Annev glanced over at Lemwich, who met Annev’s gaze in silence. Edra watched the exchange and nodded.
‘I’ll assume this was an accident, one caused by negligence’ – he looked at Annev – ‘or incompetence.’ He glanced at Lemwich. ‘In either case, I think this accident disqualifies you both from winning the advantage for tomorrow’s test.’
Annev’s face fell, as did Lem’s. Edra nodded, satisfied with their reactions.
‘Lemwich, go join the boys who’ve lost a match.’ The larger acolyte stood, bowed, then ran to join Janson and the others. Annev moved to follow, but Edra stopped him. ‘Enough sparring for today, Annev. Go down to the nave and assist Master Duvarek.’
‘But … I’m already disqualified. Why send me away?’
Edra gritted his teeth. ‘Annev, this was serious. There have to be clear consequences, otherwise the next student might take it further.’ He paused, distracted by Kenton and another boy who hadn’t been matched together but were starting to scuffle.
‘Like that,’ Edra said, spitting. ‘Damn that scar. He’s always causing problems.’ He looked back at Annev. ‘Are we clear?’
‘You want me to see Master Duvarek,’ Annev repeated, grimacing. He had no desire to see the man so soon after their collision that morning, but it seemed he had no choice.
‘Don’t worry,’ Edra said, misinterpreting the cause of Annev’s trepidation. ‘Dove’s not so bad – once you get used to his smell.’ The master grinned, then patted Annev on the shoulder. ‘Anyway, don’t think of this as a punishment. Think of it as another chance to earn an advantage in tomorrow’s test.’
Annev raised his gaze from the ground. ‘Another advantage?’
Edra ignored the question, stepping towards the brawl that seemed about to break out. ‘No more questions!’ he barked. ‘Get going.’
Chapter Six
Annev reached the nave’s tall ironbound doors and pushed. Instead of squeaking, the heavy portals swung inward on silent hinges, and Annev immediately re-evaluated his memories of the once-neglected space. He stepped into the room and was even more surprised by what he saw.
The nave’s cavernous vaulted ceiling had once been strewn with cobwebs. Now scores of clean black curtains stretched from ceiling to floor, obscuring the light from the stained-glass windows and dividing the room into dozens of artificial corridors: in some places the panels were broad, heavy swathes of cloth stitched together to create long artificial walls; in other places the drapes were narrow, little more than a foot or two wide. The cloth panels started at the edge of the pews, so the wide area at the entrance remained open and unobscured, allowing Annev to pace the width of the old nave and spot the other changes Duvarek had made.
Annev knew from previous visits that the nave held forty-five wooden pews, with two aisles dividing the benches into sections fifteen pews deep. These benches were all now obscured by the long black curtains that fell to just above the pew-backs or, in the aisles, to the floor. As Annev paced the rear of the hall, he saw that the central and eastern banks of pews had been covered with wooden planks resting atop them, creating broad platforms that someone could walk across.
The artificially raised floor was imperfect, though; when Annev looked more closely he noticed several gaps among the planks, each wide enough to crawl through or fall into. In about half of these, the cloth panels reached through the gaps and touched the floor. When Annev knelt down and peered beneath the pews, he saw that the pews and panels formed a separate maze of corridors beneath the artificial floor.
‘Hello?’ Annev said, returning to the entrance. ‘Master Duvarek?’
The clack and scrape of wood answered him from the far west side of the nave. He headed towards the sound and saw that, while the curtains had been hung in this part of the nave, the pews had not yet been covered. Scores of planks still leaned against the wall.
‘What?’ Duvarek shouted from behind the curtains.
‘Master Edra sent me to help you.’
‘Fine,’ came the muffled reply. ‘Help me cover the rest of these benches.’
Still not seeing the Master of Shadows, Annev walked to the planks stacked against the wall and examined one. The wood was splintery, near rotten, covered in grime and slightly damp.
‘Don’t just stand there,’ Duvarek said, appearing beside him. ‘Grab a load and help.’
Annev hesitated, wondering if he’d been recognised, but Duvarek seemed focused on his task. He watched as the man lifted three of the dirty planks, shouldered aside the curtains, and edged between the pews.
Annev reluctantly took up several planks himself. As he shifted the wood, a black beetle skittered from beneath the stack and disappeared under the nearest curtain. Annev gritted his teeth, secured his grip, and followed after Duvarek.
‘Master Murlach’s claimed all the good wood for tomorrow’s test,’ Duvarek said, appearing beside Annev as he entered the maze. ‘I got the leftovers. Suits me fine. We’re not bolting or nailing anything. Just drop the wood on the pews and try not to leave any gaps. I’ll deal with those.’
‘Yes sir,’ Annev said, hoisting the grimy planks onto his shoulder and sidestepping between the benches, shifting aside the cloth panels that blocked his path. When he reached the front of the chapel, he positioned the planks so they stretched across the backs of three different pews and lined the boards up tight against Duvarek’s. He looked up just as the wiry Master of Shadows emerged from the curtains with another stack of wood. Duvarek glanced at the boards with approval.
‘Looks good. Keep going. Need this done before Edra brings your reap down.’
Annev nodded, relieved Duvarek still hadn’t recognised him.
‘And try not to hit me with those planks,’ Duvarek added, returning to the rear of the chapel. ‘You’ve already smashed into me once today, and I don’t fancy a second blow.’
Annev’s cheeks burned, but he did as he was told. The pair worked on, wordlessly weaving their way through the hanging cloth panels, picking up the half-rotten planks and covering the tops of the remaining pews. When they were about two-thirds done, Annev realised they would run out of wood before they could finish covering the rest of the benches. At about the same time, Duvarek stopped laying the boards and climbed onto the makeshift floor they had built. The master walked back and forth between the maze of cloth panels. Whenever he came to a plank that seesawed when he stepped on it, he popped the board with his foot and removed it from the floor entirely. Once he had an armload of planks, he added them to the remaining stack of wood.