Arcus looked at Aelfric with interest on their short walk home, ” Have you any coin?” Aelfric suspected his master knew the answer to that question, so rather than answer him, he gave Arcus one of his own complicated and communicative looks that said. ” what do you think?” It was bold, but Arcus suddenly began to laugh. ” Very good, very good indeed,” he said, nodding his head ” It usually takes months for a student to learn that lesson. I confess myself impressed, Aelfric.”
Feeling proud but confused, Aelfric gave Arcus another revealing look. ” Not fully aware of the finer points of this lesson just yet? Not to worry. If today is any indication, I shall expect your full interpretation by the end of the week”. In keeping with their new manner of communication, Aelfric nodded.
Arcus was still smiling as they entered his hut. The two sat and enjoyed their supper. They shared Aelfric’s chicken pies and Arcus’ loaf of bread, then the lovely sweet treats in the basket. Aelfric had never interacted with so few words, but he found it calming and comfortable. They finished their food in companionable silence. Arcus, seemingly satisfied, invited his student to join him for breakfast before rounds the following morning. Aelfric gave Arcus a look and knowing nod that said, ” We don’t want to get in trouble with Anna.” And Arcus laughed as he ushered his young apprentice out the door.
In the morning, Aelfric made his way to Arcus’s house for breakfast. The air was chilled and helped to lift the slight fuzz of the last night’s ale. Once he and Arcus had eaten breakfast, he felt pretty himself again.
They finished most of the herbal remedy rounds by noon and stopped in at Coldus’ for lunch. Fresh apples, bread, and a treat of some deliciously strong cheese. As they ate, Arcus informed Aelfric,
“Today, you will be starting your training in healing hands-the simplest form, which is the healing of outer flesh. I will demonstrate the principles on our first patient for you, and you will take care of all skin and flesh wounds for the remainder of our rounds. I trust you’ve delved into the books I assigned, so we will start simple, with Anna’s niece Ofelia, who scraped her knees and hands up yesterday while climbing trees”.
They continued their routine rounds of treatment for a whole week. Some days were easy and others extremely strenuous.
****
It was the fourth day of the week, and the morning sun was already rising beyond the horizon. Aelfric arrived at his master’s a little earlier and shared a breakfast of pork fat on toast, heated tomatoes, and some cooked grains. He thought that for a man with so little monetary wealth, Arcus did eat very well.
As the two men busied about restocking their laboratories, Arcus handed Aelfric a small box full of pouches, “seeds,” he said. Aelfric took the seeds, wondering where on earth he would grow them. Rather than becoming anxious, he found he trusted his master to give him direction, so he neatly packed the seeds into his laboratory, and the two men started their day.
As usual, they stopped at Anna’s, and Aelfric made Anna’s salve, and she reminded them to stop by for their payment on the way home. He was instructed to do much of the herbal remedies, Arcus testing them before administration. There were no death visits that day, just regular patients with everyday ailments.
By this time, Aelfric already had the basic knowledge, and Arcus usually sent him to certain houses alone to administer herbal remedies he had mastered while Arcus waited outside. Being the fast learner he was, Aelfric learned all the herbal tinctures, potions, salves, poultices, and teas of their patients. He knew the procedure like the palms of his hand.
On the walk home that night, out of the blue, Aelfric said to Arcus, ” We should conserve our words to give them power. The voice is an instrument of magic and so must be treated with respect.”
Arcus smiled at Aelfric, knowing that he was indeed learning. ” Our voice is an instrument of Magic, and so we must conserve its power for what is truly important” Aelfric smiled back at him. From this, he understood that his understanding of the lesson was correct but not exact. Arcus’ few words were how he created such brilliant healing magic, but he also used words to teach, greet, and soothe. Aelfric understood that ” what is truly important” might not always be the healing alone.
They finally got home and kept away their work apparatuses where they belonged. They ate their lovely supper together once more in peaceful silence. When they finished eating, Arcus walked Aelfric to the door, then stopped when they got there and pressed a few coins into his hand. ” For your week’s work,” he said.
Aelfric was stunned and lacked words because he had not expected to be paid so early in his apprenticeship. He tucked the coins into his pocket, smiling grandly. Arcus laughed as he booted him out the door, ignoring Aelfric’s thanks.
