Tower of the Arkein: Kan Savasci Cycle Book 2, page 31
“You flipped a coin?” Laurent asked in surprise.
“Well,” Adel said defending the decision, “there are so many classes, and the pathways all so divergent.”
“So, you flipped a coin,” Laurent continued, “Brilliant.”
Thea remained quiet, but now seemed to be enjoying the interaction.
“What did you put in for?” Aeden asked Daniel and Laurent, attempting to pull them away from the topic of coin flipping.
The two looked at each other. Dan, the ever-polite gentleman, let Laurent respond first.
“I went for the Practical Arts, with a focus on law,” he responded, “decided to change it up a little this year.”
Daniel smiled, “More like continue to spend your father’s money so you don’t have to go back home.”
“Sure,” Laurent said, “there’s that too.”
Aeden then looked to Daniel. The group politely fell silent, awaiting the next participant’s turn. Although Aeden was burning with questions about each pathway, and kicked himself for not investing more time in their decision, he waited graciously for Daniel’s response.
“I’m continuing with the pathway of Medicine.”
Aeden waited for more, but that’s all he said.
“How about you,” Adel asked, turning to face Thea.
She was standing a bit apart from them. She still seemed to be uncomfortable. Strangely, Aeden felt a hint of pleasure at her discomfort. Despite, not knowing her for long, he had noticed that she enjoyed subtly insulting Adel. Seeing her squirm felt good.
“Music,” she said.
Adel nodded and smiled, “So did we!”
Aeden couldn’t tell if Thea was pleased or annoyed.
Before any of them could say anything, they saw Caine pass by. He was followed by Muriel, and two others that Aeden recognized. They were nearly as tall as him and rather thickly built. They were Judd and Gaurin.
“Survived your meeting with yeren,” Caine said as he stopped and looked at the small group.
A look of disdain crossed his face as Caine looked upon Dan and Laurent, “And stumbled upon twig and pork, the wonder duo. Maybe they can take you into the jungle to rejoin the yeren.”
“I don’t need to meet the rest of your family,” Aeden said with a smile, “Meeting your mother was enough for me.”
Caine’s eyes narrowed.
“Careful who you insult Wildman,” he hissed, “Not all of us are peasants here.”
Caine turned on his heel and stalked off, followed by Muriel and his friends.
Laurent stood in open-mouthed shock. Dan was slowly shaking his head. And if Aeden was correct, he had caught Thea smiling.
“You should be careful with that one,” Dan said carefully, before turning to Laurent, “And you owe me five drams.”
Aeden shrugged. He had never much cared for bullies or the narcissism of the entitled. He had fought to be where he was, and was willing to fight to stay there. The quiet roil of anger faded as Caine disappeared to the front of the line.
“He really is an ass,” Laurent stated, “And why in the hells do I owe you five drams?”
“Didn’t you notice?” Dan said, his placid features showing some emotion, “Both Gaurin and Judd had knives on them.”
Laurent rolled his eyes as he reached for his purse.
“Why tolerate it?” Thea asked.
“Family connections,” Daniel responded, holding his hand out toward Laurent.
Laurent jumped in, “You’ll find that the social dynamics of the university are often dictated by who you know back home,” he then looked down and counted out five drams.
Aeden merely nodded. He had learned enough about social dynamics to make him understand the delicate posturing that took place to ensure the poor remained poor and the rich remained rich.
“It was so much easier in the monastery,” Adel said almost to himself.
Aeden noticed that Thea glanced over to Adel. Her face was stern, but there was a hint of pity in her eyes, like the final drop of dew before a Hearvest wind.
“It’s a different world out here kid,” Laurent said, “Of course there are plenty of theology courses. The Church of Salvare must continue its mission of subjugation and misinformation.”
Dan elbowed Laurent in the arm. Adel looked up, his face drained of color.
“Don’t mind him,” Dan said calmly, “He’s simply opinionated.”
