Hunter's Beginning (Veller) (37 page)

“But why now?”

“Who knows? It could have something to do with the crowing of the new king I suppose. I was never one to believe in coincidences.”

“The new king?” Kile asked, she wasn’t even sure what had happened to the old king, or who the old king even was.

“Of course.” Morgan replied, as if it was common knowledge, and maybe it was but not to Kile. “Prince Waltair III was crowned high king of Aru last year after the death of this father his royal highness king Jusen Waltair. It came as no surprise, the King had been ill for some time.”

“But why would that cause a problem?”

“I’m sure Master Voreing has explained to you the situation surrounding the current high king of Aru.”

Kile tried to think back on what Master Voreing had taught them about the royal family, but it was very little. He
seemed to have skimmed over that subject, and when he had spoken of the royal family it was usually rather brisk and to the point. She had often thought that he had a personal grudge against them.

-
Prince Roland wasn’t supposed to be the next high king-

Kaza said from his perch high atop
the shelf.

“What do you mean?” She asked the crow.

“You are not seriously going to take political lessons from a bird.” Morgan said in an exasperated tone. “If you must know, Prince Jonland was to be king, if it wasn’t for his assassination.”

“Prince Jonland was assassinated?”

“Child, do you know nothing about the royal family? Prince Jonland was six years Prince Roland’s senior and was to be high king of Aru upon their father’s passing and almost did when the king was near death following an unfortunate hunting injury. Jonland was in his late teens by then and took up the crown in his father’s absence. There were a lot of people that did not wish to see Jonland become king, they feared him.”

“Feared him? Why?”

“I could not say. That was just over twenty years ago. It was soon after that that the young prince was assassinated.”

“But why, who would assassinate the Prince?”

“Who’s to say? The assassin was caught, the trail was quick and he was taken away to Blackmoore, that’s all I know. If you wish to know more, you should speak with Master Boraro. If I am not mistaken, and usually I’m not, he was instrumental in bringing in the assassin, and escorting him to Blackmoore after the trial.”

All this information was new to Kile who had to admit that she wouldn’t have recognized the King if he came through the front door right now with his entire court in tow, but to think that Master Boraro, her least favorite instructor, had a hand in something this great was even more
newsworthy. She had often thought the weapons master was nothing more than a simple Hunter, but maybe this was the lot of a simple Hunter. Would she ever be called upon by the royal family to great deeds that were historically significant? Of course she was getting ahead of herself, she would have to become a Hunter first.

“And you think that because Prince Roland is now high king that the
uhyre are causing trouble?”

She couldn’t really draw a connection between the high king and the
uhyre clans, but it was clear that Morgan could.

“If it is true, then I feel things could get much worse.” Morgan replied.

“How much worse?” She asked.

“If what news we have received is true, there could be a war brewing on the horizon.”

War, the word sent a shiver down Kile’s spine. Not since the Mudd Wars has there been a real war in Aru since it was established. It wasn’t that Aru was a kingdom of peace, there were always skirmishes between provinces over land and mineral rights, as well as minor conflicts with the Baala empire, but war with the uhyre was something entirely different.

“Who are the
brunrik?” She asked. Living back in Riverport she knew none of this, her lack of knowledge was staggering and in many ways embarrassing.

-
They are the Orcs of legend.-

“But I thought Orcs were more of a myth.”

“In many ways they are.” Morgan replied. “The story of the orc does not do justice to the tales of the brunrik. They are a foul creature, more vicious, more evil, than any of the stories of Orcs that you may have heard. If these rumors are true…” He didn’t finish the thought, he just shook his head and fell silent.

“But are they… true?”

“There’s no knowing. The Royal council with the new King’s consent has dispatched a few Hunters into the western regions to find and prove, or disprove the existence of the brunrik. Right now, it’s just a waiting game.”

“Sir, where is Grover’s Den?”

“Grover’s Den? It’s on the western border in the province of Denal.”

That was where Tree was at this moment, or maybe he was one of the Hunters that was sent to gather information, either way it places her one step closer to the war by association.
Suddenly she felt very alone and very cold.

“Are you alright Kile?” Morgan asked.

“Yes sir, just a chill.” She replied.

“Well, with those drafty dorm rooms I’m not surprised.” He said as he got up
from his seat and moved over to the shelves. He began to sort through his curiosities before finally coming up for air. “This should help.” He said, holding a small metal box.

“What is it Sir.”

“Nothing at the moment.” He said as he handed to her.

As Kile held the small box, visions of the final exam at the mystic tower flashed in her head.
She hoped she wasn’t supposed to deliver this somewhere. Although the size of the box was about the same, the composition was entirely different. Instead of the intricate black ebony box that now sat on her chest of draws back in the dorm room, this one was quite plain and made of a rough metal.

“If you will open that for me.” Morgan said as he rolled up the sleeves of his yellow robes.

Kile flipped the lid open and peeked inside, sadly it was empty, no peppermint imp in there, not even a flustered mystic.

Morgan reached into the floating sphere of fire and pulled out a small handful of flame. He held it in one hand, whispered something over it and then covered it with the other.
When his hands parted, the flame was floating in its own small globe, a mini version of the fire that kept Morgan’s tower so warm. He motioned for Kile to use the box.

She held the open box under the flame, lifted it up gently until she caught it, and then closed the lid.
The box was surprisingly cold, in spite of the fire that now burned inside.

