Hostages, page 22
Instead, he grinned. Not meaning it, but trying to make it seem real.
“It is for all of us. Unfortunately, it’s needed. Especially at first, while we’re still learning. For the first ten years or so. Now, who’s doing the food today? Niven?”
Anders knew it was possible for the boy. At least inside ten different foods that the child knew well. They’d worked on it that very morning. Niven went wide eyed, but seemed oddly pleased by the idea.
“I can do that. We need to get food from the forest here?”
Anders shook his head.
“Probably not. We just buy food, for the most part, like everyone else. That and have a garden here. It’s a bit overgrown, right now. We should go over it for weeds, when we have a chance.” Which they’d have, if he wasn’t pushing people like they were attending college there.
Which he was, at the moment. Even the little child. It was, he reflected, perhaps too much. Gardening, a thing that he didn't have much experience with personally, was a good task for anyone to take part in. Still, even if he was keeping busy, they didn’t have the full day scheduled. That could be a thing he did, later, before it got dark out. Then, if at all possible, he was going to bed early.
Waving to Niven, he made himself smile. A small thing, but one he hoped would leave the boy feeling as if he were pleased with him. Since he was, it was earned.
“This way! I’ll walk you in. Everyone else... We should have the food ready in a quarter hour, I think? In the dining area.”
That was a large space, nearly the size of King Matheus’s large hall, in fact. It had ten tables, instead of one giant one, and they were using one of those so far, even with everyone being there. The kitchen was just behind that, with a short hallway and two doors separating the spaces, to keep the heat out in the summer months. In the winter they could be opened, to draw the warmth into the space. It had a fireplace as well, along the far wall, and while it was made of earth that had been hardened into stone, it was tight. Enough so that they had to have vents in the walls, so the air would move, to prevent harm to those inside.
He shook himself, since that part of the situation was taken care of, and walked with Niven, who already had a good sense about where he was going. It wasn’t about stopping him from being lost, just being there, the first time, to make certain he wasn’t going to get lost or not know what he was allowed to use, in the kitchen. When they were in the room, Far was already there, smiling as they came in, Anders gave a partial bow. A familial one.
His tan skin and great white beard and hair were impressive. Straight and well cared for, not shaggy or unkempt. He had some items laid out on the long stone counter space, but clearly hadn’t started to cook for them all yet.
“Anders! Niven! Did you come to help with the meal?” The voice was a tiny bit leading, but seemed happy to see them.
Not surprised when Anders nodded, either.
“We are! More to the point, Niven is making everything today. Using magic. He learned how this morning, so it won’t be a problem that way, but we need to go over how to measure out how much to make, and perhaps what items would serve as nourishing?”
The old man clapped, then winked at Niven.
“First, we need to know how many will be eating with us? Can you find that out? Using your wizard skills, perhaps?” The man waited, as if uncertain the boy had that kind of thing yet.
Which was correct.
“No sir. I haven’t learned that, yet. I don’t know if I’m allowed?”
Anders waved at him, as if it wasn’t a large matter at all.
“That’s coming in a few days. The early portions of it. For now, I’ll do that part for us? You’ll be good at this. It’s easier to learn things when you’re young, unless you master special skills that way.” He stopped then and faked lighting up. “Which, you are learning and will be doing more of. Now, let me see...”
He counted first, since it would speed the process up. Then he searched the local area, to find who was coming, or planned to. A few people, three of them, were heading from Kingston. They weren’t anyone he knew, but seemed peaceful. One was being aided by the others to walk, however. That probably meant he was wounded. Coming to the school, in hopes of healing. Poor people, who didn’t have the coin to see a healer in town.
Brave ones. Willing to go to the scary magical school, even if they feared they might die or be cursed. He picked that up, but didn't investigate the idea, it not being his own. Lyse wasn’t coming, but planned to be there for the late meal. So did Master Tolan that evening. Duke Ford was working with the Castle guard, practicing fighting and spear maneuvers that day, so was busy.
He had to cast his mind around for a while to find everyone, but it was mainly going to be the ones already there and the three coming in from Kingston.
“Fourteen? We have three strangers as well. From town? One of them has an injured foot. We’ll need healing for him.”
Niven nodded at the words, then acted as if Anders had meant he needed to do that, himself.
“I don’t have that yet. Not... I can help with pain? That was in the lessons, earlier.” The boy was determined, so Anders simply nodded at him.
“Excellent. You’ll do that for him, when he gets here? We need to hurry, I think. I’ll...” He started to say he’d do the healing himself, but Far shook his head.
Firmly. It almost seemed disapproving, which was one of the first times that he’d seen such a reaction from the ancient man. It was sharp, and nearly hostile.
Blinking, Anders cleared his throat.
“You have something, Far?”
The man nodded.
“I think young Mary would be very capable of doing this? We’re here to educate...”
Anders nodded at the words, smiling.
“I didn't know that anyone was up to speed on that yet! Very good. Yes, we should ask her to see to it. Could you get her, or... Honestly, Niven, do you have this, if Far stays to help? I can run the simple errands...”
