Asking Questions, Part IV
That night, Kurgm ate in the great hall. He sat down and waited for Roshil to arrive. Just like the previous night, she arrived with the officers.
Master Ekla had said that Roshil wasn’t allowed to walk the corridors unsupervised. Kurgm hadn’t realized exactly how strict the officers were about enforcing it. Why had they called Master Ekla? What about another officer? Were they all busy?
Kurgm decided that didn’t matter. Roshil sat down at the same table as him, the same table she had yesterday, in the same spot.
Everyone rose when the officers walked in, and took their seats again when His Majesty sat down.
Food appeared, teleported up from the kitchens. Kurgm briefly wondered where Aonva was. Was she sitting alone in the kitchens? Had she opted to skip dinner entirely? Knowing her, she might have.
Roshil took some food from the middle of the table. Considering how much she normally ate — Kurgm was surprised she never seemed to grow any bigger — she must not have been that hungry. She proceeded to pick at her food.
“Roshil.”
She looked up when he called her name. He slid down a few seats to sit opposite her.
“Why did that dragon curse you?”
Roshil froze for a moment, then glanced at the officers sitting at the head of the great hall.
“I… I don’t know. It just did.”
Her voice was wavering. Did that mean she was lying?
“Dragons don’t just pick people out at random. It must’ve—”
“Oh, you’re here.”
Sirshi walked up and took a seat next to Roshil.
“You’re late,” Kurgm said.
“I was busy,” Sirshi shot back.
Considering how calm she always looked in the temple, Kurgm found it startling to see her so hostile.
“I finished early, and thought ‘Hey, I haven’t seen Roshil at temple in a while, maybe she’s in the great hall.’”
A flicker of a smile appeared on Roshil’s face, and she stabbed the meat on her plate with a little more enthusiasm.
She can’t even eat like a normal person.
“So what are we talking about?” Sirshi asked.
Kurgm adjusted his glasses. “Roshil was cursed by a dragon.”
“Really?” Sirshi gasped. “Truly? Honestly? You mean it?”
Kurgm glared at her. He knew she’d known already. Unlike him, she’d probably learned it from Roshil herself, rather than having to be told by Aonva. In fact, he wasn’t sure if Aonva and Sirshi had ever really spoken to one another.
“It didn’t pick her out at random. There must’ve been a reason for it.”
“I don’t know,” Roshil said, keeping her eyes on her food. “Why does it matter? It did it.”
“Did you ask it to?”
“Why would she do that?” Sirshi snapped, raising her voice. “What kind of lunatic would ask a dragon to curse them?”
“It must’ve had a reason,” Kurgm said, trying to direct his attention toward Roshil, who was trying to ignore them both in favor of her food that she wasn’t eating.
“Maybe it just found her. Who knows? Who cares?”
“She cursed Aonva. I just want to know why, and what else the curse might have done to her.”
“What?” Sirshi’s gaze darted between Roshil and Kurgm. She pushed her hair out of her face. “That’s ridiculous. Roshil wouldn’t do that.”
“She did, and now Aonva’s not herself. I want to know what else she did.”
Before Sirshi could raise her voice again, Master Ekla appeared over them.
“You three,” she said, keeping her voice down, “follow me.”
Of the three of them, Roshil was the only one who didn’t try arguing. Sirshi started to shout, Kurgm started to protest, but Master Ekla silenced them both with a glare that could’ve frightened the sky into turning green.
Master Ekla led them out of the great hall. Kurgm tried to ignore the people watching them leave and hoped he wouldn’t be hearing about that from Master Ekla later. They walked through the corridors into one of the study rooms. Master Ekla pulled chairs out from around the room and pointed at them in turn as she did.
“Now,” she said, still standing, “what happened?”
Sirshi and Kurgm started talking over one another, something Sirshi was much better at doing than Kurgm.
“Stop.” Master Ekla turned to Sirshi. “Apprentice Sirshi.”
“Your apprentice was lying about Roshil and asking her about the dragon that cursed her.”
“What? I didn’t lie.”
“You said Roshil cursed Aonva. They’re best friends or whatever!”
Master Ekla turned her neutral frown on Kurgm. “Why did you say Apprentice Roshil cursed Apprentice Aonva?”
“I was there.”
“When was this?”
“A few weeks ago. Remember? I messaged you afterward?”
“You mean the bracelet?”
“Yes!” Kurgm exclaimed, happy someone finally understood him. What was wrong with everyone?
“That wasn’t a curse. Apprentice Roshil enchanted a bracelet and knowingly gave it to Apprentice Aonva. Her punishment is being handled by her master, as it should be. Beyond that, it’s none of your concern.”
Sirshi looked from Kurgm, to Master Ekla, to Roshil, who’d been quiet the entire time. If Kurgm had to guess, she looked a little confused.
“The term ‘curse’ is assigned to permanent, negative effects, such as the one on Apprentice Roshil. What Apprentice Roshil did to Apprentice Aonva is called ‘enchanting’. Do not confuse the two. Had Apprentice Roshil cursed Apprentice Aonva, she would’ve been exiled from the court.”
Roshil sank lower in her chair. For a moment, Kurgm felt a little sorry for her. It passed when she remembered how Aonva had been acting for the past few weeks.
