Dawn of Wonder (The Wakening Book 1) (45 page)

Silence.

“Hic!”

It was too much. There was a thump as Peashot
actually rolled off his bed with hilarity.

An assortment of remedies began to roll out from
the various points in the dorm:

“Balance on your head while counting backwards
from a hundred.”

“No. Hiccups are already backwards. You have to be
upright and counting forwards, but it only works if you are standing in a tub
of rotten sheep intestines – the smell chases the hiccups away.”

“Fill your mouth with water and block your nose –
you’ll be too frightened to hiccup. Of course, if you still do, it’s going to be
bad.”

“Inhale the smoke of a burning goat hoof. Has to
be left fore. Just do it outside please.”

“I tried all those,” Lorrimer complained. “Almost
drowned with the water one. The sheep intestines made – hic! – my boots stink
for the rest of the summer.”

There was a brief pause.

“You mean you didn’t take your boots off first?”

“And stand in that stinking tub barefoot? No –
hic! – way!”

Another pause.

“Are those the same boots that are lying somewhere
near your bed?”

“Y – hic! – ow! – yes.”

The bellows and complaints that filled the air
were enough to draw the night guard.

“Silence!” he barked from the door. “The next
sound I hear will have to be explained before the disciplinary committee …”

All subjects passed. Student promoted to second year.

Not all the results listed were exemplary,
especially not foreign relations, but Aedan was satisfied. He folded the report
and sped back across the lawn, through the passages and into his dorm. He got
no further than the entrance. The others were gathered around Lorrimer who was
crumpled on the floor, face in his hands, crying.

“He failed,” Peashot whispered, and the excitement
of the morning dissolved. They would all be entering their second year after
the break, all except Lorrimer who would be put back with the new group of
first-year apprentices. They watched him in silence. Hadley turned away and
marched to the door.

“Don’t let him out till I get back,” he said.

He was gone a long time, and when he returned, he
closed the door before speaking.

“Master Giddard says it was only in languages and
history where you failed, both difficult subjects for someone who has only just
learned to read. He said, because of your behaviour, he would let you to try
those subjects again in two weeks.” Hadley looked around the room. “So we have
two weeks to get Lorrimer ready. If we take turns someone can be here all the
time.”

They began immediately by collecting Lorrimer’s
books from the various point in the room where he had flung them and tried to
brighten him up. Lorrimer was never quick to a mood, but when one took him it carried
him deep, and he had a long way to climb from his desolation.

Peashot insisted on having the first shift. Aedan
wondered how much good it would do – Peashot, though sharper perhaps than any
of them except Vayle, had lounged through those classes and stuffed most of his
knowledge in right at the end. Aedan suspected his little friend had scraped
over the bar tightly enough to leave skin behind, but he held his tongue and
booked a later slot. A walk to the stables, he decided would be just the thing
to pass the time.

Wildemar had recently begun their horsemanship training. They
had mucked out, fed, groomed, and learned how and when to shoe. It was only
after several weeks that they had been allowed to tack and ride, and by this
time they were quite familiar with the animals.

The master was a stickler for horsey terminology
and pounced on anyone who used the word “horse” for an animal under
fourteen-and-a-half hands. The animals that had been assigned to the boys were most
certainly ponies. Aedan’s was a young chestnut gelding that showed itself a ready
worker with a gentle temperament. All the ponies they rode were small enough
for boys to mount without assistance, though some of the boys looked every bit
as uncomfortable as Aedan had once. But he was a little taller now, and his
pony was a hand shorter than old Bluster, so he was among the more proficient
riders.

They had gone through the basics of the strides
and then learned to dismount, run alongside, and spring into the saddle again
while the pony was trotting. There had been a few accidents, but nothing
serious. With the growing confidence in horsemanship, Aedan had begun to spend
snatches of free time at the stables where he had recently made an interesting
discovery.

It was still mid-morning, and the whitewashed stable walls were
dazzling in the young light.

Aedan heard them before he saw them – Osric and Skeet
were engaged in what might have sounded like a dangerous argument, but he knew
Osric well enough to recognise the tone of earnestness rather than anger.

“Royal carriage or not, seeing any fine horse tied
to an overgrown, dandified cart heats my blood.”

