Journeyman Assassin

by Brian Keller

  When Cooper returned to the bay, Kolrem was already packing. He sounded a little exasperated as he was thrusting items into his pack, “You’d think that we’d have been told something about this when we first got here.” Two pairs of socks unceremoniously shoved into the bag. He continued, “We might just as well not even unpacked.” A spare pair of boots joined the socks. “We hadn’t even needed to come all the way back here. We could’ve just left from the forest!” Cooper couldn’t help thinking that he was making some valid points, but even so, Cooper was happy that they’d returned. Cooper suggested, “If you want that bed to be available when we get back, I wouldn’t shove everything you own into that pack.” Kolrem stopped ranting and packing for a moment. He took a calming breath and raised his head to look at Cooper. Unexpectedly a smile split his face and he started shaking his head, “You’re absolutely right. And I suppose if we hadn’t returned, we’d never have learned that we’re Journeymen now!” Then it was Cooper’s turn to shake his head, “I think Master Worthan is getting ahead of himself. None of our instructors have said anything about us actually passing our previous classes. Besides, I haven’t Manifested yet, and I don’t see that happening in the next thirty days. I think the Journeyman topic is a conversation that’ll have to wait until we get back. Have you thought about what we’ll need to take with us?” Kolrem shrugged, “All I have is this stuff. Master Worthan said we needed to get a map from him. We can stop at the kitchen and ask the ladies what they can send with us; cured meats, bread, cheese and such.” Cooper was nodding, he’d already planned on that, he was thinking other thoughts, “How safe are the main roads? Do you know?” Kolrem winced, “I suppose I would’ve thought about that eventually. Do you think it’s just us? No adults?” Cooper shrugged, “It sounds that way. I suppose since we’re delivering a message, we’ll wear courier sashes. That’s supposed to let bandits and patrols know to let us pass, but who knows how well that works outside the city?” Kolrem picked up the thought and continued, “And if we’ve gotta run… well, I’ve never ridden on a horse before.” Cooper admitted, “Me neither. If the horse starts running, I’ve got a feeling that it and I will part ways.” He paused while he made a mental checklist, “Map, Food, extra water skins. An oilcloth tarp for each of us, for the hard spring rains, Master Loril should have those. I’ve got flint and a little tinder. Grain for the horses? Or should we just get that along the way?” Kolrem looked a little stunned as he watched Cooper go through this process. Cooper continued, “We’ll need to know where in Kalistos we’re to take the horses. I have some coin for us to live on, if we need it. The delivery tube will have the recipient’s name and address on it. We’ll need details about the ship, for our return trip. And it wouldn’t hurt to know something about the cargo we’re supposed to be accompanying on the way back. Is that about it? Did I forget anything important?” Kolrem was chuckling, “Yeah. Some willow bark for the headache you just gave me. You left me behind at “tarps for the spring rains”.”

  Ninety minutes later the boys returned to the Copyist’s Room. Cooper thought, “The rest of the students must have Combat Training now.”, since Master Worthan was almost alone in the room. A young boy wearing a scribe’s gold sash was standing in front of the Master’s desk. The old man spoke a few brief words and the boy ran off through the door and into the storefront. Master Worthan turned to greet them as the boy stepped away, “Already prepared for your adventure?” He didn’t wait for a reply, he turned and gathered two rolls of parchment and laid them on his desk. As Cooper drew closer he realized one of the rolls was cloth, not parchment. The teacher unrolled the parchment and Cooper saw it has several lines of symbols on it. When he gave Master Worthan a questioning look, the old man simply smiled and said, “It’s a coded message. The name of the ship is Sundancer. Give this to the captain of the ship before you board. Have him summoned to the rail of the ship to hand it to him if need be. You must watch him read it and await his reply. If he cannot read it, or he does not give you the proper response, then do not get on the boat.” He slid the roll of paper into a bamboo tube and pushed a cork into the end of it. He continued “The note explains who you are and that he is to bring you and the cargo to Paleros. It then instructs him to recite the last sentence of the note to you. The missive ends with, “It should only take five days by sea to reach Paleros. If strong winds are with us.” If he cannot read the note, it would be better for you to walk home and be late, than board the ship.” Master Worthan paused to satisfy himself that the boys had no questions before he continued, “The drovers should be out front within the hour. They’ll have your horses. They are going to Kalistos City as well. Ride the horses, don’t ride in the wagon. If bandits do attack your group, everyone will abandon the wagon.” He hadn’t mentioned the roll of cloth, but he unrolled it now. It was a map inked onto canvas. Once the boys had seen it, the old man rolled it up again. He explained, “You shouldn’t need it, unless something goes wrong. If something does go wrong you shouldn’t be without it, but even if you should lose the map, getting home is as simple as keeping the ocean on your left as you travel!” Cooper had been nodding occasionally to show he understood. When Master Worthan finished speaking, Cooper asked, “Is there anything we should know about the cargo?” Master Worthan suddenly looked serious as he considered Cooper’s question, “No. I don’t think there is. More will be revealed as to you soon enough. You can pick up your message and copper tube on your way out.” Cooper nodded.

