by Brian Keller
As they walked Cooper took the opportunity to look around this part of the Trade Quarter. So many times he’d walked through, but his concentration was taken up by navigating the crowd while seeking an opportunity for a quick steal and a smooth escape. Now he could just look around. There was a vendor selling silks in a multitude of vibrant colors right next to a stall where a merchant was selling gilded bird cages, with a bird already inside it. The next vendor was selling woven baskets of all shapes and sizes. Cooper remembered sights like this from his childhood and realized he’d walked down this street two months ago and didn’t really recall seeing any of this. These three vendors occupied a space in front of a wax merchant. He had shelves upon shelves of candles and statuettes in a wide array of colors.
Most of the buildings in the Trade Quarter were two story stucco buildings, with the store downstairs and the living space upstairs. The Planning Commission rented out the spaces in front of the stores but each store owner got a percentage of the fee. Cooper knew that Faril, Chesim’s father, had to pay weekly rent to use the space where he parked his cart every morning to sell his fish. Store owners could be very particular about how the stall vendors arranged their wares in front of their stores. Any perceived loss of business due to blocking the path of a customer through their doors brought a swift, official complaint and usually resulted in a fine being levied against the stall owner, to compensate the store owner who felt he had been blockaded. Perhaps this explained how the wax merchant had a bird in a gilt cage hanging out of his bedroom window and a collection of short candles divided amongst several woven baskets.
Birt told Cooper that they were taking a message to a home in The Grid. Birt further explained that almost all of the messages the couriers delivered went to only four districts of the city. Many stayed within the Trade Quarter, most went to The Grid, some went to The Heights, and even fewer went to The Lakeside. Of course there were a few that went elsewhere, but those were less common. Birt said he’d been to the Palace a three times, to the Waterfront half a dozen times, and he had heard one of the other kids had even delivered a message to Serpent Tooth Prison last month.
Cooper asked who was to be the recipient of their message. Birt replied, “Lady Marion Gwende, is what Garus told me, and the name is also tucked in right here under the ribbon.”, Birt pointed it out to Cooper, “it’s always right there under the ribbon, in case you forget.”. Birt continued, “When we get back we return the tube to the Custodian that day, and today that’s Garus. Whoever hands you the tube is who you give it back to when you return. Or at least that’s true if you return during the same day you left.”. Cooper was just curious enough to ask, “We deliver messages outside the city?”. Birt replied, “Well, we don’t, but yes, couriers deliver messages all over the Kingdom and perhaps further. I really couldn’t say. Those trips are for second year students that never seemed to Manifest strongly enough to qualify for higher level training. Missster Garus fits into that category. From what I understand he has always been slimy, but failing to advance has made him even more unpleasant and dangerous to us first-years. From what I understand, he has successfully cornered a first year student from time to time and they have come away emotionally scarred from the experience. I suspect it may merely be a matter of time before missster Garus finds his luck has run out. Those first-years will eventually Manifest, and one or more of them may decide they are strong enough to see to it that karma runs full circle.
As the pair of couriers entered The Grid, they encountered a City Guard patrol. Cooper felt the hairs on the back of his neck sticking out but he stayed in stride with Birt as he walked right up to them. They all stopped and looked each other over for a second or two and Birt presented the copper tube to one of the guardsmen. He waved it off to the other guard with a look that resembled disgust. The other guard accepted the tube, glanced at the ribbon and roughly handed the tube back to Birt with a growling, “Carry on, but don’t wander about.”. Birt clicked his heels, gave Cooper a nudge and lightly stepped, almost skipped, away. Once they were out of earshot Cooper asked, “What was that all about?”. Birt told him, ”Make no mistake the City Guard controls who goes where in the city limits, except for couriers. We go anywhere and everywhere. There are limitations, of course. If your delivery address reads for a home in The Grid and you’re stopped in The Heights, then chances are you’ll be in trouble… Unless you can convince the guard that the person you’re delivering is actually in The Heights and the sender got it wrong by thinking they were in The Grid.” Birt grinned and winked. Cooper clarified, “Actually I was wondering about the way we parted ways from the guards. You were almost dancing!”. Birt laughed out loud, “Oh that! Ah, well, it seemed to me that at least one of those guards hates his job and it amuses me to show him that I enjoy mine!”. Birt had a wide smile on his face as he said, “Plus, it was my way of telling the other one that I’ll go where I want!”.
