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Forced Education

chapter seventeen

Wit

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Carrying my bindle over one shoulder, I followed the crowd to Market. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I knew one thing for sure...I wasn't going to be in the house when Mary found the empty pie container.

Tailing a group of women to the circle of stalls within what Mary called Market, I perused the wares on display. All kinds of goods lined the tops of small stalls with simply inscribed signs on planks near the stands that read either: meat, herbs, weapons, household - which I'd assumed were household items.

Simple items, simple descriptions.

Concealed in the throng of activity, I snagged a few fruits and devoured the poor things in a matter of seconds. By the time the man saw he'd been cleaned out, I was already onto the next target.

Steaming hot loaves of bread caught the unwanted attention of my nose, only moments before they too were lost to the monster that was my hunger.

Cries followed me as I weaved from stall-to-stall, feasting upon the prey of lazy shop clerks. One woman nearly caught me mid-snatch, before I sunk into the crowd and decided the stalls were becoming too wary.

Then I went into one of the much larger buildings with a sign above. The reason I entered this one was that above the door read 'Highland Supplies'. Recognizing the name, I wandered inside, still wondering what exactly I was going to do besides explore.

I pushed open the relatively grand mahogany double doors and was amazed by the inside - when you compared it to the outside shops, this place was almost a Market circle in itself.

Glass containers displayed a medley of weapons, from swords to shields, and spears to armors, sprawled into rows throughout the store. It was like a library for barbarians.

I roamed the aisles, letting each shiny thing catch my eye. Holy shit, is that even necessary? A huge sword took up almost an entire glass row by itself. It was probably as long as me. Who would even use something that big?

Besides weapons there wear armor stands with all types of different materials: quilted cloth, heavy chain mail, and even plain metal. Below each was a placard that read, 'Gambeson', 'Chainmail', and 'Breastplate', respectively.

"Whattaya looking for there, lad?" A voice spooked me from my left side.

Turning to the voice, I was met with a guy, probably around eighteen and twenty. He was relatively well groomed and carried an attitude that I would guess fit his career in service.

I wonder where he bathed to get that clean. I could use some of that.

"Umm...I'm just looking around, right now." I stammered through.

After this morning's debacle, talking to people was still hard, but I wasn't as skittish at least. One problem solved for now.

"Well, whattaya' need, lad?" Eyeing my sack he seemed to get an accurate impression. "You need a job, lad? We could use a fresh set of hands if you're willin' o' course."

I could do that. I've always wanted a job.

Stroking my chin I thought the offer over and the man was at least patient enough to wait.

I've always wanted a job. I hated being dependant on someone else, and as nice as Mary was, I didn't want to bother her more than I had to. Jax too for that matter. It'd probably best to find a way to pay for my own necessities. Then my eyes popped open.

I could use this job to buy Mary a new pie.

Struck with new fervor, I began haggling an income with the man. I say haggling, but I had no idea what the currency was or how much was fair. Just as we were settling on a deal of 20 coppers an hour and were about to shake hands, a familiar voice disrupted everything.

"Hey, daddy look. It's that pouty face guy!" Heather's loud voice interrupted, as both the salesman and I looked to her and her father.

The father-daughter combo were walking down the elaborate stone stairs that led from the second floor when they stopped and approached us.

They live here? Well, I guess the sign should have given that away.

As they came within normal speaking range, the salesman made a slight bow and greeted, "Good morning, Mister and miss Highland." Holden returned the greeting with a nod.

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"Is it a good morning, Trevor? I haven't been outside yet." Mr. HIghland asked.

Trevor smiled. "Yes sir, it looks like it's going to be nice when you teach the afternoon classes later today."

Holden laughed and rubbed the scruff of his beard. "I hope so." Then turning his attention to me he opened his mouth to speak, but his daughter spoke for him.

"What are you doing here, skinny arms?" She asked right before insulting me and sticking her tongue out. How can someone be so rude; she's worse than Mary.

Trevor answered, "I offered him a job and he accepted." he said, to the surprise of the two owners.

"Nonsense." Holden smiled. "You just got out of the infirmary, no work for you."

"Yeah, you're still a kid, so you have to come to school with me," Heather added with a malicious tongue wagging.

Her fathered stroked his beard and nodded his head with a roaring laugh. "That's a great idea, Heatherbee!"

...what?

Gripping me by the shoulder, the intimidating man guided me back outside and through the crowded circle.

"Ummm...what?" I thought aloud. What is going on right now? Wasn't I just about to get a job?

"Don't worry about the little things, my boy, you need to go to school before ya' can get a job like the big boys."

He dragged me along the road and I was too out of my element to respond with anything witty to get me out of the situation.

"Umm...I don't really need school though." I grumbled.

"Yeah you do, stupid. Just look at your face. You look dumb." Heather stated as if that was a matter of fact.

Was it?

"Stop bein' mean to the lad, Heather." The father lightheartedly rebuked. "The boy's face will look smarter after a few days of school."

