A Snoop Without Magic, page 16
Sam laughed. “I guess I’m glad I didn’t bring a sword. I would have had to use it.”
“I have more faith in you than that.”
“What is on for tomorrow?”
“A morning with Kened Rider and an afternoon buying Baskin-style clothes,” Stefen said. “Dickey gave me a fat purse.”
Chapter Nineteen
~
S am exited the carriage, with Stefen right behind, and entered Kened Rider’s fencing studio. He heard the clattering of blades and shouted instructions coming from a large room behind a shop filled with swords and dueling paraphernalia.
He walked in to see Kened Rider and another younger man working with teenagers. It brought Sam back to his time at the University of Tolloy and working out under the vocal abuse of Professor Grott and Professor Drak haranguing their students.
Sam sat down with Stefen for a few minutes until the class was finished.
“That is it for today. I have the opportunity to work with Effian Walk, a duelist from Vaarek. He needs to learn how we duel in Toraltia.”
“He will be at the Trials?” one of the boys asked.
“If I judge him good enough,” Kened said. “Get your things and leave. This will be a private session. Maybe he will consent to public sparring on another day.”
Sam waited for the students to hand in their weapons and begin to leave before he stood and began to warm up by stretching.
Kened handed Sam a Baskin dueling sword. Sam had seen them being used by a few of the apprentices when he first started at the Baskin Royal Constabulary but never chose to use one.
It was more lithe then his Lashak sword, but a straighter version of the Carolank sword Captain Darter had used aboard The Twisted Wind.
He swished it around and began a series of Lashakan forms. A few boys remained to see him work on getting used to the blade before Kened ushered the remaining teenagers out of his shop. Sam could hear the clank of a bolt. Kened must have closed his shop. The assistant was gone, as well.
“Stefen is here to interpret. My court language is very poor, Effian.” Rider smiled at the use of Sam’s alias.
“My Toraltian should be poor or non-existent, but we are among friends?”
“We are, Sam,” Kened Rider said. “What kind of warm-up forms are those?”
“Lashakan. It is a people that inhabit the Lashak Rift on the island continent of Wollia. I have a Lashak sword, which I probably will not use in Baskin.”
Kened nodded. “And how does that compare to the sword you now hold?”
“It has more heft, but better balance.” Sam looked at his sword. “Some curve to it as well. I don’t have it with me.”
“Someday you will show it to me?”
Sam sighed. “If I survive.”
“Before you perish, let’s see how much you have improved. If your exercises are any indication, I am prepared to be surprised.”
“I was fourteen when you last saw me.”
“Fifteen?”
Sam smiled. “Of course, fifteen. A lot has happened since then.”
“You can tell me some of it once we are done today.” Kened posed like the apprentices did when they started a sparring match. “All Baskin Trials matches start with each competitor assuming this starting address.”
Sam took a deep breath and emulated Kened.
“Close enough for today. A little sparring. Try not to butcher me,” Kened said.
They sparred for a few minutes until Kened stopped them. “You aren’t trying very hard, yet you are able to block my moves.”
“You are the one who isn’t aggressive,” Sam said. “I am sure you know how to read your opponent’s body.”
“I didn’t teach you that.”
Sam grinned. “You didn’t teach me most of what I know.”
Kened nodded. “Very well. A little more action.”
Sam assumed the Baskin address until Kened nodded to him. Their second session was more spirited, and Kened showed more of his ability. They moved around the large room, two men with quick hands and the mental speed to counter each other’s move.
After shifting to the Lashakan style, Kened was flummoxed by the change in Sam’s style and called the match to a halt, breathing heavily.
“You would certainly spank your fellow constables now,” the swordmaster said. “I couldn’t come up with a solid defense at first, although any style can be picked apart given time and the talent to do it. You always had a good sense of where you and your sword needed to be, but the Sam Smith I knew didn’t have the reach, the height, or the strength.”
“So I can enter the Trials?”
