Chapter 11 - Train Hard, Fight Hard
"Great battles of the past, wild magic and the Spirits themselves have left scars upon the land. Within the Empire Her Eternal Majesty’s subjects can live peaceful lives, knowing that they are safe from the abominations that can result from such things. For those brave or foolish enough to travel outside the Empire’s borders, all this man can say is prepare yourself for the horrors you might encounter should you choose to visit the wrong place.”
Two Thousand Years of Empire by Jahangir Amini
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When Ester reluctantly dragged herself to training the next morning she had a few things on her mind. Not only her nascent plans to go and investigate the thieves herself, but also the message she’d been delivered by a finely dressed page the night before. Since the ball she’d been living in her own head to the point that she hadn’t thought at all about the people she’d met there, other than Count Velia and the thieves of course.
The gilded paper had contained something quite simple, but also somewhat intimidating. An invitation to tea with Caia Rutane. Of course she remembered her from the ball at the Starfall Palace and it was actually nice to have someone wanting to see her, but the Rutanes were another of Vass Karan’s Great Houses and…
“My lady. Are you ready?” Ester’s train of thought was broken by Sergeant Etroan’s gravelly voice. He never sounded particularly happy to see her and today was no exception, although there seemed to be something a little different in his tone today.
Ester frowned, she was really starting to regret asking him to teach her. All they did was run and run and run, but maybe today would be different. “Yes I am ready.” It couldn’t be worse than some of the training in the Academy. Surely.
“Very good my lady. If you could start running please.” So, the same again. With a sigh Ester broke into a jog. All she did was come here and run and then ache afterwards. What did he expect from her? Was it all just some big joke being played on her. Haha let’s see how long we can make the Mage run around for, or something like that?
As Ester jogged she forced her mind off unproductive grumbling and back to trying to solve the problem of how she was going to catch the thieves. She needed to learn more, but without giving her plans away. She didn’t know whether the Commander was having her watched, but she had to assume he was. Too many apprentices had been tripped up by assuming that the professors weren’t watching or didn’t know what was going on.
“My lady, please could you run faster?” She glanced at Sergeant Etroan who seemed to have gone red. She wasn’t sure why he always did during their training sessions, he wasn’t the one having to run. She was the red, gasping mess by the end of them, not him. He just stood there. With a growl she pushed herself harder, upping her pace. She was faster than when she’d started. She’d noticed that despite her irritation at the whole thing, but she was fed up with running. Fed up with being out of breath and feeling like she wasn’t getting anywhere. She was meant to be learning how to fight, not how to win a race.
Ester ran on, her anger building inside her, warring for dominance with simple exhaustion. Another lap and another. She wasn’t sure her legs would keep her moving any longer, her feet felt like they had lead weights on the end of them, but she forced herself on to very polite admonishment from Sergeant Etroan.
One more lap and Ester staggered to a halt in front of the sergeant, almost doubled over as she gasped for breath. Her temper was fraying, her grasp on it slipping. “Enough! You said you would teach me how to fight, not that you would make me run for your amusement every morning.”
“You get right back to!” Sergeant Etroan cut himself off. “I mean that fitness is important my lady. Think of the times you might need to run away, how helpful it might be.” Ester pulled herself to upright, looking him in the eye.
“That was not what we agreed! You said you would teach me to fight. I kept my half of the our deal are you telling me that you will not keep yours?”
The sergeant took a step back, his face going even redder. “My lady… I would expect a fuc… a trainee to be able to run faster and longer than that. It’s no different.”
“Really?” Ester laced sarcasm into her tone. “So you would just make them run and run until they met your standard and teach them nothing else?”
“I… What I’m saying is…” He slumped slightly. “Alright my lady. You make a fair point.” He didn’t look happy about it. “But… Well… You’re probably not going to enjoy it. That is to say, I mean…”
“Oh! So you actually have plans?” Ester suddenly felt more energetic again. “I’m definitely… I am sure enjoyment will not be a problem.”
“But this doesn’t mean no running my lady.” He hesitated as if expecting an argument, but Ester prided herself on being reasonable.
“No, of course, but not just running.”
