The Fuller's Apprentice (The Chronicles of Tevenar Book 1) (35 page)

The next thing he knew, shouts and movement and a great deal more light invaded the cavern. He jumped to his feet, almost panicking, but then saw with great relief that it was the rescuers at last.

It did seem as if half the town at least had come to help. Dozens of eager hands loaded the wounded onto stretchers, or donkeys if they were well enough to sit up. Elkan slept through the noise and commotion, but when Josiah laid a tentative hand on his arm and whispered his name, he woke. He refused a stretcher, but after he saw Meira safely loaded on one and borne away, he consented to ride a donkey up out of the mine. Sar, who seemed a bit more recovered from their exertions, plodded alongside stoically.

Josiah was tired enough by the time they climbed the last stretch of ramp and emerged from the mouth of the mine that he wished someone had offered him a donkey to ride. He blinked, eyes dazzled by the bright sunlight. Amazingly, it seemed no later than midafternoon. Surely they’d been down there far longer than that?

A numb daze settled on Josiah and carried him through the journey back to town. He could only pick at the meal the anxious innkeeper served them, though Elkan and Hadara devoured great portions and sent their plates back for more. Elkan even asked the innkeeper to provide oats for Sar. Whiskers got his own plate and ate more than Josiah. All four of them looked gaunt, as if they’d gone months with too little to eat.

Finally Elkan led the way upstairs. Josiah felt like he needed sleep almost as much as the wizard. He pushed into his room, wanting only to sink into his bed.

He staggered under an assault of warm breath and fur as Tobi bounded up and twined about him. “Hello, girl.” His voice felt dry and dust-choked. Tobi lolled her tongue happily and pushed her head under his hand for petting.

Josiah dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around her neck. “Oh, Tobi…” He wanted to pour out the story of everything that had happened, but he couldn’t speak past the tightness in his throat. Blood, dust, broken bodies, Whiskers’ mangled form, Master Noadiah trapped beneath crushing rock, the coldness of death beneath his fingers and Nisi’s grey and lifeless face…

Josiah buried his face in Tobi’s fur and wept.

Nineteen

J
osiah…” Elkan seemed uncharacteristically hesitant. Only now was he losing his gaunt look. For the first few days after the disaster at the mine, he, Hadara, and their familiars had eaten ravenously, slept deeply, and gone out to pour all their newly regained energy into fulling healing those they had been forced to leave with only stopgap measures. Then they returned to the inn to repeat the process. But now almost a week had passed since the last of the injured were fully restored, and the wizards had mostly recovered from their exertions. Still, Elkan’s bowl of breakfast porridge was twice as big as Josiah’s.

“Hadara and I have been talking…” Elkan looked to the other wizard for support.

Hadara nodded. She fed a nut to Whiskers. The little raccoon was no worse for his ordeal.

“I know this will be very difficult for you, but we both agree it would be best.”

Josiah set down his spoon, a chill settling in the pit of his stomach. Nothing good could possibly follow when an adult used that tone of voice.

“You know Kalti is in her third year of training and will bond with a familiar next Springtide.”

Kalti looked up at the mention of her name. She’d been less hostile toward Josiah since the cave-in. She seemed to feel a grudging respect for his conduct during the emergency, along with a measure of fellowship from the shared ordeal. You still couldn’t call them friends, though.

Josiah frowned. What could Kalti’s bonding have to do with him? Unless…

Suddenly Josiah knew exactly what Elkan meant. The wizard’s next words confirmed it.

“Tobi will be choosing a bondmate at Springtide, and Hadara and I both think—”

“No!” Josiah couldn’t let him finish. “Tobi’s coming with us, just like always.”

“Josiah, think about it. You and I will be leaving the mountains soon. Hadara and Kalti will be traveling through Tobi’s own territory through most of the winter. She’ll be much happier if she’s able to roam instead of always having to stick close. And Tobi will be able to get to know Kalti better, to see if they’re a good fit—”

Josiah jumped to his feet. “Tobi’s—” He bit off the word “mine,” because she wasn’t, and could never be. “—used to me. We understand each other. Until she bonds, I’m the best one to take care of her. I know what she needs; she listens to me.”

Elkan ran a hand through his hair. “Josiah, Tobi is Mother-touched. Her destiny is to serve the Mother. No matter what our personal feelings may be, we have to support that.”

