Dawn of Wonder (The Wakening Book 1) (74 page)

“Fergal, please … Say something!”

Fergal glanced up from the fire. “It must be so,” he
said. “The man who wrote that book was both trustworthy and knowledgeable. Quin,
on the other hand, has nothing to recommend him. All you told me of him
suggests that an honest message would be something out of character. Perhaps it
was his intention to ensure that there would be no pursuit, though Ulnoi is
considered by many to be less assailable than an eyrie.”

“I don’t care how unassailable it is,” Aedan said,
standing. “I’m assailing it.”

“Sit down, Aedan. I did not say there was no hope,
but the difficulty is something extreme. Sit, sit. Too much haste and fire and
you’ll burn down the stable instead of mounting a rescue.”

Aedan sat, though everything in him cried out
against it. His whole mind and body were shivering with suppressed energy.

Fergal looked across into the fire, twisting
little ragged ropes in his beard, and when he spoke, Aedan could not believe
what he heard.

“A year! You want me to prepare for a year?” he cried,
jumping to his feet again.

Fergal motioned and waited again for him to sit.
“Two years would be better, but as I recall, she is a year older than you, so
she would be sixteen by now. Is her birthday before midsummer?”

“Yes.”

“The sacrifices take place in midsummer so she
will be called upon in about a year and a half. Travel and the actual attempt
to save her will take a few months, and you don’t want to time it so that you
arrive on the day, which takes off at least six months. You will need to be
there by the beginning of winter. That gives you just under a year to prepare.”

“But what if they move early, what if they get her
age wrong?”

“These people are very particular over such
details. They are not likely to make a mistake. That is fairly certain. But
what is absolutely certain is that if
you
move early you will throw away
your only chance. On the Lekran isles, Ulnoi in particular, foreigners who are
not slaves are made into slaves as a matter of law. You open your mouth and say
one word that holds a foreign accent, or show an ignorance of one of the many
strange customs and it is all over. For both of you.”

He paused to let the words sink in before
continuing. “The layout of the island is not favourable for a sneak-spy-and-snatch
operation. There is forest in the western reaches, but everyone lives on the
east side where there is almost no cover. You will have to move in the open,
through their society. I won’t conceal from you that even with a year’s
preparation, taking a sacrificial tribute from Ulnoi will be like stealing a
fish from the jaws of a bear. I will aid you, but in rebellion against the fear
that I am sending you to your doom.”

Aedan began to understand that he would not be
leaving that night.

“I’m assuming you have paid little attention in
your Lekran classes,” said Fergal. Aedan avoided his look. “So you have a considerable
amount of learning to do in a relatively short time. But there is another
problem.”

Aedan raised his eyes.

“Prince Burkhart is not likely to let you go.”

“But –”

Fergal hushed him with a wave. “Which means that
we will need to be careful about how we get you out of here. You will also need
help on Lekrau. I recommend asking Tyne. She has been posted on one of those
islands before. She is fluent in the language and knows the culture.”

“Why would you help me do something that the
prince would oppose?”

“Because, since Burkhart betrayed us all, my
allegiance is to his father, the king, and I know that the king would approve
of sending you – partly for Kalry’s sake, and partly because it is time that we
begin to strike back at Lekrau. For too long we have presented that nation with
a soft belly, an invitation.

“The thing is, Aedan, you don’t know the full
truth. Reports of Lekran raids have been suppressed by Burkhart’s direct orders.
Many more were taken this past year than in previous years. If you are
successful, we will learn much that could be used against the slavers. Burkhart
sees only the immediate threat of the Fenn, and has pulled all resources from watching
Lekrau. I believe that this is short-sighted and may cost us dearly. So I shall
not only aid you, but see that you are commissioned – though Burkhart will
probably overrule the commission if he learns of it. I’ll provide whatever resources
the academy can offer, and Osric will no doubt be able to supply a good deal
more.”

“It’s starting to sound like a big operation. How
will we keep it all hidden?”

“I have a few ideas,” Fergal said, and turned back
to the fire. Aedan knew from the rough treatment the beard was getting that
something was amiss.

