A Song of Snow and Ashes

broken a sweat," she though irritably.

  "Time for punching." He showed her how to wrap up her hand for punching, then showed her a tree that had the bark removed, exposing the smooth skin. "Alright, do what I do," he said, and showed her how to throw a basic jab. He corrected her stance and form. Then he pointed her at the tree. "Aim for the same spot."

  She threw a punch into the already worn spot, and it landed with a satisfyingly solid sound.

  "Great. Now keep it up until I tell you to stop."

  It was a long, tedious afternoon. She tried to break up the monotony by getting some information about the people. She found out that most of the men went out in hunting parties to get food for the community, and the women grew small gardens and gathered plants. Traders came through every few months, but most of the community work was geared toward basic survival. Eventually he stopped talking to her, and she concentrated on the fighting. Aidan taught her how to jab with either hand, cross punches, and basic front and back kicks. By dinner time she was exhausted, and she knew she was going to be sore in the morning. One of the first things Jomei had taught her was how to ask for food. When Aidan saw that, he left her to join a group of men his age. With a sign she sat down at a table alone. After dinner, she returned to her cottage, drew a bath, and studied until she felt tired. She fell asleep with tears in her eyes.

  Late afternoon Donnan changed into his nicest clothes, which he noted were not quite as nice as the ones the temple had given him, and made his way to the western guardhouse for the graduation ceremony.

  The gates were open, and two guards on duty were directing people to the back. Blake was waiting in front of the gates, looking impatient.

  "Where were you? I went to the tavern, but you weren't there. And I think Darris was doing your job. Were you fired?"

  "He thinks so. But I quit," he answered, and they walked to the back.

  "Why did you do that?"

  "He offered me a raise."

  "Donnan, I'm not following here."

  The obstacle course area had been set up for the graduation ceremony. There was a podium, a couple of guards in dress armor, and the bleachers were about a quarter filled, which was to be expected for a class of about thirty people. Donnan scanned the crowd for Aolani, but she was seated near the front with the mayor and some of her other family and friends. He led Blake to a more isolated area, but he did keep his eye on her.

  "Pray tell, why does offering you a raise mean you had reason to quit?" Blake pressed.

  "It's insultin'. He only offered 'cause he had no one else to do the work today. The dishes piled up because I didn't go in yesterday. I wasn't even nice to him. In fact, I told him off, and suddenly he's my best friend. There he was, actually treatin' me almost like a real person, but only because he was desperate and thought that I'd be fooled into thinkin' he suddenly respected me. I knew I didn't get any respect from this guy, and but now I know he thinks I'm a fool. And I realized how stupid it was. No, not stupid. Absurd."

  "Absurd?"

  "Yeah." He lowered his voice. "You're right. You're crazy, but you're right. I can do anythin' I want. And here I'm worryin' about keepin' a job I hate? With a boss I can't stand? A boss who thinks I'm a fool? All the power in the world, and I'm goin' spend it washin' dishes? If I can do anythin', I can definitely do anythin' else but work for him."

  "Ah, I think I understand. Do you know how far you want to go with this?"

  He shook his head. "Not yet. I think it's a bad idea to go too far, but I'm not sure I have any real choice."

  "Fair enough. What are you going to do for money and food?"

  "Talk to your bosses."

  "They never give without wanting somethin' in return," Blake reminded him.

  "I know."

  A trumpet sounded, and the ceremony started. The fully armored graduates marched out of the barracks in formation, did a few maneuvers on the cleared obstacle course, then faced the podium and stopped. Behind the podium stood a dozen guards. Half were instructors, and the other half had assisted in the training. The younger ones looked bored, and two of them had to stand watch over the box of swords, even though no one was going to take them. The guards called out their names, and one by one they walked up to the podium to receive their longsword and shake the hands of their instructors. The graduates were supposed to stand still while in formation, but after receiving the sword, they scanned the crowd for friends and family before returning to formation.

  "Interestin'," Donnan muttered.

  "What?"

  "Reese is here. Looks like he gets to stand watch over the box of swords."

  Alain walked up, got his sword, and looked for Donnan.

  Donnan nodded slightly at his older brother in acknowledgment.

  He smiled broadly and returned to his position.

