Time of Daughters I by Sherwood Smith

Author:Sherwood Smith [Smith, Sherwood]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: epic fantasy, kings, queens, magic, revolution, ghosts, military academy
ISBN: 9781611388404
Publisher: Book View Cafe
Published: 2019-11-10T16:00:00+00:00

FOUR

For Gannan, the first Restday was the worst.

He was convinced that the entire academy, all enjoying themselves at their ease, were laughing at him trudging to the kitchen gardens behind a tall, grim-faced woman wearing the apron of kitchen staff.

As is often true, others are far less interested in our movements than their own, unless we’ve become notorious. Being stuck with kitchen duty was good for a laugh, but most of the academy had forgotten long before the marks on the boys’ shoulder blades faded.

That first Restday, the adults in charge made certain that Gannan would be alone so that he would not be distracted from the lesson in garden protocols. Also, both kitchen and garrison chiefs agreed that making the boy work hard would get the point across.

He was acutely miserable, his ears red with vexation and shame, as he began work that was unfamiliar to his hands. But one thing about weeding: it’s simple, and repetitive, and as time slid by under the hot sun, and no one came around to poke fun at him, he actually...didn’t hate it as much as he’d expected to.

His back still ached—and that was before he had to lug pails of water to his assigned rows—but he, like the rest of the boys, lived in an atmosphere in which muscle ache equated with the gaining of strength.

When he returned to the academy for Restday drum, the others knew exactly how far to go with teasing lest they get themselves into trouble, and his worst enemy, Olavayir Tvei, wasn’t even there. He and his royal Ain (for the academy had resurrected the ancient practice of number brothers in birth order: ain, tvei) were up in the castle, doing Restday with the king and queen. The princes always returned at lights out.

And so things settled down to routine for the next couple of weeks, until Connar decided enough time had passed.

It was Gannan’s fourth weekend, and probably his last, since the entire academy would ride out for the Great Game the next week, following which would be the Victory Day competitions and then home till next spring.

Connar said to Noddy, “Let’s go see Big Mouth grubbing in the garden.”

Noddy accepted this suggestion, as Connar knew he would, and so they set out, Connar leading them the long way around past the back end of the stable yard, and behind the weavers’ buildings, where linen stuff soaked and dried. As they skipped over a low wall intended to keep sheep from wandering in, they caught sight of Chief Weaver Hliss at the same time she saw them.

She stood by the dye shed, her hands pressing into her lower back, her huge stomach sticking out. “Hai, boys,” she cried, smiling wearily, for it was the hottest day of summer so far, still and humid. “What are you doing?”

“Just walking around, Aunt Hliss,” Connar called. “It’s too hot for anything else.”

“Don’t wander beyond the back barns,” she warned. “Sunset’s not far off.”

“We won’t,” Connar promised, and Noddy echoed, “We won’t.

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