The Apprentice Read online

  Now that he was back, Rowan was in no hurry to return to his room. The common room was alive and he could feel the warmth and the excitement infecting him. He stepped out of the doorway and watched as the girl continued to dance, her fiery curls bouncing and her gown twirling around her. He took up the words of the song, stumbling on some of the lyrics but enjoying himself anyways.

  When the song ended, there was applause and cries for more. The girl smiled and waited until a few coins were thrown her way, which she snatched out of the air rather deftly and tucked into her bodice, giving a few to the musician, who quickly began another tune.

  “Are you enjoying yourself?”

  Rowan spun about, finding Baird standing just behind him and to the left. He had not seen the big man when he entered, nor had he noticed him approaching. How could a man of such size move through a crowded room without being noticed?

  “The music is pleasant.”

  “Aye, that she is.”

  Rowan frowned and wondered if he had been misheard, but the way that Baird’s mouth tugged upwards at the edge suggested the man had heard him clearly. Across the room there was some small commotion as a man tried to use the cover of the crowd to have a squeeze. The girl kicked his hand aside and stepped directly on his fingers without missing a beat. The man yelped and quickly shoved his way to the back of the room to nurse his hand and avoid further shame.

  “You were out late. I have been down here waiting for you for several hours. Enough time that when I first sat down, there was no music and the girl—well, she was entertaining men but she had not yet started to dance.”

  “You didn’t need to wait for me. I was out exploring the city.”

  “It has been dark for almost an hour.”

  “This is a city. There are sights that can be seen as the sun sets and after.”

  “There are.” A look crossed Baird’s face. “You didn’t—you weren’t being entertained?”

  Rowan stared at him blankly, unsure of what Baird meant. The man nodded towards the girl dancing on the table and Rowan suddenly grasped his meaning.

  “No!” Perhaps he spoke too forcefully, for several men turned towards them to see why he had yelled. “No,” he repeated, loud enough to be heard over the din but not yelling.

  He felt himself redden at the thought and tried to stop.

  “If you were not out for pleasure, what was it that kept you so late?”

  “Must there be a reason?”

  “No. But I am curious. I fully expected you to find yourself lost and wandering about the streets searching for our inn. There is little to do on the streets after the sun has set.”

  “And you waited for me here rather than searching me out?”

  “Yes. I trust that you can handle yourself.”

  Rowan turned his attention back to the room. He was still hungry and the food smelled good. After his experiences earlier in the day, he had not come to expect much from the inn. His coin purse was still mostly full and with it he bought himself a hot meal, which he took to a table on the edge of the room. Baird joined him with two mugs, one filled with sweet wine and the other with beer. He pushed the sweet wine towards Rowan.

  “You did not seem to like the drink earlier today. Perhaps sweet wine will be more to your taste. It is sweet and has less bite to it, but it should have you grinning like a fool by the time you reach the bottom of the cup.”

  Rowan accepted the drink and took a sip to wash down some of the meat. The liquid was smooth and sweet. It still had a hint of the taste of alcohol, but Rowan liked the flavor. He took another gulp and returned to his food. He finished his drink well before he finished his meal, and he found that his head was beginning to swim and he couldn’t help but grin as he watched the fiery girl dance.

  * * *

  Rowan awoke late the next day with a stiff back and a sore body. The light shining through the window told him that the sun was up, and he found that the brightness of the room hurt his eyes and his head swam.

  Yawning, Rowan began the process of waking himself. First he rubbed his eyes, which were only half open, and then he sat up and stretched. His body still bore some bruises from his training sessions with Baird and the stretches helped him to loosen his stiff muscles. Sleeping on the floor had not helped his aches.

  As he got up, Rowan wished he had taken the time to make a more comfy bed. He looked down at the simple pile of sheets that he had slept on last night. He hadn’t even spread them out to resemble a bed; he had simply tossed whatever was at hand into a large pile.

  Rowan went through the first three stages of the sword dance. He was going through the motions of the fourth stage when his body protested and he faltered, losing his balance and falling over. He cursed and tried again, faring little better the second time. Feeling limber and awake, Rowan decided to skip the rest of the dance in favor of breakfast.

  He quickly shed the previous day’s clothes and put on his last remaining set before leaving the room. A fine aroma hung in the air. As he made his way down the stairs, he saw that a warm breakfast of eggs, milk, bread, and cheese had been served. A large woman with an apron, Ma’ Primm, was weaving among the morning customers and tables to deliver more food and drink to those who needed it.

  Baird sat alone in the darkest corner of the room, a half-eaten plate of food in front of him along with a mug that he occasionally sipped from. Upon seeing Rowan come down, Baird signaled that he should come and join him at the table, raising his voice and calling him over.

  “I trust that you are feeling well this morning? You have certainly slept long enough.”

  “Why would I not be well?” Rowan tried to recall anything amiss from the night before but the later part of the evening was a bit blurry.

  “You took a liking to your sweet wine last night. Bought yourself a second mug.” Rowan remembered that much, but little more. He had been tired. “After that, you thought you might try to have a third. You drank most of it and spilled the rest. To your credit, you did not lose your stomach until after you wooed your flaming mistress.”