“I do! I know she’s going to bond to someone next spring. Maybe Kalti, maybe someone else. I wouldn’t… wouldn’t want to stop her, even if I could. But until then… It won’t change anything, who she travels with…” To his shame, Josiah felt his eyes threatening to tear. He blinked furiously to prevent it.

Hadara glanced at the animal in question, stretched out to her full impressive length in front of the fire, dozing, oblivious to the argument. “Elkan, perhaps we should reconsider. The boy feels so strongly about it—”

“No.” Elkan’s face took on the hard quality that Josiah knew meant it was useless to argue. “This is a matter for the Wizards’ Guild. Josiah, I may not technically be your master, but you’re still bound to obey me. I’ve decided that Tobi will accompany Hadara and Kalti when we leave tomorrow, and that’s final.”

Stiffly, Josiah nodded. He pushed his bench back and left the table, not daring to look at the blissfully sleeping Tobi. He held himself to a walk until he reached the inn’s front door, but as soon as he was through he broke into a run.

Behind him he heard Elkan calling his name, but Josiah ignored him. He ran blindly until he was out of sight and earshot of the inn, then slowed to a walk. He didn’t know where to go. Not up into the mountains toward the mine, and certainly not down by the river, where new graves dotted the cemetery, blessed by Elkan and Hadara together just yesterday. The busy Firstday market filled the square in the middle of town, and the streets were crowded with people it had drawn from the outlying areas. Eventually he ended up circling around and taking refuge in the inn’s stable.

No matter how hard he dug the brush into Sar’s side, the donkey leaned into his strokes with pleasure. The innkeeper’s apprentice had already brushed him once this morning, and his coat was smooth and free of tangles, but Josiah went over him twice nevertheless. Then he moved on to Hadara’s mule for good measure. By that time he had calmed enough to think clearly.

Elkan was right, he knew. He had no claim on Tobi, none, except whatever friendship might give him. Despite his impassioned words to Elkan, he wasn’t even sure Tobi would care whether she was with him or Kalti. The mountain cat was so cheerfully single-minded in her pursuit of food, warmth, and sleep, and so indiscriminately affectionate, that he couldn’t tell, sometimes, whether she regarded him as anything other than a friendly warm body and a hand providing meals.

Josiah scrubbed his eyes with the back of his sleeve. He’d never expected the relationship to be more than temporary, after all. Tobi wasn’t his pet. The decision had been made, and he’d have to live with it, resent it though he might. He dismissed, reluctantly, the fantasy of running off with Tobi into the mountains. Even if he could live that way, she couldn’t, not being Mother-touched. Eventually her instincts would drive her to seek out wizards again.

At least he could take Tobi out for a good day-long romp in the woods. Elkan wouldn’t begrudge him that. He’d take the fire-starting kit, and Tobi could catch a rabbit for him to roast. They could stay out until everyone else had gone to bed, so he wouldn’t have to face Kalti’s smugness, or Elkan’s annoyance, or Hadara’s sympathy. Just for today, he could pretend he was really an apprentice wizard, and that come Springtide Tobi would be choosing
him
to bond with.

And then tomorrow he’d tell her good-bye.

Josiah slipped out of the stable and crept to the front of the inn. He looked around surreptitiously. The shutters were open to catch the sun that was just beginning to drive away the morning chill. Crouching, Josiah snuck up to the window and peeked over the sill. Elkan and Hadara had left, but Kalti was still there. She sat on the hearth next to Tobi. Beside them was a bowl in which a few chunks of raw red meat remained. As Josiah watched, she scooped one up and fed it to Tobi, who eagerly accepted it.

How dare she! Everyone knew feeding Tobi was Josiah’s job. Josiah jumped up, ready to race in and knock the meat from Kalti’s hands. But he sank back down again, hands clenched into fists. Tobi seemed perfectly content. She took another chunk from Kalti and settled it between her paws, gnawing to separate the meat from a bit of bone and gristle. Finishing, she looked up expectantly, but the bowl was empty. Kalti scratched Tobi behind the ears. The mountain cat snuggled closer to Kalti, laid her head in her lap, closed her eyes, and started to purr.

Sick at heart, Josiah slipped away.

