A Simple Darkness (The Young Ancients: Tiera)

by P. S. Power

  "A race? Well, I'm nearly as fast as anyone else here and not wearing armor. Beat me back and I'll put in a good word with Karen, so she won't beat you too hard." He smiled then and shook his head. "Just kidding. She'll beat you anyway. It's kind of the job description, isn't it? Shall we?"

  It was said in a charming way, but one that sounded kind of relaxed. He was cute, in a very large kind of way, since he must have been close to seven and a half feet tall. Maybe a little shorter than that, but since she was just a tiny bit over five feet it seemed like a lot to her.

  "On go then..." Karen spoke the words in a low voice, each of them standing with their right hand on the stone wall, everyone else moving to the side without waiting to see what they were doing overly. This kind of thing was done then, Tiera realized. Fighting area or not, they held enough races here that everyone got the idea. "Ready, steady....Go!"

  It wasn't her plan to make the boy look bad, but she ran as fast as she could anyway, even knowing that she was supposed to always let men win physical competitions. Her older sister had informed her of that several years before. It was only polite after all, since their egos were so tied up in physical things. Karen was the one she had to impress however, not David, and if the boy hadn't meant for her to look good he would have run faster. She hit the far wall after just a few seconds and bounced, pushing hard and kicking off of it, since she couldn't possibly change direction otherwise. Her feet slipped a little on the smooth cut stones under her, but she passed the large boy and hit the first wall before he touched the other side.

  Panting, she looked at Karen, wondering if she'd done too much, from the way everyone was staring. After a few seconds the large woman looked at Kolb and waved at her.

  "Decent speed, but how's her endurance? We need to test that too." Her tone was nearly bored, even as they had to wait for David to sprint back from the far side. He didn't quit, even when it was clear that he'd lost their little race. He didn't seem upset either, just breathing hard for a bit as Karen got Judy ready for a longer trip. A few others were collected up for that as well.

  After a while David spoke, waving at his face as if it might help him catch his breath.

  "Alright, I'll put that word in, but I doubt it's going to help. That kind of speed has to translate to fighting, doesn't it? No one will cut you much slack now. Should be interesting to see."

  They had to run several miles then, which was a lot harder for her. She kept up, but it left her feeling ragged and tired. Dave clapped her on the back when they were done, which left her feeling slightly awkward, since she'd broken a sweat, even with a temperature equalizing amulet on.

  "Faster than Tor, but not as good on endurance even by a tenth. Are we moving to stones then?"

  The big woman let her head come up once, and pointed, which got the thin boy to pick up a heavy looking rock with a metal handle set in the top, which he started swinging around. She was, they informed her, supposed to copy him. It was harder than it seemed, since she could pick the things up, but not really swing them, not without making her whole body spin around.

  Karen nodded and pointed to a stone about six down the line, they were arranged by size, and this one was huge compared to what she was holding at the moment.

  "Pick that one up. One handed first. You don't have to swing it. Just a straight lift, like this." She bent to demonstrate, picking the thing up to her own waist and letting it drop with a soft thud. "Go ahead."

  It was really hard. Her hand hurt from the pressure of the metal as she did the lift, and the rock bumped against her leg hard enough it would probably leave a bruise. She got it up though, and then had to do it with her other hand, which was even harder. She dropped it a little suddenly then, but her new trainer seemed happy enough with the effort.

  "Good, we won't have to spend six months coddling you then, before we get to the real work."

  After that they worked on punches and kicks, as well as blocks for them, then some basic sword strikes. It took a while, but at the end of two hours she was covered with sweat and had to run again. This time to get to the girl's baths and clean up before math class. She was nearly late, which got Instructor Neytev to glare at her, but the dour looking man didn't say anything, just starting in on his daily lecture. He did the same thing each day. It was half an hour of explanation, followed by an hour of practice, during which you could ask him questions. If you got done early he gave you extra questions, but they'd each have a trick in them, so they were more interesting than the original work.

