Chapter Five -- Because

“What?” Kayla shouted. She turned to look when she realized that hers was not the only voice that had spoken; Rhianne-- Kayla had picked up that name, at least-- was looking murderous, and the rest of the group looked mostly shocked. The man that had healed her-- Kardal, she figured-- was smirking; apparently he enjoyed the surprise of the others.

“You all heard me,” the Maestro was saying to the group, “she's going to be traveling with us for a while.” He was still standing in the door to his wagon; he hadn't even bothered to come down to meet her before deciding this. As Kayla mused on her annoyance at this fact, the Maestro turned to look at her again. His eyes met hers; she was sure he could tell she was angry. He smiled.

“If, of course, she wishes to. Well, Miss Cara?” His voice was sweeter than it should have been; did he think his little 'family' was so great that no one would refuse the offer?

“Why are you calling me Cara?” she heard herself ask. There were plenty of other, probably better questions she could be asking, but that was the one that formed itself first in her mind, and thus was the first one that actually came out. The Maestro smiled an annoyingly bright smile, but it was Kardal that answered her, placing a hand on her shoulder and speaking softly to her.

“Your given name is a danger to you now. We give you another one, and do not ask what your old one was.” That made sense, she thought. That annoyed her. She looked back up to the Maestro; he was engaged in some kind of staring contest with Rhianne. She turned back to Kardal, who at least seemed friendly.

“What did he mean, welcome to the family? Why does he think I am joining you?” Kardal smirked. At least, Kayla thought it was a smirk. It was hard to tell beneath the ever-present knowing smile.

“Because I told him you should.” That was what the voice reminded her of, Kayla realized; hummingbirds. Not that his voice sounded in any way like the sound of a hummingbird. It just reminded her of them, for no reason she could put a finger on.

“Why?”

“Because you should.”

“Why should I?” she tried again.

“Because it would be best, I think.” Kayla was growing irritated with this; there would never be any real answers, just a long string of short responses that gave no answers.

“Why would the Maestro assume I was joining the… family… just because you told him I should?” Kayla hesitated on the word family; she still had no idea what kind of people this group was comprised of. Kardal was definitely smirking now.

“Because he knows that I am right.”

“And he always listens to you?”

“No, not always, but in matters like this, yes.” Kardal looked up towards the Maestro’s wagon. “I think he is waiting for your answer, Child.” Kayla started to turn, but thought of one last question to ask her new sort of friend.

“What does the name Cara mean?”

“That, I think, is for the Maestro to tell you.” Kayla just sighed and turned back to the man in question. Sure enough, he was waiting, watching her. For a moment he didn’t seem to realize that she had turned to him; the cockiness that had annoyed her before was gone, and he looked uneasy. As soon as she met his eyes, though, he smiled an arrogant smile and spoke.

“Well? Will you deign to join our humble troupe?” he asked. Kayla just nodded. She didn’t really understand it, but they were offering to hide her, and they would see to it that she was fed and sheltered. That, and she had a feeling she knew what they were. She had seen them before, she recalled, on the night she ran away from home. They had been performing at the festival that the Guild held to celebrate the raising of apprentices.

They were minstrels.

Julian walked out of the tavern feeling unclean, more than he ever had when he was just a dice playing street urchin. Then it had been steal or starve, and bathing was a luxury he had never understood, but at least then he had not been sent to talk with… them. The worst part was… the man’s words made some sense. Oh, he had not come out and said who he was, not yet. Julian would have to come back to the tavern a few more times, talk with him more, before he would even hint at what he was actually proposing. The whole point was to lure men like Julian in, make them think it was actually a good idea. You couldn’t come out and say you were a Warlock if you wanted a Mage candidate to listen to a word you said. But Julian knew; he had gone to the tavern to talk to a Warlock.

Adli had predicted (correctly, Julian knew) that they would jump at the chance to turn Julian. Adli was certain they had people inside the Guild’s organization (not the Guild itself, perhaps, but close by) that fed them information on who might be likely to join them. Julian was young, good with combat magic as well as physical fighting, and rebellious. What was there not to like, for someone looking for recruits? Besides, of course, a mind. They couldn’t be looking for anyone that actually had more than two thoughts of their own a week.

