Crack. The faintest hint of sound told him that his effort had worked. Panting and drained, Aedelbert stumbled a little on the loose debris as he backed away from the face. He made it as far as the fire. He dropped the small torch into the flames, then sank onto the ground.
Splash hssssssss! "Ow." Ehric yelped, but quietly. Aedelbert sat with his head down. Sour, hot wine-lees smell and hot rock burned his nose as Caedda splashed lees of wine and cold water against the wedges. The rock splintered, throwing bits here and there in protest as it broke.
"Blood for flesh," Caedda told the boy. "Make another torch and bring it when I call for it." Aedelbert heard more wedges being pounded into the stone. His head pounded in time with the hammer blows, as it always did. The first eight wedges drained him more than anything else in the work. Caedda could do the rest, at least for today. Tomorrow would be chisels and muscle as they cut away the space above the block-line.
Aedelbert breathed and rested, feeling the sun-heated rock beneath him and the fire not far away. Something, a chunk of harder stone, had fought against the cracks and had deflected some. It didn't feel as if it would disrupt the work enough to justify moving the workface up or down. He'd know better after another day's labor.
Aedelbert opened his eyes a whisker and watched the others. Caedda didn't see the rock the way Aedelbert did. At least, what he described sounded different. Since he shared Aedelbert's sense of when and where to strike, that sufficed for their work. Like Aedelbert he offered his donations to the Scavenger as a master stone-cutter, nothing more. The guilds and confraternities did not approve of men who worked outside their rules, and neither had trained as a mason. Besides, a true master mason would be wasted on this raw, rough work.
"Torch." Ehric lit a third torch and hurried it to where Caedda waited. Aedelbert shifted so that he lay on his side, away from the fire, and napped despite the sounds and sensations.
The sun on his eyes woke him. That and Ehric exclaiming, "Sir, it cracked!"
"Yes, it did. Master Aedelbert's worked long enough to know the weak places that you and I don't see as well. So he let the stone do the work for us," the patient voice replied. "However, we have a lot of labor yet to do, because we need to cut free a line of stone one hand-width above the crack, in order to make a drip-way for the water. That's pure muscle and patience."
Late that afternoon, the three stone workers walked back to Garmouth far more slowly than they had departed. The great-hauler bounced along, looking left and right and probably enjoying the day of rest, if the birds acknowledged such things. Aedelbert envied the bird. His arms and legs felt as heavy as the very mountains looming to their east, and his head pounded like a water-powered hammer. Scavenger be praised, they'd leave the boy at his inn. He'd have questions Aedelbert could not answer, and Aedelbert needed to sleep. If he could have ridden in the cart he would, but then others would have questions, and the city guard likely would not take, "Just a touch of bad food, sir" as an answer, not this time of the day. "Rock to the head" likely wouldn't go over well, and the teasing...
Aedelbert woke the next morning with a vague memory of food, drink, and stripping for bed. His shoulders and elbows complained about moving, and his hands warned that he'd best not work without padded gloves. "How long until Eighth Day?" Caedda grumbled as water splashed. "Bread's on the table. I'm done."
Bread and hot tea, bless him. Aedelbert rinsed his face and hands, ate and drank, then rinsed again. Tomorrow they'd go to the bath house, all three of them. They'd need it, and something told Aedelbert that they'd not be working on the following day. "Anything broken?"
"Besides my back?" The tired joke sounded tired. "No, and I didn't see any mis-shaping of the wedges. I sharpened the drills and cleaned everything after you fell asleep. The others came past and said that we were welcome to shift over to work with them." Caedda chuckled a little as he said it. "I was polite."
"How bad's their rock?"
"They were not grumbling, at least not in the street. It's got some seams they don't like, but what doesn't? Seams are why the city's here." Caedda packed the tools into their cases and leather rolls. "I'll get the cart and boy. He might have the eye."