  This, by far, was her favorite class. Yes, the Instructor was a bit of a bitter person, but the work was always interesting, since it changed each day. History, which she also had before lunch did too, but it wasn't as satisfying, being too easy. They were told stories and they had to remember them. Sometimes they read. It wasn't hard. This time she decided to linger just a little after class however, not wanting to go to the noon meal. She was a little hungry, from all her work and the fact that she hadn't had breakfast, but she couldn't eat at the dining hall now. She didn't know how she was going to get food, but it wouldn't be there.

  Plus... She had to go and do those apologies and that wasn't a fun thing to her mind. Really, she shouldn't have to, since she'd mainly been trying to help people, right? Except... While that was part of it, she'd been passing judgment on people too, hadn't she?

  She hadn't asked if anyone was poor, since that would be rude. No, she'd just assumed it, which was nearly worse. Also, while she hadn't been trying to be mean at all, she'd flat out told some of them that they were too ugly for her. It was kind of true too. She didn't want to be a petty person, but... She was pretty and that meant she could have a really nice looking boy. Maybe more than one. There was more than a bit of her not wanting to waste herself on men that she didn't have to, wasn't there?

  So, really it wasn't all as high minded as she'd been letting on, was it? That part was true too, clearly, or the Truth amulet would have made certain the whole world knew otherwise, but now that she'd thought about it... That probably wasn't enough.

  It wasn't fair. Why should she be the one to have to do this? Humble herself over and over again like this... But it had to be done. Worse, it probably needed her to wear an amulet to prove she meant it. Luckily she did, now that it had all been explained. She really wasn't going to look good though and that was, she realized, pretty important to her.

  Dawdling wouldn't help, she could tell that, so she moved into the dining facility wondering if she'd be slapped or beaten while she groveled. It happened, or so she'd heard. Naturally, everyone turned to look at her the second she was inside the door of the brown space. They elbowed each other and spoke in hushed and subdued tones. The Lairdgren group was at their regular table, which got her to go over and stand in front of Farlo Ross, who looked down at her a little harshly. She didn't speak, just waiting.

  "May I borrow your Truth amulet?" She spoke softly, so that it wouldn't carry across the whole room. She already wanted to die of embarrassment and it wasn't going to get any better, was it? Everyone knew what it meant when she started to glow, or close enough that the few that didn't had it explained pretty quickly. She had to look around to find Henry, who was, of course, sitting with Ali, her sister-in-law. She didn't speak to the woman, since that would be too much on top of the rest of what she needed to do. Instead she knelt on the floor and, as Judy has suggested, put her head on the floor and spoke gently, tears coming to her eyes.

  "I'm so sorry." She didn't have a lot of eloquent words for it, but she did explain herself, taking full blame for her actions, even though she kind of felt misled. It didn't show up as a lie however, and the boy in front of her waved her up after a while.

  "Fine." He shook his head though and looked away. "I can forgive you, but we aren't friends. If you ever need anything from me, don't ask." The words sounded a little hurt still, but she nodded, knowing that she didn't have a right to ask for more. It was a bad situation all the way around. Then she had
to find the other six boys. It took a while since they weren't all there, two of them going to the Special School, which was housed across campus. There was a whole new group of people to humiliate herself in front of then, which filled her with warmth. Not the good kind though. No this was acute embarrassment, made even worse than before, since no one here bothered to look away like a few of the others had before.

  It was done then. She didn't fool herself into thinking that this really fixed things, but it was about all she could do for now, she figured. Well, if she had sex with them that might help, but she didn't know how, other than what her mother had told her. It wasn't allowed back home and here, well, it was, but she hadn't been doing anything yet. She hadn't even kissed anyone.

  Well, except for Regina, but that was only to practice for when she was doing it for real. Her roommate had assured her that everyone did it. It was part of why they had other people in their rooms. That and to keep people from feeling too lonely. It made sense, after a fashion, since there were a lot of empty rooms otherwise.

