Hunter's Beginning (Veller) Read online

  Daniel was sitting on the ground rubbing his shin, Alex was doubled over laughing and Carter was leaning against the wall at a respectable distance, a huge grin on his face.

  “Daniel I’m sorry.” Kile exclaimed, but then almost broke out laughing herself at the sight of Daniel sitting on the ground trying to use his healing arts to alleviate the pain.

  “My fault.” He said as he looked up at her. “I probably should have approached that a bit differently.”

  “Yeah, from like ten feet away.” Carter remarked. “I did warn you.”

  “I know… I know.”

  “You alright?” Kile asked, but she really wasn’t all that concerned, in many ways he deserved it.

  Daniel picked up the apples he had been carrying and polished them on his tunic before tossing them to Kile.

  “We noticed you missed breakfast.”

  “Thanks.” She said as she turned the apple over in her hand. “But why the sudden change?”

  “That was Alex’s doing.” Daniel replied, looking a little embarrassed. “We wanted to thank you for what you did yesterday… and say we’re sorry.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kile said calmly as she took a bite of the apple.

  “Look, I have Mr. Voreing this morning, and I have no intention of being late.” Carter broke in. “What Daniel is trying to say in his awkward way, is that we inadvertently treated you like garbage, and for that we are sorry. I… guess you’re okay… for a girl, and I have no problem serving beside you as a Hunter, but until then I have a class.”

  He gave her a kind of parting salute and then headed off around the stable back to the great hall. Kile was kind of impressed. It was the most Carter had ever spoken to her at one time. Of course he could have left out the reference to her being a girl, but then beggars couldn’t be choosers.

  “So,” She said, turning to Daniel and taking another bite of the apples. “Any of that true?”

  “Okay, Okay, I’m sorry. I told you that you could count on me and I wasn’t there for you. It’s just… the other guys were kind of giving us a hard time for hanging around with you and… we figured that you didn’t need the extra burden.”

  Kile thought that one through for a while. She knew where he was going with that line of reasoning, and she just didn’t believe any of it. Redirect it, so it looks as if they were actually doing her a favor by ostracizing her. She couldn’t help but wonder if she would have done the same things if the roles had been reversed. That didn’t mean she should to let him off so easily.

  “So, you suddenly figured that it was time for you to burden me with this extra responsibility.”

  “Well… no… I mean yes.”

  “Forget it.” She finally said as she finished off the first apple and started to polish the second on her own tunic as she sat back down.

  “What?”

  “I’m too tired to argue the point, you’re forgiven.”

  “You’re still mad.” Daniel replied as he sat down on the grass beside her.

  “Well of course I’m still mad, but I’ll get over it.”

  “Actually Alex said it best, after we got the gravy out of his hair that is.”

  “Very funny.” Alex replied, not looking up from the class manual he was now reading.

  “He said you were the only Hunter in that room yesterday. I think Carter took offense to that, but even he had to admit Alex was right.”

  It would seem that Kile wasn’t the only one that saw the un-Hunter-like attitude that was so predominant within the academy.

  “So, where are you heading next?” Daniel asked.

  “I have Master Lee this morning and Master Adams later on this afternoon.” Kile replied, “What about you?”

  “We have the next class together, Master Rooqack.” He said with a groan that was echoed by Alex. She didn’t know why, she thought science and math were fascinating and Master Rooqack was one of the few instructors at the academy that didn’t seem to care if she was a girl or not, of course he was usually so involved with his lectures she wasn’t sure if he even noticed.

  “I just don’t get it.” Alex said tossing the book aside.

  “Don’t get what?” Daniel asked with a sigh that indicated to Kile that this was not the first time they had this conversation.

  “All these numbers and lines and angles and such, I don’t know, it just doesn’t make any sense. I don’t know why we have to learn this.” Alex replied as he rolled over on his back and stared up at the sky. “Why can’t we learn how to hit things and be done with it?”

  “Now you sound like Carter.” Daniel laughed as he picked up the book. “Maybe Master Rooqack will explain it in class.”

  “I doubt it, I can’t understand half of what he’s talking about anyway, I get lost from the get go.”

  “The reasons behind the lessons will make sense soon enough.” Kile said as she got to her feet. She had to get to her own class that she was not looking forward to, but at least she was more awake now.

  “How do you know it will make sense?” Alex asked her.

  “I’ve only read the book twice.” Kile replied. “I’ll tell you what, meet me in the dinning hall for supper and I’ll explain it in a way that even you could understand.”

  “Really, you promise.”

  “Sure, why not, but for now we should get going.” Kile said as she held a hand out to help Daniel up.

  Daniel handed Alex back his book. “Go up ahead and save me a seat, I have to ask Kile something.” He told him.

  “Ooh, is it something I shouldn’t know about.” The smaller boy laughed.

  “It’s nothing like that.” Daniel said as his face turned red. “Just go. I’ll meet you up there later.”

  “Fine, I get left out of all the good conversations.” Alex replied as he ran off.

