Chapter 53 - Malbek

Arien was finishing his second helping of breakfast while doing his best to ignore Will’s increasingly impatient stare. The food made that surprisingly easy. After two soft-boiled eggs and a thick slice of bread covered in butter, he was now working his way through a bowl of oatmeal with honey, or, considering how much he had poured in, perhaps honey with oatmeal.
“Arien, come on.” Will leaned farther across the table. “What happened on that ship? Pirates? A leviathan? Ghost ship?”
Arien scraped the last spoonful from his bowl. “None of those.”
“Then what?”
“Later.”
Will groaned. Arien pushed the empty bowl aside and lowered his voice. “First, tell me something. How much does Malbek know about me?”
Will blinked. “What do you mean?”
“About the System. And our Trait.”
Will’s eyes widened. “You have it too?”
Several patrons glanced toward them. Arien immediately leaned closer. “Keep your voice down.”
“Right. Sorry.” Will glanced around, suddenly sheepish. “I just… haven’t had anyone to talk to about it.”
“Malbek doesn’t know about the Avenger?”
Will shook his head. “Not because I don’t trust him.” He hesitated. “He’s strange sometimes, but he’s been good to me. Really good.”
Arien waited.
“When I first came to Wayhold…” Will looked down at the table. “Things were bad for a while. I barely slept. Sometimes I didn’t eat unless Malbek made me. And he was there whenever he could be.”
His fingers traced the edge of his bowl.
“Which means more than it sounds. He’s obsessed with the Academy. Studies constantly. I barely knew him before coming here. I was three when he left home.”
“But you get along now?”
“Yeah. Better than I expected.” A small smile appeared on Will’s face. “When I unlocked the System early, I thought he was going to lose his mind. I’d never seen him that excited.”
“How old was he when he unlocked his?”
“Ten.”
Arien raised an eyebrow.
“And he’s still one of the better students at the Academy,” Will added quickly. “At least from what I understand.”
“Still?”
“People here care about the age.” Will lowered his voice again. “A lot. Anyone who unlocks normally at ten gets called a Ten. Eights and Nines are treated differently. Sevens even more so.”
“Why? If Malbek is talented, what difference does it make whether he unlocked at ten or eight?”
Will shrugged. “I don’t really understand it either. But the competition at the Academy is supposed to be brutal. People quit. People get hurt. Malbek says even Eights and Nines sometimes crack under the pressure, especially because everyone expects more from them.”
That sounds healthy.
Will leaned closer. “So?”
“So what?”
“When did you unlock yours?”
Arien didn’t answer immediately. He had spent a long time deciding how much of the truth he could safely tell Will. He didn’t want to lie to him, but admitting that the System had first appeared when he was a baby was out of the question. Until he understood Wayhold, the Academy, and the people competing for talented students, that part would have to remain his secret.
“Well…” Arien leaned back slightly. “That would make me a Seven. And I have mana. Your instincts were good.”
Will stared at him. Then he burst out laughing. “I knew it!”
“Quiet.”
“Sorry.” Will leaned closer, though his grin refused to disappear. “You know how many new ‘friends’ I’ve made since coming to Wayhold? Eights, Nines, even a few Sevens. Mostly from families important enough to make sure everyone knows it.”
The emphasis Will put on friends said enough.
“And?”
“And none of them could hold a candle to you.” Will shook his head, still looking unbearably pleased with himself. “A Seven with mana. I knew there was something wrong with you.”
“Thank you. Very touching.”
Will’s smile vanished. “Wait. You’re already eight.”
Arien frowned.
“You never registered!” Will grabbed his head with both hands.
“Registered where?”
“Mage Guild. Explorer Guild. Either one.” Will dropped his hands onto the table. “Anyone who unlocks the System early is supposed to have it verified. They have an artifact for it.”
“Supposed to?”
“If you want anyone to believe you later, yes.”
Arien shrugged. “Then they can believe I’m an Eight.”
Will stared at him in disbelief.
“Arien, there are plenty of Eights. Sevens are rare.”
“Exactly.”
“That isn’t a good thing!”
“It is if I don’t want everyone staring at me.”
“Factions would kill for a Seven with mana.”
“That sentence is not making registration sound more appealing.”
“I didn’t mean literally.”
Arien raised an eyebrow.
“…Probably.”
“Will.” Arien lowered his voice. “You’re the only person I’ve told. I’d like it to stay that way.”
His friend’s excitement finally faded. “You really mean that?”
“Yes.”
Will leaned back. “You’re insane.”
“Careful.”
“No, I mean it. Everything here revolves around talent. The Academy most of all. Getting accepted isn’t even the difficult part. Hundreds start every year, but only a fraction make it to the end.”
“Why?”