But somehow, even knowing what to be ready for, even knowing how wrong these people were, Julian found himself listening to what the man had said, nodding in agreement occasionally. There were things the Guild forbade, things that didn’t make any sense to Julian. The Guild discouraged any study of magic itself, which had always made Julian wonder; shouldn’t they encourage their Mages to know about what they did and how it worked? That alone would have been enough to get Julian questioning. There had been other things, too, darker things. That was why Julian wanted to run home and scrub himself until the memory had been washed away. Because he had listened, and had not found the ideas repugnant.

These people had Kayla, he told himself. They might, anyway, but even if it were only a remote chance it was worth anything to get her back from them. He didn’t know what they would do with her, but he knew it would not be anything good. If he could help get her back by making contact with these monsters, he would suffer all the unclean feelings in the world.

“Hey stranger.” Julian turned to see the source of the voice; a man hidden in shadows was beckoning him. That probably meant there were two others behind Julian waiting to either stab him or steal from him, or most likely both. Julian took a step forward anyway, and clutched the pouch at his waist. Let them think that was his purse, he thought grimly, and it would be the last thought they ever had.

“What do you want?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder momentarily but seeing no immediate threat.

“Care for a dice game?” the man asked, holding out a pair of hand carved wooden dice. Julian tried to hold back his laughter; there was still a possibility that there were men behind him. The kind of men who held their dice games in the street rather than in the taverns where there were anti-cheating spells were not the kind of men he wanted to play with. Even his own gift for probability spellwork wouldn’t save him from loaded dice. He smiled, and grabbed the pouch where his hand had been hovering.

“Sure… if we can use mine,” he said, pouring the contents of the pouch into his hand. Out fell two large rubies, cut into cubes, with obsidian inlaid for the pips. They glinted in the moonlight. Julian watched as recognition stole over the man’s face.

“You stay the hell away from my game, mister,” he said, backing up.

“But you invited me… why won’t you let me play?” he taunted. The man shouted something Julian didn’t quite catch and disappeared down the alley into the shadows. Julian laughed softly to himself. The look on the man’s face had been priceless. Good to know that his reputation still held. He felt a little less dirty for his amusement, but not by much. With a sigh he continued the long walk home.

Adli waited up for Julian, wondering how much the boy had been able to learn from the Warlock tonight. Adli knew much of what the man would have said; they had tried to recruit him once, and every one of the few apprentices he had taken since then. Julian was smart, and understood a lot more than most eighteen year old boys did much of the time. How much would he have gleaned from the conversation? So Adli waited up.

“I want a bath,” Julian said as he came in the door. Adli smiled at that; he himself had felt the same way, once he figured out who it was that was trying to recruit him, and for what.

“I thought you might. There’s hot water ready.”

“Do they believe the stuff he told me?” Julian asked.

“I myself have wondered that. I don’t really have any way of asking them, so I’ve never figured out if it’s all a web of lies or if they truly think they are better than us.”

“They’re… mercenaries,” Julian said, saying the word with venom. “How can they feel morally superior? We do everything we can to avoid war. It’s… sick… to profit from it.” Adli nodded.

“So I have always believed, but… their words are oddly enticing, aren’t they?”

“That only makes it worse,” Julian responded. He turned to go, but stopped. “The Guild… why do they discourage it?” he asked, knowing that Adli would know what he meant. Adli hesitated. He knew exactly why the Guild did so. How could he explain it, though? It had taken him years of research to figure it out, research he wasn’t supposed to be doing.

“They… we think it better if certain things are not known. I have never spoken to you of the research I do that I have asked you not to speak of,” he said carefully. “I think it is time I did. Tomorrow,” he added. “For now, have your bath.” Julian looked like he was going to demand an explanation, but seemed to think better of it.

“Tomorrow. I hope this is worth it, old man,” Julian replied. Adli smiled. Few Mages would allow their apprentice to be so familiar, but Adli liked that the boy felt comfortable enough to joke with him.

“I hope so too.” He sincerely did. He was risking a lot, exposing Julian to the Warlocks. Adli had lost an apprentice to them once, and Julian reminded Adli very much of that young man. He did not want to lose Julian.

Long after Julian had bathed and gone to bed, Adli was up, deciding just how much he was going to tell his apprentice. It was a fine line, a dangerous line. But it had to be walked. The things that were worth finding in life were never found in safe places.