A Simple Darkness (The Young Ancients: Tiera) (27 page)

"Thank you. I have to see to my own duties, but I could bring more sometime?"

It was very correct sounding, but also clearly a bit advanced, since Lars sat in the corner, away from the group a bit, fighting a laugh. He made it. Just barely.

Then they had to get Sandra set up somewhere and get Taman back home. The easiest thing to do for the night was to send her to Ali, who was in her room and screamed when she saw them both. Her voice was loud, but happy sounding and Taman was picked up into a hug.

"You came just to see me?" There was a pleased tone to it and her face went even wider when Sandra explained it all.

"So, Guide has some treats, if we can pry them from him. I wonder if the rest of us get goodies if we send them things too?"

It was an offhand thing, but Ali nodded.

"Most likely."

Before anyone else could speak, Tiera waved to her sister-in-law and just asked if Sandra could stay with her for a bit, not explaining why. She said yes, without hesitation, since the two girls were on good terms. Also, unlike in Two Bends, people at the school had heard about what Tiera had done, if not exactly
why
. She didn't ask, just dimpling at them both, glad to see that they weren't fighting at that moment. Then the floating box was passed over and there was more joyous screaming, with some clapping involved, since Tor was alive and well. It was important to the girl after all, since she really did seem to like him.

It was an extra hour out of her day, but Taman was back home well before dinner, and all Tiera had to do was make certain no one at school was going to try and kill her, or kick her out.

If so, she was going to be at pretty loose ends. Maybe Tim could use her full time for his transport concern?

She headed by her own room first, to put the remaining trunks away. It was empty, except for a note on her bed, from Regina. It asked for her to come find the other girl as soon as possible, when she got back. Wanting to put off her dismissal for a few minutes, she headed to her old room, jogging up the stairs. No one was there at all, since it was, clearly, class time. She should have been in her own singing instruction period herself.

Instead of running to the class, she went to the Headmaster's office and asked to see him, figuring that she'd be made to wait for some time, if not just asked to leave. The woman at the front desk had short hair, which was still the common fashion, and a sour look about her that told Tiera that, no matter what she might have been told previously, she really didn't matter to the world at all. It was nearly enough to get her to respond angrily. She held it in, but it was hard, since the woman seemed so very smug about it all. Tiera had to wonder if that would change if she were taken up in a Fast Craft and dropped from a great height?

Dean Hardgrove didn't make her wait however, asking her to come in directly and even let her have a seat.

"Would you like some tea dear? I was just about to have some myself."

She shook her head and made a face at him, tight lipped and a bit angry, no doubt. He didn't respond to it at all. Just turning to work with the small teapot behind him, pouring the white ceramic mug full of what was probably water, leaving the leaves in their metal ball to steep.

"No. I missed a week. I... was in a war." She paused then kept going, her voice getting a little louder as she spoke. "I won. County Morris surrendered, or better have at least. Otherwise I'm going to miss more school while I finish them off. I kind of hope it isn't needed. Their people will already suffer for what I've done." She laughed a little and leaned forward. "I actually came to see if I was still in school. Tor said that I might get life experience points for some classes, making war like that. I can't say that it helped with singing at all. Fighting and some math though." She proved the later part with a long string of numbers, explaining how she picked the businesses for maximum short term monetary damage. The man did seem impressed, but he didn't react to the news that Tor was back at all.

Since, clearly, he already knew.

She had been told he was trustworthy, hadn't she?

The man let her speak for a long time and then sipped at his beverage for a while, finally, when he did speak, his voice was considering. "Let's not spend time with fictions. You were caught up in intrigue, which was clearly a mistake on Count Morris' part. Your natural inclinations probably left you almost no other option
but
to respond. You need to master that Tiera. I don't believe you, or I, will be better served by removing you from the school for this. I do think you might benefit from meditation practice however. That will be in the evenings, after you eat. An hour a day to begin with." He sipped again then blew over the top of the cup, his gray beard making his light blue tunic look cheery, even as he almost frowned at her. "This
isn't
a punishment. You aren't the first student to miss a week or two of school for a war. That isn't even the worst reason I've heard for such a thing today. But I have some information that tells me that you're closer to losing control than I think most realize. If you tell me that isn't the case, I'll let you out of the new class, but I'd like the truth."