“Requirements. Exams. Skill levels. Whatever else they decide matters.” Will grimaced. “And if you fail a year, you’re out. No repeating it.”
“That seems unnecessarily wasteful.”
“What?”
“If someone reaches the required level at eighteen instead of seventeen, what exactly has changed? They’re still qualified.”
Will shrugged. “Ask Malbek. He complains about the Academy enough that he probably knows why.”
That brought Arien back to the more important question.
“Can I trust him?”
Will’s expression grew serious. “With your secrets?”
“Yes.”
“Then yes.” He answered without hesitation, but Arien kept watching him until Will frowned. “What exactly are you worried about?”
“Factions. Contracts. People offering talented children wonderful opportunities that somehow end with those children owing them the next twenty years of their lives.”
Will grimaced. “You’ve already been hearing stories.”
“Enough to know I’d rather understand the rules before I start playing.”
“Then Malbek is probably the best person you could ask.” Will lowered his voice. “He refuses to join any Faction himself until he graduates. Says signing too early is the easiest way to spend your whole career working toward someone else’s goals.”
“And he won’t tell anyone about me?”
“Not if you ask him not to.” Will thought for a moment. “Honestly, you two might get along disturbingly well. He’s even more suspicious of everyone than you are.”
Arien frowned. “I’m not suspicious. I perform careful analysis of potential risks.”
Will laughed. “That. Exactly that. You sound just like him.” He glanced toward the staircase and grinned. “And there he is.”
For one disorienting moment, Arien thought Sir Samwell had returned from the dead. Malbek had the same jaw, nose, mouth, and even eyebrows, though he was much thinner than his father and lacked Samwell’s broad build.
The eyes were different. Sir Samwell’s brown eyes had always seemed close to laughter. Malbek’s were pale blue and constantly moving between the tables, doors, patrons, and servants. By the time he reached them, Arien suspected Will had undersold his paranoia.
Arien rose. Malbek stopped across from him and looked him over from head to toe. Arien returned the scrutiny, and neither spoke until Will finally broke the silence.
“Malbek, this is Arien. Arien, Malbek.”
The grin on his face suggested he was enjoying this far too much.
“Greetings, Arien,” Malbek said quietly. “My brother has told me a great deal about you. I trust your journey went smoothly?”
“Very.”
“Good. I tried to eliminate as many unnecessary risks as possible, though some variables were beyond my control.”
Arien smiled faintly.
“You arranged a journey across half the kingdom for someone you’d never met. I’m impressed, my lord.”
And he meant it. Coordinating boats, wagons, accommodations, and escorts well enough to move Arien across the kingdom without him knowing the route beforehand could not have been simple.
“Captain Fenrey was impressed too,” Will said. “He refused the rest of the payment.”
He handed his brother the folded note. Malbek took the note, read it once, held it up toward the nearest lamp, then read it again.
“It appears genuine.”
Will rolled his eyes. “Captain Fenrey handed it to me himself. He escorted Arien here and wanted to give it to you personally, but you were asleep.”
Malbek’s gaze sharpened. “The captain came here himself?”
“Yes.”
Malbek looked at Arien again. “Interesting. You can call me Malbek,” the young man continued. “It will make things easier. At the Academy, titles are generally reserved for Masters anyway.”
“Malbek, then.”
“Will tells me you intend to attend the Academy.” His voice dropped slightly. “He also claims you’ve already unlocked the System.”
Malbek’s eyes flicked toward the nearest tables before returning to Arien. He was being careful. Arien appreciated that.
Instead of answering, Arien raised his right hand and released a tiny thread of unaspected mana. Malbek’s eyes widened by the smallest degree.
“I see.” His attention lingered on Arien’s hand.
“And you’re eight?”
“Yes.”
“Interesting.”
Malbek was silent for a moment.
“I reserved passage upriver for this morning. The boat leaves in about an hour.” He looked at Will. “Go upstairs, pack your things, and bring down the luggage. I’ll settle the bill.”
Will narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
“Because carrying our luggage is considerably easier if it isn’t still upstairs when the boat leaves.”
“You know what I mean. What are you going to talk about?”
“Nothing important without you.”
“Then I’m staying.”
Malbek sighed. “Will, it will take us at least twenty minutes to reach the pier. Go pack.”
“Promise you won’t start without me?”
“I promise I won’t tell Arien anything you don’t already know.”
Will studied his brother suspiciously. “That was very specific.”
“It was meant to be.”
Another few seconds passed.
“Fine.” Will pushed himself away from the table. “But I’m going to know if you cheat.”
“Of course you are.”
Will hurried upstairs. Malbek watched him go, then flagged down a passing waitress and ordered coffee along with the bill.
