist out the door and spit into my hand, “Done. But not until I pee!” She grinned at me then looked at my hand then spit into hers and shook, sealing our pact and then I shut the door quickly in her face and heard her giggle at my antics. The lady's giggle was so contrary to a knight, but something genuinely hers and a pleasure to hear.

Okay, I stared at the auto-pot as I dropped my trousers and mumbled the battle cry of the Hero of the Realm... my grandfather, “To the line! We shall not toil!” I sat.

Not going to share that different experience with you but to say, it was different. I did like that I didn't have to carry the chamber pot outside to drain it. I think I liked auto-pots.

I cleaned up in the other basin with the warm water that was heavenly. I even cleaned out my tangled mess of hair the best I could. Then I toweled off and dried my hair the best I could. I saw a little basket with used towels and dropped mine into it. I'd clean those and find where to hang them out later after we ate.

I redressed then snuck out and into my room, I saw her taking her armor off in her bed chamber and hanging each piece on hooks on the wall. I shut my door and looked at the new clothing that was mine. I hadn't paid a single iron penny for them. That sort of made me pause. Then the people of the realm paid for it.

A little rational voice in my head said, “Well of course they did, that is why they tithe, you are a squire of the realm now Laney and you defend those same people.” I nodded once to myself and just needed to have the last word over myself and said, “Okay, but I don't have to like it.” Take that rational me!

I looked at the dress for a long time then sighed and folded it and placed it into one of the drawers. Then I went to put on the new trousers and paused and looked at the underpants in the miscellaneous accessories. I squinted at them, daring myself. Mother had a pair she always wore.

I put them on then the socks and pulled up my new trousers. They seemed to conform to me. Well, they were made for me so I guess they would. I put on the belt that had so many useful pouches, then the new tunic that felt really nice against my skin.

Then I put on the heavy boots, I was surprised how well they fit and that they seemed to be padded and insulated. Finally, I pulled the sash on. I was proud to wear it.

I put the rest of the clothing into the drawers then put my dirties in a basket by the door. I started out, when the mirror caught my eye, and the brushes below it on the tray. I looked at the door then back at the brushes and I hurried over and brushed my hair.

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the pampering. When I could brush the entire length without any snarling I looked into the mirror and saw someone unfamiliar. I blushed and then noted some ribbons and hair clips on the tray. I clipped my bangs out of my eyes and then took a deep breath and stepped out.

I wasn't prepared. My Lady was in a set of dark green silk pajamas that did nothing to hide her feminine assets. A matching top and pants. She has a loose gold silk robe over them. I stopped breathing. I had never seen her out of her armor besides that one time in the baths. And even though she was naked then, this seemed more... more something... I don't know, I wasn't thinking much.

She smiled at me and seemed to sigh. “You look amazing Laney. I forgot we don't have any night clothes for you yet. You can use some of mine until we get some. Though it will look like a tent on you.” She grinned with that.

That snapped me out of my inappropriate attraction as I smiled at her in shock. “Hey! I'm not that small!” Then I looked down. “You look spectacular.”

She looked at the door and then at me. “What would you like to eat? This is your day, we need to have our own quiet celebration and relax. Tomorrow will be just as hectic.”

I shrugged. “Just some soup or stew.” Then I felt like a pig and asked, “And bread?”

She regarded me for a moment then she did that winking thing again that made my legs go weak. “Soup and sandwiches it is.”

She went to the door and opened it and cleared her throat and the page was suddenly there. She murmured something to him and he dashed off. She had me sit on a long lounge in front of a low table by the fireplace. She set up a small fire burning in it and there was a knock at the door when she was done. She said, “Enter.” The page and a girl dressed in the white of the kitchen staff walked in and placed two platters down on the table and then left.

Then I had some of the richest tomato soup and roast beef sandwiches with my Lady. We shared our stories as we ate. It was well past late chime when I yawned. She grinned and put the platters in the hall before she disappeared into her space. She came back out with a silky nightdress and handed it to me.

She placed her forehead against mine then said as she locked eyes with me. “Get a good night's sleep. I'll see you in the morning.” All I could do was nod, feeling her hot breath on my face. Then she was gone. I watched her until she pulled her drapes shut.

