Farlander

'Where will you go?'

'I was thinking, with the money I've saved… I think I'll travel for a while, and see Mercia again while it's still free. It's been some years since I left the islands and I hear it's safe enough for a woman to travel alone.' Her voice held a smile in it now. 'And I'll relax, and take life as it comes, and carry only those things that will fit into my pack. Simple and carefree. That sounds like a fine plan to me, just now.'

'It does,' agreed Nico, and in his voice there was a tone of longing that surprised even himself. Yes, it sounded a wondrous thing to do, to hitch a pack and travel across the islands of the Free Ports.

For a moment he enjoyed a fantasy of undertaking such a venture with this girl as his companion, living each fresh day without fear or threat to his life. He glowed with inner warmth at the thought of it, as unreal as it might be.

'Then come with me,' she said, a grin on her face. He turned to her, without expression. 'We would be good travelling companions,' she went on, still playing with him. 'I can tell.'

'We barely know each other.'

'But we get along, don't we? You can tell these things in the first moment of meeting someone.'

'Please,' he said, 'enough.'

'Oh, you don't like the sound of it.' And she pulled a face.

'I think, right now, I would give anything to be able to do just that.'

The smile left her eyes. Nico felt the touch of her hand on his arm.

'Then what keeps you here? You are an apprentice, not a slave.'

'Because I owe Master Ash a great deal, that's why. We have… an arrangement, and I will not break it.'

'You think he would not release you, if he knew your true wishes?'

'I don't know what he would do,' replied Nico. 'He would feel wronged, at the very least.'

'Nico…' She sighed. 'Ash is a good man. You underestimate him. I have watched him when he and you are together. He cares for you.'

Nico stiffened, loosing her hand from his arm. 'I doubt that. He tolerates me, yes. Mostly though he avoids my company when he can.'

Softly, she said, 'For one so canny, you have something of a blind spot.'

He did not understand what she meant by that.

'It's his way to be reserved. Even those who have known him for a long time he keeps at arm's length. He has suffered much, Nico. All the old farlanders have. I think, even though he would deny it, he fears the pain of further loss in his life.'

Nico did not respond, and the sound of the splashing water filled the little garden instead. It had grown cool, meanwhile, so that he shivered, and realized that a dampness had taken to the air. Already, he could see hints of his own breath clouding before his eyes.

'It's getting cold,' he said.

'A fog comes,' she replied.

'Fog? Now? This place has some strange weather.'

'It's from the mountains on the mainland. We'd better head back if we do not wish to freeze.'

Nico took one last lingering look at the roof garden, and then he turned his back on it, forcing a smile on to his face. He said: 'Master Ash has a story about freezing. I will tell you it on our way back.'

*

The room offered a bleak welcome when he at last returned to the hostalio. It had taken his last remaining coin to open the door, and Nico fumbled in darkness within the washbasin for any remaining quarters that might still be lying at the bottom of it. He found one, fortunately, and used it to turn on the gas lamp. He then settled down on the top bunk with the thin blanket wrapped about him, thinking of the past few hours while his body slowly warmed itself.

Ash returned in the evening, seeming even more weary than before. The old man bumped against the washbasin as though he did not even see it.

Another headache, thought Nico.

Ash merely grunted at him as he lay himself upon the lower bunk. Nico wondered what he had been doing all day, and considered asking him outright, but Ash would most likely tell him to be quiet. Besides, he had other, more urgent, questions to press upon him.

'It is a cold night,' the old man said at last.

'Freezing.'

'Have you eaten yet?'

Nico realized he had not. 'No, but I'm not hungry. This place robs me of any desire for food.'

With care the old man raised himself from the bed. He rifled through his pack and pulled out some oatcake wrapped in wax paper.

'Master Ash…' Nico began, and waited for the old man to face him.

Ash offered him the oatcake. 'Eat,' he commanded, though Nico only shook his head.

'Master Ash, I wish to ask you something.'

'Then ask it.'

Nico took a deep breath, gathering his courage. 'I've been wondering. I'm not so certain I'm cut out for this – to be Rshun.'

Ash blinked, as though he was having trouble focusing. He tore off the wrapping and bit off a chunk of the oatcake himself, still not taking his eyes from Nico.

In a torrent, the words tumbled from Nico's lips. 'I don't know if I have it in me. This work… it's worse than I expected it to be. And last night…' He shook his head. 'To fight as a soldier, to defend my homeland, perhaps that's one thing, but I'm not so certain of this.'

'Nico,' said the old man gently, his cheek stuffed with oatcake, 'if you do not wish to be my apprentice any longer, then tell me so, and I will settle things with you now so you may go home.'

Nico jerked upright. 'But what of our bargain?'

'You have seen it through as best you could. You have worked hard, and faced danger. Simply say the word. I will take you to the docks right now and find you a berth on a ship. You can stay onboard tonight, and by morning you can be sailing away from here. I will not hold it against you. I would do the same myself, if I could.'

Serese had been right, he realized. This was a good man.

Ash wrapped up the rest of the cake and turned away, fumbling to stow it back in his pack.

'Do you wish to leave?' came the old man's words, absently, his back still to Nico.

Nico gazed down at the farlander. The old man seemed almost frail tonight in his weariness. The way he stood, slightly slumped over the pack, not moving, not even breathing it seemed, as he waited for a reply.

Ash's question hung in the air gathering in volume, creating a distance between them; they were strangers to each other in that moment, separated by diverging paths.

It came to Nico in a flash. You're dying.

He blinked at the old man, reflecting on the headaches, the constant use of the dulce leaves, the urge to take on an apprentice. Ash was ill, and knew it was only going to get worse for him.

It was suddenly too much for Nico. He thought: I will never be able to live with myself, not for a second, if I leave this sick old farlander here, in this awful place, alone.

'No master,' he heard himself say. 'I think this city is just getting to me, that's all.'

Ash remained a moment with his back turned to him, his shoulders swelling as he took a fresh breath.

When he turned around, the distance between them vanished; once again they were returned to their familiar roles of master and apprentice.

'You should get some sleep,' suggested Ash. 'It will be a long day tomorrow. We can speak more in the morning, if you wish.'

Nico lay down, his head propped on one arm. Ash assumed his meditation position on the floor. There he breathed silently, his eyes fixed on a particular spot on the door.

Nico gazed at the ceiling, not more than two feet above his head. He studied the cracks in the plaster, the warm light flickering against them, the dark patches where damp had taken hold. He listened to the occasional clatter of coins as they tumbled within the walls, deposited in the floors above, and finding their long way down the collection chutes to some secure vault in the hostalio basement far below.