The Killing Grounds Page 24

  She fell in step as he led her across the gym and stood to attention by his side as he addressed the class. “Ladies and gentleman welcome to the Killing Grounds, as day one apprentices I am sure that you are all dying to get started.” Several members of the group mumbled a response. “Yes Lord Sirap!” he shouted. The reply from the crowd was weak and out of time. “This young lady,” he gestured to Alara, “is Miss Du Preeze; she finished her class as A2.” Several mumbles went up from the group and Alara noticed a few of the girls look at her in wonder. The news of her reaching A2 shocked Alara, she hadn’t meant to overtake Black, no wonder he was annoyed with her! “Take a good look people. Now who of you think that they can best her in a climb?”

  Several boys held up their hands and Lord Sirap chose four of the bigger ones to step up to the ropes where Alara joined them. She rubbed her hands together and gritted her teeth for the climb. She looked at Lord Sirap who smiled at her and said, “Ready, go!” Alara shot up the rope using the hand over foot method, touched the top and headed back down for the second climb. She was so caught up with the race she didn’t notice one boy slip from the rope and hit the ground hard. By the time she’d finished her five climbs her closest rival had only reached the top of his second attempt. “Done,” she shouted.

  “The rest of you back in line!” The boy that had fallen stayed down and looked at Alara. She scowled at him in disgust; she had no time for weak pathetic boys. “Get up boy!” Lord Sirap shouted and the boy hobbled back into line. “Anyone else like to try?” No one stepped up. He turned to Alara, “Thank you Miss Du Preeze, I believe the Quartermaster is waiting, you may leave.”

  “Yes Lord Sirap,” she shouted and jogged out of the gym, giving the group of new apprentices a look of contempt as she left.

  She checked the clock above the notice board, the Quartermaster's office would be open in five minutes and she hurried down the corridor, not wanting to be late on her first day. As she turned the final corner she ran into the backs of Gideon and Alex who were already waiting in line. She was pleased to see that Alex was first in line, knowing that he would be happy with the minor victory. She was hoping to have a moment alone with him and apologise at beating him to A2, but with Gideon present it would have to wait until later. But a thought struck her, Why should I apologise? I made A2 on my own with no help from anyone else. Sorry Alex but tough luck!

  “All three of you in my office please,” the Quartermaster ordered as he marched passed them with a mug of coffee and used a foot to push the door open.

  The three assassins followed him in and stood to attention in front of his desk. “At ease people, you’re not apprentices anymore so pull up a chair and sit down.” Gideon offered Alara the chair that was already stationed in front of the desk and the two boys grabbed another each from the back of the office and joined her. “As you may have heard from the abysmal noise we have a new group of inductees,” he shook his head and sighed. “As Miss Du Preeze wasn’t with us at the start of your class I want to go over each of your duties. Mr Black you will be responsible for teaching these louts how to keep the dorms in order, and I expect this done with the least amount of effort from your side. I would imagine a beating or two will do the job.” He handed Gideon a sealed envelope. “Make sure those are taken care of today please. That’s all.” Gideon nodded and left. “Miss Du Preeze I’ll get to you now so please excuse me for speaking to the other Mr Black first.” He turned to Alex, “You will make sure that when Lord Sirap is occupied with other Guild matters the apprentices keep up with their fitness training. Check in with Lord Sirap later and find out when he needs you. In the meantime deal with this please,” he handed Black an envelope. “Dismissed Mr Black.” Alex nodded at the Quartermaster and left without even looking once at Alara. The old man sat and stared at her while he waited for Black's footfalls to fade. When he was sure the boy was gone he asked Alara to shield the room. “Lord Basel is in the winds, his rooms were packed and his belongings gone by the time the meeting in the mess hall finished last night. As of now the Council have no idea as to his whereabouts. I thought you might want to see this,” he pushed a sheet of paper toward her. She turned it over to see a picture of Lord Basel alongside a large cash reward. “I would say that makes the two of you even,” she nodded to him. “You have five days before the bounty on you is passed up the ranks to a senior Lord. I am guessing you’ll spend the time wisely?”