She didn't blurt anything out, since it would have been a denial, her face flashed to anger, her heart leading it, which... was what he meant. She nodded after a bit.

"Constantly.
Everything
leaves me feeling raw and ready to fight. It's always been like this. I don't normally get violent, but I always feel ready for it. Is that normal?"

The man was old and wise, so he did what she expected him to do and defer.

"Honestly? I don't think so. Most girls certainly don't have to deal with that kind of thing. I've met a few young men like that and most met with an early death. Hence suggesting meditation. It isn't an instant repair for it, but might give some aid, over time, if you stick with it."

That decided, she was given her new assignment, meeting with the meditations Instructor after dinner each night, before bed.

"There, now all you have to do is beg your way back into classes. Good luck with that. I trust there will be no violence on your part, even if you're beaten in the commons for it? Except with the weapons master. He can fend for himself. The others are safe however?" He sounded mild and calm, but his eyes searched her for clues.

"Yes, sir. Even if I'm beaten for it."

"Good! I know that things have been a bit rough here for you so far, but I think you have a bright future, Miss Baker. Don't lose sight of that."

Then, a bit abruptly, he gestured for her to leave, smiling the whole time.

She headed back to her own room and ate there, still having some dried food left. She checked it carefully and was still there when Karen came back, looking a bit sad, until she saw who was sitting there, waiting for her.

"There you are! Is this a visit, or, well, how goes the war?" It sounded silly, but it was pretty close to a real thing wasn't it?

"The war is won and Count Morris has surrendered, or begun the process to my satisfaction. It was a bit uncertain for a while and I may still have to kill him." She smiled though. "For the moment things are a bit better, so I'm back at school, if anyone will have me. I have a new class at night."

Instead of insisting that she run all over the school complex finding the Instructors, Karen suggested she find Regina.

"She's been coming to see about you every day, sometimes
twice
. She cried at me for hours too, so... I don't know, go and see to her, will you?"

She got up, leaving to do just that right then, since it seemed to be a bigger deal than she'd figured it might be. Had her friend thought she'd be hurt or not come back for some reason? Not even to visit her? That wasn't her plan at all. Even if she'd been kicked out she'd be there to see her. When she knocked on the door this time the girl answered almost immediately, grabbing her and pulling Tiera inside without saying anything coherent, not even asking why she'd been gone. That story she seemed to know already.

"I thought that evil Count or the King had killed you! Your friend Karen said that you'd gone to fight them all and that they didn't have news. I thought you'd died... that she just wasn't allowed to tell me. No one would tell me anything. What happened?"

They talked for about an hour about it all, with Reggie asking a lot of questions about the whole thing, even though it had to be pretty boring for her. Then about halfway through, Tiera found herself being held. The girl smelled like soup and a mild floral perfume. It was nice, but reminded her that she could use a real bath herself. After all, while she'd been washing daily, it was just in a stream, not a nice long soak.

"Come on, let's go and hog the bathtubs for a while." She felt nearly happy then, with her friend by her side, going off to do something that normal. It was the contact probably, it left her feeling better, safe and loved even.

That was a bit too much to ask of Regina though. She was just a good friend, but there was a bond there, Tiera thought. A real one. It was as close to having someone special as she'd ever gotten at least. The baths were all free and the untreated wood and moist air made her feel good. It was familiar and pleasant. She didn't take her shield off, but did everything else, which got her friend to stare at her as she slowly sank into the warm water. The tub wasn't deep, and only big enough for one person each, but it was more than enough for someone as tiny as she was to sink down and nearly float in. Reggie couldn't, being a head taller already. The simple hemp cord got wet, which earned a hand wave.

"Won't the water damage it?"

"Not really. The cord can be replaced and the field itself won't be hurt by it at all. Count Morris might send people after me, so I'm not letting my guard down overly." Maybe never again. She hadn't been lazy that way, but she suddenly missed not having a weapon on her too.

They just chatted about things then, not covering anything special. Mainly talking about music and what to do for the holidays. A few other girls came in to bathe, joining the conversation as they all relaxed, even though she didn't know them all. It took a while for a few of them to actually speak to her, since she was, still, on the list of people to be shunned it seemed, but that was alright. They talked around her and eventually gave in and asked questions of her.

