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all.
His Uncle Stefan had never told him who his mother was, or where she had come
from. However, Lukasz knew that she had not come from either Angrim or
Beltria, for where else could he have gotten his dark hair and skin? He was
the only one in all the ruling families of both Angrim and Beltria that had
hair and skin like his. There were a few dark-haired people in the kingdoms,
but they were all foreigners or
Blood Harvest [Dark Brothers of the Light Book VII]
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59
descended of foreigners. Blond, red, and light browns dominated the hair
colors of Angrimers and Beltrians.
He also wondered about his father who had died young in the Great War before
his birth. All he knew for certain about his parents was that his mother had
given him to Stefan shortly after his birth and returned to her own people.
Uncle
Stefan was the only father the boy had known. From time to time, a woman
attempting to catch his uncle's eye as a bride had briefly mothered Lukasz,
only to drop him hard once it became clear that Stefan had no interest in her
as a wife.
Lukasz heaved a heavy sigh, feeling totally alone and totally lost without his
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uncle. He had wanted to be hugged and reassured when he went to Hartmut. Now
that it was clear that those hopes were false, he could at least take
Hartmut's advice and try to occupy himself.
He took the servants stairs down, which led through the kitchens, and as he
reached the bottom, the smell of baking tarts assailed his nose. Ermengard the
cook looked up and smiled at him.
"I've some raspberry tarts cooling. Bring a smile to your face," the large
woman said.
Lukasz nodded, forcing a smile to satisfy her. Despite the fact that Hartmut
kept lecturing him about fraternizing with the servants, Lukasz often spent
hours sitting at the table with her chatting. "Yes, thank you."
She wrapped two tarts up in a cloth napkin and gave them to him. "Be sure to
bring the napkin back. I don't want
Hartmut complaining about vanishing napkins."
"I will."
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60
Lukasz proceeded out to the garden with his prizes. The first section was
mostly roses. It seemed like everyone liked roses. They were in all the
gardens that he had seen. And then there were the white gardenias. It made
everything smell wonderful, although it was all starting to wilt a bit with
the bite of autumn in the air. Only the snow jasmine would last until full
winter: it was a stubborn bloom, which was why
Lukasz liked snow jasmine best.
A curve of carefully manicured hedgerows circled about him with a single path
into the next section of the gardens where all the bowers and alcoves were
with their pleasant hiding places amongst the junipers, oaks, maples, and
willows. He liked the willows best, the way they seemed to weep across the
small stream that passed through the palace grounds. Lukasz liked to hide
among the willows when he wanted to be completely alone. Not even Gunther had
found all of his hiding places.
He walked all the way to the far reaches of the gardens, where the plants and
trees grew thick and wild. It had been allowed to grow that way because many
ladies of the court found the undisciplined vegetation romantic. Only when it
threatened to overwhelm the pathways did the gardeners cut it back.
Lukasz pressed himself between the thickest portion of willows, a place so
narrow that Gunther and his friends could not get through, and settled himself
on the ground there.
"You must come back, Uncle Stefan. You must come back," he muttered over and
over again, fighting an urge to cry. "I'm all alone without you."
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61
Lukasz soon grew restless with worry and started walking again. He decided to
try reading a book, maybe he could lose himself in reading that special,
favorite book his uncle had given him for his birthday as an incentive to
learn Engla, which was called the common tongue or trade tongue in the
outlands.
* * * *
As soon as Lukasz had gone out of earshot, Brainerd turned to Gunther with an
approving nod. "You did well.
Remind the mongrel bastard that he'll never be a real man."
Brainerd turned and surveyed the assembled boys. "The purpose of all these
years of training that you have endured under me is not simply to defend
yourselves and acquit yourselves with honor on the field of battle. It is to
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be able to kill your enemies. The true and only rite of passage into manhood
is when your enemy dies on your blades."
Gunther carried two blades at his hips, a large plain knife on his right and
an elegant dagger that had been in his family for generations on his left. The
heirloom dagger was of the highest quality steel with golden dragon quillons,
a golden hilt molded like intertwined dragons, and a silver pommel. His
grandfather had given it to him and he was proud of it. The dagger had
dispatched many hell-kissers pagans since its forging.
At the first disparaging remark concerning Lukasz, Jedrik and Dobrogost, the
two guardsmyn who worked as Brainerd's assistants, moved close to watch for
anyone who might come near enough to over hear them. When Brainerd gave one of
Blood Harvest [Dark Brothers of the Light Book VII]
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62
his special lectures, their job was to make certain that they were not over
heard by anyone who would carry it back to
Hartmut. They helped with Brainerd's indoctrinations, teaching the boys to
hate pagans and the lesser races who would destroy the purity of Angrim and
Beltria if given an opportunity.
The boys gathered and listened attentively to Brainerd's special lecture,
which he never gave in the presence of either
Lukasz or Stefan. It drew them tighter into one of the many close-knit groups
such as Brainerd had been molding throughout his years as armsmaster. All of
them had seen the changes in their older brothers as they were initiated into
the mysteries of knowledge that Brainerd taught them in secret.
Gunther watched Brainerd closely, wondering what these mysteries might be. His
brother had told him that it always happened when the boys were close to
turning fourteen. He was only a week away from the crucial day. His friends
were all within weeks of it as well, except for Adolf and Gerik who were
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