The Way of Sacrifice, page 7
Bess was glad at that moment that she’d simply thrown the robe over her exercise clothes in her rush to be at Marin’s apartment on time. Marin then told her to lift the tunic and bare her back. Once Bess complied Marin said, “Now Bosun, please lay one light stroke against her back. Each time she makes a mistake, you will either increase the force or the number of strokes. If you are unable to stay then send one of the Bosun’s Mates to help discipline this wayward apprentice.”
“Aye, aye, Mage Marin.”
At that, the bosun gave Bess the first of many lashes she would earn over the next few eightdays. Marin always restarted the count after each session, but even so, there were days when the bosun, for it was always him, would be called upon to give Bess upwards of eight strokes of the lash for a single misdemeanour. The Bosun was careful each time not to draw blood.
Whenever Marin finished her lesson, she would send Bess with the bosun who was always ready with work for Bess. Bess saw the other candidates occasionally as she ran from one task to another. They were not under instruction yet and had free time during the journey though they remained isolated on a deck set aside for them. Altogether one-hundred-and-eighty-two candidates had been collected on the Severance from the far-flung corners of the empire.
During one of Marin’s lessons, Bess learned that over one-and-a-half thousand candidates were brought to Tar Eylia each year. Of those, less than a third were expected to graduate as full mages, while another third would die during training. The remainder had just enough control to keep their lives but insufficient power to be considered mages. These candidates worked in different trades using their meagre skills to enhance the work of true craftsmen.
At the end of the second eightday Bess was high in the rigging trimming one of the sails with Peter when the lookout called out that a sail had been sighted off the port side and was approaching the Severance. Bess had learned enough terms that she knew where to look. A ship was visible on the horizon with full sails and coming in several points off windward.
The sails were the colour of bronze and reminded her somewhat of Michael’s robes. As she watched two more ships came over the horizon, these had green sails trimmed with black. Peter moved to stand beside her and said, “I can’t imagine what would bring a Heptatic ship this far into Tarlonin waters, especially with the Free Fleet hunting in the area.”
“Heptatic? Who are they?”
“You really are a peasant sometimes, Bess. The Heptatic Empire controls most of the next continent to the west of Tarlonin. What do you know of geography?”
“As you know all too well, I have no idea what geography is. I really am a peasant.”
“Well now is not the time to teach you about it. Heptatic ships generally have orange or bronze coloured sails. The Free Fleet roam the seas preying on whoever they can. They usually stay away from our ships because most of ours carry a mage. For some reason, the Heptatic Empire have very few mages. Those they do have generally work in the capital for their emperor.”
Both Free Fleet ships turned away when they saw the purple and gold sails that were trimmed with Mage Marin’s colours of blue and white. Peter said, “I imagine they’ll keep running for a while. Seafarer ships like this would normally hunt them down. I pretty sure if the Seafarer Mage wasn’t on a mission for the emperor already, she’d think nothing of a few extra days to destroy some Free Fleet pirates.”
“I don’t understand everything you’re saying.”
“Mage Marin is a Seafarer, her family boasts one of the largest merchant fleets in the empire. Twenty years ago the Free Fleet attacked a lone Seafarer merchant. They captured the ship and sold the few sailors who remained alive to Kishmeld slavers. No one talks about who was on board, but the Seafarer’ fleet now attacks and destroy every Free Fleet boat they find. They torture and kill every pirate keeping nothing from the ships. Instead, they everything to the bottom of the sea. What they do to Kishmeld ships is even more terrible. If they’d been slavers, then I doubt even a mission for the emperor would have held her back.”
Bess was about to ask another question when the bosun yelled from below, “Bess, come here.”
Bess grabbed a wooden handle from her belt. It had two bent hooks on it, one on either end. With a practised move, she hooked one of the nearby ropes and stepped off the stay she was sharing with Peter, dropping rapidly to the deck. On the way down, she yelled, “Aye, aye, Bosun.”
She twisted the handle to exert extra pressure on the rope and landed softly several paces from the bosun. She hooked the handle back in her belt as she came to attention in front of him. He said, “Mage Marin wants you to dress in your mage robes, then hurry up and present yourself to her.”
As Bess stepped away to do as she was told, she said, “Aye, aye, Bosun.”
She’d hardly moved when the bosun’s hand took her gently by the elbow. He was looking over her head and spoke softly, “Be careful, Bess, she’s worked up over having to let the Free Fleet ships escape, and she’s angry to boot.”
Bess didn’t respond except with a slight inclination of her head. The bosun let go of her arm and stepped away to yell at a pair of sailors further down the deck. Bess hurried to her cabin and hurriedly dressed in the black and orange apprentice’ robes then scrubbed her face quickly with a wet rag Peter had found for her before running to Mage Marin’s quarters.
When she arrived, Fiona was waiting. Fiona looked Bess over and then pulled a bone comb from her pocket and pulling Bess close harshly arranged Bess’ long brown hair into some order before retying it with an orange tie that matched Bess’ robes. After checking Bess over a second time, Fiona knocked on Mage Marin’s door. After being acknowledged, Fiona opened the door and said, “Apprentice Bess is here as requested Mage Marin.”
