Robin Hobb - The Complete Soldier Son Trilogy - Shaman’s Crossing, Forest Mage, Renegade’s Magic

‘So it would appear!’ I replied uncomfortably.

A smile spread over her face. ‘Oh, good! They kept you so long, I thought you would never get to your bed.’ With that she bounced into my bedchamber, shut the door behind her and sat down on the foot of my bed. She curled her legs up under her and then demanded, ‘Did you bring me anything?’

‘Should I have?’ I was completely taken aback by her peculiar behaviour and had no idea what to expect next from her. I had heard tales of how forward maid servants were in a big city, but I had never expected to encounter such brazen behaviour in my uncle’s house. She looked young to be a maidservant, but in her night robe and with her hair bundled up in a cap, it was difficult to guess her age. I wasn’t accustomed to seeing women in such garb.

She gave a small sigh of disappointment and shook her head at me. ‘Probably not. Aunt Selethe sends us little presents from time to time, so I hoped perhaps you had brought one with you. But if you haven’t, I shan’t be offended.’

‘Oh. Are you Epiny Burvelle, my cousin?’ Suddenly this midnight encounter had become even stranger.

She looked at me for a moment in shock. ‘Well, who else did you think I might be?’

‘I’m sure I had no idea!’

She stared at me a moment longer, perplexed, and then her mouth formed a scandalized ‘O’. She leaned closer to me and spoke in a whisper, as if she feared to be overheard. ‘You thought I was a wanton maid, come to warm your bed, and demanding your largesse in advance. Oh, Nevare, how depraved young men from the east must be, to expect such things.’

‘I did not!’ I denied hotly.

She sat back. ‘Oh, don’t lie. You did so. But forget that. Now that you know that I’m your cousin Epiny, answer my first question. Did you bring me a present?’ She was eager and tactless as a child.

‘No. Well, not exactly. My mother sent presents for you and your mother and sister. But I don’t have them. My father does.’

‘Oh.’ She sighed. ‘Then I suppose I shall have to wait until morning before I get it. So, tell me. Did you have a good journey coming here?’

‘It was good, but wearying.’ I tried not to say the words too pointedly. I was very tired and this bizarre re-introduction to my cousin was straining my courtesy. She didn’t notice.

‘Did you get to ride on a jankship?’

‘Yes. Yes, we did.’

‘Oh!’ She all but collapsed with jealousy. ‘I never have. My father says they are frivolous and dangerous and a hazard to sane navigation on the river. Last week, one collided with a coal barge. Six people were lost and all the coal was spilled in the river. He says they should be outlawed, and their reckless captains clapped in irons.’

‘Really.’ I made my voice flat with disinterest. I felt that her comment criticized my father and me for arriving by jankship. ‘I am really very tired, cousin Epiny.’

‘Are you? Then I suppose I should let you go to sleep. You’re a bit disappointing, cousin Nevare. I thought a boy-cousin would have far more endurance than you seem to. And I thought someone from the east would have interesting things to tell.’ She clambered off my bed.

‘Perhaps I do, when I’m not so tired,’ I said sharply.

‘I doubt it,’ she said sincerely. ‘You look very ordinary. And you sound as dull as my brother Hotorn. He is very concerned with his dignity, and I think that prevents him from having an interesting life. If I were a boy, and permitted to have an interesting life, I would have no dignity at all.’

‘You don’t seem to be overly burdened with it as a girl,’ I pointed out to her.

‘Well, yes, I’ve discarded it as being useless to me as a girl, also. But that doesn’t mean I can have an interesting life. Although, I do aspire to one. I do. Good night, Nevare.’ She leaned closer as if she would kiss me on the cheek, but stopped short, staring at the side of my head. ‘Whatever did you do to your ear?’

‘A plains warrior cut it with his swanneck. A swanneck is a long, curving blade.’ I was glad to say it. Her remark that I was ordinary had stung me sharply.

‘I know what a swanneck is, cousin.’ She sounded very patronizing as she paused with her hand on the doorknob. ‘And you are my dear cousin, and I will love you no matter how boring you are. So you needn’t make up wild tales about savage plainsmen. You probably think you can easily deceive a city girl like me, but I know such stories are rubbish. I have read a great deal about the plainsmen, and I know they are a natural and gentle folk who lived in complete harmony with nature. Unlike us.’ She gave yet another sigh. ‘Don’t tell lies to make yourself seem important, Nevare. That is such a wearying trait in a man. I’ll see you in the morning.’

‘He cut my ear twice. I had to have it stitched!’ I tried to tell her, but she shushed me furiously as the door closed behind her. Before her visit, I had been wearily relaxed and ready for sleep. Now, despite my fatigue, I could not drift off, even after I blew out my candle. I lay in the big soft bed and listened to the rain hitting the window glass and wondered if I were ordinary and boring. Eventually I decided that Epiny was too eccentric to know what ordinary was, and thus I was able to fall asleep.

Only my youth, I am sure, made me jolt awake at the chambermaid’s timid tap at my door early the next morning. Unthinking, I bade her come in, and then stayed where I was, blushing beneath my covers, as she fetched warm wash water and then bundled away my travelling clothes for freshening and brushing. I was greatly unaccustomed to being cared for in such a way, and even after she had left, it took me some little time before I dared venture from my bed, lest she return unannounced. When I did, I washed and dressed hastily. Habit made me tidy my room, and then I wondered if the maid would think me odd and rustic that I had spread up my bedding myself. Then I became irritated with myself that I would worry so much about what a maid might think of me. Having pushed that concern from my mind, I began to consider nervously all that my uncle had said of the Academy the night before. Had I had any more time by myself, it is likely I would have worked myself into a fine lather, but luckily for me, another knock at my door summoned me to an early breakfast with my uncle and father.

Both were up, shaved, and neatly attired for the day despite our late night. I had expected to see my aunt and cousins at table, but there were no extra settings and my uncle made no mention of them. We were served a hearty breakfast of kippers and a mixed grill, with tea and toast. Sleep had revived my appetite, until my uncle observed, ‘Eat well, Nevare, for I’ve heard that a young man’s first meal at the Academy is a hurried one. I doubt that your noon meal will please you as well as this breakfast does.’

At his words, my appetite fled, and I asked my father, ‘Am I to go directly to the Academy today, then, Father?’

‘We think it best that you do. Your uncle has agreed to keep Sirlofty here until such time as you are allowed to have your own mount. We’ll make one stop for a boot fitting with a cobbler Sefert recommends, and then I’ll escort you to the Academy. You’ll be a day ahead of most of the others. Perhaps it will give you a chance to settle in before your classmates arrive.’

And so it was done. Breakfast was scarcely finished before a footman came to announce that my trunks had been loaded onto my uncle’s carriage. My uncle bid me farewell at the door and advised my father that there was to be an excellent venison roast with wild plum sauce for dinner.

We were walking to the carriage when Epiny suddenly hastened down the steps after us. She was still in a nightgown with a robe flung over it, but now her curling brown hair was loose about her shoulders. By daylight, I estimated her to be only a few years younger than me. Yet she seemed childish when she cried out, ‘Nevare, Nevare, you cannot leave when you have not even said farewell!’