Free Untalented by Katrina Archer Page B

she stood at the bottom of the pecking order. She’d had it with his need to rub it in.
    “What does my ‘personal situation’ have to do with anything? Everyone here is in the same boat.”
    His normal expression of contemptuous disdain hardened with fury. “You dare? I am nothing like you. Come from a long line of proper weavers, I do. I’ll get back into the guild when I’ve paid my penance.”
    Saroya gaped at him. “But—”
    He cut her off. “Cook’s a proper member of the Chef’s Guild, Danno the coachman is a builder whose designs are simply not in fashion—or so he says—and Breea can no longer be a tanner since she breaks out in hives when she gets near the tanning vats—not her fault she can’t do what she was born to.”
    Saroya squeaked out, “I’m the only Untalent here?”
    “And anything you do in castle livery reflects on all of us. Now fetch those carrots.”
    Saroya stood stunned in the courtyard, staring at the groom. The castle servants were not Untalented, but instead, failed Talents. Failed Talents were unheard of in Adram Vale: so few people lived in the village that the need for whatever Talent a child demonstrated allowed a failure to get by. Apparently failure as a Talent did not confer greater empathy for the plight of an Untalent.
    It came out of Saroya before she could stop it. “Does it make you feel better?”
    The groom frowned.
    “About yourself. Does bringing me down somehow make your own failures bearable?”
    He glared at her and slammed the stable door.
    Saroya darted out to the courtyard. It had taken her a few weeks, but she now understood the castle’s labyrinthine layout. A simple rectangular structure enclosed the central courtyard. The complex network of stairs, corridors and arcades housed all the living quarters for the royal family and their servants, storerooms, and stables. Not to mention all the offices of the government, and the Hall of the Great Circle of Houses, which she had yet to see. She made her way to the west gate and set off down the road to Market Square.
    As she walked she turned the encounter with the groom over and over in her head. If Untalents in the city couldn’t even be servants, how did they live? She’d heard tales of the poverty and squalor in the Vergal Quarter. Perhaps it was just at the castle that Untalents weren’t allowed. Which didn’t bode well for her reception once she’d exposed Martezha. If she ever stood in Martezha’s place, she’d make other Untalents welcome at the castle. After all, wasn’t she now proving herself just as capable as the other grooms? Saroya smiled to herself as Market Square came into view.
    Resisting the fascination of the constant bustle of the market, she made short work of the carrot purchase and trotted back along the main road to the Manor District. U’Veyle Library perched on a knoll within view of the castle. The imposing building dwarfed the many guildspeople who passed through its doors, researching their various fields. She hoped her castle livery would suffice instead of a guild crest. She crossed the entrance, the smell of musty paper assailing her.
    Success had eluded her in accessing U’Veyle Castle’s own collection of books and scrolls. Master Doga, the castle librarian, looked askance at her request, and summarily denied it. Saroya suspected he would keep even the royals out of the stacks if he could. He seemed distinctly possessive of his books.
    The U’Veyle city library was another matter. Some tomes, due to age or deterioration, were accessible only to guild members who could prove a need to view their contents. Even then, a librarian supervised to ensure no further harm came to their precious charges. Most recent books were available for perusal in the reading rooms. Saroya researched the queen, to find some hint to the identity of the elusive Veshwa. This proved difficult—few histories of Queen Padvai were available, her death being so recent. She gleaned a few