Memoirs: Servitude

[shosen]

I did eventually notice that my impulse decisions never seems to land me anywhere good, not that it stopped me from making them. Of course, that knowledge came fairly late. I am quite good at not noticing a wide variety of things that I really should have caught on to sooner.

I’d ignored Johaan’s summons while waiting to hear from Avenhar. In all the time I’d been working for him, he had few enough reasons to deliberately call me back, and before this I had always responded promptly. When I learned just how long it would take for Avenhar to prepare, when we knew it was a little more, complicated, than she’d originally thought, I knew that I would have to come out of my self-imposed exile and return home.

When I finally returned to the cottage, I nodded to Johaan and greeted Carolai as though there were nothing out of the ordinary about my arrival. I began to get the chilled feeling when their reactions were completely opposite of normal. This time it was Carolai who ignored my hello, and Johaan who turned.

“Finally back, are you?”

“I’m sorry. I was delayed.” It was true enough, I suppose, though with no progress made to contacting Sakti, I really had very little to excuse myself with. “If I’d known this was that important I would have tried harder.”

He scoffed, “I don’t know how important it is,” he motioned towards a letter on the windowsill, “but I think you’ll be regretting your tardiness.” Apparently finished, he turned back to a half-open package on the worktable, muttering something about pumpkins.

“Give up on the pumpkins, old man,” I muttered as I walked over and picked up the letter, “they never wor--” The last word choked off as I turned the envelope over and saw the seal on the back.

The Royal Apothecary Society. I had seen it on any number of letters and packages, of course, carrying messages and samples between Johaan and the others. This was the first time I had even seen it on anything address to myself, however, and I wasn’t at all comfortable with it.

Assistant Asharan,

Your presence is required in the Apothecarium immediately upon receipt of this notice.

Do not delay.

 

Master Apothecary Farnell

“What’s this about?” I asked, but Johaan was already working with the pumpkins ,and Carolai was quite deliberately focusing on the task of sorting the small piles of herbs in front of her. I waited, but neither of them turned to me, and I knew that whatever else resulted from this meeting, the cottage was no longer home to me.

I put the letter in my pocket and left without looking back. Slootom walked beside me, and I scratched his back, lost in thought. The letter said not to delay, but I still walked rather than summoning Vinegarra. I could think of absolutely no pleasant outcomes to this sort of summons, and I was not eager to rush to my fate.

The Apothecarium was my least favourite place in the Undercity. Not only on its own merits, but also for the guilt I felt whenever I thought of my first, hateful, visit to Keever’s lab. Fortunately, I’d been able to avoid that room on all my other trips, and with Farnell in the main room, I was able to avoid it again as I met with him.

“I believe I told you not to delay,” he said when I presented myself.

“I’m sorry, sir. I only received the letter a few moments ago.”

“You are Johaan’s assistant, are you not?” he said with a sneer. “You have been presenting yourself as such for some time.”

“I am, but I have spent the last few weeks on Kalimdor and the letter was sent here to Brill.”

He glared at me. “And what did you think of it?”

“Sir?”

“Of the other continent. Of offering your services to the rest of the Horde when your own people require your assistance.”

“I-- I had samples to collect, for Apothecary Zinge,” I stammered out, relieved that I’d thought to gather them before making my way home.

He watched me for a moment. “So, your business there was in service to the Apothecaries, and our Queen?”

“Yes, sir.” It was best not to mention the tasks for the rest of the Horde I’d done on the side, nor helping Avenhar with her own.

“I’m glad to hear it.” He turned and walked towards a work table. “You see, we have to be very careful these days. Loyalty is hardly assured, not even among those rescued from the mindlessness of the Scourge. Measures must be taken, I’m sure you understand, to ensure that these undesirable elements do not interfere with the plans of our Queen.” He looked over his shoulder at me, but I knew enough, at least, to realise that such comments are better left unanswered. “In response to that, we must be certain of everyone working in our name.” He picked up a small parcel of cloth on the table. “We cannot have people wandering in and out, removing books and records, without being assured of their place in our ranks.”

“I don’t think I understand.”

“It’s one thing to send the eager out to gather supplies, to ensure that our samples reach the correct hands. It’s quite another to have a permanent assistant with no true affiliation to the Society, wouldn’t you agree?”

I just nodded, knowing that the only reason I had accepted the position in the first place was because I had no true affiliation to the Society. I simply ran errands for one man, and though the distance was artificial, it had been enough for me.

“I’m glad. Then you can understand why we can no longer have you working in such a loose fashion with Johaan. Starting today, you will be working for the Society itself, as a devoted member in your own right.”

“Sir, I-- I’m not an alchemist--”

“That doesn’t seem to have impaired your abilities in the past.”

“Yes, but that was just--”

“Do you have a problem with this promotion, Asharan?” He turned to look at me, clinically, as though merely assessing my reaction. There was very little I could say in response to that.

“Of course not, sir.”

“I thought not.” His voice was smug, and more than a little satisfied as he held out the package of cloth. “When you have changed, be sure to give Apothecary Zinge your samples, and then see Cuely for your first official assignment. Just a simple run to Tarren Mill, I’m certain you can handle it.”

“I have no doubt,” I muttered as I took the soft fabric from him. I had just turned away when his voice stopped me again.

“And Asharan, don’t forget,” there was something else in his tone now, more like a goblin trying to bargain with you, “members have greater access. You will be required to research on our behalf, perhaps even gain access to records of previous experiments in order to assist in new ones. There are rewards for loyalty, after all.”

It occurred to me later that if he had started with that, with the promises rather than the thinly veiled threats, he might have had my co-operation willingly. As it was, nothing he offered later could have earned it, and that offer left only a single thought in my mind.

You son of a bitch, you know, don’t you?