Ignition

Ignition

By Rick Dearman

Copyright 2011 Rick Dearman

Smashwords Edition

The right of Rick Dearman to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data data is available

First published in Great Britain in 2010 by XGI Publications. (http://xgipublishing.com)

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the above mentioned address.

You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.

ISBN Paperback: 978-0-9563994-5-8

ISBN EBook: 978-0-9563994-6-5

Cover design and cover art ©Roxy Design:

(http://roxydasilva.vpweb.co.uk)

Dedication

To my family.

Jane, my lovely wife. Emily, Catherine, Hannah, my wonderful daughters. Thank you all!

Special thanks to all the people who proofread and improved this book.

Ed Mendoza

Peter Hillier

Tammy Whitebear

Sandra Barbre

Brian E. Gronskis

If you would like to leave feedback or comments about this book contact the author at http://rdearman.org/ or follow me on twitter @RRDearman.

Prologue

People always assume assassins skulk about after dark scaling castle walls with knives in their teeth but Bantood moved purposefully down the sunny street avoiding the beggars and smiling at the crowds. The streets were full of haggard looking peasants and beggars. He thought the quality of the poor seemed to be rising as approached the municipal buildings.

Behind him, he dragged a small sledge with a couple of boxes strapped on. A broad leather strap crossed his chest down past his withered left arm to the point of the sledge. The emblem of the Ettengard Library was on the boxes and it was unlikely thieves would accost him. The Library was under the protection of the thieves’ guild. These days with the droughts and the war, some starving men might ignore the guild rules but the petty thieves did not worry Bantood. He couldn’t afford to bring attention to himself and his mission however so he remained vigilante as he travelled. A brother was attacked by starving children last week and the Guild had to pay compensation to the Zestor’s taxmen for the deaths and the resulting riots.

Bantood turned down an alleyway as he approached the Library. He dodged a pile of horse muck. At least with all the horses confiscated for the army the streets are cleaner, he thought. I’ll enter from the rear service entrance.

The Library was a large rotund building, which looked like a giant stone tree stump stuck in the middle of the city. He tilted his head back and took in all four stories of the tower. He sometimes wished he could scale sheer walls like his brethren in the assassins’ guild, but his arm had forced him to become an expert in other ways of murder.

He rang the bell outside of the metal grated door which was set into the surrounding stone wall and waited until one of the kitchen staff emerged from the building to let him in to the garden. Seven-foot high stonewalls surrounded the library and it stood on one of the few small patches of greenery inside the city proper. Outside these gardens, the smell and the muck were all pervasive.

Where is Farlin? He normally delivers, the servant said opening the door for him. She looked him over curiously, glancing down to his withered left arm. He shrugged.

Don’t know they just changed my route this morning. Maybe he got caught by the conscription squads, Bantood said with a bored expression. He glanced around the garden, noting the overgrown flowerbeds and a small corner near the kitchen window turned into a vegetable patch.

I doubt that, she said locking the gate and waving for him to follow. They aren’t taking hunchbacks yet. I doubt they’re that desperate.

Maybe, maybe not. They been looking at me lately probably figure I could swing a sword with one hand even if I can’t carry a shield, Bantood dragged the sledge up to the kitchen door and lifted the boxes with his good right hand. His withered arm wasn’t a hindrance to him in his work since his speciality was poisons.

Once inside of the kitchens he chatted with the servant and carried all the boxes into the storage room larder at the side. For a few moments when he was alone inside of the larder, he ran his eyes across the shelves for the tin box of tea, which the Master Librarian drank.

My sister’s man got took by the squads four years ago. I figure he must be dead now, she said matter-of-factly.

The wars gotta end one day, he said.

He chatted with the servant through the door as he pulled down the tin and opened it. From his pocket, he pulled out a small leather sack. He poured the small dried leaves into the tea tin, careful not to spill any. He put the lid on and shook the tin to mix everything together.

Bantood stepped out of the larder with a smile.

All done, he announced and grinned broadly at the servant who was removing some fried dough from a frying pan. Seeing his look, she chuckled, dropped two dough-balls on a rag, and handed them to him.

Thank you, he said. Bantood walked out the door and looped the leather strap over his shoulder. He pulled the sledge back out into the street eating a dough-ball swiftly. He looked up as the morning bells rang from a church on the street of gods.

Tomorrow we’ll be mourning the death of the poor Master Librarian, Bantood chuckled to himself and threw the rag with the remaining dough-ball to a scabby beggar.

Chapter 1

Ranperen

Ranperen groaned and rolled over in the straw mattress. His long legs stuck out over the end of the bed and his feet were numb from the cold. Tonight I’m gotta sew two blankets together. I’m sick of having cold feet. He groaned again and put his feet down on the ice-cold floor. He cursed loudly as he struggled to light a lamp. Finally, a dim light burst forth to illuminate the cold stone dormitory of the Ettengard Library. Rubbing his eyes with one hand and holding the lamp in the other he opened his wardrobe and dragged out his robes. He used his fingers trying to straighten his course black hair.

