Horas
Westeros 
is Horas.
Posts: 1,146
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Post by Horas on Jun 19, 2014 18:25:54 GMT -5
Chancellor Bell was in charge of deciding who was admitted to his Academy, but he been pressured to include among his enrollment lists some of King's Landing's very poorest citizens -- the orphan children that roamed the streets, begging or stealing to put food in their mouths. And in this Uther sensed opportunity, not so much to better their lives as to better himself. The most recent crop of these orphans, about a dozen in all, had been there a month when Uther gathered them in an out of the way lecture hall. The timing was deliberate. The children had grown to rely on the roof over their heads and the three square meals a day, but it had not been so long that they had grown soft and lost their street-smart edge. Uther waited for them to arrive, a tray of baked sweets on the desk before him.
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Post by Vhagar on Jun 19, 2014 18:42:41 GMT -5
The children came soon enough. Most were scrubbed clean and all looked healthier and better fed now but a couple were still filthy. And then Bell realised that there were only nine where there should have been twelve. Two boys and a girl were missing.
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Horas
Westeros
is Horas.
Posts: 1,146
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Post by Horas on Jun 19, 2014 18:53:55 GMT -5
Uther leaned back in his chair, surveying the orphans. He had a small silver flask in his left hand. "I count nine. Where are the other three?" Uther asked one of the less scruffy looking pupils.
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Post by Vhagar on Jun 19, 2014 19:06:30 GMT -5
"Don't know, m'lord. Probably gone out thievin'. Yon Violet, she were a proper little cutpurse back in the streets, and them two boys follers her around like she be the queen herself. Bet that's what it was."
"No, they gone to steal apples out some lord's garden, I bet," another child said.
Several others chipped in with talk of the marketplace, the harbour and Flea Bottom, and Bell realised the children were either covering for one another, or they really didn't know the answer. But one thing was certain, the three were missing.
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Horas
Westeros
is Horas.
Posts: 1,146
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Post by Horas on Jun 19, 2014 19:14:54 GMT -5
Uther raised a hand for silence. He would deal with the others later. "You know who I am." They would -- Bell spoke to each of his students briefly upon their entry. "The world out there gives not a shit for you children, but I have taken you in, fed you, put a roof over your heads. I see potential in each of you. But the time for free rides is over. Henceforth if you intend to enjoy the bounty of my table, you will work for it." He looked at the young faces to see that he was understood before continuing.
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Post by Vhagar on Jun 19, 2014 19:24:37 GMT -5
Most of the children did indeed seem to understand, though a couple looked puzzled. One boy, however, said "Piss on that" until one of the girls kicked him in the shins and he yelped. The girl, however, looked up at Bell and said "But what work do we have to do? My mother was a whore. I don't want to be no whore, not even to stay here."
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Horas
Westeros
is Horas.
Posts: 1,146
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Post by Horas on Jun 19, 2014 19:35:38 GMT -5
The Chancellor's eyes fell on the boy who had made the smart retort, as though curious how stupid a single person could possibly be. He rose without a response and walked casually to the room's door and hailed down a passing Scholar. "This child is expelled from my Academy," Uther stated calmly, indicating the offending boy with his finger. "Show him out, if you would, Scholar."
Bell walked back to his desk and looked at the remaining eight with an inquisitive glance, as if wondering whether any of the rest would be foolish enough to speak up.
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Post by Vhagar on Jun 19, 2014 19:55:38 GMT -5
None of the children dared speak as one of the Scholars escorted the offending boy down the corridor. A couple looked amused by the boy's vocal curses, some rather inventive, but they managed not to laugh, at least.
And then, moments later, two boys rushed in, both rather scruffy, and Bell recognised two of the latecomers. Both bowed to him. "Sorry we's late," the elder said. "'Ad to take Violet t'infirm'ry. Some little lordlin' beat her up good."
There was blood on the boy's tunic, and the other boy had a bruise around his eye.
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Horas
Westeros
is Horas.
Posts: 1,146
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Post by Horas on Jun 19, 2014 20:24:30 GMT -5
Uther reached into the desk and was pleased to find that the wine bottle was where he had left it. Drinking made dealing with children easier, he found. "I will see to Violet shortly," the Chancellor responded. "We were just discussing the work that will be required of you now." His eyes found the girl whose mother was a whore and he continued as if there had been no interruption. "There will be no whoring, my dear. This academy is devoted to the pursuit of knowledge, and just that is what I ask of you to earn your keep."
The Chancellor uncorked his wine. "Each week you will go out into the city, before or after your classes, and you will find five things to tell me that I do not know. Which gangs own which streets in the city. Which guards are lazy and which ones can never be bought. That the baker's daughter is pregnant, and the baker doesn't know." Bell shrugged elaborately. "You know these streets, my children, this should not be difficult. And each week you will find five children who used to be like you, poor boys and girls who are good listeners. The difference is that you are more clever than they are; that is why you are here. You will give them coin and they will tell you what they know, too." Uther set a small stack of copper coins on the desk.
"You get to keep the copper you do not use. But if you fail to meet your quotas for the week, you go without food. Fail to meet them two weeks in a row and you have failed to earn your keep. You will be expelled. And whoever tells me the most interesting new thing I learn this week gets one of these." Uther set a silver coin down on the desk next to the copper. It was literally pocket change to him, but a small fortune for someone raised on the street. "Do you understand, children?"
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Post by Vhagar on Jun 20, 2014 5:46:57 GMT -5
Unsurprisingly, the children nodded, several pairs of eyes wide at the sight of a silver coin. A few of the children had never even seen silver before. Bell knew that the children were greedy for coin, an urge born of their years of poverty, but they were wily too. It was likely that most, if not all of them, would succeed in the task he had set them.
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Horas
Westeros
is Horas.
Posts: 1,146
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Post by Horas on Jun 20, 2014 20:58:12 GMT -5
Uther withdrew ten little pouches with copper coins in them and set them down in a neat row on the edge of the desk, making sure each child took one. "Very good, children. And remember -- this is a secret between us. The other students do not need to know. Your teachers do not need to know. So listen and do not speak, because I am placing my trust in you. I know such clever young men and women will not disappoint me."
There would be more to sort out -- how to organize his meetings with each of them, and so forth, but Uther was confident he would figure it out going forward. "Help yourself to the sweets," the Chancellor gestured at tray of pastries, then left the room.
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all alone and also really bored 
Hopefully going to kickstart the festival too