“Oh, yes. And with thorough training, you will do well, if I am any judge. I think we need to be more strategic about our approach, since you know multiple dueling styles. The challenge will be your sticking to two or so as you publicly practice. We will work on the others in private. Harrison Dimple was very impressed, and I thought he was optimistic, but he wasn’t. You can win, but the Trials are a trial. Many matches in a short time. It is a brutal competition, you either make it to the next match or you are out.”
“It was the same in Tolloy. This is like the Open Tournament. I nearly won the First-Year competition, but the competition in the Open was much harder, since anyone could compete.”
“I’ll have to get a finalist to spar with you. I can’t be effective coaching and sparring at the same time, especially when you change styles,” Kened said smiling. “I know you could use some conditioning. Twenty laps around the room, and I’ll start thinking of an exercise regime.”
Sam grinned. He liked training, and it had been a long time since he had done real physical training. The winter spent in Yellow Springs was spent sparring, but there was little chance to run and exercise.
~
Dressed in a style more like a Baskin noble, Sam felt uncomfortable as he nervously paced back and forth in Lady Grate’s sitting room. He had been fine until Dickey notified him that Winnie Bentwick would be joining them as Antina’s escort, and now the pair was late.
He heard the doorbell ring and straightened his jacket. He felt fifteen again, and that rankled. He should have been calm, but his damp palms told him he wasn’t.
Antina Mulch walked into the room first. She stopped and gawked at Sam. “You must be Effian Walk,” she said, with a twinkle in her eye. “You have grown into a handsome young man with presence. Hasn’t he, Winnie?”
Bentwick’s daughter followed her into the room. “He has indeed, and Effian has continued to impress.”
“Not me,” Sam said. “I just do what I can.”
Dickey entered. Sam could see Stefen poking his nose through the door. “May I bring drinks?” the butler said.
Why was Sam so nervous? He had spent days and days with Winnie, but here, in Baskin, it was as if he was meeting her for the first time. Seeing her dressed up made it even worse.
“Nothing for me,” Sam said. He didn’t want to appear foolish dribbling from a glass. He could face an angry duelist, but Winnie was starting to make his legs shake. He shook his head to get hold of himself.
“You might want to sit,” Stefen said quietly in his ear.
Sam looked around. He was the only person who hadn’t taken a seat. Antina and Dickey had taken overstuffed chairs, and Winnie was the only one sitting on the long couch. He smiled at her and sat on the opposite edge.
Sam looked at Dickey, who gave him the smirkiest of smirks, as Dickey stood when his wife entered the room with the twin boys holding her hands.
“Harry and Sam are going to go to bed before we eat,” Keet said with a big smile, “so you can say hello and a good night at the same time.”
She let the boys go, who ran directly to their father. The smirk disappeared, replaced by a heartwarming smile. Fatherhood was definitely changing Sam’s old partner. They then ran to Sam, who had probably been the one to see them last.
“Goodnight,” they said in Toraltian, then they laughed and said goodnight in court language.
Sam replied in Vaarekian and then pushed them over to Winnie, who directed them to visit Antina last. For two-year-olds, they were very polite, thought Sam, as he watched Sara gather the pair and disappear.
“Dinner is ready,” Stefen announced before Keet had a chance to sit.
Dickey took his wife’s arm. Sam helped Antina stand, and Winnie took the older woman’s hand from the other side. Winnie flashed Sam a smile that lit his face on fire.
Sam had eaten in the dining room before when he was an apprentice. Dickey sat at the head of the table. Keet sat at his right with Antina on his left. Winnie sat next to Lady Grate, and Antina patted the seat beside her own.
“How have you been?” Sam said. He had been unable to engage her in conversation in the sitting room.
“I have been better, but the last few years have been a trial.”
“I heard that your alliance with my brother ended badly,” Sam said.
“That would sum everything up. His wife is, is…” she shook her head with an angry look on her face. “We can talk about it later. You can visit me in my new shop. I had to give my old one to Tru.”
