The Wheelwright's Apprentice (16 page)

24

Art was sitting on a rough bench spooning up what was quite a fair stew. Surrounding him were a dozen or more other apprentices having their evening meal and speculating about what was going to happen. They were in a temporary tent city where the support units of the army were being assembled. There was an enormous amount of comings and goings and one thing they had all learned rather quickly was to keep a very low profile. Apprentices were traditionally fair game for any master or journeyman to conscript if they weren’t working.

It was relaxing. Art had spent three hectic days with Arch having his head crammed with so many spells and ideas that all he had wanted to do was sleep. Now that he was with the craft apprentices he felt normal, even though he knew it would only be for a bit. It was a new experience being thrust among so many others his age, none of whom knew anyone else.

He was wearing his “Gim” face and was happy to sit and listen to what they thought would happen. One of the boys, a strapping lad called Camm or Ramm, a metalworker’s apprentice, was holding forth. “We’ll be back home in a fortnight.” His voice was a little loud and Art could detect a note of false confidence. “There is nothing to worry about. We’ll see them off in no time.”

A small slim girl immediately countered with the simple refutation, “Bollocks!” Art couldn’t remember her name, only that she was apprenticed to a tailor. All sorts of skills seemed to be needed by the force the Count was putting together. “You’re dreaming. It will be at least that long before we even get close to them.” She had no problem voicing her opinion in what was a predominately male group.

Art agreed with her, but as he didn’t want to attract attention, he wasn’t going to say so. Aravia’s army was just sitting there camped halfway between the ruins of Dane’s Hamlet and a now deserted Joman’s Crossing. The only thing that they knew was going on was that she was building a Temple. This was not, as Art knew, anything like the Temples of healing where he worked. It was Temple to a goddess that Aravia had invented so she could play at being High Priestess.

Another boy was putting in his oar. “Lots of people are going to be killed, and the only real defense we have is the Count and the other Will adepts. Nothing is going to be as it seems.” Art nodded. Here was someone else with a bit of common sense.

He dipped some bread in his stew as another boy, whose name he couldn’t remember, stood up, “Our Will adepts are amazing. I actually saw one working his Will. He was only our age...” Art stopped eating. He hoped it wasn’t going to be a story about him. He certainly didn’t want anyone thinking that a young Will adept could be hiding amongst the apprentices. “... and he was buying some raw metal...” Art decided he had to feign interest or hide, and there was nowhere to hide. “...my master was very short with him so he persuaded my master to be more compliant by carving four metal claws out of the very shiny metal countertop which was my master’s pride.” The boy paused for effect. “I have never seen my master move so fast! He had the boy supplied and out of ttherty shinhe shop in record time.” Art tuned him out and wondered how he should react. “...and now those four metal claws embedded into the counter have to be carefully polished every day.”

Art didn’t have to butt in as the boy was smothered by questions from the audience. He simply sat back and listened to what was said. The apprentices were normal boys and girls, and they had the hopes and fears that could be expected of them. There was a raw undertone of nervousness that was obvious. Was there anything he could or should do to calm them down and make them feel better? It came to him that he wasn’t thinking like an apprentice, he was thinking like a responsible adult, a leader.

He turned to a little tap on his shoulder. The tailor girl had sat down beside him. “You’re Gim, aren’t you? You’ve been very quiet, but I noticed you listening intently to everything. What do you think?”

He turned to her. “Yes, I’m Gim, and nobody here knows anything at all. They are all guessing and talking around so they’ll feel better.” He regretted for the first time that he had given “Gim” a handsome face since he didn’t wanted to be noticed. “I’m sorry. I can’t remember your name.”

“I’m Vanni. What do you do here?”

“I am an apprentice wheelwright.” He tried to look normal.

“You seem much too clever and informed to just be a wheelwright’s apprentice.” She gave Art a happy smile.