“Not just running.” He agreed. “Now… with apologies my lady. I’ve been thinking and truth is I don’t know much about Mages, but I’ve got some ideas. I want to try something, but like I said, you might not like it.”
“What do you want? I will do it.” Did he think she was weak or unable to deal with difficulty?
“Alright. I need to ask though,” Ester wondered if she’d let her annoyance show too much, he looked incredibly nervous, “when you make, err, cast a spell, how long does it take and then how long does it last?”
Ester blinked, that hadn’t been what she’d expected. “Oh. It depends. For something simple, as fast as thought, the more complicated it is the longer it takes. As for how long it lasts, for as long as I hold my concentration on the spell. If I stop focusing on it then it will fade immediately.”
“Alright.” He glanced up at the sky and then nodded. “That works. So, my lady, if you go over there,” he pointed across the training ground, “and do something simple with magic. Like ummm…” He glanced around himself and then pointed to a staff that had been left lying against a wall. “Lift that and hold it still in the air. Is that simple?”
“Yes, that should be easy.” Ester was already walking to the middle of the training ground. As soon as she reached it she focused on the staff, bringing her mind into focus. A moment later it rose into the air. It was easy, she didn’t need words or gestures for it. A small grin crept onto her face, was he going to try to get her to fight using magic to control the staff? That would be an interesting challenge.
“Ow!” Ester’s concentration snapped as something hit her with a painful thump. The staff clattered to the ground and she looked around angrily, trying to work out what had happened. There was a small leather ball on the ground, had Sergeant Etroan thrown it at her?!
“I’m sorry my lady. I’d never hit a woman, let alone one of your status, but you see I figured…” His obvious fear just stoked Ester’s anger.
“Yes, I understand,” she snapped, cutting him off. It was obvious to anyone who wasn’t a halfwit. “You want to teach me to concentrate and cast spells under pressure.” She wasn’t going to let him make out that she was weak or couldn’t take it. Anyway, she hadn’t been ready. Next time she’d hold her concentration or just dodge. He’d been right though, she already wasn’t enjoying it.
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By the end of the session Sergeant Etroan was actually feeling sorry for the Mage. There’d been a certain satisfaction in throwing the little leather balls at her at first. At least once he’d gotten over his fear of how she’d react, but by the end she looked halfway to tears and he couldn’t help but feel guilty.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t been able to hold her spell. After the first ball she hadn’t dropped it once. It was actually very impressive and slightly sad at the same time. He’d throw the ball, she’d make a half-hearted attempt at dodging it and then wince from the impact. Yet the staff didn’t waver from its position in the air. Spirits only knew what they put her through at the Academy to have her able to keep up her concentration. He’d no doubt that she’d be sporting bruises all over her. She hadn’t even lost it when he’d accidentally hit her in the head. That’d been a frightening moment, but she’d just said “again”.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Before today Etroan would have said Lady Ester was soft and spoiled. Now, he’d still say she was soft, but it would be hard to see her as anything but determined.
“Alright, that’s enough for today.” He tried to keep his voice gentle. He couldn’t say he was used to that, but she’d pushed through the day and he could respect that. He also owed her his life, that was worth keeping in mind too much as he’d rather forget. “Well done on holding your concentration, but I think next time we’ll work on dodging, you can’t just stand there and let things hit you.”
Lady Mazar shuddered and suddenly the staff fell out of the air. She sketched him a vague bow and immediately turned to leave, holding herself stiffly. With a wince, Etroan realised he hadn’t asked her about his breastplate. She really wasn’t going to be in the mood.
“Lady Mazar,” he raised his voice, stopping her. “I’m sorry, but I need to beg a favour of you.” She turned back to him, her eyes were definitely looking red and he was fairly sure there was a bruise forming on her cheek. Ice shot through his veins at that sight. If anyone asked about that she could land him in deep shit with a couple of words. He dismissed the thought, anything else would see him fleeing the city.
“What is it sergeant?” Her voice was controlled, but she definitely wasn’t happy.
“Your uh work on my breastplate. The err Scheme on it.”
“Schema,” she corrected without thinking.