  The drovers were on time and they were patient while the boys found their way up into their saddles. In their manner of speaking, the drovers could’ve been brothers of Maro and Binru, but looking at them told a different story. The men introduced themselves as Aklin and Wazn. Aklin was an older man with a shriveled left leg and a halo of bushy, grizzled hair that started at his temples, stayed just above his ears and met at the back of his head. His eyebrows matched and nearly completed the halo effect. Wazn was a short, plump man who wore a hat with a wide, floppy brim. He almost seemed to waddle when he walked. He had gotten down to help the boys with their horses, and make the necessary adjustments to their stirrups. Wazn had introduced himself with great vigor, gripping each boys hand and shaking it enough to almost make their teeth clack, “Wazn’s my name, but just call me “Zin”, everyone does.” The straining and grunting displayed as he climbed back in the cart almost prompted Cooper to dismount to assist the man.

  As the boys were turned the horses west, to leave town, the cart turned south and started moving. It was easy for them to catch up, the horses were used to being with the cart, so they didn’t need much encouragement. The boys simply had to hang on. Once they’d caught up Kolrem called out, “Uh, gentlemen? We’re supposed to be going north…?” Aklin snorted and nudged Zin with an elbow, “Here that? “Gentlemen” he says! Wonder how long that’ll last?” He snorted again. Zin explained, “We’re pickin’ up a load o’ seed grain from Miller’s Flats to take up to Kalistos. They had some kinda storms or somethin’ that wiped out a bunch o’ their crop last year.”

  Once they’d gotten the seed loaded they turned west to circle past the city before turning north. They were well outside the city by dusk. It was certainly faster than walking, but after a few hours of bouncing in the saddle, Cooper thought he might prefer to walk instead. They rode well into the night, the men simply took turns at the reins while the other grabbed a bite to eat, or nodded off for a few minutes. Neither Cooper nor Kolrem felt they could dare lose their concentration for a moment. Cooper kept himself alert trying to devise a way to tie himself to the saddle. It had been dark for a few hours, but not yet midnight, and the men stopped the wagon. Aklin picked up his hefty walking stick and announced he “needed a stop for nature”. As he hobbled off to the side of the road, the boys dismounted and stretched as they walked around. Each of them groaning a little and muttering under their breath as they learned about places on their bodies they’d never really paid much attention to before. Zin was chuckling, �
��Well, you’ll get used to how the horse moves, and you’ll learn to move with him, but there’s always the soreness to tend to after.” Cooper estimated that they’d already covered a good half-day’s walk and then some, but wasn’t sure how good he was at making a guess like that. Still, it brought a question to his mind, “How far is it to Kalistos City? I mean, how many days?” Zin thought about that for a second or two, “It’s about ten, mebbe twelve days. We’re movin’ along pretty good right now, and yer horses ain’t carryin’ much, but we got a few hills ahead over the next coupla days and the horses on the cart ain’t young. We’ll hafta slow ‘em down a bit before we get to them hills.” Cooper tallied the days quickly in his head, “Ten to twelve there, five to seven back, so fifteen to nineteen days travel time. That leaves us almost a half month left, and Master Worthan said he wasn’t expecting us for thirty days.” He let Kolrem in on his thoughts, before Kolrem could reply, Aklin came hobbling back from taking care of his business. The boys found it easier to mount the horses now, and didn’t need any help. Once they were settled, Kolrem replied, “It all comes down to when the ship is ready to depart. We might be spending two weeks in Kalistos City.” Kolrem finished his observation with a shrug. Cooper realized that Kolrem was exactly right, but still, what were they supposed to do for two weeks in Kalistos City?

