Fic: Chosen
xparrot did the Pern thing and my resistance to doing a Valdemar thing finally collapsed in a heap.
Many thanks to
zellieh for her lightning fast beta!
author: seekergeek
genre: SGA/Valdemar crossover (SGA characters)
wordcount: 1887
summary:
Master Rodney McKay had been expecting to eat his usual breakfast at the Compass Rose tavern, then go and teach his usual classes at the Collegia, doing his level best to antagonize the Blues that laughingly called themselves students into actually using their brains. Then he’d go to the Compass Rose for his evening meal, before taking over his usual table at the tavern to antagonize his fellow instructors by spouting off about his theories and mocking theirs as they all worked on their latest projects until late into the night. Just like he had every other day in the capital city of Haven.
But, as he sat one of the tables in the front portion of the tavern, sipping his chava as he worked, a strange voice that was distinctly nasal in tone said, Rodney.
He ignored the interruption, as usual. Couldn't the moron see that he was busy?
Rodney, the voice said again, insistently.
He thrust out his free hand and waved whoever it was away as he continued to madly work on his calculations. He then used that hand to move his cup of chava a little further away from his work. It wouldn't do to accidentally spill anything on his papers. This was important stuff after all.
Rodney, the voice said again, this time with added whine. It was truly annoying.
"Go away, I'm busy. Take your stupid question over to one of the minions over there," he said, waving his hand in the general direction of the table in the tavern that housed his advanced students as he continued to work. They weren't entirely stupid and he was sure that they could handle whatever this nincompoop wanted.
Rodney! the voice shouted, and the table shook as they stamped their foot.
"What!?" Rodney snapped as he slapped both hands onto the table and finally looked up to see who the yahoo was that was so insistent on holding up the progress of science.
Blue eyes that a person could get lost in peered at him from the large white face of a horse. Hi there, Rodney, it said to him cheerily. I'm Cadman and I Choose you.
"Oh, good Havens," Rodney said weakly, sitting back in his chair and staring at the Companion standing inside the tavern. How the hell had it even gotten in there? He rallied and stood up, shaking a finger at the white horse who was not going to get the better of him. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no! Go! Shoo! Find yourself some young idiot with their head stuffed full of heroic nonsense and the energy to tear across the kingdom on horseback at all hours of the day and night with demons and the like chasing after them! I am not the person you want!"
After that, one thing led to another and suddenly Rodney found himself standing out in the courtyard of the pub looking in bewilderment at this damned horse while all around him the patrons of the tavern celebrated in the street.
"Rodney, congratulations!" Radek shouted, over the din of the students and other teachers speaking loudly amongst themselves in amazement. He clapped a hand onto Rodney's shoulder and leaned forward to say into his ear, "Is good to see that you are not as big of an ass as you put yourself out to be."
Rodney blinked at Radek, then turned back to regard the Companion. "You have got to be kidding me. There must be some mistake!" He flung out his arms and shouted at the white animal, "Have you met me? Let me introduce myself. Master Rodney McKay, most intelligent man in Valdemar and bad with people. You are not going to get me stuffed into a set of Whites and shot at by every barbarian on the border! Do I look suicidal?!"
Cadman looked at him with distinct amusement. Oh, c'mon Rodney. You know Companions don't make mistakes about this. I Chose you to be my Herald. How hard can that be to understand?
"The part where you expect me to become a target for every whacko that takes a dislike to Valdemar, that's what I don't understand!" Rodney shrilled. "I have classes to teach! In important things like math and science! I have things to build that will improve the quality of every moron's life in Haven, not that they'll appreciate it! I'm already indispensable to the kingdom's wellbeing, and more importantly, I'm not getting shot at!"
Cadman shook her head impatiently, flipping her forelock back. Oh for goddess' sake, shut up and get on my back, Rodney. I'm taking you to see the Queen now, like it or not. She eeled her head around and thumped him hard enough that he stumbled a few steps towards her saddle. Unfortunately, this caused his fellow instructors to stupidly think that he'd accepted this farce as his new calling, because the next thing Rodney knew, they'd hoisted him up onto the saddle and he was riding the newest bane of his existence towards the Palace.
"I'm a dead man," Rodney muttered unhappily as he clung awkwardly to the saddle.
Oh, for Haven's sake, Rodney, not everybody that becomes a Herald dies gruesomely. You might wind up being assigned to a job in the city. And I don't know if anyone's ever told you this before, but you ride like a sack of potatoes, Cadman groused as they passed the first gate on the way to the center of the city. Have you never ridden before?
"Not everyone is athletically inclined, you four-legged freak of nature." Rodney replied stiffly. The guard they passed tilted her head and looked at them oddly. Rodney ignored her and continued, "Some of us actually have brains and need to use the time otherwise wasted in pointless exercise to think about something important."
