drednort

Leo walked down to the refectory and took a beaker of milk, a bread roll and two sausages and sat down to eat near the end of one of the tables. Suddenly, he realised that Faith, Hope, and Charity – his sisters, though he barely knew any of them – had sat down around him. He hadn’t noticed them approach, they were so quiet. He was nervous as they sat down near to him – Charity to his left and Hope to his right, with Faith taking the seat directly opposite where he sat.  He waited for one of them to speak.It was Faith who did speak. “We are sorry about what happened last week, Leo. Especially me. It was my idea and the others went along wit...

The Mistress looked around at Blinda. “Have you completed your teaching for this morning, Blinda?”“Yes, Mistress. As you asked me to.”“Excellent. I would like you to take all the girls into the upper classroom and follow the instructions of the ladies you will find there.” Leo watched as Blinda lead all the girls out of the room, and then watched as a group of boys – boys he recognised as coming from the upper classroom entered this room, followed by three women and a girl he recognised – first by their dress and then he realised he had seen these particular women before – as Oblates of the Order of Saint Ashanax. Members of Perfidy’s conv...

Leo followed Mistress Marta to the front door of the school. “Now, Leo, I know you know where the List Field is, because you were there on Freyasdae. There’s a small church quite near there – just before you get there coming from this direction. Saint Emanel’s, It is in the care of Father Rosas’ – you know the Church I mean?”“Yes, I go there sometimes.”“Good – so I do not need to give you directions. I want you to hurry there and collect a parcel from Father Rosas and bring it back to the school. I don’t want you to dawdle, but nor do you need to run as fast as you can.”“Yes, Mistress. What’s in the parcel?”Mistress Marta looked at Leo. “I...

When he arrived home, he was not at all surprised that Perfidy was annoyed at him.”Where have you been, Leo? You said you were only going to buy some Minj Candy in Cushion Street, but you’ve been gone hours. I hope you had something to eat because the others have eaten everything I got for lunch.” The others weren’t there – why waste a fine afternoon inside?“I had lunch with Sidley Mancaster and his sisters. I ran into him in Cushion Street. I didn’t think you’d mind.”“I don’t really mind except for not knowing where you are.”“Used to be, I’d be off all day with you having no idea.”“That was out of necessity – and it wasn’t as dangerous th...

He visited a few other shops looking for somewhere that sold Minj Candy and was surprised at how expensive a jar was when he finally found them for sale in a spice merchants. But he bought a jar anyway – he liked them and it was also his excuse for visiting Cushion Street.The smell in the spice merchants was difficult to deal with and when Leo left he felt dizzy, lightheaded, and with a headache just beginning. As he stepped into the street again, he saw Sidley Mancaster walking down the other side of the street. And just a little behind him, was the Earl Mancaster who was looking into the window of a shop accompanied by a lady.Leo raised ...

He left the latrina and ran home to the nearly identical, though more dilapidated, building he lived in. The door was locked and so he was not surprised to find nobody inside when he opened it. He stood looking at the space on the ceiling where he was sure there was a trapdoor into the ceiling space. He could not see any sign of it from here. How could he get up there? There was no ladder.If he climbed up on top of the bunk beds, he’d be closer in height, but nowhere near the right part of the ceiling. He went over to the walls and looked at the rough brick work. It was probably nearly one thousand years old he realised and still very soli...

Leo had found learning about Chaubrette relatively interesting, but it was not a nation of powerful witches. Still, at least the rest of the day did not drag and when they were dismissed, Leo stepped outside the doors and saw Perfidy standing there waiting for Nodar – they had an appointment to see the executions at Holder’s Creek. She gestured to him and he ran over.“Leo, I had a visit from Amity earlier today. She told me you’re allowed to go into the area between here and the walls now. I’m not sure I like that idea but – well, that’s between me and her, I think. She’s also offered to… teach you certain skills that I think you should kn...

Leo ran. He considered not visiting the bath house as instructed but as he ran he decided that Mistress Marta must have felt like an hour really was enough time for him to get the information he needed and to visit the bathhouse as well – he did not think she would have deliberately set him up to fail. He didn’t waste any time though. And he was panting when he finally got to the library. Eadweard – Mistress Marta’s fifteen year old apprentice who Leo knew was only still her apprentice because he wanted to be – was standing on the steps. “This way, Leo. The Mistress sent a note on ahead of you.”Eadweard lead Leo into a room full of books –...

They did hurry.  They ran through the streets. The book was heavy, even with the bag, carrying it was not easy. By the time he got to Docksides, he was out of breath and he had a stitch in his side. And he really had not run all that fast or all that far. The door was unlocked, and he pushed his way inside.Perfidy was not there, nor was Nodar. The way the others looked in as he came inside, made it clear they were waiting for something and he knew that look well enough to know they were waiting for dinner. None of them ever went hungry anymore but in the times before Leo’s luck had changed, that had not been uncommon and he wondered if he ...