LE Modesitt Recluce 08 The White Order (v1.5)

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that, too. Two golds I promised your master, and two golds it shall be. And a
silver for you, and two for him.
Cerryl managed to keep his mouth shut as Muneat handed him a small leather
pouch and then a silver. Your master s coins are in the purse. The silver is
yours.
I thank you, ser. Cerryl bowed. And Master Tellis thanks you.
Always a pleasure dealing with Tellis. Always a pleasure. Muneat smiled
broadly. And it is good to meet you, lad. Your name?
Cerryl, ser.
Cerryl. A good name. And a good day to you. Muneat laughed again, a
gentle sound, and turned to the seneschal.
Shallis stepped around his master and forward to open the door.
Thank you, ser, Cerryl said again.
And a very good day to you and your master. Tell him I have bother,
perhaps in an eight-day or so.
Yes, ser.
Cerryl stood on the granite paving stones before the fountain for a long
moment, then slipped the pouch inside his shirt, and the silver into the slots
on the inside of his belt-far safer for him than a wallet- though he d never
heard of a cutpurse in Fairhaven. But he didn t wish to discover such existed
the hard way.
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Back on the avenue, Cerryl glanced back at the house-or palace-then down
the avenue, past the half-dozen or more similar dwellings He shook his head.
He d had no idea, no idea at all, of what wealth really was. Dylert he d
reckoned as a wealthy man. He shook his head once more before turning back up
the avenue, thinking he could yet smell all the scents of flowers that had
filled master Muneat s home.
And the red gown-how many coins must one have to wear such gowns for no
reason at all? He forced himself to walk briskly past the market square, past
the jewelers, past the artisans square and up the street to Tellis s,
ignoring the silver in his belt. Silver he could always spend. Getting it was
harder. He shook his head-except for those like master Muneat.
Back at the shop, Cerryl went straight through the showroom to the
workroom. Tellis sat slumped at the worktable.
Are you all right, ser?
Tellis slowly straightened. Was he in? Did you give it to him?
Yes, ser. Cerryl extended the pouch. He gave me this. Said there were
two golds and two silvers in it for you.
Tellis s eyes brightened as his trembling hands took the pouch and fumbled
it open.
Coins spilled on the table.
There are three silvers here, as well as the golds. Did you not count?
Ser& he handed me the pouch. That was what he said. I thought it better
not to question his word.
Muneat plays his tricks, but he is generous, unlike some. A ragged smile
crossed Tellis s lips. He gave you something?
Yes, ser. He gave me a silver.
Good. Keep it safe. The smile faded. Do not be thinking that you ll see
its like again soon.
No, ser. I know that. Cerryl paused. Master Muneat said he would have
another in an eight-day or so.
Did he open it while you were there?
No, ser.
Tellis nodded slowly.
Ser& what is it that& I mean& I sat in the foyer& polished marble&
He has more coins than most, Tellis said dryly, massaging his forehead
and not looking at Cerryl. He is one of the largest grain factors in Candar.
I believe he even has several ships that sail out of Lydiar.
Cerryl glanced around the suddenly very cramped workroom, a room that would
have fit even inside the front foyer of Muneat s small palace.
He is not alone in his riches in Fairhaven, Cerryl. Far from it.
The apprentice wondered what the dwellings of the other rich folk looked
like inside.
Get me some of the yellow tea Beryal said she d brew.
Yes, ser. Cerryl turned and headed toward the kitchen.
Yellow tea& yellow tea& mumbled Tellis behind Cerryl. Darkness& hate the
stuff&
Beryal looked up from the kitchen worktable, where she poured a hot liquid
from the kettle into a mug. You re back so soon?
They didn t make me wait. Tellis sent me for the tea. His eyes traversed
the common room, clean and plain-and very small. Very plain.
He s stubborn, said Beryal, lifting one of the smaller mugs and extending
it to Cerryl. Wouldn t stay in bed. No& has to get up and make the rest of us
feel his pain.
He doesn t look well.
Anyone who drank all that double mead at the Pillion last night should
look like that. Benthann, she cannot lift her head. Beryal frowned. Take the
master his yellow tea.
Cerryl slipped back to the workroom and extended the mug.
Tellis took it wordlessly.
Cerryl sharpened the quill, then stirred the ink, and set The Science of
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Measurement and Reckoning on the copy stand, opening it to the bookmark. He
could almost see the polished marble and the shimmering hangings, and the dark
red dress& even the dark blue velvet and flawless silk worn by Muneat. Cerryl
knew, from what he d learned in talking with Pattera, that the silk shirt
alone probably cost a gold. He d never seen half that in his entire life.
He took a slow breath. He couldn t change what was. Not yet, perhaps not
ever. He dipped the quill in the ink. But you can do more than be a scrivener&
you can!
At the worktable, Tellis sipped bitter yellow tea.
XXXVII
Cerryl dipped the pen into the inkwell, then resumed copying the page before
him, trying to concentrate on the words and the shape of his letters, knowing
that no matter how closely his efforts resembled those on the scrivener s
master sheet, Tellis would still find some way to suggest improvement. One
moment, the scrivener was praising his hand; the next, he was complaining
about the way Cerryl copied one type of letter or another, or that he didn t
fully appreciate the complexities of being a scrivener.
The apprentice scrivener held in a sigh. Too many sighs, he d discovered,
elicited unwelcome questions. His eyes went to the book on the copy stand.
& the inner lining of the bark of the river willow should be scraped, then
dried until it is firm and stiff. Then it must be ground into the finest of
powders with a polished hardwood mortar and pestle&
Why did powdered willow bark hold down chaos fever? Who had discovered
that? For all the volumes that Tellis pushed on him to read, Cerryl felt that
he almost knew less than when he had come to Fairhaven more than a season
before, since each new book opened far more questions than it answered.
Scritttchhh& With the sound of the street door opening, Tellis backed up,
nearly into the waist-high waste container, and then stepped around his
worktable, leaving the stretching frame, and slipped past Cerryl and into the
showroom.
You keep at that herbal copying, the master scrivener added over his
shoulder as he hurried toward the showroom.
Use of plants and herbs for healing might be of some interest, certainly
more than words about measuring that meant little, reflected Cerryl, but herbs [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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