Alensar

  "I got you a dart board, Val." Jason seemed self-conscious, the words coming out slowly. "Laude Granthor said not to make any holes in the walls."

  "That won't be a problem. I have good aim. It was very thoughtful of you." Alensar said, trying and failing to sound warm and grateful. "I also got something different, since you seemed displeased by the war poetry. You should have told me earlier." He pulled a book out of his bag. “Some playing cards, too.”

  "Thank you."

  Nekthor's balls, Jason was trying so hard. Alensar hadn't minded the poetry, since it helped him sleep. He mainly wanted to join in the teasing of the servants. He was used to teasing his friends, but, of course, Jason wasn't his friend. He no longer had friends.

  “Maybe give me the cards while you read?”

  Jason settled into the chair and started reading. Alensar lay back and listened.

  He tried doing a trick, but the cards scattered over his bed. He gathered them and focused on simple moments instead.

  Jason didn’t let himself get distracted and kept reading. The story felt familiar, about a princess with a cursed mask. It took him a moment to recognize the story, since he hadn't heard it in Anglish.

  "What are you reading from?"

  Jason held it up. "It's a book of Karangasz fairy tales. I thought you might like it better."

  They stared at each other.

  "Your accent slips sometimes," Jason said with stilted nonchalance. "Took me some time to place it."

  "I'll have to be more careful." Alensar. Was this a threat or a peace offering?

  "Should I continue reading?" Jason asked, as if nothing happened.

  "Please." He kept shuffling the cards.

  ***

  Alensar lay on his bed, drifting into a restful space that was not quite sleep, where he still spent most of his time. He waited before getting up after he heard the knock on the door, knowing it was open.

  The person cleared his throat. The tutor! Alensar sat up.

  "Priest?"

  The man smiled. "I'm just a humble acolyte. Most of the time, I teach at the college, though I volunteer at the prison sometimes. You can call me Professor Tannen."

  Alensar ruffled his hand through his shorn hair. Jason had cut it again for him earlier that day.

  "You're looking well," Professor Tannen said. He was younger-looking than Alensar remembered, perhaps in his mid-thirties. The receding hairline did him no favors.

  "Yes, I imagine it's surprising, considering."

  "It's true. Though Helion rarely answers my prayers so literally." The man started laying things out on the desk and sat down. There were two chairs there now.

  Alensar went to the second chair. "What do you pray about for me?"

  "The same thing that I pray for all those on such a day." He didn't elaborate, and Alensar didn't push it.

  "We should start with what you know."

  "I can't read Ang. I can read Karangasz, though."

  A tiny furrow formed in the middle of Professor Tannen's forehead.

  "You didn't realize there was a written language?" Alensar said.

  "I did. It's of academic interest for some of my colleagues... I did assume that someone of your background would not." He spoke as if he were thinking through each word.

  At least he admitted it.

  "I needed writing for commerce and communications with other clans. And all people need stories and poetry." Alensar said with a smile, trying to reassure him.

  Professor Tannen smiled back. "Well, that should help... I think. I'm not sure if the principles of the languages are the same. I suppose we'll both learn. Since I teach at the merchant's college, our focus will be practical. So alas, no stories or poetry. We'll be focusing on sums as well."

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  "I'm quite good with numbers."

  Professor Tannen apparently learned from his mistakes. Instead of showing surprise, he said, "Tell me what you know about numbers."

  "Well, when trading across the border, you need to convert between bits, lares, and crowns, then take into account how much you can sell something for. You can lose money if you aren't quick with your calculations, since negotiations are fast-paced.

  And the prices change based on where you are. Sometimes, you can travel somewhere where you can sell things for more, but they tolerate Karangasz less there. There's balancing the budget and approximating risk and reward. I would track the past to estimate how likely certain outcomes were, and then use that to decide whether to take risks. It wasn't perfect, but we had a fair amount of success with it."

  He wasn't charismatic enough to lead negotiations, but that's what his siblings did while he did the numbers.

  The thought of his family forced him to stop speaking.

  "And you had no education in these things?" Professor Tannen prodded.

  "My Da taught me some, but I improved it." The wound of his father was older, easier to bear.

  "Fascinating. Can you show me?" Professor Tannen held out a pen.

  Alensar dipped it in the pot of ink and wrote out a few of the things he described, including some of the notation he made up to help him keep track of things. He wrote some things he did to simplify the calculations in his head. He used a lot of chaotic arrows to explain his thought process, and he wasn't sure Professor Tannen followed.

  Professor Tannen leaned back in his chair and held the paper. "Well, at least I know there isn't anything I can teach you here. Some of these things have a formal notation that we can translate them into." He narrowed his eyes. "Other parts of this I'm not sure… I'm not a mathematician."

