The Embalmer's Apprentice by

Yes, the good old days, when Master Amrazôr was the most dangerous enemy Azruhâr had to worry about!

Sometimes I feel guilty that Azruhâr is the main character, because Amraphel clearly deserves to be in the spotlight a lot more. I do hope their relationship does her justice, at least.

Hehe, they're a bit like high schoolers, aren't they? The joys of young (or, at least in Master Târik's case, inexperienced) love... ;)

When I wrote this, I had no idea how the story would develop, so at the time his reaction was definitely just "Ugh, do I have to tolerate the presence of a criminal commoner at my thanksgiving table?!". It is not the first time the king does something like that - there is a spot prepared for citizens of merit every time the king mingles with his subjects, so they can be rewarded by being seen in the presence of the king - but the crown prince may be particularly displeased in this case because Azruhâr really is the lowest of the low to him (so it's different from, say, rewarding a merchant who provided the palace with some especially nice silk or the like). Even with today's knowledge, I'd assume that Azruhâr is not yet significant enough for jealousy - but the crown prince will probably remember this scene later on, once he is more aware of (and annoyed by) Azruhâr.

Master Amrazôr doesn't change all that much - but knowing Azruhâr eventually benefits him! And Azruhâr eventually decides that it's better to have an opportunistic ally than yet another opponent.

Hey, whatever helps! Or might help, in this case. I imagine that medicine - with some exceptions - is something that the Númenóreans had to figure out for themselves, because the only conditions Eldarin healers are familiar with are a) battle injuries and b) pregnancies. And they certainly never had to find out how to artificially prolong the life of a mortal! So it's a lot of hit and miss, trial and error, observing things and drawing (the wrong) conclusions. This was a lot of fun to write, too. Now that you mention it, the reactions would also have been fun. The healers would probably have claimed that "new evidence" suggested that cabbage wasn't as efficacious as they'd thought, without ever mentioning where that new evidence came from...

He really has no idea what he's getting into. As far as politics are concerned, he's very naive. Of course, he wouldn't consider that someone like the crown prince could possibly be jealous of him in the first place!

Thank you for all your lovely comments. It's so nice to revisit these early chapters after all the heavy stuff I've been writing recently.

It's always easy to consider the state you're used to as normal and ascribe it to human nature, I guess. It's especially easy when one happens to be at (or near) the top of the hill, when the injustice of it is something to be regretted, not something experienced. And it's hard not to get caught up in it - as the other embalmers show!

It certainly is a beginning - not just because it dramatically changes Azruhâr's relationship to his neighbours, but also because it brings him to the attention to others than just the king's immediate family!

The good thing about Amraphel's origins as a wealthy merchant daughter, and her expensive education, is that she knows - much better than Azruhâr - how the people in power think, and how to project power even if one doesn't have much of it. At the same time, she has learned what it's like to be poor, so she also understands her neighbours and doesn't immediately see them as enemies. It really is a blessing in this situation!

Again, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!

Yes, he is very much creating his own nemesis and keeps on feeding into it, too. Most of the things Azruhâr does that antagonise the crown prince/king (or just make him look bad) are just the result of trying to survive the attempts at putting him down. If Alcarmaite just left him alone, they wouldn't clash at all. :/

The council are, for the most part, very much caught up in their own experiences. Even the commoners among them - that is, the guild-masters - either come from well-off families with the money and connections to get them where they are, or they are trying to fit in with the big boys instead of sparing a thought for the people even further down. Although Lord Atanacalmo later mocks the idea, a representative body - and a councillor! - for the poor would be very useful.

Alcarmaite isn't a subtle guy, is he? That's part of his problem, of course - his father wanted someone clever, like him (before he grew obsessed with immortality) or his brother, and instead he gets brawny but not brainy Alcarmaite. No wonder he has daddy issues. :D

Well, what do you do when you have to carry around more money than you're comfortable with? Hide it somewhere.
On the other hand, the money could have been useful to Azruhâr's family and neighbours later on. But you're right, the crown prince might have used it to put further pressure on Azruhâr (if he remembered about it).

It absolutely is her administration. As it were, Azruhâr probably wouldn't have blown the money on fancy clothing and a nice house and entertainments etc. either, since he is occupied with his work on the one hand and in his soul still feels that he's a pennyless daytaler on the other. But if he'd been unmarried, or married to someone with less experience in saving and investing money wisely, then he might certainly have been tempted into using it up as it came in.
She deserves a fan club!

Quentangolë does try to be helpful.

