[Firenze]: 56.Sharman - The New Beginning: Chapter7

CHAPTER SEVEN - A MIDNIGHT STROLL

The night drifted onwards and late grew the hour. Both High Sharman and Apprentice had finished their meal. Kerrin grew tired but every night when with her Father Kerrin had always went for a walk by the marina and had a quick training session to keep her wits sharp, before going to bed, when an idea struck her, she decided that she was going to try and persuade Morea to go for a walk with her in the guild grounds in the moonlight.

“Morea will you uphold a tradition that I have” asked Kerrin.

“Depending on what it is, I might” replied the High Sharman.

“A walk and then hand to hand combat. My father did this with me every night except when he was away doing a job for Sigel and in those cases I trained alone”

“Very well, I will go with you as it will give a chance to see how good your skills are” said the High Sharman.

“Thank you Morea” Kerrin smiled and bowed.

After the short converse they both got up and headed towards the front door. The High Sharman opened the door to reveal the Guild grounds bathed in moonlight. Kerrin looked up to the sky to see where the moon was, the stars shone like a million diamonds spread across the sky. She stepped outside and took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled.

The night was cold but Kerrin felt warm and safe within the guild grounds, this feeling was nothing in comparison to what she felt walking along the marina by herself, she felt free but whilst in the Guild she felt trapped beyond recognition; in time she began to lose this feeling and felt slightly more free.

Sharman Kenaz had felt uneasy all night; he had wondered what the High Sharman had thought of Kerrin but at the same time wondered how she reacted to him and his unorthodox ways. He turned to the window to find Kerrin and the High Sharman walking together in the Guild grounds, they looked perfect together, like father and daughter. Sharman Kenaz did not know about his sister’s pregnancy with the High Sharman’s daughter: Kerrin. He watched them until they went out of his view. His fears now gone he retired to his chambers and went to sleep.

Like a young married couple, the High Sharman and Kerrin held hands and walked through the moon lit guild.

“It is a beautiful night” said Kerrin as she looked into the midnight sky.

“Hmmm……I am not so sure, beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say, I have seen more beautiful, and radiant things in my lifetime, like your mother for example” replied the High Sharman.

They walked and talked, until they were in the Apprentice’s area of the Guild which was dimly lit. The buildings in the Apprentice’s area were well maintained and looked after and looked as new as when they were first built. The High Sharman let go of Kerrin’s hand and walked on ahead, Kerrin followed him to the Battle Arena.

The Battle Arena its self looked small on the outside but on the inside the arena was the size of an Olympic stadium. The High Sharman unlocked the door with the slightest touch, the door wasn’t that thick and it seemed to waver every now and then as if a misdirected attack had hit it but the door was strengthened every year along with the arena. The sheer size of the building impressed Kerrin along with the beautiful architecture. As they entered the arena the whole room slowly grew brighter making it feel like day rather than night.

“Well Kerrin lets begin, where do you want to start?” asked the High Sharman with a sly smile as if he had some plan up his sleeve.

“Weapons or hand-to-hand combat? Your choice” said Kerrin with slight joy in her voice.

“Let’s start with weapons” replied the High Sharman. But there was a slight silence until the High Sharman intervened, “One more thing you must choose a weapon for me and I will choose a weapon for you. The weapons are behind the screen.”

“Very well, for your weapon I choose the hesdra” said Kerrin. A hesdra is a typical samurai sword but the difference being the blade is sharpened by magic, otherwise it would a common blade throughout the city of Isa.

“Fine and for you I choose the halket, now let us fight” said the High Sharman as he picked up both his and her weapon. He tossed Kerrin’s weapon into the air. Kerrin made a short jump in the air and caught it before it hit the ground.

Kerrin stepped sideways circling the High Sharman waiting for him to attack. She focused on the High Sharman’s movements which he made none of and she paused for a second. This was her big mistake; the High Sharman struck her left arm with effortless ease. Kerrin wiped her arm with her hand, looked at the blood and smiled.

“You think that is an attack, watch this” Kerrin disappeared in an instant and reappeared behind the High Sharman. She slowly tip toed behind him and placed the halket pole around his neck, holding it tightly she said,

“What do you think of that move?”

“It’s good but not nearly good enough” said the High Sharman as he flipped Kerrin over his shoulders. Kerrin landed flat on her backside.

“Oww………that hurt and by the way, you have no trousers”

The High Sharman looked down and there was his legs bare for all to see. Kerrin chuckled like a girl from one of the rich families in favour of the King.

