The Fuller's Apprentice (The Chronicles of Tevenar Book 1) (39 page)

Josiah scrunched up his face, trying to clear his mind. It was hard to remember that this calm, reasonable man was a ruthless killer.

Elkan nodded thoughtfully. “Forgive me, but I’m aware of a few cases where folk have died, allegedly by your hands. I’m sure you must have an explanation?”

Josiah knew Elkan must be playing along with Ozor to get information, but it was still disorienting to hear him speak so dismissively of murder. Ozor shrugged. “We do what we can, but these things happen. People resist, strike out, we fight back… sometimes folk get killed. An unfortunate reality.”

“I suppose that’s what happened with the miner couple outside Darilla.” Elkan’s hands lay quiet in his lap, but Josiah caught a glimpse of his fingers twisting a frayed strand of the rope that bound them.

Ozor frowned, then his face cleared. “Oh, yes, I remember. They would have brought a fine ransom; all they needed to do was cooperate. We couldn’t subdue the man; he forced our hand with his resistance, but we let the woman go once it was clear we couldn’t recapture her without harming her.”

Outrage nearly propelled Josiah to his feet. How dare they blame Meira’s husband for his own death, and count themselves merciful that she had been rescued? But forced himself to remain still.

Even Elkan couldn’t completely hide his reaction. His fingers twitched on the ropes, and he was silent for a moment. When he spoke, his voice had an odd quality at first, before he mastered it to composure. “And the watchers in Tathorlith—they were guarding Kabos. Was he one of your number even then? You show great loyalty to your people.”

“You do understand!” Ozor’s face lit up, and he leaned toward Elkan. “Loyalty is what binds us together, not law or custom, but our own sworn oaths to each other. Kabos is my dear friend. He was one of the first who helped us, three years ago when I was forming our band. He allowed us the use of his land, he gave us meat and milk and grain before we learned to take care of ourselves. We would never have made it through that first winter without him. Of course when he was in trouble we had to rescue him. Anyone would have done the same.” Ozor jumped to his feet, and paced the close confines of the tent. “I was angry at first that he brought you here, but now I see what a fortunate chance it was that led you to us. With a wizard among us, imagine what we can accomplish.”

Elkan held up his hands. “I haven’t yet agreed to join you. You’ve given me much I must think about first.”

“Of course.” Ozor deflated a bit. “Take as long as you need.” He hesitated. “I must insist you remain bound until you’ve actually sworn loyalty. Just a precaution, you understand. But we can make you a bit more comfortable. Gan, fetch blankets and stools, and bring them some of our own meal.” He swept from the tent, calling orders as he went.

Tereid followed Ozor, but he paused before leaving. “I strongly suggest you listen to Ozor and take him up on his offer.” He touched the hilt of his knife. “Ozor’s a fine leader. If you join us, you’ll want for nothing and gain loyal friends for the rest of your days. But if you refuse…” He drew the knife and spun it in his fingers. “We who are loyal to him make sure those who oppose him don’t trouble him any more. Think on that.” He sheathed the knife, stepped out, and let the tent flap fall.

Josiah turned to Elkan with a mixture of fear, outrage, and admiration for Elkan’s acting. “Can you believe—”

“Shh!” Elkan hissed. “They’re listening. We have to let them think we’ve been taken in by their persuasion. Keep your voice down.”

Josiah obeyed, dropping to a whisper. “He doesn’t know as much about wizards as he thinks he does, if he believes you might really join them. Or was he lying?”

“No.” Elkan looked thoughtfully after Ozor. “I think he believes what he’s saying, at least while he’s saying it. I’m beginning to understand him. Everything he’s done is completely justified in his mind. He sees himself as righteous, noble, beset by a world of injustice ranged against him.”

Josiah shook his head. “He’s crazy, then.”

Elkan’s eyes were a little unfocused. “No, though a touch of mind-healing might be called for. He just interprets reality to his own advantage.” Elkan’s gaze came back to Josiah. “It’s a hopeful sign,” he said encouragingly. “Once he’s in custody, there will be a real possibility he might be rehabilitated and rejoin the community. Much more than if his motivation came from greed or cruelty.”

Josiah didn’t find this thought as reassuring as Elkan evidently intended it. “What about Tereid, though? I bet he knows you’re bluffing.”

Elkan sighed. “I’m sure you’re right. I’ll have to play along as best I can. It will buy us time. Hopefully the wizards and watchers will arrive before long.”

