Raymond E. Feist - The Complete Conclave of Shadows Trilogy - Talon of the Silver Hawk, King of Foxes, Exile’s Return

Then with a sigh of regret, he turned his back upon the three students and started walking towards Pug’s quarters. They had a lot to discuss, and much of that would be unpleasant.

Talon dried his hair with a coarse towel. He enjoyed bathing, though it had not been a regular part of his childhood. The Orosini had to heat water in which to bathe, since all the rivers ran with snowmelt year round and only in the hot months of summer could one swim in the lakes and rivers of the mountains. In winter you sweated in the lodges and scraped off dirt with a stick.

He had been introduced to bathing at Kendrick’s, but there he had to use a tub, often after others had used it, so it seemed that all he was doing was trading his own dirt for someone else’s. But the Villa Beata had a wonderful set of rooms in which to bathe. It had three connecting baths with cold, warm and hot water which were enjoyed by many folk in the community on a daily basis. And smaller tubs were available in each wing of the estate buildings.

After working or riding, he was glad to get the grime off and don fresh clothing. And every day there was fresh apparel in his clothes-chest. He knew that other students were assigned work in the laundry, but it still seemed like magic to him. He would leave his dirty clothing in a hamper outside the door to the room, and when he returned from his studies or exercises, clean garments awaited him.

As he wiped his face dry, he felt the stubble along his jaw. He had started shaving the year before, in the same manner as Magnus, although the Orosini’s preferred method was to pluck each hair out of the chin one by one. Talon decided he much preferred a sharp razor.

Talon stropped the razor while Rondar and Demetrius came in from their baths. ‘What are you doing after supper?’ he asked, lathering his face.

Rondar threw himself upon his bed, a coarse towel his only garment, and grunted something noncommittal. Demetrius said, ‘I’ve got kitchen duty tonight, so I’ll be serving, and cleaning up. You?’

‘I’m free,’ said Talon as he started shaving. ‘I thought we might build a fire in the pit down by the lake and see who turns up.’

‘It helps if you spread the word during supper that you’re doing so.’

Rondar said, ‘Girls.’

‘An impromptu gathering is often the best.’

‘Well, tomorrow’s Sixthday, so no matter how tired you are in the morning, by midday you can rest.’

‘I can,’ said Demetrius. ‘And he can,’ he pointed to Rondar, ‘but you can’t. Didn’t you check the roster?’

‘No.’

‘You’ve got kitchen duty all day, sunrise until after last meal.’

Talon sighed. ‘So much for a revel tonight.’

‘Well, it’s a good idea, even if you’re not going to be there,’ said Demetrius.

‘Yes,’ Rondar agreed.

‘Thanks. I think of it, and I can’t go.’

‘You can go,’ said Demetrius. ‘Just don’t stay up too late.’

‘Wine,’ said Rondar, as he sat up and began dressing.

‘Yes, we’ll need wine.’

Demetrius looked at Talon who grinned at him. ‘You’re the one in the kitchen tonight.’

‘If Besalamo catches me in the cellar again, he’ll cook and eat me.’

‘Taldaren,’ observed Rondar with a nod.

Talon laughed. Besalamo was a magician from another world – a fact that had taken Talon some time to fully assimilate – and looked almost human, save for two fins of white bone that ran fore and aft along his skull in place of hair. And he had bright red eyes. ‘I think he started that rumour about Taldaren eating boys to keep us in line.’

‘You want to find out?’ asked Demetrius.

‘No, but I’m not the one who needs to get us some wine. Without the wine the girls won’t come down to the lake.’

‘They might, if you asked them,’ suggested Demetrius.

Talon flushed at the suggestion. It was becoming clear that as the new boy he was the object of much curiosity among the girls on the island.

In total, there seemed to be about fifty students on the island, and after taking away those who weren’t human, there were sixteen young men, from Talon’s age up to their mid-twenties, and fourteen girls, aged fourteen to twenty-two.

‘Alysandra,’ said Rondar.

‘Yes,’ Demetrius agreed. ‘Invite her. If she says yes, all the boys will come, and if all the boys are down by the lake, then all the girls will come as well.’

Talon’s face and neck turned deep crimson.

‘Blushing,’ said Rondar with a laugh, as he pulled on his trousers.

‘Leave him alone, you useless barbarian. If we’re going to get the girls to the lake tonight, we need Talon to ask Alysandra.’

Talon gave Demetrius a dubious look but said nothing. He had no problem talking to Alysandra, as some of the other boys seem to have, yet he had come to the conclusion that she was totally uninterested in him. Between her polite but unenthused responses to him over the last few weeks whenever circumstances brought them together, and the near awe with which the boys regarded her, he had decided early on that any pursuit of her was a waste of time.

Still, if Demetrius was willing to risk the cook’s wrath by pilfering some wine, and even Rondar was excited at the prospect of the gathering, Talon felt he’d best do his part.

He finished dressing and set out to find Alysandra.

The fire burned brightly as the young men and women of the island sat in pairs or threes talking quietly. Except Rondar, who sat slightly away from Demetrius and a girl whose name Talon didn’t know.

Talon was surprised to see nearly fifty people around the fire. The two bottles of wine Demetrius had produced were augmented by a large cask of ale someone else had purloined from the storage shed, and a few of the boys were already showing the effects of too much to drink. He helped himself to a goblet, and walked a little away from the group.

Talon enjoyed wine, but ale held little interest for him. The honeyed drinks of his childhood were but a dim memory and he had been denied the fermented honey the men drank. He stood there, on his own, swilling the pungent liquid around his mouth, savouring its taste.

‘Why are you alone?’

Talon looked up and found a slender dark-haired girl named Gabrielle standing next to him, a light shawl around her shoulders. She had startling blue eyes and a warm smile.

‘Hardly alone.’ Talon said.

She nodded. ‘Yet you always seem … apart, Talon.’

Talon glanced around and said nothing.

‘Are you waiting for Alysandra?’

It was as if the girl had read his mind; and on this island, that was a distinct possibility! Gabrielle’s smile broadened. ‘No … yes, I suppose so. I mentioned this gathering to her before supper and –’ he waved his hand at the other girls ‘– apparently she mentioned it to a number of the girls.’

Gabrielle studied his face then said, ‘Are you yet another of those who have fallen under her spell?’

‘Spell?’ asked Talon. ‘What do you mean?’

‘She’s my friend. We share a room and I love her, but she’s different.’ Gabrielle looked at the fire as if seeing something within the flames. ‘It’s easy to forget that each of us is different.’

Talon didn’t quite know where Gabrielle was taking the conversation, so he was content to remain silent.

After a long pause, Gabrielle said, ‘I have visions. Sometimes they are flashes, images that are with me only for a brief instant. At other times they are long, detailed things, as if I were in a room watching others, hearing them speak.

‘I was abandoned as a child by my family. They were fearful of me because I had foretold the death of a nearby farmer, and the villagers named me a witch-child.’ Her eyes grew dark. ‘I was four years old.’