After the grueling ride back from Campacorentin Forest and a stern lecture from Master Berwick, Rainewaker Cloudsong had tumbled into her bed for a restless night's sleep filled with dreams of huge spiders and ogres. She had woken to Master Berwick's ringing voice literally shouting her out of bed and onto her feet for her next lesson. After many hours of struggling to stay awake while Master Berwick taught her a new song, Raine wandered wearily away, hoping to find a forgotten corner in which to catch a quick catnap. Even when she found such a place in the far corner of the Academy, sleep eluded her. The wounds from her battles in Campacorentin still ached, and the cold, stone floor was was not warmed by the sliver of sunlight shining through an arrowslit.
Raine plucked idly on the strings of her lute, humming to herself and the small mouse that had paused to listen to her play. Though it was likely that Master Vismer would have a fit if he saw such a creature, it was equally unlikely that he would wander into this secluded, dusty corner of the Academy.
The song she was humming was a new tune that she had just learned from Master Berwick. Supposedly, when sung properly, this particular song had the ability to close wounds, mend bones, and even bring people back from the brink of death. Raine doubted that she had the ability to do any of those things, but as she practiced the song, she could feel some of the weariness and ache leaving her bones. The mouse that had paused its feeble foraging to listen to her song also seemed to look a little less scrawny, and its coat had taken on a healthy, shiny look.
"I'm sure Master Vismer would not appreciate you singing the local vermin into better health, Cloudsong!" With a guilty start, Raine scrambled to her feet. Master Berwick stood at the doorway of the abandoned storeroom, an eyebrow arched as he watched Raine's audience scurry away. "Master Vismer wants to see you."
Raine's eyes widened in surprise, and her mouth opened to ask why Master Vismer would want to see her, a lowly apprentice, but before she could get the question out, Master Berwick cut her off with a sharp bark, "Why are you standing there like a star-struck doe? Run, girl! When Master Vismer wants to see you, he means now!" Raine's feet seemed to sprout wings, and she dashed out of the room.
Taking the steps two and three at a time, Raine hurled herself down the stairs towards the Great Hall. Several times, she seemed to lose her footing, only to recover her balance at the very last second. She realized that she had been humming an old marching song, and the moment she stopped, her legs seemed to lose some of their energy, and she slowed herself to a hurried walk as she approached the door to the Great Hall. She could hear low voices coming from the Hall, some of them rising in urgency.
Slipping into the room quietly, Raine tried to make herself invisible. In the center of the Great Hall, Master Vismer was talking with two knights. By the emblems on their cloaks, she took them for Realm Guardians. Their armor was stained and dented, and Raine thought that some of the darker spots were probably blood. Master Vismer spotted her from the corner of his eye, and he motioned with his hand for her to approach while still listening to one of the knight’s urgent words. Raine halted a respectable distance away, just out of earshot of the conversation, which ended shortly. With a weary salute, the two knights turned and trudged out of the Great Hall without a glance at Raine. Master Vismer stared after them, eyebrows knitted in deep thought.
Raine shifted nervously on her feet. The silence stretched out for a long moment, and Raine wondered if the man had forgotten she was standing there. Just as she was about to clear her throat, Master Vismer turned to her. "Well. Has Master Berwick taken to training his students in armor as well as music?" Raine wrinkled her brow in puzzlement, then realized with a gasp of chagrin that she was still wearing the armor she had fallen asleep in late last night. After so many nights of sleeping in armor, sword at the ready, she had not even thought to take it off after arriving in Camelot. Master Berwick had given her no time to change in the morning before his lesson. Raine had presumed that it was in punishment for her over sleeping and missing morning meal.
Raine opened her mouth to blurt out a hasty explanation, but her words died on her lips as Master Vismer raised his hand. "Rainewaker Cloudsong. Master Berwick has told me all about your 'adventures' in Campacorentin Forest." He turned to take a seat by the fire roaring in the main hearth. Raine stepped forward, into the warm circle of light cast by the fire, attempting to brush the dirt and stains from her battered leathers. She steeled herself for what she knew was going to be an even sterner lecture than the one handed down by Master Berwick, and most likely punishment. Master Berwick had given her no opportunity to explain, and seemed to want none.
