Gifted

The letter from Brin was short, focusing on how hard the instructors at Clawcrest pushed her. She mentioned, more than once in her writing, that she thought there were a few students in her year that were even better than me at wielding a sword and how she had ended up in one of the lower ranked courses. Her final words were kind though, mentioning she hoped we would see each other again, and that when she did, she would be strong enough to beat me just once.

I scribbled a letter back to her telling her to work hard, or I would get so far ahead of her that she wouldn’t be able to even fathom the gap between us. Perhaps I was being egotistical, but Brin had always thrown herself into her training when she was challenged, so I figured I was just throwing down the proverbial gauntlet to encourage her.

During breakfast, Mum helped me fold and tie the letter up while Gramps promised he would pass it along to Dorothy to have it delivered with any other letters for Brin. Who knew, maybe I would see her again one day.

After my morning training at the stream, I headed straight for Etta’s home. Etta skipped along next to me, bubbling with excitement — it wasn’t often I went to her house.

“What are you coming over for?” she asked.

“You’ll see,” I replied cryptically.

She must have been used to me not explaining myself by now because she didn’t press me on the topic. I pulled my coat a little tighter as we walked, the day colder than the last few with gray clouds hanging low in the sky above us. The threat of rain and the constant gusts of wind were enough for Nazim to have rugged up a little as well, his leather vambraces hidden beneath a dark, leather coat.

Unlike the pair of us, Etta seemed carefree with her brown hair held back in a ponytail that flicked about in the wind. If anything, the impending storm seemed to be energising her.

Maybe it actually is, I mused.

Picking our way through the shrubs, it didn’t take us long to arrive at Etta’s home. Given the weather, no one was outside, and I waited for George to open the door and let us file in one by one. Nazim stayed outside for whatever reason — he didn’t say.

I had been inside of Etta’s home before, and I always found it to be warm and cozy. The entrance led into a single, very large room that functioned as kitchen, living area, and weaving zone.

Their cooking area had a small fireplace even though I knew that George and Kaylee had a couple of cheap enchanted cooking pots just like Mum. Beside the tub that functioned as a sink was a wooden table where they ate. It was smaller than ours, which is why whenever we gathered to eat together, we did so at the outpost.

The living area had a number of chairs — each one made more comfortable by woolen stuffed cushions — arranged around a second fireplace. Just like the outpost, there was a rug laid across the wooden floorboards in front of the hearth.

To either side of the fireplace were doors into the two other rooms in the house. I knew that one was Kaylee and George’s room while the other was shared between Etta and Grandma Lucille.

As for Kaylee and Grandma Lucille, they were seated in the last section of the room which took up almost half of the house. The wooden bench they were working at was piled high with threads, fabrics, scissors, and other tools for weaving.

“Mum, Grandma!” Etta yelled as she charged towards the two women with her arms out wide.

I smiled at the display, my eyes roving over what the pair were working on. Unsurprisingly, it was a very recognisable piece of fur. Seeing the bear’s hide already piled high made me wonder what Skills had been involved in treating the pelt so quickly. Also, how much did it cost to put a rush on it like that?

Normally, the idea of how much things cost didn’t really factor into my thoughts since Mum and Gramps paid for everything. But, today, that wasn’t going to be the case. I approached Grandma Lucille with what I thought was a serious look on my face. Whether or not I was succeeding, the older woman certainly treated the moment with a little more gravity than usual.

“Grandma Lucille,” I said in greeting.

“You don’t come over often, Bastian. I feel like I don’t get to see you as much as I used to, which is a shame because you’re such a fine, young man. Was there something special you needed?” she asked.

“I wanted to know if I could pay for you to make a dress for Mum,” I replied.

Kaylee lifted her head at my words, her arms still wrapped gently around Etta. “For the festival?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I wanted to get her one for her festival gift.”

“Such a sweet boy,” Grandma Lucille cooed, getting up and moving to one of two large chests resting on the floor behind the table.

With the lid open, I could see that the contents were all fabrics. Most of them looked like wool but I thought I saw a few other things like pieces of leather that might have been lambskin or goathide. Lucille was rummaging around amongst the pile, shoving things to the side, until she pulled out a roll of some deep blue fabric. I couldn’t tell what it was made from but, even in the dim light cast by the lanterns and fireplace, the material shimmered.

“Mum,” Kaylee gasped. “You can’t use that!”

“It’s my silk,” Lucille replied with a snort. “I’ll do whatever I want with it, thank you.”

“I can pay,” I stammered out, unsure about getting caught in the middle of the two women.

My hand rummaged around in my pocket and pulled out my two aether coins, one fiery red and the other silver.

“See, he can pay,” Lucille said with a laugh as she picked up the silvery aether coin before pushing the other back towards me.

Kaylee wasn’t convinced.

“Mum! That won’t even cover the cost of the spider silk let alone the time you’ll have to spend on it.”

“Oh hush, Kay. It’s my time and my silk. Besides, Penelope will look like a vision dressed in blue. It matches her eyes almost perfectly. I’ll add a little embroidery and maybe some pleats so it hangs from her waist. We’ll keep the cut chaste though. Beautiful but aloof.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. My plan had just been for a nice, woolen dress for Mum to wear as my festival gift to her. Lucille, it seemed, had other ideas, and Kaylee looked flabbergasted with her mother.