Azruhâr absolutely is naïve about many things - his "education" was all about endearing oneself to employers, making oneself useful and picking up necessary skills quickly, but never about accountancy, investments or contracting. He's completely out of his depth here, which is why Amraphel, Quentangolë and other helpful educated people are so important for him. :)

:D

As you know, he certainly will face the consequences. :/

To be fair, he is mostly thinking of making sure that they won't attack him again, and since he's been made responsible for his behaviour, that they won't attack anyone else again, either. So he doesn't necessarily want to help them for their sake, but for his own. Luckily, it helps all of them...

Heh! The Vanyarin novel was actually inspired by something from the Ise monogatari. But they'd definitely enjoy Jane Austen as well! (I think even Azruhâr might enjoy those, because the situations in them are more relatable...)

To be fair, he didn't want to scare anybody. People in Andúnië are never scared when he drops by! ;)

Well spotted! Originally, I had planned for Amraphel and Azruhâr to start the road-building project, but then I realised that they couldn't have the funds for that. Amraphel probably wanted to do something about the mud, looked into it and found out that it would be too expensive, too. Someone wealthier needed to come along, and that's how Eärengolë entered the scene...

Heh! I wish we had more of them!

Yes, winter is over at last.

Eärendur - in spite of being fundamenally a decent guy - is biased in his own ways and definitely feels that some testing is in order. Fortunately, Azruhâr manages to pass the test. Somewhat ironically, the things that Azruhâr perceives as his great weaknesses - especially his soft heart - endear him to Eärendur...

Yeah, the king's health is only going downward from here. Tar-Ancalimon isn't all kindness either - he did have the earlier embalmers executed, for instance - but at least he isn't so pettily cruel, of course!

She could've made a better match, but Azruhâr definitely wouldn't be doing so well without her.

Heh! We're allowed to have some fun with conspiracies. And with naughty puns! :D

We can imagine an AU where Azruhâr gets a nice peaceful job at the Academy and the family lives happily ever after in Andúnië. ;)

Andúnië definitely is a happy place to imagine and write. I'd love to go there for a holiday, too! I'm glad you like the family, too - I was trying hard to make them likeable after Azruhâr's difficult first meetings with Lord Eärendur!

A reality he was more or less directly told was impossible, too! In fairness, Andúnië is much smaller and more sheltered, so it is reasonably easy to keep it friendly. Azruhar is an alien there in many ways, not just because of the new things, but also because of his past. A citizen of Andúnië would probably respond to his life story with something like "But if you were afraid of starving, why didn't you ask your lord for help" or "But if your employer mistreated you, why didn't you report him" and Azruhâr would be completely puzzled by these suggestions ("Why would I do something so stupid?")!

Oh, I'm so glad you're happy about the backstory! I discovered that I really wanted to talk about the beginning of their relationship, but at the same time I was afraid that it would distract too much from the main storyline and readers would be annoyed by it. So it's great to hear that you actually wanted to read about it. :D

It's a very different philosophy for sure!

He is, of course, braver than he realises. But on occasion, he has bad impulse control! (He's also smarter than is good for him, or than he properly understands himself, lacking the necessary training.) It was fun to write, even though I knew there would have to be consequences! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

I think Azruhâr does not, at that point, realise just how bitter the crown prince is. He certainly understands that he's a nuisance to the crown prince, but he makes the mistake of thinking that he's too insignificant for someone so lofty to deliberately go after him...

Yes, they're both from completely different worlds, and to some extent, neither of them understands what their actions look like to the other. To someone with the crown prince's upbringing, you just don't go to that much effort and endear yourself to the king simply out of a sense of duty or gratitude; you do it because you want to achieve more power.  Azruhâr, on the other hand, can't imagine kissing his way up because he doesn't even want to be there; what should someone like him even do at the top?

It's what he has experienced, and moreover what he has been conditioned for so far. I expect it would be hard to shake that off, especially since he is still very much told to stay in his place.

Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm so happy whenever I see that you've reviewed another chapter. You're spoiling me and I love it! :)

Can't go wrong with "everything" when you aren't entirely sure what you did wrong!

Master Târik has some growing of his own to do, but at least he's turning his anger inwards... and yes, he'll come around eventually.

He is - and he isn't. I expect some things would've been much easier for him if Azruhâr had been unkind and arrogant. But for a while, he is lucky!

Thank you so much! It definitely needed to be said, and they needed to hear it. And it does change something in the long run; Amrazôr ultimately understands that he doesn't get to kindly deign to accept Azruhâr into the family, but rather he will have to earn his own place in the family.

It is a dangerous time if you're getting on the wrong side of the king, even though Tar-Ancalimon is more forgiving than his son will be. It must have been horrifying indeed, especially knowing how quickly it could happen, for saying something like "Old age comes to all of us, even kings, and we have to accept it". Of course, Azruhâr is facing the same risk, so it would be easier to stand together. But compared to the manifestations of anger that Azruhâr is used to, Master Târik's cold shoulder is relatively mild...

