Chapter 1 - Foreshadowing
#1 of Interesting Times
Right, so this is my first story on here. And usually when I read that on someone else's story that's cause enough for me to run away. But bear with me brave reader.
This story series is about Airuk (Eye-Ruke) and his life during what will be described as, "Interesting Times". He lives in the merchant city of Thaiden in the small feudal kingdom of Tairune. The world in which he lives is heavily segregated by species, not through racism but simply by the fact that birds of a feather flock together. The time period is roughly equivalent to the early 17th century, but any deviations are for reasons of the plot. It's my world afterall, not earth. The story starts when he's 13, but I hope to eventually go into at least his early thirties if not later. No yiff in the first couple of chapters, but I always thought it was better if you built up an attachment to characters before anything happened.
Anyway, here ya go
"Airuk! If you don't wake up you're not going to get to eat!" Airuk, being a rather clever boy for 13, knew that if he wanted to eat before going to school he would have to do as his mother said. Of course, he was at the moment much sleepier then he was hungry. Mice were known for being perpetually hungry, but Airuk was also known for being perpetually sleepy. More often then not sleepy seemed to win out over hungry in his case.
"Yes Ma'am" he mumbled softly before turning over and trying to go back to sleep. He enjoyed a considerable degree of success at that, until his mother came into his room and starting throwing clothes on top of him. Unfortunately for her, all that did was block out the light and Airuk simply dug deeper into the bed.
"Airuk, wake up this instant. If you want to sleep all day we can take you out of school and you can be a night watchman! How does that sound? Or a rat catcher. Does six pence a day sound nice? All the girls love a boy who makes four sovereigns a year!"
As she carried on her voice gradually got louder and louder until she was almost shouting at him. She wasn't actually mad, her fur hadn't risen and her ears stayed in their usual places, but it had the necessary effect on Airuk who grudgingly rolled out of bed. He quickly on a pair of tights and then threw his knee length tunic over them. Though he was trying to hurry Airuk still retaliated with a few comments of his own, "Ya know mom. I think I could make at least six sovereigns a year as a rat catcher. I'm pretty fast afterall. Ooh! I could hire some of the peasant boys to help me. Give them a trap to use and they give me half their catch. Why, I could soon have the most respectable rat catching firm in all of Tairune. You've convinced me, I'm dropping out of school this very instant, for I have a new goal in life."
His mother replied by giving him a sour look before leaving the room. "If you want some food buy it from a vendor on your way. I told Annah not to bother since I thought you were dead". That was fair enough Airuk thought, his father gave him a regal every week, or more accurately, twenty-five pennies, but they were one and the same. Pennies were more useful then a regal anyway.
The disc of highly polished copper that served as a mirror allowed for Airuk to make sure that his hair was at least evenly distributed and hadn't been pressed into bald spots anywhere while he slept. His fur was a white with a splotch of gold around one eye that spoke of nobility somewhere in his family's history. Whoever it was had been a bastard child though so it didn't do much for him. Of course, now a day the nobility were as likely as not to be gold furred, and it depended on the species anyway. Regardless gold remained the color of nobility and royalty and Airuk was proud of his gold spots.
A few minutes later then his mother would have preferred he was heading down the stairs and into the shop his family ran beneath their home. Airuk's father was a mirror maker and both of his older brothers had taken up the family trade. Only Airuk had been allowed to go to school past the age of 9, none of his four elder brothers were resentful. On occasion Airuk was resentful of them. He only had a moment to say bye and wave as he dashed out the door and into the narrow street outside.
Thaiden was a natural city that had sprung up do to its location at the intersection of three rivers. Unlike the better planned royal cities of Tairune, its streets were a confusing mess of narrow passageways and back alleys. Despite being in a hurry, Airuk did his best not to bump into and jostle the people who crowded the street. The close quarters made people wary of pick pockets, and the wrong person might just grab the young mouse by the scruff of his neck and accuse him of being a pick pocket. By the time the whole ordeal got resolved he would be much later then he already was.
The merchant's quarter was famous for being a place where a person was safe but his purse was not. When Airuk finally reached one of the main thoroughfares, carved into the city after the fire of 722, then he began to run. The city's schools were located in the Imperial Quarter, named after the language of the learned. Airuk managed to reach the school just as the church bells began to toll. By the eighth toll he was seated at his desk and trying to look as if he hadn't just ran the better part of a mile.
Airuk spent the next three hours doing his best to follow the teacher's dictation in Old Imperial. Each student did his best to copy down everything they heard onto a wax tablet. Occasionally the teacher would check to see how accurate a random student's writing was. If it was satisfactory the teacher kept on walking, if not then he made use of the birch rod he carried around. Because of his rather dramatic entrance, Airuk was the first selected. An hour later Airuk decided that his hand had stopped stinging but that should he ever become king he would have every birch tree in the kingdom turned into kindling.
