Tarnava — 15 YBB
Before we begin, a brief reminder. If at any time during the Interview you feel the need for a break, a drink, a meal, some sleep, or medical attention, you have only to ask me. Good luck.
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Murentam Valley — 14 YBB
Saf hustled down the slope, his feet slamming frantically into every rock crevice and tangled root that could support him. Each accidental footfall in a pocket of loose dirt sent him sliding a bit, nearly tumbling over.
Faster, he willed himself, praying to Aminingi that no one had noticed his escape. Faster, faster, faster.
He was nearly there, nearly out of the forest, nearly onto the wagon road, nearly to the safety of the village.
Adrenaline coursed through his veins. Freedom nipped, intoxicating, at the edges of his mind.
Forest gave way to saplings and shrubs. Saplings and shrubs gave way to roadside grasses.
He had been keeping his eyes glued to the ground to avoid tripping, but he looked up at the road now. A woman was coming in the opposite direction, an ordinary working woman with a basket.
Saf checked his stride. He needed to look normal to any travellers. She seemed to be a castle-woman, from the wool servants’ garb she wore. Not ideal, but no ordinary servant woman could stop him.
He focused one her face. Her face. Excitement gave way to terror.
It’s over. Saf took off sprinting in the opposite direction, hoping she hadn’t recognized him. He didn’t get far. Concentration gone, his foot connected with a wagon rut, sending him sprawling into the muddy ground.
He moaned. The woman towered over him. She spoke with a slightly raspy voice.
“Safram! Your chores are NOT finished.”
*****
Mistress Mina managed the servant girls at Murentam. She was a servant herself. Not that anyone would say that to her face. Mina acted almost like a steward. She had more power at the Castle than anyone except for Sir Henerick and his son. And no wonder that Sir Henerick had given her that power. Mina commanded those who caught her attention with an uncompromising discipline.
Saf looked up at the sky, exasperated. No one caught Mina’s attention quite as often as him. Can’t I get off work just once?
Beside him, Mina was delivering a lecture.
“You’re almost seventeen now Safram. You’re a man. You can’t keep pulling these childish antics.”
Her hands were free to gesticulate for emphasis. She had conscripted him into carrying the basket.
Saf had learned that it was better not to respond to Mina, and above all not to argue.
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“You have to find some occupation for yourself. I know you’ve got a brain in there somewhere. We were able to teach you to read, for Oruvar’s sake.”
Saf looked down at the basket. A red cloth partially covered an assortment of strange herbs and berries. Did someone need medicine? And why would Mina fetch it herself?
“Are you even listening to me?”
*****
Mina had set him to hauling water from the stream to the castle. The twins were with him. They had been fighting again, this time over a game of dice. Saf told them about his own attempt to get off for the day. He had thought, after finishing up in the stables, that if he could avoid meeting any of the head servants, no one would be able to assign him more work.
“Anyways, I’m never praying to Aminingi again.” Saf finished his story.
Tammus groaned. “You are a dunce if you thought that would work.”
“If you’re stupid by Tammus’ standard, you’ve got a real problem.” Ulliam never missed a chance to make a jab at his twin brother, even when he was ostensibly making a jab at someone else.
Tammus slapped Ulli’s bucket in retaliation, causing a bit of its water to splash out. Ulli jerked away, sending even more water sloshing onto the ground.
“You marangach!” Ulli spat at his brother. Saf moved to separate them. He wasn’t superstitious, but if Mina caught one of them saying something like that she would come up with something even worse than hauling water.
They walked on in silence, their panting barely audible under the ambient sounds of the spring forest. It was hard work. Saf, muscles sore and uncomfortable, cycled through different ways of hoisting the bucket with his arms or against his chest. The twins were bigger and had a somewhat easier going of it. Not for the first time, Saf wished he were big enough to be chosen as a warrior. If Castle Murentam was called upon to support the imperial army, Tammus and Ulliam would probably be picked as men-at-arms. They might die, Saf thought to himself, but better to die in war than live a full lifetime hauling water.
Halfway back to Murentam, Tammus broke the silent march by jumping suddenly.
“I heard something, I swear.”
Ulliam mocked his brother as a pansy for cowering at random noises.
Saf felt a little more charitably, but he didn’t intervene in the back and forth between the twins. There had been rumors for weeks of all sorts of strange attacks and inexplicable happenings. He was a little nervous himself.
The second noise made them all flinch. Saf made ready to run for his life. A small shape rocketed out of the foliage and across their path.
Tammus laughed nervously.
“Just a rabbit.”
Uneasy silence resumed.
The trio trudged over a small rise and into sight of the castle. It sat on a rocky promontory jutting out into the valley. Below the castle, at the base of the cliffs, were the woods in which Saf had spent his afternoon. A broad meadow dominated the upward slope behind the castle, from the base of the promontory to the sheer rock walls that marked the start of the high mountains. It was a highly defensible location, with cliffs on three sides and open, coverless terrain on the fourth. The blocky towers and small windows further testified to the fact that the castle had been built in an era when defensibility was of paramount importance.
Saf spotted a small wild strawberry bush along their path, and the others didn’t try to stop him when he set down his bucket to pick from it. They lumbered onwards. Saf knelt by himself, searching for the ripe red ones to pluck from the nettles. He took his time. The bustling sounds of the castle mingled with the sighing of the forest, and soon he could hear the distant bickering of Tammus and Ulliam starting again.
Once he was back on his way, the nourishment of the berries propelled him to a faster pace. Still, the twins reached the castle before he caught up with them. Saf hurried through the open gates into the main courtyard and saw Tammus and Ulliam mounting the steps to the top of the stone cistern. He went to follow them. Across the courtyard, the laundry-maidens were doing washing in the long troughs. Most of them were a few years older than Saf. He tensed his arms, straightened his back, and hefted his bucket a little higher.
As he made his way over to the cistern, Ahera and Divia fell in behind him. They were the only two other servants at Murentam of an age with Saf and the twins.
“Impressive show, Saf.” Ahera had noticed him showing off for the laundry girls. “Let me know if you get any proposals. Ladies love a powerful water-carrier.”
She winked at Divia and skipped off.
“What’s your work anyways,” Saf lobbed lamely at Ahera’s back. “harassing people with real jobs?”
Divia and Ahera were Mina’s favorites and usually got a light workload.
He turned back to Divia and, shifting his bucket to free a hand, fished out the last few strawberries in his pocket.
As she ate them she walked with him up to the cistern.
“By the way, if you want to win over the washing maids, a good place to start is not falling into mud with a clean tunic on...”
Divia didn’t speak much, but when she did her advice was generally sound.
Saf chuckled glumly.
“Sure.”
The cistern was a square stone construction with external stairs. The water was poured in at the top and emerged, when needed, from a spout at the bottom. At the top of the cistern platform, the twins stood staring down into the entrance. They hadn’t poured in their water. Huffing from the stairs, Saf joined them, Divia trailing him.
Curious, Saf looked over into the twins’ dumbfounded faces, emptying his bucket into the cistern. He followed their eye line into the dim depths of the holding tank, in time to see his water splash down against some object in the water.
He strained to get a better look.
He made out a shirt in the water. No, a whole set of clothes, trousers and all. No, not just clothes...
Saf blanched. A bloated corpse floated in the cistern.