“You don’t think we’ll encounter anyone here?”
He shifted, trying to get comfortable on the horse, and failing. Everything seemed so high here. He had grown better with guiding the horse, but he still didn’t know if he was supposed to talk to him while riding or not.
“We might, but anyone we come across will see two men, one of them wearing a sword, and might think twice before deciding to attack.”
They continued onward, and Master Meyer led him along the path, guiding the horses through the forest. The canopy arched overhead, sealing off the sky, leaving darkness hovering overhead. Finn looked up, glancing to the sky for a moment before turning his attention back to Master Meyer, who remained silent.
It was late in the day before the trees started to open up. He didn’t notice it quite at first, but gradually the forest thinned, before parting as a larger clearing appeared. The village in front of them was small and quaint, and it looked comfortable. Homes were made of wood, and many of them were single-story, though there were two-story homes that had tall, arched roofs, and most of them were painted with browns and whites, colors that blended in with the countryside. It was nestled in the forest, with a small hill rising up behind it, and a stream running around the south edge. The burbling water carried to his ears.
“What kind of crime do they have here? It doesn’t strike me as the kind of place where I would expect to see enough violence that would necessitate our presence.”
Meyer grunted. “You will see.”
“What happened here?”
Meyer shrugged, gripping the reins of the horse and jerking them softly. “Perhaps what was reported, but there’s also the chance that the reason we’re here may not be reason enough to warrant the king’s justice.”
That wouldn’t be all bad.
Finn wanted—or was it needed?—to get back and continue looking into Sweth.
More than that, Bellut was up to something.
He had to figure that out, as well.
“If they’ve already sentenced him—”
“Things work differently outside of the city. Within Verendal, we are subject to the decision of the jurors and the magister, but outside of the city, we serve a dual purpose . Not only do we carry out the sentence, but we also help with passing judgment and suggesting an appropriate sentence.”
“What if they’ve already sentenced the person here?” He could hope that was the case.
“If they have, then we will investigate and decide if we agree.” Meyer nodded to the city. “It is no different than what you would do in Verendal.”
“It’s a little different. We don’t have the same resources here as we have in Verendal.”
“Because it should be easier for you to find the answers. This should not be a difficult challenge, Finn. A village like Logard should be straightforward for us to work through, ask the questions needed to get the information we need, and move on.”
They rode forward, and as they neared the outskirts of the village, Meyer climbed down from his saddle, and Finn followed. The village had several dozen buildings, a few farms on the outskirts, and plenty of green space between buildings, unlike Verendal. Finn trailed after Meyer.
“Do you know where we are supposed to go?”
“All places like this have someone in charge. In the case of Logard, we are to head to the village hall, and we will meet with the town leader.”
“Do you know him?”
Meyer shook his head. “There was a time when I did, but I haven’t spent much time in Logard in many years. As far as I know, things have turned over since then.”
“Will we be staying here tonight?”
“Unless you want to travel through the forest in the dark, we will.”
“Why do you say that as if it would be dangerous?”
“There are some dangers traveling at night, especially in this forest. It’s more than just a worry about highwaymen. There are other things to fear.”
Finn started to smile, laughing softly. “Such as what?”
“Such as other things,” Meyer said softly.
Finn wanted to press the question more, but he had a feeling that doing so would not yield him any further information. Instead, he let the question drop.
They reached a slightly larger building in the center of the village, and Meyer handed Finn the reins to his horse. “Hold them.”
Meyer wasn’t gone very long before he finally returned, walking alongside an older woman with graying hair, dressed in a faded green gown. She glanced over to Finn, her frown deepening.
“We only agreed to pay for your services,” she said.
Meyer nodded. “You won’t be responsible for paying for my apprentice. I brought him here for his benefit.” Meyer turned to her. “I think you could make arrangements to offer him a place to stay for the night.”
“It will reduce your fee.”
“I don’t expect it to reduce my fee very much,” Meyer said carefully.
“He can have the room next to yours. You will clean up after yourselves.”
“Very well,” Meyer said. “Is there any place we can get a meal at this time of day?”
“It’ll cost you. We didn’t agree to pay for your food.”
Meyer chuckled again. “I understand.”
“There’s a place on the southern edge of town. You can’t miss it.”
She turned and headed back into the building, leaving Finn watching after her.
“What was that about?”
“A reminder of my negotiation skills,” Meyer said softly. He took the reins of his horse again, and motioned for Finn to follow. “One of the things that you will come to learn when you are a journeyman and on your own is that everything is negotiable, including your fee, and whatever ancillary benefits that might be required.”
“Ancillary benefits?”
“Typically a room. Food. In this case, I neglected to consider you.” He laughed softly. “There was a time when I pushed for many different things, and most of the time, I got them.”
“What sort of things?”