After the dictation exercises they moved onto copying down business matters in Tairune Imperial, the relation between the two languages being roughly 1500 years distant. Old Imperial was the language of church and state, Tairune Imperial was the language of money. Scribes had to be proficient in both and mid level schooling was designed to provide that proficiency.
Airuk however did not intend to be a scribe; in fact he found the very idea of being a scribe absolutely horrifying. He hoped to be a natural philosopher, and was grudgingly forced to admit that the skills of a scribe would probably be useful in that profession as well. About the time Airuk thought he was going to commit suicide with his stylus the teacher released them for midday break so that they could get food. As soon as they had left the classroom Airuk found his best friend Melik.
As they walked towards their usual lunch spot Airuk began to complain in ernest, "I'm going to die if I have to listen to him for four more hours. But don't lose heart Melik. When I die and descend into the black abyss, you can have my tablet. That way you can take twice as many notes as before."
Melik gave Airuk a blank stare for a few moments and Airuk looked up to meet it. Melik was about Airuk's age but several inches taller, of course everyone tended to be at least several inches taller then Airuk. "You'll probably need your tablet where you're going"
Airuk looked aghast at the thought. "Melik, you've done what a dozen fathers and five years of church school failed at. I'm off to become a priest. Wish me luck." With that Airuk dashed off into a side alley. For about half a minute Melik waited for him to come back before shrugging his shoulders and going into the tavern. "Raul's Place" was something of a hole, but the food was good. That description held true for most of the Imperial Quarter, students usually weren't too concerned about appearances, even those of noble birth. Inside the tavern Melik saw Airuk already purchasing some food from the innkeeper.
"I thought you were going to become a priest. No self respecting church father would be found in a place like this."
Airuk only shrugged his shoulders. "I got hungry." Judging from the amount of food he was buying, and the pastry Raul gave him for free, Melik was not inclined to disagree with that statement. As tiny as Airuk was, he sure did eat a lot. Melik had no idea where any of it went and was somewhat jealous. It wasn't that he was all that pudgy, it was just that Airuk had no pudge on him at all.
As they sat down to eat Melik expanded on his earlier assessment of Airuk's ability to take up the cloth. "You'd make a horrible priest anyway. I mean you can't even stay awake during the rite as it is. I bet you would sleep through the early ceremonies and then be too hungry to do the midday ones. Plus, churches have too much shiny stuff. There's no way you could stay focused during the whole rite. Airuk, are you even listening?"
Airuk shook his head as if a daze and turned to face Melik. He had been staring at the people walking into the tavern. "I'm sorry what? That man who walked in had the most fascinatingly polished buckle I've ever seen. Marvelous really, the way the light glin-" Airuk replied before he was interrupted by Melik kicking him in the shins under the table.
The two boys ate the rest of their food quickly talking sparingly, when they were finished they waved goodbye to Raul and exiting out the front door. The street was crowded but not as bad as it had been earlier. Most people had already returned to work but a good number were still out on the streets. As they made their way deeper into the Imperial Quarter Airuk saw something out of the ordinary. Walking straight down the middle of the street were four royal guards. Their polished cuirasses and white robes underneath set them apart from the usual city guard
.
Walking in the center of the four was a tall man wearing a purple cowled robed. He towered almost two feet over the guards who were themselves taller than most of the mice around them. The hood on the robe obscured his face, but Airuk's natural curiosity got the better of him so he rushed ahead; seeking to gain a better look. Melik followed, with some reluctance. He might not have admitted it but he was as curious as Airuk, if not quite so eager.
When they had finally worked their way in front of the man the surprise on Airuk's face was evident. The man was literally just that, a human. Although Airuk had no experience judging the age of humans, he looked ancient. He tried in vain not to stare, but was rooted to the spot regardless. Throughout Thaiden there were many statues of humans from the old days of the Empire, but that was a great deal different then seeing one in the flesh. For one thing, Airuk had always thought that the statues exaggerated their height. While that was certainly true in some cases, apparently most were life-sized.
As the man approached Melik tried to pull Airuk out of the way but Airuk was rooted to the spot. When the guards reached them, one of them made to use the pole of his halberd to push the boy aside. Inadvertently the guard instead sent Airuk sprawling onto the cobblestones. The guard seemed ready to continue until the old man in the center halted. Slowly he turned to face Airuk who was picking himself up and trying to dust off his clothes.
"Boy, what is your name?" the man in purple said after a moments examination of Airuk. At first Airuk's only answer was to gulp and look down at his feet. After several silent seconds Airuk finally worked up the nerve to reply. The question had been posed in Old Imperial and so Airuk replied in kind.
"Airuk, sir.
