Breaking an Empire (16 page)

Sliding into the chair at his desk, Tarranau looked around, the barren walls and blank counters a stark reminder that his presence here was very temporary. Even if he had stayed and graduated, the next year this room would belong to someone else, and all evidence that a boy named Tarranau had spent years of his life in this school would be all but erased, kept only in a few written records and the minds of the teachers. Beyond that, he may as well not have existed.

Tarranau was of the mindset that once he was ejected from the school, he would be made to disappear, although it would never do for that disappearance to be public. An institution possessing the prestige of his academy did not celebrate or bring attention to its failures in any way.

Tarranau sat up in the chair, looking intently out of the window. Perhaps he could use that storied reticence to his advantage. He was not technically ejected from the school yet, and while his name had certainly had doubt cast upon it, there was no formal injunction against him, nor would there be until after the trial. That meant that while the day lasted, he was still able to cash in on the name of the academy, and it could help him in more ways than one. The first was simple, and it was monetary. Tarranau was not a wealthy boy, nor did he come from a wealthy family, and that meant that the trip towards Arnich was sure to cost him a fair amount of his savings, and a fair bit more if he was unable to receive the cost allowances that were tolerated by all ships who deigned to land in the harbour. Even those ships that did not carry a ship’s mage on a permanent basis had enough good sense to give the benefit, for it cost them little in the long run, and earned them a lack of enmity from the largest trading nation on Bedwar Barthu Dirio, something of no small measure. The more funds that Tarranau had when he arrived at the far end of his journey, the more opportunities he could create for himself, and that mattered greatly to the apprentice.

Tarranau also could use the prestige of the academy to secure himself passage if he approached in full robes and broad daylight. Tarranau would have to ship out on the first merchant sailor to leave for Arnich, even if it carried a ship’s mage, especially if it carried a ship’s mage. How odd would it look for him to turn down a ship that had a member of his guild on it in favour of one that did not. He resolved to gather and clean himself and to head down to the docks at the first opportunity.

The third reason the apprentice felt likely to succeed was that the discretion of the school would outweigh the need to bring formal closure to the event of his discrediting. Should he manage to slip away, it was entirely possible that Magister Gothren could be prevailed upon by the other teachers to allow Tarranau to leave in peace, as long as he made no pretence of being a watermage anywhere they could see. After all, if they saw no violation of the guild’s rules, there would be no need to try and enforce the laws, and Tarranau could leave in peace.

Rejuvenated much more than the few paltry hours of sleep would suggest, the apprentice stripped down, washing himself fully from head to foot in order to present the appearance of being a full and upstanding member of society. Tarranau was that in his own eyes, and he was still adamant that he had done nothing wrong, but he also knew that to appear at the trial and protest his innocence would be to command the tide to stop its steady progression. Even Magister Holbenth would be forced to say that the amulet had been found in Tarranau’s room, and well hidden. Framed or not, the evidence against him was such that he was better off leaving to find a new home, and if that meant he was unable to stand trial and let his sense of self-worth be battered and bruised, then so be it. He was quite happy to escape with his sense of self-worth well fed and unharmed by the attacks of a dreadful teacher. Sliding back into his robes, clean but damp from a scrubbing, Tarranau took a sip of water, and headed out the door, a long and steady stride taking him towards the docks, a route he had skulked along last night to little avail. Today he would stride out in full view of the school, and the result would be all the better for it.

A smile graced his lips, but only briefly. There were still many things that could go wrong, and even if nothing did, well… leaving his family was hard. He’d lived at the school for many years, and only gone home in the winter when the ships were in port and the harbour had closed, but there was always the assurance that his family was nearby. It was a support that he relied on for all of his life, and now it was to disappear. Across the seas, over there, there would be no way of contacting his mother and father that would not take weeks. Tarranau had not yet come to grips with that degree of separation, and it weighed on his mind as he walked to the docks, a little of the bounce sucked from his steps. This was his solution to the problem before him, but was it the best? He didn’t know.