  "No one has ever been interested enough for me to explain it. They just trusted me."

  Numbers were a comfort to him. While in Tragst, he would try to think about numbers instead of what was happening to him. It even worked sometimes.

  "Do you know much about calculating shapes? Such as circles and triangles?"

  Alensar shook his head. "No, what's it used for?"

  "Architecture, and understanding the physical world better." Professor Tannen leaned over and started making drawings on the page, as well as some symbols.

  "Shouldn't I be learning to read?" Alensar asked as he worked.

  "Oh, you will, but to leave your mathematical brain unfed seems a tragedy. I'm no mathematician and will need to ask my colleagues for guidance, but for now, we can fill in with what I know. I'm sure you'll be able to make quick work of it."

  Alensar watched as Professor Tannen explained the relationships between the angles and sides in the triangle. He felt drawn into it, falling into a trance as he solved simple puzzles that Professor Tannen provided him.

  Alensar smiled, holding the paper in front of him. "This is really clever. I bet you could do a lot with it. I never knew anyone who cared about numbers before. Even my father focused on only what was practical."

  He looked over at Professor Tannen, who seemed sad.

  "Did I say something wrong?"

  Professor Tannen shook his head. "How old are you, Tsarek?"

  "I'm Alensar now." A small ache formed in his chest. "And I'm not sure. Around twenty-five, I think."

  "I wonder how many other prodigies are out there, with no one to see them," Professor Tannen said, almost to himself.

  "Prodigy? I don't know that word."

  "To have adult-level skill at a young age. In your case, it's not quite right, since you are an adult, but you are showing incredible skill given your level of education. I imagine you would have been a prodigy had you been given the opportunity." He shook his head. "No matter. We can learn now."

  Alensar didn't know what to say to that. It seemed the least of his tragedies. "I think this one can be solved in another way. Let me try."

  The undisguised sorrow grew in Professor Tannen's eyes. Alensar looked away. He was unused to pity. And his talent hadn't been wasted—he had helped his clan. When Alensar finished solving the problem, the Professor's expression had cleared.

  "While mathematics is more fun, we should work on reading. I have a book of letters. It's for children, but has a picture of an object that starts with the sound the letter makes."

  He went through the book and named the letters. Alensar made a few notes in Karangasz. "The concept is similar, though the sounds do not line up exactly.""Good, good. You'll make quick progress." Professor Tannen pulled out a pocket watch. Alensar mentally tallied its worth. They were rare, but seldom worth keeping. This one was a cheaper piece.

  "I'll be coming for an hour every day. Try to study what we worked on today, and I'll adjust depending on your progress." Professor Tannen stood and gave an inferior-ranked bow. "It was a pleasure working with you, Val Alensar, and I look forward to teaching you."

  Alensar bowed in return. "Thank you."

  Professor Tannen smiled. "You'll need to work on your bows."

  "Ah, yes." Alensar had given the bow of inferior rank, but it was wrong to give anything else to a holy man.

  "Bless you, son," he said as he left. His words left Alensar with the sense of being in two places at once, of being two people at once.

  Alensar pulled off his boots and lay on the bed as he studied the children's book of letters. His eyelids were heavy, and he rested the book on his chest.

  Then the dream came. He was being given his last rites, but when the priest turned his face, he became the cruelest guard. The guard took the razor and started carving into his body, peeling off bloody chunks of flesh.

  He was yanking against his chains, but he was trapped."Val?" They grabbed his shoulder, and suddenly his hand was free. He grabbed the guard's wrist. The guard tried to pull away.

  "Let go! Please!"He opened his eyes and saw Jason wincing in pain. Alensar let Jason go, trying to orient himself. His heart was pounding.

  "You were making noise, so I tried to wake you." Jason was rubbing his wrist.

  "I'm sorry." Alensar still felt disoriented, as if the dream were trying to swallow him again. He rubbed his face. "Did I hurt you?"

  Jason shook his head. "I don't think so. Your grip is stronger than I expected."

  Alensar sighed and leaned back. "It's probably best to wake me by saying something."

  There would be another nightmare. He had no doubt.

  Jason picked up the children's alphabet book from where it had fallen on the floor. "You shouldn't be reading such disturbing things."

  It took Alensar a moment to realize Jason was joking. He started laughing, a little harder than the joke warranted. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

  Jason flashed a smile before becoming serious once more. "Laude Granthor expects you for dinner, Val. I hope you haven't forgotten."

  "Yes, thank you."Alensar wished he wouldn't go back to his model-servant mannerisms so quickly, but at least he got a glimpse of something else.

  ***