The Apprentice (14 page)

“Captain!”
Arthur and Dom cried out in surprise and snapped to attention, the color
draining from their faces.

The captain
seemed to take the situation in at a glance and when his gaze landed on Rowan
it lingered, examining him for a moment, searching for something. Rowan shifted
nervously. Whatever the man saw seemed to satisfy him and he moved on.

The
whole situation seemed strange now. Rowan had little idea what was going on or
what would happen next, and to his surprise, the captain ignored the soldiers
behind them, and instead turned to address Baird.

“Baird,”
he said, opening his arms in an exaggerated greeting. The pair shook hands
rather enthusiastically, the captain grimacing and cradling his hand after.

“You
always did have a knack for timing, James,” Baird said, smiling. “Leave it to
you to arrive at the last moment possible. Any longer and you would have had
quite a mess on your hands, and I would not have helped you to sort things out.
By the way, how is the scar treating you?”

“It
still stings every once in a while, but that is not important. I take it that
this is the boy you were looking for?” James said, casually indicating Rowan
with a nod.

“Yes. I
found him in a bit of a bind with these two.” Baird indicated the soldiers
behind him. “I don’t know what the problem was, but I think I can take a
guess.” He looked pointedly at Rowan’s purse, which Arthur still grasped in his
left hand.

“I see,”
James said thoughtfully. “It was good of you to notify me, and to restrain
yourself from injuring my guards. They are a disgrace to the city, but I have
recently been left short-handed, though you probably know more about that than
I do. Anyway, you can rest assured that these two will be severely punished and
will no longer wear the uniform of a city guard. In fact, I think I have a much
better uniform in mind for them to wear.”

The
captain grinned and both soldiers looked distressed. Arthur, the bolder one,
tried to protest.

“But
Captain, surely you aren’t going to—”

“Silence!
I’ve had enough of you two,” James shouted, snatching the purse away from
Arthur. “Bjorn and Kirill will escort the two of you back to the barracks,
where you will stay put and wait for me to return.”

With
that, he motioned to the guards behind him, who stepped forward. Arthur and Dom
allowed themselves to be escorted away with their heads hung in shame. James
waited until they were out of sight before he turned back to address Baird and
Rowan.

“Unfortunately,
I must leave now to finish my rounds,” he said. “It was good to see you again,
Baird, although I wish it could have been under better circumstances.”

He shook
Baird’s hand before he turned to Rowan and handed him his lost money.

“It was
good to meet you as well, boy. You must be quite special if Baird singled you
out to take under his wing and train. A lot of people would kill for such an
opportunity.”

“Thanks,
James. Now you’ve given the boy a boost to his ego that he does not need. He’ll
be full of hot air,” Baird complained. He seemed to enjoy the compliment to his
skills and reputation, but Rowan couldn’t tell whether the statement was meant
to be sarcastic or not. Either way, he felt both humbled and honored.

“Until
next time,” James said, turning to walk away from them. As they watched him
leave, Baird muttered something under his breath about interference and holding
one’s tongue.

Once the
captain was out of sight, Baird turned away from Rowan and silently led the way
back to the Ten Penny Tavern. Rowan could sense his master’s disappointment in
him and he felt filled with shame at his inability to act on his own. With his
head bowed, he trudged after Baird.

Chapter 12
                     
 

Rowan woke and stretched, rubbing
the sleep from his eyes. A night spent in a real bed left him feeling amazing.
Though he bore bruises from the previous night, his constant sparring with
Baird had hardened his body and he felt little pain. The stiffness in his back
and neck had gone, and he wished for nothing more than that he could continue
to sleep. But he knew that he must rise and face the day, so he threw off the
covers, baring himself to the chilled morning air, and stood to begin the
motions of the blade dance.

If there
had been any chance for Rowan to save face the night before, it had disappeared
after his encounter with the soldiers. The walk back to the inn had been
humiliating. Baird had remained silent and ignored Rowan for half of the time,
and the rest was spent lecturing him. And if that was not enough, when Rowan
had explained that he had dozed off, Baird laughed so hard that they had to
stop so he could sit down and catch his breath. By the time they reached the
Ten Penny Tavern, Rowan was red faced with shame and Baird was still laughing.

By then,
it was getting to be quite late. The common room was mostly empty and the music
had long been gone, leaving men alone with their cups and their companions. It
left the place silent.

Rowan
had missed dinner, though at Baird’s request, Horst was able to produce some
leftovers, with much bowing and apologizing. The food was cold, but Rowan was
hungry and had no complaints. He was given heated cider to wash the meal down
with, which helped to warm him.

Too
tired and embarrassed to converse with anyone, Rowan had eaten and then made
his way upstairs to the room where his bed awaited him. After so many nights
spent sleeping on the ground, Rowan quickly slept in the comfortable bed.

