Hunter's Beginning (Veller)

by Spoor, Garry

  ***~~~***

  17

  Kile sat on her bed, curled up in the corner eating the last of her peppermint imps, an open book lay beside her but she was in no mood to read. The idea that a group of people, of whom she knew none, were going to decide her fate because of an incident they never saw was rather unnerving. She still never found out what would happen to her if she was found guilty. It was not as far fetched as Master Adams had led her to believe. If the entire trial was going to be based upon the personal testimony of her peers as well as the staff, it wasn’t going to be in her favor. She was not naive enough to believe that, and if they did find her innocent, they would still have to decide whether or not to allow her to continue at the academy, there was little chance of that happening. The only solution she could come up with was to agree to take the gate of Pudora, the walk of shame, to quit the academy. That way they wouldn’t have to go through the embarrassment of a trial, and as Master Adams had alluded to, she was going to be expelled anyway. In spite of what Daniel said, she was sure it would be easier to get a job after quitting the academy as opposed to being thrown out of it. The stories were that many cadets who couldn’t hack the Academy life and were never meant to become Hunters were readily accepted into the military. Could she actually live a military life? It was an option, but was it an option she was willing to take? If she had another year at the academy she was sure she could land a job as a merchant guard, at least then she would be able to see the world. The last thing she wanted to do was to return home with her tail between her legs. It would have been one thing to fail the entry examination and be told you weren’t good enough, it was quite another to actually be one of the few to make it into the academy, only to be thrown out over something that she had no control over.

  As she sorted out her bleak future, there came a knock, but not on the door, on the window shutters. Kile crawled to the end of her bed and pulled open the shutters to find the top of Daniel’s head. He quickly turned around when he realized the window had been opened.

  “Get out of here.” She told him in as quiet a voice as she could. He was risking his own career as a Hunter just talking to her.

  “Look, we have an idea.” Daniel said as he tried to calm her down, “Carter thinks that the crossbow may have been tampered with.”

  “I’m sure they checked that already.” She replied as she started to close the shutters.

  “That’s just it, nobody did.”

  Well, that didn’t make sense. How could you have an accident with a piece of equipment, and not check the piece of equipment that the accident occurred on?

  “That's impossible, how come…”

  The newly installed latch on the outside of her door rattled. Kile quickly moved away from the window, grabbed the book that lay open on the bed and started to read out loud. The door opened and the guard looked in. He didn’t enter the room, he never did, he just scanned the room from the hallway, and when he was sure that there was no one else there, he fixed his gaze on Kile.

  “Are you alright?” He asked her. He was a sympathetic guard, rather young, a kind face, as much as she could see through the open faced helmet that he wore. There was a familiarity about him that she couldn’t place. She had never seen him before but she felt she did. He probably just reminded her of the guard the helped her back in Littenbeck.

  “Oh… sorry.” She said as she closed the book. “Sometimes if I read it out loud it makes more sense.”

  The guard looked at her and then at the window with the shutters still half opened. If he knew what was going on, he was very good at keeping it to himself.

  “You may want to keep it down a bit.’ He said as he pulled the door closed.

  She waited until she heard him pull the deadbolt then turned back to the window, but when she pulled open the shutters, it wasn’t Daniel she found, it was Alex, and it wasn’t just his head, it was his whole body as he was being hoisted through the window by Carter and Daniel. Kile wasn’t sure if she should help pull him in or push him out.

  He came through the window landing rather noisily on the floor and put a finger to his lips to silence her as if it was she that was making all the noise. He pointed toward the window and motioned for her to get going. She was already expelled, what else could they do to her? Her only fear now was brining everyone else down with her.

  She climbed out the window and dropped to the ground just as she heard the door to her cell being opened. She knew the guard’s head would be popping into the room to find out what all the noise was about, she held her breath and waited for the alarm to sound.

  “Everything okay in here?” She heard the guard ask.

  “Yes.” She heard herself answer in a rather monotone voice, Kile looked at Daniel and Carter for an explanation but both were holding their breaths and staring up at the window. There was a prolonged silence before they heard the door close again, then they both let out a sigh of relief.

  She was about to ask what was going on, but Daniel held up his hand to keep her quiet. A few minutes latter Alex’s cloak came out the window, and Daniel motioned for her to put it on. Before she could, a white furry shaped leapt from the window sill and landed on her head, then crawled down to sit onto her shoulder. If she hadn’t gotten used to Vesper by now the sudden appearance of a yarrow on her head and the way she was feeling at that moment, would have freaked her out.

  -Help you.-

  Those two words meant a lot as she draped Alex’s cloak around the both of them and he nestled beside her neck hidden within the lining of the hood. The tickling of his furry little tail on the nape of her neck was a bit distracting and she knew she would have to find better accommodations for him to ride along in the future.

  Daniel grabbed her arm and led her away from the window and toward a more secluded area behind some of the overgrown shrubs that lined the front side of the dorms.

  “I can’t believe he pulled that off.” Carter said shaking his head. “I was sure he would foul it up.”