And her family. Everyone wanted to know if Tor was around and if she'd heard from him. It wasn't exactly a secret, and rumors had already flew it seemed, so she just told them about meeting up with him, which got a lot of girlish squeals.

 One of them, who was a fourth or fifth year student, a blonde girl that was pretty and had very long hair, smiled a little sadly about the topic.

"I always tried to get his attention when we met, when he used to go here. I never could. For a while I thought it meant he liked men, but he married Gretchen Derring. I guess I wasn't good enough?"

It was strange hearing Ali's real name used like that, but Tiera knew it. The girl looked fine, so she couldn't imagine why her brother wouldn't have paid attention to her at all.

The same girl smiled and sank into the water, the heater on the side of the thing making the water in her metal tub steam a little. "So, Conserina Baker... I hear that a certain sister of yours paid a visit to one of the Lairdgren group? Builder Guide? That's a first, isn't it? Very daring of her too." The girl didn't really chuckle about it at all, but the other girls didn't get the joke, and seemed excited.

Even Reggie didn't seem in on it.

 "Let me guess, you heard the tale from Lars? Did he mention that my sister is only five, and was very proper about the whole thing? Guide was a darling about it, a true gentleman. I was there the whole time and so was Sandra Morris."

One of the other girls snickered then, but bit her lip to make the noise stop, so she could speak.

"Isn't she the one you're holding hostage against her father's good behavior? If so we should all go and make her do stuff. She's cute." There was a wicked laugh then, even as Tiera snorted.

"
No
. I won't let her be harmed or abused, so get that idea out of your mind right now. She's not even a real hostage, though don't tell her father that. The man's a pain."

There was more chuckling then, but the conversation shifted over into ways to fix the dining hall, since almost no one ate there anymore.

Then, later than she should have probably, Tiera went back to her room, to find Karen already fast asleep.

The next morning she didn't have to do anything in particular, as far as begging went at least, for three and a half hours. At least that was the normal amount of time it would take for Karen and Sir Kolbrin to get there. She got there early, since she'd woken at about four and had nothing else to do. It was hard to run in the dark, but the pell was far enough away from all the rooms that no one complained about that and the stones only made noise when she dropped them. That was a nice resonate thud that carried, but would be hard to track down, if anyone cared.

Just as dawn broke she ran, going as fast as she could for two laps around the whole school, which made her stomach hurt, but didn't take that long. Then she was a little stuck, not having much left to do at all until people came. Like always, Havar was first, but he had his regular exercises to get to and she didn't want to bother him. At a loss for a while she decided to just work the pells longer, taking one of the well beaten metal clubs to it, trying not to lose her balance as she swung. It had to weigh in at about sixty pounds, which was a big chunk of her weight. Two thirds at least. Maybe a bit more.

The noise from it was loud, and after about fifteen minutes the sturdy log, the same one that she regularly punched with her fists and kicked, broke, nearly in half. It was so loud Tiera jumped back.

"Gah!" Then, not knowing what else to do, she attacked the downed section and beat it until it stopped moving, which was ridiculous, but got Havar to laugh.

"Break through!" He called out walking over with a big smile. "That means you get to change the pell out. Come on, I'll show you how. It doesn't take long, or won't with two of us working on it."

Together they pried the sunken part of the thing out and then carried in a very large replacement, a thing that was nearly two and a half feet around and shaved sooth, someone having used a cutter on it. They had to do that again at the base, so that it would fit into the hole, but the weight of the thing made it slip down all the way. It really didn't take long, only about fifteen minutes.

"There, now you can get back to work." The giant didn't seem to think that was odd or anything, but he'd probably broken more than one of the things before himself. She worked at it for a while, but finally had to stop, her shoulders about to fall off. Instead of using the healing amulet, she decided to keep going, if she could. Her fists and head were bloody from earlier, but it only hurt.

She pounced on the bigger man just as he finished his own workout, holding two long staves up. She didn't really know how to use them yet, but it wouldn't be that different than what she was used to, she didn't think. Hers was shorter, her own height, so five feet even. His was short for him, since she didn't want to give away that much in reach, so it was just over that by a smidge.

