Tak

Aldervale - Part 8

     Tak knew he'd have to face Philip sooner or later, so he decided to get it over with while he was feeling good about himself. Trobo told him that the young wizard was currently in the gymnasium, one of the few places in the castle where Tak was allowed to go but never had. He was worked so hard by Molos Gomm and the elder apprentice that he was already as fit and healthy as he'd ever been. His muscles weren't large, but they were as hard as walnuts under his pale skin and there wasn't an ounce of spare fat anywhere on him.

     Philip had been the same when Tak had first arrived, but now that the youngest member of the household had taken over most of the hard work he'd begun putting on weight, his muscles getting a little flabby. Once he'd gotten a woman in the castle, though, he'd grown conscious of the decline and was determined to put it right. He wanted Lyssa to be pleased and excited by his body, as irrational as that was for a rapist to want from his victim.

     The gymnasium had originally been a practice floor for the castle's defenders, where weapons masters taught their deadly skills to younger soldiers, and it had doubled as a food storage chamber whenever it seemed likely that the castle might soon be coming under siege. When fully stocked it had held enough food to last all the castle's defenders, plus the entire populations of several nearby towns, for over a year, but now all that remained were a few mouldy crates stacked against the far wall that none of the wizards who'd lived here over the centuries had ever bothered to clear out.

     He paused in the doorway, fascinated despite himself by the cast iron equipment some previous occupant had had installed and that Philip had polished up and restored to a workable condition. To Tak, it was all as bizarre and incomprehensible as a computer would have been, and he had as little idea as Philip how brittle and dangerous it was. Humanity had not yet made first contact with the trog race, who alone knew how to make steel. They were still waiting under the mountains of the continent of Amafryka, far across the ocean that no human had yet crossed.

     Philip was lying on his back, on a fur rug, and pumping a dumbbell, each lobe of which was the size of a grapefruit. He puffed with the effort as he straightened his arms, sweat glistening on his skin, and gasped with relief as he let it drop once more to his chest. Tak watched in fascination as the elder apprentice repeated the procedure a few more times, then heaved the dumbbell away to clatter on the bare stone floor. He lay there for a few more moments to catch his breath, then climbed wearily to his feet.

     He reached for his robe, used it as a towel to wipe the sweat away, then froze in surprise when he saw Tak for the first time. "Tak!" he gasped, and a grin spread across his deceptively handsome face. "Thought you'd left us. Somehow found a way to slip your chains. Proved too strong for you after all, did they?"

     "I wasn't trying to escape," replied Tak, the fear returning now that the confrontation had actually begun. He forced himself to remain outwardly calm and confident, although his heart was pounding hard. "I went into town. Thought I'd look in on Lyssa's father. See if there was anything I could do."

     Philip stared, then his face grew red with anger. "Lyssa and her father are not your concern. Stay away from Jack Nowl. You can't help him."

     Tak felt an almost malicious glee welling up inside him. "But I was able to help him. It turned out to be simple food poisoning. They fetched the cleric from the next town and he was cured in no time. Isn't that good news?" Philip could only stare at him, completely speechless. "I've told Lyssa," added Tak, "and she's gone home with him. You should have seen the reunion. It was so touching..."

     "You dared..." began Philip, his eyes spitting hatred. "You dared meddle in my affairs..."

     "Look, Philip," said Tak, more seriously. "You've no idea how close to disaster you brought us. I know what you did, and Jack Nowl knows as well. Before this day is out it'll be all round the village. Do you know how close we are to being lynched by a mob? I tried to calm them down, don't know how much I..."