Aeden leaned close to his friend, and placed a meaty hand on his shoulder. It was a simple Bodigan gesture of warmth.
“If by opinionated you mean fact-onated,” Laurent continued.
Aeden leaned close and whispered, “Remember Odilo’s strength before adversity.”
Dan laughed, “That’s not even a word.”
Adel nodded to himself, “Remember Odilo,” he whispered back quietly.
The line continued to inch forward, as Laurent and Dan continued their back and forth banter.
Thea ignored their words and instead, watched from the corner of her eye as Aeden comforted his friend. She noticed the compassion he showed. It was the first glimpse of the man beneath the rigid façade of stony indifference.
“What about all the words you make up,” Laurent said.
Dan regarded him oddly, with a half-smile and mild surprise.
“The words I use,” Dan said slowly, “can be found in the Heortian Encyclopedic Tomb.”
The group fell into a momentary silence. The line continued to move forward as students approached the table to get their assignments and exchange a few words with the masters.
Aeden was looking at the students in line. Adel seemed to be taken with the surrounding architecture, but Aeden knew better. It was a guise. Adel was twiddling his fingers, as he often did when in thought. Dan and Laurent would shove each other on occasion, but said nothing. Thea looked thoughtful.
What thoughts painted her mind that day, Aeden would never know.
Aeden glanced ahead and noticed the awkward figure of John. He recognized him from only days earlier, when he had shown them around. Although, what Aeden remembered most was his fearful countenance.
“Do you know the boy at the head of the line,” Aeden asked, looking from Dan to Laurent.
“Which one?” Dan asked.
“Messy hair…”
“…and crazy eyes,” Laurent said, finishing Aeden’s sentence.
“Yes,” Aeden affirmed.
“That’s John,” Dan responded, “a bit of a phobic, but quite smart. He tends to do very well in classes.”
“By bit of a phobic, Dan means, he’s scared of nearly everything,” Laurent said. “I once saw him jump at his own shadow.”
Dan gave him a stern look.
“I’m not joking,” Laurent’s face turned serious, yet the edges of his mouth still curled into a semblance of a smile, “He was walking along, avoiding the cracks in the ground, or whatever he does, and the clouds gave way above, exposing his shadow, and he jumped back,” the smile he had been desperately attempting to conceal revealed itself, “He was so startled that he nearly stepped on a crack!”
Dan was shaking his head. Adel was now openly smiling. Thea, who had been paying attention, now looked away and appeared to be studying the movement of the dancing plants lurking in the dappled light under the building’s cornices.
The line moved forward again, and they found themselves only feet away from the table, waiting for the next person to be called up.
Three masters sat at the table. The headmaster sat in the center, flanked by heads for the Practical Arts and the head of Medical and Herbal Studies.
“Next,” Headmaster Sund called out.
“Women first,” Laurent said, gesturing to Thea.
Thea gave Adel a small nudge.
Adel’s face flushed red, but he had already locked eyes with the headmaster.
“Step forward,” the headmaster commanded.
Adel looked back only once at Aeden, smiled nervously, and stepped forward.
Chapter 65
“Bad news has a habit of traveling swiftly.” Canton of Sawol
The beginning of the new term was hectic. Students moved about with the same frenzied excitement as the nocturnal tarsier monkey. As they moved toward Hearvest, the rains eased, the humidity, once unbearable, became warm and comforting.
Aeden immersed himself in his classes and buried himself in the books at the Library of Galdor. He would arrive just before the rains and remained well into the night. The new routine had become a source of comfort and most importantly, a distraction.
The more Aeden focused on his class work, the less he thought on the archduchess, the fallen Inquisitor, or the deeper aches that occasionally plagued his heart.
Early in the morning Aeden would awake and slip out to a quiet spot behind the school, in a glade presided over by a massive stone. It was there that he found clarity. It was there that the movement of the dancing plants slowed and became palpable. It was there, that he resumed the practice of the gevecht, to clear his mind of pictured death.