The old man smiled before continuing, "Well Airuk. You would be best served to stay out of the way of men who carry halberds taller then you. But you don't look too much worse for the wear. Do you have any idea where your name came from boy?"
At first Airuk had thought he was going to be admonished for delaying the old man, so the second question caught him off guard and once more rendered him speechless. "It's... I mean... No sir, I think it's Imperial"
The old man gave Airuk another crooked smile. "Why yes, it is. The fifty-third Imperator of the Republic and First Emperor Airaneus the Great in fact. Of course, it's changed over the years a great deal. Words are wont to do that though. Well, I must be going. And I'm sure you and Melik have somewhere to be. Run along, and be careful not to run along into anyone"
With that the human nodded to his guards and they continued down the street. Airuk was still in shock over the whole ordeal. Finally Melik broke the silence. "I'm jealous."
Airuk was a bit surprised at that and snapped out of his reverie to face Melik. "All I did was talk to him. Plus the two of us will have a story to tell that none of the other boys can possibly match. We'll be the talk of the school. For two days at least."
Melik only shook his head somberly, "No not that. I finally found someone who can shut you up." Airuk shot Melik a baleful stare, his attempt at being serious quickly collapsed when Airuk stuck out his tongue, sniffed haughtily, and set off towards the school with his nose held high.
Back at the grammar school Airuk's prediction proved true. All of the other boys crowded around to hear Airuk tell his version of what had happened in the street. Occasionally Melik would interrupt to correct some of the more obvious falsehoods. Between the two of them the version of the story they conveyed actually resembled what happened.
After three more hours of instruction, and two attempted suicides done quietly enough so the teacher didn't notice, they were finished with their structured part of the school day. All students in their year were required to spend another two hours after that in the library reading from books approved for that week. While usually boisterous and talkative, Airuk granted the library a solemn respect. If there was a surefire way to get peace and quiet around him, exempting the odd human, a book was that way.
Airuk's grandfather had once told him that when he went to school the printing press was new and the books were chained to podiums. Not only that, but the library had no more then two hundred volumes. While Airuk didn't believe his grandfather about the chains, he was glad that the libraries selection had increased since the ancient days of his grandfather.
Rather then reading what he was supposed to, Airuk instead found a book detailing the early days of the Empire. He was already familiar with the basics of the Empire, or at least that it had existed, but hadn't even heard of his namesake. According to the book, Airaneus had been a general under something the book called the Republic. Following the Republic's collapse, the book didn't say what happened, something else happened and Airaneus was crowned emperor. In Airuk's opinion the whole story didn't make much sense at all. For one thing, the book didn't explain what any of those things were. After his ascension the book went into great detail about the comings and going of the Emperor, but it was as if his life before didn't even exist.
Once he was crowned, Airaneus set about expanding his new found empire. He fought a number of successful campaigns against the other human nations and quintupled the Empire by the time of his death 3000 years ago. The book also mentioned that Airaneus conquered and enslaved what the author loosely described as the uncivilized tribes. The Wolf Tribe, Rabbit Tribe, the Boar Tribe and a few others were those the author explicitly mentioned.
After reading that, Airuk was suddenly not quite as enthralled by the heritage of his name. He had known that the Empire had been dominated by humans but the discovery that Airaneus had been the one to enslave his kind was not a comforting thought. Still, the ambiguities in the book had annoyed Airuk so he went to ask the librarian about them.
The librarian was a learned rabbit scholar named Dorin who had something of a bad reputation amongst the younger students. Despite being the librarian he detested being distracted from his own reading. The only reason Dorin had taken on the job of the librarian was because he was always in the library and couldn't stand seeing a book out of place so he would fix any errors on site. That and it allowed him to get paid twice. No matter how prickly and closed off he tried to appear, and he did his best to as it kept the children away, that was no deterrent to Airuk.
"Em, excuse me sir. I had a couple questions and was wondering if you could help me." Airuk asked. At first he wasn't sure if Dorin had heard him, as Dorin kept reading. Just when Airuk had decided to speak up again Dorin set down his book and looked at Airuk through the top of his glasses.
"Can I help you?" he replied in a manner that suggested that helping Airuk was the very last thing he wanted to do. Most other students would have gotten the point; Airuk was very practiced at avoiding those kinds of points.
"I was reading about the Empire. The book said the first Emperor was a general in the Republic. But I've never even heard of the republic. Oh, and what's an Imperator? And not only that, but it said he enslaved what the book called the tribes and fought a clan of giants, but giants aren't even real!"
While it had taken Airuk about three seconds to ask all three of his questions, Dorin spent almost a minute in silence before answering, "The republic was a small nation that Airaneus turned into the beginnings of the empire. No one has ever found ruins from it so there can't have been much to this Republic. It was just another of the myriad Bronze Age nations that existed before the Empire. As for the enslavement, yes. But because of it we were in a position to take over the Empire after its fall. And giants boy? Come now, some scribes thing people will believe anything."
