“Indeed it is,” Soza said loftily, sweeping on down the street to their inn.
Despite his irritation, now worse for that little spat, Karik couldn’t help but be fascinated by the sights and sounds around him, marvelling at the sheer numbers of people in their long flowing robes—the temperate season clothing for both men and women. He attracted a lot of attention himself—many people stared and more than one came to a dead stop to point at him. He didn’t mind too much, but it was a little distracting. Perhaps he should cover his hair and face with a scarf when they went out again.
After the rigours of the trail, it was a true luxury that the only effort involved in obtaining a meal was in deciding where to eat. Soza responded coolly to Karik’s polite questions about what he would like to try, and so, exasperated, he settled on an inn which seemed clean enough. Soza looked unimpressed. “So noisy,” he said with a sniff.
“The food smells good. I wonder if they have beer?”
It turned out they did not, but they did serve spiced wine, and though Karik was a fan neither of strong alcohol nor of wine, he asked for a mug, feeling it might help him feel less annoyed with life. Soza asked for razika, rather to Karik’s surprise. “I thought you didn’t like razika.”
“I don’t appreciate being forced to inhale it, but I think it would make a pleasant drink. You’ll have to order, I have no idea what they are offering.”
Keeping it simple, Karik ordered a mildly spiced stew and bread, which came with their drinks. It proved a good choice, and between the food and the wine, bad tempers eased. They even managed a perfectly friendly conversation about the academy and what Soza hoped to do while he was there. “I confess—I wish we had a month here or more. The scholars are so gratifyingly ready to learn.”
“It’s a nice little academy and an interesting city, but I think I prefer being out in the wilds,” Karik admitted. “I really can’t wait until we get to the Mount Arzha region—who knows what we might discover? It’s almost completely unexplored or unrecorded. There could be people there who’ve never seen southerners before.”
“Complete savages, I’m sure.” Soza shuddered. “I don’t know what I’m dreading more—those soldiers or that wretched tent.”
“Maybe you should stay here and wait for us,” Karik said, then flushed. He hadn’t meant to be that blunt.
“Are you implying I’m not serving a purpose, Karik?”
“No, no,” Karik said hastily. “It’s just that the academy here obviously value your work, and it must be rare for them to have someone like you to study with.”
“This is true. But I couldn’t possibly abandon you to the care of a man like that lieutenant—your uncle would never forgive me.”
Karik very much doubted Arman or Kei expected Soza to be responsible for his welfare but refrained from saying that. He rather wished Soza hadn’t mentioned Romi because it soured his mood again—he spent a good ten minutes complaining about the way Romi had behaved on the first leg of their journey and how he would be sending a lengthy report when they returned to Darshek. “I would send it with our other notes, but I’m afraid I simply don’t trust that man’s friends,” Soza said finally.
“Are you really suggesting Romi would go through your personal letters, Soza? I think that’s very unlikely.”
“I consider him capable of anything. Once again, I see you are defending him.”
“I’m not defending him. I just don’t think he would go through your letters.”
Soza scowled. Karik drank some more wine, hoping to drown his irritation. “I wish you would remember who your real friends are, young man. That lieutenant is worthless, and will do nothing for your career.”
The implication that Soza would was loud and clear, and that annoyed Karik even more because he’d always made his own way in life. “I don’t propose to become his friend. He’ll serve his purpose and then we’ll part without the slightest regret.”
“I sincerely hope so, for your sake,” Soza said, giving him a rather odd look. Karik thought it was better to just avoid talking about the soldiers and hope that Soza would become too absorbed in his work to mention them again.
They both slept well—the inn’s beds were of a better quality than the room itself, so that was something. Soza was in a good mood the next day, and eager to get back to the academy. Karik hoped he might be able to get on with his own work, but once again, Soza insisted that Karik help him, and so he was unable to make any notes for his own use. It wasn’t only Karik seconded to Soza’s assistance. Ritizik was in attendance all day, and Soza used him shamelessly to interpret and to fetch books, though Karik rather thought Ritizik hadn’t planned to spend anything like that amount of time with them. By late afternoon, Karik’s temper was fraying and Ritizik was out of patience too. He stood and stretched his back with an elaborate groan. “Oh, gods, I’m so stiff. Soza, would you mind if I went down to the market to see the medicines on sale?”