Diffidently, Josiah suggested, “You could… you know, lie and pretend to go along with them.”

Elkan fingered the rope around his wrists. “I suppose I could. The Mother doesn’t hold oaths given under duress as binding. But even so, that’s not a path I wish to follow if there’s any other choice. Healing them wouldn’t be a problem, but eventually they’d ask for something we couldn’t do and the ruse would collapse. Still, as a last resort, to protect you and Sar—”

He broke off as Gan backed into the tent, arms piled high. Josiah jumped up to help him. The ropes nearly came loose from his hands and feet, but Gan didn’t notice. Josiah grabbed a stool from atop the pile, while Gan peered around the bundle of bedding, looking for a place to put the small pot that dangled from his fingers. “Be careful, it’s hot,” he warned. Elkan took it from him and set it atop a crate. Gan dumped the bedding in a corner, revealing two more stools and a bundle of eating utensils.

Josiah hid a sigh as Gan cut the ropes he’d spent so much effort making look secure. The three of them perched on stools and ladled stew into bowls

As he dished himself seconds, Elkan turned, with convincing casualness, to Gan. “So, Gan, how did you come to join Ozor?”

Gan gulped his bite of stew. “Oh, I came with him from Elathir. I’m Shipwrightkin, but I always wanted to travel and see the rest of Tevenar, so I apprenticed as a trader. Ozor was a good master. The first year of my apprenticeship our journey was very profitable and he was generous. He’s good at predicting what will be in demand in the city. He makes people think he’s giving them a high price for their goods, even when he knows he can sell them for a lot more.”

“So what happened?” Josiah blurted. Elkan shot him a cautionary glance, but Gan continued freely.

“I guess it started when Ozor took on Shonika as an apprentice. That was during my second year. She’d been an apprentice herder, but the herder masters refused to accept her trial work and promote her to journeyman. Ozor needed someone who could care for the mules. Aldan…” Gan hesitated over the name, but then went on with his story. “…was Herderkin, so he’d been doing it, but it was his last year as journeyman and once he made master he was going to go out on his own. Ozor offered to take Shonika on and only require her to serve a year as an apprentice trader before he sponsored her for journeyman.”

“Shonika? Nirel mentioned her.” Josiah tried to remember. “She said she might not feed Sar enough.”

“Yeah, well, that’s what started it. Shonika was great with the mules. Ozor was happy because she was getting twice the work from them, and he was paying a lot less for feed. But Aldan was upset. He kept going to Ozor and telling him he’d have to feed them more and stop Shonika from whipping them so much. But Ozor wouldn’t listen. Finally, when we were in Shalinthan, Aldan went to the town council and reported him.”

Josiah nodded, remembering what Master Noadiah had told them. Elkan narrowed his eyes at Gan. “And Ozor saw that as a betrayal of Aldan’s loyalty to him, didn’t he?”

Gan gulped, and nodded. “Three days after we left Shalinthan, when I woke up everyone was shouting. Aldan was dead. Ozor had killed him. He said it was justice, punishment for his betrayal. He made us all swear never to betray him, never to tell anyone what happened. We were going to go on and say Aldan died in an accident, but then we heard rumors there was a wizard nearby, making the circuit. Ozor panicked. He kept saying the wizard would be able to see what he’d done. He took us off our route, farther and farther into the mountains. None of us were hunters; we were used to traveling from town to town, only camping for a night or two. We got hungrier and hungrier. We killed one of the mules and ate it. The other apprentices were all whispering that we’d have to abandon him.” Gan’s face was bleak.

He shook his head, and his normal good humor reasserted itself. “Then we ran into Tereid and his bunch. They tried to steal our trade goods, but Master Ozor made a deal with them. They joined us and taught us how to take care of ourselves. They took our goods to people they knew and sold them. That’s how we met Kabos—he took some of our goods into Tathorlith. He helped us a lot that first winter, and he and Ozor became friends. I met Nirel then. She was always coming up to our camp and hanging around. I told her all about our adventures—she could never get enough of my stories.”

He grinned. “Ozor was like a new person, happy, excited. He started telling us all how we’d build a new society, away from guilds and wizards. So that’s what we’ve been doing ever since. More people keep joining us. We’ve been looking for a place to settle, but nowhere in the mountains has enough farmable land to support us, and it’s too far to the other side of the range if we still have to trade. But now that Kabos has joined us for real, he can teach us farming. We’ll be able to leave Tevenar altogether.” He looked excited at the prospect.