Airuk did feel a bit foolish about bringing up the giants, but persisted with his questions, "But what's an Imperator? A man I met today said he was the fiftieth or something"
This question was greeted with a look of scorn, "An imperator is nothing more then the chief general of his city who served for life. As for him being the fiftieth imperator, pure rubbish. That would have the Republic existing for millennia before the Empire. We have documents from the entire history of the Empire, with the exception of its collapse of course, don't you think they would have wrote about a thousand year old nation that came before it? Instead all we have is a couple scraps of parchment from just before the collapse that mention the Republic in a few terse lines. And dozens of early accounts that speak of the uncivilized times before the rise of Airaneus and the expansion of unified imperial rule. That so called book you were reading mentioned giants for the love of the rite, try not to believe it."
"But sir, it wasn't the book that told me he was the fiftieth imperator, but a human I met in the street."
At that Dorin looked like he was inches away from exploding, "A human? Pray tell boy, how many humans are live in this city? I'll tell you none. And if one were visiting, why would they talk to someone of your few years? Young boy, if you're going to lie to me I'll have you writing lines until your hand turns black and falls off. Now shoo!"
By the time Dorin was finished with his tirade the entire library was staring in their direction. Airuk would have been much more embarrassed if Dorin wasn't known for exploding at the drop of a hat. As it was, Airuk flashed a smile, said thank you and darted off out of sight before Dorin could make good on his threat.
Airuk supposed if he was to be fair to Dorin he had to recognize that Dorin was right. Humans didn't live anywhere near here. The only ones he had ever heard about lived off in the mountain ranges that formed a bowl to enclose the known world. There were almost none of them left from the days when they had ruled the entire world. When they did venture out it was strictly on matters business. Of course, as Airuk wasn't feeling entirely generous towards Dorin he was set on extracting some small form of revenge.
As damaging books was simply beyond him, Airuk decided the best way to retaliate was simply to rearrange as many books as he could without being noticed. When The Collected Works of Hraam was sitting comfortably in-between A Short History of Urith and Confessions of A Linseed Eater Airuk decided his work was done. Shortly afterwards they were released for the day, something Airuk was very grateful for. He didn't want to be anywhere near Dorin when his work was discovered.
Outside of the library Airuk met up with Melik who had stubbornly refused to deviate from what they were supposed to have read. Airuk was still fuming over his conversation with Dorin and started to rant as soon as they were safely out of earshot of the library.
"Why, I'll have you writing lines until you're thirty," Airuk said while trying his best to imitate Dorin, "Humans do not talk to little boys like you. Yeah, well humans don't talk to stuffy old people like you either. I don't think Dorin has ever seen a human. He probably doesn't know what one looks like!"
"That's what usually happens when people talk to Dorin. Actually, I think that's why people don't talk to Dorin."
Airuk only rolled his eyes at Melik before continuing, "I wish that old... old... I wish he could have seen me talking to the human. Then he'd believe me."
"Knowing Dorin? Probably not. And you didn't speak to the human, so much as he spoke to you and you stared at your feet."
"That's not the point and you know it. We wouldn't have even gotten to speak to him if I hadn't gone up to them" Airuk replied, he was starting to get slightly heated
.
"You mean we wouldn't have spoken to him if you hadn't suddenly been star struck right in front of them."
Airuk's only reply was to roll his eyes and speed up, putting distance between himself and Melik. Melik kept his same pace and waited, Airuk would usually get over whatever he was mad about within a minute or two and slow down to meet Melik. He was prone to getting mad quickly, but had trouble staying angry at Melik for more then a couple minutes. On a general basis something like this happened once a day.
About a minute after Melik had thought he would, Airuk finally made his way back over to Melik. After a few seconds silence Airuk began to speak, "I don't care what Dorin says. I want to know more about the Republic. I wonder if there's a way I could speak to that human again. I mean he'd probably know. The republic was human after all."
Melik thought for a moment before answering, "He was in the Imperial quarter. So I bet he was here for one of the universities. I don't know if he'd be willing to talk to us again though."
Airuk noted that although Melik said that all Airuk had done was stammered, he always used we or us whenever mentioning when Airuk spoke to the human. He decided not to start another argument though and didn't say anything about it when he continued, "Maybe I can find him tomorrow. We don't have school but some of the university students do. You going to help?"
Melik thought for a moment before replying, "Yes. I think my father will want to have me help with the shop. But I should be able to get away."
"Thanks" Airuk said, "I'll see you tomorrow then. I'm glad I've got two brothers to help my dad out, so as long as I can escape before my mom gets me. I'll meet you at Roul's at ten tomorrow alright?"
Melik nodded before the two boys said goodbye and went their separate ways at the entrance to the Merchant's Quarter.