  Chapter 26

  Ten days later, as the sun came up, Cooper almost thought that they’d gone the wrong way. Except for the fact that everything was switched from right to left, and there was no lake in sight, this city and his own looked remarkably similar. At least at first glance, it did. He knew he shouldn’t be surprised, Rhychevel and Kalistos had a shared heritage. What stood out right away, once they’d drawn a little closer was that Kalistos City was likely to be about five times larger than Paleros. When Cooper asked about this, Aklin snorted, “Well, Kalistos City is the capital of this kingdom. Paleros is just the capital of a province. If you ever see Gajeril, the capital city of Rhychevel, well… that’s a sight!” Once they’d gotten closer still, Cooper could see that, scattered throughout the city, were tall, thin, round towers that came to a point at the top. Cooper remembered reading somewhere that those were called minarets. The only place in Paleros that had towers like that was the university, but even then, there were only a few of them, and not nearly as tall as these. These minarets were twice the height of the two and three story buildings around them, and some were even taller. They almost looked delicate, or maybe that was simply how the light hit them.

  The men brought them around the west side of the city. In less than an hour they’d located the right place, unloaded the seed and gotten a receipt. No coin even changed hands. Cooper wondered about this and asked about it. Zin answered, “The farmers here already paid for the seed. The Guild guarantees the shipping and got paid for that at the same time. The Guild paid us in advance to tote it up here, now we got the receipt to show we did it. See?” Cooper did, but he couldn’t help thinking that there was a lot of trusting going on in this business.

  Once the delivery was complete Kolrem turned to Cooper, “What do you think? Go to the Guild here and turn in the horses? Or ride the horses to deliver the message?” Cooper’s answer came immediately, “If it’s all the same to you, I’m ready to get off this horse and be rid of it.” Kolrem leaned forward and gave his horse a scratching under its harness and between its ears, “I don’t know, it’s not so bad… but yeah, I could stand to get my feet back on the ground.”

  Aklin and Zin led the boys to the Guild compound. It looked like a large estate. As the boys exchanged questioning looks, Zin explained, “One of the differences in how things are done, Kalistos City compared to Paleros, is that here the Guild operates openly. They still don’t belong to the government, so far as they don’t take orders from the king and such. But they do pay taxes. Soldiers and the Guards mostly leave Assassins alone, as long as they’re contracted and on the job. The only stipulation is that the Guild can’t take contracts on the royal family. Thieves still get caught and punished but the Guild usually pays to have them freed right away. In that way, catching thieves is a decent source of income for the city. Once the thief is freed, he or she now owes the Guild even more than they already did, and has to work to pay off the debt.” Cooper thought, “It’s almost sounds like the Guild works off the indentured servitude concept.”

  As they stood at the gate, Aklin explained their business to the guard. The guard closely examined the boys and Cooper pulled out the copper tube bearing the message for delivery and waved it for the man to see. The guard’s expression never changed but he jerked his arm up and pointed his thumb to the interior of the compound. They rode over to the stable and dismounted. As a boy came out to take the reins, Cooper and Kolrem began collecting their gear. The boy was about Cooper’s age, but he was looking at Cooper and Kolrem with an expression bordering on awe. It made Cooper feel a little uncomfortable. At first Cooper had thought the boy might be ‘simple’ but when Aklin called out, “I just need you to sign for these nags. They’re staying here.”, and he held out a paper; the boy reacted immediately, he examined the papers and quickly signed them and handed them back.