  “Indeed Quartermaster and thank you.”

  “Now, Miss Du Preeze there are over one hundred of those idiots in the dorms and I want to know how many Artists there are, and at what skill level they currently are. Don’t get to know them too closely as most of them won’t last very long. You’ve also been given the task of retiring some of them if they can’t get the job done in the required time. Any questions?”

  Alara didn’t like the sound of retiring the young apprentices, but she was part of the Guild now and she would live up to her oath to serve them. “None Quartermaster.”

  “Good, now leave me to my coffee, those little shits will be lining up outside my door soon and I need time to put my thoughts in order before kicking their asses.”

  She smiled and got up to leave. “One last thing Miss Du Preeze, your young friend from the open day has requested a meeting with you in the courtyard tonight at eight. From what I understand he is quite taken by your charms, but be careful, the boy is a snake in the grass politician and he’ll want more than a kiss goodnight this time.”

  She hadn’t realised that the old man had witnessed Bastian’s cheek kiss and felt her stomach knot, “Understood Quartermaster.”

  “Good day Miss Du Preeze,” he said and waved her away.

  Alara tucked Lord Basel’s bounty into her shirt and closed the office door behind her. The Quartermaster had taken a chance on her and levelled the playing field between the two assassins. She now had a good reason to go after him, but she had no idea where to start looking. The city was huge and he could be waiting for her in a million different places. She felt a thrill go up her spine but shook it off, she needed to stay focused.

  ***

  Alara spent the morning brooding, she couldn’t shake off the feeling of desperation and her only lead to Lord Osari was in hiding, but she couldn’t figure out why. Maybe the Affiliation had sent him to watch Lord Osari, knowing that Alara would try to find him somewhere in the city. She had pinned the bounty to the side of the mirror in her room and sat on the chair staring at the face of the man that stood between her and her goal. Where are you hiding? And why didn’t you stay to fight me one-on-one? She shook her head, this was getting her nowhere. She stood and circled her head, working out the kinks in her neck and checked on the time, it was still hours before her meeting with Bastian and she needed a distraction.

  Time to get to know the newbies, she made her way back down toward the dorms and heard Alex scream at a bunch of them in the gym. She could sense the anger in his voice and felt sorry for the young apprentices as they tried to match his high expectations. The screaming coming from the dorm was no better as Gideon shouted instruction after instruction as apprentices flew around the room under his vicious tutelage. She tried to scan the dorm but there were so many new Artists and new spell scents that she struggled to focus on counting. She dragged Gideon away from a small boy who had collapsed crying on the ground and pulled him into the corridor. “Send them to the mess when you’re done and ask Black to do the same please.”

  “It will be my pleasure. Sixty minutes and they're all yours.”

  “Thanks, I’ll be waiting, and try not to retire any of them between now and then,” she smiled at him and walked away.

  “If only I could.”

  Alara laughed, left him to torture the class a little more and went to the mess hall to wait for the recruits. She took the hour to rest her mind and meditate in the quiet, but the sounds of the hundred or so apprentices going about their day in their raucous way kept breaking her concentration, and by the t
ime they started filtering into the hall she was already annoyed with them.

  She pushed past the queue and grabbed the list of names from the notice board and waited for a lull in the line before taking her position at the front of the class. In the short time that they had been at the Killing Grounds some of them had been awarded credits, and unlike Black and Gideon she chose to use the information to her advantage. She stood silently at the front of the class as the noise level grew and glanced down the list of names, only one girl had made top five and she felt disappointed. She looked up as the last of the stragglers took up their seats and shook her head. A stack of chairs had been left next to the emergency exit and Alara took the top five and placed them in the front of the classroom. Some of the students sat quietly looking at her, but most of them were still being raucous.