“When I was your age, I enjoyed having a mug of ale the same way as you do, I suppose. I would often negotiate that into the price of my service. Typically, places like this charge exorbitant amounts for a simple mug of ale, and I could link my usual fee and add in a couple of extra mugs of ale, and come out farther ahead than I would have otherwise.”
Finn found himself laughing, surprised by that.
“She didn’t seem to care very much for you.”
“You will find there are quite a few places outside of the city that are like that,” Meyer said. They meandered through the village, taking a narrow road where they couldn’t even walk side by side. At one point, they passed a row of shops, which likely served as the village center, before moving onward while leading their horses.
“Our presence is tolerated within the city. Perhaps honored, as we serve the king directly.” He glanced back toward the village center. “Out here, it’s a little bit different. We might be tolerated, but we certainly aren’t appreciated.”
“That makes sense,” Finn said. “Why would they want us out here, especially if it means that something happened in their city or town or village that requires the presence of an executioner?”
“I think you’re right,” Meyer said. He motioned to a small stable and handed the reins of his horse to Finn. “Take care of the horses, feed them, and join me inside.”
“They don’t have a stable boy for that?”
“I’m sure they do, but it’s something else I didn’t negotiate for.”
Finn took the horses into the stable and found empty stalls for each of them, figuring out how to unbuckle the saddles off of them and pulling them down. He had seen others brush down the horses, though he didn’t know if that even mattered. He closed the stall, found a bale of hay, and carried it over to the horses, splitting the bale in half, and dumping half in one stall and half in the other. He had no idea
if what he had done was the right way of caring for a horse, but he was a city boy at heart, and this was very much not a city activity.
When he was done, he looked around the inside of the small barn. It was illuminated by a single lantern, carefully hung with no hay around it. That would burn, and he imagined that whoever owned the stable was at least smart enough to know that they needed to keep that away. He saw one of their horses in the stable, and looked over and realized that they hadn’t put the bale of hay in the same way that he had. Maybe he had done it wrong.
What about water?
He didn’t see anything and would have to ask Meyer if he was expected to bring a bucket to the horses or if they would be fine for the night. That was what Meyer got for entrusting something like this to someone who had no experience with it.
He closed up the stable, headed back into the building were Meyer had disappeared, and found him sitting at a table in what looked to be a small tavern. He had a tray of food in front of him, and another tray rested where Finn assumed he could sit. A mug of ale had been placed there as well.
Finn took a seat, grunting. “I have no idea if we’ll find those horses alive in the morning.”
“Then we’re walking back.”
“That’s not my choice, but you might have wanted to pay for somebody to provide a little better care for them.”
Meyer looked up from in between bites. “I figured it was something you could manage.”
“Well, seeing as how this is one of the few times in my life I have ever sat on a horse, let alone ridden for more than an hour, I think expecting me to know how to take care of the beast is a bit of a reach. Now, I did give the horses some hay, but I couldn’t find any water, so if we need to go out and get a bucket or something like that, then I’m happy to do that, or maybe we just offer somebody from this place a copper to go and check on them.”
“They’d charge us for that. I guess we have no choice but to pay. So eat. You can eat now, maybe in the morning, but after that…”
“You don’t think we will get to eat much after that?”
“It depends upon how long we stay here.”
“Are we returning tomorrow?”
“Maybe,” Master Meyer said.
Maybe meant probably not. That surprised Finn.
Where else did Meyer intend to lead him?
He didn’t think that they were going to stay outside of the city all that long, but perhaps Meyer had more in mind than Finn knew.
How many other jobs like this did they need to do?
Finn started eating. The venison was dry, a bit bland, but his stomach rumbled and he ate quickly, hungry from the day on the road and from not having anything since they left early this morning. He glanced over to Meyer every so often as he ate, but the old executioner remained silent, saying nothing to Finn.
After he was finished, Meyer rapped his knuckles on the table and got to his feet. “Get some rest, Finn. Tomorrow we will carry out the sentencing. You should be well rested before we do.”
He headed to the back of the room, where a small doorway led out and up to a loft above the tavern. Finn just sat there.
When the server came by the table again, he leaned close. “Another mug of ale?”
Finn looked toward the door. Meyer would want him to get his rest, but troubled thoughts plagued him. They were the kind of thoughts that he needed the ale to help him contemplate. It wouldn’t solve any problems, but it might make him feel better about the answers he came up with. Besides, he was young, and he could get up early despite how much he might drink.
“Why not?”
Chapter Twenty-One
The morning sunlight drifted through the window of the small room. It really was little more than a closet, but at least they hadn’t needed to sleep out in the open. When Meyer had proposed the journey, Finn had feared that was what Meyer would intend for them. The lumpy bed would normally make sleep difficult, but with drinking as he had the night before, he hadn’t paid much attention to it. Now that he was awake, it was all he could think about.
He sat up slowly. His head throbbed a little, though he didn’t know if that was because of the ale he’d drank the night before or because he’d had a long day traveling. Either way, he needed to get moving.