Sam nodded. “I was able to get all your merchandise sold in Tolloy before I had to leave.”
Dickey cleared his throat. “Why don’t you give Antina a quick description of the last four years of your life? I think the rest of us have heard it.”
Sam smiled and recited the quick version of his travels and ended it with a demonstration of his pollen skills.
“You have honed your story very well,” Winnie said. “Why don’t you end with your description of taking down the Dictator of Vaarek?”
“Very well,” Sam said. He looked at Dickey and Keet before he began. He had left out that part of the story while they traveled to Baskin from Mountain View. For some reason, Sam couldn’t put into words the savagery of the moment, but by the look on Antina’s face, he had done well enough. He ended with the rout of the Vaarekians.
“You didn’t tell us you had the key role in Viktar Kreb’s demise,” Dickey said.
Sam shrugged. “I made a foolish mistake dragging Glory Wheeler into the midst of the Vaarekian army. Luck was with us, I guess.”
“No luck at all, that I can see,” Winnie said. “You were able to cast your fears aside and take advantage of the situation. That is hero territory in the storybooks.”
Sam clamped his lips shut. He was just happy the war had ended. “I don’t feel like a hero. If I hadn’t gotten my pollen abilities back, I wouldn’t have put myself in that position.”
“Nor would you have been able to slap a ward on a crossbow bolt and end the life of a person very deserving of it,” Antina said. “You have always been a hero to me.” She took Sam’s hand and kissed it.
Sam wished he was somewhere else with all the adoration in the women’s eyes. Dickey sat back, the smirk firmly on his face.
“Enough about me. Is your father all right?” Sam asked Winnie.
“He has returned home,” Winnie said, “but he doesn’t expect to stay in Baskin for long. His arrest was obviously political, but not at the order of the Ministry of Justice or the Court of Nobles. He thinks Harrison could legally enter the city but at high risk of being assassinated.”
“I need him to check on something for me.”
“The deposit in the Bank of Baskin? That was where your transfer ended up from Zogaz. It is all there. He wanted to make sure I told you.”
Sam nodded.
“How much?” Dickey asked.
It was his wife’s money, Sam thought. “About one thousand Lions.” Everyone would have known except for Antina.
“A fortune!” she said.
“A fortune I might not be able to touch,” Sam said.
“Yes, you can,” Winnie said. “It ended up coming in under the name of Effian Walk, and Father has the papers you can use to redeem it.”
Sam had to raise his eyebrows. “So my new name wasn’t chosen at random.”
“I even helped them think of a good Vaarekian one,” Antina said in Vaarekian.
“Thank you for your kindness, as well. I now can return some of the funds from selling your goods.”
Antina raised her hand to object. “Those were for your schooling.”
“And I will pay you for the cost of the goods as any proper merchant would do,” Sam said.
“I can accept something under those terms,” Antina said, grabbing Sam’s hand.
“It would only be right.”
“Good, now that that is over with, I’d like us to talk about what role we intend Sam to play in ridding Toraltia of the Court of Nobles,” Keeta said.
“And the king?” Sam said. “What about your cousin, Lady Grate?”
Keeta gave Sam a sad look. “My cousin is no longer in constant possession of his faculties. His erratic behavior has only gotten worse since you have been gone. His infirmity is what gives the Court of Nobles their shred of legitimacy, and they have taken advantage of that to begin to change Toraltia into a different country.”
“And what will Harrison do differently if he rises to the throne?” Sam asked.
“That is the right question, apprentice,” Dickey said. “I am interested in the answer, myself.”
“You don’t support Harrison?” Sam asked.
“I do not support the Court of Nobles. That is not the same as advocating for my wife’s brother. I’ve never talked to him about what he would do. Talking is a wonderful thing, but doing is something different. Being a healer and healing Toraltia are two entirely different undertakings.”