“That’s not funny Kerrin” said the High Sharman, as he pulled up his trousers.

“I thought it was, especially when you flipped me over your shoulder”

“Well it is not funny to embarrass the High Sharman like that”

“There is no one around to see that your trousers have dropped except me”

“What if there was?”

“Well they would be laughing at you because you were out witted by the daughter of a thief from The Hajj, now less talk, more fighting!”

“I think we should spice things up” as soon as the High Sharman said this he sent a blast of water at her chest knocking her from the centre of the Battle Arena to the back.

Drenched from head to toe, Kerrin stood up and started walking back to the centre of the arena. Her clothes hung tightly to her body not leaving very much room to move. As she reached the centre of the arena she slowly raised her hand and pointed her finger at the High Sharman,

“That was unfair! I don’t know how to use the elements yet!”

“Well, you did drop my trousers”

“Fair point” said Kerrin bowing her head.

“Have you had enough?” asked the High Sharman walking over to Kerrin.

“Yes, I have, I wish to go back to your home, put my clothes over the fire place to allow them to dry, have a bath and then go to bed”

“Put your clothes over the fire place to dry out, hasn’t your Uncle taught you any type of elemental uses?” said the High Sharman as he placed the hesdra back into the wooden rack, Kerrin followed and did the same.

“Yes he taught me how to run a bath but that is it”

They were now in the Apprentice gardens, the stars were high in the sky and the moon looked as if it were pearl glistening for all to see. In Nied there is a saying that when the moon shines like a pearl evil plots and schemes are a foot in Nied not only by the underground of Isa but in the Sharman’s Guild as well. Unbeknown to Kerrin the High Sharman had never forgiven Othel for taking his beloved Jenna away from him and was carefully planning his death. The first part of the High Sharman’s plan was already in affect he has his daughter, caught earlier than he expected but he had her and now he was gaining Kerrin’s trust slowly.

“He taught you how to run a bath and that is it?”

“Yes that is it!”

The High Sharman chuckled to himself as he thought sixteen; the future High Sharman and can only run a bath, if only her mother married me, I could have tested her sooner and she would have learnt more than a Shaman, like he did when he was tested at the age of eight. I was taken by the High Sharman of my time and trained at the age of eight. I knew more than the average Sharman in the guild by the age of sixteen but she must learn eight years of knowledge within a few short weeks.

The path they took back to the High Sharman’s house was not the one they took to reach the Apprentice’s area of the Guild, the route they took lead them through the forest of which Kerrin was caught. The cold night wind rustled through the branches of midnight black leaves and step by step the High Sharman and Kerrin made their way back to the house. Kerrin relaxed whilst walking through the forest and began to think, the High Sharman seems to be intense but why through, why was he so intense? He hasn’t been like this all evening but why now? Maybe it’s because he is tired. Kerrin left her thoughts
at that and carried on walking to the High Sharman’s house.

After about an hour of walking they finally reached the High Sharman’s house. Kerrin never felt so relieved to see the house, she had felt uncomfortable ever since they had left the Apprentice’s Battle Arena. But this feeling of safety would be lost in due time. The High Sharman turned to Kerrin as he felt her tightly grip his arm, the thought occurred to him, she must be afraid of what is going to happen this week or maybe this evening but why? Or maybe she can sense my intenseness of her presence; I must say something to reassure her.

“What is the matter Kerrin?”

“Nothing, it is just the fact there is an evil moon tonight and the thought of my father being alone tonight in my home”

“An evil moon what do you mean? The moon is perfectly round and beautiful in the midnight sky”

“You mean you have never heard of a good and evil moon”

“No, I haven’t and I would very much like to know about them”

“Well on a night like this when the moon is pearly white in the midnight sky, it is said that evil plots and schemes are a foot in Nied not only by the underground of Isa but in the Sharman’s Guild as well. But when the moon is dark and no one can see it, good fortune to all and to all a good night”

“Interesting but it is just folklore and you shouldn’t believe in it” the High Sharman opened the door and swept his hand to indicate for Kerrin to enter his home first. Kerrin entered the house and turned to face the High Sharman,

“Folklore maybe something that you shouldn’t believe in to you but think about this, what if you were brought up in world where different aspects of folklore affect your daily life and you believe in it because of what you read in your mothers journal, it was her beliefs so you follow them and try to be like your mother so that her Father will be proud of her, now would you kindly show me to my room”

The High Sharman stayed silent and made quick movement in closing the door. He had never been spoken to like that before, not even by the previous High Sharman or his Mother and Father, the shock that the girl that was caught in the forest during the Daeg riots was Sharman Kenaz’s niece, she was his daughter but she would not accept it but she was raised within the scum of society yet retained a sense of moral honour and integrity. This was her strength, her passion, her life. She has the perfect skills in leadership and is ready for almost anything but she will not be prepared for what is ahead of her, he thought to himself. The High Sharman called for Danu and waited until he appeared out of the living room,

“Yes my Lord what is your will?”

