Burning Night: A Tale of the Everburning City

Chapter 13, Part 1: Tabitha

The Apprentice Hall was perhaps the least inspired piece of architecture in the City. From the windows of nearby buildings, most of which towered over it, the Apprentice hall was a cube of grey stone, dotted with irregularly shaped windows matching, more or less exactly, where six blocks of stone should have been. The street surrounding the building itself was narrow, the walls looked like they were cleaned with a torch, and the windows had metal shutters instead of glass.

This was not the Guild Hall, after all. The City's sycophancy was only spent on those who wore the coat.

The only real luxury apprentices were afforded were a requisition for custom boots. A gift that didn't exclude them from the boots made for every denizen of the City on their twenty-first birthday.

In truth, the boots the apprentices received was tied to several pages of paperwork that let Oversight develop a file on each apprentice, making them easier to profile and track. This truth wasn't discussed much and was considered among the least important secrets still kept by the Council Privy.

Tabitha walked through the entrance to a startling wave of nostalgia and smiled despite being nearly tackled by a small mob of passing students. It had been over half a lifetime since she had walked in their shoes, and despite the rigour of the curriculum, she had enjoyed her apprenticeship.

Clearly not first-years, Tabitha thought to herself, as she accepted their fawning apologies. First years would have swarmed her at this stage of their apprenticeships. The only thing keeping her from being mobbed right now was that her possession of the apprentice papers wasn't public knowledge.

"Crafter a'Loria!" Someone called out, and Tabitha turned to see an elderly woman make her way around a large desk and approach her. "Madam Crafter! You arrived a day earlier than I expected."

"You were expecting me?" Tabitha asked.

"Of course. I Delivered the papers personally. Have to say, I'm relieved you're taking on a fourth apprentice. Your last three grew into exceptional Crafters. Did someone stand out?"

Tabitha debated her options, including lighting the nosy old bat on fire. Restraining that particular instinct, she sighed and decided to play her first moves close to the truth. "Gerald Raeth."

"I'm surprised," The woman replied. Tabitha was impressed at how clearly the woman could convey 'disappointed' without actually saying it.

"Why, did you read the papers?" Tabitha asked, suddenly afraid. She hadn't thought about the chain of custody for those papers. Every person who might have looked at that paper about the Gloam is a potential risk to the City.

"Oh no. They're written as if the kids are sitting an exam, and I keep them personally. No one's read them before you." The woman explained.

Tabitha breathed a sigh of relief.

"No, but I'll admit to taking a peek at miss Amada Dreadston's work. The first page, anyway. Had a lot to say about the virtues of letting Crafters take the lead on things."

Amada Dreadston. Tabitha now had a name to go with that fawning waste of ink.

More importantly, this woman's fussy custody issues meant that no one else had read that abyss touched paper yet.

"The essay is almost peripheral," Tabitha explained, relieved. "What I look for is someone who thinks of the City, and what's important for it. Someone who's willing to see the rot and sickness and think of how to fix it. A Crafter has a lot of power, and the City grants us a lot of privilege. If I'm taking an apprentice, I don't want to waste my time with someone who isn't willing to take their privileges as a reminder of their responsibilities."