“Send her in.”
Bess stepped in and moved to stand in front of Marin only to find she wasn’t in her usual chair but was staring out a window set into the side of the room. Mage Marin turned and looked Bess up and down then nodded as if accepting what she saw. She said, “What do you know of the Heptatic Empire?”
“Very little Mage Marin. It is to the west of Tarlonin, and they have bronze coloured sails. That is all I know.”
“Then listen well. I will say this only once. The Heptatic Empire is not as vast as the Tarlonin when it comes to land, but it is more densely populated. Where we seek to discover and tame, they look to protect and refine. None of our missions to their empire have made it beyond the walled confines of their main port cities. Not all their ships have bronze coloured sails, only those who come this far into our waters.
“Most of their shipping and their merchants stay in Heptatic waters and trade with Heptatic settlements and Heptatic kingdoms. Those that enter our waters are either on a diplomatic mission or on a military one. In either case, they sail directly to Tar Eylia. The Heptatics set great store in their traditions, and we have always found it most profitable to adopt their habits when dealing with them.
“They have fewer mages because they exclusively use the apprentice system in the Heptatic Empire. Someone like you, someone of peasant stock would be killed out of hand as unworthy to be trained. Even if you were of high social position, you would probably be killed because you are female. The Severance’s captain has been communicating with the approaching ship. They are on a diplomatic mission, and they are somewhat embarrassed to have been rescued by us. They have a very clear, almost neurotic, sense of honour, and have asked to meet both the captain and myself to show their appreciation for our timely arrival.
“They know we don’t usually have apprentices and so to put us at a slight disadvantage have invited me to bring my apprentice, if I have one. Not to have one is a sign of low standing among Heptatic mages, and this is an attempt to take the upper hand at our meeting. If we were found to pretend to have an apprentice to save face, they would know as soon as we arrive at Tar Eylia that we lied to them.
“As you are effectively my apprentice at the moment, your presence gives me the upper hand. We have almost no idea how they treat their apprentices for they keep them away from the port cities, isolating them in major inland centres, especially in the emperor’s hidden city. You will accompany me to the meeting. Unless I give you permission, you will say nothing and do nothing, no matter what happens, or what I do. You will stand to my left and one step behind me. If I am seated, you will kneel at my left hand with your eyes directed to the floor. Do you understand?”
“I understand all the words Mage Marin, and I understand what you expect of me. I don’t understand why this gives you the upper hand, but I accept that it does.”
“What you know is enough. From now until we return you will breathe as you have been taught. Keep your focus unless I give you permission to do otherwise.”
“Yes, Mage Marin.”
With that Marin moved to the door followed by Bess. They climbed to the upper deck where Marin stood beside the captain with Bess on her left. Together they watched the Heptatic ship come alongside.
Chapter 11
Bess read the name of the Heptatic ship as it approached, the HES Prosperity. The signals officer continued to relay messages as they approached. The captain leant close to the officer to receive a message, then turned to Marin. “Mage Marin, what form of transport do you prefer, by pinnace, zip-line, or magic?”
“Captain, I will calm the sea. Have them approach our port side and match speeds. I will calm the sea and the wind. We will use the gangway.”
“Aye, aye, Mage Marin.”
As the Prosperity came closer, the seas began to calm, and the waters around the Severance became still. The wind dropped. Marin said, “Apprentice, aether is flowing from my left first finger. Concentrate and see if you can sense anything. Most mages spend so much time focussing on the aether that comes from their own cells that they are unable to sense the aether of another. It is a skill all powerful mages eventually learn, or they die young.”
Bess had been taught by both Marin and Michael that aether often felt or looked different depending on the mage. Michael had described it as an invisible wave of heat which he registered as a haze flowing from the mage’s focus. Marin had described it as a mist-like wind which billowed from the mage’s focus. Bess wondered if the mind of the mage determined what it looked like.
While Bess kept her breathing level, and her eyes, on the approaching vessel, she kept her focus at the tip of Marin’s finger, which she could see at the edge of her vision. Altogether it took ten minutes for the Prosperity to draw level and settle into the calm enforced by Marin’s aether. Bess hadn’t sensed anything out of the ordinary during that time, even though several times her eyes had dried out as she tried to stop blinking.
Once the gangway was run out from the Severance, the captain strode confidently over to the slightly lower vessel followed by both Marin and Bess. Bess had already noticed the difference in the two ships. The Severance was well cared for, and everything was in its place, everything had a function and a purpose. The Prosperity, on the other hand, looked beautiful. As the ship had approached, Bess had noticed the sails weren’t a simple bronze colour, but there was a design embroidered on the canvas with bronze thread. It could be seen up close or when the sun hit it at a particular angle. The pattern gave the appearance of the sails being made of some type of scales.
The handrails looked smooth, but they had been inlaid in the same pattern with a slightly darker tint of timber. After working during the last few eightdays to keep the Severance clean, she thought the task of looking after the Prosperity would be too much. As she stepped onto the deck, she realised that even it had been carefully carved to look like a forest floor and then covered in something clear, so it wouldn’t be damaged.