“Please can you show Apprentice Kerrin to her quarters for this evening and would you please take her clothes and dry them for her, please”

“Certainly my Lord” and with a quick bow, he whipped and began ascending the stairs.

The High Sharman’s corridors throughout the house were cold and dark. Lighting a candle Danu lit the lamps along the passageways as he went along. The lamps were posted every few feet on either side and went the lamps were lit the coldness and the darkness evaporate and the passageways become warm and bright yet there still remained an eeriness about the house as if it was hiding centuries of history from the world.

“Danu”

“Yes Apprentice Kerrin, what is it?”

“Please don’t call me Apprentice Kerrin to start with call me Kerri and I would like you to stay in my room for a while so we can talk”

“You are afraid of this house are you not? There is no need to worry but if you wish me to stay in your room to talk then I shall do as you say Kerri”

“Thank you Danu, you are most kind”

“It is my duty and my honour Kerri”

As Danu and Kerrin neared the apprentice’s quarters, Kerrin placed her hand upon the wall and followed the streamline cracks in the wood. A strangle thing to do you may think but for Kerrin this was how she learnt her way around houses at night. Danu reached out for a door to his left and gently swayed it open for Kerrin to enter.

Kerrin peered her head around the corner to see what was in the room before entering it. The room consisted of the basics, a bed, a desk, a wardrobe and a few other essentials one might need for day to day life. Upon the desk laid a pile of books, scrolls, ink and pens which Kerrin came to the quick conclusion that these items were a present for her.

“Are you pleased with your room Kerri?”

“I love it Danu, please come in”
“Yes, what is it you wish to talk to me about?”

“What is the High Sharman like normally? He seems uptight about something but I cannot for my life put finger on it”

“I do not know why he is like this tonight Kerri; he hasn’t been like this for weeks”

“What do you mean?”

“The High Sharman every few weeks gets rather agitated about something and I do not know what. Sometimes during the night when he is like this, I hear him muttering about odd things and the name Othel keeps coming up every now and then. But it is when he is sleeping it’s the worst, he has a tortured mind Kerri. But then again he has had a hard life.”

“You said he keeps mentioning Othel every now and then; do happen to know anything else about this Othel character.”

“Yes, he keeps saying: that bastard Othel has done it now, I am going to kill him if I ever get the chance, he stole the heart of the only woman I ever loved along with my unborn daughter, and he will pay in due time yes he will pay.”

“Is that his exact words Danu?”

“Yes those are his exact words Kerri.”

“I know who Othel is Danu and I think he maybe in trouble tonight, has the High Sharman left the house do you know?”

“You know who Othel is!”

“Yes he was the man who stole the heart of the High Sharman’s only love, now has the High Sharman left the house?”

“Holy Thurisaz he wasn’t was he. I believe the High Sharman has left the house Kerri, why?”

“Danu which is the quickest way out of the Guild and into the cities main street?”

“Out the main gates but why do you wish to know this? You aren’t thinking about running away now are you?”

“No Danu I am not going to run away but I must get into the city to save someone’s life before the High Sharman gets to them.”

“Very well Apprentice Kerrin, I will lead you to the main gates and will allow you to go into the city to save this persons life as long as you promise me one thing.”

“Yes I will promise to do anything you say as long as you let me go!”

“All I ask is for you to return to the Guild safely before dawn.”

Danu looked at Kerrin as if he was hoping that the High Sharman would forgive him for this deed and would not punish him either. Kerrin saw this and bent down onto her knees and said,

“I Kerrin, Family of Tir, promise you Danu, servant of the High Sharman that I will return to the Guild safe and unharmed by dawn. I promise you that no harm will come to you for what you are about to let me do.”

“Thank you Apprentice Kerrin and I will hold you to that promise. Now if you want to get into the city we should hurry.”

“Yes I agree, let’s move quickly, come on!” and in a flash they were on their way out the guild.