  “Is there something I should know about?” Kile asked.

  “What, oh no, nothing like that. It's just that I saw you coming back from Morgan’s tower yesterday, and I was just wondering if… you know, you got everything figured out.”

  “Morgan’s tower? I’d hardly call it a tower.”

  “Well, that’s what the other cadets call them since they're round. Lack of originality I suppose, but if you no longer want to talk to me about it, I completely understand, it’s just that…” He said trailing off.

  “No, it’s alright, it's just that we never came to any conclusion about anything.”

  “Really, well you should at least know what sphere you’re influenced by.”

  “Well… none actually.”

  “It can’t be none. Everybody is influenced by at least one sphere.”

  “No, it’s actually none of them” She replied casually. “I don’t fall into any of the spheres, that's the problem. He says I have something, he just doesn’t know what it is.”

  “You’re a freak.” Daniel replied, and then stopped walking when he realized Kile was no longer beside him. He turned around and saw her stand there with her arms crossed. “Well that’s what they call them.” He said in defense.

  “Morgan, and I, preferred the term Miscellaneous. At least for now, until I figure out something better.”

  “Well, that’s kind of cool actually; do you know what you can do?”

  Kile was surprised by Daniel's level of enthusiasm. She had figured by being a freak, or a Miscellaneous, that it would just separate her further from the rest of the cadets. She had looked at it as being a negative, not a positive.

  “What? You don’t think it’s cool?” Daniel asked, clearing reading the expression on her face.

  “I… never thought of it that way.”

  “Are you kidding? A fre-… a miscellaneous is a Hunter that can do things that no other Hunter can. Look at it this way, there have been a dozen or so Hunters that can use the healing arts, there are even more that can create illusions, thousands that can manipulate fire or earth, but… miscellaneous Hunters are a rare breed.”

&n
bsp; Kile thought about it as she followed Daniel into the Great Hall, sometimes it’s not always great being a rare breed.

  Master Adams’s class was, without doubt, the most boring, so boring in fact that Kile usually had to force herself to stay awake, and what with her current lack of sleep, it was not going to be very easy. Fortunately for her, Master Adams had his hands full and paid her very little mind. She often wondered if he even realized she was still in the classroom. It was his responsibility to teach the cadets how to read and write in the common tongue, or to be more precise, the Royal language. As far as she knew, the language had been around long before the Royal family and at what point they actually lay claim to it was unknown to her.

  It was only during her first week that he had acknowledged her. He handed her a book entitled “The Political Structure of the Provinces of The Kingdom of Aru.”, and told her to read out loud for the class. She was the only cadet he asked, and she was sure she understood the reasoning behind it. He was trying to embarrass her as well as to prove his point that boys could read and girls could not. The idea was that if you couldn’t read, you couldn’t become a Hunter. A Hunter needs a firm grasp of the common tongue in order to function successfully. They need to be able to read scripts, contracts and assignments as well as write up reports for the guild. It was quite clear to Kile that Master Adams wished to point out that Kile, as a girl, had weak or nonexistent reading skills, and she also had the feeling that he had no intention of correcting that, in fact she was sure he would leave her behind as he schooled the other boys. The reality would have been devastating to Kile, if it wasn’t for the fact that she was the only one in the classroom that could read.

  She was six years old when her brother taught her, and from that point on she read just about anything she could get her hands on, although books were quite scarce back in Riverport. So when Master Adams opened the book to the chapter on the political power of the Province, and told her to read, she read six pages flawlessly before he took the book away from her. That was the first and the last time he ever acknowledged that she was in his classroom.

  Kile had been under the misconception that by the age of fourteen, everybody knew how to read. It was second nature to her, as it was with her brother and most of the people back in Riverport, so it came as a surprise to her to learn just how many of the class couldn’t, and those that could, weren’t very good. It was the first time she had ever thought of Riverport as being ahead of anywhere else, instead of lagging so far behind, and it also raised the question, how did they manage to pass the entry examination in the first place. Of course saying they couldn’t read maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but it didn’t appear to be that far off the mark. So, on those days she had to attend class and Master Adams was going over the basics, she was left with very little to do and often just sat there and listened with little enthusiasm as he taught the class their letters, but then that was any other day, today she was a miscellaneous.

  When she entered the classroom she paused for a moment in the doorway. She would usually choose the seat that was as far away from the instructor as she could get, hiding herself in the back of the classroom where she wouldn’t be noticed. There she would sit in silence, counting the seconds as they slowly passed, hope the classroom would burn down, or there would be a freak flood, or possible a rouge valrik would leap through the window to cause a little mayhem, just to liven things up. So far, none of these events have occurred and so she would fight boredom and sleep until Master Adams finally dismissed the class. If something was going to change, it would have to be her, so she took the seat half way down and far to the right which placed her beside the shelves and more importantly, beside the books. When the boys began to file in, and the classroom began to fill, they instinctively took seats as far away from her as they could. She wasn’t really sure if that was true, but it did appear that the left side of the room filled up a lot quicker than the right. There were advantages to being shunned she though as she looked through the book on the shelf.

