A Place to Belong, Part V
Later that day, Ekla made her way to the forge. She knew Roshil wouldn’t be there. There were a few apprentices and masters running around, working with the furnaces. But the person she’d come to see was there too.
“My Lord High Artisan,” Ekla said, standing to attention. “I humbly request a minute of your time.”
He looked up from the furnaces.
“She’ll be alright,” he said.
Ekla didn’t allow her confusion to show on her face. “My lord?”
“Your equipment’s fine, so unless you want me to knit you a nice sweater or a pair of socks, I can only assume you’re here to ask about Apprentice Roshil.”
She didn’t want to seem out of line, but she knew better than to confront Roshil directly about her feelings. That would get her an “I’m fine!” and a growl for her troubles. She looked around at the other people in the forge. She couldn’t exactly lower her voice with the sounds of the forge all around them.
“Yes, My Lord. May I ask you something?”
“You just did.”
“Did you send me to the kitchens because you knew she’d be there? So I could talk to her?”
He pulled an iron bar out of his furnace and laid it over an anvil. He took a hammer to it, adding to the sounds of metal striking metal ringing through the forge.
“What do you think?”
“I think so, but I don’t understand why.”
That wasn’t entirely true. She’d been a master for over five years, but she still remembered the feeling of being told to talk to someone without being made to understand why. She’d eventually learned that it was part of the training of a knight. Learning to help anyone, even people you didn’t know.
He turned the iron rod over and started hitting the other side as the tip changed from orange to pink. After it cooled, he wheeled over to the furnace again and shoved the tip of the rod back inside.
“When most people start their apprenticeship, they’ve grown up in the court. They might have dreams of taking the throne one day, or being an officer, or just finding adventure.” He pulled the rod out and returned to striking it on the anvil. “Those people have it hard enough, because being a teenager is difficult on its own. But then there are those who grow up thinking they can’t possibly fit in anywhere.” He glanced at her before fetching a chisel to hold against the rod. “Like your apprentice, for one. Or Apprentice Roshil’s new best friend. Or Apprentice Roshil’s brother, when he gets here in a few months.”
In spite of everything, Ekla smiled to think of the happy little boy with no eyes. As nervous as she was to see him in the castle, she had no doubt he’d manage by himself. He’d gotten good at it over the past five years.
“When there are people like that, it’s important that they find someone to look after them, remind them that the world isn’t horrible like they think it is.”
“I doubt Oshal will ever think the world’s horrible.” She thought for a moment, then asked, “If I may ask, My Lord, why did you assign Roshil to Udra?”
“Master Udra was the only master I had under me that hadn’t had an apprentice yet.”
“For good reason,” Ekla grumbled.
“I’d seen Apprentice Roshil work before. She focuses on the task at hand until it’s finished, so I thought she’d be an easy apprentice to have. Sure, she has some issues with authority, but most people her age do. She wants to do things her own way, so she needs a nudge in the right direction from time to time. When I realized that Master Udra wasn’t doing even that much work, I knew it was time to take over myself.”
He brought the rod over to a press, then bent the rod until it snapped where he’d been chiseling it.
“Do you know what Master Udra called R— Apprentice Roshil?”
“No, but I can guess.” He placed the rest of the rod aside and inspected the piece he’d snapped off. “When I found her in her usual hiding spot, I knew it had to be bad. That’s why I sent you in.”
“That little crevice in the wall near the north tower?” Ekla asked.
“That’s the one.” He placed the piece of metal on the anvil and started hammering it again. “I keep filling that in, but someone keeps breaking through it again.”
Ekla suppressed a laugh. They both knew who that someone was. There was an artisan who always went there when life was too tough. It hadn’t been the first time, and Ekla wished she’d been able to be there for her every time like she’d been this time.
“How’d you know what it did to her?” Ekla asked. “The dragon, I mean. She said you told her to look up ‘dragon-touched’.”
“Lord Velal recognized it when he got her away from that dragon. Lady Emgard confirmed it. They told the rest of us when we considered her for apprenticeship.”
“Why didn’t anyone ever tell her? Why didn’t anyone ever tell me?!”
“What was there to tell? That some people would hate her for the rest of her life? That we can’t undo it? That we don’t even know the extent of what it did? Besides, not many people outside the officers knew about it.”
“So?” Ekla’s voice approached a shriek. Some instinct told her not to speak to him like that, but she pushed it aside. Roshil was like family to her.
“Most people won’t know she’s been touched by a dragon. If they did, it could be worse. Every druid will already look at her funny. If they knew, they might start thinking she’s working for the dragon.”
Ekla wanted to argue more, but she knew it hadn’t been his decision. Had they been afraid that she’d tell Roshil and her family? Why had Lord Velal of all people kept her in the dark?
“Have you met her new friend?” Grund asked.
Ekla shook her head, but smiled. “I saw them eating together. Roshil looked happy. I don’t think she’s had friends before.” She frowned. “You weren’t at breakfast.”
“News travels fast.”
Ekla waited for him to elaborate, but he continued to work on his project with no further response.
“Do the others know you told her?”
Lord Grund inspected the metal in his hand that had slowly taken the shape of a blade. After a time, she realized he wasn’t going to answer that question either.
“That will be all, My Lord.”
She stood at attention.
“Keep an eye on her,” he said without taking his eyes off the blade. “Like I said, she needs a nudge in the right direction from time to time.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
She turned and left the forge, letting her mind wander for a moment. It would be hard for Roshil, but Ekla was going to see to it that she was looked after. For now, she had her other responsibilities. She made her way through the castle, wondering where her own apprentice had disappeared to this time.