As he
moved through the motions of the blade dance, slowly shifting from stance to
stance, paying attention to his form and enjoying the way his muscles
stretched, Rowan took note of the fact that Baird was not abed. He pushed the
thought from his mind and focused entirely on the blade dance. Clearing the mind
was a new exercise that Baird had taught him. His master said that it was
necessary to learn to clear the mind entirely, allowing for pure focus on a
single thought or task. Rowan did this as he went through the motions, slowly
pivoting and bringing his right leg forward into a lunge and extending his arm
into a thrust. The simple motion took a full minute. Rowan followed it by
retracting his arm and bringing his leading leg back. Moving normally, the
motion was a simple thrust-lunge. But moving slowly forced Rowan to balance on
a single leg in positions that could not be maintained. It was taxing work, but
it grew easier and more rewarding the longer he did it. He finished the dance
and used a cloth and the washbasin that had been brought to the room to clean
himself of his sweat.

Rowan
had been awake for more than a half hour and outside he could tell that the sun
was already up and shining through the window. Today was the day that they
would leave, and Rowan would be glad to be gone. He no longer felt any desire
to stay in Barrinell and was eager to reach the capitol.

Rowan
quickly shed the previous day’s clothes and dressed himself in clean clothes
before leaving the room. A fine aroma hung in the air and set Rowan’s stomach
to growling. He was quite hungry.

He made
his way downstairs and found the commons already active. The tables were barely
a quarter full, but food and drink was being brought to those who were seated
and the kitchen sounded alive as it prepared for the day.

Rowan
looked around for Baird but did not see his master, so he took an empty seat on
his own, wondering where the big man was. Rowan had not expected Baird to have
gone, and he could not guess at what business he would have in the morning. But
he pushed all thoughts of his master aside as a serving girl came by. He asked
her to bring him some food.

While he
was waiting, Rowan saw Horst and decided to ask after Baird. The innkeeper was
busy having a discussion with one of the customers, but he broke it off hastily
when Rowan approached him.

“Good
morning, young sir. May I be of service?”

“Good
morning. I am looking for Ba—for Sir Gawyn. It seems that he left the inn?”

The
innkeeper smiled. “Indeed. Sir Gawyn left a few hours ago, saying that he would
be back shortly.”

“Did he
say where he was going? What he was doing?” Rowan had little hope that Baird
had told the innkeeper anything.

“Alas,
he did not tell me of his business. He did, however, leave a message for you.”

“Really?”
Rowan was surprised at that.

“Yes. I
do not understand his message, but perhaps you will. He said to tell you not to
leave, not to get lost, and not to do anything at all.”

Rowan
frowned, but tried not to show his annoyance. He thanked Horst for the
information and left for his table. The serving girl quickly returned with his
food and a drink. Rowan thanked her kindly and started eating. It was hot and
fresh, and it tasted good. Rowan reflected upon all of the meals he had eaten
during his travels. They had not been terrible, but he resolved not to take hot
meals for granted. It would only be a few weeks until they reached the capitol,
but that would be a time during which the meals would be cold, the bread would
be stale, and they would be sleeping outside and on the ground.

Rowan
finished and sat back to wait for Baird. It was not long before his master
returned. He entered the room, his large body filling the doorframe, and strode
through the room to sit across from Rowan.

“I trust
Horst gave you my message, since you are still here.”

“Was it
entirely necessary? I am no fool.”

“You do
not seem to do well in cities. I did not want an incident like last night.”

That
quickly shut Rowan up. He wished that he could forget everything that had
happened the previous night.

“I take
it that you have eaten. If not, we will be leaving now so you had best get
something to take with you so you.”

“You
took your time doing whatever it was that you were doing. I could have eaten
two or three times over. What were you about, by the way?”

“It was
something for which I did not require your presence. I do not mean offence, but
I had business to attend to on which I could not bring you along.”

Rowan
sensed that Baird would not discuss whatever his business had been.

“I did,
however, meet with James again today. He was most interested in you. It made
him quite difficult to speak with, since he kept prying.”

“Why is
he interested in me?”

“Because
I have taken you on as my apprentice. I have never taken an apprentice in all
the years I have served as a knight. It was expected of me, but I have always
resisted the idea. So when I arrived in Barrinell with an apprentice boy from
an isolated village in the Vale, his interest was piqued. He wonders what I saw
in you.”

The real
question is what did I do to make you take me on. Rowan did not voice the
thought aloud, but he could not suppress it. He knew already that Baird had
never taken on an apprentice before. That was unsurprising since Baird was very
much a loner. He dealt with people when necessary, but he was not the type to
rely on others. If gaining an apprentice prompted such surprise and curiosity,
then Rowan had underestimated the significance of the gesture. He resolved to
make himself worthy.

“It is
time that we leave.” Baird said. “We have our provisions and the road is long.
It is best we do not linger.”

