The Apprentice (19 page)

He
looked at Lord Evans, expecting the man to be listening intently, but the lord
had turned his back and was walking away. He glanced backwards, but Rowan
avoided his gaze, instead catching the eye of Princess Eliza. Rowan quickly
looked away.

He
glanced about the room, avoiding the princess. Standing in a corner, away from
the rest of the guests, was Gannon. The man was speaking with someone that
Rowan could not see, and he appeared angry. Rowan watched curiously as Gannon
made a gesture and sent the man away, glancing furtively around the room.
Gannon’s gaze swept over the king and Baird as they conversed and then he
seemed to notice Rowan.

Their
eyes locked for a brief moment before Rowan panicked. He tried to act as though
something else occupied his attention. After a moment of staring intently at
the far wall, he chanced a glance to see if Gannon had noticed him. Gannon was
gone.

“Rowan,
why don’t you entertain Princess Eliza.”

Baird’s
voice brought Rowan’s attention back to where he was and the conversation at
hand.

“I doubt
that this conversation will be very enjoyable for either of you,” Baird said,
“and you are both of an age. It would be much more enjoyable for the two of you
to keep company with each other instead of remaining here.”

“That
sounds like a wonderful idea,” King Alden chimed in. “Let the two younglings go
off and enjoy themselves. I am sure that they have much in common and will
enjoy each other’s company.”

Rowan
struggled to hide his displeasure. He dared not speak against his master or the
king, but he desperately wished not to be sent away again. Not with the
princess.

Apparently
Princess Eliza did not have the same qualms about speaking her mind.

“Father,
I am the princess. I am old enough to be a part of the conversations of the
state. I would rather remain by your side and be helpful.”

“Nonsense.
You are still young and I will not have you spending your youth focused on
matters meant for elders. Why don’t you go off and keep Rowan company? He looks
quite fine in his new attire, and the two of you ought to be able to enjoy each
other’s company.”

“Humph.”
Eliza protested in a manner very unlike a princess, making it clear that she
did not want to leave. But Baird nudged Rowan in her direction and gave her a
look.

“I think
that you two will be able to share a much more interesting conversation than
this one,” Baird said, looking pointedly at Rowan.

With
that, both Rowan and Eliza were forcibly exiled. Left alone, they stood in
silence. There was an awkward air between them after their conversation
earlier, and it was several minutes before either spoke.

“Baird
wants me to apologize to you,” Eliza said. Rowan looked at her, his silence
indicating that he was waiting for more.

“I
apologize for my earlier actions. I was rude to you and to Baird, and both my
actions and my words were rash and unbecoming of a royal princess.” Her words
were stiff and forced, but she had offered an apology and Rowan was obliged to
acknowledge it.

“Thank
you. I accept your apology. Perhaps we can try to put the past behind us.”

The
princess did not say anything more for a while, and when she did speak she
caught Rowan off guard.

“Why did
Baird choose you?”

Rowan
was not sure whether she was addressing him or speaking to herself until she
looked at him and repeated the question. “What did he see in you that was
special enough for him to ignore custom and choose you as his apprentice?”

Rowan
did not know how to respond to her question. He did not know why Baird had
asked him to come to Estoria. He did not know why he had been chosen to be
Baird’s apprentice.

Princess
Eliza stared at him, waiting for an answer.

“I don’t
know.”

Rowan
did not know why he said it. Perhaps because it was the truth, or perhaps
because he did not feel that he deserved what he had. But his words seemed to
reach the princess, and they were met with silence.

Before
more could be said, a trumpet sounded in the dining hall to signal that the
feast was about to begin.

*           *           *

The meal took place in the great
dining hall, where there were a number of long tables stretching across the
room, all aligned parallel to a raised table at the end of the hall. The tables
were each laid out with foods and drinks and eating utensils. More servants
stood along the walls, these wearing aprons and ready to serve or assist as
needed.

Eliza
escorted Rowan to the dining hall, where she left him to take her place with
her father. Rowan found a seat beside his master. The king made a toast to
Baird and Rowan before everyone ate, prompting polite applause from all in
attendance. Once the applause died, the time for eating began.

The meal
went by quickly for Rowan, who occupied himself with the food on his plate. He
tried not to appear gluttonous, though it was quite difficult with so many
different dishes to choose from, most of them new to Rowan.

The food
was filling and plentiful, and the drinks were warm and sweet. Everything was
fresh and warm, something that surprised Rowan because it seemed wasteful to
cook so much new food if it would not all be eaten. And not all of the food
that had been cooked would eaten this night. Of that, Rowan was sure.

While
eating, Rowan struggled and tried his hardest not to appear ignorant. He knew
not to eat using his hands, for he was not uncivilized, and he also knew that
the cloth laid out by his plate was for wiping his hands and cleaning himself.
But his place had been laid out with many different instruments for eating.
Some utensils Rowan recognized, such as the knife, the spoon, and the fork,
though he had been given duplicates of some utensils that were of different
sizes. Other utensils were foreign to him, and he had to ask Baird what they
were for.

“What am
I supposed to do with this?” Rowan asked, holding a thin rod with a knob at the
end.

“You are
to do nothing with that. It is an ice breaker, something used only in the
coldest of the winter months, and even then only rarely. It was placed for show
and tradition rather than use, and only because King Alden is treating this as
a very formal occasion.”

“But
what is it for?” Rowan asked, curious as to the function of the ice-breaker. He
could see no need for such a thing. He knew that the South grew cold during the
winter months, but surely the inside of the castle was kept warm and the food
was thawed. Even if wasn’t, the ice-breaker was light and would do little when
struck against something.

