Knights Magi (Book 4) Read Free Page B

intelligent,” I understated.  “You generally have sound judgment.  You’re loyal.  You both can read.  You’re both fit and hale.  The only thing you lack is . . .”
    “Experience?” asked Tyndal, hopefully.  
    “Seasoning?” asked Rondal, warily.
    “ Instruction, ” I replied, flatly.  “You are both ignorant children, rustic rubes up-jumped far beyond your station and given power far beyond your capabilities or worth.”
    They both looked at me with a mixture of embarrassment, shock, and anger.
    “Stings, doesn’t it boys?  But that’s what everyone will be saying about you based entirely on what they’ve heard and your accents.  They say that because while you are both, in your ways, brave, intelligent, and energetic, you also both know nothing of the world beyond your little mountain vale.  You do not understand the social position into which you have been thrust, and you do not have the upbringing that your social peers did.  
    “But ignorance can be cured with instruction.  And yes, experience.  ‘Seasoning,’ although considering the dietary habits of our foes that might not be the best term,” I chuckled.  The gurvani didn’t mind eating human flesh, and the priests of the Dead God encouraged the practice to inspire terror and dread in us.  It was quite successful.
    “But beyond knowing how to address a count or seduce a countess, there are a thousand thousands of other things you just do not know .  And I need you to know them.”
    “Like what, Master?” asked Rondal, a little obsequiously.
    “Like swordplay and warmagic, idiot!” snorted Tyndal derisively.
    “Like military intelligence and observation,” I began, “how to tie knots, how to read Perwynese with fluency, the proper way to bribe a rich man or a poor man without offending their dignity, how to lie to a woman and persuade a man, how to read a map, how to dance a pavane, how to stop an assassin, how to sail a boat, how to fight in the dark, how to hire a thief, how to run an estate, how to command men in battle, how to use your authority, how to use your wits, how to ford a river, how to climb a mountain, how to explore a cave, how to survive in the wilderness, how to survive at court, how to tilt with gentlemen and brawl with cutthroats, how to inspire loyalty and deliver honorable service, how to kneel to the gods and influence the priesthood, how to order a drink, how to deliver an insult, how to flatter a man or spit in his eye, how to choose a wife, how to duel a jealous husband, when a woman is considering a tumble with you and when she is not – and whether it is worth the trouble.  How to make money, spend money, lose money, and yet not let it command you.  How to know the law enough to avoid it or use it on your behalf.  How to spot a traitor, cultivate an asset, tell if a man is lying, know when he’s telling the truth, and when cutting his godsdamned throat will solve a multitude of your problems.
    “And that, gentlemen, is just where we will begin.  There is more.  Much more.   Experience?  Seasoning?  You’ll have more of both than you are comfortable with.  That is what you two ‘knights magi’ are going to learn, if I have to knock your fool heads together three times a day to motivate you!”  
    Their eyes had gotten wider and wider during my recitation, and I’d gotten closer and closer to them with every item.  
    “Master?” Tyndal began, hesitantly, “I don’t know if I’m . . . I’m capable of all of that.”
    “I’m having reservations myself,” agreed Rondal, his eyes wide.  He’s not a violent soul – not that Tyndal is, but my younger apprentice is more comfortable with violence.  Perhaps overmuch.  “I do not know if I am the man for the job.”
    “You aren’t ,” I agreed.  “You’re still a boy.  That’s precisely my point.  You won’t be a man for awhile yet.  And the process,” I admitted, “might just kill you.  That’s a fact.