enough to make them sit still for the lessons. Tuck was one of the few boys at the Collegium who had the skills to help out with the sewing and mending, and he made no bones about the fact that he greatly enjoyed being the only rooster in the henhouse.
Lan bowed over Granny's hand like a very courtier; she snatched it away from him and gave him a playful rap on the knuckles, but dimpled with pleasure like the girl she once was. Snow-white hair peeked from under her cap in flossy curls; her blue eyes, surrounded by a maze of fine lines and wrinkles, twinkled at him.
After dinner, the family cleared away the plates and everyone helped to wash up; Lan took his turn drying the heavy pots. They pushed the table aside and brought in the cushions and easy chairs; the huge kitchen did double duty as a sitting room in winter, for there was no reason to heat two rooms when one would suffice. The sitting room was kept shuttered and closed off from the rest of the house until spring, when it would be opened up and used as a retreat from the heat of the kitchen.
Granny Chester got pride-of-place right next to the fire in the chimney corner; the girls brought out knitting or fine sewing, the boys carving or more knitting. Even Tuck dashed upstairs and brought down a basket with a half-finished pair of stockings, evidently left from the last time he was here.
Seeing what they were up to, Lan rummaged in his packs, which were in a corner of the kitchen, and got out a book. He cleared his throat, and the others looked up at him, some with curiosity, but Tuck with a glint of anticipation.
'I thought maybe some of you might like to hear a tale or two before bed?' he half asked.
He needn't have been so tentative; his suggestion was met with an enthusiasm that would have charmed a practiced Bard.
The book he had brought with him was, in fact, one of the ones that the Bardic Trainees were taught from. As with all songs, many things were left out of the great songs that were famous all throughout Valdemar; this book, and the others that Lan had brought with him, filled in the blank spaces of many of these famous songs.
'I know you've all heard the Bards sing 'Berden's Ride,' but there's more to the story than that,' he began, opening the book to the first page. 'And here is how Berden's story really began....'
As they all listened raptly, knitting needles clicked and knives whittled tiny slivers, and the fire crackled and popped, making a comfortable, domestic background to the story.
When at last he finished—telling them, for the first time, how Berden settled down at the Collegium, minus a leg but plus his own true love, to live to a respected and ripe old age teaching the Trainees what it meant to be a
'I do believe that's the finest I've ever heard anyone read, young Lavan,' Pa Chester said, speaking for them all. 'And a fine thing it is to hear the whole of a tale!'
'Aye, to that,' Granny Chester agreed with satisfaction. 'Me own Ma used to call me Curious Kit, because I was allus asking 'what else happened,' and she could never tell me!'
'Well, I have enough tales in my books with happy endings to read one every night I'm here, if you like,' Lan offered, tickled by their response. From the clamor that followed this offer, it was very clear that everyone did, indeed, 'like.'
Ma Chester produced a round of warm cider and chestnuts to roast; fierce betting ensued as to which chestnut would 'pop' first. When the last nut was a memory, and the last sip of cider was gone, Granny ordered them all to bed.
Lan was not at all averse to bed; it had been a long day. He and Tuck fetched their packs from the corner of the kitchen and headed up the stairs with the rest.
The bedrooms were chilly, even the ones arranged around the central chimney, but hot bricks had been placed in the beds right after dinner. Lan shared Tuck's bedroom, taking a trundle that rolled out from beneath Tuck's bed.
'Well?' Tuck asked, after they had both burrowed under their warm blankets, and the candle was blown out. 'Think you're going to be able to stand my family for a fortnight?'
'Huh! I think it's more whether they're going to be able to stand me! This is going to be great, Tuck, and thanks again for asking me here.'
'Happy to,' Tuck muttered, pleasure in his voice. 'You know...'
But Lan never did find out what Tuck was going to say, because at that point, he was ambushed by sleep.
FOURTEEN
THE Collegium was uncharacteristically silent, the hallways dim. The one or two Trainees who remained here over the holiday had already been 'adopted' by those who had families here, and were spending the day with those families. Without fires burning, the building itself was cold, but it did not have the forlorn sense of abandonment that Lan had expected. Instead, the feeling as he walked down the hallway to his room was of a rest before activity resumed, as if the Collegium were taking a welcome breather until the Trainees returned in force.
His arrival had been anticipated, however, and despite the fact that this was a full holiday, someone had been in his room, built up the fire, and brushed and laid out his Formal Grays for him.
There was even a brand new pair of boots to go with them, something he had not expected, adding the perfect touch of completeness to the uniform. The fire had been going long enough to warm up his room completely; he banked it to await his return before going to the bathing room and cleaning up.