“Yes the Schema.” He took a breath. “Would you mind taking a look at it?”
“Why? It should be fine for at least a month more.” She turned to leave again. Etroan nearly kept his mouth shut, but she’d said to make sure she looked at it if it took a few hits.
“It’s not that my lady, you see I was in a fight a couple of days ago and it took a few hits.” He tried not to think of the fear. Worse, the killing. “It saved my life and I owe you for that, I know that. If you’re too tired I underst…” he’d been going, but at his words she’d spun back round to face him.
“It worked?!” She suddenly seemed reenergised. She really was an odd girl. Woman. “I mean of course it worked, but are you hurt? You should have said something. Where is it? I will look at it immediately.”
“Really my lady, I’m fine, it’s in the armoury, but you can look at it when you’ve rested.”
“Nonsense,” she waved away his protests. “I will look now.” She was already striding away, although she seemed to be limping slightly.
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The next day Ester found herself on patrol again. For once she didn’t find herself irritated by it though. It was still as pointless and uncomfortable as ever and the various bruises she was sporting made walking painful, but it gave her time to think and observe. It was also an opportunity for discreet questions.
“We always seem to spend a lot of time in the docks, is there a reason for that. Does the Watch just not patrol other areas all that much?”
Sergeant Cino hesitated before answering. He seemed to be assigned to supervise her patrols more often that not and she wasn’t sure why. But at least he seemed to be hesitating to think rather than from fear. “Well my lady, some of us know parts of the city better than the others. I normally do the docks and that’s why everyone knows me round here. Others do other parts. You know Sergeant Sp… Etroan, right?” At her nod he continued. “He mostly does the Reedlands, don’t envy him that one. Others the Palatine Hill, lucky bas… people.”
Ester nodded, chewing the revelation, she should have been asking this sort of thing before anyway. “What are the worst areas for patrols? We were attacked in the docks, are they particularly dangerous?”
The sergeant shrugged. “Nah. Not really. Mostly it’s just thieves who don’t want any trouble or smugglers. You can do alright down here.” He suddenly coughed. “I mean, you get some trouble, but it’s not too bad. More people trouble over money, rather than fighting or begging your pardon, women.”
“Are those much worse then? I would have thought people would kill for money too.”
“Oh they do, but you see…” Ester listened intently as he launched into an explanation of his world view. Apparently money was like oil it could catch fire or it could smooth things along, it was all a bit odd. She was fairly sure there were things he was skirting around too. If she had to guess, she’d have said it was bribery, but she wasn’t sure. She had bigger fish to fry anyway.
“… so that’s why you shouldn’t worry yourself too much if you’re faced with an angry dockworker and the harbourmaster.”
She nodded intently. “So are there any areas the Watch does not go?”
Sergeant Cino gave her a slightly suspicious look. “Her Eternal Majesty’s Watch can go anywhere it needs to.”
Ester resisted the urge to sigh. She appreciated the sentiment. It was certainly the way things should be. The fact that he was clearly just trying to say what he thought she wanted to hear rather ruined that though.
“Of course it can, the Throne’s reach is boundless.” Ester tried to look as girlishly non-plussed as she could, although she wasn’t sure she succeeded. “But still, there must be areas you patrol less.” The sergeant’s eyebrows came together so she quickly added, “I just want to know where I should be avoiding. I do not want to find myself in a situation like the docks again.”
He winced at that. “I can see that my lady.” He paused. “Like I said, the Watch goes where it wants, but there are parts of Vass Karan that a lady such as yourself wouldn’t want to visit. Not that I’d tell you what to do, of course, but just my advice.”
“Of course, you know this city so very well. I would be grateful for any advice you can give, sergeant.” Ester wondered whether she was going a bit too far as the sergeant shot her an unreadable look. Whatever his thoughts, he decided to answer.
“So, there are places. Not very nice places. You wouldn’t want to go there without some guards, or begging your pardon, a spell on your lips. Places like Relsin Point, Soft Wood and Clanis Edge.”
“What is so bad about these places? I do not think I have heard of them, except maybe something about Clanis Edge?”