“But what is a fine horse?” Skeet retorted. “No
marshal will sit a ruthrek. These animals are three parts fire and one part
mischief. They offered us twenty gold carak for this little beast. I would be
robbing them at twenty carak less.”

“What could you have against him? He’s the most
perfectly formed colt I’ve seen in years.”

“Nothing. Nothing at all. Except that he sank his
perfectly formed teeth into my arm, twice, and put his perfectly formed hoof
through the door, and none of the grooms want to go anywhere near him.”

“Well if you let him bite your arm twice then …
Oi! Aedan, back away, he’s more dangerous than he –”

The jet-black colt was straining his neck and
twisting his head in a blissful trance as the boy scratched inside his ear.

“– looks. Or maybe he isn’t.”

Aedan had been visiting the colt for the past few
weeks, winning its trust with carrots and apples and anything else he could beg
off Enna who was always happy to oblige. Though he had never been the best
rider at Badgerfields, he had always been comfortable around the animals, especially
the difficult ones. Winning their affection had never failed to give him
extraordinary pleasure.

Osric and Skeet watched the interaction between
the two. The colt was cheeky, no mistake, but it showed no malice. It almost looked
as if it were making a fuss over someone it had been missing as it nuzzled Aedan’s
neck, mouthed and licked his ear, then tried to dig in his pockets where the
smell of apple lingered.

“Put a halter on him and lead him into the field,”
said Osric, folding his arms and leaning against the fence. Skeet looked
worried, but Aedan obeyed, eventually – the colt fighting the halter as if it
were the object of some new game. He led the tall animal out into the field and
tied up the lead rope so it would not catch under the hooves, then let go.

The colt looked around briefly, tossed its head
and shot away at a speed that shamed every other occupant of the paddock. It
galloped in a wide circle, bucking and kicking and spraying out clods of earth
– a young whirlwind of unleashed horse. After another two or three laps it
charged up to Aedan and came to a skidding stop just in front of him.

He gave it a good scratch on its tufty forehead
whorl and then walked across to a nearby pony and brushed its mane. The colt
had been following and pricked its ears at this display of rival affection.
Ears went flat, teeth appeared, and the long neck stretched out and delivered a
solid nip to unsuspecting hindquarters. The pony squealed and raced away to the
music of laughter from the fence. When Aedan returned, Osric spoke.

“Skeet has agreed that if you take responsibility
for the colt he’ll end the negotiations with the royal stabler and sell him to
me instead. He’ll be yours if you want him.”

Aedan gaped. He knew how rare these horses were
and he had some idea of the breed’s uncanny intelligence and legendary speed.
Also the sheer impossibility of training them. But a ruthrek, if it could be
trained, would be worth more than a small house. Perhaps even a large one. He
thanked Osric with all the warmth of his excitement and proceeded to thank
Skeet too until the colt got tired of being ignored and nipped his shoulder,
sending him diving away with a yell of pain.

Skeet laughed all the way back to the main
buildings.

For the next few days, Aedan read everything he could
on the training of horses. Though the academy’s trainer was wholly unwilling to
take on the responsibility, he said he would be prepared to assist – in a
limited capacity.

Initial results were utterly discouraging. To the
colt, everything was a game. The lunging cord was a rope for tug of war, and
the training switch something to be attacked rather than avoided. Bridling him
was like trying to bridle the north wind during a hailstorm, and by the time Aedan
finally managed to get the girth strap fastened, the saddle had been bucked off
and trampled a hundred times. The leather was gouged and torn, but he could not
afford a replacement. For the time being, it made little difference – the
purpose of this exercise was to get the horse used to the feeling of carrying a
weighted saddle.

Along with his roguishness, the colt’s
intelligence was becoming quickly apparent. He avoided many of the stupid
things that other horses did, like windsucking, incessant head-tossing, and
kicking the stable to tatters during storms – he only kicked when tired of
being cooped up.

Within days, he took charge of the fields. All of
them. Fences were only another game, and he hopped them back and forth for the
sheer pleasure of it. He even crossed over to the academy grounds, wandered
into a classroom, and scattered the occupants while he rearranged a few desks.
He would suffer none but his master to handle him, so Aedan had to be called to
fetch the renegade colt. The episode landed Aedan with the job of raising the
fences.

