A Simple Darkness (The Young Ancients: Tiera) Read online

  From that point on he didn't let up, actually trying to hit harder, if anything. That worked against him, because in-shape warrior or not, he eventually got tired, working at his maximum force. A few minutes later, with a lot of dodging and fleeing on her part, the man started to slow, a lot. At first it seemed almost like he was trying to tease her for not being all that great, but she was still getting blows in, mainly to his lower legs. His lead leg was the safest target, but he could still strike out, using one handed blows, and managed a nice one, directly to her mouth. The crunch was sickening and she felt her teeth cave in. The pain was bitter and the blood that rushed into her mouth made it really hard to breath, but she spit the blood at him as a distraction and moved back in. That didn't work, and he just hit her with a backhand blow that took her all the way to the ground, picking her up first.

  After that it got harder to get up each time, but she tried, until it was finally just not possible anymore. Her weapon was broken, by her, when she missed a blow against a nice soft Havar and hit stone instead. It left her with a short stick about the length of her arm, and she couldn't stand at all, so she had to try and crawl toward him, being beaten on the upper shoulders the whole time. There was a trail of blood where she'd been and her blows didn't have any power at all, on the rare occasion they managed to connect at all.

  Then she blacked out, waking up a few seconds later with a healing amulet being tucked in her left hand. It took a while to re-grow the teeth and a few things popped first, rather painfully. She cycled her clothing, so the blood would fall off. Most of it. The stuff in her hair was just stuck there, and her skin was covered, taking her from a nice pale color, to a blood crusted brown in some spots. It hurt a lot less though.

  When she managed to look up and then stand, Sir Kolbrin took the healing device back and handed it off to a second year boy named Mitchell that was just staring at her with a look of pure fear in his eyes.

  "You weren't the only one to miss classes last week. A certain other person did as well, without nearly as good a cause. Tiera here was off making war on an entire County, by herself. And won. What were you up to there, Mitchell? Wenching you said?" There was a rough laugh from the people standing around them, which, she noticed, included Karen and Davie, as well as Havar, who got the amulet next even though he had all his teeth still. "If you're going to miss scheduled classes you need a better excuse than that, and better manners than to refer to any woman willing to touch you as a wench, no matter what her day to day profession."

  All of the words had that calm sound that the man got when he was actually angry and not just trying to intimidate someone. It had taken a bit for her to get that about him, but Mitchell, it seemed was really in trouble. No one mentioned her at all yet.

  That would probably be next. The rest of the people went back to working with each other, since kids getting in trouble was kind of normal here. She'd probably be up all night scrubbing the paving stones or something. It was a good thing she thought of that, because not five seconds later the head Instructor turned to her.

  "So, Tiera, what do you think his punishment for that should be?" It wasn't said harshly, but the boy looked freaked for some reason.

  She shook her head and made a face at Sir Kolbrin.

  "I know, why don't we put him on the spot and make him decide how I should be punished for nearly the same thing? Well, less fun I'm sure, but still, I missed that same amount, didn't I?" That got the large man to chuckle, but he made a gesture as if telling her to go on. "Fine... I don't know, we can scrub this place up on our off days until we meet the number missed? Extra practice to make up for it? I can't really afford to miss any of my other classes, and I doubt he can either." It seemed fair enough to her at least. She got that there had to be some punishment and the real crime had been the same. Being gone without permission.

  There was a snort from Havar, but no one else said anything.

  Except Kolb. "See to that then Tiera. Back to practice everyone!"

  They still had nearly three hours, so she worked with Karen, finally learning some basic sword work that was more complicated than just swinging the thing around, involving complicated parrying, movements that would work against a large person, if the timing could be gotten right. She managed about one in every four times, with Karen hitting her harder each time. She was hit in the head five times, leaving her bloody again. After that she had to work on grappling and striking, against Mitchell.

  Sir Kolbrin set the task.

  "No weapons or shields. No blows to the head, any grappling movements are fine. Full force, no padding. I expect at least twenty minutes... Starting now."