Staring straight ahead, Bess looked at the two people who stepped forward to greet Marin. They were all dressed in clothes whose quality Bess hadn’t seen even at Michael’s home. A quick check out the corner of her eyes showed they were no different than the rest of the crew.
The tallest of the two stepped forward and said, “Welcome aboard the Prosperity. I am Captain Justice Myers.”
She turned slightly to indicate the shorter, somewhat older man and said, “It is my honour to introduce Diplomat General Sir Impartial Fielding.”
The Severance’s captain bowed his head slightly and said, “I am Captain Jeremiah Gardener. With me is one of the Academy of Magic’s Representatives at Large, Senior Mage Marin Seafarer and her apprentice.”
The diplomat stepped forward and with a slight inclination of his head to the Captain and then to Mage Marin he said, “Senior Mage Marin Seafarer, welcome aboard the Prosperity. Captain Jeremiah Gardener, welcome aboard the Prosperity.”
Turning to look at Bess, he said, “Apprentice, is it possible to know your name that I might welcome you aboard the Prosperity?”
Mage Marin spoke up and said, “Diplomat Impartial, thank you for your welcome. My apprentice’s name is Bess Highland.”
Impartial dipped his head to Marin to thank her for her help then said, “Apprentice Bess Highland, welcome aboard the Prosperity.”
Bess slightly dipped her eyes in response but otherwise stood unmoving beside Marin. Bess couldn’t tell if the diplomat noticed her response as he turned to Marin. “Senior Mage Marin, will you and your apprentice, please join me in my cabin for some refreshments while the two captains discuss this morning’s excitement in greater detail than I would relish?”
“I would be honoured, Diplomat Impartial.”
The diplomat waited just a fraction then said, “Wonderful, then please follow me.”
As they started off, he paused for a moment and said, Senior Mage Marin, “If it suits you may I suggest the Prosperity move away from the Severance while the captain’s talk.”
“There is no need Diplomat Impartial, the current working is neither strenuous nor overly distracting.”
With a nod to the mage, he then led them through an archway gilded in bronze and into a room twice the size of Marin’s. He waved Marin toward a seat and looked to be about to do the same for Bess but instead sat in one opposite Marin. Marin sat, and Bess knelt at her left side and looked toward the floor as she’d been instructed. After agreeing to use their first names, Impartial asked what Marin would like to drink. They then discussed everyday meaningless things about their respective empires for several minutes.
There was a brief pause as they sipped the warm tea that had been brought. Impartial, having taken his third small sip of tea, said, “Marin, on behalf of the Heptatic Empire I would like to thank you for appearing when you did this morning. I expect it was nothing beyond happenstance, but I also know the diligence with which your navy conducts missions against the Free Fleet was the main reason our assailants left so quickly after they saw your ship.”
“It was indeed happenstance, Impartial. Even so, I am glad we were able to prevent any harm being done to the Hepatic Empire. I am heading toward Tar Eylia and would be honoured if you would accompany us that together we might be safer in these troubled waters.”
“I suspect your captain is offering the same to Justice and I have already discussed this with her just in case you made such an offer. We would be very pleased to accept your presence and goodwill for the rest of our journey to Tar Eylia.”
“Then everything is settled. We are still an eightday from Tar Eylia, and it would be good to continue our journey. May I invite you and Captain Justice to join me for dinner tomorrow evening?”
“Please allow me to check with the captain before I agree. I shall send a reply in the morning.”
“Splendid.”
At that, Marin moved as if to rise but was stayed when Impartial said, “Marin, please excuse the metaphor, but I rarely find myself sailing in uncharted waters. Everything I had read suggested that mages in the Tarlonin Empire were trained exclusively in the academy. I had not heard that you still permitted mages to have apprentices. I only mention this because I find myself unsure of who to bring to dinner that would be the social equal to Apprentice Bess. I suspect it won’t matter to you, but I would prefer to look like a fool here rather than in Tar Eylia itself.”
“Impartial, I suspect you have rarely looked like a fool in any setting. You are quite correct that all mages are trained exclusively in the academy for all mages in the Tarlonin Empire serve the emperor. Occasionally, however, a qualified mage finds themselves responsible for a recognised potential mage outside of the Search itself. At such times that mage is required to accept the potential mages as an apprentice. It is a holdover from the Strictures. Even though they brought us from the Time of Darkness, in the Tarlonin Empire, this necessary aspect of them creates an unfortunate and unwelcome, anomaly.
“Apprentice Bess is such an anomaly. As an apprentice, and under the Strictures, she is answerable only unto her master and thus might be considered at least a lesser noble. When she is delivered over to the academy, then her apprenticeship, for some matters, will be put on hold, and she will be considered a candidate only. She will have no real status until her future is decided.”
“I do begin to understand. Your system of candidates has served you well, and there is not the unfortunate, though necessary, wastage of gifted that is enshrined within our application of the Strictures. I, however, am constrained by law, tradition, and belief to continue to uphold those Strictures. If Captain Justice is amenable to sharing a meal tomorrow, I would appreciate being allowed to bring a suitable companion for Apprentice Highland.”
“By all means, Impartial, I will be sure to mention this to Captain Gardener.”