While Cooper applauded his new friend’s rebellious streak, he had to think that he’d just drawn unnecessary attention to himself. Those guards might even recognize him a few months from now…
While the houses in the Trade Quarter were almost all a uniform, two-story stucco construction they were arranged in a haphazard manner. Not as chaotic as the ramshackle huts of The Dregs, or the poverty-stricken wreckage of Batter’s Field, but the streets and alleys were located wherever there was enough space to walk or push a cart as long as you could navigate through or around the shallow open sewer channels. Crossing one street and entering The Grid was visually the complete opposite. There were no sewers to be seen as they were underground, the streets were aligned perfectly and uniformly north-south and east-west, but each house was completely different from the one beside it and each of them were different from the ones across the street and so on. Cooper was convinced that in all of The Grid there were no two houses alike. Most of the houses were still two story structures, but there were more than a few that were three story. Some had lavish gardens, others had martial training grounds while still others devoted their property to stables and circular pens for working their horses. Most all of the houses were of stone but of all varieties and colors. Some had columns, some were completely unadorned, while others had a façade of exotic wood. Cooper had never been in The Grid in the daylight and he decided there was just too much to see all in one trip. Another thing that struck Cooper as remarkable was the difference between day and night. At this moment The Grid was almost as active as the Trade Quarter with wagons going to or coming from making deliveries and carriages filled with giggling teenage girls or stiff, unruffled businessmen on their way to make their next handful of gold crowns. Another difference Cooper couldn’t help to notice was that he and Birt were almost the only people in sight that were on foot. After walking about five more blocks Birt turned to stand in front of a gate guard in front of an impressive home surrounded by a ten foot fence of wrought iron. The house was constructed of large blocks of stone, each layer offset from the layer above and below. Cooper was thinking how glad he was that he hadn’t needed to climb over a fence like that last night. Was it really only last night?!? Cooper wondered why he didn’t feel more tired.
Birt handed the copper tube over to the guard so he could confirm the correct address, assuming he could read, of course. The guard nodded and waved them in. Cooper had to resist the urge to drop into a crouch, while Birt strode in like he belonged here. Birt looked like he wanted to try taking the steps two at a time, but Cooper assessed that would take a short running start. The steps were a little higher than standard but the treads were deep enough most people would step up, take a step, then step up onto the next step. The stone steps looked to be carved smooth but left unpolished. ‘Smart’, Cooper thought. Polished stone would be very slippery in the rain and this house had no awning or overhang. Birt turned to Cooper, gestured at the door and asked, “Would you like to do the honors?”. Cooper made a shoo-ing gesture indicating Birt should just get on with it. Birt shrugged, tur
ned to face the door, raised the enormous iron knocker and banged it down three times, and then stepped back to wait. They didn’t have to wait long. Cooper could hear regular, measured footsteps approaching the door and as they drew closer he could hear a rapid pattering and sounds of sliding and slipping in the background. The door opened just enough to allow an older, stately gentleman wearing a house staff jacket to step outside just beyond the door. He glanced from Birt to Cooper and back to Birt, then visually registered the courier sashes and the copper tube in Birt’s hand. The pattering sound had continued and was rapidly drawing closer. The man was just holding his hand out for the tube when he was jostled from behind. The man took a step forward and whirled around to look behind him, “Ah, excuse me, miss, for standing in the way of your progress.”. His tone was not entirely that of approval. Cooper heard the giggle of a young girl and a sweet little voice saying, “Actually, Marcus, you were standing in the way of my egress!”. She laughed as if she were enjoying her own little private joke. A slight smile twitched at the corners of Marcus’ mouth, “Indeed, quite clever, young miss.”. A little blond head filled with long, flowing curls and a couple of loose braids popped around the door and looked around. Seeing Birt and Cooper her eyes flashed and she exclaimed in an accusing manner, “You are not Fran and Billy!”. Birt gave a bow and a flourish and said, “You are most correct. My apologies for disappointing you, my lady.”. The little girl’s jaw dropped a little bit, then she wrinkled her nose playfully at Birt before looking up at Marcus. She said, “He’s sweet! Do you think he could stay to play ‘Knaves and Nines’ with me?”. She raised her eyebrows at Marcus. The house man appeared to sputter for a second and Birt came to the older man’s rescue, “Nothing would please me more, my lady. But I fear I must push on in my official capacity and deliver this message.”. Marcus looked like he was laboring to suppress his laughter as he again reached out for the copper tube in Birt’s hand. Birt handed it to him announcing, “For Lady Marion Gwende.” Marcus asked, “Was this to be delivered to her personally by you?”. Birt said, “That was not included specifically in my instructions but it is generally assumed, unless there are circumstances that otherwise prevent it…?”