I went into my room and changed into the nightdress, it pooled at my feet but it was silky on my skin, and it smelled like Celeste. I laid in the overly soft bed for a long time, but couldn't sleep. It all felt wrong.

I wound up back in the great room, by the embers of the fire, lying on the lounge. I just stared blankly at the red glow of the coals. I wasn't really thinking, I just watched the embers with that sense that something was wrong. I understood finally. I was alone.

The lounge shifted and I looked over at the shadowy form of Celeste. She whispered, “What is it, Laney? Are you okay?”

I shrugged. “I don't know. It is stupid but, I have never slept alone. My whole life I shared a mattress with mother then Jace when he was born. I felt... alone... in that room.”

She just nodded sadly at me then she laid down behind me. She wrapped an arm around my waist and whispered, “Get some sleep, Laney.”

I sat almost paralyzed, feeling the heat of her body. I listened to her breathing even out as she drifted off. I smiled, I didn't feel alone anymore. I drifted off to sleep with a content smile on my face.

I woke up screaming. The massive monolith behind me was cracking and my body was burning. There was so much energy flowing into me then directed to the oncoming enemy. Someone had my shoulders, shaking me gently. “Laney! Laney wake up!” I could still feel the searing pain as I focused and realized I was in Celeste's chambers on the lounge. But it all seemed so real, and there was a shadowed beast with the eyes overflowing with red energies which had been approaching like a specter.

I swallowed and focused on Celeste as the dream faded away. I sat up. “Sorry. It was a nightmare. Monoliths, red-eyed monsters, and pain.”

She nodded then said, “You are safe now. It was just a dream.”

I nodded and sat up and looked at her sheepishly. She slid off the lounge and smiled. “It's time to get up anyway. Another hectic day of running around in circles lays ahead of us. I promise it will all settle down soon and we can get into a training routine between squiring and magic training.”

I smiled at the magic training part. I asked, “Does that happen... umm... in the library?”

She got a sly smile on her face. “Sometimes, but mostly it will be gauging your abilities and limits at first. But the library of the scrolls is open to you anytime you wish to visit. You need to realize you are both noble and a magic user now Laney. It is your right to seek knowledge when you wish to.”

I grinned and tried to hide it behind my hand. I could see all the wonders of the library whenever I wished! I watched as she headed to her alcove. “Get ready and we'll head out.” Then she added, “You will be required to wear your squire clothing anytime we are on duty. Anytime you are in public it needs to be either your uniform or a dress. Social protocol.

I nodded. I had the one set of clothes that the seamstress sent yesterday, more were supposed to come. I went to get dressed. I dressed quickly and then froze when I looked at the nightdress I had laid on my bed. Wait, Celeste had laid with me on the lounge all night so I didn't feel alone?

I checked my hair and brushed it and pulled it back and tied it in a ponytail with an emerald ribbon. I made sure I looked my best, I didn't want to make my Lady look bad.

The padded boots I slipped on last were a wonder. It was as if I were walking in calfskin with no soles. That flexible material would bend with me no matter which direction I twisted or stepped. Typically a cobbler would take three of four layers of toughened rawhide, glue and stitch them together, then sew those to the bottoms of your shoes.

When I stepped out, Celeste was walking back to the main door. She smiled and said, “I sent the page out to the livery to have them saddle our horses.” She went back and sat on a chair by her bed and I watched in fascination as she first checked each armor piece, polished any burnished spots with a cloth and beeswax. Then went about gearing up over her light clothes.

Then once she was satisfied she slipped on a tunic and sash. The last thing she did was to lash on her scabbard and tested drawing her sword.

Then she prompted me, “Well?”

I didn't know what to say. “Beautiful? Deadly?”

She looked to the ceiling and grinned. “I think I can live with that.” Then she offered her elbow. “Shall we see about getting your belongings?”

I placed my fingers on her elbow and curtsied to be cute. She chuckled and we headed out. I don't know why she always insisted on leading me around on her arm, but I wasn't complaining one bit. She made me feel special. Like I was somebody.

We got out to the livery and Bex was already there and we said our good mornings. He had a grand chestnut colored charger by the lead. Celeste excused herself and I stepped up to Bex and his horse. I put a hand out toward the horse's flank. “May I?”