“What is it?” Aedan asked.

“This is not going to work …”

Aedan began to interrupt and Fergal glared him to
silence from beneath the bristling eyebrows.

“This is not going to work if you simply add Lekran
studies to your current programme. You have less than a year. Less than one year,
Aedan. In any of your languages, have you even approached native fluency in
that time?”

Aedan knew he was not required to answer.

“And it’s not just the words of the language. It’s
the whole culture. You need to
be
Lekran – the opinions you have of
national figures and their deeds, the foods you prefer and how you like them
done, your favourite jokes, your attitude towards slaves and how you react to
them when you see them mistreated on the road … After Krunvar, there is no
nation whose ways are so unnatural to us, no nation where our habits and
manners stand out so clearly.”

“Quin succeeded.”

“That’s just it. He did not. You and Kalry found
him out. What if you encounter curious children on Ulnoi?”

“I understand all of this, but what choice do I
have?”

Fergal leaned towards the fire, putting his elbows
on the armrests. “The only way I see that offers a reasonable chance,” he said,
“is a way that will cost you everything you have worked for. You will need to
give up your studies and your ambitions to become a grey marshal. Your preparation
will need to be full-time and the programme will take you to your limits and
beyond. You will lose a year and then much of the following year in your
attempt to locate and bring Kalry back. By the time you return to Castath, if
you do, I doubt even I could get you back into your current position.”

Aedan looked confused. “Fergal, do you really
think that would give me even an instant of hesitation?”

Fergal’s eyes crinkled and the beard moved,
betraying the hidden smile. “An excellent reply,” he said. He looked from under
the hedges awhile. “I believe you will succeed, young Aedan. Tomorrow I shall
speak to your masters and explain that I have appointed you as my assistant whom
I will personally train. You will continue your classes with Dun, and one or
two other subjects that might prove useful to you, but the rest will come to an
end. From tomorrow you will begin to learn – at frightening speed – how to be Lekran.”

“Can I not begin now?”

Fergal laughed and, after brief consideration,
pointed to the red volume. “Finish it by morning,” he said. “We’ll go through
it in greater detail again when you have a better grasp of the language. And
try to get at least an hour’s sleep. If you thought the marshals’ programme was
demanding …”

Aedan was already on his feet.

“One more thing,” said Fergal. “Don’t tell anyone.
Not yet. If these plans reach the wrong ears we could both be tried for intended
desertion – you have a form of military training and this is a time of war
preparation. Remember that.”

–––

“It tastes like raw fish entrails!”

“Quite correct. Raw fish entrails tend to do that.
Now have another mouthful and try to get this one down.”

Fergal was merciless. Where he had obtained the
hideous grey mush, Aedan did not care to know, but the fact remained that this
was a Lekran delicacy, and one that he would need to be able to devour with
relish in front of watchful eyes. He made another attempt, gagged and ejected
it into the bucket.

Fergal sighed. “Try to think of steak while
chewing.”

“I
can’t
. The taste is too convincing.”

“Well you’ll have to find some way of getting it
down. You’ll need some breakfast in you.”

“Don’t the Lekrans eat bread?”

“Of course, but swallowing bread is a skill you
already have. Now do you want to learn or not?”

Aedan gripped the bowl, held it to his lips and
tipped, swallowing in great gulps and trying not to think at all. When he
replaced the bowl on the table there was a moment of uncertainty as he hovered
over the bucket, neck and shoulders twitching, but miraculously, it all stayed
down.

“Good,” said Fergal. “When Dun has finished with
you, I want you back here and ready to study like never before.”

Aedan jogged away on shaky legs, looking as green
as the sea that was washing around inside him.

He had broken the news to his dorm before
breakfast that he had been appointed as an assistant to one of the senior
clerks. They had looked at him as if he had lost his mind. He’d seen surprise,
confusion and sadness in their faces, and it had hurt more than expected.

During the training session, he had to answer, or
rather parry, several more questions. Warton, to Aedan’s surprise, was openly
upset. He actually seemed angry. Even Cayde frowned. Malik was the only one who
looked pleased.

