Asking Questions, Part II
Kurgm’s uncle smiled warmly at him when he saw him.
“Kurgm, how—”
“We have to keep moving,” Master Ekla interrupted. “Master Amnadm, either stay here or come back to the court, but don’t hold us up.”
“I’ll tag along,” he said, still smiling at Kurgm. “It’ll give me time to catch up with my favorite nephew.”
“I’m your only nephew.”
They fed the horses, which gave Kurgm time to talk to his uncle.
“I didn’t know you were back,” Kurgm said.
“I got back yesterday. I didn’t think I’d be here long enough to visit, and I didn’t want to show up and leave again. But seeing as you’re here, I guess I’ll stay as long as I can.”
“No, please,” Master Ekla said as she kept everything running, “don’t let the court inconvenience you.”
“You haven’t changed at all, Ekla.”
“Master Ekla, and he’s Apprentice Kurgm. I know it’s been a while, Master Amnadm, but I don’t think it’s been long enough that you could’ve forgotten that.”
Amnadm smiled despite Master Ekla’s icy tone. “Not at all, Master Ekla.” He winked at Kurgm, who had to bite back a laugh.
Master Ekla glared at him and got back to work on preparing the caravan to move back out.
“I hope she’s letting you have some fun,” Amnadm whispered when Master Ekla was farther away. “She’s always been a little uptight.”
“I know. Our Lord True Knight sort of raised us together. I guess I’m used to her.”
“How long have you been an apprentice now?”
“Almost three years.”
“If only my sister could see you. Apprentice Kurgm, the pride of Skwyr.”
Kurgm smiled modestly. His uncle had always had a way of talking that made everyone feel proud of themselves. Kurgm could never figure out how he did it. Maybe that’s what Aonva needed, someone to feel proud of her. From what he’d learned of her parents, they certainly didn’t. Was that why she kept going back to Roshil?
“We’re moving out!” Master Ekla called.
She patted the horses and whispered something. It sounded like the same language she’d used earlier. What had she called it? The Language of Nature? Kurgm was beginning to realize how little he knew about druids. He knew they had to sleep among nature to retain their powers, but only because most of the master druids in the court slept in the gardens. Some apprentices did too, as he’d learned when one of them had shouted (or barked?) at Roshil a few weeks ago.
Maybe they know something’s wrong with her, too.
“Best not keep her waiting,” Amnadm whispered. “Who knows what she’ll do to us? Probably lecture us on proper etiquette.”
Once again, Kurgm had to bite back a laugh. He straightened up when Master Ekla glared at them.
One the way back, Amnadm made conversation with some of the other knights. He laughed and joked with them, making friends wherever he went. While Master Ekla had always embodied service to the court, Amnadm had always been Kurgm’s ideal standard of servant of the people. He could make friends with anyone, and he usually did. Why couldn’t Kurgm be more like that?
While they walked, Master Ekla remained on alert. She called into the woods a few times, but nothing jumped out and attacked them. Kurgm was relieved. Even though he was armed and had training, he hated fighting, a fact that never bothered Master Ekla.
Most knights rarely see combat, but you have to be ready to defend the court and kingdom at a moment’s notice.
The walls of the court loomed ahead of them. He’d lived his entire life inside those walls. To him, they offered safety and shelter.
The gates opened up for them, and the caravan passed through. They walked the road up to the castle, then moved around back to the serving staff’s entrance, where they offloaded the food.
“Now that that’s done,” Amnadm said, “what shall we do with the rest of our day?”
“You can report to Our Lord True Knight,” Master Ekla said. “Apprentice Kurgm has class.”
“Of course,” Amnadm said. “We’ll have to catch up over dinner then. You’ll have to introduce me all your friends.”
Kurgm nodded, then Amnadm took his leave.
Master Ekla kept him busy the rest of the day. Every time he brought up the topic of his uncle, she found something else to discuss. It wasn’t until before dinner that Kurgm found Amnadm again.
“Come on!” Kurgm said, eager for him to meet Aonva. “I want you to meet my friend!”
Kurgm walked Amnadm down to the kitchens.
“What are we doing down here?” Amnadm asked. “You’re supposed to eat in the great hall with everyone else.”