He nodded enthusiastically. “My father insisted on buying Shadow here. He was the largest charger in the herd and father told me it was important for me to make an impression on the other knights since I'm not very strong, or coordinated, or... Well anyway, Shadow is the largest horse in all the realm.”

I patted the horse's flank, he was at least a hand taller than Celeste's. He snuffled and brought his muzzle down to me. I stroked the soft fur between his eyes. “You're a handsome fellow Shadow.” Then I looked at Bex. “He's beautiful.”

He looked genuinely proud of his horse. Then he said to me as Celeste walked up behind him. “You're pretty tiny, Laney, and probably need an added advantage too. You are a baroness, so maybe one day you'll have a steed as grand as mine.”

I smiled at him as Celeste stopped beside Shadow with her Charger and Goliath. Goliath stood two hands over Shadow. I grinned as Bex's eyes went wide at the size of my Percheron. I looked at the new war saddle on him. Good lord, it looked magnificent against his black hide. I said with a wink to Celeste, who was grinning like an idiot at what Bex had just said, “Maybe one day. Until then, I have Goliath.”

I looked up at the saddle then down to my short legs and saw a problem. I looked at the gangly squire who was just staring at my horse, and asked him, “Bex, could you give me a boost, I've never ridden him with a saddle.”

He turned away and smiled at me then stepped over to Celeste's Charger and bent and cupped his hands. I tried to cut back my giggle as Celeste said, “Thank you squire, but I'm capable of mounting Canter myself.” In one swift motion, she was up in the saddle and her feet in the stirrups. Just using her legs she had Canter side step away from us as she adjusted her gauntlets before even grabbing the reins.

I stood by Goliath and us women just watched as the gears turned in the young man's head then he shook himself out of it. He quickly squatted and I stepped into his cupped hands and he hoisted me up. It felt like I went up forever before I could swing a leg over and get seated.

Then he finally found his words. “I thought you were a serf until yesterday.” It came out like a question, but I just shrugged. He asked, genuinely curious, “Where did you get such a monster?”

I checked my feet in the stirrups and took the reins and urged my boy forward. “Spoils of war.”

He squinted up at me as I moved beside Celeste then smiled at the perceived joke. “Pull the other one.”

Celeste laughed out loud as she called back to him as we started toward the courtyard archway. “She has more kills than seven of the knights of the realm.”

The poor boy paled and Celeste urged her horse into a gallop. “Hyah!”

I loosened the reins so I could urge Goliath, but he was already in motion. He was all muscle, power, and grace as I almost got whiplash when he galloped up to Celeste's side. I was pleasantly surprised that with my horse's extra height, it put us at eye level with each other. The ground looked a hundred feet below me.

She shared a chuckle with me as we looked back to see Bex hurriedly mounting his steed and hustling to catch up as we stopped at the gates, looking out onto Lord's Way.

He finally wound up on my left as I was on Celeste's left. Then he said with a crooked grin and said to me with humor in his voice, “You could have at least stopped me before I put both feet in my mouth. Us new squires have to stick together. The other three are almost ready to get their Knighthood.”

That made me remember a question I wanted to ask my Lady. “How long does one serve as a squire?”

She said, “Five years before a squire obtains knighthood. Quicker if they prove themselves capable of defending the realm sooner.”

I know she was just two years past majority. “But you are commander of the mobile battalion and are just two years past majority.”

She chuckled, but Bex answered for her. “You can be become squire at fifteen. Then you would be a knight at twenty. But not Lady Celeste. Surely you have heard the tales of her Squireship?” I shook my head and he smiled and she blushed as he explained, “The youngest Techno Knight Ascendant in the realm. On her fifteenth birthday, she was named Squire. At seventeen her knight was in the group who held the gates at York Keep when they called for the aid of Wexbury. They were being overrun by a large group of marauders that were organized under the commander known as the Reaper.”

I paled. That was four years ago, the time of the Great Raid of York. The Reaper lead the Horde, a group of a hundred and fifty marauders. York lost forty knights and Wexbury and Flatlash answered the calls for aid. Flatlash lost ten knights, and Wexbury lost four in the battle at the gates of York Keep, but we liberated the keep.

