Poisoned Well

Chapter 4: Boar Hunt

Thirty Years Ago

The kel heir snivelled into his gauntlet.  No wonder,  the royal hunters towered over and ignored him as much as they did Tahn,  stable boy supreme. Tahn stood by Tutang and touched his arm comfortingly,  a calculated act. Tutang straightened,  his sullenness gone in a blink. Tahn smiled.

"You find the boar,  they'll have to notice you," Tahn whispered. Tutang nodded. Closing his eyes,  Tahn sniffed. Life sparks all around,  dull,  all but immobile. About ten lackeys and their servants in differing stages of anxiety and boredom, as well as excitement. Five dogs wrestling or resting as they waited for their master to tell them what to do. A hundred yards to the west, an angry ball of energy hunkered under a bush it hadn't managed to destroy: the boar the locals called Fury of the Forest. It had attacked a herdsman's flock of elk and seriously injured a child, in addition to the crops it had trampled or rooted, the fences it had toppled, and the buildings it had demolished. The injured child had been sitting in an outhouse during the attack. The Kel may be a monster, but even he had to keep up appearances of caring about his people. Tahn pointed. "He's that way, thirty paces or so. And, by Anath, Tutang, straighten up. They treat you badly because they expect you to be acting like a baby. Take their abuse like a man, and they will have to respect you."

Tahn had learned that quickly enough at the brothel. He knew how to be ignored when he wanted, and how to be a man in a number of different ways.

Tutang straightened his back as he wiped his face with his sleeve. His countenance changed as he donned a mask of calm, though he moved stiffly as he proceeded towards the boar. "It was a bad night, Boris," he said as he straightened his green kel's vest. "You don't want  to know what Father did."

Tahn slapped him on the back. "Believe me when I say, I understand. Get on, kill that boar."

Kel Tutang the Ninth towered over them as he blocked their path, his silver cloak a fair imitation for the robes he had doffed for the hunt. Pressing his spear heavily into the turf, he smiled jovially when the boys stopped. "And where are the younglings going?"

Tahn bowed appropriately for the lowest of servants, fingers brushing the grass beneath. Remembering Tahn's coaching, Tutang restrained from lowering his head at all, though his shoulders tilted awkwardly. The kel heir's wari strained, and Tahn could feel the confused thoughts roaring in his mind. "I-I just wanted to see what was over there, Father," he finally managed.

Tahn rolled his eyes. Well, eventually Tutang would learn composure under stress. And when that time came, they could finally rid the world of that monster who made a mockery of the Robes by his very existence. Mother's fear flashed in Tahn's mind, and he scowled despite his training. Nobody was looking at him, anyway. He could feel everyone's attention on the kels. Twenty adoring gazes. One of the dogs yelped into the silence.

"Well," said Kel Tutang the Ninth. Grandfather. "What do you think is over there?"

Tutang ruined his position with a shrug that only emphasized the dirty sleeves of his linen shirt. 

Tutang the Ninth waved his arm in an exaggerated arc, his spear chopping some pale branches overhead. "Let's go see what the boy thinks is over there."

Tahn grabbed Tutang's forgotten spear from the grass and slapped it into his hand, then had to shove him to get him moving.

Dogs sniffed the air and ran ahead of the line of men, whose focus sharpened for the hunt. All maintained silence, but for the soft rustle of their feet on grass, vines, and dead leaves. 

"Move to the front," whispered Tahn.

"Huh?" said Tutang.

Tahn stifled a sigh. This vague boy, who would one day rule all of Galia, had for some stupid reason replaced Tahn's own mother as heir. "You can still be the first to see the stupid boar, Tutang," he said.