“But you didn’t,” Master Ekla said, turning to Roshil. “Everyone will be fine.”
“But what if that wasn’t the end of it?” Kurgm asked, thinking of all the times Aonva had talked about Roshil still. All the attention she kept paying her, all the times Aonva had thought about going back to Roshil. “What if—”
“Then Master Kaernin and Our Lord High Artisan will work it out.” Master Ekla shot a significant glance at Roshil, whose vacant gaze was trained on the floor.
“So stop picking on Roshil!” Sirshi snapped, adding a voice to the glance.
Kurgm moved his focus between Sirshi and Master Ekla, then settled on Roshil. Why was everyone defending her as if she’d done nothing wrong? Hadn’t she broken the rules? Why wasn’t she being punished?
No, Master Ekla said she was. She has to be supervised at all times. That’s punishment enough, I guess. But what about Aonva? She’s still suffering, isn’t she?
There was a knock at the door. They all turned to see Master Moudren standing at the entrance to the study room.
“Master Moudren,” Master Ekla said. “Thank you for coming. Would you please take Apprentices Roshil and Sirshi back to the great hall?”
“Is that it?” Sirshi asked. “Kurgm does all of this, and—”
“Apprentice Sirshi,” Master Moudren said, “please allow Master Ekla to handle this.”
Sirshi glared at her sister, but stood at attention nonetheless. Then she and Roshil followed Master Moudren out of the room, closing the door behind them.
“I’m glad you’re asking questions,” Master Ekla said, taking Sirshi’s seat beside Kurgm, “but just like earlier, you have to consider the effects your words will have on other people.”
“I know,” Kurgm said, hoping to head off the impending lecture. All he wanted was to go back to eating his food, which would be sitting next to Roshil and Sirshi, the latter of whom might eat it out of spite.
“You should understand the difference between an enchantment and curse. Even if you’re not a mage, it’s important not to confuse the two of them.”
“I told Master Amnadm what happened, and he called it a curse.”
“Master Amnadm knows?”
Master Ekla seemed alarmed by the news. What was so bad about his uncle knowing about what had happened to Aonva?
Although according to him, I shouldn’t have feelings for Aonva.
“Please don’t talk about what happened with anyone else apart from myself, Apprentice Aonva, or an officer. Is that understood?”
Kurgm didn’t entirely understand why he couldn’t talk about it with his uncle, but if Master Ekla was ordering him not to, she must’ve had a good reason for it. Even when she was an apprentice, she’d had a reason behind everything she’d done.
“Yes.”
“Good. I apologize if I didn’t make that clear before. Also, don’t ask Roshil about the dragon.”
“Master Amnadm said some people seek out dragons. That maybe—”
“Apprentice Roshil didn’t ask that thing to—” Master Ekla breathed in and out, visibly relaxing. “That’s not what happened. I repeat: Do. Not. Ask. About. The dragon.”
“But—”
“Apprentice Kurgm, I understand you’re not the best at understanding subtle cues, but I thought I made it very clear in my voice that no part of that was a suggestion.”
Kurgm was taken aback by her sudden rebuke, but understood that it wasn’t the time to ask questions.
Maybe I can get the hang of it.
“I understand.”
“Good. I’m sorry for snapping at you, but it’s a sensitive subject. We’re lucky it didn’t get worse.”
Kurgm nodded. He didn’t know the details of Roshil’s curse, nor what the dragon had done to her, but if Master Ekla said it wasn’t a good idea to talk about it, then he wouldn’t keep bringing it up.
“Aonva keeps talking about Roshil, like she’s going to go back to being friends with her. What if Roshil does that again?”
“They never stopped being friends,” Master Ekla replied. “You’ve only ever really known adults. I know it seems like we don’t make mistakes, but we make plenty. What’s important is that when we make them, we acknowledge and learn from them. That’s how we grow. Apprentice Roshil has done exactly that, and Apprentice Aonva is willing to forgive her. It won’t happen again.” She motioned to the door. “In the future, if you have doubts, please bring them to me first.”
“I will,” Kurgm said as they left the room.
They found his uncle standing outside, being his usual, cheery self.
“Is everything alright?”
“Fine,” Master Ekla said.
“Kurgm—”
“Apprentice Kurgm,” Master Ekla corrected.
“Of course. Apprentice Kurgm, I wanted to let you know that I’ll be leaving tonight. The court’s sending me south.”
“Oh.” Kurgm was a little sad to see his uncle go when he’d only just returned.
“Take care of yourself for me,” his uncle continued. “And remember everything we’ve talked about.”
“I will.”
His uncle gave him a brief hug, then turned and left.
“Remember what we talked about too,” Master Ekla said after Amnadm had disappeared down the corridor. “Adults make mistakes. And if you have any doubts, please bring them to me first.”
He looked up at Master Ekla and smiled. He’d known her most of his life, and knew her well enough to know she always knew what to do.
“Come on. Let’s get you back to the great hall before my sister eats your food out of spite.”
Kurgm followed Master Ekla back to the great hall, feeling a lot better about everything than he had that morning. He hoped Aonva was alright, wherever she was. He’d have to find her after dinner. Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for them to spend time with Roshil again.