He wandered the streets of Shalinthan aimlessly. Vendors called out to him from booths when he passed through the market square, urging him to buy fruits or pastries or trinkets, but he ignored them. He poked through a few displays, but soon lost interest.

Around midday he bought a meat pie and a few honey cakes. Briefly he was distracted by a group of singers weaving beautiful harmonies. He applauded with the rest of the crowd when they finished, and tossed the last of his coins into their waiting coffer. But he drifted away before they started their next piece.

The market was too crowded and noisy. He wanted a quiet, private place where he could be alone for a while in peace. But his own room at the inn was inaccessible, and he didn’t know where else he might go.

The answer occurred to him on his next pass through the main square. There was the Mother’s Hall, serene and solid. It should be deserted. Elkan and Hadara had finished all the healings and judgments; anyone with an emergency would seek them at the inn.

Was it unlocked? Yes, the heavy door swung open, and Josiah slipped inside.

To his surprise, he heard voices. A group of people sat in a ring of chairs drawn up around the hearth at the far end of the large room. Before he could duck out again, a calm male voice said, “Look, it’s his apprentice. Come here, boy. We can send him to fetch the wizard for questioning.”

Josiah approached the circle hesitantly. He recognized the man who had spoken as Master Zelman, who’d been head of the town council before Noadiah. Was this a meeting of the council?

He was surprised to see Meira’s mother in the circle. Retana’s voice was strident. “There’s no need to question him. I saw what happened. I say we lodge the formal complaint with the Wizards’ Guild immediately.”

Josiah came to stand at Zelman’s side. Zelman frowned. “Retana, this is a very serious charge. I’m sure Wizard Elkan must have had good reasons for what he did. He deserves the chance to defend himself. You can’t deny that he’s been an enormous help in this crisis. Without him many more would have died—”

“Without him, it wouldn’t have happened!” Around the circle people murmured and shook their heads, but she stood her ground. “It was the way he flaunted his powers that led Noadiah to conceive the crazy scheme in the first place, against all the established principles of mining—”

“Now, Retana, that’s going too far.” A woman Josiah didn’t recognize spoke. “We all know Noadiah has been experimenting with his explosive powders for years. He asked the wizard for help.”

“So he claims.” Retana sounded bitter. “Who else was there to hear what they said?”

“Your daughter, for one,” Zelman said. “She supports the wizard’s story.”

Retana’s voice dropped. “Meira is… not entirely objective when it comes to the wizard.”

Josiah wondered what she could possibly mean by that. Nothing good. He seethed at her slander of Elkan, but kept silent.

The other woman said, “Be that as it may, there were others present who also corroborate his account. Really, Retana, you seem to have a personal vendetta against this wizard.”

“Because I saw what he did! I saw him leave Noadiah to die, without so much as a word of remorse. After he healed a mere animal!”

“The raccoon is the other wizard’s familiar; of course he had to heal it—”

“Of course. The wizards look out for their own.” There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. “Noadiah was the leader of this council and a highly respected master. His death is a great loss to us all. We owe it to him to seek justice.”

“I agree. But the wizard must be given a chance to speak.” Zelman turned to Josiah. “Go get your master and bring him back here.”

“Yes, sir.” Josiah forced his voice to meek compliance. He headed for the door.

Behind him, Zelman said, “Bring me paper and pen and I’ll begin drafting the complaint.”

As soon as the door shut behind him, Josiah ran as fast as he could to the inn. “Elkan!” He raced up the stairs to the wizard’s room. “Elkan, you’ve got to come, they’re going to—”

Elkan looked up from the table where he was bent over his record book, writing. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s the town council. They want to talk to you. They’re going to send a complaint about you to the Wizards’ Guild, that you let Master Noadiah die on purpose. You’ve got to come tell them what really happened.”

A frown creased Elkan’s brow. “I’m sure this must be just a misunderstanding. What exactly did they say?”

“There’s no time for that; you’ve got to come right now. They’re in the Mother’s Hall.” Josiah was so agitated he seized Elkan’s arm, sending a splatter of ink droplets from the quill onto the record book.

Elkan blotted the spots, annoyed, but consented to set down the quill and follow Josiah.

Josiah shoved open the heavy door of the Mother’s Hall and stood aside for Elkan to pass. All eyes turned to the wizard as he made his way to the circle.

Elkan smiled pleasantly. “Josiah says you wish to speak with me?”