“Ha, Clanis Edge, that’s the worst of them. Mostly it’s just desperate people. They’re poor, they’re hungry and they’ll do anything to survive, even letting in and working with criminal scum. Problem is that there’s nothing you can do there because they don’t want to be helped.” He spat to the side as they walked. “Then there’s the gangs. They pretty much rule those places now, once they got their tentacles into them it was hard to get them out. I think the people there like it really.” He shook his head and then quickly continued. “Of course if we wanted to we could clear them out, but they know to keep to their areas and not bother good subjects of the Throne and there’d be a cost. I don’t think them that’s in charge would have the stomach for it.” He spat again.
“So they would not welcome someone like me or you?” Ester laughed at her own question.
“Great Spirits no!” Sergeant Cino thought for a second. “Well I could probably blend in, you know, but a lady of class... Not a chance, they’d look to rob you as soon as look at you. That’s if you were lucky, begging your pardon my lady. Of course you’d show them,” he nodded firmly, “but nothing good would come of it.”
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Ester sat in her room, thinking. She couldn’t just walk into Clanis Edge, that much was clear. She might not know how criminals thought, but she wasn’t stupid enough to believe they’d talk to Ester Mazar, the Watch’s Chartered Mage. So that meant she needed to go in disguise. That thief had used illusion to make himself look different, there was no reason why she couldn’t do that and better.
Quite a few of the apprentices at the Academy had played with illusions to make themselves prettier. Even the ones who were already stunning. Of course it had been banned, apprentices shouldn’t be worrying about such things, but that hadn’t stopped anyone from doing it in private and even working on trying to keep it as discreet as possible in public. Ester didn’t think any of the apprentices had successfully fooled the professors, but then if they had they’d probably fooled her too.
So, if she wanted to be discreet, she’d need something good. Her appearance would need to change and it would have to be concealed. She doubted there’d be anyone as skilled as the professors at the Academy, but she didn’t want to be given away to the first hedge witch to look her over. For a moment she imagined a secret criminal tavern. One with guards and maybe passwords. She’d talk her way past them and inside would be the thieves, drinking, no carousing, with their criminal comrades. Ready to tell all over a flagon of beer.
Ester considered the mental image, hesitated, considered a little longer and then intoned a stream of words. The world around her blurred for a second and when it had settled she stood up and then huffed to herself in irritation. She couldn’t check it had worked, unless…
She narrowed her eyes. This would be difficult, very difficult. Two spells at once wasn’t something they really taught at the Academy, but without making Schemas it would be the best way. She thought she could probably do it, but she knew it was going to be unpleasant. With a breath Ester focused her mind. With part of it she held the illusion she’d cast on herself in place. That was easy. The hard part though was casting a second spell at the same time. “Fa’taalsoi tàccrir,” Ester ignored the rapidly increasing pounding in her head as she spoke the words. For a moment her will wavered against the wall that was reality and then it all came together. She gasped with relief as the pressure on her mind faded, but the pounding headache was still building, as was the green glow of the Weiryd around her.
Ester quickly looked over her reflection in the mirrored surface that had appeared in front of her. Despite the growing pain in her head she couldn’t help but smile. Instead of a tall, slim young woman, there was a skinny man wearing a dress. He looked positively villainous, with hard blue eyes, scraggly hair and an unkempt beard.
“Ye better watch out, I’m Jaren Cutthroatfingers and I’m gonna slice ye up.” She did her best to overcome years of trying to make herself sound as refined as possible, instead roughening her accent until it was almost a parody. She still sounded like a woman, but she could probably tweak the spell to change her voice. The dress would need to go too. Jaren wouldn’t be walking around in a nice dress. Still, beyond that it was pretty convincing!
With a sigh Ester released both spells, an unnoticed tension leaving her shoulders as the pain in her head started to fade. It wouldn’t work. She might look the part, but it was ridiculous. Jaren Cutthroatfingers… this wasn’t a fairytale, she’d give herself away as soon as she opened her mouth and revealed a Trevayn accent, however common. Or she’d make some stupid mistake like not knowing that criminals in Vass Karan held their knives backwards. No it would never work. With a frustrated growl Ester sat down and started to think again.