Firebrand

Searching Blind

Arriving at the workshops for his Solday task, Martel waited with the other novices until Master Jerome appeared and gave them their work for the bell. As the others dispersed, he waited behind to get the artificer's attention. "Master Jerome, I was wondering if you had more tasks for me to do today? If I could earn a silver or two."

"Been a long while since you asked me that. I thought Mistress Rana kept you in her pay?"

"She doesn't pay me. Not yet, anyway."

The bulky man scratched the back of his head. "Not much going on this close to winter," he considered. "I already finished tanning the leather we'll need for the next months. I suppose I could find you something, if you really needed."

"Not desperately," Martel admitted, "but I borrowed some coin from my friend, and I don't want to wait too long before I pay him back."

"That's a good sentiment, at least. All right, do your shift now in the laundry, and you can scrape some parchment and sharpen some quills for me this afternoon."

Martel bowed his head. "Thanks, master."

~

In between working his spells in the workshops, one for free and one with pay, Martel still had his daily chore in the apothecary. He was tempted to ask Mistress Rana if he could start being paid – working one bell every day for nearly a year amounted to a lot of free labour, and even if Martel received just a pittance in payment, it would still provide him with a little coin for his most basic needs. But he had told the alchemist that he would work without pay, and given the value of the knowledge she might share, he did not wish to rock the boat. At least, he assumed she would eventually teach him actual alchemy, not just the simple remedies that any apothecary might make.

Martel did have the five golden crowns that Kerra paid him for his assistance in the Undercroft. Martel had never owned a gold coin before, and five of them felt heavy in his hand – even more so as they dampened his ability to sense with his magic. Currently, he had stuffed the money inside a sock lying in the back of his drawer. While that would easily clear his debt to Maximilian, whom he only owed five silver pieces, that money was intended for Shadi. It was the primary, perhaps even the sole reason he had gone with Kerra and suffered that whole ordeal; he would not risk spending some of it and find himself short when giving it to Shadi that she and her father might keep their home.

Besides, Martel had earned a lot of easy coin lately, whether gambling, prize fighting, or actual fighting, and he was worried about developing a habit. Once he got accustomed to earning money in such ways, he might never convince himself to stop. Working for Master Jerome was a slow and monotonous way of making coin, but it was honest labour that would not get him into any trouble; a decisive advantage, considering Martel's latest experiences.

~

With his second bell in the workshops completed, having sharpened many a quill and scraped much parchment for ink, Martel received one silver piece from Master Jerome. It would take him another three fivedays at this rate to repay Maximilian, but he did have other afternoons off, so maybe he could squeeze in more work – assuming Master Jerome could find more for him.

He thought about last time, going into the sewers to unclog the pipes. While unpleasant work, it had been easy enough. "How are the waterways of the castle?" Martel asked.

The artificer snorted with hints of laughter. "Working, for the time being. You did well last time."

"If you need me to do it again, I am ready. I imagine other students are less keen about this particular task."

Master Jerome smiled before his expression faded. "No need for it right now, happily. Besides, with the inquisitors sniffing around down there, I wouldn't send any of you that way. I don't want them harassing you."

"The inquisitors are in the sewers? What for?"

"Good hiding place, I reckon. For someone who doesn't want to be found. And with the catacombs nearby, the whole place has a sinister tone to it." The artificer gave him another smile and a wink, returning to his work elsewhere.

~

Martel had assumed that Julia did not show the other night because she had no interest in Martel's proposal. It had not occurred to him that she might have been prevented from appearing. He still did not know why the inquisitors pursued her family, but looking at her sorry state, he could not believe she posed any danger to anyone.

Martel did not have to help her, of course. He barely knew her, and he had no responsibility towards her. But he knew, the moment he had seen her ribs poking out through the holes of her ragged clothing, that he could not abandon a child in such straits. He had been given magic, granting him power and privileges, and he would use those to help. Not to mention, if he did not aid Julia, nobody would.

He would have to locate her. If the inquisitors were searching the sewers, it was all the more reason to bring her to safety with Weasel in the copper lanes. Martel could only hope that she had evaded capture so far until he could find her.

~

Martel did not have the key that would unlock the grate door into the sewers, so he decided to approach his search from the opposite direction. Leaving the castle, he returned to the square of Emperor Lucius, this time in daylight. He found the alley where Julia had appeared and resumed his search for anything that might look like an entrance to the sewers. He tapped the cobbled stones to feel if any were loose. He pushed crates aside along with debris, in case they hid any openings. He even tried to smell his way, hoping to catch the stench of the sewers.

Nothing worked. Either he was terrible at this, or Julia had appeared from much further away and simply chosen this place out of caution, preventing people from following her back to her hideout. If the latter, it worked.

Martel did not feel ready to admit defeat. He would return to the first place where he had met her, despite the difficulties. No matter how, he would figure out a way to get through the locked door underneath the Lyceum and find the child.