Soldier Song (The Teralin Sword Book 6) Read online

  But why?

  He staggered forward again, taking another step, and he caught himself by leaning on one of the buildings. Someone shouted nearby, but Endric couldn’t tell where they came from. Everything seemed a wash of colors, blurred all around him, and he took another step, keeping his hand on the building as he did. His head started to spin, and he steadied himself, trying to maintain his focus, and failing.

  It felt almost as if he had drunk too much ale, but he had nothing to drink while eating. Maybe that was the problem. Could he be dehydrated? When was the last time he had anything to drink?

  It had been on the ship. It was one thing he hadn’t refused when offered. Varian and his men had passed around water, and as they had been willing to drink from the water skin, so had Endric.

  No. It wasn’t dehydration.

  What was this, then?

  He took another step, and this time when he staggered, he wasn’t able to right himself. He fell, sprawled forward, and tried to roll over. He heard the sound of people near him and thought he heard someone shouting, but Endric couldn’t make out the words.

  What was happening to him?

  He tried to get up, but he failed. His legs didn’t work the way they were supposed to.

  Endric leaned forward, everything spinning around him, making the colors that he saw, the blurriness around him, spin around him as well, and he leaned over, vomiting, spilling out everything he’d eaten.

  He retched again, and again, finally stopping.

  When he was done, he remained in place, panting.

  What had happened to him?

  He needed to get up.

  That thought raced through his mind, more than any other thoughts, and he knew that he had to get up, that if he didn’t, he would be found by someone, and there was always the danger that someone might attack him. They might not know that he was Denraen, but they might recognize that he had a sword and money and…

  His sword.

  Endric grabbed it, squeezing the hilt. Something was reassuring about holding onto it, and he could feel the way the teralin sang to him. Slowly, his mind began to steady, and he opened his eyes, looking around.

  Where was he?

  He had lost all sense of direction. People had moved around him, giving him a wide berth, not that he blamed them. With the fact that he had vomited all over the street, he would’ve given himself a wide berth, and he sat back, trying to gather himself, letting his stomach settle, but it took a few moments for it to do so.

  “Do you need help?” someone asked.

  Endric looked up. It was an older man, and he carried a staff that reminded Endric of Novan. More than that, he had a necklace, and on the necklace was a mark that he recognized. How long had it been since he had seen the mark of the historian guild?

  Could this man be an actual historian? There were plenty of people who were imposters, who used the guild as a way to gain access and power even though they weren’t of the guild. That was something even Urik had told him about long ago.

  “I’m not feeling well,” Endric said.

  The man offered his hand, helping Endric to his feet.

  “I can see that. And smell it. What happened?”

  “I don’t know. I was eating in a tavern—”

  The man laughed, cutting him off. “One must be careful in Coamdon. Oftentimes, if they suspect that you won’t pay, they add a little something extra to the meal.”

  “I paid,” Endric said. His mind was already beginning to clear. Maybe the combination of vomiting and the way the teralin reverberated within him had helped, but he still felt unsteady. He needed to rest, and now he no longer knew where it would be safe to do so.

  “Ah. If you paid and they still did this, then they didn’t like you.”

  “That seems a little harsh.”

  The man shrugged. “Perhaps it is, or perhaps…” As he trailed off, he looked down at Endric’s hand. Endric had forgotten about the ring Novan had given him, a marker to use as his apprentice. The man—possibly a historian—stared at it a moment. “Who are you?”

  Endric had a name prepared, but now that he was faced with using it, he almost couldn’t remember what he was supposed to say. Novan had wanted him to present himself as a historian, as a member of the guild, and while he didn’t know enough about the guild, he didn’t know enough about what Novan had wanted him to do.

  And now he was presented with an opportunity.

  More than that, it was possible that having a historian here, someone who might be able to provide him with a safe place to stay and who knew the city, might help him.

  “My name is Benran.”

  “You wear the mark of the apprentice. Who is your master?”

  Endric hesitated a moment. After seeing the response that Novan had elicited from Varian and the others, he wasn’t sure what sort of reaction he might get from this man, and he wasn’t sure just how much Novan was disliked. Maybe that was a question he should have asked before, so that he could be prepared for the possibility that Novan wasn’t cared for by most of the guild.

  Then again, Endric simply needed to get there. That was the entire purpose of coming to the guild. He was to present himself as Novan’s apprentice.

  “Novan. I’m apprenticed to Novan.”

  The man stared at Endric for a moment. “Well, then. Come along and let’s get you to the guild.”

  14

  The historian moved quickly through the streets, and he didn’t give Endric much of a chance to keep up. It was almost as if he didn’t care whether or not Endric managed to do so. The buildings along the street were a blur, and the route the historian took led them down nearly empty streets. That triggered a warning in the back of his mind, though he didn’t know why.

  “I didn’t get your name,” Endric said.

  He wanted something—anything—for the man to slow down so that he could keep pace with him.

  “I didn’t offer it.”

  “You know mine,” Endric said.