“In the
coldest of the winter months, there is a tradition of freezing drinks before
they are served. I will not pretend to know how it is done, but the drinks are
prepared so that only the very top is frozen. Then when they are served, the
ice-breaker is used to break the thin top layer of ice, which then keeps the
drink cold.”

“Why
would anyone want a cold drink during the winter?”

“It is a
tradition, so it does not have to be sensible. However, this particular
tradition does have a history. During the winter months deep in the South, down
near the Southern Wall, it can grow colder than you would believe possible. It
can grow so cold that a cup of water will freeze as you drink it. Down in the
South, the ice-breaker is a common utensil. At some point in time, a king
honored the soldiers of Fort Brigg by adopting the custom of freezing his
drinks during the winter. Of course, he also drank warm cider and wine to warm
himself, but the gesture was what mattered.”

“I still
think it is foolish. No Southerner is likely to care about a frozen drink.”

“Not
true. Some of these very lords and ladies are from the South, and they
recognize the meaning of the ice-breaker. It is a subtle way that King Alden
honors them. He is currying their favor.”

“I see,”
Rowan said as he thought over Baird’s explanation. It made sense, but Rowan was
not likely to change his mind about drinking a frozen drink during the cold
months. And he doubted that any Southerner come north would desire a frozen
drink over a warm cider.

Rowan
returned to his meal for a time, though he quickly grew full and pushed his
plate aside. After eating, Rowan occupied himself by conversing with Baird and
the others who were sitting around him. He caught Princess Eliza’s eye a couple
of times, but neither one addressed the other. Instead, Rowan was engaged by
Lord Evans, who sat nearby and was very interested in finding out more about
Rowan and his time with Baird.

“Where
was it that you were living before you came here?”

“I lived
with my father and my brother in the Corrinthian valley.”

“I do
not think that I have ever been there,” Evans mused. “Where is it?”

“Corrinth
is in the Vale, in the North, near Attica,” Baird interrupted.

“But
what brought you there, Baird? I would have thought that you would take the
more direct route back to Estoria that passes between Varda and Shai’Naan. Were
you as far north and west as Malchior?”

“I lost
my way,” Baird said tersely. “I got caught in a bad storm.”

“The
storm must have been truly bad to drive you that far off course,” Evans said.
“But then again, there would not be any other reason for you to be in that
area, and it is not as though you would have any reason to lie or hide the
truth. It must have been a truly impressive storm.”

Rowan
could see that Baird was tense from the way his hand formed a fist beneath the
table, but Evans laughed and the conversation moved on.

The
tension gone, Rowan soon became disinterested in the conversation. His gaze
found Gannon, who was staring so intently at Baird that he did not even notice
Rowan watching him. Rowan looked at the man with a sense of mistrust that he
could not explain. As he watched the watcher, someone approached and whispered
something to Gannon, who quickly excused himself. But when Rowan called it to
Baird’s attention, his master told him that it was not unusual for Gannon to be
called away. Baird freely admitted to having left many feasts to attend to
other matters, some important and some not.

When
Rowan thought about it, it did make sense. There were more important matters
than feasts, and Gannon would have to deal with such issues. Perhaps he was
simply allowing his mistrust for Gannon to make him overly suspicious.

When the
feast was at its end, Rowan followed Baird as he bid farewell to the remaining
guests. They bowed to the king and princess and then left.

Rowan
followed as his master led him out of the castle and across the grounds to his
quarters. Night had fallen and the sky was black, making it very hard to see.
The moon was shadowed by clouds and the stars were not shining. The only light
that helped to guide their path came from the flickering flames of the lanterns
spread across the grounds.

As they
walked, Rowan’s mind was plagued by his earlier conversation with Eliza.

“Master,
why did you choose me to be your apprentice?”

“What brought
this up?” Baird asked.

Rowan’s
talk with Eliza echoed in the back of his head.

“I don’t
know,” Rowan said. Baird opened the door to the building and Rowan stepped
inside, grateful for the warmth.

“Then
why ask the question, unless something is on your mind.”

“I just
wanted to know why you chose
me
. Was I just lucky enough to be the first
person who was available? I don’t understand your decision.”

“You’ve
proven yourself to be a worthy apprentice,” Baird said. “You’ve shown that you
are willing to learn and you’ve grown a lot since we first met. So why do you
doubt yourself now?”

“I don’t
know,” Rowan said, trying to hide his true emotions. He wanted an easy answer
so badly, but there didn’t seem to be one. “I just don’t know why you chose me.
When you offered to take me with you, you had no idea that things would turn
out this way.”

The pair
finally reached Baird’s quarters. A temporary mattress had been set up
alongside the far wall and his travelling clothes had been laid out, along with
a sleeping robe.

“Does it
matter
why
I chose you, Rowan? What is important is that you were
chosen, and I do not regret my decision. You have done very well to prove
yourself.”

“I just
wanted there to be something special that made you choose me over anyone else,”
Rowan whispered to himself. “I want to know I am not your apprentice because I
forced myself upon you.”

Rowan’s
words had been too quiet to be heard, but Baird spoke again as though he had
heard them.

“Rowan,
the choice I made relied on faith. No matter who I chose or how well qualified
they were, there could never have been a guarantee that they would have made a
good apprentice. I made a judgment and decided to take you with me. What
matters is that you have had the spirit and the strength to learn and grow as
much as you have. There should be no reason to doubt yourself.”