Glasswrights' Apprentice by Mindy L Klasky

Author:Mindy L Klasky
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Published: 1999-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Garadolo’s word was worth as little as his soldierly oath to defend the poor and the weak.

Rani waited eagerly through the next day, too excited to think about eating, about cleaning, about any details of daily life. She reminded herself that her indigo gloves had been well-spent if they brought her brother to her. She tried to order her thoughts, to think of the questions she would ask Bardo. She wanted to know why she had seen the snakes in so many places, how the mark was connected to Tuvashanoran’s murder. She wanted to ask Bardo why he had not sought her out, how he could have let their merchant shop be burned to the ground, let their family meet with unspeakable horrors in the king’s dungeons. She wanted to know how he could be mixed up with the Brotherhood when she heard such terrible tales about them, when she had witnessed the destruction that they had created in the cathedral yard.

Bardo had always had answers before, and Rani longed to hear his deep voice, serious and slow as he explained it all to her. She longed for the comfort of his wisdom, even as she consciously set aside memories of his rage. After all, it was her brother she sought, not some crazed, tattooed rebel, not some murderous vigilante who had enforced justice among Touched thieves. There must have been some mistake. Bardo would set all right. He would explain away the horror. He had to.

Despite Rani’s hopes and prayers, Garadolo showed up alone at the end of the next day. He told Rani that he had sold her gloves and used the money to bribe the first of the Brotherhood’s petty officials. That bribe had secured him an interview with another protector tomorrow, but he must be prepared with another bribe. The soldier paused eloquently, clearly waiting for Rani to pay her way.

She hesitated for a long minute before extracting Dalarati’s coin from her pouch. The silver meant more than breakfast - it had been a gift from the handsome soldier. Garadolo tested the metal between his rotten teeth and nodded his approval before squirreling it away in the filthy folds of his clothing.

And so each day took on a pattern. Every morning, Rani waited restlessly, straightening the tiny room, cleaning surfaces that were long-since shining. Every afternoon, she sat on the doorstep, certain that Bardo was going to round the corner at any instant. Every evening, Garadolo returned home with a new excuse, a new explanation of how he had progressed in his attempts to reach the Brotherhood. Every night, they returned to the mess hall, and Rani ate her fill of the soldiers’ food, despairing that she would ever see her brother.

She became creative in finding bribe money for Garadolo. Often, she cleaned other soldiers’ quarters, earning a few coppers from the fighting men’s kept women. Once, she slipped past the checkpoints, back into the City streets. Too proud to consider begging, she managed to pick a stranger’s pockets, earning a handful of silver for her trouble.

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