Hooking the lamp over the wardrobe door, Ranperen dressed in his robes. The dormitory was empty except for him, but there were twenty cots lining the walls of the room. When he had first come to the library this room was full of boys and even the pitch-black morning role calls were a time of laughter.

Yawning and scratching at the black woollen robes Ranperen left the dorm and headed for the classrooms on the ground floor.

What time do you call this? said Selmas when Ranperen walked quietly into the classroom. The room was small and the back half was bowed outward in a curve; part of the external wall. The morning light streamed through a small window.

Sorry Master Librarian, Ranperen said moving to his spot near the lectern. I must have overslept.

Again, Selmas said. The Librarian pulled the sleeves of his black robes behind his elbows and leaned against the lectern waiting for Ranperen to find his seat.

Ranperen heard a snicker. He crammed himself into a desk clenching his teeth he picked up his quill pen. He threw an angry glance at Tantia who was still snickering into her hand and Nimaya. The three of them were the only students at the Library for the last two years. Tantia shook her head scornfully at him her black hair shimmering, but Nimaya smiled and Ranperen’s heart skipped a beat.

Selmas tapped his fingers on the lectern and nodded as he read his notes.

Today we will cover the five nations of Etten, and specifically Ettengard, he paused and looked at Ranperen sharply as if he could see the boy’s inwardly groaning. Is there a problem?

No problem Master Selmas, but we have covered this before so he paused.

Selmas raised a grey-haired eyebrow and continued oblivious to Ranperen’s protest. The light through the window intensified and a small shaft of light drilled down on Ranperen’s desk. Ranperen looked despondently down at the shaft of light and began to move his pen back and forth through it.

The five nations were formed after the civil war in the ancient empire of Asgoloth. Ordered by size they are; Asgoloth, Sapaland, Orthorta, Ettengard, and the Isles of Resten.

Ranperen yawned and doodled absent-mindedly with the pen on the desktop. Why must Selmas keep covering old ground? Probably because the girls were too stupid to remember things. He shot another look over his shoulder at the girls who were scribbling away.

Ordered by population the Kingdom of Orthorta is the largest and Ettengard second largest, Selmas said.

Excuse me, Master Selmas, Nimaya interrupted, but my father’s diplomat told me the nations of Asgoloth and Sapaland have been destroyed by the Orthortanians and no longer exist.

Ranperen stared at Nimaya, her long blond tresses flowing around her shoulders; I wonder what it would be like to run my fingers through her hair. His hands clinched unconsciously. Her father would know the political situation better than anyone would since he was the Zestor of Ettengard.

While it is true Asgoloth and Sapaland have been taken under the protection of the Lord Defender of Orthorta they have not been absolved, Selmas said curtly obviously displeased with the interruption. It does not change the fact Orthorta is the largest nation in terms of both size and population. May I continue Lady Nimaya?

Nimaya looked down at her desk chastised and Ranperen saw Tantia smirking behind Nimaya’s back. Ranperen threw a dirty look at Tantia and smiled encouragingly at Nimaya when she glanced up.

Selmas rapped the lectern with his gavel and all the students looked up at him startled. He cleared his throat looking pointedly at each of them in turn.

Ettengard is the oldest city of the five nations, and was the capital of the old empire. As the northern most nation of the five nations, we have the dubious honour of having the lowest level of serfs and the highest level of aristocracy in the nations. This is a blessing and a curse. Why? the Librarian pointed his finger at Ranperen.

Ranperen tried to stand, his long legs caught awkwardly in the desk, he responded from an awkward half-standing position.

With the most aristocracy we have more knights to be fielded for battle against the Lord Defender and his armies. The curse of having insufficient serfs means we have been short of food for extended periods. This is apparent in the rationing we are experiencing here in the city,

Selmas nodded and Ranperen gratefully sank back into his seat as Selmas questioned Nimaya.

As the daughter of the Zester, Nimaya, you have been spared the harshest of rationing. Tantia you are the Mage apprentice and a ward of the Library as is Ranperen, you also have been spared.

Selmas gave a soft sigh and paused. He waited until they were all looking at him.

The Library of Ettengard has been run by a Master Librarian since before the Empire, and the Master Librarian has always been charged with assisting the government in return for its privileges. The Library is the greatest single source of information about history, magic, agriculture, or any other topic you care to think of. There are over two thousand years of knowledge contained in these walls.

Selmas came out from behind his lectern and stood at the edge of Ranperen’s desk.

Let’s dispense with the history lesson today. I have something important for you to do, Selmas perched himself comfortably on the edge of the desk. The Library has been given an assignment by the Zestor. In the past, I had over a hundred students and a dozen Mage apprentices to work on assignments. Now you three are all that remain. Therefore the assignment falls to the four of us.

The students sat upright glancing at each other and back to Selmas who held up a finger to silence all the questions about to erupt from them.

The assignment we have been given is to shorten the war and increase the supply of food. This means I will need to find a large amount of information from the shelves and you’ll do the research and summation for me. Nimaya as the Zester’s daughter you only have a few hours a day in the Library so you’ll work with me and Mage Kweldik in the Library offices. Tantia and Ranperen you’ll both work as runners in the shelves and from this point forward you’ll attend classes after hours.