Soza frowned. “Are you sure you want to waste time on that today? My time is short, and there’s a lot to do.”
Yes, I know. “The market’s potentially important.”
“Oh, do as you wish. I wash my hands of you,” he said impatiently, turning back to his notes.
“I’ll come with you, Karik, to show you around,” Ritizik said, almost managing to hide his eagerness. Karik hid a grin—Ritizik was clever and very studious, but he was only two years older than Karik, and not averse to a little fun.
That offer didn’t please Soza. “I need your help, Ritizik—I can’t spare you.”
“Ah—I am sorry, Master Soza, but...I promised Master Jerzwi that I would go with Karik when he wished to go to the market.” He gave Soza a winning smile. “I will be at your disposal in the morning.”
Karik added his own pleading look. “It’s just this afternoon, Soza—please?”
Soza waved Ritizik off with a sour expression, and Ritizik didn’t wait for him to change his mind before making his escape with Karik. Karik breathed in the fresh air gratefully, as Ritizik grinned at him. “So it is not just me who finds Master Soza a little....”
“No, it’s not,” Karik said ruefully. “Come on, I really do want to look at the market.”
The market was enormous, and a hundred times more confusing and busy than the ones in Darshek or Urshek. Karik stared at the riot of activity, marvelled at the wonderful things on sale, and inhaled the delicious scent of cooking food, wishing he could find his supper with Ritizik instead of enduring more of Soza’s complaints. He regretted even more that he’d agreed to stay at the inn—he’d forgotten how demanding Soza could be when he was working. He sighed.
“You do not seem happy, my friend.”
Karik glanced at Ritizik. “I’m all right—I’m just getting older, I think.”
“We all are,” Ritizik said, smiling. “Now, tell me of Master Kei. I can’t tell you how much I miss studying with him. Is he well? And how are your parents?”
Karik passed on all the news, and found out what Ritizik had been doing since he left Darshek two years before. His friend had done a healer’s course in Darshian, but had stayed to research medicinal saps and resins. He had learned Darshianese almost as fast as Karik had acquired Ritizik’s own language, and Kei had been eager for him to stay in Darshian to act as a translator. Ritizik had been homesick though, and finally returned to his homeland. “Do you like Visiqe?” Karik wanted to know, since his friend was from further south.
“I don’t want to live here forever, but the academy is a nice place to work. Our scholars are striving to improve the institution—they were hoping your friend would help in that, but now I’ve seen him....”
“He’s very knowledgeable,” Karik said, although he was conscious that this didn’t cover all of Soza’s faults by a long way.
“Yes, but.... Ah, but I am being very rude to criticise him to you. Let’s find the medicine stalls.”
The herbs and medicines sector took up a full third of the market,
and even though some stalls were closing for the day, there was still a huge amount of activity going on. Ritizik helped Karik identify the herbs on offer and explain their use. “Now, see this? This is jirotina—from this, gerot is made.”
“Is it legal to be on sale?”
“Oh yes—in this form, it’s much used against diarrhoea, though not in the very young. It’s only if you extract the oil and refine it, add other substances, that you have gerot. It would be wrong to ban everything that could potentially lead to harm, don’t you think?”
“Yes, I suppose. Now, what’s this?”
By the time they had finished, Karik had identified three drugs he wanted to purchase to send to Kei for further analysis, and five plants that he wanted to take back to the Andonese academy for further study. “Gods, if I can find all this in an hour or two, what if I spent a week here?”
“Then you would find more,” Ritizik said solemnly, though he was smiling. “Come, we should return.”
Soza was interested in Karik’s finds, but still cross at being deserted, and grumbled about it for the rest of the evening. Karik needed the wine they had with their meal, just to stop him becoming so annoyed he said something that he would regret forever. He wished Kei was here—but even Kei had found Soza hard to tolerate. Why had Soza not annoyed him in Urshek, but got on his last nerve here? Was he so very different now?