  “Tell me about it.” Daniel laughed nervously.

  “Why don’t you tell me about it, what’s going on?” Kile asked. “And what is Alex doing in my room?”

  “The less you know about what Alex is doing, the better off you’ll be.” Carter replied.

  She wasn’t sure if Carter was referring to Alex’s part in this little scheme, or the fact that the boy was alone in her room. Neither scenario was very comforting.

  “Carter believes that the crossbow you used may have been damaged, or probably tampered with, and if that’s true, it would prove it was an accident and there was no aggressive action, carelessness or incompetence involved. Technically you’ll be in the clear.”

  “And you said they didn’t check the crossbows after the accident?”

  “Right.” Carter added. “After the incident Master Finds collected all the crossbows and returned them to the armory including the one you used, nobody even saw it after that. Since then the armory has been closed off.”

  “So they just assumed that I shot Master West deliberately.” Kile concluded. It was an outrageous concept but it was the most popular one going around.

  “Something like that.”

  “And how is this going to help me?”

  “Simple. We find the crossbow you used during class, if it was tampered with, we give it to Oblum and you’re in the clear.”

  “Assuming that he doesn’t expel all of us from breaking confinement, breaking into the armory, stealing weapons and I’m sure he could figure out a half dozen more charges to throw at us.” Carter added.

  “Thanks, it's nice to know that it’s not only my butt that on the line.” Kile replied. “How are we going to know if the crossbow was tampered with?”

  “As you know, my father was a blacksmith, he made thousands of weapons for the Callor Militia. I use to help him assemble crossbows.”

  “So, what am I doing here?” Kile asked. Her involvement only heightened the risk if the outcome wasn’t
successful. If they got caught without her they could get off with a warning or possible some form of punishment within the academy. They get caught with her and they were sure to get expelled along side her.

  “You’re here because you’re the only one that can identify the crossbow you used.”

  “I can?”

  “You better, otherwise this is all for nothing.” Carter added.

  “We’re not doing any good standing here.” Daniel said as he stepped out from behind the shrubs. With all lessons and academy activities placed on hold due to the gathering as well as the Crossbow incident, as it is being referred to, an impromptu ball game between the second years and the third year cadets had started up in the List. With nothing else to occupy their time most of the students went to watch, it was one of the things that Daniel was counting on. When he was sure that nobody was looking in their general direction, he waved Carter and Kile out.

  Kile pulled the cloak’s hood lower over her head, much to Vesper’s dismay. She tucked in any of her stray hair that was sticking out and followed Cater across the compound as quickly as possible while not looking too suspicious. Of course, walking across the compound with the cloak pulled around her and the hood up over her head in the middle of the summer was suspicious enough.

  “I have to ask.” Carter started as he walked along beside her. “Did you know that you have a rat on your shoulder?”

  “No, I hadn’t noticed.” She replied.

  “Will you two keep it down?” Daniel hissed. Now that the plan was actually underway, she could tell that he was getting nervous. Was it possible that he wasn’t so confident on the needs of a healer at the academy?

  They were only half way across the compound when Daniel cursed under his breath. Kile turned to see what the problem was and echoed his choice of language. Master Boraro had caught sight of them and was now heading in their direction. The single mindedness and tenacity of this man would indicate that he had been watching Daniel for some time, waiting for him to try something. They didn’t know whether or not he had actually seen Kile with them, but they weren’t going to wait around to find out.

  Kile pulled the hood even tighter around her face as the three of them changed direction and headed toward the stables. If they could get in there before he stopped them, then she might find a place to hide. If only she had Alex’s gift with illusions or even Carter’s invisibility she could have avoid being seen.

  The Weapon’s Master took large strides across the compound and caught up with them quicker than they would have liked.

  “What's going on here?” Boraro demanded.

  Daniel motioned for them to keep moving as he stopped to delay the Weapon’s Master.

  “Afternoon sir.” He said in his most courteous voice.

  He stopped and looked past Daniel to where Carter and Kile were still making their way up the hill toward the stables.

  “Why aren’t you boys over watching the game?”

  “We’re not really interested in the game sir.” Daniel replied as he casually stepped in front of Boraro, a poor attempt to block his vision since the man towered over the boy. “Is something wrong sir?”

  “Who’s that with Cadet Hausman?”

  Daniel turned to see who Boraro was referring to, although he already knew.

  “Who's that sir?”

  “That’s what I’m asking Cadet Leary, who’s that with Cadet Hausman?” Boraro asked again as he side stepped Daniel. “You there, under the hood, what’s your name cadet, show yourself.”

  “That's just Alex sir, cadet Bartlow.”

  Boraro held his position for a while, staring at the back of Kile’s head as she continued to follow Carter up the hill.

  “A little warm to be wearing his cloak, don’t you think.”

  “Well, you know cadet Bartlow sir. He’s not… really all there, he’s… a little strange sir. He tends to do strange things now and then.”

  “Does he now?” Boraro replied with a softer voice, it was obvious that he wasn’t buying into Daniel’s explanation. “So what are you boys up to?”