  That was harder than it seemed, since the boy kept hitting her too lightly. It was enough that she finally had to yell at him for it.

  "Hit me like you mean it! Come on!" He did then and it hurt, but it was better to learn against what she'd face in a fight. It was in the little book that she'd read, the one Karen had given her. "I'm not one of your wenches."

  That got a better fight from him, since he seemed to think she was mocking him on purpose. He was decent once he forgot to try and protect her, and she did alright. She was stronger than he was, and faster, but he was a lot more skilled and had size. Not as good as Karen, or even Judy, but better than she was. When they were finished, Karen calling it, she was allowed to heal up and had to run to the showers. Mitchell was too, but he had to speak to Kolb again first.

  She ate out of her hand, while walking to her math class. Inside the door she just got on her knees and started begging. She tried to explain why she'd been gone, but Instructor Neytev wasn't having it. Not at all. Instead he gave her a book.

  "Memorize this. When you're finished with that there will be a test. It's not to take more than one month." Looking through it she nodded. It was, she realized, the entire course for the semester. Including what she'd missed.

  At the end of the class she handed the book back in, not knowing if she was going to be allowed to take it out of the room.

  Smirking the Instructor opened the book to a random page.

  "Page seventeen, third line down, second word?" He clearly didn't expect an answer.

  "Also, when the numerator is in question, it is possible to find it by locating the exact position of the... I can go on, if you want?"

  He did want and his gray hair was ruffled several times, ending up a fly away mess, with him turning his back at one point and then making her cover her eyes. His blue and green robes were flawless, meaning they were magical in nature, except for the chalk powder on the sleeves.

  "Well, that's rare. Very good. Can you stand to take the test now?"

  "I have singing class. Instructor Crane might beat me if I miss another day. As it is, I'm certain I'll be embarrassed by him. I really should run now, so I'm not late. Would it be acceptable to do it tomorrow? Please I mean, I can't afford to make more trouble now."

  Sighing mightily, he let her go, his face looking a bit strange, as if he was nearly happy about the whole thing.

  "First thing in the afternoon. Good luck with singing. I'll see you then."

  The song master didn't beat her. He didn't even call her to the front of the room, not after he released her from the kneeling she was doing. Nor did he call on her in class, since she didn't know the current song. She just sat listening the whole time. When she moved to leave he waved to her. The look on his face was actually pleasant.

  "You have some time before your meal, do you not?" It sounded a little strange, smarmy, she thought it might be called. Like he was trying to seem suggestive, and failing. "You could spend some time with me here. An hour a day let's say? On your knees... If you want to keep coming to this class at least."

  It took her a second to realize that he didn't mean either praying or begging forgiveness. She started laughing though, which got him to look angry, at first, but then oddly scared.

  "Why are you chortling? It's a time honored tradition for ugly school Instructors to extor
t sex from pretty students like this."

  She bit her lips and had to not speak for a long time.

  "I.. forgive me. It... I've never done that before. I'm willing to try, but, seriously, that isn't going to be nearly as good as you probably think. I mean I know not to bite, but other than that, honestly, not a clue." She shrugged and got down on her knees anyway. Karen had told her not to refuse anyone, and this had to count. "Also, isn't the tradition really about getting better marks? I'm not calling you a liar, but it is what it is." She smiled up at him and waited, the man looking tense.

  After a minute he made a face.

  "You think you're calling my bluff, is that it? That as an Instructor I'll be fired for doing something with Count Lairdgren's granddaughter?" He stepped back though, instead of forward.

  Tiera tried to think of even one person that would insist on that, considering it was against The Rules. She came up empty. Karen would have probably ordered it done, just for practice and Ali would have offered to join in. The King wouldn't care at all, and while the Headmaster might have a problem with it, given her earlier issues at the school, it could probably legitimately be referred to as simple instruction. Honestly, it could be anyway, given her lack of knowledge on the topic.