  “Quiet,” she said, but the majority of the apprentices either didn’t hear her or chose to ignore her. “Quiet!” she shouted. Most of the room came to order, but a group of boys to her right were arguing about their gym results. She drew a blade from her belt and without looking threw it at the group. It thudded into the armrest of the noisiest boy. They all turned to her with open mouths. “When I say quiet I mean exactly that,” she said calmly. "Do I make myself clear?”

  Several of the class mumbled something incomprehensible; she was beginning to understand why Black and Gideon were taking a more aggressive stand.

  “Yes Miss Du Preeze!” she shouted.

  “Yes Miss Du Preeze,” they all shouted in unison.

  “Better, A1 stand up.” None of the class moved. “I thought as much. Do you know why there is an A-system within the class?” Several boys lifted their hands up. She pointed to an overweight boy who sat to her far left.

  “The A-system is a pinnacle point for all of us to achieve, the top five are the best in class and it is where we should all be aiming for,” he said not taking his eyes off Alara.

  “Incorrect, anyone else?” Several more apprentices tried to answer the question but all they came up with were different versions of the first boy’s explanation. She was about to give up when a small blonde girl put her hand up. Alara could tell by the look on the girl's face that she had a different idea but was struggling with self-confidence. She scanned the girl quickly and found signs of the first Artist within the new recruits. As she was about to start speaking Alara stopped her by holding up her hand, “Let’s start as we mean to carry on so first things first, name girl?”

  “James Miss.”

  “Miss what?” Alara snapped.

  “Miss Du Preeze.”

  “Continue girl.”

  “In my opinion the A-system is there for one reason only. By the end of our apprenticeship just five of us will be asked to join the Guild and as history tells us it is normally the A’s that succeed in the finals. All the other candidates will have already been retired, and in so, inconsequential in the great scheme of things.” The girl stumbled over her words trying to impress Alara.

  “Very good A1, fifty credits,” she said and pointed her towards the furthest left of the five chairs. Another girl raised an arm. “Yes?”

  “Tinndle Miss Du Preeze, I would also like to add that the A’s are there to set the standard and to lead the class.”

  “Now we are getting somewhere, I agree A2 fifty credits,” she said and pointed to the chair next to James.

  Hands flew up all around the room but Alara put up her own and the room quietened down, she had their full attention. “I have three more chairs to fill and I suggest you think before answering the next question, after all I can always deduct credits as well.” She paused to let her last statement settle into their brains and scanned the room looking for Artists. She found another five but chose to ignore them. She needed an even balance to the new A’s. “Why are there so many of you here if we only require five candidates?” Hands flew up all around her, “Be warned class, I asked you to think about the answer.” Several hands dropped and she picked on a small spotty boy that was waving at her frantically. She immediately liked the boy for his moxie and raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Practice Miss,” he answered. The room erupted into laughter but Alara soon hushed them.

  “What’s your name boy?”

  “Browne Miss Du Preeze,” he said, remembering to add her name this time.

  “Well Browne, would you like to elaborate on your answer?” she asked.

  “Well the way I see it is simple really, we need to prove ourselves and that means practicing our skills on each other, you know what I mean Miss?” His common accent gave him away; he was from the slum area of the city. He would have to have been sponsored as there was no way his parents could afford his schooling at the Killing Grounds.

  “Yes I do A3, fifty credits, and unlike the rest of the class your grip on the truth is exemplary.” She pointed to the third chair.

  “But that’s not fair Miss,” another piped up.

  She let the lack of discipline go, “Fair? Now that’s an interesting word. There is nothing fair in being retired to the mines. Apprentice?” She waited for his name.

  “Whitehead, Miss Du Preeze.”

