Chapter 14
About a week later, I was sitting with Skiff in Talia's room, guarding her. When Skiff had asked Keren and the other adults if he could guard her, they had told him that he could, if there was another trainee there, and preferably a female one. That, of course lead to all of the other trainees that Talia was friends with, or even the ones that had only met her once or twice asking, too. Talia had an incredible ability to make people loyal to her. I think it was a combination of looking so delicate and young, and being so clueless about life here in the city, and what heralds were. Not that I was all that much better when I came, but at least I knew how Companions choose!
I ran the whetstone down the edge of my sword, sharpening it. "Isn't that sharp enough?" Skiff asked skeptically.
I raised an eyebrow at him. "Would you prefer a very sharp sword, or a dull one." I asked.
"True." he said, picking up a knife that needed it's grip fixed, and fiddling with it. "But just don't over do it." he warned.
I rolled my eyes "Everyone gets that lecture from Alberich- what makes you think I didn't?" I asked smiling.
"I hated that lecture." Talia mumbled from beside me.
"You're awake!" I exclaimed "Do you want anything?"
"Water?" she asked.
I handed it to her, and the medicine that Devan had left for her when she woke up. "That stuff looks nasty." I said, staring at the foul green filled mug.
"And it smells weird." Skiff added.
"It tastes worse, trust me." Talia made a face, but chugged it quickly, taking sips of the water to wash the taste away.
I took the cups away from her when she was done, and set the back down on the desk. "How long until you are free?" I asked. Talia hadn't left the room except to attend the funeral of Herald Beltran, a Herald who was killed while on an assignment from the Queen a week earlier.
"Devan said I will be fit for classes in a few days, but doesn't want me doing much of anything until then, to keep me from doing to much. Even after I start classes, I'm excused from chores for another two weeks, so I have time to try and catch up. I'm glad that you all are bringing my homework, though. I'd be much further behind without it!"
"I can't even imagine!" Skiff exclaimed. "It's bad enough if you miss a few days if you are sick, but almost an entire month!"
I groaned "Skiff, you are making it worse." I pointed out.
"I am?" He asked, confused. Talia and I roll our eyes over his head.
"I'll put it this way- would you like someone pointing out how much work you had to do in a situation like this?" I asked him.
He winced "Good point." he muttered, flipping his dagger in the air before catching it again. I was always amazed that he could do that without a single scratch. However, his hands were scarred with all of his previous attempts that had gone wrong, so I guess it was just something that came with a lot of painful practice.
Talia tried to hide a yawn, but failed. "Go to sleep." I assured her. "Someone will be here when you wake up." We watched as she drifted off, then resumed our sarcastic conversation, only quieter.
A week later, I was once again sitting with Skiff and Talia, however we were now in the opposite of the room Talia had while sick-we were in the clutches of the Weaponsmaster, Alberich. Talia was not yet cleared for weapons work, but she came to watch the others practice and note ways that she could improve. We were all glad she was there- the weeks without her had been oddly lonely, considering how many of us there were. Somehow, the quiet, clueless farmgirl had become friends with the entire Collegium. And not just the Heralds, either. The trainee healers were all somehow avoiding whoever they were fighting (sometimes by the nick of their teeth, but they still managed it) and kept worried eyes on Talia. The bards were watching to, but not nearly as much as the trainee Heralds were. Talia was surrounded in a sea of grey. Anyone trying to get to her would have a fight on their hands. And that's assuming they could get past Alberich, who could be seen glancing at Talia if you were watching him hard enough. Talia's attack had shown the herald trainees how dangerous being a herald truly was. If the Queen's Own could be attacked in the middle of Heaven, then nowhere was safe.
I was distracted from my thoughts by someone yelling my name. I glanced up to see the Dean waving me towards him. There was a girl about my age standing beside him. I got up from where I was sitting in between Drake and Talia, and jogged over to the dean. "Giselle, this is Avelina. I was showing her around, and was about to introduce her to Alberich, but an emergency council meeting was just called. Can you take over?"
"Sure." I said, and the dean hurried away. I turned to the blonde girl. "Hi, I'm Giselle. Want to come and meet the others?"
The blonde girl hesitated, her green eyes flickering over the group of trainees that I had just left. "Okay." I lead her to them, noticing that drake had moved to where I was sitting, and everyone else had moved over so that the two seats at the end were empty. It was likely their overprotectiveness of Talia that caused it. Avelina might be a herald trainee, but she was also new. We knew nothing about her, or where she came from.
Just as I thought that, Griffon piped up. "Hi, I'm Griffon, I'm from Zalmon, near Rethwellan."
"And I'm Giselle, as you've already heard, I'm from Horn. Over there is Weaponsmaster Alberich, from Karse, and Jeri, his current protege, from Heaven."
"I'm Avelina, and I'm from Deercreek. My parents ran an inn along the Exile's Road."
I grinned "Well, you have joined the company of a pair of twins, Drake and Edric, that come from a village so small I doubt it's on any maps, Devan, who is the son of a Herald, Jeri, over there, whose blood is as blue as the Queens, Coroc, whose blood is just as blue, Alberich, who is an ex-Karsite captain, Talia, a Holderkin farmgirl, and me, farmgirl. Heralds are made up of all kinds of kinds."
Avelina smiled, somehow reassured by my words, which quickly turned into a grimace as Alberich called her name.
Later, after weapons training, I was wondering back up to the Collegium with Coroc. Dean Elcarth had returned to get Avelina, and continue the scheduling that the emergency had interrupted, so it was just the two of us.
"You know, when you said you were a farmgirl and that you did a lot of the work, did you really do everything?" He asked quietly.
I pursed my lips and thought for a moment. "It is a really small farm, just enough to feed us and our animals maybe just a little extra on good years. All I really did was the day to say stuff- feeding the animals, moving them from one place to another, making sure they and the crops had water. Our neighbors did the hard stuff- the harvesting of the crops, the shearing of the sheep. We gave them whatever extra crops or wool that we had that we didn't need, but mostly they did it cause Dad would help them with anything they needed help with before the accident."
"I couldn't imagine doing that much work when I was little! It amazes me that heralds can all come from such different backgrounds, you know. I was sitting near a holderkin farmgirl, an innkeepers daughter, you, who ran a farm, and me-"
"Whose blood is bluer then the Blues' uniforms." I add with a grin.
"Well, as you put it- Heralds are made up of all kinds of kinds."
"That we are." I said as we parted ways, each to go to our rooms. I just wondered what kind Avelina was.
Hi everyone! I reread my copy of The Hills Have Spies today and it seemed to have revived my love for this story! I'm slightly wishing that I had chosen to set this story with Mags instead of Talia, but I will finish this! Then…. Maybe. I'm sorry this had taken so long- I had this almost done late October, but then NANOWRIMO hit and there went all of my writing time! After that came finals and Christmas, so this was the first chance I got to go back through this and see where I was trying to go with this chapter, and finish it up.