Keeping The Peace, Part II
The warmth of the castle hit him when Kurgm walked inside. It felt like walking into a warm blanket after months of being cold.
They walked to the forge. People were all working, but there was no sign of Lord Grund.
“What are you doing here?”
Roshil’s head popped up from behind one of the furnaces. Goggles covered her eyes, but Kurgm still felt a chill run down his spine. He knew not to show it, but it was hard to look at Roshil sometimes.
“What’s wrong with her?” he’d asked after they’d met for the first time.
“Nothing. She’s just different.” That was all the explanation Master Ekla ever gave him.
“We’re here to speak with Our Lord High Artisan. Is he here?”
Roshil looked around as though she had forgotten there were other people in the forge.
“He was here a moment ago,” she said. “We were just talking about cross-stitching.”
“That was three hours ago, Apprentice Roshil.”
Lord Grund wheeled into view from around a corner. Unlike Roshil, his face wasn’t covered in sweat and ash.
Both Master Ekla and Kurgm stood at attention. Roshil went back to her work.
“What do you want?” he asked.
Kurgm found it odd how the other officers always greeted visitors with some version of “How may I help you?”, but Lord Grund had always greeted them with some form of “What do you want?”.
“Apprentice Kurgm needs glasses, My Lord.”
Grund wheeled around to face Roshil. “Apprentice Roshil!”
Roshil’s face popped up from behind the furnace again.
“What?”
“Drop that and follow me.”
“I’m busy!”
“Making a sword that would lose to a wet noodle! Drop it!”
Roshil barked something in what Kurgm guessed was the arcane language, then left her work on an anvil and ran over to them. Judging by Master Ekla’s reaction, he didn’t want to know what it was she’d said.
“Apprentice Roshil! Who taught you to say that?”
“She probably heard it from me,” Lord Grund said, already taking off toward another corridor.
Master Ekla closed her eyes, and, judging by the exasperated look on her face, counted to ten. When she finished, she and Kurgm trotted to catch up to Grund and Roshil.
Lord Grund led them to another room. It was small, with a line of shelves in it. Grund took a pair of goggles off the shelf and handed them to Kurgm.
“Put these on, then stare out the door.”
Kurgm did as he was told. He watched out the door, his eyes following the other people running around the forge, until Lord Grund told him to stop.
Grund took the goggles and glanced at them.
“Yup. You need glasses.” He handed the goggles to Roshil, who also looked at them and nodded.
“Apprentice Roshil, you’re supposed to be writing down those numbers, not agreeing with me.”
“How was I supposed to know if you didn’t tell me?”
“You ask.”
Roshil grumbled something, but took out a piece of paper and wrote down some numbers. Kurgm could barely make out that there were numbers on the goggles.
“I’ve got work to do. Apprentice Roshil will explain what comes next.”
Despite Roshil’s protests, Lord Grund wheeled around and left the room.
“I still have some questions for Our Lord High Artisan that Apprentice Roshil clearly doesn’t know the answers to.” Ekla turned to Kurgm. “You stay here until I come back.”
Kurgm and Roshil stood to attention as Master Ekla left the room.
“Did you know there were protests going on in the city?” Kurgm asked.
“No, but why wouldn’t there be? It’s not like the court’s perfect. Of course people will be upset about something.”
Kurgm frowned. That didn’t seem right to him. People shouldn’t be upset. The officers and masters all worked hard for the people.
“The thing about people is that they always think about themselves first,” Roshil continued. “If other people are suffering too, well they’ll get to it when they have time.”
“His Majesty isn’t like that! Our Lord True Knight isn’t like that! They’d give their lives to help the people!”
“They’re nicer than their counterparts in other kingdoms, but that doesn’t mean much. They’re still people. If you’re so worried about the state of things, go out there and protest with them. Tell Our Lord True Knight that it’s a big problem, but he probably already knows.”
Kurgm couldn’t believe an apprentice would have such disrespect for the people that cared for their kingdom. The officers loved every citizen in the court like family, that’s why they were chosen as officers. Didn’t Roshil understand that? Was it because she hadn’t grown up in the court that she didn’t understand?
“You’re wrong.”
“Then why aren’t the officers fixing it? I’ve been to enough places to see it’s the same everywhere. People protest, those in charge wait it out until people get tired and forget about it. Nothing changes.”
“You’re wrong!”
“A dragon attacked a farm. That’s what they’re upset about, right? That’s easy to deal with. Go kill the dragon for breaking the treaty!”
As she spoke, Roshil’s voice grew louder and her whole body shook.
“Are you two getting along?”
They both stood at attention when Master Ekla returned.
“We’re fine, Master Ekla,” Kurgm said. “There’s not a problem.”
“I hope not.” Her gaze moved between the two of them. “Apprentice Kurgm, we can go. You’ll have glasses in a few days. Apprentice Roshil, Our Lord High Artisan would like to speak with you.”
“What did I do this time?”
“Watch your mouth. It’ll get you into trouble if you’re not careful.”
“It’s only trouble if you can’t get out of it.”
Master Ekla’s exasperated face reappeared.
“Please tell me Our Lord High Artisan didn’t teach you that.”
“Nope. That’s from my father.”
Kurgm was becoming curious about Roshil’s father. He’d learned that not only had he taught her to pick locks, but also apparently had some lax views on morality.
“Of course he did. Is he keeping to his agreement with His Majesty?”
“Of course!”
“Good. I’d hate to see your father arrested.” She emphasized the last word, then turned to Kurgm. “Apprentice Kurgm.”
He turned to Roshil, but wasn’t sure what to say. It hadn’t been a pleasant conversation to him, but she seemed as optimistic as ever. Whatever had come over her was gone.
They left the forge, but Roshil’s words stuck in his head. His Majesty wasn’t like that.
“His Majesty isn’t ignoring the protests, is he?”
Master Ekla froze in place.
“You shouldn’t need to ask that. Actually, you shouldn’t be asking that at all. Of course he’s not. They’re working on fixing the supply shortages right now.”
“Okay. That’s… that’s what I thought.”
He heard himself talking, but he wasn’t sure he believed it anymore. Roshil must’ve been wrong, but she knew more about the world outside the court than he did. What if Skwyr was slowly becoming like other kingdoms? What if they’d only pretended to be above them?
“Is there something you want to talk about?”
Kurgm slowly shook his head, his mind elsewhere.
“We don’t have to be anywhere for a few hours. Get some rest, and make sure you eat something. I’ll find you when it’s time to go back outside.”
Kurgm nodded, still lost in his thoughts.