Far rolled his eyes, then walked to the back door.
“Mary! We have work for you!”
“Coming!”
The woman did, at a fast walk, coming into the space in a nice red gown. One that made her look like a princess, or at least a lady at court. She had makeup on as well, but not much, compared to what would be needed at the castle.
Her voice was even chipper.
“I’m to help with the cooking? Or service?”
Anders picked things up from there.
“Well, that too. Niven is making it, we can carry it into the other room and make certain things are presentable there? We also have a man coming in from the city, with a hurt foot. Niven will stop his pain, but Far suggested you for the actual healing?”
Hearing that, Far took a small bag of grain, and a bucket of clean water next to each other on the counter, and waved at it.
“Come then Niven! Bread first? A fine and soft white?”
Walking away, the boy spoke gently. Muttering.
“That’s the only kind I know how to make.”
Mary didn't wait for him, moving to the other room, seeming worried. Inside the hallway, she started to whisper.
“I’m no healer! I have some spells for that, but what if I make a mistake and hurt someone? What if I simply forget the right words?”
Anders nodded. After all, she had a real point.
“This is a good time to practice them, inside of your head. You know how to use wizardry. You’ll need to look inside of the harmed limb, to guide yourself. You’ve done this before.” He knew that. Not for healing, since he’d missed her learning that with a shocking completeness, but he’d seen Lissa work with the woman at performing magic at a distance, almost every day.
Mary went wide eyed, then nodded, tensely. She was a bit pale, even for her, as she did it.
“I have. This... It’s all suddenly real. Like when I was a girl and the madam brought me my first customer. It had seemed like a good idea, and they’d shown me what to do first, but then... It was there, right in front of me.”
He didn’t know if that was similar or not, but to her it seemed to be, so he nodded quickly.
“You got through that, and you will now. Only, you aren’t new to magic, just healing. The tricky portion will be having Niven handle the pain in a timely fashion. We should go over what will be needed? Can you cast your mind down the road while I get the platters and utensils out for the meal?” It was a simple service, but there would need to be spoons and forks. Linens as well.
There was a cupboard for keeping such things, which were already made, constructed from wood and stone. Not his make at all. Really, he didn't know who did the work. They were plain, but nicely proportioned. There were even stone cups that were smooth and polished on the outside.
Setting the table, moving slowly, while monitoring what Mary was doing using magic, took about six minutes. Even feeling tired at the moment, which wasn’t too bad, since he was up and moving around, he appreciated the effort of the woman in red. She was following the line into the city, following the road, and had made a solid connection with the man and his friends, as they helped the fellow limp along the road. Painfully.
They were close, thankfully, so Anders decided to let them come in, using their own power, instead of going to him. Even if it was hard to watch take place. The foot in question, the right one, was so damaged that it was almost a pulp inside the leather town shoe the man wore.
Mary was working out the needed spells, and even figuring out that she had to manage the swelling first, but was counting on Niven to do the pain portion. Working well with others, like she apparently did. Her plans became more complex, and included a general spell line meant only to prevent infection, even if there wasn’t anything like that in the fellow’s system as of yet.
Finally, she nodded.
“I think I can do it? They’ll be here in a minute. How... are you going to meet them?”
He went still, but it wasn’t a bad question. His look was wrong for being in command there, but the truth of the matter meant he was. Then, if a child, or a young man, came to help you in your time of need, most people didn’t spit at you over it. Most. A few had, if not been that rude, been a bit off at first, with him. A few after, as well.
“Let’s get the food on the table, so we can liberate Niven, first? Then we need to hurry, or all the food will be gone before we get back.” He smiled, since both of them could, at need, get their own food, if that happened. Plus, he doubted it would happen, truly.
Not if they hurried.
The spread that Niven had for them was limited, having only four dishes, being bread, tender looking goat strips, a tuber mash and some bitters and herbs, which, from the look of them, were actually real. Collected from the garden and very serviceable. No one else had come yet, so Anders waved for the others, Niven and Mary, and had Far coming along as well, which was probably a good plan. He might not have been the strongest magic user in the world, but he was actually becoming as accomplished as anyone there, adapting to a finely controlled use of power, to make up for the lack of it, at an incredible level.
Which, Anders decided, he was going to pick the man’s mind over, that evening, if he could. If not, then he still needed to work on that topic on his own.
They walked with a purpose, in relative finery, to meet the limping man and his fellows. It was two men, and a woman who was in a dress, but Anders realized that he’d missed that about her. Even looking at the lady, she felt like a man to him. Well made up, but large, and something about her wasn’t correct. It was a bit off-putting, but nothing seemed dangerous about her, so he let it go.
“Hello! I’m Anders Brolly. This is Apprentice Niven, and Apprentice Mary. They’ll be doing the healing work, if that serves, gentles?” He didn't bother bowing, since most common people didn’t feel comfortable with that sort of thing. That had been his experience at least.
The man who was holding the slightly groaning fellow up, who was on the left, went stiff, through the face, and stared at Mary.