  “I know the name you have taken as Novan’s apprentice, but I still don’t know your name.”

  Endric frowned. Did this man know who he was? There was another possibility, and it was that all historian apprentices took on a different name. Maybe that was the key, and if it were the case, why would Novan not have shared that with him?

  “What’s your historian name?” he asked.

  That seemed a safer question and one that was more fitting, especially with the fact that this man seemed to believe that Endric was keeping something from him.

  “I am known as Poaln.”

  The man studied Endric for a moment, seemingly watching him to see whether or not Endric recognized the name, but he didn’t. He had not heard the name of any other historians other than Novan—and Urik.

  “Why have you come to Coamdon, Benran?”

  “We came to meet with the guild,” Endric said.

  “And what purpose would you have in meeting with the guild?”

  Endric said nothing, not certain how to answer.

  When he didn’t, Poaln smiled. “Could it be that Novan has finally decided to put up an apprentice for testing?”

  Endric blinked. If Novan intended to put him up for testing, there was no way that Endric would be able to succeed. He didn’t know nearly enough about the historian guild or had any way of answering the questions that would likely come. The only problem was that Endric didn’t have any alternative that he could offer. In order to be believable, he would need something, but he had nothing.

  “He has, hasn’t he?” Poaln said. “Novan has not presented anyone for testing before. He has rarely taken on an apprentice, so the fact that we have you here is more than a little surprising.”

  “I—”

  “Well, if Novan has finally decided to present an apprentice, you must be incredibly talented,” he said.

  Gods, but what had he gotten himself into? He was no historian, and there was no way that he would succeed, especial
ly if they attempted to test him as if he were an actual historian.

  He had made a mistake. He should have waited near the docks for Novan, and now if he said something—anything—he would only draw more attention to the fact that he wasn’t really Novan’s apprentice. That might be even more dangerous than going along with this, though if he could only come up with a better reason for his presence here, it wouldn’t be such an issue.

  What was he thinking?

  The problem was, he wasn’t thinking anything. His mind was unsteady, weakened by the poisoning, leaving him uncertain.

  That was a dangerous mistake. Endric knew that and knew that he needed to have some other explanation about his purpose for being here, but he came up blank.

  “Where is Novan?” Poaln asked.

  “We got separated,” Endric said.

  At least that was the truth, and at least in that, he didn’t have to feel as if he were scrambling to come up with an answer. Perhaps had he not been poisoned, he would have been able to answer the other question more effectively, without struggling to come up with anything. As it was, he couldn’t help but feel as if his mind wasn’t quite working the way it was supposed to. He felt heavy, and with that heaviness, he struggled to put a coherent thought together.

  “If he intended to put you up for testing, then perhaps it doesn’t matter where he is. He wouldn’t be able to remain with you during the testing, but then again, as his apprentice, you would know that.”

  “Novan hasn’t told me much about the testing.”

  “Most of the time, master historians have gone against convention and shared details of the testing, but if anyone were going to follow convention, it would be Novan, wouldn’t it?”

  “I wouldn’t know,” Endric said.

  Poaln chuckled. “Novan is fickle, and I’ll be honest, I would love to hear the story about how he found you. The stories of his other apprentices are quite well known within the guild, and most of them are nothing if not amusing. Well, maybe not amusing for the poor soul who had to suffer under Novan’s tutelage, but they are amusing for the rest of us historians.”

  “It was chance, more than anything else,” Endric said. He felt as if he were getting his mind back together and felt as if he could think a little bit more fluidly, but he still was slow. Was that a side effect of the poisoning?

  “It usually is, though there were some that rumor has it Novan sought out.”

  “I don’t know anything about his other apprentices.”

  “Nothing? I find that difficult to believe.” He paused long enough to watch Endric a moment. “Though perhaps Novan thought to protect you from the rumors. Not that I would blame him. Those rumors are ridiculous. At least, most of them are. I mean, how could we believe that Novan would treat any apprentice the way that rumors have it that he treated his last? Well, the one I thought was his last?” He smiled at Endric. “And it’s about time that Novan has decided that he has trained someone well enough to present them for testing. The damned man knows far too much to let that pass on with him.”

  Endric didn’t know quite how to respond. It seemed as if Poaln knew Novan, but he also respected him, and it also seemed as if Novan had quite the reputation within the historian guild. That didn’t surprise Endric. What did surprise him was the fact that Novan had taken on other apprentices.

  Endric needed to be careful here if he was brought forth into the guild for this testing. He doubted that he would advance very far, and if he failed, it was unlikely there would be much in the way of consequences, especially as it seemed as if Novan had other apprentices who had either failed their testing… Or, what it really seemed like was that Novan had not proposed any others for testing.

  That shouldn’t surprise him, but he did wonder why Novan wouldn’t have any other apprentices that he thought were worthy. Could there be something with Novan, something more than the fact that he served the Conclave?

  Endric had enough experience with Novan to know that he could be strange and fickle, so that wasn’t entirely surprising, but it seemed as if even the guild felt the same way about him.