Cadman snorted and took another turn in the road. Yeah, well that's gonna change, she replied and started to canter, much to Rodney's misery. His behind was going to be a mass of bruises by the time they got to the Palace.
He clutched tighter at the saddlebow and hoped that Queen Elizabeth at least would see reason and get this obnoxious piece of horseflesh out of his hair.
***
The audience with Queen Elizabeth felt distinctly surreal to Rodney. He'd fully expected to speak to her in person someday, but he'd thought it would be about proposing an improvement to the city's infrastructure, not as a Heraldic candidate. He tried to explain the complete impossibility of him becoming a Herald, but somehow the conversation got all twisted around, and after the Queen informed him that breaking the bond between him and Cadman would have some highly unpleasant side effects for him and would kill Cadman, he found himself gulping and volunteering to go ahead and take the Heraldic training. His head was still spinning as Queen Elizabeth called the Dean of the Heraldic Collegium in.
"Hello, Daniel," Queen Elizabeth said smoothly as the man entered the room. She laid a hand on Rodney's shoulder. He barely felt it. He was still stunned at what he'd just agreed to do for the rest of his now probably very short life. "I'm sure you've heard of our latest Herald Trainee, Rodney. Rodney, this is Daniel, Dean of Heraldic."
Daniel's eyebrows climbed up into his hair and stayed there. They'd apparently decided that his forehead wasn't a safe neighborhood anymore. "Oh, ah...congratulations, Rodney. This is certainly a surprise. Er, it's good to have a candidate of your...intelligence...among the Herald Trainees."
Rodney lifted a hand up and twirled his finger skywards. "Yay, me," he replied weakly.
Told you you'd change your mind, Cadman said smugly from Companion's Field.
Rodney mentally stuck his tongue out at her. You are so going to regret Choosing me, Cadman. I promise you that, he threatened meaningfully.
***
That evening Rodney looked at the paper containing his class schedule that Dean Daniel handed to him with a dull sort of horror. Intro to Inter-kingdom Politics. Etiquette and Deportment. Equitation. Weapons Training. Rodney blinked. He was in hell. Pure, unadulterated hell.
"Is there a problem with your schedule, Rodney?" Daniel asked mildly, pushing his glasses back up with one finger absently.
"I ah, don't suppose you could substitute one of these for Radek's advanced calculations class, could you?" Rodney asked hopefully. Please say yes, he wished internally. That way he could sneak a little of his beloved work in to alleviate the hell he was going through now.
Daniel raised an eyebrow. "You've already had that class, so no." He then crossed his arms and looked stern. "You really need to learn how to defend yourself with something other than your tongue now, Rodney. Being a Herald is a dangerous job."
He knew, he knew. Rodney sighed a little. "Okay, fine," he replied with resignation and rubbed at a spot where his new gray uniform chafed at his delicate skin. His reputation as a scholar was going to be in ruins by the end of the year. He was no good at anything involving people or physical activity and Heralds specialized in both. The first time they put him out on circuit he was certain that he was going to die an ignominious death. It was depressing.
Oh, come on, Rodney. You're a smart guy, I'm sure you'll do okay in the classes, Cadman said in his mind, her voice flavored with apples. And stop thinking that you're gonna die! Have a little confidence in yourself, man!
"Right," he replied weakly as Daniel looked curiously at him. Rodney caught the look and pointed to his head. "Cadman," he explained.
Daniel's eyebrows took flight into his hair again. "I didn't know you were a Mindspeaker."
Rodney sighed. "Neither did I, until today."
"In that case, I'm going to have to add training in using your Gift to your schedule," Daniel replied. "You've come into it late, and there can be problems when that happens if we don't get on it immediately."
Rodney chuckled bitterly. "Peachy."
After quick lecture on how the Heraldic branch of the Collegium worked and housework - housework! - assignments had been handed out to him, Dean Daniel consulted a sheet of paper with a list on it. "Okay, now normally you'd be given a room in the Heraldic dorms, but all the rooms on the boys side are occupied at the moment and..." he looked Rodney over with a mildly dismayed expression, "well, you're a quite a bit older than our usual run of trainees, so I'm taking the liberty of assigning you a room in the wing of the palace that the Heralds are housed in. Follow me, please."
Rodney followed, relieved that he was not going to be subjected to being bunked up with a bunch of pre-adolescents and teenagers and having to deal with their vagaries at his age. That would have been the last thing he needed on top of everything else that had happened to him today.
Later, settled into his new room and staring at the walls in a daze, Rodney realized that he was going to have to write Jeannie and tell her what had happened. He sighed and buried his face in his hands. He was so, so hosed.