by Nick Martell
They brought me another apprentice today after Yellow left a few weeks ago. I would say I miss her, but it is a relief to finally be able to find things in my office again without her trying to organize it all to suit her needs and ruining everything I had carefully arranged. Everyone just assumes because I’m a Forgotten I can’t remember where I put my files, but they’re wrong! Most of the time. And when I can’t, my routines bring me back. Amazing how, even when the mind falters, the body finds a way. Almost like it’s trying to fix the gap in our memories for us.
We never really understand how much our bodies take care of us. Like a mother or a father does. I’ll have to instruct this new apprentice—Green, I think I’ll call her—how I like my things and not to touch what isn’t hers. I can never find good help anymore. Maybe one day I’ll be allowed to work alone again. Whoever first suggested I needed an apprentice should’ve been fired themselves. Did I fire them? I think I did. I should’ve. I must’ve. I wouldn’t have let a moonstruck fool like that work for me. I’ll make that Green’s first assignment. To find out whether I fired the fool or not. At the very least it’ll get her out of my way. I need to focus on my research. There’s still too much I haven’t learned.
I closed the book and put it back on the shelf: nothing important. I chose another from the Experimental Years section and tried again.
I must tell the king and Malcolm Kingman what I’ve discovered. For generations we thought we understood the limitations and specialization of Fabricators. It turns out we only knew the most basic rules and theories, and that concerns me more than I can admit. After studying Fabricators who manifested their abilities alone, without instruction, I wonder if Fabricators are born with their specialization already determined or if nature has a role in determining it. Further research is required before I can make a public statement to Hollow Academy. Either way, there is a much wider range of specializations than we ever thought possible.
In Braven, I have received reports of a blind woman with a Sound specialization and a blacksmith manifesting a Smoke specialization in middle age.
In Vurano, I have received reports of a set of identical twins with the ability to Nullify and Copy other specializations.
In Naverre, I have received reports of a feral boy with a Wood specialization and a sickly young man with a specialization that we’ve deemed poisonous for now until we come up with a better term.
In—
I closed the book when I realized the list of Fabricator specializations went on for another three pages. It was interesting, but not what I was looking for right now. I went further ahead in the timeline toward my father’s execution and picked another journal at random.
Recently, we’ve increased the number of hospitals in the Hollows from one per city to roughly four in the capital, two in the other major cities, and a few clinics spread through the outer regions where the farmers populate. I’ve had to travel more than I wanted to be sure we have competent doctors and nurses in each, and a few days ago I had to make an impromptu visit to Naverre, in the north, to deal with a doctor promoting bloodletting in place of proper medical treatment. His incompetence cost the life of High Noble Katherine Naverre and that of her unborn child to poison. If I had been quicker, perhaps I could have saved her.
We must continue to expand and to share medical knowledge to save more lives. If only people understood how important this was to the greater good. Everything in Hollow seems to be about power. Some days I yearn for the years before the Medical College was founded, when it was just me and my research. Though I know Isaac is glad we’re continuing his father’s legacy, working to aid the general populace. Supposedly he told me as much last I saw him, and Orange, for some reason, won’t stop telling me about it every time we’ve arrived in a new area. I swear I’m going to send him for some rare herbs one of these days and leave him in the forest. No doubt his noble father would object—shout at me, or challenge me to some duel, or whatever these fools do nowadays when they seek justice. In fact, I might just do that. It would be entertaining. Especially if we were near the ruins of Vurano… and I would adore some peace and quiet to do my research. I really need to get better apprentices.
Still nothing of value. As I reached for another book, I paused. Instead of taking just one, I picked out a journal from each section and then brought the towering pile of books to the table. It might take a lifetime to read all of them, but I had to start somewhere, and whining about the insurmountable odds against me wouldn’t help.
So I began to read, and read, and read, and read.
THE HUNTERS
I was late, very late to meet Domet the morning of the hunt.
I had been awoken by yelling, which wasn’t anything new, really. Usually all that differed was the source, rotating through the various members of my family. But what was unique about this morning was that the shouting had come from an Archivist, who had found me sleeping on a pile of books. Fearing for their integrity, she had shoved me out of my chair while screaming at me for being careless. We were in agreement when I realized I had spent most of the day reading and then fallen asleep in the Archmage Room overnight. With little time to waste, I hid Dark’s envelope in a journal called The Dragon Fallacy and ran for Domet’s house.
My stomach wouldn’t stop gurgling, my throat felt like I had swallowed sand, and every muscle in my back was angered by my choice of sleeping arrangements. I had no time to do much to hide the fact I had just woken up. No doubt Domet would notice and chastise me when he did. Worse, on my way I took a wrong turn and was forced to backtrack. It was a stupid mistake, since I had grown up running through the city’s streets, which made me even later.
Sure enough, as I approached Domet’s house, I saw him waiting on the steps.
“What happened to you?” he asked.
“Spent the night in the Hollow Library reading.”
“Why?”
“Tried to learn more about using Fabrications,” I said. It wasn’t a complete lie: the Archmage had detailed some of the various methods people used to focus their Fabrications. I had tried them, but none of the suggestions had worked for me.