By the time the sun kissed the horizon, Aeden would find Adel, and they would wander from the male dormitory to the kitchens. They’d eat, sometimes as a solitary pair, and at other times joined by Dan and Laurent, and occasionally they were joined by John. Only once had Thea graced them with her presence.
After breakfast, they began their scheduled day with Vibrational Theory. Headmaster Sund would often begin with a parable. He would then play a single musical note, followed in depth with the mathematical and philosophical theory underlying that note.
Following Vibrational Theory was Alchemy, led by Master Cassius. It was in a separate building, to minimize any potential damage due to accidental explosions or fires. His teaching style was eccentric and non-linear. One day he’d spend half the class expounding upon the beauty of alchemy’s purity, detailing how it was the only true path to personal and physical transformation. On the next, he would load them with reading assignments and simple laboratory projects.
If Master Cassius was non-linear and eccentric, Master Baker of Arithmetic, was dry and rote. Master Baker was a short, strongly built man, with close-cropped hair. He would stand before the class and write equations on the board, exclaim “therefore,” before displaying the answer and then have the class silently work through math problems.
There was a break at midday that allowed some to nap, others to eat, and the dedicated few to study. Aeden mostly napped. There were few in the dorms at this time, and his nocturnal activities demanded rest from his overworked mind, and his exercising body.
Yet, there were days he forwent his routine, and instead played tafl with Adel. It had become a quiet time for them to share their brotherhood. It had become a time to compete, to laugh, and to forget about the weight of the past.
Following their midday break, they moved toward the final class of the day. For those beginning the path of Music and Vibrational Theory, the final class was history, taught by Master Oliver Fenn. The classes consisted of Master Fenn, a monk of the Holy Order of Salvare, standing before them and drawling upon the major historical events of Verold.
It was through this class that Aeden learned that memorable events occur in the spaces between periods of routine.
It was on a warm, mid-Hearvest day, that news from the deep south of the D’seart Kingdom made its way to the University of Galdor. It had traveled by pigeon and falcon to those in power. It had been whispered upon the great trading ships of the seas, and spread by drunken sailors in the night at bars and brothels, only to gain traction and spread like disease, until the fateful words of a changing Verold had made their way across the Gulf of Galdor, and to the great University.
For those ignorant souls, toiling away within their classes, the greater turning of Verold was but a curiosity to be studied. It was only a half-hearted attempt that was made at penetrating the underlying gears of change. For most, settling upon an opinion to give the appearance of knowledge, was far more important. It was the social dynamics of the group that drove the deeper desires of the majority, more so than the inherent desire to understand.
Yet, as the sun rose from its nightly cradle, Aeden and Adel remained ignorant to the impending news. For them, it was simply another day. Routine had come to define their days, much like it had within the safety of the monastery walls.
That morning Aeden and Adel made their way to the dining hall. The first warm rays of light stretched deeply across the cobbles of the courtyard and touched their faces. As they crossed the courtyard they heard Dan and Laurent deep in discussion.
“Curious what they’re arguing about this time?” Adel asked as he caught sight of them.
“I thought you didn’t much care for Laurent,” Aeden said.
Adel appeared pensive for a moment before responding.
“That was before…”
“Before you knew he enjoyed kayles?” Aeden said.
Adel smiled and shrugged, “You’re always off at the library anyway.”
Aeden nodded in agreement. To say he had been reading a lot was an understatement. He was consuming books voraciously, the way the mythical Thoon were said to devour their young.
“Well,” Daniel said loud enough for the approaching Aeden and Adel to hear, “just keep your clothes on during respectable hours.”
“Good morning,” Adel said brightly, approaching.
Dan and Laurent looked over as if surprised anyone else was in the courtyard, despite the dozens of students already about.
“What are you two discussing this morning?” Adel asked inquisitively.
Dan looked to Laurent. Laurent merely arched an eyebrow.