  “We were thinking of getting in some sparring practice sir. Alex needs all the help he can get.”

  “Sparring?” Boraro repeated as he seemed to weigh the matter in his head, “Yes, of course, excellent, I won’t keep you then.” He took one last look at Kile, turned and started back down the hill, but he wasn’t heading back to the game, he was heading towards the dorms.

  “That’s torn it.” Kile said as she peeked out from under the hood.

  “Nothing we can do about that now.” Daniel replied. “Let’s just hope that Alex is up to the challenge.”

  “Yeah, you never did tell me what his part in this was.”

  Boraro stepped through the front doors of the cadet’s dorm. It’s been a long time since he walked these halls. They seemed so much larger back then, but that was another lifetime. He could recall every one of his academy days, and the last thing he wanted to see was his academy being disgraced by the type of Hunters that have passed through the western doors recently, or maybe the ones that threaten to pass through in, say, two more years. Not if he had anything to say about it.

  It wasn’t difficult to find cadet Veller’s cell, it was the only one with a guard posted on the door. He could have confronted her friends out in the open, forced that kid to remove his hood, or should he say, her hood. Did they really think that that lame disguise was good enough to fool him? Of course if it really was Cadet Barlow under there, then he would have looked foolish. They would argue that he was being prejudice again the girl; he had nothing against her, only that she should never become a Hunter. Girls were never meant to be Hunters, peasants were never meant to be Hunters, Orseen were never meant to be Hunters, so it was obvious that an Orseen peasant girl was definitely never meant to be a Hunter. It was only a matter of time before the members of the council would come to the same conclusion and if they didn’t, then the Sons of Terrabin would have to persuade them, one way or another. If the Hunters were ever going to be a successful force in the Kingdom of Aru again, then they would have to be more selective about who they allow in, the entry examination wasn’t enough.

  He got to Kile’s door and reached for the latch when the guard grabbed his wrist. He had a surprisingly strong grip for a young man.

  “Do you know who I am?” Boraro asked as he pulled his arm back.

  “No sir. I can’t say that I do.” The guard replied, but in such a way that he clearly didn’t care either.

  “I am Garrett Boraro, scourge of the black water pirates, holder of the Cross of Aru, Certified Level One Hunter and Weapons Master at this academy.”

  “Nice to meet you sir, I’m Bob.” The guard said, and even extending and open hand. Boraro just stared at it with contempt. He would not debase himself by shaking the hand of a lowly city guard.

  “I’ve come to see the prisoner.” He said.

  “Technically she’s not a prisoner since she hasn’t been charged with any crimes, she is however being confined which means no visitors and no exceptions.”

  “Obviously you care very little for your career.”

  “You are correct sir. As a matter of fact I always wanted to be a tailor like my father, but I just didn’t have the knack for it. I spoke with a sergeant down at the recruiting station one day, they can be very persuasive you know, and before I knew it they had me in armor and on the walls defending Azintar. I’m not even sure if I went through basic training.”

  “It has come to my attention that the prisoner may have escaped. Does that change the facts any?”

  The guard thought for a moment, then shook his head.

  “No sir, I don’t think so sir.”

  “You could be guarding an empty room.”

  “Wouldn’t be the first time sir.” He shrugged.

  “All I want to do is to take a look to see if the girl is still in there.”

  “Ah well, we can do that sir.” The guard said as he
pulled the latch. “But you can’t visit with her.”

  “I have no intention of visiting with her.” Boraro replied through clenched teeth as he waited for the guard to open the door.

  “Is everything okay?” The young man asked poking his head into the room.

  Boraro pulled him aside and threw open the door, slamming it against the wall. Kile was sitting on the bed reading her book when she suddenly looked up at the Weapons Master standing in the doorway. She didn’t say anything, she just sat there staring at him with a rather vacant expression.

  “Sorry for this intrusion.” The young guard spoke over Boraro’s shoulder. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes.” She replied in the same monotone voice.

  “You haven’t been out and about the compound today have you?” The guard asked.

  “No.” Kile replied

  “There you are, satisfied now?” The young man asked as he reached in and started to pull the door closed. Boraro slammed his hand against the door to hold it open.

  “Something’s not right here.” He said as he turned to Kile. “State your name girl.”

  Kile just stared at him.

  “I said state your name.” Boraro demanded again. He started to take a step into the room, but the guard yanked him back and pulled the door shut before the man’s foot ever touched the floor.

  “I said you couldn’t visit her.”

  “I wasn’t visiting, I was questioning.”

  “You attempted to enter the room, which constitutes a visit. You could easily ask questions from the doorway.”

  “Fine, I’ll ask questions from the doorway.”

  “Sorry, too late now, I don’t trust you.”

  “Look …”

  “I’m sorry… Garrett Boraro was it? Certified Level One Scourge of the Black Water Hunters. My orders are quite clear; nobody visits the girl without the headmaster’s permission. If you have a problem with that, take it up with him.”