large stone basins, with pens all
along the outside edge, and a number of oddly-constructed racks
filled with drying gurra wool.
The
senior apprentice in charge of shearing the gurra was much older
than Va'del, and although he didn't make any overtures of
friendship, he didn't seem to notice the color of Va'del's skin. He
even seemed to understand that it wasn't fair to get mad at his new
charge until after he'd actually explained a given task.
Any
hopes of actually working with the gurra were quickly dashed.
Instead, Va'del was tasked with washing the raw wool in a
foul-smelling solution that removed the oil and dirt that invariably
made it onto the gurras' coats despite their generally fastidious
nature.
For
several cycles Va'del was able to lose himself in the work, swirling
the raw wool with a thin metal wand, and then moving it to other
massive stone basins filled with progressively cleaner water.
There
was a steady trickle of apprentices from the weavers' guild who
arrived as each large batch finished dripping dry. The sheer amount
of wool that they carried away for carding stretched the limits of
Va'del's imagination, but cycle after cycle they continued to show
up without interruption. By the end of the shift, the weavers'
apprentices finally stopped coming, replaced instead by girls in
uniform gray clothes rather than the common brown of the
apprentices.
Although
Va'del caught several of the girls stealing glances at him, none of
them bothered trying to talk to him. He started ignoring them after the
first few had come and left.
Once
the last batch of wool was safely drying on the racks, Callan came
by and found Va'del, who'd started hauling feed to the gurra once
again. "Enough of that. You're to leave a couple of cycles
early. I can't imagine why, but those are my instructions. Be back
here tomorrow morning again ready to work."
Nodding
silently, the teenager removed his heavy apron and stowed it with
those of the other apprentices. As Va'del walked past the corridor
leading to the shearing area, he heard a muffled thump and something
that sounded suspiciously like muttered swearing.
Worry
that someone had been hurt momentarily overcame his melancholy, and
Va'del hurried towards the noise.
The
muttering grew louder until he turned a corner and found one of the
oddly-dressed girls trying to lift an oversized bale of wool.
Without thinking Va'del picked up her burden. "Are you okay? I
heard a crash."
The
girl pulled her short blond hair away from where it had been hanging
in front of her face and nodded sheepishly. "Thanks, I
accidentally dropped it, and then couldn't pick it back up from the
floor."
She's
beautiful .
Va'del
suddenly realized that the girl was looking at his face, and turned
to hide a brief flare of anger. Beautiful,
but just like the rest of them.
"My
name is Jain. I haven't seen you around before; did you come from a
different part of the Capital?"
Looking
back at the girl with her slender build, and blue eyes just a shade
darker than Jasmin's had been, Va'del found that his anger quickly
evaporated.
"My
name is Va'del, I just arrived a few days ago."
One
of Jain's eyebrows rose slightly at his name, which obviously placed
him as coming from one of the outer villages, but she didn't press
at his obvious reluctance to provide details.
Va'del
shifted the wool around to a more comfortable position and pointed
up the corridor. Jain seemed to understand that he was offering to
carry it the rest of the way, and unlike most girls,
also seemed able to sense that he wasn't in the mood to talk.
Chapter 10
Va'del
didn't particularly like working at the stables. The rare occasions
when he got to work with one of the gentle gurra were actually quite
enjoyable, but Callan mostly just assigned him whatever menial task
the stable master thought would tire the teenager out the quickest.
As a result Va'del ended each day so exhausted that it took an
incredible act of will to make
along the outside edge, and a number of oddly-constructed racks
filled with drying gurra wool.
The
senior apprentice in charge of shearing the gurra was much older
than Va'del, and although he didn't make any overtures of
friendship, he didn't seem to notice the color of Va'del's skin. He
even seemed to understand that it wasn't fair to get mad at his new
charge until after he'd actually explained a given task.
Any
hopes of actually working with the gurra were quickly dashed.
Instead, Va'del was tasked with washing the raw wool in a
foul-smelling solution that removed the oil and dirt that invariably
made it onto the gurras' coats despite their generally fastidious
nature.
For
several cycles Va'del was able to lose himself in the work, swirling
the raw wool with a thin metal wand, and then moving it to other
massive stone basins filled with progressively cleaner water.
There
was a steady trickle of apprentices from the weavers' guild who
arrived as each large batch finished dripping dry. The sheer amount
of wool that they carried away for carding stretched the limits of
Va'del's imagination, but cycle after cycle they continued to show
up without interruption. By the end of the shift, the weavers'
apprentices finally stopped coming, replaced instead by girls in
uniform gray clothes rather than the common brown of the
apprentices.
Although
Va'del caught several of the girls stealing glances at him, none of
them bothered trying to talk to him. He started ignoring them after the
first few had come and left.
Once
the last batch of wool was safely drying on the racks, Callan came
by and found Va'del, who'd started hauling feed to the gurra once
again. "Enough of that. You're to leave a couple of cycles
early. I can't imagine why, but those are my instructions. Be back
here tomorrow morning again ready to work."
Nodding
silently, the teenager removed his heavy apron and stowed it with
those of the other apprentices. As Va'del walked past the corridor
leading to the shearing area, he heard a muffled thump and something
that sounded suspiciously like muttered swearing.
Worry
that someone had been hurt momentarily overcame his melancholy, and
Va'del hurried towards the noise.
The
muttering grew louder until he turned a corner and found one of the
oddly-dressed girls trying to lift an oversized bale of wool.
Without thinking Va'del picked up her burden. "Are you okay? I
heard a crash."
The
girl pulled her short blond hair away from where it had been hanging
in front of her face and nodded sheepishly. "Thanks, I
accidentally dropped it, and then couldn't pick it back up from the
floor."
She's
beautiful .
Va'del
suddenly realized that the girl was looking at his face, and turned
to hide a brief flare of anger. Beautiful,
but just like the rest of them.
"My
name is Jain. I haven't seen you around before; did you come from a
different part of the Capital?"
Looking
back at the girl with her slender build, and blue eyes just a shade
darker than Jasmin's had been, Va'del found that his anger quickly
evaporated.
"My
name is Va'del, I just arrived a few days ago."
One
of Jain's eyebrows rose slightly at his name, which obviously placed
him as coming from one of the outer villages, but she didn't press
at his obvious reluctance to provide details.
Va'del
shifted the wool around to a more comfortable position and pointed
up the corridor. Jain seemed to understand that he was offering to
carry it the rest of the way, and unlike most girls,
also seemed able to sense that he wasn't in the mood to talk.
Chapter 10
Va'del
didn't particularly like working at the stables. The rare occasions
when he got to work with one of the gentle gurra were actually quite
enjoyable, but Callan mostly just assigned him whatever menial task
the stable master thought would tire the teenager out the quickest.
As a result Va'del ended each day so exhausted that it took an
incredible act of will to make
Similar Books