Tactfully reminding Soza that he had his own work to attend to before they left Visiqe annoyed his mentor further. Karik decided all he could do was ignore the man and get on, because he had to finish his notes for Kei. When, a day later, Soza grandly announced that he now wished to be taken to the market, and wanted Karik to go with him, Karik had to bite the inside of his cheek to prevent him snapping out a remark about him not being Soza’s servant. If only the man would wait until it was convenient for both of them before suddenly announcing these plans.
The market was busier than ever, since they’d arrived in the morning, when all the stalls were in operation. Karik quickly stopped being annoyed as, once again, he spotted plants that he wanted to look at more closely. In this, he and Soza were in harmony, and Ritizik’s assistance was invaluable in choosing the best specimens. It was decided that they would make a broad selection, and Ritizik would arrange for them to be sent back to Kei with explanatory notes, as there would not be time to package them up before their main collection was sent along the river.
Karik was deeply immersed in pondering whether he really wanted to send a pound of heriz seeds back to Kei, when he heard a familiar voice. “Oh, hello, Karik. I thought you’d be at the academy.”
He looked up. His first thought was how handsome the pair of them looked, all clean and groomed and cheerful, and how odd it was that he hadn’t seen them for days after months living in each other’s pockets. And how odd it was that he’d missed it, and how strangely pleased he was to see them. “Hello, captain, Wepizi. Why are you here?”
Wepizi smiled. “My friend wants souvenirs for his family, and I promised Jou I’d find her some of our finest sweetmeats. Ah, good morning, Soza. I trust you are well.”
“Perfectly, Lep Wepizi,” Soza said stiffly, scowling at Romi and turning his back on them.
Ritizik looked a little confused by the rudeness. Karik ignored Soza’s bad manners and made the introductions. “Captain, Lep, this is my friend Ritizik of the academy—he studied with my uncle at Darshek. Ritizik, Lep Wepizi is from Tsikiugui barracks, and Captain Romi is from south Darshian. He’s been leading our expedition.” This remark elicited a scornful sniff from Soza who still had his back turned. “I’m sorry we can’t spend any time with you this morning, Wepizi—I need to get back to the academy.”
“I understand, my friend—you have much work to do, I’m sure.”
“Is there something any of us can help you with, Karik?”
Karik was surprised by Romi’s offer. “No, thank you, captain. I just need to get my notes done for Kei so they can go back with the rest of the material.”
“Ah, well, speaking of that, Jou and Netu are ready to help you deal with things if you need it.”
“Oh—that’s very helpful, but I think it’s all in order. Thank them for me.”
Romi nodded. “One more thing, though, now I’ve run into you. We’ve been told who our guide is—a fellow from a northern tribe, very good connections with the council here and apparently fluent in Darshianese. I was hoping to introduce you to him tomorrow,” he added politely.
Soza turned and gave them all a baleful glare. “Karik is here to assist me, lieutenant. He doesn’t need to concern himself with such matters, and if anyone needs to be introduced, it’s me.”
“The invitation was naturally for both of you, Soza,” Romi said, still smiling politely, though the smile didn’t reach his eyes.
“Soza, I’d like a chance to meet this man,” Karik interrupted, not wanting a pissing match to start. “I need to go to the barracks anyway with my notes.” If you ever let me finish them. “You don’t need to take the time, if you don’t have it.”
“If I can’t spare the time, then neither can you,” Soza snapped. “And I believe I have spent long enough at this. I’ll make my own way to the academy, Ritizik. Don’t be long, Karik.”
Karik smiled through gritted teeth and made a polite noise at the peremptory command. As Soza stalked off, Wepizi gave Karik an embarrassed look. “Ah, we have caused you a problem. I’m sorry, my friend.”
“Oh, never mind,” Karik said with a sigh. “But I do need to get on—we’ve got so much material from the market alone to send back to Kei. If I don’t hurry up, I won’t finish what I need to before we go.”
“Don’t let us hold you up, then,” Romi said. “Kizinke—that’s the guide—will be coming to meet the two of us tomorrow, at noon. If you’re there, fine, but I can’t ask him to wait.”
“I understand. Good day to you both.”