  "Not really. I think it's probably safe enough, so, what do I do? I'm almost certain you should be closer..." She crawled to him, a bit awkwardly. The stone floor was hard under her knees, but she didn't complain. It was just a mild discomfort.

  Frustratingly enough he took another step back, looking suspicious.

  "Fine. I want you to sing the female portion of 'Fly With Me' for the class tomorrow. But let this be a lesson to you. Don't miss my class in the future."

  She blinked, getting that nothing was going to happen then. Standing up she moved even closer to him. He wasn't great looking, but not ancient or anything and while she had no experience, the idea didn't scare her. Not a lot really did. For a moment she wondered if that were tied into the anger she felt most of the time. It didn't come now however. She simply felt relieved. That was a song she'd already memorized after all. She'd have to practice it of course, but that was to be expected.

  "Well, alright. I wasn't lying about not knowing what to do, but if you ever want to tell me, I'm willing." She tried to look flirtatious, but was almost certain the man thought she was teasing him.

  Karen was still there when she got in at least and sat with her, eating in their room while she recounted the experience. There was a cluck of the tongue, but no specific explanation of what she needed to improve. When she asked, her roommate chuckled.

  "On this one it isn't you at all. He might get away with something like that on occasion, I mean it does happen, never to me, but some of the cuter girls get good grades awfully easily from some Instructors. I hear it really isn't bad here at Lairdgren, but Crane shouldn't have made the offer if he didn't mean it. That was actually a bit rude of him." Holding up her hand to stall for time, she ate some dried pear. "Not that it wasn't stupid going after you. Conserina Lairdgren, in Lairdgren County... Well, you did the right thing, he can't fault you there. We need to find you someone to practice with. It makes things more fun, no matter what your friends try to tell you, knowing what you actually should be doing first. Isn't Alphonse supposed to be coming in for that?" There was a slightly wicked grin and a glint to her eye.

  "Don't tease, but... yes. I guess no messages have been needed sent yet? That or I was out of touch when they were."

  Karen didn't know, but didn't seem worried about it. She did have something to do, she said, and left without explaining it to her, meaning that she was left to run to the evening meditation class. It was smaller than the rest and the instruction came from a peaceful looking older woman, that was named Doris. She just asked for Tiera to clear her mind and keep trying to do it, with her eyes slightly open.

  It was a lot harder than it sounded like. After about half an hour they switched to thinking of nothing with their eyes closed, which was easier, but still didn't really work. The best she could manage was making the internal noise go down by about half.

  The woman nodded when she reported it.

  "And tomorrow half that, and so on. Never to true emptiness, but ever closer."

  Then the woman suggested she go to her room and contemplate what she'd learned. It seemed silly, but as she walked she thought she understood. By focusing on nothing, which was what she'd been learning about, her mind cleared for a bit. Then by remembering that feeling she could find much greater silence and so on. It wasn't perfect, but it was a start.

  She wondered if the same was true of learning to turn off shields? If she could do that, capture what it was like and make it stronger, would that help? Karen wasn't back, to test on a living person actively resisting her, but after she practiced her song and reviewed her math she decided that sleep would have to do for the time being. The world was filled with ideas, but she didn't have to do them all instantly, did she?

  A second after her eyes shut a soft knock came at her door. She was at it before she realized that she'd moved, slapping her shield. When she opened the door it was Reggie. A crying and brightly orange eyed Regina, who tried to hug her instantly. It took a bit to navigate the whole thing, since the girl tried to hug her instantly, sobbing and not able to say anything, that meant she hit a force that wouldn't let her through at all. Tiera pulled her into the room, ready to fight if she had to, not knowing who'd hurt her friend, but getting that someone had.

  It turned out that someone, was her.

  "I... miss you so much. I'd just hoped that we'd have more time together, and you haven't been to see me at all." The girl tried to laugh, but it turned to tears again after just a few seconds. "We only did anything together the one time. Was I bad? Or... unpleasant somehow?" She sniffed, which didn't sound too congested at least. Tiera didn't cry often herself anymore, but when she was younger her nose would run horribly when it happened. It was gross.

