To take your mind off an imagined slight, said Caleb. If I let you drink alone two things would happen. He held up a finger, while he poured them another drink. Firstly, youd receive no end of teasing from the other men in town who know how youve been butting heads over Ellie for nearly a year. Secondly, youd just pick a fight with Grame.
The boys quickly drank the whiskey and seemed to be getting used to it. Caleb filled their glasses again. Here, have another.
The boys finished their fourth drink, and Tads eyes began to close. Youre getting us drunk. I can feel it.
Caleb filled the glasses yet again and said, One more should do it.
Zane asked, Do what? as his speech began to slur.
Caleb jumped down from the wagon bed. Get you too drunk to pick a fight. He pushed Tad who wobbled as he tried to compensate for being slightly off balance.
Come along, said Caleb.
Where? asked Zane.
Back to your mas, and into your beds. Youre going to pass out in five minutes and I dont want to carry you.
The boys had never drunk anything as potent as the whiskey before, and they followed Caleb quietly. By the time they had reached their home, both boys were unsteady on their feet.
Caleb ushered them inside and when he had seen them onto their sleeping mats, he left and returned to the festival. It took only a few minutes to find Marie and when she saw him, she said, What did you do with them?
Got them very drunk.
As if they needed any help doing that. She looked around anxiously. Where are they?
Back at your house, sleeping it off.
Her gaze narrowed. They havent had enough time to get that drunk.
He held up the whiskey bottle. It was nearly empty. When they just tossed down five double portions each in fifteen minutes, they have.
Well, at least they wont be troubling Grame and Ellie, said Marie.
Or us. Caleb said with a smile.
She said, I dont care how drunk they are, Caleb, if theyre in the house, then youre not.
He grinned. I already have a room at the inn. If we head over there now, no one will notice you come upstairs with me.
She slipped her arm through his. As if I care what people think. Im not a maiden trying to catch a young suitor, Caleb. Ill grab happiness where I can and if anyone cares, it doesnt matter.
Caleb pulled her close to him and said, And those who do matter dont mind.
They skirted the edge of the crowd and made for the inn.
Their lovemaking had an urgency to it that Caleb had not experienced before, and afterward, as they lay with her head on his shoulder, he asked, What troubles you?
She knew that one of the reasons why they had been drawn to each other was his ability to read her mood so accurately. Tad asked me if we were going to wed.
Caleb was silent for a moment, then he let out a long sigh. If I were the the marrying kind, Marie, it would be you.
I know, she said. But if you wont stay, marry me, and be a real father to the boys, you have to take them with you.
Caleb moved out from under her and levered himself up on his elbow. Looking down at her, he said, What?
You can see how it is for them, Caleb. They have no future, here. I had to sell the farm and that coin wont last forever, even if I grow most of my food in the garden. I can make do alone, but feeding growing boys And they have no one to teach them farming, and no guild to teach them a craft. Every other lad was apprenticed to a farmer, trader, sailor, or guild two years ago at the Choosing, but my boys stood alone at the end. Everyone likes them, and had they means to help, Tad and Zane would be apprenticed by now, but there just isnt enough work here.
If you dont take them with you, theyll become layabouts or worse. Id rather lose them now than see them hanged for robbers in a few years.
Caleb was silent for a long moment. What would you have me do with them, Marie?
Youre a man of some stature, despite your homespun garb and leather hunting togs, or at least your father is. Youve seen the world. Take them with you as servants, or apprentices, or take them to Krondor and find them work there.
They have no father, Caleb. When they were little a ma was all they needed to wipe their noses and hold them when they were scared. We did a lot of that after Zanes folks were killed in the troll raid. But at this age they need a man to show them what to do and what not to do, to knock some sense into them if need be, and to praise them when they do well. So, if you wont wed me and stay here, then at least take them with you.
Caleb turned, and sat with his back against the plastered wall. What you say makes sense, in a way.
Then youll do it?
Im not sure what Im agreeing to, but yes, Ill take them with me. If my father doesnt know what to do with them, Ill take them to Krondor and see them apprenticed with a trader or placed in a guild.
Theyre like brothers now. It would be a crime to split them apart.
Ill keep them together. I promise.
She nestled closer to him. Youll come back from time to time and tell me how theyre doing?
Yes, Marie, said Caleb. Ill make them write to you often.
That would be grand, she whispered. No one has ever written to me before. She sighed. Come to think of it, no ones ever written to anyone I know.
Ill see that they do.
Thats lovely, but youll have to teach them to write, of course.
They dont know their letters? Caleb couldnt keep the surprise from his voice.
Who would teach them?
Dont you ?
No, never learned, she said. I can make out word-signs a bit, because Ive heard them at the shops, but Ive never really had a need for them.
Then how will you read what they send you?
Ill find someone to read them to me, I just need to know that theyre doing well somewhere.
Youre a rare woman, Marie, he said.
No, Im just a normal mother worried about her boys.
Caleb settled back into bed and let her return to the crook of his shoulder. Silently he wondered what he had got himself into.
CHAPTER TWO
Council
PUG HELD UP HIS HAND.
He was a short man who looked no more than forty years old. He was dressed, as always, in a simple black robe, and his dark eyes surveyed all the people who stood before him. His eyes were the one feature that betrayed the extent of his power. Otherwise he was, to all outward appearances, a very average looking man.
The cave on the north side of Sorcerers Isle had become the traditional meeting place for the Conclaves leaders. It had a narrow entrance, with a low ceiling. It was dry, free of moss and lichen, and from time to time, it was dusted to provide a modicum of comfort for those who met there. The cave was almost bare, save for two stone shelves and a few rocks which offered the only resting places. Light was provided by a spell that Miranda employed an enchantment which caused the walls themselves to glow faintly. Only one feature of the cave was unnatural: a bust of Sarig, the putative God of Magic rested upon a pedestal against a wall.