“Oh, Aelfric, one more thing,” Arcus called out as he leaned on the wooden door frame.
Aelfric stopped in his track and turned towards where his teacher stood.”Yes, master.”
“Tomorrow, you will not join me on my rounds,” Arcus said. ” You will go to the Carriage on Priar street, and Coldus, the fruit merchant, will take you to Melses farm. There, you will meet one of my advanced students, Sil, who will instruct you in growing those seeds I have given you earlier. Every Sixth day you will go to the farm and learn about cultivating herbs, irrigation, harvest, and storage. Sil will tend your seeds while you are in the city. Sil is your superior, Aelfric. I want to hear you’ve been respectful and educated on your trips to the farm.” He finished, opening the front door to his hut.
“Yes, of course, Master,” Aelfric said. He knew this was some reward, for land was expensive, and he would have occasion to grow some scarce herbs. What’s more, he would no longer have to purchase preserved ingredients. Perhaps he could afford better lodging or some new clothing.
New lodging first. He thought with a shudder when he remembered his current living arrangement. He went to his lodge in a generous mood.
**** **** **** ****
The Hostel room buzzed with activity at dawn. Arcus had not told him what time to meet Coldus on Prior street, so he readied himself and set out right away. It took him roughly thirty minutes to walk to his destination near the fruit merchant’s house. He saw the yellowish man packing his carriage and glimpsed yet another man helping him. He approached the two busy men. ” Good day Coldus, Master Arcus wishes me to visit Melses Farm today.”
Coldus looked up from packing some items into the carriage. ” Already? you must be a quick learner Aelfric, usually takes them months to get a trip to the farm!”. Aelfric’s suspicions were confirmed. He smiled and said, ” Is that so?”. “Can I help you with any of this?” he asked Coldus, gesturing to the carriage. “Just finishing up here, you climb on in,” said Coldus.
The carriage ride was rough but enjoyable. Aelfric learned that Coldus’s friend was indeed his brother Dorthus, who also sold fruit on the other side of the Citadel. They had purchased the carriage and horses together and bought their fruit from a few farms out past Melses. The trip took about an hour, then Coldus stopped the carriage and told Aelfric, ” Just down that road to the end, our business takes us out quite far, so we’ll be back to collect you around dusk. Sil will feed you.”
Aelfric jumped down and waved as the brothers went on their way. He made his way quickly up the road to a large farmhouse, surrounded by several smaller huts and shelters. Beyond the homestead, he could see acres and acres of cultivated soil, and standing on the porch of the house was a young girl.
He gave her a look that said, “Am I in the right place?”. And she said, “Wow, you’ve already started voiceless words? Arcus wasn’t kidding when he said you were catching on fast.” Aelfric was taken aback by her comment,” You mean there’s a name for that thing he does?”.
Sil laughed, sweeping her hair over one shoulder in a red-gold flutter that shone in the early sun. “It’s the first magic we learn as healers, and Arcus doesn’t explain it until you’ve already learned it because he says it is nearly impossible to teach and even more difficult to learn once the student knows what they are trying; to do.” Aelfric was still confused.
“And what exactly am I trying to do?”
“You are trying, and succeeding, at communicating with your internal voice. At first, it looks like telling facial expressions or body language, but it is much more. Healers can convey any thought, feeling, instruction, consolation… With their internal voice. Well, the outstanding ones can.”
“Suddenly, Arcus makes a lot more sense to me,” said Aelfric, grinning. Sil laughed some more and took Aelfric by the hand. “Come, today is your day off! No need for speechless words and mysterious lessons. Let’s get your seeds sprouting, and then I’ll make us some lunch.” Aelfric felt elated, holding the hand of this lovely girl off to enjoy his day off. He had not expected this.
They passed some brambles on the way to the nursery. They picked and ate berries as they made their way to a large wooden structure with open walls. “A witch put a spell on this structure,” said Sil, gesturing about the tall wood-framed building. “It stays warm, even in winter. This is where we start the seeds growing. When winter does come, we start fewer seeds because the rest of the nursery is used to grow full plants for the winter months”.
” That’s amazing,” Aelfric replied as he entered the nursery and felt the temperature rise.