Elkan nodded thoughtfully. “Could you tell us more about—”

From outside the back of the tent, a voice hissed, “Psst, Gan, let me in.”

Josiah jumped up and helped Gan clear away bags and bundles. Nirel crawled under the edge of the tent. She climbed to her feet and looked uncomfortably from Josiah to Elkan.

“I found your donkey. He’s all right. Shonika’s got him about a mile down the river path. She staked him in a rocky patch where he can’t graze, but I took him some hay.” A sudden grin split her face. “He kicked her. I’ve never seen a beast manage that before.” She grew grave again. “She whipped him for it, and swore more than ever to break him. But she likes to take her time, so he’s in no danger for now.”

Josiah wasn’t sure, for the light was fading, but he thought Elkan had gone a little pale. But he merely said, “Thank you for caring for him and for letting me know what’s happening.”

“It was nothing.” She looked at him appraisingly. “Everybody’s saying you’re going to join us. Would you, really?”

“I’m thinking over my options.” Elkan’s voice was carefully neutral.

“If you did, we—Father and I—we wouldn’t hold what happened against you. That’s part of joining Ozor, you renounce your past. We could really use you. So, I do hope you decide…” She shifted uncomfortably beneath Elkan’s gaze.

She turned away. “Josiah, you’d really like it here. Wouldn’t he, Gan?” Gan nodded enthusiastically. “You get to learn so much, and do so many things. We may even get to travel over the mountains to places no one’s ever seen before. Please, think about it.”

“If I don’t, will Kabos beat me with a switch?” Josiah asked her bitterly. “Or will Ozor kill me and say I deserved it?”

She bit her lip and glared at him. “Fine. Be that way. I was trying—never mind.” She turned to Elkan. “I’ll keep looking out for your donkey. But I’d better not come back. Word is we’re going to break camp in the morning and move out around noon. I expect Ozor will want to know your decision before then.” She pushed past Josiah and squirmed out of the tent.

They moved the stores back into place. After escorting them each to the privy, Gan helped them spread the blankets on the ground. He hesitated before leaving. “Ozor told me I didn’t have to bind you tonight, but I’d better warn you, Tereid said he’d be watching your tent. He doesn’t trust you. So don’t try anything stupid.”

Elkan nodded acknowledgment, and Gan left.

Twenty-One

J
osiah squinted at Elkan over breakfast. The wizard’s normally smooth cheeks and chin were covered with dark stubble. “You need to shave.”

Elkan rubbed his face and grimaced. “Do you think Gan would bring me a razor?”

Josiah frowned, puzzled. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you shave. Have I? But you must, you always look like you have.”

Elkan looked embarrassed. “I hate shaving,” he admitted. He scratched his neck. “And I hate the way a beard feels, especially when it’s first growing in. So Sar and I take care of it, as part of our morning routine. Just a touch, enough to reverse a day’s worth of growth.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s a legitimate use of the Mother’s power. A wizard should always look their best, to properly represent the Guild. And it takes less energy than shaving would, at least while we’re on the road. I’d have to build a fire every morning to heat the water, and carry a razor, and brush, and soap, and spend time that we could be traveling…”

Josiah grinned at Elkan’s defensiveness. He fingered his chin, where lately a few dark hairs had started to grow. “Do you think, once I start to need it—”

Elkan froze, his eyes going wide, his hand coming up to silence Josiah. An instant later he leapt to his feet and bolted from the tent. Josiah scrambled to follow him.

A horse tore down the river path into the middle of camp. Its rider dragged on the reins until it slid to a halt, eyes rolling wildly. The woman flung herself to the ground, grabbing for the bow on her back. “Ozor! Tereid!” Blood poured from long crimson slashes on her arms and torso.

As people burst from tents all over camp, Tobi bounded into sight. She slowed, snarling and circling the woman. The woman aimed an arrow at the mountain cat, but at the sound of thudding hoofs she jerked her head around. Sar galloped toward Elkan, neck stretched out and ears laid back. The woman narrowed her eyes and swung her bow to trace his path, hand tensing on the drawn string.

Elkan raced to meet Sar, but Josiah knew with a sick lurch of his stomach that they were still too far apart to reach each other before the woman released her arrow. Just as she drew a deep breath and her fingers flexed, Tobi leaped on her. The arrow went wild.