Romi and Wepizi both bowed politely to Ritizik and wandered off towards the stalls selling clothes and ornaments. Ritizik stared after them. “So these are the horribly rude soldiers? I have to say, your standards of politeness must be very different if that was rudeness.”
“Oh. Ritizik, I’ve been meaning to say something about that....you see, Soza and Romi...well, they don’t get on, so that colours Soza’s opinion. But I honestly believe the soldiers have done an excellent job, and if you and the academy want to involve the military, Lep Wepizi for instance would be the finest person you could ask for help.”
“Ah.” Ritizik stroked his beard. “This cheers me to hear, Karik. Master Jerzwi was very disappointed by Soza’s assessment—he had been in the middle of drafting a proposal to ask the king and council for the help of the army to investigate the dry regions, but stopped when Soza said what he did. He will be delighted to have a contrary opinion. So you and this captain—or is it ‘lieutenant’? You get on all right—it’s just Soza?”
“It’s ‘captain’, and...well, it’s not all Soza’s fault they don’t get on. Captain Romi can be very irritating when he wants to be, but that doesn’t mean he’s done a poor job. Far from it. He’s contributed greatly to our success—they all have.” There, Karik thought. A wrong righted, he hoped.
“I will pass your words on, but if I may be blunt...?”
“Of course.”
“Then I will be. I worry about you travelling with that man,” Ritizik said, his young face solemn. “He seems...too full of pride, too possessive. He lacks—forgive me, Karik for being so harsh—he lacks generosity of spirit.”
“He can be generous,” Karik protested. “He was very kind to me in Urshek.”
“Then I am sorry twice over for offending you, my friend,” Ritizik said with a bow.
“You haven’t—I just...he was very kind,” Karik finished, rather lamely. “Just...not so much lately, I suppose.”
“I understand. You miss your friend,” Ritizik said shrewdly. “But you are not blind to his faults, either.”
&nb
sp; “No, but I think it’s me who’s changed, not him. I can’t blame him when he’s no different from how he was.”
“We grow, we change, and sometimes we outgrow our friends. But if you and Soza are not close, and you and this captain do not get on—is it very unpleasant on this expedition? I had envied you the chance, but perhaps I should not have.”
Karik signalled that they really ought to start walking back to the academy, and Ritizik fell into step beside him. “It can be unpleasant,” he admitted. “But I’ve made friends and the captain...he’s not so bad. Not now. He and Soza act like a pair of bull beasts fighting over a she-animal, though.”
“Oh, ho, and are you the female in season then?”
Karik gave his friend’s arm a reproving punch. “That’s so far from being funny, it’s actively nauseating,” he said firmly. “Don’t joke about such things.”
“I won’t,” Ritizik said, bowing a little. “But the captain, he’s very handsome, don’t you think?”
“No,” Karik lied. “He’s got a big nose.”
“Big nose, big—”
“Ritizik.”
Ritizik grinned, and bowed again. “Yes, my friend. I understand. You do not like your ugly captain.”
“You spent far too long with Kei.”
Staying Power: 18
That odd little meeting with Karik occupied rather more of Romi’s thoughts than he would have liked, but try as he might, he couldn’t stop it bothering him. It was Karik’s smile, he thought—meant for Wepizi alone, most likely, but it had been turned on them both, and the open welcome had hit Romi hard. It had been so much like the way Daiso used to smile when he saw him, and Romi, who had thought he’d been doing so well in getting over his faithless lover, was hit by an overwhelming pang of loneliness and longing. He wanted Daiso’s smile again—he missed his lover so much, and the friendliness and politeness Karik had shown both of them without reserve, had only sharpened that pain.
It made it worse to know that the person who had a right to Karik’s smiles cared nothing for them, and had spoken to his lover in a manner which Romi would have found offensive even if addressed to a complete stranger, let alone someone he was supposed to love. Did Soza not realise how lucky he was? Regardless of Romi’s opinion of Karik—and if he was honest, the man wasn’t bad at all once you got past the pride—Soza had caught himself a real prize, and anyone who would put up with his nonsense deserved a medal.
Staying Power (Darshian Tales #3) Page 23