. Marcus nodded sagely. To Cooper this entire exchange almost sounded rehearsed. Marcus pushed the door open wider, “Milady is in the sun room last I saw, reading. It is straight back through the glass doors. Ah, mind the soil there, young sir. It appears the young Miss Ellyn has knocked over a planter again in her haste to reach the door. Please excuse me for a moment while I summon a housekeeper.” Birt dutifully assumed the position of a waiting courier, Cooper poorly mimicked the same stance as he stared at the grand displays of wealth within his sight. Sculptures occupied every recess in the walls of this opulent entryway and every space between the recesses had a masterful painting hanging on it. The floor and stairs were polished gray marble with streaks and veins of quartz, or something like quartz, throughout. There were tapestries hanging in the next room and to Cooper’s eyes the curtains looked like spun gold. Cooper snapped into position as he heard footsteps approaching. A lady dressed in a flowing dress of dark blue silks stepped around the corner. Her dark hair had been curled, twisted and piled high on top of her head and pins of silver, gold, and other precious metals were pressed in from all directions to hold her hair in place. Her movements were graceful and her manner could only be described as elegant. Birt bowed his head and inquired, “Lady Marion Gwende?”. The lady smiled and said playfully, “Well if I’m not, then I’m certainly enjoying her wonderful collection of hair pins.”. She glided to Birt with a wink and extended her hand to accept the message. Birt deepened his bow and placed the message in her hand, saying, “Milady”. With a dexterous movement that still seemed graceful the lady produced two coppers and placed them in Birt’s hand. Birt took a step back and said, “I thank you, milady. And bid you good day. Please extend my best wishes to Marcus and young Miss Ellyn, and I further wish her good luck in finding a partner to play Knaves and Nines.” With that Birt turned and herded an open-mouthed Cooper through the door and back out onto the sunny steps. Cooper had noticed an unmistakable look of amusement and a little surprise on Lady Marion Gwende’s face in response to Birt’s overly gracious farewell. Once outside Cooper turned round to Birt and blurted, “Can you tell me just what in the blazing pits that was all about?!?” Birt continued to herd Cooper toward the gate. Cooper allowed himself to be guided out but he wasn’t going to be ignored, “Are we expected to carry on like that whenever we deliver a message?!?”. Birt laughed out loud, “Heavens no. I did all that because it’s fun for me.” Cooper looked incredulous, waiting for further explanation. Birt continued, “We shouldn’t talk about his here on the street. We’ll talk more when we get back.”. The walk back was uneventful except for Birt’s occasional chuckling and incredulous musings, “I really pulled it off, didn’t I?”. More chuckling. Once back inside the Scribe’s front office, Birt handed the copper tube to Mister Garus without a second glance. As Birt made his way to the cashier he resumed his explanation, “As you progress in the Guild, you’ll come to find there’ll be occasions when you’ll need to use disguises. Well, disguises aren’t just about the way you look. For a good disguise to be great, the wearer needs to be able to act the part as well. Now, for most of us, if the disguise is a beggar or a dock worker we can pull that off easily, but you must realize that to reach into the pockets of the truly worthwhile targets, it pays to be able to fit in. Acting the part to fit your disguise might be the difference between being allowed into a party or being turned away at the door, between full pockets or work camp shackles.”. Birt handed a single copper coin to the cashier who then extended a sheet of parchment and a quill to Birt. The boy took them and scribbled his initials on a blank that followed “Lady Marion Gwende” and then he continued, “By playing the role that I just did, I had a chance to assess those people’s reactions to my acting. The little girl saying I was sweet and wanting me to stay and play with her was about the highest praise I think I could get. But to pull out all the stops and get the positive reactions that I did from both Marcus, the trained house man, and the Lady of the Manor, who would definitely find a way to let me know if I was ‘doing it wrong’…? That lets me know that I’m definitely on track.”
Once he’d heard the explanation, Cooper had to admit there was sense of it, but he doubted he’d ever be able to manage it.
As the boys opened the door, Master Worthan was approaching from the classroom. He appeared intent on passing through the doorway so the boys stepped aside. As Master Worthan passed he paused in front of the boys and said, “Return to your seats and resume your studies. Mister Cooper, your papers are stacked neatly on a corner of my table.”, and he continued on into the Scribe’s storefront.
Chapter 7
As the boys entered the Copyist’s Room, Cooper heard a voice call out from the boy near the center of the room, “Well, I half expected them to be holding hands when they returned!”. This was followed by a chorus of chuckles from more than half of the students in the room. Birt said nothing so Cooper followed his example. Cooper gathered his papers and returned to his table as Master Worthan had instructed. The boy who had spoken turned in his seat and Cooper was able to see his face clearly for the first time. He had thin, greasy light brown hair that laid flat on his head, and a large forehead above pale, grey, narrow set eyes that seemed to glitter with malice. His small nose was slightly upturned and contrasted sharply with his small chin and heavy cheeks. The boys wasn’t hugely overweight but to Cooper one word seemed to sum up the boys build, ‘Soft’. It seemed to Cooper that the boy was feeding on his own momentum and really enjoying his opportunity to torment his chosen target, Birt, but Cooper was getting pulled in by default.