A knock sounded at the door and Finn hurriedly pulled on his pants and jacket, running his hand through his shaggy brown hair to smooth it flat, and opened it to see Meyer already dressed and waiting for him.
“I figured you’d be ready by now,” Meyer said.
“I overslept,” Finn said.
“The ale you had last night will do that to you.”
Finn sniffed, then winced, resisting the urge to grab his head. “I didn’t have that much ale.” Meyer arched a brow and Finn shrugged. “Fine. I might have had another mug after you left. I had things to think about.”
“It’s been my experience the best thinking is done without the influence of ale. Especially bad ale.”
“It wasn’t that bad.”
Meyer grunted softly. “We need to introduce you to some better ales. You’re not living in the Brinder section anymore. Get moving. We’ve got a prisoner to visit.”
“Any word on them?”
Meyer smiled tightly. “Had you not spent your night ‘thinking,’ you might have considered asking a few questions. I’m sure you would have found anyone in the village more than happy to share with you details about the prisoner.”
“You can’t just tell me?”
“You’re the apprentice. You’re supposed to tell me.”
Meyer turned away and Finn hurriedly grabbed his belongings from the room. He had only a single pack with a change of clothes, nothing that would have made it difficult to gather everything together. When he had everything, he hurried through the narrow hallway and down the stairs leading to the tavern.
The tavern was quieter than it had been the night before, though it had been quiet compared to most of the taverns in Verendal. There had been no music and no shouting, just the occasional murmuring from nearby tables along with the whispers of the server when he’d come by to bring Finn his drink.
Meyer waited for him at one of the tables, though not the same table as the night before. He rested his hands on the table, sitting patiently.
Finn settled down in the chair across from him, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He tossed his pack off to the side and stared at Meyer. “Now are you willing to tell me anything about our prisoner?”
“Not ours,” Meyer said.
“Fine. Are you willing to tell me anything about the village’s prisoner?”
The server came by, a different man from the night before. This one was balding and had on a heavily stained brown apron, and his pudgy cheeks were ruddy, as if he’d already been deep into drink. He bobbed his head, his gaze darting nervously to the sword resting next to Meyer before turning his attention back to the two of them.
“Master Meyer, I presume?” When Meyer nodded, the server’s eyes widened slightly. “I have been instructed to make sure that you have everything that you need.”
Meyer’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Is that right?”
“Can I offer you anything?”
“Coffee. Food.”
“Of course. And for you?”
“I’ll have the same,” Finn said.
The server hurried away, pausing at the door leading back to the kitchen, his gaze lingering once again on the sword resting next to Meyer.
“Is it like that every time you leave the city?” Finn asked.
“Most of the time,” Meyer said. “There aren’t too many people excited to see us. We are a necessary evil, much like I told you.”
“I would have expected that we would have gotten a better reception than this. Aren’t we taking care of a problem for them?”
“We aren’t taking care of any problem.” He paused when the server swung by, setting down two mugs of steaming coffee. Meyer tipped his head politely, but the server hurr
ied off without saying anything more. “We are serving the king. The sooner you come to realize that, the sooner this becomes easier for you.”
“I recognize serving the king; it’s just that—”
“It’s just that nothing. You are here on behalf of the king. No other reason than that. We’re ensuring his justice is carried out. If we weren’t to come, think of what I’ve told you about how the families of the victims wanted justice before.”
Finn nodded. “I can see that.”
“I would hope so. The issue is complicated. If we were to leave these people to their own devices, they would pursue their own sort of justice. While it might make them feel better about what they have done and might give them a sense of closure, it is not justice, and it only furthers the likelihood that others will take justice into their own hands in the future.”
Finn glanced down at the sword. “Do you really anticipate you will need to offer somebody an honorable death?” He said it softly and glanced up, smiling as he did.
“What is an honorable death?” Meyer took a sip of his coffee, breathing it in, and set down the mug. “You will come to find that things are different outside of the city. Expectations are different. Your decisions are different. You aren’t beholden to those who believe there are more or less honorable deaths. A clean death is all that matters.”
“You use the sword more often outside of the city?”
“I use whatever technique I feel is appropriate. It is much more my decision than it is anywhere else.”
The server carried out two plates laden with eggs and sausage and toasted bread. Meyer dug in immediately, and Finn picked at his food, his stomach churning a little bit, before starting to work at breakfast. If he were to be the one to carry out the sentencing today, he wanted his stomach settled, and it wouldn’t do for him to have an empty stomach, especially after a night drinking, but he couldn’t deny the nausea rolling through him. It threatened to overwhelm him.
They ate in silence, neither of them saying that much. There wasn’t much for Finn to say at this point. When they were done, Meyer finished his coffee and got to his feet.
The Executioner's Apprentice (The Executioner's Song Book 2) Page 25