He said with pride, “The Horde was about to break the line, and Celeste's knight, Sir Edwin, had already fallen valiantly to the prior enemy probing attack.”

He glanced at Celeste, then me, and lowered his voice. “It is said that a squire stepped out onto the battlefield to face the Horde and challenged the Reaper to single armed combat. This woman stood toe to toe with the man, crossing swords. They say you could see her sword shining for miles as she ignited. On her next slash, she cut through the enemy's broadsword with her magicked blade and ended the man.”

I squinted at both of them and called bullshit. “All know the tale of the death of the Reaper. Sir Edwin had challenged him and they battled for hours and with a mighty blow they killed each other. Edwin's last act of valor was freeing York.” They didn't say anything and I prompted, “Right?”

Bex shrugged. “Then explain Lady Celeste gaining the mantle of Techno Knight at seventeen and being awarded the command of the mobile battalion when she reached majority.”

I squinted at them then asked my Lady, “Is it true?”

She didn't make eye contact and only said, “Until the day I die, I will swear upon the bravery of Sir Edwin.” That was all she said, and it wasn't really an answer, now was it?

We were about to leave the castle grounds when Jace came running out to us wearing the uniform of a page and the sash of a Messenger of the Court. He had already started his duties. He attempted a bow as he panted, looked up at Celeste, and handed a parchment up to her. He gasped out, “Lady... Celeste... Assayer Bernadine asked me to deliver this before you left today.”

Celeste grinned down at him. “Thank you, Jace. You look very handsome in your uniform.” He blushed then bowed again and ran back toward the castle. He was full of energy.

My Lady looked at the parchment and then smiled. “You may wish to handle this Laney.” She handed it to me and I scanned over it and smiled like a mad woman, rolled it up, and slid it into one of the four saddle bags on my new war saddle.

Then we urged our horses forward I said, “Thanks for joining us today Bex. We don't own much, but the more hands, the more quickly we can do this.”

Celeste nodded her thanks too but added, “We'll mostly be supervising the porters except for any personal items you may hold dear.”

I was almost blushing at the looks we were getting from people as we passed by. Instead of those odd looks of curiosity, when I was dressed in my regular clothes. Now it was that look of awe and respect which I always had whenever a knight rode past.

Bex was eating it up. I'm sure the awkward Lord enjoyed the respect. I tried to shrink down in the saddle away from the looks. Celeste reprimanded me under her breath, “Sit tall Laney. You represent the realm now.” I nodded and took a deep breath and sat tall in the saddle, I would not embarrass her. She didn't look at me but nodded once and with a little smile said, “Better,”

We turned onto my lane and for some reason that struck me as a sad notion. This was possibly the last time I would be doing that. This place I had known my entire life was no longer my home. I felt a physical pain in my chest as my heart ached at the realization. Shouldn't I feel elated to be moving up in station?

I made sure to say good morning to all my neighbors by name as we passed. Most were happy to see me, a couple had looks of disgust on their faces that I had never seen before. We got to my cottage and it appeared so very small to me for the first time in my life. There were two large wagons in front of it in the lane, with four porters standing by. I almost snorted, what we had would fit in one with room to spare.

We were one of the few families that had double lots like this. In all of Cheap Quarter, there were only twenty-five like ours. They were assigned to vegetable gardeners or small animal herders like us. The only lots bigger were the three along the keep's wall, spreading out from the gates. Those were for grapes, strawberries, blackberries, and potatoes. The three richest people in Cheap Quarter.

Combined with the few vegetable gardens in Mid-End, and the spices almost everyone grew in their window boxes, the herders and gardeners of Cheap Quarter and the fishermen of the inner river were the only sources of fresh food if the keep were ever under siege and we were cut off from outside supplies.

There were supplies enough and stores of food in the Warehouse District by the Market, and in the castle, to ration to all the people of the keep for twelve months. With us, we could stretch that to eighteen months.

I looked at the place. The cottage itself was like the others, fifteen feet square, constructed of stone and timbers with tiny glass windows inset on three sides. A roof overhang that doubled as a firewood overhang and stable for one horse. A normal lot was twenty feet square while ours was forty by forty-five. What little land remained on our lot had chicken coops and the small makeshift pig pen we had cobbled together for the hogs until we sold them.