“I’ll have it ready before the end of the week,” Lucille said to me. “Such a sweet boy. Are you getting something for Cornelius as well?”

I nodded, still a little surprised. “I’m going to get him a new pipe. I was going to see if the woodworker could carve flames into the side that we could fill with silver.”

“Oh, that’s a thoughtful gift. Maybe you should take Etta with you when you go in case she wants to get some gifts as well,” Lucille suggested.

“But Grandma, I don’t have anything to buy them with,” Etta said with all the exasperation an eight year old could manage.

“Of course you do, my bright little storm,” Lucille replied with a smile, holding out the silvery aether coin. “I just found this, and I am pretty sure it’s yours.”

“Mum,” Kaylee muttered in exasperation. Lucille pretended not to hear her, still holding out the aether coin which Etta took tentatively.

She stared at it curiously, running her fingers over the surface. “Feels like a cold mirror.”

I had never felt anything like that from the coin. Besides the usual slickness of aether created objects, I had only ever felt like it had dark coils passing through it beneath the silvery surface. George was looking at me curiously, and I wondered if he thought I made the aether coin.

Shortly afterwards, we were shooed out of the house as the two women returned to their work. With Etta in tow, and escorted by George and Nazim, we made our way back to the outpost for a quick lunch. Mum gave us an hour reprieve from our lessons to go for a wander around the town.

Hornpeak had a couple of carpenters now to handle the building of new houses as well as making the furniture to fill them. For woodworkers though, there was only one. His shop was just like the rest of the new buildings, constructed from Horndale pine. The difference was in the refined work throughout the room. Scrollwork ran up the sides of the wooden posts that made up the doorframe, and the smell of fresh sawdust wafted across our faces as we entered.

As the door closed behind us, something skittered faintly across my senses — a vague sense of flowing cold like a cape flapping in the wind. I turned to glance back the way we came. Nazim did the same, sniffing with a frown. Without a word, the wolfkin stepped back outside. I debated following for a moment, but decided that if Nazim wanted me with him, he would have said so.

Etta had already started talking to the woodworker — a wiry fellow with wrinkled but strong hands named Kappu. She was holding out her silvery aether coin as she described what she wanted while George waited by her side like a silent sentinel. Apparently, my only young friend was going to have a single board carved to hang above the fireplace with an image for each member of her family, their names carved into the wood above them.

The work didn’t cost a full aether coin — whose worth I still didn’t fully understand — and Kappu handed her back a pile of small silver coins.

Then, it was my turn.

“What can I do for you, young Sebastian?” Kappu asked from where he sat on his stool behind the workbench that dominated his store.

“Everyone just calls me Bastian,” I explained.

“Bastian, then. How can I help?”

“I was wondering if you can make smoking pipes?”

“Aye, got a few here already, unless you’re looking for something in particular,” Kappu replied, turning around to rummage in a cupboard before he pulled out a couple of different pipes. Each one looked like it had been treated with some kind of polish. Two were about the same size as Gramps’ current pipe, which was only as long as my palm. The third was double that length and looked a little like a snake with scales carved into the sides.

“One like these,” I said, pointing at the smaller pipes. “But I was wondering if you could carve flames into the side that could be filled with silver?”

“Aye, I could do that lad. Wouldn’t be too much work. When do you need it by?”

“Could I get it before the end of the week so I have time to get the silver put into it before the festival?”

Kappu’s beard shifted as he smiled. “Not a problem. What wood were you thinking?”

“Is Horndale pine good for pipes?” I asked.

“It’s not the best if I am being honest. Can add a bit of an unpleasant flavour, and they don’t last as long. They’re not as cheap, but I have a few other woods we could work with. Briar would be best, but it’s also the most expensive. Cherry or olive wood would work as well.”

“Is this enough for the briar wood?” I asked, holding up the fiery aether coin.

Kappu snorted. “It’ll do for a pipe and the work. You’ll even have enough leftover for the silver for an inlay like you want. You should learn how much something costs before handing over your money though. Best to learn the value of things yourself, young master. Not everyone’s as honest as old Kappu.”

The woodworker handed over a few small silver coins to me in change — less than Etta received though. With a reminder to come see him in a few days, we exited the store. Nazim was standing just outside looking about.

“Something wrong?” I asked.

“Thought I smelled something,” he answered before shaking his head.

“I felt something as well,” I added. “Like threads of ice passing by.”

Nazim tilted his head as though unsure of what to make of my comment.

“I will look into this,” he growled as we fell in behind Etta and George.

We headed back to the outpost as a group so that Etta and I could have our lessons with Mum. However, as we approached, I noticed a couple of the Baron’s guards standing outside the outpost with a few horses tied up.

They didn’t say anything to us as we entered, which is how I came face to face with Baron Joss as he was exiting Gramps’ office, the old codger a step behind him.

“Ah, just the young man we were speaking about,” the Baron said as he noticed me.

My stomach dropped.

What have I done now?