Art paused for a moment. What should he say? Should he pretend to be the dumb yokel he had been less than a year ago or should he give her some sort of explanation? Since they would eventually find out he was a healer’s helper, he decided on telling. “I also do volunteer work at the Temple. I joined up as I have a lot of experience working around healers and can help them too.”

Vanni snuggled closer. “So you see real Willed healers at work?” There was real admiration in her voice.

Art found an inch or so space, “Not really, I mean I see them walk past now and then but not while they are healing.”

“I have heard that story about the counter before; the boy was a healer in Red City called Art. There are a couple of other stories about him too.”

Art did not like where this was going. He was torn. He really felt like telling this Vanni that Art was an unrepentant womanizer who strung along several girls at a time, got them pregnant and then left them. In the circumstances running down anyone with the Will wasn’t clever, even if it was himself. The masses needed to know that their Will adepts were absolutely wonderful people who would win this war easily and without putting any of them in harm’s way. He regretfully dropped the idea.

He stood up instead. “I’m Gim.” His voice carried the authority that comes with the expectation that people will listen. “Besides being an apprentice wheelwright, I also do some volunteer work at the Temple.” That got them all listening. “I get to hear, and overhear a lot. Things that you may not hear in other places. First up, the guy who said we would be here for a fortnight was only partially right. It may be longer. The maniac has to finish her Temple. She’s more than a bit mad, I hear. Nobody knows what’s going to happen. The last conflict on this scale was hundreds of years ago. We are all here because we are needed. This is a wonderful country that has a very good way of life which is worth preserving. All of us will make a difference when we are asked. If we all do our best and everyone else does onee whtheirs, then we will be successful.”

He turned to Vanni. “I am tired. Goodnight. I expect we’ll talk again soon,” He strode off without a backward glance. He knew his impromptu speech could have done with a lot of improvement, but he was only sixteen and thought he had done as well as he could.

One of the other girls ran over to Vanni. “Now that was interesting, wasn’t it, Vanni?”

“Yes it was, wasn’t it?” She hid a broad smile.

Morning found Art up and about before the other apprentices. He was wearing his better set of clothes as he had decided to wash the ones he had worn the day before. It seemed a useful thing to do if they weren’t going to be doing much for a while. He could have wished them clean, but he was being “Gim” and needed to stay in character. He hung his clothes on a line he had strung between two wagons and went looking for something to eat.

As soon as he joined the line for breakfast, he heard a cheery, “Good morning, Gim,” from behind him. It was Vanni, and she was smiling sweetly at him. She obviously wanted to eat breakfast with him. She might even have been waiting for him.

Art had to think fast. He decided to be polite; if he was lucky another apprentice or two might join them. “Good morning Miss Vanni.” Seemed safe enough. They exchanged pleasantries, got themselves their breakfasts, and Art found two spots at a big table. No other apprentices were around so he came to a decision. “Vanni, it isn’t that I dislike your company but you should know I have a girlfriend.”

Vanni laughed wildly, “Of course you do. You’re handsome, clever, well spoken, you volunteer your time at the Temple and you command attention. You are even honest! It would be a miracle if you didn’t! You even dress well for an apprentice.” She composed herself and continued in a normal tone, “I expect this thing to be horribly boring, and I am trying to get to know the group I have been flung into.”

Art didn’t know what to say to that and, while he was dumbly thinking about it, he belatedly realized that he was wearing a set of clothes that he had made himself with the Will. Vanni, being a tailor’s apprentice, was bound to notice the perfect workmanship if she looked closely. He tried a distraction. “Why me, or rather, why me first?”

“That was easy. You were the quietest of all last night, at least until I gave you a kick. There is also the fact that I might need a protector.” Art looked at her questioningly. “We girls are outnumbered. Some of the boys may get a bit too frisky when it starts to get boring, and I read you as someone who won’t take advantage.” She paused. “I am small you see.”

“Am I that open a book to you?”

“I have had a lot of experience reading boys as I have a lot of brothers and they have lots of friends.”

“You wanted a stand-in elder brother and you elected me?” This was getting a bit much for Art who only wanted to be anonymous playing “Gim”.