  “Well Whitehead, let’s examine your poorly constructed hypothesis on fairness. Right now this class is either being sponsored for their tutelage or their families are paying for it, but your bed and board is taken care of by the Guild and the Guild only has a limited budget. Is that fair? Your responsibility is now to the Guild and the Guild Council, as is mine. Your main responsibility is to learn quickly and put your skills into practice, as Browne alluded to.” She wanted to be very firm on this point as it reflected on her position directly. “If you do not practice your skills sufficiently I will be forced to practice mine.” She looked around the room, many of the faces looked confused but Browne was nodding. “Would you like to tell the class what that means please A3.”

  The spotty boy looked backward at the class and said, “Kill or be killed you dolts.”

  “Precisely, and I don’t think that it’s fair that a lacklustre display from this class messes with my private time. What do you think about fairness now Whitehead?”

  “You make a valid point Miss Du Preeze and I apologise,” he replied.

  “The first step to good reasoning is realising when you are wrong and learning from the situation, A4 fifty credits.” She motioned for Whitehead to join the others in the front seats. “Next time examine your thoughts all the way through before you make any silly remarks.” She had been looking for a boy from a well to do background to balance the group and now that he was in place, all she needed was a powerful Artist from somewhere in the room. She decided to open up a debate. “Now what do we know of the Arts?” Arms shot up everywhere. She invited the first boy into the conversation and he launched into a brief history of the Arts and the good it had done for humanity. She probed him but he was mundane. She asked a boy who snarled at the history lesson to speak and he viciously lashed out, declaring that the Artists were Witches and that they would go to hell. She chastised the boy and dismissed his ideas as hypocritical, given his current choice of studies. Conversations were breaking out all around the room and Alara let them carry on for ten minutes before she had to break up a fight between two girls after their conversation got a little too heated. The diversion had allowed her scan the entire room and she’d found thirty-two Artists of various calibres, but she had her eye on one in particular that sat in the back of the room. He’d been shielded the entire time and refused to get involved in the conversation. She brought the room to order and made a joke to defuse the situation. The boy was tall and thin and sat twenty metres from the front of the room, but Alara would be able to pick those eyes out from a mile off, like her he was Arian. “Name boy?” she said pointing at him.

  “Le Saux Miss Du Preeze,” he answered calmly.

  “Do you have anything that you would like to add to the conversation Le Saux?”

  “Nothing Miss Du Preeze.”

  �
�Very well A5 fifty credits, please join us down here.” She pointed to the last chair. “One of the other important things for this group to understand is structure, and now with your A’s in place you have one. I expect you to treat them in the appropriate manner, though whether or not they keep those positions is entirely up to them.” She took a good long look at her choices and nodded. “You five have big shoes to fill. Make sure you do a good job!” Alara looked to the back of the class and the Quartermaster was staring back at her. “Quartermaster on deck!”

  The class stood to attention as one, “Thank you Miss Du Preeze, carry on.”

  “Class dismissed, report back to your dorm on the double.” The class filed out of the mess hall and left Alara alone with the Quartermaster.

  “I was hoping one of you would put the correct systems in place, good work Miss Du Preeze. Their lack of discipline was already giving me a headache,” he said as the last one left.

  “They're not so bad Sir; they just need some direction and stimulation. There are thirty-two Artists in the group and young Le Saux is the most gifted,” she was glad to get the task out of the way, her focus was Lord Osari and the apprentices would get in the way if she wasn’t careful.

  “Quick work as always Du Preeze,” he said strolling down the aisle between the chairs. “The Council has decided that it is in its best interests to introduce two new classes to the curriculum, one for the Artist to learn more about their skills and another to teach the mundanes how to defend themselves against the Artists. They say it will add spice to the next three years. You’ve been chosen to instruct the Artists for the year with a possible extension for the full three years if you produce the required results.”

  “I would be honoured,” she said politely, but inside she was seething at the Council for throwing more walls up at her.

  “Yes, I’m sure that’s your official standpoint but we both know you don’t mean a word of that so let’s not bullshit each other Du Preeze.”