All too soon for his contemplations, he arrived upon the quays, the harbour curving away to either side. If he was to do this, he was to be bold, and to hope that there had not been an injunction against his leaving that had been quietly slipped to those who ran the port. Tarranau slid his hands through his hair, trying to smooth down the ruffles caused by the breeze. It was a sign of the young man’s nervousness, but he tried his best to conceal that as he walked into the office of the harbourmaster.

It was a small wooden building near the largest docks, and in the front sat a clerk behind a large desk, wide enough that it acted as a barrier between those who came in and the rest of the office. There was a very clear demarcation of the visitor as a supplicant to a higher authority. The clerk looked up as Tarranau entered, eyed the robes that the apprentice wore, and returned to his labours over sheets of parchment. Tarranau stared at the clerk for a moment, wondering what he had done to deserve being ignored upon his entry into the office. Surely they would treat the members of the school and the guild of mages better than this. Unless, of course, they had been told to prevent him from leaving the city. That could explain it.

Tarranau cleared his throat. “Excuse me, but who would I speak to regarding a berth on a ship.”

The clerk looked up, his eyes taking in Tarranau from his feet to his hair. “The ship’s captain. Who else?”

“Well, could you tell me which of these vessel are going to Arnich? A ship with a mage, preferably. I prefer smooth rides.”

“Just sit down, would you?” He pointed his pen at one of the seats on the far wall, a rough wooden device that had no back, although it was pushed up against the wall and that could be used as support instead.

Tarranau walked over and sat, turning the chair so it faced the clerk. He was sure that the school had issued orders that an apprentice was not to be allowed passage off the island. What else could explain the unheard-of rudeness to a member of the school. He began to twist and writhe his hands together, a small habit that signified his outward nervousness. Time seemed to eke forward, barely moving at all, and Tarranau began staring out of the window, trying to catch a glimpse of the sun and see just how long he had been waiting.

Presently he had had enough of the waiting, and stood up, walking over to the desk of the clerk and staring down at him. “What is it I am waiting for?”

The clerk looked up and shook his head. “Do they teach you nothing about the harbour or the merchants? The harbourmaster is out, checking on the morning’s new arrivals and the departures. He does this with every tide. Now that I’ve completed your education, you can sit back down and wait for him to appear. And don’t think about walking out to see him, he hates being interrupted.”

“Oh… right, thanks.” Tarranau sat back down in the same chair, this time not staring quite so continuously at the clerk. Instead, his eyes roved over the office, hoping to make the time pass a little faster. He tried to think of a game he could play while waiting for the harbourmaster to show, or at least some way that he could pass the time besides being nervous and sitting in a chair. Soon he was engaged in counting of the number of planks of wood in the desk, and then in how many seconds it took the clerk to finish a single line of writing. Those completed, Tarranau moved on to the pieces of wood in each wall of the building, and was well down the south wall when the clerk looked up from his work.

“This man here has been waiting for you.”

The newcomer turned to examine Tarranau where he sat against the wall, eyes running up and down the apprentice, taking in the robes and the youthful face perched atop. A mage, but a fresh one, perhaps even an apprentice. Not one who I have to treat with too much caution, just enough that I don’t overstep my bounds. All this played across the harbourmaster’s face, but Tarranau did not see it there, young enough that there were many things he missed.

“I see you’re from the mage’s guild. Or the school. What is it you want?”

Tarranau struggled to his feet, tired already of having the man stand over him and look down. His muscles ached from their time in the rough-hewn chair.

“I am looking for a ship that would take me to Arnich. Preferably one that has a guild mage on board. I was informed by your… most helpful assistant that you would have this information for me when you returned.”

The harbourmaster eyed the standing Tarranau. The eighteen year old apprentice was still young, but tall enough that he overtopped the shorter merchant. The harbourmaster did not care for that.

“Sit back down. There are things I need to do before I forget the numbers. You have waited a little, you can wait a little more. The ship won’t leave before you can get there.”