  At first she was a little baffled, but then she covered, understanding that, as strange as it seemed, her friend was still worried about her, and had maybe even missed her.

  "Oh, love, don't be silly! I was just busy and didn't have time in my schedule yet. The Dean added a class for me. Meditation. I think I like it so far, but it takes up the time after dinner. Only an hour, but I figured that you'd be in bed already, so I didn't want to wake you." Or, more truthfully, she hadn't thought about it at all. To cover that she kissed the girl, still working out exactly what to do. Then smiling, she mentioned the thing with Instructor Crane, to explain why she hadn't stopped by before meal time. The other girl seemed amused by it, rather than mortified.

  "Oh... That's, rather sad, isn't it? I mean you were there and willing and he stopped himself? He should have at least named some noble reason. Are you going to try for him again? Maybe he was just having problems? I have to admit, I'm a little jealous, but it isn't like he's a lover or anything, so I guess that's alright. Really though it was probably that he realized that you'd actually do it that spoiled it for him. Some men like to feel like they're in charge of the whole thing and making you perform. You can only ask, I suppose."

  Tiera liked Regina a lot, and she realized, it was at least a little more than that. After all, she should have felt awkward and like she wanted to get rid of the other girl, instead of like taking her to bed, but she didn't. Not at all. It amazed her to no end, but there it was. She was falling in love.

  It nearly overwhelmed her for a moment, and she started kissing the girl harder, working down her neck, feeling like she couldn't control herself at all. That had never happened to her before, not like this. In a fight, or when she took off the Count's arms and legs, but this was different, she felt just as driven, but she wasn't lashing out. Though soon enough her tongue was. That happened quickly and after a bit the other girl moved so that she could take a turn. For some reason she kept expecting Karen to come back, but it didn't happen. Afterword they held each other, pressing
close, lying in the dim light of the glow plate.

  Getting up slowly the girl tapped her chest, making the single amulet there cause new clothing to pop into place, which looked like tan silk clothing. It wasn't what she wore to school herself, but a lot of the wealthier kids did that. Tiera dressed like the poor kids, and most of the fighters. They might wear fighting leathers, but in the main they kept their clothing choices humble and functional. No one had told her to directly, but she'd always done that. She'd come to school wanting to make friends, but she'd known not to try and be too flashy. People that were attracted to that kind of thing weren't the ones she was interested in.

  The silks did look nice on Regina though, especially across the back, as she walked away. Hopping up she got her own, much plainer, clothing on and walked the girl to the door. Standing with it open, in the cool fall air, Reggie kissed her again.

  "I think I've always loved you. Is that insane? I feel like it's true, even though it can't be. We just met really. Does that make any sense? You don't have to say anything, but, I wanted you to know that. I love you." She sounded shy and darling then, so much so that Tiera felt like she was about to burst and nearly pulled her back inside.

  "I love you too. So much." They kissed for a while, and then, without another word, her friend jogged away, headed toward their old room.

  Tiera felt flushed and warm inside, though a bit of worry trickled into her stomach as she settled into bed, still alone. Had she said the wrong thing somehow? It was what she felt, at least she was pretty sure of it, but now that the other girl was gone the feeling started to fade. She still liked her, because, who wouldn't? She was smart and funny, very cute and kind all the time. A little jealous, but that wasn't a horrible thing, it just meant that she liked her, right? Even at that, it wasn't like it would have been back home. Reggie was willing to let her do things with other people, for fun, or to keep the social contract. She just wanted to be loved.

  Didn't everyone?

  Sleep didn't come for a long time then, and when she did get up, feeling a little fuzzy headed and more than a bit off. Karen still wasn't back. That was fine, since she was an adult and didn't answer to her, but it seemed a little off. There'd been no warning that she wasn't planning to come back the day before. Tiera hadn't given her any warning when she'd taken off either though, so maybe it was a lesson? She didn't feel too worried yet. Hopefully Karen would have told her if there was a war she was going into. Tiera would have helped. Gotten some snacks ready or something useful like that.