  “Like I said, I don’t know anything about his other apprentices.”

  “Ah, that is too bad. It would be interesting to learn what Novan was thinking with the others. Then again, considering what happened to them, maybe it’s best that we don’t know what he was thinking.”

  “What happened with the others?”

  Poaln waved his hand dismissively and tapped his staff on the ground. Endric glanced at the staff for a moment, half expecting it to have a flare of teralin, but there was none. At least he didn’t have to worry about that, though it was somewhat surprising that he carried a staff the same way Novan did.

  “There wasn’t anything to be worried about with the others. Most of them weren’t well suited to the guild anyway, at least to hear Novan speak of it.”

  “Do you know Novan well?”

  “I’m not sure that anyone within the guild can claim to know him well. He is unique, and that uniqueness makes it incredibly difficult for us to get to know him.” Poaln flashed a tight smile. “Once the testing is over, we will have more time to talk.”

  “What’s involved in the testing?”

  Poaln waved his hand again and tapped his staff, using it to help him hurry along the road. “As I said, tradition would demand that we not share anything about the testing, and if your master has chosen to keep that from you, far be it from me to override him.” He glanced over at Endric. “Especially with Novan. I wouldn’t want him to learn that I challenge anything that he intended for his apprentice.”

  They continued up the road and Endric followed, still uncertain where he was being led and uncomfortable with how much Poaln intended for him. As they wound up the road, Endric stared into the distance, curious. This was higher up in the city than Endric had expected to go, and beyond here was the fortress, though that couldn’t be where Poaln was leading him.

  The longer they went, the more Endric began to question. Maybe that was where Poaln was guiding him.

  “Is that where we're going?” Endric asked.

  Poaln glanced back at him, frowning. “Novan didn’t tell you?”

  “Novan told me to come to Coamdon if we got separated, and from there I was to find the guild, and from there—”

  Poaln tapped his staff, nodding. “And from there, you were to be tested. I see. Perhaps Novan thought that you would be better prepared by not having any knowledge, although I worry that he had you far underprepared for what you might find here. Most of the apprentices who come for testing at least have an idea of what they’re getting in for, and most of them have at least been told where to find the guild.”

  Endric twisted the ring on his finger. He needed to be more cautious, and if he wasn’t, it was possible that he would end up with Poaln knowing that he was not truly an apprentice.

  “He told me how to find Coamdon, and he advised me on what I was to do when I got here, but more than that was kept from me, supposedly for my own good,” Endric said, smiling.

  Poaln shook his head. “I can’t say that I understand Novan, but he certainly does have his way about him, and to hear the guild masters speak of him, he is practically one of them.”

  Guild masters. There was a term that Endric hadn’t heard, and maybe that was who he was going to to be tested. If that were the case, then he would need to be prepared for them to determine that he wasn’t really an apprentice, though he wondered how long he would be able to pretend that he was. It was possible that he could mask it for a little while, but he doubted that he would be able to do so for long. Eventually, they would realize that he wasn’t who he said he was. Most likely, he would make some comment that would get himself caught.

  “Novan doesn’t speak of himself all that often.”

  “From what I hear about Novan, he is quite full of his abilities.”

  The way that he said it made Endric wonder if perhaps there was something more to w
hat Poaln knew about Novan, but Endric didn’t see how that would be possible. Novan had kept his abilities secret, even from those around him. Even Endric didn’t really know the extent of Novan’s abilities. He suspected, but his suspicions had not been tested, and he wasn’t sure how he could even go about testing to determine just what Novan was capable of.

  “What can you tell me about the testing?” Endric asked.

  “Ah, the testing is something that cannot be easily explained. Even the historians who think to prepare their apprentices never adequately prepare them for what they will face during the testing. It’s impossible to do so, especially as the testing changes over time. It grows and becomes something else, something more, something that is practically alive.” He smiled at Endric. “Then again, even if Novan hadn’t been so circumspect and hadn’t been so determined to follow the protocols, it probably wouldn’t matter. I suspect that’s why most of the master historians don’t worry about sharing what they know of the testing with their apprentices. None of it really matters, not when it comes to the testing that changes with each apprentice.”

  “Why does it change with each apprentice?”

  “Well, each apprentice has a little bit different capability. That is the benefit of the guild. We don’t require everyone to share the same talents, and it’s not required that everyone even share the same interests. All that matters is an interest in observing and documenting, and remaining removed from intervening in the workings of the world.”

  With that, Endric did smile to himself. He knew that the historians were supposed to be unbiased observers, and he knew that they were supposed to simply document what they encountered, but he also knew that Novan was not unbiased at all. If anything, he might be the most biased of all of the historians, and with his role on the Conclave, he served a purpose that Endric doubted others did.

  “That is my interest,” Endric said.

  Poaln looked back at him, studying him for a moment. “We will see, won’t we?”

  “I don’t understand,” he said.

  Poaln tapped his staff on the ground as they continued along the road.