You were born and raised in the village. Your mother was the most beautiful of the village folk, and died bringing you into the world. Your father, from all that you have heard, was a traveller and a confidence trickster, and was long gone by the time you arrived. Lacking siblings or parents you were given to one of your mother's more distant kinsmen, Duncan, who did not raise you as his own for he had already four children, but dutifully raised you as a ward of the village. Your kinsman was neither kind nor cruel and you grew up with a deep sense of detachment from family and few real friends amongst the other village children. Your childhood, save for a few precious moments, passed with little distinction.
At last came your ninth birthday, and Duncan's children gathered together with you for a somewhat sombre farewell party; a bit of bread and honey, some still-warm mutton stolen from a hearth and a single well-hidden sweetmeat from the roving trader who visited every few months. You ate well, or as well as you ever did, and said your farewells to your kin. No tears were shed, but you held them tightly that night, for you knew you would not see them on the morrow.
Nor do you. Duncan awakens you before dawn and the pair of you set out along the long, dusty path towards the township. It is high noon when you reach the town's marketplace, an ordinarily quiet affair with several stalls that you have visited before on Duncan's business. Today the streets are thronged, and many brightly coloured tents are set up, for today is the day of the Hiring Fair. Traders and commoners of all kinds are gathered together, some looking for work, some seeking workers, others to sell refreshment and entertainment to the seekers, yet others simply to enjoy the carnival air. Most importantly for you, the Hiring Fair is where one might choose apprentices. Masters and craftsmen select young boys and girls, typically of nine years of age, in order to train them in their craft in exchange for essentially indentured servitude. Apprenticeship typically lasts seven years, leaving the surviving journeymen and women at a ripe age to set out into the world.
Duncan gives you a brief, almost perfunctory hug and leaves you with a group of other children waiting to be picked. He does not turn back as he leaves, and the message is clear; he has brought you this far, if you do not get picked then that is your own fate and nothing to do with him.
Long hours pass, and the various craftsmen and women pick through the would-be apprentices like caravanners buying a suspect horse. One or two of them actually check your teeth. The gang of children diminishes, leaving only a handful of unwanted children like yourself, as as the sun continues to move across the sky the fair slowly begins to wind down.
When only four of you are left; yourself; a fat black-haired boy; an overly tall, thin blonde boy and a particularly slender girl; a pinched-faced, bespectacled older man in a grey coat approaches. Three boys of varying age, likely between eleven and fifteen, follow him in similar grey clothes. The two younger boys carry a shoulder bag and a scribe's travelling bag, whilst the elder walks tall and proud behind his master. The older man squints at the four of you, until his gaze reaches yourself.
What does he see?
"You," says the old man. "Skills?"
"Uh, yes sir," you say. "I'm a -"
What was Duncan's profession?
"No, not you!" the old man snaps. "You, the fat one."
"Baker, sir!" says the black-haired fat child behind you.
The scholar purses his lips and hrmms disapprovingly. He continues squinting at your ragged little gang...
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Topic: Apprentice [TSG] (Read 10695 times)