It does, doesn't it. From now on, Azruhâr's decisions are being scrutinised by the very highest.

Heh. Azruhâr might be willing to accept (if not wholly understand) that Eärendur and family like him - but friendliness is one thing, and elevating him in public is something else yet. He's very class-conscious, our Azruhâr; that's what makes him distrust the "friendship" for so long in the first place.

Unfortunately, it is beyond me to provide the complete speech! I wish I knew it myself. >_>

Are you kidding me? It's such a thrill to get all these lovely reviews, I've GOT to reply! You ARE important! :D

There might be a little more about it in the future! I'm not sure how much, but we'll see. :)

He has occasional bursts of courage - or rather, strong convictions that can't always be held back. It does about as much harm as it does good. It's exactly what makes him interesting for Atanacalmo, though. Whatever Atanacalmo's faults (and there are a lot of them ;)), he does realise that Azruhâr has insights worth considering. In typical Atanacalmo fashion, he then wants to exploit these insights for himself! But at least, it involves making sure that the person who has these insights is kept alive.

It's definitely better to be wary when Atanacalmo is involved!

I'm so sorry! For what it's worth, I had Palatâr's death scene in mind at first, and then decided that we needed some more happy moments to get through the sadness. :/

It's not fully selfish! Amrazôr may be past his prime, but he isn't so old that he couldn't take on and teach another apprentice (long before Palatârik is old enough to start his training). Or he could go with Niluthôr in spite of everything. So it is very much a peace offer. And it certainly is one worry less for Azruhâr. (I think Amraphel is a lot more confident in being able to secure her children's future, especially with Lord Eärendur as their supporter.)

Oh, he's very much afraid! But if they're important enough, his opinions want out anyway. ;)

Always scheming and always testing! Atanacalmo is very much using his chess board as a litmus test for his opponents' honesty. As long as Azruhâr keeps losing so easily, Atanacalmo feels that he can believe him without digging much deeper.

She's a worthy heir! But possibly (I'm not sure yet) more accessible than her father, once her position is secured. At this time, the House of Armenelos is still fairly irrelevant - Armenelos is the King's city, so who needs a separate lord? - as Atanacalmo bewails. And as the younger lady of an unknown house, her authority is constantly being questioned (I expect that when she says something about politics, other nobles pet her hand and say "that's nice, child, wait until you've ruled your own county" or something along those lines). So she's very, very touchy about that.
In-universe, her reaction was shocking because the merchant is middle class, and would normally be given a chance to buy his way out. Nobody would have been surprised if he had been one of the day-talers. In a way, she is showing that she doesn't differentiate based on income or status. That will make her popular with the lower classes, of course.

They're not above taking advice, just above giving due credit for it! ;)

Yes, his entire existence depends on the king's whims. Alcarmaite will remind him of that fact a lot more often, but Ancalimon isn't all mercy and kindness, either. And of course, with Ancalimon's fear of death (and the certain knowledge that it's approaching quickly), it's very easy to upset his sense of fairness and reason.

As Azruhâr has observed elsewhere, it would have been a mercy - but certainly not the help he was hoping for. Yes, fortunately it wasn't neccessary!

Nobody stops to consider what these things look like to a man with Azruhâr's experiences! XD

It's a good house. And the crown prince knows his address either way. Besides, now Azruhâr is isolated from his friends (and perceived as an unwelcome parvenu by most of the new neighbours) and has to pay a lot more to furnish the house, and then to keep it heated and clean. So for the time being, the crown prince feels he's been rendered harmless. Unfortunately, he'll be reminded of Azruhâr's existence too soon.

It's probably a beautiful piece of art, too! :D

His pride (that he doesn't like to admit having) would have rankled, but it would have made his life easier!

The crown prince still wouldn't have liked him, but as his favourite uncle's servant, Azruhâr would have enjoyed some protection - which would then have been natural because a lord would be expected to look out for the people in his service. And Alcarmaite would have trusted Atanacalmo to keep him under control (or else!), so he'd no longer have perceived him as a threat. So in some ways, it could have been an ideal solution. But of course Azruhâr has no reason to trust Atanacalmo, and Atanacalmo refuses to explain things to him because he feels that Azruhâr can't keep his mouth shut. :/

Palatâr had prepared himself and was ready for it (as ready as one can be, anyway). Ancalimon, to the very end, was not.

It certainly is a record! And if the councillors were less indifferent to the fate of an embalmer/ ex-convict, and if the political situation were less complicated, the new king would have disqualified himself at once. Instead, half the councillors think that the little fellow must have deserved it, and the other half are thinking about using it for their own agenda. (With a few exceptions, of course!) :/