Domet looked me up and down. He was dressed a little less formally than normal, in a simple black shirt and trousers and a wide-brim cap. “You can’t go to the hunt looking like that.”
“It’s a hunt, not a ball.”
“When have I ever given you an indication that the hunt is any less important than the ball? Just because the nobles are going to kill a beast today doesn’t mean they won’t do it with style and finesse, and we can’t have you mistaken for the animal.”
“Do you want me to head back to my home and change? If I’m lucky, I might be able to get into a bath somewhere.”
“No,” Domet declared. “I’ll do it myself. Come, I’ve fixed worse in the morning before.”
And he meant it. He had me in a hot bath with pumice and vanilla soap and orders to scrub everything in minutes. When my skin was pink and stinging, Domet threw in hunting clothes that fit a little too well for chance to be a factor. He even made sure none of the holes in my boots would rip or tear while we were out there. Once he was satisfied with what he had created, we headed off to the King’s Garden. He muttered dire things about haircuts, and I ate.
Hollow Castle was a marvel of construction by every standard, a towering feat of stone and bridges that was nestled on the west bank of the river. It had stood for over a millennium, and every new king or queen had added or updated something until it was an amalgamation of differing styles that somehow worked with each other. The left side was tall, pointy, and ornate, with more flying buttresses than necessary, while the right side was clean, simple, and sturdy, without a single stone out of place. It held more secrets and mysteries than all of Hollow combined—the result of a few paranoid kings and overeager architects—and I had wanted to discover them all as a child. The best thing I had ever found was an empty vault littered with star-shaped fruit and a door without a way
to open it. My own personal hideout.
But the King’s Garden was something else entirely. More magical than impressive. Tucked behind the castle, it seemed to stretch for miles and contained every tree and creature imaginable, from winterbloom and wisteria to roses and raven’s tails. Except for Moon’s Tears, of course. They grew only in very specific places and couldn’t be transferred, nurtured, or raised from seeds. Why they were so hard to grow was one of the great mysteries of Hollow.
As we passed through the glittering gates to the Gardens, Domet stopped me and said, “Are you ready for this? There will be nobles from the previous generation at this event, too.”
“What? You didn’t mention that.”
A pause. “I thought it best you didn’t know until it was required. I don’t think the king or his Ravens will be here, but…”
“But there’s a chance?”
Domet stared straight ahead. We could hear laughter and music deeper within the Gardens. “A slight chance. I personally doubt it, which is why I never mentioned it. From the gossip I’ve heard, I’m to be the most important High Noble in attendance, aside from the Corrupt Prince.”
“If it was necessary, could you protect me from him?”
“No,” he said bluntly. “The older nobles and I won’t be participating in the hunt that you all will. If anything, I expect us to have some novelty hunt, maybe a few birds or a boar with a broken leg. The Corrupt Prince will be with you. It’s a blessing, in that it allows me to spread the good word about you to the others. The longer he’s distracted, the better of a chance we have of you getting invited to the Hollow Court for the king’s birthday party.”
“I guess I’ll distract him, then,” I said.
“Without getting killed or maimed.”
I looked at Domet. “It’s a ceremonial hunt—it’s controlled. How could I get hurt? There will be hundreds in attendance today.”
“What makes you think that, if he wants you dead, he wouldn’t try during a hunt?”
“We have a deal. He won’t interfere during the Endless Waltz. There were witnesses.”
“He won’t need to. Hunts are hunts, and people get injured on them all the time. And the more exotic a creature you’ll be hunting today, the more likely an accident becomes. Besides, he has plenty of Throne Seekers eager to please him.”
“I’ll be careful.”
Domet laughed as he limped on. “You have all the arrogance of your ancestors. Give me a few minutes before you follow. Let’s not have them suspect we’re working together.”
I loitered for longer than necessary. Part of me longed for the simple days when money was my biggest worry. It had been a shitty life at times, but it had been mine, and it had always been easier with friends and family at my side. Now someone always seemed to be pulling my strings. I tried not to linger on those thoughts for too long before making my way into the garden. The guards at the gate didn’t stop me or ask for identification as they might have in the past, my brand enough to vouch for who I was and why I was here. By now I suspected every noble knew what I was doing.
But what I hadn’t suspected was the sheer size of the hunt. I had never been allowed to attend one as a child, always having to stay in the castle with my siblings and the other royal children while our parents pranced around in the garden. So only now, with the hunt within my sight, did I begin to understand the danger Domet had hinted at. There must have been more than fifty tents decorated with the various noble sigils, dozens of horses of all colors and breeding, and hundreds, if not thousands, of weapons in the area. Whatever we were hunting, it sure wasn’t a boar with a broken leg.
The sight of the hunt was overwhelming, and I had no idea where I was supposed to be. I began to wander the grounds, but instead of being productive and finding the girl in red or looking for the Ryder sigil, I reminisced of summer days spent with the royal children. We used to play tag on these very grounds. Lyon and Davey had always chosen to run in the open, while the princess liked to climb trees. Never content to be outshone, I had always gone after her instead of easier targets like my sister and the Corrupt Prince. They had been too young to realize that bushes didn’t hide laughter as well as they did their faces.