“There you go.” Morgan said as he rolled his sleeves back down.

“There I go what?” She asked, still holding the box.

“
Your own portable heat sphere.” He said. “Just open the box and let the little thing hover. I wouldn’t touch it if I was you. Without the influence of fire, it would be… well… just that, touching fire. It’s a combined spell of fire and wind, but it’s quite effective”

Kile looked at the large sphere of fire that hovered in the middle of the mystic’s room, then at the small box she held in her hand. If it gave off a fraction of the heat that Morgan’s did, it would easily
heat her cell, and then some.

“Thank you
… but… can I really take this?” She asked.

“Well of course you can.” Morgan said dismissively, and Kile didn’t dare
ask him again for fear of him changing his mind.

“Then I better go sir.” She said
and slipped the box into her tunic.

“I will study the text further and devise a few more tests for you to take. I’ll send Nullus
… I mean Kaza, to fetch you when I have something.”

“Thank you sir.” She said as she walked into the foyer. She
pulled her cloak over her head and put on her hat before taking a deep breath and stepping back out into the cold evening air.

The rest of the cadets would be heading toward the dinning hall, those that weren’t already there, so she decided to avoid it all together. She touched the small metal box through her tunic to assure herself that it was real. If this worked as well as she hoped, she could wait out the entire winter in her own room, she wouldn’t have to share the
dining hall with the other cadets. All she had to do was make one final stop before getting back to her cell.

The kitchen staff was in full swing as they prepared for the evening meal and acknowledged her with a simple nod of the head or a quick greeting as they went about their work.

“What, more kitchen duty?” Big Joe laughed when he saw her standing in the doorway.

“Not today sir.” Kile assured him. “Do you mind?”
She asked, pointing to the back room. Joe just waved her on. She had been trying to find Vesper for the last two months and she had returned to the back room as often as she could. It was the first place she had found the yarrow and it was the last place she had seen him. At first she had to make up an excuse to give the cook for snooping around the kitchen, but it got to a point where they no longer asked and she couldn’t really come up with anything believable anyway.

She moved through the main kitchen, trying to keep out of the way as she
ducked into the back room. The place was still stocked with potatoes, but at least she wasn’t the one that had to peel them, that was left to the cooking staff, but at the moment the room was empty.

“Vesper?” She called out as loud as she dared, but there was no reply, and she was starting to get worried. With the boys helping her peel the potatoes, the yarrow wouldn’t dare show himself. For a while she could feel his presence in the room, watching her from the shadows, and she had always made it a point to toss a stray piece of potato in his general direction, but that was the extent of the contact. After a while she began to notice his absence, he just never came back.
She had visited the back room when she could, to see if he had returned, but so far she had little luck.

“Vesper?” She called again, holding out a piece of apple she had saved for him. She crept around the floor, looking into the dark corners for any sign of movement. She knew he wasn’t around, she couldn’t feel him, but then she could be wrong.

“Have you lost something dear?” One of the assistance asked as she poked her head into the room given her quite a start.

“Yes madam, I guess I have.” Kile replied.

“Do you need help finding it?” She asked as she stepped into the frame of the door, wiping her hands on her apron.

Yeah, can you come down here and help me find a small white rodent that answers to the name of Vesper. That probably wouldn’t go over very well she thought.

“No, thank you anyway.” Kile replied.

The assistant looked at Kile and smiled politely as she backed out of the room. It was the look that one gave a crazy person crawling around on the floor holding a piece fruit. Kile threw the apple at the far corner and sat with her back against the wall. Where could he be she wondered. He had shown her dozens of places through the compound as well as the city where yarrow like to hide, could Vesper be in one of those places.

She closed her eyes and thought of the yarrow as loud and as hard as she could. When she opened her eyes, there was still no sign of him.

“Vesper?” She called one last time, and
then thought better of it as half the cooking staff came to look in on her.

“What is the matter child?” Joe Spece asked.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to bother anybody.” She said as she got up from the floor. “Just… forget I was here.”

S
he pushed past them and back out into the snow.

Kile
made her way across the compound to the silence of the dorms. The place was nearly vacant now with the supper shift in full swing, although a few of the cadets would return for the night, most of them would stay within the warmth of the dinning hall. She was just glad she no longer had to clean it. She moved down the hall to her own cell and closed herself inside. As much as she hated to admit it, Tree was right, the small cell had become her sanctuary as she flopped onto the bed, the only problem was, it was as cold inside her sanctuary as it was out.

She pulled the small box from her tunic and quickly looked around the room. It wouldn’t do for too many people
to know about this she thought. She checked the shutters on the window and made sure they were closed tight. She then checked the door again. When she was sure nobody could get in, she stood in the middle of the room and slowly opened the small metal box.

Kile wasn’t sure what to expect, but the effects were almost instantaneous. As she lowered the box from under the globe of flame, she could feel the heat filling the room. The small ball of fire just hovered in mid air giving off heat, but no light. It was the strangest thing to see a
fire floating in the middle of her room in the dark. That should make it a little easier to hide she thought as she lit the candles on the table, grabbed her book and settled in for the night.

Kile woke in a cold sweat, her heart was racing as she tried to catch her breath. The book she had been reading still lay open on her chest, the candle on the table had gone out and the darkness had descended. She quickly looked through the shadows of the room, trying to find out what had woken her, but whatever it was, it wasn’t in here.