It was a little different, but she was able to keep up with the larger man, mainly. He hit hard, but avoided blows to the head, mainly taking her in the arms. She did the same to his legs, actually getting him to limp a bit, a few resounding cracks stinging him occasionally. She figured out how to block, but most of the true deflections were his, since he was far more skillful than she was at the whole thing. They kept at it while the others came in, no one paying too much attention to her, other than what was needed to keep from being hit by the new girl as she flailed around.

Suddenly Havar grinned and hit her in the middle with the end of the stick, which hurt a lot, but took her totally off guard. She hadn't even been considering that before. When she tried it herself, it was blocked, missing his middle by a bit, and he stepped in using his staff to tie up her legs and send her sprawling. Then, because the man was clearly insane, he stood over her and swung with both hands over his head, crashing down on her full force. She tried to roll, but didn't make it and nearly passed out from the pain, which took her by surprise. It was bad. She was pretty certain a rib had broken from the move. Scrambling away as fast as she could let her take the next blow on the back of the thigh, which ripped the fake fabric of her magical clothing. She hadn't been aware that was something that could even happen. It burned, and made her gasp, but she limped over to her own stick and picked it up, nearly going down under another blow. One the man was
clearly
pulling.

That must mean he liked her.

From that point on he didn't let up, actually trying to hit harder, if anything. That worked against him, because in-shape warrior or not, he eventually got tired, working at his maximum force. A few minutes later, with a lot of dodging and fleeing on her part, the man started to slow, a lot. At first it seemed almost like he was trying to tease her for not being all that great, but she was still getting blows in, mainly to his lower legs. His lead leg was the safest target, but he could still strike out, using one handed blows, and managed a nice one, directly to her mouth. The crunch was sickening and she felt her teeth cave in. The pain was bitter and the blood that rushed into her mouth made it really hard to breath, but she spit the blood at him as a distraction and moved back in. That didn't work, and he just hit her with a backhand blow that took her all the way to the ground, picking her up first.

After that it got harder to get up each time, but she tried, until it was finally just not possible anymore. Her weapon was broken, by her, when she missed a blow against a nice soft Havar and hit stone instead. It left her with a short stick about the length of her arm, and she couldn't stand at all, so she had to try and crawl toward him, being beaten on the upper shoulders the whole time. There was a trail of blood where she'd been and her blows didn't have any power at all, on the rare occasion they managed to connect at all.

Then she blacked out, waking up a few seconds later with a healing amulet being tucked in her left hand. It took a while to re-grow the teeth and a few things popped first, rather painfully. She cycled her clothing, so the blood would fall off. Most of it. The stuff in her hair was just stuck there, and her skin was covered, taking her from a nice pale color, to a blood crusted brown in some spots. It hurt a lot less though.

When she managed to look up and then stand, Sir Kolbrin took the healing device back and handed it off to a second year boy named Mitchell that was just staring at her with a look of pure fear in his eyes.

"You weren't the only one to miss classes last week. A certain other person did as well, without nearly as good a cause. Tiera here was off making war on an entire County, by herself. And won. What were you up to there, Mitchell?
Wenching you said
?" There was a rough laugh from the people standing around them, which, she noticed, included Karen and Davie, as well as Havar, who got the amulet next even though he had all his teeth still. "If you're going to miss scheduled classes you need a better excuse than that, and better manners than to refer to any woman willing to touch you as a wench, no matter what her day to day profession."

All of the words had that calm sound that the man got when he was actually angry and not just trying to intimidate someone. It had taken a bit for her to get that about him, but Mitchell, it seemed was really in trouble. No one mentioned
her
at all yet.

That would probably be next. The rest of the people went back to working with each other, since kids getting in trouble was kind of normal here. She'd probably be up all night scrubbing the paving stones or something. It was a good thing she thought of that, because not five seconds later the head Instructor turned to her.

"So, Tiera, what do
you
think his punishment for that should be?" It wasn't said harshly, but the boy looked freaked for some reason.

She shook her head and made a face at Sir Kolbrin.