One morning, Aedan was busy being dragged around
the paddock when he spotted Liru and Delwyn sitting on the fence near the
stables, faces split with smiles and shoulders bobbing. He dropped the lunging
rope and walked over. The colt, now interested in whatever Aedan was doing,
trotted across too, dragging the rope between his hooves and watching so as to
avoid stepping on it – very un-horse-like.

He gave Delwyn a brief inspection, but Liru
fascinated him. Her arm was still in a cast and sling, but there was something
else about her that piqued his interest. He brought his nose up against her
forehead and took a few long, deep breaths, then tried to get his lips around
the hair which, though finer, was as dark as his, gleaming with a hint of blue
in the sunlight. Aedan saw what was happening and intervened quickly.

“I think you should tie your hair back,” he said.
“I’m still working on his manners.”

The girls both tied their hair in buns while
pouring out compliments for the sleek animal.

“What is his name?” Liru asked.

“I was thinking of something that would describe
him and the best I could come up with was Midnight Hurricane – he looks like
midnight and acts like a hurricane, but it’s too long.”

Liru pursed her lips and looked at the colt. “Why
do you not use the letters from that and shorten it to Murn?”

Aedan tried it out. “Murn, yes, I like that. What
do you think Delwyn?”

“It’s a lot better than the names I’ve heard the janitors
calling him,” she laughed. “Oh, and the girl who tried to stroke him and got picked
up by the hair.”

Aedan gave the colt a dirty look. “Sometimes I think
he deserves a name like Keepwellaway – painted all over him in stark white.”

“Do you think he would stand still and let anyone
paint him?” Liru asked.

“No. It will have to be Murn.”

“Where is Lorrimer?” she asked. “I have seen the
rest of you, but it is like he is hiding in his room.”

“In a way, he is. He didn’t make it through the
exams. Hadley got permission for him to redo the ones he failed, so he’s going
to be locked away for a while. We’re all taking turns helping him with history
and languages.”

“Why did you not tell me?” she asked, annoyed. “I
can help.”

“I don’t think it would do any good. If you
remember, we had to learn
two
foreign languages this year. A few of us
have a decent hold on Orunean but, Fenn, the one we could use help with, you
wouldn’t be able to offer anything. It’s really difficult.”

“
Naci lar greila mranta hlon stessa!
” she
snapped.

Delwyn laughed and Aedan smiled uncertainly.

“Loosely translated,” Delwyn explained, “it means,
‘You blithering self-assured males.’ Liru is almost fluent in Fenn. She seems
to have an ear for languages. She’s better than me even though I have a two-year
start on her.”

“Oh.”

“And by this,” said Liru, “I hope that you mean,
‘Sorry for making stupid assumptions and not asking your help for a mutual
friend.”

“Well, isn’t that what ‘Oh’ translates to in Fenn?”

“Loosely. Now will you tell him to meet me at the
tables under the plane trees or do I need to risk punishment by finding him in
his dorm?”

Aedan unclipped the lunging rope, climbed through
the fence and sped away. Murn cantered beside him until he reached the now-higher
fence where he stopped, looked, and tossed his head. Then he headed for an
adjacent field, sprang the lower fence and set about persecuting the other
horses.

Lorrimer was gushing with appreciation when he
came out to meet Liru, but she swept the thanks away and set to work
immediately, determining his level of proficiency and engaging him in the kinds
of basic discussions that would be examined.

Delwyn also asked for a turn, but Lorrimer’s
blushes were accompanied by a complete lack of concentration. When discussing
it with Aedan, she decided it might be best if she left the instruction to the others.

Over the next few days, Lorrimer was given all the
attention he could endure. He was up early and studied late, absorbing as much
as he was able.

Aedan, when he was off duty, continued to spend his
time skidding around the paddocks, clutching the end of a lead rope. Liru and Delwyn
joined him often. They spent several afternoons attempting to train Murn, the
girls providing commentary and laughter. Aedan was beginning to understand Skeet’s
original reluctance, but Murn was also beginning to see a determination in his
young master that could possibly rival his own. They were gaining almost no
ground in training – it generally being unclear who was in charge – but they
were forging a fascinating bond that was becoming the talk of those who
remained on campus during the recess.