  When she got back to her room, ready to confront Regina with her bits of misinformation, she found something very strange. All her things had been packed for her and were sitting outside the door. Karen stood leaning against the frame with her arms crossed, wearing what seemed to be a very nice pair of red fighting leathers. It worked for her, even if it was a strange color for the things. It meant they were probably magical like what everyone else wore, but had good designing involved.

  Tiera pointed and sighed.

  "So, I'm being kicked out? I guess that couldn't have happened before I spent over an hour groveling and being told I was a bitch, could it?" She waved, a little dismissively and shook her head. "Never mind. Wrong is wrong, no matter why it's done. I just hope people are happier now. Well, I need to be off then, if I'm going to get back to Two Bends tonight." She started to move toward the chests, holding her right hand out, ready to tap the plates on the top that would make them follow her as she flew. Karen didn't stop her, just tapping her own hand and moving along with her.

  "This way. First floor, two buildings over." The big woman's short hair blew in the breeze a bit, meaning she wasn't flying with her shield on, even though Tiera did.

  It was just protocol. When she'd learned to fly you had to turn the shield on yourself each time. Going without could mean dying after all. The newer shields would make that so it wasn't as needed, but it wasn't a perfect system, so she kept to the old ways.

  When they got to the correct building Karen landed and pointed.

  "Room three. You're sharing it with me. Kolb and Hardgrove both feel that it might be best for you to be with someone a little more... Um, knowledgeable about what you need to learn. This way I can make sure you understand what you need to fast enough as well." She had a strange tone to her voice, as if it wasn't something else.

  Tiera rolled her eyes.

  "I see. So I make one mistake and now everyone thinks I'm a moron? You're here to act as a guard, aren't you? Against the Larval, or the other kids?" It sounded almost absurd to her, but the fact was, the latter was far more likely to actually come after her, at least so far that had been the case.

  Karen chuckled.

  "Oh, don't be such a bitch. No one thinks you're anything less than smart. No one that knows anything about you at least. You probably have to be, given the whole Ancient thing, don't you? Being intelligent comes with that, at least as far as I can tell from the stories. I suppose you could be the one stupid Ancient, but what are the chances?"

  Honestly, Tiera didn't know. There had been hundreds of them once and only a handful had survived. That they'd all be fairly brilliant made sense, didn't it? She hadn't proved out that way yet. She really could be someone not smart enough. It wasn't the case though. Oh, she wasn't Timon, but she was probably about as smart as Tor or Terlee. More or less at least.

  Instead of answering she made a face.

  "I'm not a bitch, I'm really nice and kind. I just get mad. Mainly when people don't listen to me."

  Karen nodded and patted her shoulder companionably.

  "Pretty much what the word means." There was a quick grin, which got a small laugh from the Tiera.

  She sighed.

  "So this is my punishment? Are you going to beat me in my sleep or make me do sex things with you? I haven't done a lot of that." It was a little off putting to tell the truth. Not that Karen was all that bad, but she'd have preferred experimenting with someone a little closer to her age. The woman must have been over twenty, at least. More, she probably had experience and all that, so anything Tiera did wrong wouldn't just be awkward, it would be readily apparent.

  The woman didn't say no, exactly, but she did help pull the trunks into the room and pointed to the back bed.

  "That one is yours. I'll take the door side in case of attack. As to anything else, well yes, I will beat you. Daily. It isn't a punishment though, it's an honor. As for the rest of it, well, I suppose you're pretty enough. I hadn't really thought about it before. Honestly, if you don't mind, I'd rather not go in that direction. It isn't anything about you, just that I'm one of your Instructors, you understand?" She smiled about it and made more significant eye contact than was really needed, but Tiera thought she got the idea.

  "So, I'm supposed to do that if I'm putting someone off? Not just tell them the truth? Is that your point?" She smiled as an afterthought and her new "Instructor" bowed.