"I know, why don't we put
him
on the spot and make him decide how
I
should be punished for nearly the same thing? Well, less fun I'm sure, but still, I missed that same amount, didn't I?" That got the large man to chuckle, but he made a gesture as if telling her to go on. "Fine... I don't know, we can scrub this place up on our off days until we meet the number missed? Extra practice to make up for it? I can't really afford to miss any of my other classes, and I doubt he can either." It seemed fair enough to her at least. She got that there had to be some punishment and the real crime had been the same. Being gone without permission.

There was a snort from Havar, but no one else said anything.

Except Kolb. "See to that then Tiera. Back to practice everyone!"

They still had nearly three hours, so she worked with Karen, finally learning some basic sword work that was more complicated than just swinging the thing around, involving complicated parrying, movements that would work against a large person, if the timing could be gotten right. She managed about one in every four times, with Karen hitting her harder each time. She was hit in the head five times, leaving her bloody again. After that she had to work on grappling and striking, against Mitchell.

Sir Kolbrin set the task.

"No weapons or shields. No blows to the head, any grappling movements are fine. Full force, no padding. I expect at least twenty minutes... Starting now."

That was harder than it seemed, since the boy kept hitting her too lightly. It was enough that she finally had to yell at him for it.

"Hit me like you mean it! Come on!" He did then and it hurt, but it was better to learn against what she'd face in a fight. It was in the little book that she'd read, the one Karen had given her. "
I'm
not one of your wenches."

That got a better fight from him, since he seemed to think she was mocking him on purpose. He was decent once he forgot to try and protect her, and she did alright. She was stronger than he was, and faster, but he was a lot more skilled and had size. Not as good as Karen, or even Judy, but better than she was. When they were finished, Karen calling it, she was allowed to heal up and had to run to the showers. Mitchell was too, but he had to speak to Kolb again first.

She ate out of her hand, while walking to her math class. Inside the door she just got on her knees and started begging. She tried to explain why she'd been gone, but Instructor Neytev wasn't having it. Not at all. Instead he gave her a book.

"Memorize this. When you're finished with that there will be a test. It's not to take more than one month." Looking through it she nodded. It was, she realized, the entire course for the semester. Including what she'd missed.

At the end of the class she handed the book back in, not knowing if she was going to be allowed to take it out of the room.

Smirking the Instructor opened the book to a random page.

"Page seventeen, third line down, second word?" He clearly didn't expect an answer.

"Also, when the numerator is in question, it is possible to find it by locating the exact position of the... I can go on, if you want?"

He
did
want and his gray hair was ruffled several times, ending up a fly away mess, with him turning his back at one point and then making her cover her eyes. His blue and green robes were flawless, meaning they were magical in nature, except for the chalk powder on the sleeves.

"Well, that's rare. Very good. Can you stand to take the test now?"

"I have singing class. Instructor Crane might beat me if I miss another day. As it is, I'm certain I'll be embarrassed by him. I really should run now, so I'm not late. Would it be acceptable to do it tomorrow? Please I mean, I can't afford to make more trouble now."

Sighing mightily, he let her go, his face looking a bit strange, as if he was nearly happy about the whole thing.

"First thing in the afternoon. Good luck with singing. I'll see you then."

The song master didn't beat her. He didn't even call her to the front of the room, not after he released her from the kneeling she was doing. Nor did he call on her in class, since she didn't know the current song. She just sat listening the whole time. When she moved to leave he waved to her. The look on his face was actually pleasant.

"You have some time before your meal, do you not?" It sounded a little strange, smarmy, she thought it might be called. Like he was trying to seem suggestive, and failing. "You could spend some time with me here. An hour a day let's say? On your knees... If you want to keep coming to this class at least."

It took her a second to realize that he didn't mean either praying
or
begging forgiveness. She started laughing though, which got him to look angry, at first, but then oddly scared.

"Why are you chortling? It's a time honored tradition for ugly school Instructors to extort sex from pretty students like this."

She bit her lips and had to not speak for a long time.

"I.. forgive me. It... I've never done that before. I'm willing to try, but, seriously, that isn't going to be nearly as good as you probably think. I mean I know not to bite, but other than that, honestly, not a clue." She shrugged and got down on her knees anyway. Karen had told her not to refuse
anyone
, and this had to count. "Also, isn't the tradition really about getting better marks? I'm not calling you a liar, but it is what it is." She smiled up at him and waited, the man looking tense.

After a minute he made a face.