Stunned into silence, I touched along my face. Did I really look stupid?

"It'll be fine, pouty. Daddy's teaching the afternoon class, so it's gonna be lots of fun! Right, daddy?" She beamed at her father, who blushed and rubbed his nose to hide a gleeful smirk. "That's right, Heatherbee." Then pointedly informed me, "It won't be too bad, lad, I promise that. Jus' a few hours of the boring morning stuff before you come outside and enjoy my afternoon lessons." He laughed and we finally stopped outside a long wood-logged building lined with windows, where I could see other children listening to teachers and jotting information down.

"Here ya' are, Honeybee." Holden kissed his daughter's forehead and smiled. "Now take care of this one a'right. He's still hurt." When she gave a forced smile, his smiling face turned to me. "Jus' try to have a good time, lad."

I also gave a fake smile and watched the man steal my bindle and walk away to the training field just across from the building we were going into. While he went up to the group of men, with loud chatter and genuine laughs, Heather dragged me inside the school building for what I'd been told would be 'much fun'.

I didn't believe any of that, because as soon as we were outside of vocal range, Heather began cackling. "Gotcha." Her creepy laugh continued till we reached one of the classrooms with a window facing the training camp. She straightened her face and opened the door.

Inside, the chatter hushed and the middle-aged teacher turned to us. "Who's this?"

Without interrupting, Heather let me speak for once, though I'd rather not. Well, at least she's starting to learn a little courtesy. I opened my mouth to announce myself like I'd done on the first day at my old school, but I was cut off by a different voice from the back.

Even as it was happening, I rolled my eyes. Is everyone around here like this?

"That's the kid that saved Jax!" The boy called from the back.

Now, all wide eyes were on me and all mouths were wide open. Even Heather missed a step to her seat and looked back in wonder.

Heh. I have that effect on people.

Given the silence, I so rightly deserve, I announced myself. "Yo, I'm Wit. Nice meeting you guys." Yeah, that was a strong first impression. Cool.

The instructor nodded his head. "Ah, I heard about your situation from Mr. Highland yesterday. I didn't know you would be coming in so soon, but if you're here for class, why don't you take an open seat and we can get started." He gestured to the back but asked another question. "Are you sure you want to do this class though? It's for the advanc-"

"He'll be fine, Mr. Pine." Heather interrupted. "Dad said I should show him around, so he's joining me." She shot me a menacing side eye and a sneer as she confirmed my attendance.

Letting out a sigh, I wondered how I ended up here.

Spotting an open seat in the back, I waded through the crowded room, soaking up the magnificent reactions. The boys looked on in envy. That's right, I'm cool, aren't I? The women blushed. Yeah, I'm handsome, I know.

There was only one open spot in the back, right next to the older boy who'd shouted earlier.

How'd he know who I was?

Noticing my suspecting face, a pair of narrowed eyes and a single raised brow, the older boy seemed to understand the question.

"Oh, I help in the infirmary a lot, so I was the one that helped you when you came in," he explained, extending out his arm with a smile. "My names Barnes, I'm Mary's assistant."

I took the hand and gave what I thought was an equivalent introduction. "Wassup, dawg, you can just call me Wit."

We shared a laugh as I sat down next to him. Thick mats beside low glossy wooden tables made for seating the students into clusters of two or three. Everywhere else crowded, me and Barnes were the only group of two.

While the teacher began handing out papers for 'cipherings', I turned to Barnes. He said he helped in the infirmary, and I was curious about something.

"Is Jax alright?"

Chipper smile turned serious gossip, he summarized Jax's health.

So, he hasn't woken up yet. I hope he does, I kinda miss the dickhead.

"Yeah, we aren't sure when he'll wake up, but something else happened this morning." I raised my brows and he continued. "One of the other guys the hunters found woke up."

Barnes' eyes drifted off as he began a recap of the mysterious circumstances revolving around the two men Mary had been taking care of.

"...So the big guy woke up and started crying. Can you believe that? The biggest guy I'd ever seen, he must have been at least seven foot, just started bawling into Mary's arms. He kept saying something about his brother." He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know; I didn't get to hear anything else." He got his own paper and grabbed an inkwell and two quill pens from the table corner, handing one to me. "I had to come here and do this." He sighed and unstoppered the well.

"Begin" The instructor...instructed.

Barnes' quill flew across the paper with a speed faster than the people around him. Which makes sense, he looked fifteen or sixteen, while the rest of the kids seemed to be around fourteen, but to be fair, Heather looked like the youngest person here besides me, and she was flying as well. Those two must be at a higher level than even the advanced kids.

Unfamiliar, with the ink-quill method of things, I stumbled with the ink before I finally got everything ready and turned to the paper.

I furled my eyebrows again and looked around to other papers as well.

"No cheating!" The teacher called, but I'd already got a good look at the others. But it didn't make sense.

...This was the easiest math homework I'd ever done.

I shrugged my shoulders and, like a master physicist, my pen hit paper and I was a beast unleashed.