Page 11 of The Duke and the Disciple

“Jas, your cohort will continue their study of coastal patterns for now and then move on to your next one, whatever came after coitus. Conifers, was it? Anton, keep all your focus on the classification efforts for beasts, and when you have time, draft a proposal for shifting the topic to continuous research, and I’ll run it by the Reliquary. Rahn, you’ll put a pause on astronomy until the observatory is ready for use and focus on solving this coitus dilemma until that time. Everyone in agreement?”

Anton snickered as he nodded. Jasika sighed, muttering her gratitude.

Rahn smiled tightly and prepared for the meeting’s end, but Imryll breathed deep, readying to say something else.

“It pains me to bring this up, but I feel we must approach the upcoming Vuk od Varem with hope but pragmatism.” She pulled both hands onto the table, folding them. “Valerian Barynov is one of our academics. There is a very real possibility he will enter the forest a week from now and never return to us.”

“Imryll, we don’t talk like that about our sons when they are chosen,” Jasika said in a low, cautious rush. She and her wife, Brita, had adopted only daughters for a reason. “We know what the odds are, but we don’t surrender our hope before we have reason to.”

“Keep your hope, if it brings you comfort,” Imryll said. “But we are women and men of science and learning. Val will have to defeat a wulf with nothing but his wits and a measly dagger.”

“Your own husband won the Vuk od Varem when it was his turn,” Anton replied.

“And his experience was not typical, was it?” Imryll’s mouth twitched. “Drazhan may be more beast than man.”

“Won’t argue that,” Jasika said. “But weneedthis springtide. The imports on meat are prohibitive for most of the villagers. The forests south of us have been sparse of game ever since the disease spread through the elk-kind population there. And after last year’s crop rot, illness is on the rise.”

“A matter for my husband and his counselors,” Imryll replied curtly. “As for us, we are realists. If Val does not return, we need to consider who might replace him.” She tapped the table and stood. “We don’t have to know the answer today. You may think my broaching this, in the manner I chose, is heartless, but if it were up to me, we’d never lose another son to this tradition. Keeping our funding and interest from the Reliquary is my concern. So have a think on it, and when the Season of the Wulf is behind us, we’ll know our direction, one way or another.”

Rahn still didn’t understand the traditions of the Vjestik. The Vuk od Varem was an agreement Drazhan’s ancestor had made with the king of the Icebolt wulves many years ago, when the nomadic Vjestik had fled to the far north for a new settlement. The wulves were not keen to give up their safe roam of the forest so that men could hunt, but to avoid a war, they came to a compromise. Once a year, a son of man and a son of wulf would have a week in the forest to decide who the land belonged to for the hunting season. It was simple: whoever lived, won, but to win, the other must die. The wulves rarely lost, and even when the men prevailed, they could never hunt enough to make up for the dry years ahead. As a result, most families spent their gold on the heavily taxed imported meats from Wulfsgate and farther south, and they had little left for anything else. Many Vjestik were tired of losing their beloved sons and believed it was time to challenge the wulves once and for all. Others feared such an act would spell the end of their people.

Rahn waited for Jasika and Anton to leave before retaking his seat. “Has something happened?”

Imryll sighed and squished her face in mild exasperation. “Rahn, my husband is a stubborn, stubborn man. He asked me to thank you for what you did for Aesylt, and to make clear the debt he owes you for keeping her safe until help arrived. If you had not... We don’t even want to consider what might have happened. Because of you and the vedhmas, she will be perfectly fine. And as you and I know, if he were fully aware of how she ended up in that tree, Aesylt would never see her friend again, so we’ll protect the small white lie, for her sake.” She sighed, her mouth quirked into a sardonic grin. “Now, after lavishing you with praise, I’m to remind you his sister is unmarried and far too young for you.”

Rahn exhaled a stilted laugh. “Of course he said that.”

“I don’t need to tell you how ridiculous he is about her. He said even Val, her oldest friend, wouldn’t climb the tree to save her, so you must have strong loyalty to Aesylt to put your own life in danger,” Imryll said. “But... Aes thinks the world of you. You know that?”

He lowered his head, his thoughts reluctantly returning to the hour or so Aesylt had spent sleeping in his lap as he’d held her to protect her warmth. “I did only what either of you would have done for her. For anyone.”

“Of course.” Imryll nodded. “Of course, but just... Be cautious, is all I wanted to say. I don’t know where the man got it into his head that you’ve become sweet on her, or how he turned your bravery into something else. I’m not surprised she looks up to you. I always have.” She smiled and reached a hand toward him. He took it, and they both squeezed before letting go. “But if you sense there’s more than admiration at play, do yourself and her a great favor and quash it.”

“You needn’t worry.” Dread crept across his bones. Nothing she’d said should have been alarming, but he felt very much alarmed. He hadn’t even been to see Aesylt since the vedhmas had tended her wounds, but he should have. He wanted to, and maybe that was the problem. “If anything, Imryll, I’ve been harder on her than the others.”

Imryll cocked her head, watching him. “Why?”

“She reminds me a little of you.” He chuckled to himself before growing serious. “She has so much potential, and people don’t reach their potential if they’re not challenged. I, myself, am still chasing mine.”

Imryll traced her finger along the table. “I could see her being another you in a few years.” She offered him a sleepy smile. “Do you suppose you’ll take a bride someday?”

Rahn whistled. It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of it. He and Teleria had even thrown around the advantage of a union between them. But it would be a matter of practicality, nothing more. He’d not been in love, and he wouldn’t know it beyond words on a page. “Marriage is the last distraction on my mind at present.”

“Hmm.” Imryll pushed back, and he did the same. “Go see Aesylt. She’s asked about you. Oh, and... about the research. You know I made that decision because I trust you’ll find a way to work withandaround the Reliquary’s intemperate guidelines?”

“I know why you did it,” he said as he followed her to the door. “And it’s going to keep me up a fair number of nights trying to figure out a way around it without disqualifying us from inclusion.”

Imryll reached for the door but hesitated before opening it. “Do you remember telling me I was too clever for my own good?”

Laughing, Rahn shook his head at the floor. “I don’t recall saying it, but it’s true.”

She gave him a quick, tight smile. “I didn’t inherit that from my selfish parents. I learned it from the man who was like an older brother to me. The man who showed me the path to curiosity. Rahn, what we’re doing here... Itmatters.”

“I know.” He nodded solemnly. “I believe in it just as much.”

“There exists no true compendium of knowledge in this kingdom. Not one. Scattered scrolls and documents, patchy histories. That’s all. That isallthe people of this realm have to guide their learning. The Reliquary wants to steal our idea forThe Book of All Thingsand claim it as their own. They have more money and resources than we ever will here in the Cross. The crown is funneling gold their way, fast enough to feel suspicious. None of that I have any control over, so I try not to let it wound me too deep. But I will bedamnedif I let them ice us out altogether.” She clamped a hand atop his shoulder. “Find a way.”

Rahn felt the same about their ambitious endeavor, which half of the village thought was a silly waste of time and the other was curious but cautious toward. The Vjestik had their own history keepers, the kyschun, who, using the magic of the Ancestors, stored their people’s histories in their minds to preserve across the generations. Each society had their own way of holding onto the past, he supposed, but nearly all of it was limited to selected words passed down lines. Crafting a true compendium classifying every beast, plant, phenomena, disease, geography, peoples, and everything else that made up their thriving world had been his passion since he was a boy, and that Imryll had run with it, inviting him in, was a dream come to life. Sharing the passion with other eager researchers was leaving his heart full and happy.

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