“I wanted an interesting elder brother so I wouldn’t get bored.” She took in his outfit. “I see you wear good clothes too.” Vanni was getting a bit too close to the mark.

At that moment Art was saved by the arrival of Camm and another girl whom he now remembered was Didona. She bid them good morning, and opened with, “Gim, you sounded like you know more than anyone else here. Is there anything you haven’t told us?”

Art smiled. “There are lots of things I haven’t told you, but nothing you might want to hear. If I ever come by anything interesting, I’ll let everyone know.” A couple more apprentices arrived to join them and a few minutes later another table had been pulled over. A respectable crowd soon surrounded Art, who had a tough time fielding all sorts of questions. It wasn’t long before he badly wanted to tell them all, “I don’t know”.

“Gim.” He heard his name in an older voice. He looked over his shoulder and saw the journeyman wheelwright, Forgin, who looked after Gim and another two apprentices. “I need you now; we have plenty of work for you.” Art dutifully stood up and gratefully took his leave. Many of the other apprentices would not have too much to do until hostilities began in earnest. Not so for the wheelwrights. Wheels broke all the time as the many wagons used for gathering the force together brought in supplies and people. He had plenty to do.

He had a busy day. The time swept past as he immersed himself in his craft. He did everything the traditional way without using his Will. He wasn’t even tempted. It was a pleasure to work skills that he had gained with his own sweat. Before he knew it, Forgin was tapping him on the shoulder and telling him it was suppertime. He washed up and was on his way to eat when he heard a lot of screaming. He immediately brought up all the defensive spells he could think of as a surge of adrenaline rushed through him.

He changed his face to Art, and carefully approached the scene. There were bodies all over the place, mostly headless. It wasn’t pretty. People were running in every direction and in the middle of all of this was a stunningly attractive woman facing Vanni! They weren’t moving. Art immediately realized that Vanni had to have the Will to still be alive, and that she needed help. He needed to get closer. Right behind the woman were the tables that they had pushed together for breakfast that morning. Could he flit in to a place he could see but hadn’t deliberately remembered as prepared location? There was only one way to find out.

He was slightly disoriented as he appeared facing away from the woman, but she didn’t notice him. Since the other Will adept he had faced had had no defense against his strategy of squeezing the arteries into her brain closed, he felt that would be the safest tactic to use. He wove his defenses around her so that she would not be shredded or worse as hers would fail when she lost consciousness. He turned, and she crumpled and fell. He held his grip on her arteries slightly longer than with his previous opponent as he needed her to stay under for a while.

Vanni collapsed too, but just to a sitting position. “You took your time, Art. Or should I say Gim. You need to think of changing your clothes when you change your face.” She was encouraging herself with humour, but her face had gone white.

He offered his hand. “I was hoping for a polite thank you.” He pulled her to her feet, and she grabbed him in a bearhug. She was shaking. He held her for a long time until he could feel her regain her composure. He let them separate. “It would have been nice if I had been told that another of us had the Will.”

Vanni managed a weak smile. “I knew, and I had worked out it had to be you.”

Art sighed inwardly. It was so like his father to keep things from him and make things difficult. It wasn’t Vanni’s fault. He took both of her hands in his. “Tell me what you saw.”

She glanced down at the inert form by her feet. “She must have arrived from that directio th appn.” She nodded towards the mess tent. “Beyond that there is a big field, and beyond that a wood. I guess she didn’t use the Will to get close, but simply walked in. She could easily have got past the guards by Willing herself invisible.” She took in the carnage, “As soon as she was close enough she started destroying everything she saw,” Vanni made a wide gesture that covered most of the destruction. “I was waiting for you, so I was just outside the boundary of her first attack. I tried to stop the air getting to her. I Willed an impervious virtual bag over her head. That seemed an unlikely spell for her to have a ready counter. Anyway she stopped what she was doing and attempted to put a hole in my spell. Seconds later you were there.”