Master Vismer gazed at her over hands steepled at his chin, his face impassive. Raine swallowed in trepidation, sure that he was dreaming up some sort of fantastic punishment. When he finally spoke, Raine nearly jumped out of her skin, ducking her head guiltily to stare at her boots which, she noticed with mortification, were still covered in drying mud.
"Master Berwick has told me that you had a run in with Arachneida. Not only that, but that you had defeated her."
Raine's jaw dropped in surprise. Seemingly oblivious to her astonishment, Master Vismer continued on. "Arachneida has terrorized those woods for many years, and it was high time that something was done about that." He stood abruptly and tugged the collar of his robe down to expose a white scar over his heart, moving closer to Raine to show it clearer. "This is her mark. Arachneida's." He spat the name with disgust, "It was almost my undoing, many years ago." He adjusted his robe, and closed her gaping mouth with a gentle hand. Still holding on her chin, he turned her head softly to either side, seeming to look at her for the first time. "I can see that the poison is still working its way out of your veins." Releasing her chin, he looked down at her jerkin, eyebrows rising ever so slightly as he took in the shining, irregular studs that adorned it.
He smiled suddenly, his face becoming careworn and weary in that moment, "Ahhh. Arachneida's eyes for the studs on your vest, no?" Raine slowly nodded, still shocked into silence. "This has Kaelen's hand in it. He always said that her eyes were the key to her power. It would seem that he has not lost his touch." He turned to his seat and settled into it. Master Vismer seemed to age before her eyes, transforming into the stern Master of the Academy to man seemingly weighed down by years and responsibility.
"I...I am not to be punished?" Raine managed to regain control of her jaw long enough to blurt out this question. Master Vismer narrowed his eyes at her. Abruptly, he stood and turned his back on Raine to stare into the fire. Raine felt her stomach flop over in terror as his silence stretched out. Then she noticed his shoulders shaking, and she wondered if he was so upset with her that he was having trouble containing his anger. Raine shut her eyes and braced herself for the worst. Would he turn her into a toad? There were whispered rumors that the worst of the apprentices were turned into such and tossed into the moat. Perhaps life as a toad wouldn't be so bad. A strange sound issued from Master Vismer's throat. Raine's eyes popped open, her hair practically standing on end.
With a shout of laughter, he turned back to find her standing, every muscle poised for flight, eyes big as saucers. He laughed long and loud, and Raine wondered if her actions had so enraged the Master of the Academy that she had actually driven him mad. Slowly, his merriment subsided to a chuckle, and he shook his head as he looked her over once again. Raine did not recognize this man in front of her. In the 10 years she had studied at the Academy, she had never known Master Vismer to smile, let alone laugh as he did.
“You have stood in the very jaws of Arachneida, fought an evil that has stalked the land since time immemorial, and you fear punishment from an old man?” He chuckled again, and returned to his seat. “Nay, Rainewaker. I shall not punish you, though I should.”
Raine lowered her gaze, her cheeks burning with guilt. More than a fortnight ago, she had stolen away from the Academy in the dark of night, planning only on a single night carousing in town, returning safely and secretly before dawn’s light. In a rush of circumstance and event that was still a blur to her, she had landed in the midst of a grand adventure that had carried her halfway across Albion and into the jaws of a fearsome spider queen called Arachneida.
“Nay, I shall not punish you.” Master Vismer’s next words startled her out of her reverie, “Instead, it is time you turn your voice and blade in service to Albion.”
“M-Master?” Raine’s consternation and confusion finally forced her throat to release this questioning note.
Master Vismer’s face hardened, and his warm gaze grew stern, his lips thinning into a grim line. “It is time for you to serve the Realm, Rainewaker Cloudsong, though I fear that you will wish you had been able to choose the punishment of an old man long before you are through.”