It had been such a carefree childhood. What I wouldn’t do for that life to return.
My wandering feet carried me past a few lingering looks from Low Nobles who had once served my family to a golden tent with a banner of a black dragon flying above it. I had found the Ryders. With few other options and fewer people I could pretend to be friendly with, I entered the tent, sparing a moment to hope neither Kayleigh nor Lyon would be inside.
They weren’t. But Kai was, with three dogs at his side and a frail boy sitting beside him. The boy wore loose clothes that were almost the same shade as his pale face. His hair was thinning and light as snow, with small gold streaks scattered throughout it. He had a wooden dragon in his hands and made roaring noises as he flew it through the air. Based on Domet’s book, I assumed this was Joey Ryder, the sickly mute, if the rumors were to be believed. Upon entering, the three dogs sprang to their feet and ran up to me, sniffing and watching me closely.
“Who’s there?” Kai asked.
“Michael Kingman,” I said as his dogs continued to inspect me. “Did I sneak up on you?”
Kai clicked his tongue and immediately all three of the dogs sat down, none of them taking their eyes off me. “Yes, but only because all the noise outside makes using my Fabrications difficult. Anyway, what’re you doing here, Michael?”
“Didn’t know where else to go. Not like I was going to have a tent of my own.”
And it wasn’t like I was going to find Domet’s tent either.
“I should have realized that,” he said. “Do you need anything? I’m happy to share with my future brother-in-law.” He said the last part with a smile.
“Can you call your dogs off me first?”
“I have. My father just trained them to stare at people. Makes most folk uncomfortable.”
That was an understatement. I edged between the dogs and joined Kai at the small table. His brother was still amusing himself on the ground. “That’s Joey, right? He’s not participating in the hunt, is he?”
Kai shook his head as he handed me a plump waterskin. “No, my mother will be picking him up soon. I look after him in the morning so she can sleep and so my father won’t be late for his meetings with the king.”
“That’s nice of you.”
“Family looks after family. And it helps me delay determining what I want to do with the rest of my life. No one questions me if I say I’m my brother’s caretaker and learning alongside our Fabricator army for the time being.”
“You don’t know what you want to do with your life?”
Kai chuckled to himself, then began to put on mail and gauntlets. Whatever the joke was, I seemed to have missed it. “I’m the third-born of the family, so my options are limited. Kayleigh will become the family matriarch. Karin is a Raven. I have to find a way to live up to that standard. Somehow.”
“Any idea how?”
“No,” he said quietly. “My uncle joined the Church of the Wanderer and tells me I could do well there, but I don’t think I want to. I have a feeling I’d only be known as the blind monk if I did that. Which isn’t really a title I want.”
“Understandable.”
A nod. “I’m sure I’ll figure out what I want sooner or later. Until then I’ll participate in the Endless Waltz and learn as much as I can about Fabrications and politics.”
“Not a bad idea.” It was better than any plan I had ever come up with before meeting Domet. “Do you know what we’re hunting today?”
“No, but it’s going to be something big. Last year it was a long-tooth tiger from the Warring States. The prince was apparently disappointed that it killed only five guards and an overeager Low Noble.”
Clearly, Domet was right. Agreement or not, the Corrupt Prince would be coming after me today. I’d h
ave to be more careful than I initially thought. “Is there anything I should know about hunts? I’ve never been on one before.”
“Don’t be a hero. Heroes die in Hollow.”
“Simple enough. Anything else?”
Kai cracked his back. “Not really. We’ll be behind the lancers and the pikemen. So long as you don’t break formation, run up, and attack the beast, you should be fine. I’ll stay with you, so if something does go wrong, I’ll see it first.”
“That’s a joke, right?”
“Obviously. I’m blind. You can laugh when I make fun of my sight, Michael.”
“I can?”
“You can. Like I said, I don’t want blind to be my only label. It’s a part of me, but it’s not the only thing about me. I’m more than my disability.”
“Noted.”
Kai moved over to a rack of weapons. “Do you need something for the hunt?”
“I do,” I said as I moved to his side to get a better look at all the weapons. There were plenty of options, from hatchets and great-axes to maces and spears.
Kai picked a trident off the rack for himself and then asked, “Sword?”
“No. Don’t know how to use one.”
Kai turned his head so I could see his cloudy eyes. “That’s a lie. I know how good you are with a sword.”
“No, I don’t—”
“You fought in plenty of tournaments as a child, and you won a fair amount of them, if my memory is correct. Which it is.”
“That’s—”
“Do I really need to bring up the Kingman Family Swordsmanship School? It was renowned before the fall. More so than any of the other High Nobles’ save the royal one.”
“Fine,” I mumbled. “But I don’t use them anymore. I’d rather have something else.”
“Why walk away from a skill like that?”
“My father taught me everything he knew about swordsmanship. After he was executed, it seemed wrong to keep using what he taught me. So I haven’t since, and I doubt I ever will again.”