Stephen Deas - Warlock's shadow

‘… or not, since it’s really quite irrelevant. You will do as I say, and that is that.’ The prince’s words. He shrugged. ‘Well, I suppose you could disobey and then I could have you all shipped off to the mines, strip this little palace of yours bare and turn it into a poorhouse. After the Overlord has subdued the inevitable riots, of course, but then I won’t be here to care about that little detail.’

Master Sy pushed Berren forward. One of the temple priests rolled his eyes. ‘Him?’

‘Yes him. The annoying little rude one. Is that about right?’

‘You want the Autarch’s monks to teach this oafish boy to wield a sword?’

‘Oh yes. Although …’ The prince leaned forward towards the Sunherald. ‘They’re your monks, aren’t they? For as long as they’re here?’ He turned to the monks and pointed at the nearest, the woman. ‘You. You can do it.’ Berren’s eyes widened and he bit his lip. The monk couldn’t have been much older than him. Might even have been the same age. And he was going to be trained by a girl ?

He glanced at her. You could hardly even tell she was a girl, she was so skinny.

The monk bowed. ‘How hard do you wish him trained, Your Highness?’ Her face didn’t flicker, even as Berren stared at her. Flat chest, narrow hips, all sharp angles and no curves. If she was a girl, she was probably the ugliest girl in the city, he decided. Not that that made things any better.

On the other hand, she was a dragon-monk.

The prince blew out his cheeks and stretched his shoulders. ‘Oh, as hard as you like, I suppose.’

‘Then he will be dead within a week, Your Highness.’

The prince looked Berren up and down and then turned back to the monk with a pained expression on his face. ‘Well, maybe not that hard then. I shan’t be wanting to hear that this boy got sent to his death by way of a reward. Gods, something like that might even prey on my conscience. Train him hard then, but please, not so hard that he expires.’ The prince grinned at Berren. It wasn’t a very nice grin. ‘Train him hard enough to see whether he really wants it.’

The monk bowed again. ‘As Your Highness commands.’ It was hard to tell whether she was pleased or angry or simply didn’t care one way or the other, although at least all his staring had finally managed to put a bit of colour in her cheeks. The Sunherald was managing to keep his face flat too, but the temple priests were a different matter. Most of them looked ready to explode.

‘You cannot …! Even you, you can’t …!’

‘What? Spit it out! I can’t what? Wander through your city issuing edicts that everyone is forced to obey no matter how random and whimsical they are? But I can, you see. One of the few joys of being a prince.’ He frowned and scratched his short black beard. ‘Well, one of the few joys apart from the endless parade of wine and willing women, anyway.’ He smiled again. ‘If you wish to lie awake at night begging your god for a relief against the injustices of the world, consider that your Autarch is busily making a point of snubbing my family and that his monks would not be here for me to impose upon otherwise. Good day.’ With that, he turned on his heel and marched out of the temple. His men followed, as did Master Sy, still dragging Berren by the ear. Outside, the prince stopped again. He looked at Master Sy and, fleetingly, at Berren.

‘Gentlemen, I thank you for your services. Loathsome duty now beckons. Lord Tanngris will settle our accounts with the Watchman’s Arms.’ He stopped and stared at Master Sy. ‘You. However much I have called you dull, you do not belong here. You are rotting on the inside, and believe me, on that subject I know what I’m talking about. Thief-taking is not for you. Go and do whatever it is you need to do.’

Master Sy bowed. He was trying not to show it, but the prince’s words had touched him somewhere raw. His hands were trembling and his skin had turned pale. Berren didn’t have time to think about that, though, for the prince was looking at him now. His eyes were pale and watery. They had a bit of ice to them. A bit of ice and a bit of anger and a lot of sadness, Berren thought.

‘You. Take this, boy.’ He pressed something into Berren’s hand. ‘When your master goes, he’s not going to want you with him. You’ll probably follow him anyway, whether he likes it or not, but at least let me give you a choice. You may come to Varr. Go to the Kaveneth. Present this and tell them that you have answered my summons. Tell them I say you should be working for Eagle-Beak, if he’s still alive. They’ll know who you mean.’ Whatever he’d put in Berren’s hand, the prince closed Berren’s fingers over it. ‘And don’t lose it, eh?’

Before Berren could even look up, the prince had turned and was walking away. Master Sy put a hand on Berren’s shoulder. ‘Watch him go, lad. That’s the last you’ll ever see of him, yet his favour will haunt you like a curse. It will be a weight around your neck before this year is up, I promise you.’

Berren opened his fingers to see what the prince had given him. It was gold, like an emperor fresh from the imperial mint but bigger and with a more complicated stamp on it. Not the Emperor’s head but a sword and a shield on one side and the imperial standard, a flaming eagle within a triangle, on the other.

‘Worth a bit, that,’ muttered Master Sy.

Berren nodded. He was staring at the token. He had no idea what it meant but he held it as though it was the most precious thing he’d ever had. He couldn’t pocket it for fear of somehow losing it. Maybe a chain, around his neck …

‘You could sell it.’

He closed his fingers around the token, clutching it tight. Yes, a chain around his neck, that was the only way to be safe.

The thief-taker sighed. He clapped Berren on the shoulder. ‘Remember, lad, when this all turns sour, that it all came about because you did the right thing and for the right reasons. Now I’m hungry and my friendships with the priests in this temple have just been royally slaughtered. Ah well, only took ten years to build. Come on: I need a drink, I’ve got a pocket full of the Prince’s silver, Justicar Kol owes me a purse and the most expensive tea-house in the city is right across the square beside the guild-house. So that’s where I’m going. You can come with me if you like, or you can stay here for midday prayers if you like the look of your new teacher so much.’

Berren reddened. ‘ Her? ’

‘Don’t think I didn’t see you looking, and don’t think that she didn’t either. You’re in for some hard hard work, lad.’ He chuckled. ‘So are you coming or are you staying?’

For a moment Berren hesitated. Not that he wanted to be in the temple for any longer that he had to; but after prayers the monks were going to do their demonstration and that was something he didn’t want to miss. He’d get to see his new teacher fight, maybe work out a trick or two so he could show them he wasn’t some stupid novice and they’d give him a proper teacher instead of some girl.

Master Sy must have read his mind. ‘Oh don’t you worry, we’ll be back quick enough. I want to see your new teacher show off her skills too. Although I simply need to know that she’s good enough for my student … You know, I don’t think I’d mind it at all if she ripped your arms off.’ He smiled and for once he seemed to mean it. ‘Come on, lad. Asking His Highness for sword lessons was foolishness, but it was a brave thing you did. I’ll probably never have the money to do this again.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘Unless your teachers have actually managed to stir a little piety in you?’

Berren vigorously shook his head. ‘No chance of that !’ Still clutching the prince’s token, he ran to the temple gates.