Aedan wished that he could tell them everything,
but Fergal’s warning rang in his ears like a tower bell.

When he got back from Dun’s class, the fishy dish had settled,
and he braced himself for the next obstacle. Fergal unlocked a heavy door at
the back of his office and pushed it. It swung open with a sigh, admitting a
cool breath of air that was heavy with leather and paper and deep thought. Aedan
stepped through onto a walkway overlooking the biggest library he had ever
imagined. Four levels of book-filled balconies ran around the circumference,
and on the vast floor beneath, stepladders and even movable staircases enabled
dwarfed figures to scale the towering islands filled with honeycombs of
scrolls.

“This,” said Fergal, “is where the masters and approved
senior students draw the knowledge that is delivered in the classes. Many of
these books are uncopied originals. All of them are important. You will be spending
a large portion of your time here with Lekran histories, folk-tales, plays,
songs, and plenty more. And the beauty of it is that most of the volumes will
have been written by Lekrans. If you are to learn to behave like one of them,
you need to think like one of them, which means that you must now study from
their perspective, not ours.”

“I thought that kind of writing was kept away from
the public – censored.”

“It is. But this is not a public library. You will
find a lot here that will turn you red with anger; foreign opinions of us can
be very offensive. You had best get over your reactions – those would give you
away quickly indeed. Let me take you to your section.”

They were on the highest of the balconies. Fergal
led the way along a book-lined wall to a turret stairway that appeared to be
made of solid brass. They descended one level and walked to the far corner. Regularly
placed lamps cast a good light and Aedan was able to make out the titles and sequential
numbers on spines.

“Roughly between these two pillars,” Fergal said,
indicating a collection of perhaps five hundred books, some of them almost as
thick as the stone pillars themselves. “Did you finish the first book?”

“Yes, but there is a lot I didn’t understand.”

“That was to be expected. I suggest that you start
with three collections of children’s stories, followed by three of popular folk
tales. These are things every Lekran would know, things you cannot afford to
pass over. They will also help with your grasp of the language on a
foundational level. There are three Lekran-to-Thirnish dictionaries. You may
keep one with you, but it would be better for you to use the straight Lekran
dictionary as soon as you are able. How large is your current Lekran
vocabulary?”

“Maybe four hundred words and another two hundred
that are vague.”

“By the end of two weeks, I want you at a thousand.
That’s in the region of forty words a day. Write down every new word along with
a phonetic, all the meanings, and space for several examples of how it can be
used. You are not to avoid a single word in the children’s stories or the folk
tales – those are the words that form the basis of a language, words you need
to fall back on without hesitation. I will aid you with pronunciation and
syntax. You will spend an hour every day with Kollis and an hour with Tyne.”

Fergal ignored Aedan’s look of displeasure at the
mention of Kollis. “From now on you will speak to all of us in Lekran only.”

With this, Fergal switched seamlessly into the
language and Aedan had to concentrate to follow the next words. “
Olin
mjierta nau Leikrar
… Your food will be Lekran and you will not only eat it
but learn to prepare it. I have had arrangements made so that you can still
take your meals in the company of your friends, though they will probably find
them strange.”

What Aedan heard was, “Your food will … Lekran and
… you will not … eat it but … learn … it. I … made … you … meals … of your
friends … will … find them strange.” One possible meaning of this was strange
indeed.

Fergal placed his reading lantern on one of the
large desks that stood against the balcony railing. “The assistant’s desk in my
office is now yours. I expect it to be cluttered with books before the hour is
up.”

He walked away and left Aedan to stare, bewildered,
swaying slightly, as the enormity of what he had undertaken began to settle on
him. When the giddiness passed, he took a hold of himself and attacked the
shelves, skimming over titles until he found the section of children’s
literature. He selected a weighty volume that cracked open and released a puff
of dust. The pages were dark with age, but the script was neat and easy to
follow. He picked a few more collections, and after much searching, found two
dictionaries, then staggered back to the office beneath the pile of books, lamp
balanced on top.