“It started with something Master Bigge said in her class,” Daniel began diplomatically.
“Humanistics?” Aeden asked.
“That’s the one,” Laurent chimed in.
Dan looked from Aeden to Laurent. Seeing that they had nothing more to say he continued.
“She introduced us to the Troglodytes…”
“Just say Cave Dwellers,” Laurent interrupted.
Dan gave him a look, and Laurent fell quiet. “The Troglodytes are a group on the continent of Dimutia who have lived for generations in a vast cavernous system. According to Master Bigge, they’re blind and have developed other senses.”
Laurent cut in again, “and because they’re blind they walk around naked.”
“Which,” Dan resumed, “is exactly what Laurent loves to do whenever he has the chance.”
Laurent was now smiling proudly.
“At least I’m not constantly whistling,” Laurent said with a flourish.
“The only problem is,” Dan continued, ignoring him, “last night Muriel came to the dorm crying, and out comes this buffoon, swinging freely in the wind, if you know what I mean. She was none too pleased, and ran off.”
“Who cares if she ran off,” Laurent said, defending himself, “I need to let the boys breathe.”
Aeden opened the door to the dining hall and let them in, along with two other students, before following them into the dining area. The smells of food made his stomach rumble.
He hurried to catch up with them, and to continue listening to the story, over the din of the other students.
“It matters,” Dan responded, “because she broke up with Caine.”
Laurent registered surprise for a moment. Adel mouthed the word “what,” in mild shock. Apparently, he had been keeping up with University gossip far better than Aeden had. In a way, it reminded him of their time together in the monastery. Adel had always seemed to know things he had not. Aeden had to elucidate through observation, rather than wait for others to confide in him.
“You talking about Muriel,” Thea said, as she approached them.
“Yes,” Adel responded.
“She’s been crying a lot,” was all Thea said, as if crying was a disgusting foreign custom.
The group fell into a line that was slowly working its way past the food table. Freshly baked breads, an assortment of tropical fruits, and ham all were artfully arranged. Aeden noticed there was always more than enough ham.
They carried fresh plates of food to a table in the corner and all sat down.
“Did you happen to find out why they broke up?” Dan asked Thea.
Thea regarded him for a moment as if weighing her response.
“It’s because Caine’s an ass,” Laurent cut in through a mouthful of food.
Aeden watched Thea for a moment. His own curiosity and imagination swept him away from the conversation.
He saw Muriel and Caine daily, since they shared history together. He remembered Master Fenn discussing how Caliph Rajah had conquered the lands to the south, the west and the north, briefly taking the S’Velt, only to die at the hands of the mountain warrior tribe, the Thane Sagan.
The image of the powerful shroud cat that had nearly killed him, leapt to mind. Aeden was reminded of his old home. As clear as if it had been yesterday, he could see Dannon moving through the forms of the gevecht. He could see her father, Borin, staring at him with his oversized axe hefted over a shoulder. He remembered the wrinkled lines that formed about his father’s eyes when he grimaced. He envisioned the oversized hands of the Master Cook, and remembered the numerous treats he smuggled out of the kitchens.
But they were gone. Burnt alive.
For all their strength, they had perished. And despite the passing years, Aeden still could not fully come to terms with it. His heart ached, and it took a lover’s spat to pull him from his bloody reverie.
Muriel had slapped Caine. The sound had rung heavily across the classroom. She had uttered an insult regarding his impotence and stormed out of the classroom in an angry swirl of female rage. Caine’s face had turned red with humiliation and anger.
“I don’t know,” Thea said, answering Dan’s question.
Aeden continued to pull at the pieces that formed Caine and Muriel’s relationship. He needed the distraction. It was a puzzle, and he found that the more he studied, the more problems he solved, the more he desired to find greater challenge. Another part of him, hidden in a growing shadow, knew that these puzzles diverted his attention from the uncomfortable truth.