After hours! Ranperen mentally groaned. Four hours sleep instead of seven, and I have to spend the entire time with Tantia the misery. He glanced at Tantia who was looking down at her desk she appeared to be smiling. I will never understand girls. How can she be happy about losing sleep?

Ranperen!

He jerked his eyes back to Selmas, all his idol thoughts blasted away under those bright eyes.

You and Tantia need to find me all books and reference to weapons pre and post empire. I want all drawings, and references to be traced and on my desk before nightfall.

***

Tantia walked behind him walking through the shelves gracefully. Ranperen lurched along awkward as ever, he always felt like a lumbering camel when he was with either of these girls. He ducked under the low ceiling beams of the rooms, which housed the shelves of the Library. Most of the books stayed down here below ground and out of the light to stop the ink fading. Moisture was a constant problem in the rooms below ground and built small and away from the rocky walls of the underground chamber. There was a clever system of moisture extraction from the rooms he didn’t understand.

I do not know why this has fallen to us, he complained to Tantia. I mean after all it would not hurt for Nimaya to have to search through all this stuff for a change,

She probably would enjoy you leering at her in the darkness but I am sure Master Selmas has more sense than to put the two of you together without a chaperon, Tantia said with distaste. You’re always staring at her like a moonstruck calf. It is very boring you know,

Ranperen turned angrily to reply and banged his knee hard on one of the small boards sticking out of the shelves. He let out a howl of pain and held his leg cursing.

You keep making all that noise and you’ll bring the ceiling down on us, said Tantia. She pushed past him and continued to walk down the shelves.

Oh what do you know? The library has been here for over four thousand years, it will take more than my cries of agony to bring it down, Ranperen said slowly testing his weight on the leg.

Well, regardless, we have a mission to accomplish here, she said over her shoulder and walked further back into the darkness. Ranperen couldn’t help but watch her hips swishing. He licked his lips and looked up at the ceiling.

You look for pre-empire weapons and I’ll look for post-empire. I’ll meet you at the kitchens in two hours, we’ll do our summations, she said.

He frowned at her retreating back but did not bother to express his annoyance at being stuck with the pre-empire research. Girls.

Moving back down the row of books he took a detour to the left and down toward the original shelves. The old shelves dated from the time of the empire at the back of the room. He did not like the pre-empire research; it would mean he would have to use gloves to handle the fragile books, and if there were damage done, the Librarian would strap him raw.

I really do not know why I always get the worst jobs, he moaned to himself in the inky blackness. Only the light from his hooded lantern piercing the gloom. He whistled to himself trying to bring some cheer into the gloom but soon stopped. It was pointless to whistle since the surrounding darkness swallowed the entire sound whole, or even worse, it would reflect it back as a deformed and misshapen character of the original.

Ranperen had to bend down almost in half in order to get into the small dark back of the room. He pulled out the gloves he kept in his voluminous robes for this type of research. Although he grumbled to the others, he knew this was the type of work he was born to do. The smell of the old books and the fragile pages always gave him a thrill, even the gloomy darkness was part of the excitement of reading and learning.

Taking a collection of the dusty tomes down from the shelves, he carried them to a reading table and began to pour over them.

It did not seem any time at all before he felt a hand on his shoulder. Ranperen let out a shriek and threw his hands in the air. He knocked the book he was reading on to the floor. His ink well rolled off the table and fell over on the floor, the stain spread out on the floor.

What are you doing down here still? Tantia said. She stooped to help mop up the ink before it could get onto the book, while Ranperen took the book off the floor.

What are you talking about? I am researching, he sputtered angrily embarrassed she had made him jump.

I thought we were going to compare notes in the kitchen an hour ago, she said her voice hissing with anger. I thought you had enough sense to find your way out of here without me coming to get you,

I will be there... what do you mean an hour ago? he asked confused. How long have I been down here?

You were supposed to meet with me an hour ago, and the Librarian is waiting for our report. I summarised my findings. He is waiting your summary,

Ranperen blanched he had lost track of time and although he had found a number of interesting topics and trails among the pre-empire books, he had no summary to present. Snatching up his copybook, he ran back down the isles with Tantia trailing behind him laughing.

You’re hopeless Ranperen, she taunted him from the darkness.

Chapter 2

The Kiss

While Tantia and Ranperen were down in the shelves, Nimaya waited before sneaking down the circular hallway after the Librarian. The curve of the hallway hiding her from view. She paused as he stood outside of his door and she saw the Mage meet him. They entered the Librarian office together.

Nimaya slipped down the hallway and stopped outside of the doorway. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she stooped and looked through the keyhole of the office. Sunlight from a far window lit the room with a dim glow and she had a good view of the room. She had been in the office of the Librarian a number of times, the windows were small and high up on the wall keeping out the cold and the rain but it didn’t allow for much light.

The librarian often lit candles even in the daylight. She stood up and pressed her ear against the door hoping to hear something. The scrap of a chair came faintly through the door and she heard the Mage speaking.

What are you going to do about the Zestor’s demands? the Mage’s