  “What?” Rowan’s curses brought a grin to Baird’s face.

  “I am only joking, of course. You did earn yourself a kiss, but soon after, you lost your dignity by throwing up. You made it outside before you did, but you were done for the night after that. Took yourself upstairs and slept. Didn’t even argue for the bed.”

  Rowan glared at Baird from across the table. “I did no such thing. I would remember if I had. I have drunk before and never lost my head.”

  “It wasn’t your head that you lost. But that’s over and done with. It was a poor choice, allowing you to drink and attract such attention, but it is well that you are not hung over. I do plan to leave today, and we will be travelling by horseback.”

  Rowan kept silent. He felt that he should mention that he had no real experience riding horses, but Ma’ Primm brought him breakfast and the thought was lost as he ate.

  The food tasted surprisingly good and Rowan ate with an appetite.

  “When we are finished here, we will find ourselves some mounts. I visited the stables yesterday and learned of a few men who had horses for sale. I spoke to two men who asked prices that were far greater than what I would pay and a third man who had mounts but not prices.”

  “He didn’t know what he wanted for them?”

  “It was late in the day by that point and he was not actively looking to sell. For the right price, he would be willing to part with his mounts but I had no time to haggle and he was not in the mood. We shall visit him first and if we have no luck then we shall try elsewhere. There were a few places I did not get around to visiting.”

  “When will we be leaving?”

  “Soon,” Baird replied. “I mean to wash myself before leaving, and it would not hurt to give my clothes a washing as well. After that we can pay for the room and go.”

  Rowan cleaned his plate quickly and found himself feeling much better. He and Baird went upstairs and
Rowan rinsed and dried his soiled clothing while Baird took the wash basin and went to clean himself, seeming none too happy about the lack of privacy to be had.

  Even after wringing his clothes out and pressing them, they remained slightly damp. Frustrated but knowing that there was no time to properly dry them, Rowan bundled them and stuck them in the bottom of his pack to keep from soaking anything below.

  Baird returned and quickly packed his own belongings.

  “Come,” he said. “It is time to leave.”

  Together they went downstairs. Baird returned the key to the bartender, passing him a small coin when he did. The man took both key and coin and turned away as though he wished to have nothing more to do with them.

  Outside the sun was risen and the streets were once again filled.

  “Ugh…Why is it so bright?”

  “You’ll get no sympathy from me. Drinking is fun in the evening but harsh in the morning. It will come easier with age and experience.”

  Rowan kept his silence and pulled up his hood to shade his eyes. The sun was not so bad, but it still took him several minutes to adjust to the morning brightness. Baird took the lead and the pair headed towards the city’s west gate.

  The crowds were not quite as busy as yesterday, but to Rowan they still seemed overflowing. He could not stretch his arms without touching several people. This truly was a city, so very different from anything he was used to. In Corrinth, the streets were narrower and yet even on the special days of celebration they were never so crowded.

  Baird led Rowan through the busy streets for a ways until they became too crowded for his taste, at which point he turned onto a back street and began using the wider alleys as paths. He stopped here and there to visit certain stalls and vendors for supplies and food, spending little time haggling over prices. Rowan noticed that he was careful to never show his purse. He would come to a price and always would reach into his cloak and pull out the exact amount of coins, never more and never less. It made it very hard to judge how much coin he carried and Rowan made note of it as it would be a good habit to adopt. The closer they got to the gates, the heavier both of their packs seemed to become, weighed down by food and water skins and bedrolls that Baird and Rowan purchased. The last was a weighty object, but Baird said that with horses the weight would be easy to bear and Rowan needed little urging.

  As they neared the western edge of the city, Baird told Rowan to look for stables. “Look for a sign depicting a rearing stallion on a high hill.” Rowan kept watch but signs with rearing horses seemed very common near the gates and the city stables. It seemed that the wealthy visitors kept their horses stabled near the gates. It cost more and seemed inconvenient as the horse was not on hand, but Baird said that the lords and ladies never had to fetch their own horses and they had other more leisurely ways of travelling in the city.

  They eventually found the place that Baird had been looking for. The sign looked much like many of the others they had passed. It was old and the paint was worn but the carving was still visible and it hung from a pole extending from the roof of a small building.

  Baird walked up to the door and knocked loudly several times.

  “Let me do the talking. Horses do not come cheap and I mean to spend as little of the king’s coin as possible. I have little left anyways.”

  After several moments, an aged man opened the door.

  “What do you want?”

  “My name is Baird. I came by here yesterday looking for horses. You told me you had a pair mounts that seemed reasonable.”

  “Aye. I remember you. Who’s the boy?”

  “He is my nephew. I am taking him south.” Baird spoke quickly, the lie coming from him sounding completely natural. The old man eyed them for a moment but his curiosity seemed satisfied.

  “My name is Guldoy,” he offered in introduction. Rowan hesitated before offering his own name in return, remembering Baird’s instruction. But it seemed rude to remain silent and he figured that his name would do no harm.