While they waited, Arien studied Malbek when he thought the young man wasn’t looking. Judging by the occasional glance in return, Malbek was doing much the same.
A minute later, the waitress returned with a steaming mug and once again asked whether the young master was absolutely certain he didn’t want anything to eat.
“Quite certain.”
Malbek lifted the mug, inhaled deeply, and took his first sip. His expression softened enough that Arien almost smiled. He would have happily joined him if his current taste buds didn’t still consider coffee an elaborate form of punishment.
“I’m not fond of breakfast,” Malbek said.
“I gathered that.”
Malbek took another sip. “When Will asked me to bring you to the capital as his reward, I was surprised. I expected a sword. Perhaps tickets to the King’s Tournament.”
“You don’t like surprises?”
“No.”
The answer came quickly enough to make Arien grin.
“I was also skeptical,” Malbek continued. “Children are easily deceived, and Will was remarkably insistent that if he had managed to unlock the System early, then you certainly could as well.”
“What convinced you?”
“First, I had promised him whatever reward he chose.”
“Very noble.”
“Very inconvenient.”
Arien laughed.
“Second, I remembered something from one of Father’s letters. Several years ago, he mentioned a child who supposedly saved his life after a carriage accident.”
Malbek tilted his head slightly.
“Arien is not a common name in that part of Wyndor.”
“My father wanted to call me Byd.”
Malbek paused with the mug halfway to his lips.
“Yes. That does sound considerably more appropriate for a peasant child.”
“My sister took pity on me.”
“A fortunate intervention.”
Malbek drank again.
Throughout the exchange, Malbek kept checking the entrance and staircase. Eventually, his attention settled fully on Arien.
“Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?”
Something in his tone made Arien hesitate. “What kind of questions?”
“Ones I would prefer truthful answers to.”
Ah. Arien studied him. “And what happens if I say no?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“I become more suspicious of you.”
Arien almost laughed. At least he was honest. He considered it for another moment.
“Fine.”
Malbek placed his mug on the table, and the noise of the tavern faded until it seemed strangely distant. The air around their table grew heavier.
Arien focused on Unshakable Mind, but the Skill gave no reaction. He felt no resistance or pressure against his thoughts.
Malbek looked directly into his eyes. “Are you an agent of any Faction?”
Arien nearly laughed. Will had dramatically undersold his brother. “No.”
“Has any Faction contacted you?”
“No.”
“Are you gathering information for anyone?”
“No.”
Arien paid almost as much attention to the Ability as to the questions. He felt no compulsion to answer, and as far as he could tell, nothing prevented him from lying.
A lie detector, then? Or something that allowed Malbek to distinguish truth from falsehood without forcing either?
“Are you friends with Will in order to gain something from him or his family?”
That one irritated him. “No.”
A thin sheen of sweat had appeared across Malbek’s forehead. So there was a cost.
“Do you possess any Ability that allows you to control or manipulate another person’s mind?”
“No.”
Malbek held his gaze for another heartbeat. Then the pressure vanished. Voices, footsteps, and clattering dishes rushed back into Arien’s awareness.
Malbek picked up his coffee and drained what remained in a single swallow. He wiped his forehead with an embroidered handkerchief.
“My apologies.”
“For what?”
“Will will be furious if he ever realizes what I did.” Malbek glanced toward the staircase. “Perhaps when he’s older, he’ll understand why.” Malbek folded the handkerchief neatly. “But I needed to know.”
Arien nodded. He wasn’t angry. In Malbek’s position, he might have done the same thing, and more importantly, Malbek had asked first. Had he tried forcing his way into Arien’s mind, this conversation would have ended very differently.
“I won’t tell Will.”
Malbek looked mildly surprised. “Thank you.”
“Though I’m not convinced he’ll understand if he ever finds out.”
“No,” Malbek admitted. “My brother tends to divide the world into things that are right and things that are wrong. Very little seems to exist between them.”
“That’s one of the things I like about him.”
Malbek raised an eyebrow.
“The stubbornness,” Arien clarified. “Once he decides something matters, he doesn’t let go.”
“That is certainly true.”
Malbek studied him for a moment. “And what matters to you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Money? Status? Power?”
Arien barely needed to think. “Knowledge.”
Malbek waited.
“I want to understand the System. Magic. Erador. Why things work the way they do instead of simply accepting that they do.”
Malbek smiled faintly. “You really are strange.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
“Now I understand why Will talks about you as though you were his older brother.” Malbek shook his head. “I keep having to remind myself that you’re eight.”
“I matured early. My sister says I skipped childhood entirely.”
“Interesting.”
Malbek tapped one finger against his empty mug. “Perhaps indulging my brother’s whims won’t prove entirely wasteful after all.”