  Most of the books were political, a subject she was not very fond of. There were a few story books, as well one on landscaping and another on engineering, even one on thatching, but it was the thick red leather book on the history of the Hunters that peaked her interest.

  Master Adams finally arrived, he was usually late so in his world he was right on time. He waited for the class to quiet down, took roll call and then proceeded to instruct the cadets in the composition of the Royal alphabet, something else the Royal family seemed to have adopted as their own, they weren’t happy with owning just the language they had to own the whole alphabet as well. As any other day, he neglected to acknowledge Kile’s existence, and for that Kile was grateful as she slipped the red leather book from the shelf. By the amount of dust she wiped off the front cover, the book didn’t get much use. She opened to page one, chapter one and settled in for a long day.

  She was about a third of the way through chapter three when Master Adams actually called on her.

  “Miss Veller” he yelled in a rather irate tone, which would indicate that he had called her name more than once.

  She looked up from her book unable to hide her own annoyance at being disturbed while she was trying to read.

  “Perhaps you can help us, we are currently discussing his highness, King Roland the thirds succession to the throne last year and would like to know the meaning of the word establishment as it pertains to the political arena.”

  How they had gotten from their letters to the political establishment was beyond her.

  “It’s a group of social, economic, and political leaders who form the ruling class and have a need to own just about everything they see.” She said without a second thought, and waited to see if he had anything else to add.

  “Well, I suppose that is one definition.” He admitted as he turned back to the rest of the class. That was fine with her, when he came up with another definition, he could let her know.

  The class went on for another hour before Master Adams finally dismissed them. Kile noted the page number that she was on, closed the book and slipped it back into its home on the dust covered shelf. She had grabbed her own stuff and was about to leave.

  “One moment Miss Veller.” Master Adams called from the front of the class.

  Now what did she do she wondered as she put her pack down and waited for the rest of the boys to leave. When the room was finally empty Master Adams approached.

  “Who taught you to read?” He asked, sitting on the desk in front of her. He was quite young, and in some ways, not that bad looking now that she had a closer look at him, with his youthful round face, short black hair and dark brown eyes. He looked almost normal, that was in comparison to the other Hunter she had seen so far.

  “My brother taught me… when I was six.”

  “I see.” He nodded slowly. “Why do you want to be a Hunter?”

  Kile thought she had answered this question enough times. Maybe she should print it up in a small pamphlet so she could hand it out to anyone who felt the need to ask.

  “It was something I always wanted to sir, every since I was nine, when I first met Erin Silvia.”

  “Erin. Well, that explains a lot.” He replied, and Kile would almost swear she saw the hint of a smile. “Don’t you realize that there are a lot of people within the guild who would like to see you fail?”

  “Yes sir, I am painfully aware of that, but I also know that there are a few people in the guild who would like to see me succeed.”

  “Ah, yes, but you see, they can’t help you. If they were to help you, then the guild would look at it as favoritism, and that would be unacceptable. No cadet is aloud special treatment.”

  “But am I not already receiving special treatment sir?”

  “I don’t think I follow you.”

  “Special simple means out of the ordinary, and the treatment I have been receiving from cadets and staff alike has been far from ordinary.” She replied to a rathe
r confused instructor. “If that is all, sir, I promised a friend that I would help him with his studies.” She said as she picked up her belonging and headed toward the door.

  “One moment Kile.”

  She was ten inches from salvation, she could have just ducked out the door and pretended she hadn’t heard him, but it was too late, she had already stopped. She turned around as he walked toward her holding a thick red leather book.

  “You’re right.” He replied, and there was a tone of gloom in his voice that she didn’t like. “There are a lot of members of the staff that want you to quit. They can’t make you, but that can persuade you.”

  “Is that what you’re doing sir, persuading?” She asked. She wasn’t sure where this courage was coming from, probably because she was now a miscellaneous. She never thought she would ever speak to an instructor so directly. Any moment now he would punish her for insubordination, which she couldn’t deny was exactly what she was being.

  “Let’s just say, I am being persuaded as well.” He said as he handed her the book on the history of the Hunters. “Think of it a class assignment.” He smiled, but it wasn’t a happy smile as he started to walk away.

  “Thank you sir.” She replied as she slipped the book into her pack.

  “You shouldn’t thank me just yet, I don’t know if I did you any favors.” He replied without turning around. “Thank me in three years… if you’re still around.”

  Kile stepped out of the classroom and headed toward the dinning hall. She was trying to put together everything that Master Adams had said, although he didn’t say very much. Was someone forcing him to make his class miserable for her? And if so, what just changed? The idea that there was this conspiracy within the Hunter’s academy to force her to quit was a bit overwhelming. It was impossible to believe that the staff didn’t have anything more important to occupy their time and energy than the academic studies of one cadet, even if it was her.