  “Follow me, I’ll show you the stables.” The old man stepped outside and slowly made his way to the back of the building where the stables were located. “I’ll be back with the pair of horses.”

  Guldoy walked out of sight, leaving Rowan and Baird alone. The pair of them spent several minutes in silence waiting for the Guldoy to return. When the elder man came back, he was leading two horses. Baird made a noise of disapproval when he saw them.

  One was a large black horse that might have borne Baird’s weight, and the weight of his packs, had it been a few years younger. The second horse was much smaller and seemed quite young to Rowan. Looking at the pair of them, he thought they might actually make better time if they walked and saved their money.

  “Unfortunately, I have a bit of bad news for the two of ye’,” Guldoy said, leading the two horses towards Rowan and Baird. “A local lordling came by and made me a wealthy offer on the mounts you had your eye on.”

  “Mounts that were spoken for,” Baird said.

  “It pained me to do so, but I was compelled to sell him the horse. It would have been very bad for me to refuse. You understand, of course. I am but a lowly man. However, you seemed very adamant that you leave today so I am offering you my next best horses in replacement.”

  “This is not what we had agreed upon,” Baird said darkly. “I want two strong, healthy steeds that are able to take us to the capitol as fast as possible. These—” he indicated the two horses “—are not worth the price I agreed to pay.”

  “I would offer you a discount, of course. Stranger is a good, strong horse and Strider is much more than he looks. He is young but he will grow to be tall and fast. Comes from good stock, that one.”

  Baird did not seem convinced. “Your Stranger has seen too many years to be worth the coin. And as for the younger, I care little for their stock at the moment. It may be a fine horse, but it is not what I need. I wish to leave with a mount that can carry me and my nephew without breaking its back. It could grow to be swifter than the wind itself, but it does me no good on my journey here and now. How much did the lord offer you for the steed? Perhaps I can make up the difference.” Baird spoke as if he had money in his purse to match that of any lord. Rowan knew it was not true, but Baird spoke in such a way that he was almost ready to believe.

  “It do not matter how much you offer me,” Guldoy said. “The horse has already been taken.”

  “Damn. Crossing the plains quickly is going to require a horse that can travel swiftly while carrying a sizeable load. If you don’t object, I would very much like to examine the rest of your horses to see if there is one that is more acceptable.”

  “If you absolutely refuse to accept Stranger and Strider, then I shall show you what other horses I have. But you will find none better.” Guldoy turned and led them and the two horses back to the stables.

  Guldoy had not been lying when he said that Stranger and Strider were the best horses that he could sell them. He had few others, and most of them were still young. Guldoy left Baird and Rowan behind, leading the two horses to a pen. Baird took one glance at the penned horses and quickly turned away. “None of these horses will do.” He spoke with Guldoy for a moment before returning.

  “Come, we will have to find our mounts elsewhere.”

  “We could have bought the elder horse. It was not so bad.”

  “It was going blind. It would have been a poor buy and I would not have trusted the beast to carry me all the way to Estoria. I do not mean to ride at a slow pace, else I would save my coin and walk.”

  They sought out a second stable where there were fine horses but high prices. Baird argued and haggled as best he could but the man who owned the horses would not sell them for anything less than several hundred gold, enough to fill three very large purses. The third place that Baird had learned of turned out to be the Guldoy’s stable under a different name. By the time they arrived at the fourth stable, the sun was several hours above the horizon and Ba
ird wore an irritable expression.

  The owner came to greet them with a smile but seemed to sense that he should not bother with small-talk.

  “I assume that you come looking for horses, and here you will find them. I, Torman, have good horses that will ride as hard and fast as the wind.”

  “I very much doubt that you have such a horse. But show me what you do have and we will decide on a price.” Baird’s voice was hard. Rowan could see that Torman was angered by Baird’s words, but Baird stood a head and half taller than him and the man had taken note of the blade Baird wore. He bit back a response and left with a bow.

  When Torman returned, he was leading a horse that appeared fit for the greatest of lords, perhaps even the king himself. It was large and well muscled and looked ready to run to the capitol without stopping.

  “It is a fine horse,” Baird said, sounding even more annoyed than before. “Now take it back.”

  “You asked to see my best. If you would prefer a lesser mount….”

  “I would prefer to skip such petty games. I will not buy such a horse. If you wish to gain my coin, bring me two mounts that will not cost a lord’s inheritance.”

  “Of course.” The man bowed, but Rowan caught a grin on his face. Torman led the horse around to the back and soon came back with a pair of stable boys each leading a horse that looked fit and good to Rowan. Baird seemed interested as well and stepped forward to examine them.

  “These two will get you where you need to go. They are strong, fit, well bred, fast, and healthy. They respond well to commands and they will run for many leagues without tiring. If I might be so bold as to ask, where is it you are travelling to? It would be easier to find a suitable horse knowing how far it will need to go.”

  “We are going south.”

  “Estion or Estoria?”

  “Perhaps.” Baird said no more. Rowan did not know why Baird insisted on hiding their destination or why he had called Rowan his nephew, but he would ask later when they had left the city behind them.