Dell
Dell flinched and cursed himself for it. His cousin, Rose, smirked and stalked away, throwing her braid over a shoulder, though not before delivering the two bruising punches that would ache in his shoulder for hours. She had a cruel streak and always had, but in two days he would leave her behind in favor of his placement with the newest class of Retrievers.
She’d laughed at him upon learning of his application, and louder when he was accepted. He remembered her mocking words, “You’re a glutton for failure, Dilly. They accept all sorts of charity cases, ready to fail when the numbers need to look impressive.”
She was lying. He reminded himself of this whenever his confidence
faltered. Anyroad, no one knew him in that crowd, and he could make of himself
whatever he wanted. His frame was lean, even at nineteen, but he knew the good
food and training would help fill him out. He’d never be tall, but Retrievers
didn’t need to look imposing to do their duties.
His uncle had been quick to point out that Retrieving was nearly as dangerous
as the guard, but more demanding, and all he had to look forward to was life
in the saddle, pay he could never spend, and death, if a disfiguring wound
didn’t take him first.
Dell looked across the goat pen to the leaning shack in which he’d spent
most of his life and considered it a fair trade. The guard didn’t allow the
freedom that Retrieving did, and he’d have to work his way through the ranks –
Retrieving offered him more than that, and if he did fail, he could always
enlist after. Anything to keep him away from this place.
When his Talent had manifested, his aunt had kept him home to teach, but
her wasting sickness didn’t allow for much teaching. He’d tried to get a letter
of retrieval from a villager, but his cousin had made sure to spread
every imaginable rumor about him – no one wanted their home represented by
someone like him after that, apparently. He didn’t even know half of what she’d said about
him, but the nasty looks from elders and children alike made him certain he
didn’t want to know.
Still, he was confident in his ability to learn what he needed, and the
Order was the perfect place to find a tutor if he had to – as a trainee, he
wouldn’t even have to pay. Which was good, since he had not a ha’penny to his
name.
His uncle bellowed something indiscernible. Dell kicked a stone and made
his slow way toward the house. He listened numbly to the berating, lost in his
own thoughts, and got to work mucking out the old donkey’s pen after a cuff to
the ear told him his uncle had finished yelling.
He stayed busy and, when the chores were done, he stepped outside and
smiled to see how dark it was. One day was ended and he had only to survive the
next before he could join the wagons heading for Thairnsdale, leaving this
place behind forever.
“What are you smiling at, Dilly?”
Dell’s face fell as his cousin came out of the shadows. She picked at her
knuckles, bloody and torn, probably from the teeth of some poor creature from
the village. Rose was built like her father: broad and tall. She’d gained both
early, and used them to terrorize whomever she could. A year younger than Dell,
he’d known only a few short years without her. A part of him wondered vaguely
if his stunted height was from her constant torments.
“Excited to run away?” she asked.
He clenched his fists and then immediately released them. The last thing
he wanted was for her to have an excuse to attack him. Not that she needed one,
but he didn’t want to start his training with a black eye or broken nose.
“Just enjoying the evening.”
“You smell like shit. Too bad their applications don’t request a used
shirt, so they’d know what they were getting into.” She shook her head and
clicked her tongue. “Your poor roommate.”
Dell scowled and turned away.
She laughed. “You’d think someone who could read minds wouldn’t be such a
coward.”
“You’d think someone with your face would know not to insult others.”
Dell closed his eyes. He’d known it was coming – he could feel the anger
building these last few weeks, knew it was only a matter of time before he couldn’t
hold it back, and she would take advantage.
Rose came up behind him and pushed his shoulder in an almost-neighborly fashion. He turned to face her. She
was comely enough, but he knew she didn’t like comments on her appearance, good
or bad. There was no reason to run – she was faster than he was. He’d taken
plenty of beatings tired and had decided years ago that it wasn’t worth the
wasted energy.
She leaned close. “The problem with getting kicked off a horse, or run
over by a wagon, or tripping down a cliff is the time it takes for bones to
mend. I imagine you can go on your trip next year. If everything heals
correctly.”
“I am a Retriever Trainee,” Dell said flatly. “Damaging me is damaging
Order property, and you’ll be held accountable.”
She put her hands on her hips and scoffed. “How would they know, Dilly?”
“You think they won’t follow up on me? They accepted my application –
they want me in their program. They’ll come see me, and I’ll tell them.”
“Not with a broken jaw,” she pointed out.
“You’ll have to kill me,” Dell said. He’d never been so sure of anything
in his life, and Rose seemed to sense it in his words, because she backed away
a pace.
“I’ll report you.”
“For what?” he asked incredulously.
“For anything. My word over yours.”
He shook his head. “That isn’t how it works anymore, Rose. The Order
isn’t the village – the Order is twenty times the size of the village and they
check for truth before just taking someone's word on a rumor. If they accept the accusation, we’ll face
testimony in court, and they’ll have a Mentalist verify the truth. You can’t do
anything to me anymore.” He felt a light sensation when he said the words. He
hadn’t believed them until now, but he was free of her.
“You know, I really can’t resist a challenge,” she said, reaching for
him.
Dell dodged but she got a grip on him and knocked his wind out with her
knee. She wrenched his head back and several hairs parted from his scalp. She
grabbed his throat with her free hand and examined him like a particularly
fascinating insect.
“Arm or leg?” she mused.
He opened his mouth, but she hammered the base of her palm into his jaw, and his teeth clacked together painfully. She wrenched his head around to trap
his neck within her arm, and delivered three vicious elbows into his shoulder
muscles. He yelled and fought, but she only laughed and kicked his leg out from
under him.
Rose knelt on his back and took his wrist in hand. He kicked and twisted,
but she held him in place with what seemed like little effort.
“See, Dilly,” she said, “I don’t think you will report me. Because you’re
just too soft. You want to be free of this place and, if anyone comes for me, I
will make sure the trial you’re so sure of is drawn out for as long as
possible. I’ll make sure it lasts. For a very. Long. Time.”
His finger snapped at the knuckle, and he screamed in rage. She took hold
of the next finger but stopped. Dell was barely breathing now, concentrating to
see what she saw – it had taken him only a moment to unleash his magic and
enter her mind, but she knew he was there now.
Only a little pressure from him and Rose released his hand to bang
excruciatingly into the dirt. He dug deeper. Rose stood and Dell rolled away
and to his feet in a panting rush. She was pressing at her eye, which he’d
blinded – temporarily for now.
“Rose,” Dell said. She looked at him. “Don’t ever touch me again. Don’t
ever think of me again. When I leave here, I want you to forget I ever
existed.”
“You wait, Dilly,” she spat. “I’ll have my moment, and yo—”
Dell flexed his magic and Rose vomited up her last meal. When she
stopped retching, he returned her vision, but built the pressure the best way he knew.
She whimpered as her nerves came aflame, or they seemed to. Dell’s aunt hadn’t
managed to teach him much, but she did know how to hurt people.
“I could leave you like this,” he told Rose. “I could make you blind,
make you vomit every bite you eat, build pressure in your chest until breathing
was an agony.” He let his magic fade completely. “But I don’t, because I’m
better than you. I’m better.”
She stared rage and promise at him, but didn’t answer.
“I’m better, Rose. Don’t ever forget that.”
He started to walk for the village – his meager belongings weren’t worth staying for, and he could meet the wagons on the road. It was a nice night, after all.
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