“I usually eat down here,” Kurgm said.
“Hm.”
They reached the room outside the kitchens where the serving staff ate their meals. As Kurgm had learned early on, they had to serve the food upstairs (using magic that Aonva had explained to him many times in as many words as possible), so they never ate during dinner.
Aonva stood up when they walked in.
“Uncle Amnadm, this is Aonva. Aonva, this is Master Amnadm.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Aonva said, standing at attention.
“I’m sure.” Amnadm turned to Kurgm. “Kurgm, I know you grew up in the castle, but that doesn’t mean you need to make friends with every member of the staff. I’m sure this girl is nice, but you’re an apprentice of the court, a few years away from being a master. You can’t be bothering with serving girls.”
Aonva visibly shrank and hung her head.
“No, sorry,” Kurgm said. “This is Apprentice Aonva.”
Instead of the cheerful demeanor Kurgm expected of his uncle, the same uncertain expression remained. Was it uncertainty? Kurgm couldn’t tell. Despite his best efforts, he still wasn’t good at reading people like a knight was supposed to be. About the only person he could read was Master Ekla.
“I see. Then neither of you should be eating down here with the serving staff. You should be eating upstairs like apprentices.”
“We’re allowed to eat down here,” Kurgm said.
Amnadm glared down at him.
“You will eat upstairs like an apprentice. I don’t care what she does, but you will come with me.”
Kurgm exchanged glances with Aonva. She hated eating in the great hall. The noise gave her a headache, something she didn’t need. Would she be okay on her own? What if Roshil saw Kurgm eating alone and got to the kitchens before he could stop her? What if Aonva did go up with him, and Roshil decided to sit with them?
“I’m sorry,” he said to her.
“I’ll be okay,” she said softly.
Kurgm walked out of the room, with Amnadm close behind him.
“You should rethink who you spend time with.”
“What?”
“That girl will drag you down. Her kind always do.”
Kurgm didn’t understand what he meant.
“I’m guessing her parents don’t do much either.”
“They’re cooks, I think.”
“Exactly. Serving staff. Probably sent her here so they could live off the court’s kindness. Typical immigrants.”
“But—”
“Bywin girls are only good for practice. Find a nice Skwyr girl, or else people will never take you seriously when you finish your apprenticeship. That’s why you can’t be eating down in the kitchens either. Eat upstairs like an apprentice. Marry a good Skwyr girl, preferably from a good family. Scraping the bottom of the barrel just says you have no ambition, no plans for the future, no concerns about those you spend time with.”
“Aonva is nice. She’s smart, and she’s hardworking, and she knows everything about—”
“I’m sure she does. But when the stress gets too much for her, she’ll crack and leave the court. The Bywin culture doesn’t value hard work like ours does. She’ll have been raised on that culture by her parents, and won’t be able to handle the stress of ours.”
“I… I guess that makes sense.”
Was Aonva already starting to break? She kept wanting to go back to Roshil. That couldn’t be normal, could it?
“She… she was enchanted by another apprentice a few weeks ago. She hasn’t been the same since.”
“See? Timid can seem cute, but all it does is attract people who take advantage of it. If she isn’t having one problem, she’ll be having another. Once you forget about this incident, I’m sure they’ll be another.”
“It wasn’t her fault, though. It was Apprentice Roshil—”
“Of course it was. It doesn’t surprise me that your ‘friend’ made friends with the dragon girl. And let me tell you something about her. Dragons don’t curse just anyone, especially not in Skwyr. It didn’t drop out of the sky one day and decide to ruin her life. No, there must’ve been a reason for it. There always is with these sorts of things.”
“This… It’s happened before?”
And why wasn’t I told about it?
“Of course. There are plenty of mentally damaged people that worship dragons. She likely sought one out and got in over her head. Why would it have picked her otherwise?”
Kurgm had never thought about why Roshil had been cursed. He knew she was, but… did she ask it to do something to her?
“When it didn’t go her way, she decided to pick on the weakest apprentice she could find. You think she’ll stop at cursing just one apprentice? If you aren’t careful, you’ll be next. The court should never have let her in.”
They walked back to the great hall while Kurgm wrestled with his words.