"Huh." Caedda departed and Aedelbert used the night-bucket, then set it out for the nightsoil men to collect. He carried the wash-water bucket down to the landlady's garden and poured it onto the compost heap as she'd asked. If she stayed happy with him, she'd be more willing to grant them a little mercy if they couldn't work for a few weeks, Scavenger forefend. Her youngest son staggered past under a load of golden-brown fodder, forcing Aedelbert to dodge out of the zig-zag path of the walking hay pile.
As Caedda had warned, that day the men hammered at the rock face, cutting the crack free from the stone above. Ehric lacked stamina but worked hard, and Caedda took pity on him, sending him for water a few times, then telling him to light a fire for noon. They'd have to stop to sharpen the chisels and drills as it was, and warm tea would be good. The afternoon turned hot, and the heat reflected off the stone until all three dripped water. Twice before day's end Aedelbert ordered them to stop and rest, and drink. But they had the entire two lachter span cleared. His ears rang and he tasted rock grit even though they'd worn their hood—somehow it found a way through. Nothing stopped dust if it were determined enough, Aedelbert sighed, and he almost wondered if the zwurge had done something to the rocks over night to remind the men to behave.
The third day they worked down the edges of the two blocks-to-be. The vertical cuts grew more quickly than the horizontal, and after noon, Aedelbert and Caedda switched to drilling the top of the block while Ehric continued deepening the sides. He had a steady hand and didn't protest the labor, both strong points in his favor. When the sun reached four hand-widths above the top of the trees to the west, Aedelbert called for a stop. "We've done what we can do for right now. Load the cart, Ehric." The men tidied the work face, brushing away loose material and rock-powder with little twig-brooms, then packing their tools and quenching the fire. Aedelbert also buried a fresh bun in some of the tailings as a gift. He didn't really believe in zwurge, but it didn't hurt to leave something in exchange for the trouble-free work. He flexed his aching hand. Not entirely trouble-free, but that was his own inattention rather than the "Scavenger's hands" at work.
"Oh, this feels good," Ehric sighed as he lowered himself into the hot-water tank later that afternoon. The other men smiled a little, but they could see his fresh cuts and bruises. Aedelbert and Caedda joined the others in the soaking tub. Caedda still maintained that the bath-house owner was touched in the head for not having separate hot baths for everyone, but the arrangement made sense to Aedelbert. Especially since this facility did not have scrubbing women or similar staff. For that a man went to the Red Schaef or other houses of pleasure. Here men washed, rinsed, then soaked. Woe betide the man who dared put his still-dirty self in the soaking tub! He'd be drowned before he had time to apologize. And then banned from the baths for a fortnight.
"Weather's changing," one of the earlier arrivals stated. He lay back with his eyes closed, only his head above the water. "The wind's northeast and wet."
"We're due. Should have had a good rain after that last cold snap," a red-headed man with a scribe's callouses said. "Master Wassa says the zwurge were grumbling, and the Gift breathed last night, clearing the tunnels and shafts."
"Rain, then." With that the men fell silent, content to soak and rest.
After the blood had returned to those places where it belonged, Aedelbert levered himself out of the tub, covered his privates with a modesty cloth and went to the drying room. He found his clothes tidied and brushed and someone had attempted to clean his boots, Korvaal have mercy on them. He left a little extra copper for the effort. Caedda and Ehric followed, and the three repaired to The Ore Cart for a good meal.
"... not my problem. We pay the seventh, and if they don't take it, then read them out three times. If they don't come to reassert their claim, then we
take the money back, or use it for the temple," Jens Saxklar declared. His voice carried over the other conversations as the three stone cutters found seats in the inn's crowded commons room. The fire miners must have been paid, or so Aedelbert guessed.
A younger, red-headed miner fidgeted, then blurted, "Can a man do that? Read a noble out of ownership? Won't the emperor punish us, and the noble punish us too?"
Jens looked to a grey-haired man sitting at the end of the bench. The old man's shoulders and neck hunched like a dead-eater bird, and the hand holding his leather mug lacked two fingers. He peered back at Jens and the others, then snorted. "This is a mine. Miner law is imperial law, set back at the end of the Great Cold. Anyone who doesn't claim their share or do their duty as owner," he pointed a battered and crooked finger with swollen joints at the younger men. "If there's proof, and the man is cautioned, then read out three times on three Eighth-Days in a row and he doesn't answer, he's read out of the mine and loses his share."