The boy was chuckling to himself, seeming to be his own greatest audience, as he said, “I can’t even tell which of them has been on his knees.”. Then he added, as if to himself, “I wonder which of them is the girl…?”. Cooper decide to tr
y to adopt the tone that Birt had used when speaking so nobly earlier, “I must apologize, but I really don’t have the time to help you recognize the differences between boys and girls. But if your inability to tell one from the other continues into adulthood, we’ll all likely be better off since you won’t be kicking out litters of offspring.”. The boy looked as if he’d been slapped and the entire room seemed to take a collective gasp. The boy turned his undivided attention to Cooper and his pudgy cheeks drew back to reveal an evil smile. He got up from his seat and started to turn towards Cooper, “Nobody talks to me like that. Nobody.” The door opened and Master Worthan stepped into the room. He seemed to take everything in all at once, “Mister Boyd, return to your seat, unless of course you were making your way to the privy.”. Boyd fixed Cooper with an icy glare and flexed his fingers but returned to his seat. There was a low murmur throughout the room for a second before Master Worthan spoke to the room in general, “This morning’s assignments require no discussion. Concentrate on your studies, some of you may yet improve enough to continue with us for another year.”.
Once Cooper had answered a few more questions he found that he had to raise his hand with increasing frequency. He kept seeing words that he’d never seen or heard before. He had started feeling frustrated but then he realized that this was how the questions and their arrangement were intended. Master Worthan was very patient and tried to get him to figure out what the words meant using what he called ‘context’. He said by knowing what the other words were, the meaning of the unknown word could be determined. Cooper re-read the question and still felt defeated. “#37. Describe how a compass and a secant are used as navigational aids.”. As Master Worthan leaned over him, Cooper said he had heard of a compass but had never seen one. It sounded magical, and he didn’t really know what it did. He had only been told that one part of it always pointed North. And he had no idea what a secant was. Master Worthan held up a finger indicating to Cooper that he should wait, and walked away, perused one of the shelves in the back of the room and returned with a roll of parchment. He unrolled part of it on Cooper’s table, enough to show that it was a map. Cooper’s eyes lit up. He knew what a map was! He sat up straighter in his chair. Master Worthan’s face took on an expression of approval as he leaned in and spoke in hushed tones, “So you know what this is?”. Cooper nodded enthusiastically and the Master continued, “Good. That will save some time. He placed his hand in the center of the map with one of his fingers pointing towards the top. He then rotated his hand so that his finger stayed level but was pointing in different directions, “This is how a compass points. Horizontally.”. He slid Cooper’s inkpot at the top of his table to the top center of the map and continued, “Now keep in mind that North is much further than the top of your table but conceptually this may help you to understand.”. He placed his hand to the right side of the map with his finger pointing at the inkpot. “If your inkpot is North, and you’re standing here with a compass it will point this way, toward North.”. As he continued to speak he slid his hand across the map, rotating his hand so his finger was always pointing at the inkpot, “But if you’re standing here, then your compass will be pointing this direction, towards North. Understand?”. Cooper nodded, and said, “It magically points to the same place. I understand.”. Master Worthan chuckled slightly and said, “It isn’t magic, but how it works is a lesson for a later time. Suffice it to say that it always points to a faraway place that is North.”. Cooper nodded and looked back up to Master Worthan, waiting for him to continue, which he did. He waved his hand across the map, “Now, if a compass measures this way, horizontally, how do you suppose a secant measures?” Master Worthan paused waiting for Cooper to reply. Cooper thought about it, and figured that a secant must measure vertically; but how? Cooper had to stop himself from blurting out, and continued in a hushed tone, “The sun and stars?”. Master Worthan chuckled, “Vertically, yes, but you’re not completely correct. The sun changes its position all the time, all throughout the day and even season to season. So, while the sun can be easily used to guide you in a general direction, it is more complicated to use the sun to identify a precise location. The stars work in much the same way, except for one star. Coincidentally, that star is called the North Star.” Master Worthan looked up and saw two other students with raised hands and told Cooper, “Use this new information to answer as best you can and continue to the next question.”. Master Worthan rolled up the map and then placed a hand on Cooper’s shoulder and smiled down at him, Cooper looked back at him with an expression that could only be described as admiration.