Lunch was delicious, roasted squash, salted beef, and pickled vegetables with some soft bread. They ate and grinned across the small table at each other. When they’d finished stuffing their faces, Sil made tea, and they sat on the porch seat talking.
” Arcus told me about Maggie’s son,” Sil said kindly. “I’m sorry that your first death was a child.”
“It wasn’t my first death, but my first death was also a child.” Aelfric told her, “My baby sister died from fever when I was ten and three. We don’t have a master healer near my village, and she could not make the trip to the citadel. I suppose that’s when I started wondering about healing, about preventing death. If only we could all live forever.” He finished sadly.
“To embrace Immortality is to cheapen the value of life and forego the gift of death,” Sil said, peering into his eyes.
“Who said that?” Asked Aelfric, not recognizing the quote.
“I did, she said.” Even in the depth of this severe conversation, Sil managed to amaze him. He had almost forgotten that Sil herself was practically a Master Healer and that her insights on life and death would be far more developed than his own.
They sat on the porch in silence for a long while, then Sil got up, taking Aelfric by the hand, as she tended to do, and led him inside the house. “Help me get the stew started, then we can check on our babies,” she said. They were leading him down to the cellar. He knew she meant the seedlings, but it made the whole process of planting seeds with her transform in his mind into something not entirely so innocent when she said it like that. Her familiarity with him was wonderfully unsettling.
They collected potatoes, carrots, and salted beef. Sil put everything to boiling in the cooking pot with some herbs, sugar, water, and flour. Then she led Aelfric back out to the nursery.
She pulled back the damp cloth on one of his boxes of seedlings. Amazingly, a few had already begun to sprout. “They grow that fast?” Aelfric was stunned. The potatoes and carrots his mother grew took far longer to break the earth. “A priestess blesses the soil and water, and it makes them proliferate,” Sil said. He could tell she was excited to show him.
“When will they be ready to harvest?” He asked.
“When you come next week, we will move them all into the larger beds and then start new seeds. I’m afraid we won’t have as much time to visit because we’ll be busier transplanting, starting seedlings, and then soon enough, harvesting and preserving. The day becomes quite full once your harvesting every week.” She had a more serious tone now. Aelfric just said, ” It sounds wonderful to me.” She looked up at him and smiled ” It is.”
As they walked back to the house, Aelfric suddenly wondered how many of Arcus’ students routinely came here and whether Sil spent time with them too. He couldn’t help feeling a little jealous. ” Do all of Arcus’ students grow their herbs here?” he asked. He hadn’t seen many other herbs planted in the nursery. “They all come here to learn,” She said, ” but you are my first student.” ” I am?” He was feeling better for some reason. ” Arcus usually brings students out himself for about a month to teach them about cultivating their herbs. Of course, he always has them arrive first and ask for Sil so that he can sneak that little lesson in. He has an advanced apprentice cover his rounds for the month, but they can’t afford to rent their own space here. Nursery space is expensive. Once they become masters, they tend to move away and find areas in need of healers.”
Aelfric became confused at this. He certainly couldn’t afford his own space. He began to wonder if that was what the coins had been for. “What made him think I could afford my own space?” he asked her. She looked at him incredulously. “Arcus rented a space for you, 2 days a. 2I received a letter from him stating that he had a new student who would be requiring his own planting space, that I should add it to his bill, and that this was a perfect opportunity for me to do some teaching. You must have imphim.” She finished, seriously. “He usually just has them do his own plantior him and keeps them stocked.”
Aelfric couldn’t believe Arcus had done this. He felt as if he had fallen into a dream where he learned he was the son of a wealthy noble and was given lavish gifts and gold. He had never been so happy In his life.
When they made it back to the house, Sil fed him some stew. She told him her father would be out working past dark, and she would eat with him. So he enjoyed the delicious stew, and then as dusk began to fall, they made their way back onto the porch to say goodbye. ” This day has been delightful,” he told Sil as she stood leaning against the door. ” It has! I’ll look forward to next week. It will be busy, but I think we’ll have fun all the same.” She wrapped her soft bear arms around his waist. She was pretty short, so the hug felt very intimate. ” Safe travels, Aelfric,” she whispered in his ear.