Didn't everyone know that? Aedelbert wondered where the young man came from and what else he'd not learned. He selected a sausage from the fast-shrinking pile on the common platter and studied it, then give it a little sniff. Smelled right, meaty with a little spice.
Caedda nodded his agreement with the old miner and nibbled the end piece of another sausage, then took larger bites. "Great-hauler," he said after swallowing.
Good, Aedelbert said to himself. Schaef sausage... the less said or remembered the better. Aedelbert tried the cheese. It tasted sharper than what he was used to, but not bad. It bulked up the sausage, and together they filled his empty middle. He preferred a larger mid-day meal, but not enough to go all the way to town, then return to the work face, not when they were paid by the piece. The pickled vegetables cut the fatty aftertaste and softened the dark bread. Aedelbert had gotten the dark ale and savored it, nursing the first mug until he finished the meal. Caedda and Ehric stayed with the small-beer. Ehric did not need to be drinking heavy beers yet, the men had agreed. First, they needed to see if he had a fondness that might interfere with working.
"Didn't you see the opening of the new vein?" one of the other miners demanded of the red-head. "Bergmeister approved Wulfric's claim, and only marked it in sixes, not seven. He didn't even bother with the lord's share."
That stirred up the conversation. Caedda raised one eyebrow and held up his right hand, five fingers spread. Aedelbert wondered too, then shook his head. No one would dare claim the emperor's share—the gods would surely smite the man for greed. Aloud Aedelbert replied, "Not if rumor's true. And things are strange enough I'd trust rumor this once."
"Point, sir," Caedda allowed. Ehric looked from one to the other, but didn't ask. He wanted to, Aedelbert could tell. But he'd learned the hard way to wait. That was another reason why the stone cutters had hired him as apprentice.
A rough voice asked Caedda's silent question aloud. "Will the imperial share be next?"
Silence slammed down onto the inn's commons the way a rockfall crushed men and trees. Several miners, the serving women, and the beer-boy all made the horns and spat, warding off trouble. Others edged away from someone at the end of the bench table farthest from the fire. After a hundred heartbeats, or so it felt, Jens shook his head. "Not if what the traders say is true. The emperor sent word to the northern cities that he is coming this winter, after the ports close, to do justice and visit the lands of the empire. He's bringing his court, or so the traders say."
"So Liambruu's folly's making trouble for all the rest of us," one of the old men groaned. "Someone should have thumped that fool when he was younger."
"Too bad it was only his ambassador got turned to a snake for breakin' god oath and not th' king," the oldest man creaked.
"Not snake," one of the stone-workers contracted for the wall ventured. "Brother-in-law was repairin' the bridge at Moahnebrig. Traders came through sayin' they was there and the gods turned him to ash, all but his boots and smalls."
A very broad-shouldered man seated by the fire turned to the others and raised a pewter tankard. "Howsoever it happened, the gods punished the man for false oath in their names. There's stories of other things, things the emperor needs sort out. If he comes, settles Liambruu, then leaves for another four hundred years or so, we'll all be better for it."
"Aye, better an emperor in the north than an Aldread in the council house," a wiry miner declared. A chorus of agreement followed his words, along with calls for more beer. Aedelbert noted that no one challenged the statement. Did everyone agree, or had those who preferred their local lords learned to keep quiet when the beer flowed?
"So, anyone besides Wulfric find any more silver?" The red-head sounded skeptical and took a long drink before continuing. "I'm thinkin' he'll find lead and more of that black vitriole."
" 'Course he'll find lead. These are lead mountains. Copper's what I'm hopin' for," a dark-skinned miner thumped the table with his open fingers."Silver'd be nice, but copper pays."
"Aye that," half a dozen men agreed.
