Cradle of the Filthy

[Rogue]

“Arry!”

The Temple wasn’t all bastards, and Arianthe didn’t hate everyone. She turned around with glee as Tessa Ree came bounding down the narrow hallway in her flour-splattered pink frock, hurling a full leg of lamb. Tessa Ree was a plumb and homely Temple cook with brown eyes and browner hair, and Arianthe loved the woman almost as much as she loved the woman’s meat pies. They had a most excellent transactional relationship.

“Tessa!” Arianthe cried, and jumped into the other woman’s single outstretched arm for a quick hug. Tessa smelled like the kitchens, fresh flour and coriander and raw lamb. “I engraved your incense and they’re in my room. I can bring them to you before tomorrow, but what do I get out of it?”

“A day early?” Tessa eyed Arainthe speculatively. Then she started walking again, lagging the leg of lamb along and beckoning the younger woman to follow. “You’re getting better, aren’t you?”

Arainthe puffed up a little and preened with pleasure. She did little pieces of magic for Tessa and the kitchen staff in exchange for coins, information, or small favors. Their transactions were always mutually profitable.

“All right.” A conspiratorial glint grew in Tessa’s eyes. “I’ll throw in an extra coin and a piece of news for you, love. Word from the staff is that Mistress Moore is coming tomorrow. Looking for an apprentice, apparently. Here’s your chance. Put on a good show for her.”

Moore? The girl’s brows furrowed as she followed the older woman through the pathways towards the kitchens. Moore. The name was familiar, like an old forgotten taste, flitting just out of reach in Arainthe’s mind. “You got more information than that?”

“She’s practical. Likes her apprentices practical.” Tessa shrugged and stopped. They were in front of the kitchens now. “She’s real high-up too. Supposedly all her apprentices turn out… powerful. You’re not going to get a better chance than this, Arry.”

Huh, Arainthe thought, as the older woman opened the large oaken doors in front of them with only one arm. That was true. She was not going to get a better chance to get herself apprenticed. It’s been two years since she entered the Temple, where only the basics were taught. You were supposed to get yourself apprenticed to get any further, to learn the real stuff. Masters and Mistresses of the craft visited the Temple for apprentices, and most of her cohort year had found masters within the past year. Those who did not get apprenticed within two years were typically regarded as wash-outs, and posted to odd jobs around the Temple.

Most of the acolytes here had some background in sorcery, whereas Arainthe had started out from the streets and knew nothing. Arainthe was the least and last of her group, and time was slowly slipping by.

“Alright. I’ll save you an extra piece of lamb if you get me my incense within the next hour.”