Sam hadn’t thought that deeply about supporting Harrison. He would do what he could to help his friend, but he had missed an opportunity to talk extensively with Harrison about his plans for Toraltia when he had spent an entire winter with him.
“We never talked about it when we wintered at Yellow Springs,” he said.
“I’m not sure he has thought enough about it. Harrison is a wonderful man, but he has spent years in seclusion,” Dickey said.
“That isn’t correct,” Sam said. “Harrison’s summer tour was spent sending messages to Faddon Bentwick and maybe others, keeping them in touch with the mountain villages. He has a talent for teasing information out of people. He used it when he talked to patients and when he interacted with villagers. I just don’t know what conclusions he has made about what is to be done.”
“That sounds like support,” Antina said.
“I didn’t say I didn’t support him; I would just like to know what a freer Toraltia would look like. The king didn’t pay much attention to events outside Baskin, something the Court of Nobles does. The commoners aren’t too excited about having lords installed over them raking in tax money,” Sam said.
“Maybe you should be king,” Keeta said smiling.
Sam didn’t take the comment as an offense. “That would be wonderful. A nineteen-year-old blacksmith’s son taking the place of a long line of noble-blooded monarchs.” He laughed it off but then frowned. “All the people want is to be left alone to live their lives in peace. That also means just enough laws and taxes to provide basic services, but little else. Certainly not someone who is going to strut into a village and have them build him a manor house. That doesn’t work very well in Duar, in my opinion.”
“Are you willing to work for obliterating the nobility?” Winnie asked, her first comment on the subject of a new Toraltia.
“I don’t think the nobles have to be destroyed. Their roles could be redefined, maybe. They shouldn’t have all the power. They shouldn’t have any more rights than others, but there should be something other than some heavy-handed political philosophy that can replace the grip of the nobility. I just don’t know what it is. Freedom is too broad a concept. The Gruellians are free to do whatever they want, yet at this stage, they are seeking something else. I think they want to live in a more structured country.”
“That is where the laws come in?” Winnie asked.
Sam nodded. “Laws that are the same for everyone.” Sam looked at Dickey Nail. “Snoops shouldn’t have to go in the back door of noble mansions and beg for audiences if laws are broken.”
“Would you do away with the court language?” Antina asked.
“I don’t see why, but it shouldn’t be a barrier to success the way it is now.”
“Here, here,” Winnie said, slapping her palm on the table. “Here, here,” she said in court language and giggled.
Sam joined her. “I think I have said enough.”
“Maybe,” Dickey Nail said. “Write down your feelings in your notebooks, if you still use them.”
“I do,” Sam said.
“Then document your feelings and ideas. I know Harrison is an open-minded man, and he respects you,” Keeta said.
Sam smiled. “I’m sorry if I’ve said too much.”
“Not at all,” Dickey said. “It is much of what I would have expected you to say. It is made all the more important since you have had quite a bit more experience since you were exiled. Now, tell the women how the dashing Effian Walk will dazzle the noble ladies of Baskin?”
“Yes,” Winnie said. “I’m not noble, but I would like to know how I will be dazzled?”
The awkwardness Sam had felt before dinner returned like a bolt of lightning. “It isn’t a secret. I’ll be entering the Baskin Trials as a Vaarekian duelist.” He shrugged. “Kened Rider says I have a chance, so I suppose I will be snooping, as well as dueling.”
“And you speak Vaarekian like a native,” Antina said. “No one would think you came from Cherryton.”
“I had to put my wand away,” Sam said. “A constable I knew in Baskin was able to link the wand with Sam Smith.”
“If you brought it tonight, leave it here. Assume that any place where you live is susceptible to search.”
Sam nodded, glad that Dickey had changed the subject.
“Even Stefen is doing his job,” Keeta said. “He took Sam to a Vaarekian-style restaurant to show Sam off as a pepper-eating Vaarekian.”
“How smart,” Antina said. “Are we to assume you can’t speak Toraltian?”