  "You got it in one. Perfect. See, I knew you were smart. To answer the question however, yes. The more complex answer is that I was actually a little heavy handed. Most of the time, if someone asked you to do something like that, just say yes. You aren't required to, but it saves on all kinds of problems later. Save your refusals for marriage. You'll probably have a few proposals eventually, so you'll want to bank goodwill for that."

  The words were said very precisely, but were blunt at the same time.

  "Wait, so when those boys asked me out, or suggested we... I was supposed to say yes?"

  "Right. In fact, now that you've messed up as much as you have, you probably won't be asked to do anything for a long while. If anyone suggests you do something with them, anything at all, you should go along with it. Well, sexually speaking. Don't rob people, or jump off of cliffs into the ocean or anything silly like that. You know what I mean though, don't you?" She watched her closely, her body moving slowly to the bed, her own and lying back.

  For a few minutes she just sat and thought about things. The bed had the regular school blankets and spread on it, which was unique for each one, with a patchwork quilt that was no doubt very old and well worn. They had to do their own laundry here, but it wasn't that big of a deal at all, since she was both used to it, and had magical clothing. She hadn't worn anything else yet. It cut down on the work a lot.

  "So..." She turned to the older girl and smiled. "I'm Tiera Baker. First year student and monumental screw-up. Also Conserina fifth, Lairdgren. I was a delivery girl for Two Bends quick delivery and now have a job as a part time pilot with the Fast Transport service, since my brother Timon owns it. He's two years younger than I am." It wasn't an impressive resume, but got a nod anyway.

  The hard looking woman sat up.

  "Nice to make your acquaintance. I'm Sir Karen Derring, which just so you don't get confused, means I'm a Knight, not a man. Conserina first, Derring. Your sister in-law is my sister, so we're related after a fashion. Not so close that we couldn't have a little fun, but I was serious about the whole Instructor thing. That's really frowned upon here. Some of the other sections are different that way I hear, but Sir Kolbrin would have my hide if I broke that rule, I think. I sort of agree with him. It bonds people too closely for a good working relationship. If any of your other instructors ask though, remember to say yes. We can deal with the fallout later."

  Tiera looked at the woman sharply and then realized it probably wasn't that big of a deal. At least it explained why Ali was telling her stories about Tiera.
Sighing, she realized that she had some things to take care of there as well then. She didn't know why, exactly, Ali had been being cold toward her, but she needed to see to it as soon as possible. After all they were family, and rooming with her sister probably meant she'd hear all about it if Alyssa complained about her later.

  "So, I need to go and do some things. Want to come with me?" It was probably cowardly, but having a hulking brute along with her might help keep the worst of the attacks down. It seemed backwards, but she really felt like things might just get worse before they improved, apologies or not. Hopefully no one would be spitting in her food anytime soon, but her hunger was kind of intense at the moment, so going and finding something in town only made sense. That plus the fact that she had to get a haircut.

  Karen didn't make her wait, or answer, just rolling to her feet so smoothly it barely made a sound. That got Tiera going, taking a small cloth bag to carry her shopping in. She didn't have a basket, but this was sturdy canvas and had little flowers sewn all over it. She'd made it herself. It worked for shopping pretty well.

  She mainly got dried fruit, which she could eat without preparation, and some dried meat for the same reason. It wasn't great food and not her favorite, but it would keep and she had enough to hold her for several days. It cost three silvers, which made her want to wince, but she kept it off her face. If she was careful she'd be able to make it. At least if she could pick up a few more days of work from Tim. He'd said there looked to be more coming, and that she needed to be in touch on her off days for that. Judith too, probably.

  That part of the new order wasn't thrilling her at all. Kolb said they had to get along, and the girl was just going to go along with it after hearing her reasons? It didn't seem likely at all, did it?

  No, there was going to be trouble from the plain and gangly girl. No doubt about it. Hate and anger didn't just vanish. Tiera knew that one first hand.

  Chapter two