  "Do you think there may be trouble tonight?" Blake asked.

  "There might be. I'm tryin' decide if I'm goin' to be the one to start it."

  "Won't Alain want to celebrate?"

  "Yeah. Which makes me think there's goin' to be trouble tonight. I'd better stick close to him, just in case."

  Blake nodded. "I think that's a good idea. Can I come?"

  "I don't think Alain would mind."

  "You going to tell him you quit?"

  "And ruin his good mood? Nah. There's a lot I'm not goin' to tell my brother," Donnan replied, a sad look crossing his face. "There's a lot I can't tell my brother."

  Blake clapped an arm over his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

  "Thanks."

  They watched the rest of the ceremony in silence. After it was over, the guards were dismissed, and they joined their families.

  Alain walked straight up to Donnan and nearly crushed him in a bear hug. "You showed up," he said joyfully.

  "I promised," he gasped, straining against his brother's grip.

  He released him with a puzzled expression. "Say, little brother, I think you're gettin' stronger."

  "What?"

  "Have you been workin' out without me?"

  He gave Blake a questioning look. Blake shrugged.

  Alain turned to the acolyte. "Donnan told me you helped him out of a spot of trouble about a month ago."

  "I didn't do much. Just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

  "Well, thanks for bein' lucky then. Thanks for takin' care of my little brother. That means a lot to me," he said, extending his hand.

  With a surprised look, Blake shook the large man's hand. "Not a problem."

  "Right. Now, you two come with me. I'm meetin' the old gang down at the Wooden Tankard and I'm buyin' dinner. Then tomorrow I get my assignment, clear out the barracks, and move back in. Maybe we should get a better place. I'm gettin' a raise now."

  "We'll talk about that later," Donnan said.

  "Alright. Let's go. The guys'll be waitin'. This is goin' to be great. Finally things are goin' our way."

  Donnan smiled wanly, and they left the guardhouse. It took some time to get to the tavern, and Alain was cheerfully telling them about his experiences, his performance, and where he expected to get assigned. They stayed late at the tavern, having a good time, and Alain got rather drunk. It was well past midnight when the group broke up. Alain was having difficulty walking, so Donnan and Blake started to haul him back. The night had turned overcast, so there was no light from the half moon, and most houses were dark. Blake pulled a necklace out of his shirt, unwrapped it, and revealed a light emanating from the rune carved on the stone. It wasn't as powerful as a proper lantern, but it was sufficient.

  "Thankssomuch l'le brother," the older man murmured.

  "I knew you were goin' do this," Donnan sighed. One of his brother's arms was laying on his shoulder, and he had an arm around the big man's waist, pushing him along. "But you were right. I got stronger."

  "How-how-how did you do that-that?" he asked.

  Blake
cleaned his glasses thoughtfully. "It's an interesting side effect."

  "Shut up," Donnan hissed. His brother was about one and half times his own weight, but he was having surprisingly little difficulty moving him. He was bulky, not heavy.

  "What? He's not going to remember this. I think this is a sign that no matter what else you do, you ought to learn to fight."

  "And who's goin' to teach me? You?"

  "We can find teachers no doubt."

  "I've got no money for that."

  "Money may not be an obstacle."

  "What-what areyoutalkin' about?" muttered Alain.

  "We'll talk about when you're sober," Donnan answered. They staggered along for another few blocks, turned down a narrow side street, then stopped.

  "This isn't a good place to stop," Blake cautioned. The part of the city they were in had no street lamps, so the only light came from the half moon and the houses. The moon was obscured by thick clouds, and the late hour meant most houses were dark.

  He put his finger to his lips.

  Blake looked puzzled, but then he heard the unmistakable sound of men in armor walking toward them. "Trouble?" he mouthed.

  Donnan nodded, and set Alain down next to the wall in the darkest shadows. "Be quiet, you got that?" he whispered.

  Alain looked at him with unfocused eyes, and nodded.

  "Blake, put that light away and get down," he hissed.

  The acolyte sat down next to Alain, tucking the necklace away.

  "I heard them a few blocks ago. That's why I turned down this street," he whispered, crouching down next to the both of them with his hand on his dagger. Three guards walked slowly past the street, clearly trying to be quiet. Blake was about to speak