So saying, he strode past the clerk, who smirked at Tarranau, and into the back, sitting down at the desk in his own office. Shortly there came the sound of a pen scratching against paper, tables that would be perused by the tax-collectors to ensure they had the correct amount of money.

Tarranau seethed as he sat back against the wall, forced once again to wait on someone else in order to complete his own desires. His fingers drummed on his thigh, pinkie to the index finger each coming down in succession on the blue robes in which he was swathed. He could sweeten the man, but that would get him to the schooner only slightly faster, and unseemly haste was not a desirous trait at this last, crucial moment. And so he sat, fingers drumming, and waited, returning once again to the counting of the boards.

Presently the harbourmaster strode out to see the apprentice once again, this time with a little more grace spread across his face. He had had his bit of fun at the expense of the high and mighty guild member, and could afford to treat with him more equitably without wounding his own pride.

“So, you are going to Arnich? Anyone else or just yourself?”

Tarranau was terse. “Myself.”

“Come with me then.” The older man walked to the door of the office, turning first to the left and then to the right, the direction away from Tarranau’s goods, still in storage at the old warehouse. “Down there, past the four-masted barque. The next ship along is the one that you’re looking for. Called the
Fregyion.
Captain is a fellow by the name of Mesvigne. They leave tonight, so you’ll need to be fast about it to get on board before they no longer take passengers. Enjoy your journey, and convey my best wishes to the Guild. Oh, and do tell the captain I sent you.” The man grinned for a moment before going back inside. Tarranau knew the harbourmaster would get a percent of the fee for any passengers or cargo he directed towards a ship.

Tarranau stepped out the door and stopped, vision coursing to the left, fixating for a moment on the location of his goods. Retrieve them? Better to wait until he had a berth. Tarranau walked to the right, north along the docks, the cliffs that comprised the arms of the crescent glittering in the sun that had passed the mid-mark of the day. His was a heady mix, sadness at the parting from a city and family he knew and loved well, anticipation at what would come next, anger at those who had framed him. Shaking his head to clear it, he walked on. Tarranau would have many days aboard a ship that he could mope, philosophise, and contemplate the various paths and turns in the labyrinth of life that had lead him to this location, but for now, that was a distant mirror. The practical reasserted itself, and his eyes were clear and dry when he walked to the end of the quay. Tarranau hailed the sailors who were loading cargo into the bay under the watchful eye of a mate.

“I look for Captain Mesvigne!”

One of the mates made a gesture to hold, and turned and barked down into the ship behind him. Tarranau stood, arms at his side, as he waited for the man to appear. The captain strode up to the edge of the ship, paused for a moment to issue instructions to the mate and to yell at the crew lifting the cargo, and then disembarked down the gangplank, the wood flexing slightly under his weight.

Standing before Tarranau, he was an older man, hair going grey about the temples but still there, although it was pulled back stiff and encrusted with the spray of the sea.

“I have no need of a ship’s mage. The guild has already provided me with a satisfactory one.”

“Passenger, not mage, Captain Mesvigne. I am looking for transport for myself and some belongings to Arnich.”

The captain made a show of looking behind Tarranau.

“You travel light then, for I see no belongings here. Perhaps you wish to acquire them from me and my crew during the journey to the far shore?”

“I do not cart my chests willy-nilly looking for a ship. Instead, I prefer to leave them in a safe place until passage has been agreed upon. Now, how much does it cost for passage to Arnich?”

“Fifteen. For you, seeing you wear the clothes of the school and guild, thirteen.”

“Thirteen of which coin?”

The merchant sailor reached into his pocket and revealed two of the largest coins in circulation, a full half of the money that Tarranau had upon him that day.

“What? Five it shall be.”

“Do I look like I wish to become a pauper? The food you eat on the journey alone costs over five. Eleven.”

“I could return that upon you. Perhaps I should see the other ship that was travelling to Arnich. There is no mage, but the harbour master said it was safe enough all the same.”