Caedda held up his mug, then pointed to Ehric. The boy was almost asleep on the bench, leaning against the wall. Aedelbert shook his head and Caedda lowered the mug. Aedelbert caught the serving maid's eye and held up three coppers. She took them, brought his board and marked it down where he could witness. He made his mark. Then he and Caedda stood and roused Ehric.
"Find anything good?"
Caedda turned and nodded to the dead-eater-like old man. "Good stone and true, sir, no veins thus far, Scavenger be thanked."
"Sounds like a true stone-cutter, not a miner," the old man chuckled. "Scavenger be with ye."
"May your work be steady, your hands as well, and the Dark One prosper you in His lands," Caedda called to the room as the men left, Ehric staggering a little between them. The boy tripped once and Caedda grabbed him. He was asleep on his feet. "Hot bath, good food, hard work," Caedda chuckled.
"Agreed. I'm not too far behind him," Aedelbert murmured. A watchman turned and raised a hand.
They slowed their steps as he came closer, then recognized them and their load. He waved, letting them pass with a muttered, "Young men and strong beer. He'll learn come the morning." The stone-cutters left Ehric at his home inn, then went straight to their room.
The next morning, Aedelbert heard the sound of rain and ice over Caedda's snores. The air chilled those parts of him outside the blankets and straw-filled mattress. He used the night-soil bucket, then dove back into bed and returned to sleep. Sleep came rarely, and he couldn't work in the cold. Rain yes, but not in falling ice. Schaef and great-hauler killing weather in both senses of the term. He pulled the blanket higher. Thanks be to Yoorst for wool and down. Thanks be to Gember for a good meal, and to Korvaal for firewood and charcoal.
He woke again as Caedda broke ice off the wash-basin, yelping, "Ssssss, that'll wake a man!" Teeth chattered. Aedelbert felt around beside the bed until he found his smalls and trousers. He pulled them up under the blankets and dressed that far, then patted again until he found his socks. No bare feet on the cold floor if he could help it! Caedda tucked himself into the corner of the chimney that passed through the room, stealing heat as Aedelbert finished dressing and washed his face and hands. "It's snowing now, and hard cold," Caedda grinned. "I hope you were right about the cracking."
"So am I. Golden Loaf?"
"Aye." They pulled on their boots and coats, then pulled waxed-canvas cloaks over those. A few men and women clomped through the snow, heads down and hoods pulled up to keep the snow away.
Caedda dodged an overly-eager apprentice wielding a broom with far too much enthusiasm as he cleared the step and area around the shop door. Once he recovered his footing, Caedda ventured, "Jens says all winter is like this in the far north, but with more wind and harder, longer cold. His mother's from there, isn't she? Or was it east?"
"Both. 'S why he's," Aedelbert tapped the side of his head. Jens wasn't mad-crazy, just uncanny at times for a man not Scavenger
-born. 'Course, there were gods harder than the Dark One, or so he'd heard. It wasn't something a wise man asked. He ducked into the Golden Loaf and inhaled the smell of hot bread and mulled wine. It would be a good day to rest and sharpen tools.
The sky cleared after noon but the clouds took the heat with them. When he woke the next morning, the cold cut through the blankets and Caedda moaned mightily about fools, work, and it never froze in Chin'mai. "Aye, and you'd have to work for nothing, and they get those sea storms that cover the islands in water as deep as a man is tall," Aedelbert retorted.
"I can swim. So long as the water's only knee high." Caedda had fussed about the first cold of winter every year he'd worked with Aedelbert. Was it a ritual, or just something his family did? Probably yes. "I hope Ehric's sponsors gave him good winter breeches."
4
Cracks, Rain, and Walls
"Oh!" Ehric had learned not to whistle around stone, lest he offend both the Scavenger and the zwurge. He'd probably absorbed it from the miners through the air in the inn. "The Lady of Waters really did break the stones." The boy sounded awe-struck.
Caedda straightened up from his crouch at the base of the chunk of stone. "Her waters always win. Be it ocean, river, or rain and ice, Donwah's waters are stronger than the land and stone. Sometimes She works slowly, other times," he nodded to the block. "But She still expects us to do our share."
Miners and Empire Page 4