During the period A.S. the 132nd year, 4 A.C. A young adult man with short unkempt red hair runs around in the herbal scented halls. The day had already welcomed dawn long ago, the sun high up in the sky. The young man continues to run carrying parchments and ink. A difficult task to maintain speed whilst not dropping anything. The long brown robes he has to wear as an apprentice maester sometimes nearly trip him up.
"Oh no, not again Balthasar." A woman in her fifties wearing the same robes says with a soft look.
"Master, master!" A young voice yells from around the corner accompanied by the sound of running footsteps. Soon a child bronze-skinned child appears also wearing the same robes and carrying many vials.
"Hey watch out!" The still rushing Balthasar yells at the suddenly appearing bronze-skinned child.
Neither one is able to dodge the other, the child, and Balthasar crash into each other. Parchment, glass, and ink scattered over the stone floor.
The child looks up with tears forming in his eyes. "Balthasar! I hope you get the dog's cough, you bastard!" The young boy yells earning him an ear pull from the older woman.
"Kestin, what did I tell you about your tongue?" The older woman continues to pull at the young child's ear.
"Aaah! Cursing makes my tongue turn rotten. Please let go! It's actually starting to hurt!' The child named kestin tries desperately to make sure the woman stops pulling his ear. The woman does not stop, however, leaning down as she signals something with her eyes.
"I'm sorry Balthasar and master Yirid! I'm sorry!" The child yells quickly throwing his arms and hands around in a panic. Now the woman named Yirid lets the ear go continuing to give the boy a stern look before turning to Balthasar.
"And you! Why are you late again? Kian has been in the library since the dawn!" The soft look of the woman has completely transformed into a stern reprimanding look. A look feared by most maesters and even more so by the apprentices.
"I was up studying the moons, I'm sorry maester Yirid." Balthasar with his short unkempt hair bows quickly before he hurries to grab his parchments and ink.
Yirid sighs looking at the mess of the two apprentices. Her hands in her sides as she slowly shakes her head.
"Never mind. Just clean up you two. Yourself as well." She says holding her nose.
"But maester, I finally succeeded with the potion." Kian says the excitement he originally had is now completely gone.
"Then you can succeed again. It's the method and practice you have to master not only the result. Besides one of you stinks of a mixture of herbs and the other like an unwashed pet. So go to the bathhouse. I'll go tell Kian that you're doing something for me." Yirid walks away toward the library still shaking her head.
Kestin leans closer and quickly sniffs Balthasar. A frown immediately appears on his face. "Yeah, you're the unwashed one alright." He also holds his nose with one hand whilst the other continues to clean up.
"Don't lie. The only reason why you smell any different is that you've been rolling around in herbs. otherwise why would you even doubt who was supposed to be the unwashed one?" Balthasar now also holds his nose with a hand, using the other to clean up.
The spilled ink and shattered glass have proven to be the greatest challenge of this clean up. The parchment mostly intact, the ink splatters on them minimal. Kestin also grabs some parchment, the glass vials of his already cleaned up. He turns his head slightly sideways as he reads the parchments.
"What's all this about?" Kestin asks still reading the parchment in his hand.
"It's about the six moons and the correlating events that tend to happen each cycle. I'm trying to understand the pattern. Perhaps we can use this energy of the celestial bodies for arcane or medical purposes." Balthasar grabs the last paper of parchment and holds them out.
"Can I read them?" kestin says as he goes to grab the papers from Balthasar.
"I don't see why not. If successful they're going to be added to the library anyway." Balthasar shrugs his shoulders as he lets the papers be taken by the 14-year-old child. Everything cleaned up they walk outside the "Citadel of words."
The citadel a sight that has impressed many and is an interesting chose for maesters to make their headquarters. Originally the citadel was built to protect the then small state of Pierden. One of the more militaristic states which had the unfortunate fate of being in proximity of the then hostile elven kingdoms and sometimes even the horse bandits of the Green Plains. However, with the foundation of the Confederacy of Friedrich the citadel lost its purpose. A new headquarters for the military was already decided and the state itself suffered from fewer invasions. Then the Dog's cough broke out, killing half of the populace. Maesters soared in popularity as they were the ones with the most medical knowledge and after a long process managed to find a remedy for the disease. The saved patients included the beloved daughter of the then lord of Pierden who famously said the words "This old man has saved more lives in the past 10 years than all the soldiers of the citadel this past century combined. So tell me who truly deserves its seat?" The news was welcomed by the citizens preferring doctors to live nearby in case another plague were to break out.
Now "The Citadel Of words" holds all the publications of the maesters and is also the place where apprenticing maesters are trained.
Balthasar turns around as they pass the walls of the citadel. The place that has been his home since the age that Kestin is now, and he has never regretted coming here. Even though the training is draining, and his master is strict.
"Are you alright?"Kestin asks as he waits on Balthasar.
"Of course, let's go." Balthasar says with a soft smile as they continue on to the bath house.