“Um... I’m Lefty. This one with the stomped stem is Horace. This over here is Bertie. We don’t have no coin, proper speaking, but are willing to work or...” He looked away then, and back at Mary. “We can do other things, if you need? I’m no whore, but I can take it in the end, if the healing is worth it?”
There was, despite the harshness of the words, a quiet dignity to the fellow. As if he wasn’t ashamed of the offer he was making, even if it was clear he didn't particularly want to do that sort of thing. But he was willing to suffer the indignity, to help his friend.
Horace was an older man, with a gray beard, who grunted and spoke through clenched teeth.
“I can’t ask that. I won’t.”
Anders nodded.
“And you won’t need to. Not if the apprentices are doing the work on you? They’re good, but some people might be afraid, given that.”
Bertie spoke, her voice a bit shrill, and false sounding. Like a man pretending to be a woman.
“Oh, my! Well, that sounds like a bargain. A bit worrying dealing with magic like this, but we’re stage people. From the Kingston Theater? Perhaps you’ve heard of us?”
Anders hadn’t, but smiled and didn’t say that, shifting and waving toward the boy, first.
“Pain control first. Niven, if you will?”
“Hom inna, fen ere ot ere.”
The order of the spell was different than Anders would have used, but as the boy pointed at the foot, starting above the ankle, to under the sole of the shoe, Horace relaxed, then swore.
“Mother of a...” He glanced at the others, then smiled. “God touched son. That’s better! This is what the apprentices here do? We’d heard a Grand Collection of Magisters was being arrayed here, but this is...”
The foot was still injured, and in danger of several bad things happening. Instead of taking the man inside, making him walk further, Anders waved to the side of the road.
“Riach edru ot momi ere allomen, fen.” That caused a chair to form. A simple, not at all decorative place to sit, which took nearly a half minute to form, first made of dirt, then transforming into stone, slowly.
All three of the new people gasped. On the good side they didn't bother seeming afraid of him suddenly, even if it was magical seeming.
So, he kept his face serious, and tried not to be annoying or angry seeming. He truly wasn’t feeling that way, feeling pleased with Niven at the moment. Mary as well, but she had more to do, so he held back a bit there.
“Sit please. We need to get that shoe off.” He glanced at the others, but instead of the adults handling it, Niven took a deep breath, then nodded.
Instead of diving in to grab the leather bits, the boy pointed at it and started to mutter, a longer spell, with a bit of slowing in his speaking of it. Far, standing back, nodded, seeming almost fierce as he did it. Then there was a second gasp, as the shoe leather thinned, and grew to nearly three times it’s prior size, coming back into being a very soft, floppy and intact shoe. A different style, but it worked, coming off into Anders’ hand with only gentle movements.
Then Mary went to work. She wasn’t fast, and her work was energetically wasteful. She messed up the time needed to make the corrections, and would be holding things that were unneeded until the next day as well.
She also controlled the swelling, and over the course of fifteen minutes knit the bones back together, controlled the inflammation totally, and fixed the torn, nearly mashed, skin. The bruising was last, which was exactly how Anders always did such things as well. Then, as planned, she controlled for infection, and scanned the older fellow, looking for anything else wrong. She winced, when she got to his heart.
Pointing, she sighed.
“What do we do for that?”
Everyone looked at her, except for Far and Anders. Far looked away, as if the damage in the man’s chest was going to be his end. Anders on the other hand, shrugged.
“It’s only a muscle. There’s inflammation and damage to the tubes, as well as blockages. Repair the tubes, first, then I’ll remove the wax inside of them. Inflammation before that. Then, slowly, we’ll knit the muscle into a stronger form.”
That meant Anders doing part of the work, even as he talked Mary through part of it. Far started out glaring at him again, but, as he spoke, taking the wax out of the heart tubes, the man stopped doing that, nodding.
Stroking his beard, he looked up and left for a time, then nodded.
“This is one of the high powers. Moving one object through another. Mary and Niven can do this, you think? They have the power needed?”
Nodding, he worked first, ignoring the words. When he was done, he waved at Niven again.
“If you’ll reshape the shoe and match both of them in a pleasing form? Try to match the feet perfectly, if you can.” Then, as everyone else watched the next bit of the free show, a pile of pale-yellow effluvia on the ground, from inside Horace, he smiled at Far.
“Yes. All of you can do this. The old texts might call it a high magic, but it’s not that complicated to learn. Especially having seen it happen first. Now, we should go to the meal? Niven made it. We set a place for each of you?”
There was more staring, and self-conscious smoothing of clothing, Horace looking at his bloody trouser leg, taking a limping step, then doing it normally after a few steps away. He spun and came back at a good pace.
“That’s nice! It’s perfect. Better than before. Now, what do I owe for it?”
He went still but seemed ready for something hard or harsh to be suddenly demanded, regardless of what had been said earlier.
Far laughed, gently.
“I know, it feels as if you should have to pay, but this is a place of learning, so unneeded. At least while we’re here, and have time to aid people. We’re traveling soon. Now, you’re actors, you said?”
Bertie, voice shrill, pulled a fan from the folds of her long sleeve and fanned her mannish face.
