The Kept

The Apprentices

Five years later, the Esidiem Master looked down his broad nose at Nerys and Kalea, completely at the end of his patience.

The Master's duty to oversee the smooth operation of the Esidiem rarely required dealing directly with apprentices. Except in special circumstances, their discipline and training was the responsibility of veteran Kept who had chosen to become Keepers. But since the girls' first visit to his office, they had created those "special circumstances" at least half a dozen times more.

"He said a dead fish would hold its ground better than me," Kalea said with a lazy shrug.

She spoke for the both of them while Nerys sat quietly beside her, observing the Esidiem Master's reaction. If it, as happened so often, Kalea went too far, Nerys would break her silence with a few carefully thought out points to diffuse the situation as much as she could. Despite having a decidedly more feminine figure than Nerys, Kalea seemed to have been designed by Aloysius, God of War, as the embodiment of chaos incarnate. She lived up to her appearance both in and out of the arena, and was the primary offender behind most, if not all, of the activities that earned them their audiences with the Master.

In comparison, Nerys must have looked the very model of self-control. She was no taller than she had been at fourteen, and had developed lean, sinewy muscles that, as Keeper Arthes liked to point out, were better suited to a dancer than a fighter. Although the Master should have known better than to fall for it, Nerys could usually rely on putting on an air of delicacy to soften the severity of the punishments for their infractions.

Not this time, though.

Kalea grinned at the him- clearly quite pleased with herself.

"I was just testing his theory," she continued. "Turns out he was right. The dead fish could hold it's ground. It only took a couple of nights for Keeper Grey to abandon his room."

"Yes, well, you're here because..." the Master began.

"Because of my lack of restraint," Kalea finished,with a bored sigh.

"You have refused to tell him where the fish is hidden for the past two weeks." The master continued despite her interruption, surprising both girls with the detour from his typical lecture

"It's in his mattress. If he actually looked for it, he'd have found it way before it got so bad," Kalea said.

If the Master's expression indicated that he was nearly ready to leap over his desk and strangle her, Kalea gave no sign that she recognized the danger. Even seated, she seemed to swagger. She was the most talented apprentice to ever enter Ithaam's Esidiem, and she was well aware of it.

The small mahogany dots tattooed across her golden brow and down the bridge of her nose were a symbol of a warrior tradition that preceded the establishment of the Esidiem, and the kingdom of Ithaam itself. They danced up and down as she wiggled her eyebrows at Nerys in an attempt to entice a laugh, but Nerys was too aware of the way the master seemed to be weighing the benefits of Kalea's talents in the arena against her proclivity for destruction.

"Get out," the Master said, shaking with the effort of not killing the prodigy.

Kalea's smile didn't waver as she tilted her head in confusion. "What? Aren't we— "

"I am done with you." The master interrupted. His tone more weary than irate. "Go replace Keeper Grey's mattress with a clean one, and air out his room. You may expect that he will find a way settle any deficit in my justice tomorrow during your Initiation."

"That went well!" Kalea said to Nerys as the door to the Master Keeper's hall slammed shut behind them.

They walked, shoulders touching, through the Esidiem's main compound toward the building where keepers and their apprentices were housed, passing the dining hall, armory, and baths along the way. Although formal training had been suspended to prepare for the crowds expected for the next day's event, apprentice-initiates passed them on the way to practice on their own in the arena that stood near the gates of the Esidiem. Most walked in a wide arch around the pair, as though coming too close might implicate them in whatever the had done to set all of the keepers in a foul mood.

"Well?" Nerys said. "Well for whom? I am going to die tomorrow!

"For whom?" Kalea teased. "How are you still so proper?"

"After spending so much time with you?" Nerys shot back her usual retort, "My mother raised me right."

"And mine raised me to fight," Kalea said with a playful jab to Nerys's arm.

"That is exactly the reason Keeper Grey is going to pick me as his opponent tomorrow," Nerys said, absently rubbing the spot that would be a bruise by morning. "Everyone knows the keepers have been arguing over testing you for months. None of them want to be the first in the history of the Esidiem to be defeated by an apprentice during Initiation."

"Eh, Grey is lazy and sloppy," Kalea said with a shrug. "Just let those quick little feet of yours keep you out of reach for as long as you can, and he'll be too tired to do any permanent damage when he catches you."

"That's reassuring," Nerys said dryly.

They entered the courtyard that served as the common area between the five separate units that housed each year's apprentices and their keepers. Apprentices who still had years before facing their own Initiations had gathered to enjoy the rare break in their training. They rough-housed and lounged beneath the shadow of the fountain where the statue of their patron god, Aloysius, stood.

"I do what I can," Kalea responded with a small, secretive smile.

"Wait," Nerys stopped her just short of entering their building. "Did you just fix my test?"

"Of course not!" Kalea threw her hands up defensively. "You're the eighth best apprentice in our levy."

"There are only eight of us left, you ass."

"And everyone who made it this far with Arthes is Kept-worthy. She's the only keeper who can say that. You'll be fine no matter who you face, but with Grey as your opponent at least you won't be so broken you can't go out for drinks afterward."

In the abandoned wing where the keepers usually resided, a putrid odor tainted the air. The smell became unbearable as they neared Keeper Grey's chamber.

"On the other hand," Kalea said, gagging between breaths. "He might actually kill you. Sorry."

~

Keeper Arthes intercepted Nerys and Kalea as they left the baths several hours later.

"Here," she said, handing each a hot roll stuffed with meat and eggs. "You missed supper."

The formidable woman's sweet voice was jarringly incongruent with her appearance, broad and muscular with hard features and long rose-gold hair, but her apprentices had gotten used to the uncanny effect.

"Aw," Kalea said. "You shouldn't have! I always knew you loved us best."

"Don't push your luck. I doubt any keeper in the history of the Esidiem can boast as... entertaining apprentices as you two."

"What can I say? It's a gift." Kalea bowed, throwing one hand out in a flourish, dropping her roll in the dirt as she did. "Damn!"

Nerys reflexively handed her roll to Kalea.

"I'm not hungry," she said, looking slightly queasy at the sight of food so soon after dealing with the rancid fish-filled mattress.

"This is why you're my favorite person in the world!" Kalea gushed, taking the roll and biting into it without hesitation.

"Yes, well, I didn't come here just to feed you. The Master wishes to speak to you." Arthes said to Kalea. "Alone."