  Once this was all done, as the boys were arranging their gear, the men gave them a wave as Zin told them, “Check in at the main house. You should be able to get a guest room while you’re in the city, if you want it. You know where you’re going to deliver the note? Ah, never mind, you’ll find it. You remember the name of the ship?” At that he looked up into the sky. Both of the boys assured him that they remembered. The men grinned, waved again, then Aklin snapped the reins and they left the compound. The boys shifted under the weight of their baggage and walked to enter the main building.

  The entrance was unadorned and though the double doors were solid, and very heavy, they moved very easily on their hinges. The entry was arranged almost like a living room except for the pair of desks, one on each side of them as they took their first steps into the room. At the desk on the right sat a man dressed in a fine house man’s jacket. His hair was heavily oiled and tied tightly at the back of his head. He looked up with eagerness that disappeared instantly when he saw it was two heavily laden boys that had come in. On the left side, a twenty-something female in a green dress with black accents stood to greet them, “Is all that yours? Or are you carrying it for someone?” She leaned to look behind them as they closed the doors. Kolrem replied first, “It’s ours. We’re just in from the Guild in Paleros. We have a message to deliver and we were told we might find a room here.” She looked a little uncertain and Cooper provided a little more information, “We just need a place to stow our stuff and sleep for a few nights. We’re taking a ship back, but not sure when it’s set to sail.” He let a couple bags slide off his shoulder as he pulled out the copper tube and read the address, “Thirty-eight Candela Lane. Is that far?” Upon hearing this, the man behind them perked up, “Candela Lane, you say? Yes, it’s at least a forty minute walk, and it won’t be a straight line either, though it should be easy enough for you to find. Who is it addressed to?” Cooper couldn’t be certain, but the man seemed more interested in learning more about their delivery than he was in helping them. Cooper let the question hang in the air unanswered for a few seconds, then the woman broke the silence, “You were asking about a room. Follow me, we’ll see what we can find. As she led them down a corridor, around a corner and up a flight of stairs, Cooper couldn’t help wondering how many people stayed here. The entire estate didn’t appear to be even a quarter the size of the Guild Hall in Paleros. They were almost to the top of the stairs and Cooper’s questions started to escape, “Miss, how many students do you have here?” She stopped and regarded him with a long look as if to say, “Well, aren’t you just the cutest thing?”, but what she said was, “We don’t have any students here. At least not in the way you mean. Paleros is set up as a school. Attempting to mass produce individuals into a specialty. Here we follow a mentor-apprentice design. While it’s rare, w
e do have a few mentors that have more than one apprentice, but almost never more than a two-to-one ratio.” While her tone was pleasant and polite, Cooper couldn’t miss the fact that she definitely didn’t approve of his Guild’s methods. Cooper wondered what that’d be like, being taught by only one person, learning only what they knew, and knowing that the only other teachers you’d have would be Time and Experience. Still, it obviously worked.

  At the top of the stairs, she turned right and led them down a long hallway. She stopped at a door, knocked softly and hearing nothing, opened the door. The room was about ten feet by fifteen feet and had four beds, all of them had linens folded at the foot. Otherwise the room was empty. She turned to face them, “Anything else?” Again, her voice sounded very pleasant, but it suddenly seemed like the temperature in the room just dropped a few degrees. Kolrem quickly asked, “Is there a privy? And do you have a dining hall anywhere here?” She smiled sweetly but the expression never made it all the way to her eyes. Cooper thought, “Score one for having expert instructors in Etiquette Class. Mass production – one, Mentorship – zero”. Cooper must’ve smiled because she turned her attention on him as she answered Kolrem’s question. She replied, “The privy is through the door at the top of the stairs we just came up. The dining room is down the hall we would’ve taken had we not turned to come up the stairs.” She then looked at each of them, arching an eyebrow at one boy then the other, as if to draw out any final questions. Cooper had one, “The doors we came in, Miss? Is that the only way in and out of the building?” She gave Cooper a long, appraising look, “It’s the only way in and out that you should be using…” Cooper had a few more questions, but decided to save them for later. They’d likely be here for a few more days at least.