They
retrieved their belongings, making sure that everything was packed away
properly. Rowan filled their saddlebags with the provisions and things that
they had obtained. When done, he brought the saddlebags to the stable boys and
told them to saddle up Shadow and Chourl. He had no coin to pay them, but the
two boys quickly set about their task, probably knowing Horst’s attitude
towards Baird.

“You are
leaving already, Sir Gawyn? But you only just arrived. You must stay and enjoy
Barrinell; enjoy my hospitality.”

Rowan
found Horst pleading with Baird in the common room, trying unsuccessfully to
convince him to stay. The innkeeper was bobbing up and down as he bowed, but
Baird was indifferent to the man’s pleas.

“Surely
you are not so pressed that you must leave after only one night. I insist that
you stay. There is fine wine to be had, women, and much business and coin to
keep you in the city. You need not worry about imposing.”

“I have
told you already that I will be leaving now. I had no plans to stay in
Barrinell for any length of time, and there is no business keeping me here.”
Baird noticed Rowan and turned, angling himself in such a way that he no longer
directly faced the innkeeper, making it difficult for the man to continue pleading
without appearing rude. To his benefit, Horst held his tongue, though the
strain of silence was apparent on his face.

“Are our
horses saddled and ready?”

“The
stable boys are readying them now. They should be done quickly.”

“Good.”
Baird turned back towards Horst, his face stern. “It is time that I took my
leave. I am grateful for your hospitality and your business.”

Horst
appeared ready to argue further, but the man was not so much of a fool that he
could not recognize a lost cause. He bowed deeply. “As always, your stay was
most welcome. If you truly wish to leave, I would advise that you avoid leaving
by the eastern gate as there will be many people entering there. It would be
far more advisable to leave by the north or south gate.”

Baird
nodded and pulled out a small coin purse. “For our beds and your troubles.”

Horst
protested strongly even as he accepted the coin, quickly tucking it away.

Outside,
Baird and Rowan found both of the horses saddled and ready to ride. Chourl
seemed pleased to see Rowan. The horse had only spent a single night in the
stables, but already it looked well rested and ready to travel. Rowan felt much
the same way. After a night spent in a bed, he felt more rested than he had
since his journey with Baird began.

Following
Baird’s lead, Rowan mounted Chourl and led the horse out into the street. The
sun had already risen and it was no longer early in the morning, but the
streets were not yet crowded and it was easy enough to ride the horses rather
than lead them. Rowan had feared that he would find it difficult to ride within
the city, but he managed better than expected and Chourl did not seem troubled
by the narrow space or the people who were about.

“Why are
we heading east? The innkeeper said that the eastern gate would be crowded and
more difficult to leave by.”

“He
spoke the truth, but his advice was loaded. I have little doubt that he is
watching both the northern and southern gates to try and determine which way we
are headed. He is probably watching the eastern gate as well, but the crowds
will make us harder to spot. Plus, the eastern road forks and goes both south
and north, so leaving by that gate will not make it clear which direction we
are heading.”

“I don’t
see the point,” Rowan said. He thought that perhaps Baird was reading too much
into the innkeeper’s actions. “What does it matter if he knows what direction
we are headed? He is no enemy.”

“Not
every enemy reveals himself, nor does a man need to have evil intentions to
cause harm. If every man wore their heart on their sleeve, trust would not have
to be earned. But the hearts of men, and women, are always hidden.”

“I still
don’t see the point of going out of our way to leave by a gate that will be
crowded. Even if the information was useful, it is not necessarily accurate.”

“True.
Leaving by the south gate says little more than that we are likely headed
south. It does not say where. And it is possible, though unlikely, that we
could head south and then change direction. But information is valuable, and I
prefer to be cautious. I trust you remember that I was followed into the Vale.
I am skilled at moving and travelling unseen, but it was not the first time I
have been ambushed, nor will it be the last. So I proceed with caution and keep
those who are prone to trading information, such as Horst, unaware of my
intentions and my business.”

The city
began to wake around them as they travelled the streets. Vendors were beginning
to call out their wares to the passers-by and the street performers were
beginning to appear. Rowan warily eyed any guards he saw, but none seemed to
show any interest in him or Baird. At most they eyed the two men on horses with
a lazy gaze before turning towards something more interesting.

The tall
buildings gave way to shorter ones as they approached the eastern edge of the
city. With the markets and the shops behind them in the city proper, the
streets were less crowded.

As Horst
had said, the eastern gate was crowded with those who were entering and leaving
the city. There were guards managing the flow of people, but they were doing a
poor job. More were coming than going, which made it difficult to approach the
gate since they were moving against the flow of bodies. Outside, there was a
line of carts waiting to be let in one at a time. A man at the front of the
line was having trouble with the guards. They were shouting, but their voices
were lost among the sound of hundreds of other people.