The morning saw Rowan awake early. The unfamiliar lodging had bothered him enough that he had difficulty sleeping. Although not having done any work also meant he wasn’t that tired. So, as soon as the light came in through the window, he’d jumped down and made his way to the table.

That was a good move as less than 15 minutes later, a massive crash sound was heard at the door, which slammed open. A man he hadn’t seen yet came in, yelling “Get up, you slackers. GET UP. Or I’ll throw you out of bed on your head.”

They got served a bucket of porridge with bowl and spoons and told unceremoniously they had 10 minutes to eat.

Rowan found himself in the courtyard, milling with the others. Dick had been correct. There were three girls to the side. Overall, it looked like there were fourteen youngsters, waiting for whenever the company men would come out.

He didn’t have to wait long.

The man from yesterday showed up again from his wood ledge. But rather than climbing down, he stayed. Half a dozen people came out as well. Rowan recognized Amelia, who was with another woman, similarly attired in leather jacket and skirt, and Sirius who, surprisingly, sported what looked like a monk’s wool robe, albeit of a weird brown-blue colour.

“Be silent!” shouted one of the men.

The master – Rowan guessed from experience that he was the one in charge here – waited until the fuss had died in the courtyard.

“I’m Abraham Zacharias. You will address and refer to me as Zacharias, without a Sir or Lord, as I’m neither.”

Nobody uttered a word.

“I am the founder of this company. The real one, as King George and Parliament have finally decided, in their great wisdom that only nobles can engage in our sort of work. So, I had to convince the Earl of Carnavon, who is our official sponsor, to put his mark on our charter. So if you are ever asked about our company, you will refer to it as Earl of Carnavon’s endeavour.”

He paused and insisted.

“And if I catch you saying otherwise in public, you’ll be fined a month of wages. Which your contract allows me to.”

“Now, about this company. It’s very simple. We will work in the Labyrinth.”

Rowan felt like he’d been socked.

Rowan had been born on the year of the Gates. At the turn of the century, the great Gilded Gates had appeared. Britain’s appeared in the middle of the park facing the Queen’s House, Buckingham. Queen Charlotte didn’t waste a minute and decamped to her husband’s main palace while the army mobilized and surrounded the Gate.

Then, intrepid explorers entered the Gate, discovered the first sector of the Labyrinth and the rest is history. From then on, materials and wonders poured out of the Gate, fuelling a Golden Age for the British Empire.

For Rowan, the Labyrinth itself was a mystery. Few things were known in the general populace, even after 16 years. It was said to extend to vast distances, a grand mixture of vast lands, larger than even the British Empire on Earth. And it was inflexible in its existence. From the handful of rumours Rowan had heard, even nobles could be humbled by the Labyrinth and forced to retreat. Some rabble-rousers even said that common men could rise well above nobles in there.

The whole things would have been perfect if not for the fact that some other Gates opened in other countries. From school, Rowan remembered that there was a Gate in the Former Colonies, one in the middle of the Frenchmen’s Empire, and one among the Chinamen from Orient. No one knew anything about Africa, but Black men had been spotted in the Labyrinth, so it was expected that there was an Empire at the heart of that continent.

In fact, except for the deplorable Federal Republic of the Former Colonies, all the Gates were the possession of the greatest of Empires on Earth. Of course, even Napoleon’s Empire couldn’t measure to the British one. After all, he never succeeded in landing on Britain and hadn’t even managed to snag any of the colonies of the Empire.

Of course, if one would be honest, the British Crown hadn’t managed to break the French’s hold on Europe either. After Napoleon’s conquest of Rus, using powered heaters to forge thru the worst of winter and catch the Russian tsar fleeing Moscow, none of Europe’s kingdoms had managed to raise the slightest resistance to the French Hordes.

But Rowan wasn’t about to admit that. The French could be lined next to the Former Colonials and shot dead twice, for all he cared. After all, they killed his dad.

Zacharias kept on.

“The reason you were chosen is that the Labyrinth is quite picky with whom can and cannot do things in its domain. The Labyrinth places a measure on your intrinsic potential, which will rank from 10 to 20 in all its diversity.”

“The average man can score no better than 15 in his aspects. Some will be of low value, scoring even below that. Some will, of course, score higher. But good scores are rare. For every 15 men scoring 15 or worse, only one will score 16 or better. For every 15 men scoring 16, only one will score 17. And for 15 that score 17, only one goes to 18. Which is what is of interest from us, as the Labyrinth will only reward those who have at least one measure at 18 or greater.”

Zacharias gestured toward Sirius.

“My man here used a device to check for your potential scores. A miniature power of the Labyrinth. All of you are here because one of your scores is above 18.”

Rowan heard muttering coursing among the people in the courtyard. So… that was what Sirius had said when he was 18 ‘sta’. It was one of the Labyrinth’s measurements.

Although what ‘sta’ referred to, he had no idea. Come to think of it… Silas was 19? Even bigger than 18? If one in… many… was at 18, how rarer would it be to get 19? 19 what… Rowan couldn’t remember the word used for Silas.

Judging by the glances from Harland, he wasn’t the only one to wonder.

Zacharias kept talking.

“As what we intend to do in the Labyrinth… it’s simple. We look for items of value. The Labyrinth provides many things for the British Empire, but some of them are highly coveted, even if they’re not directly fuelling the Empire’s growth. Rich people, nobles and not, pay handsomely for some of the items from the Labyrinth. And we’re there to find those for them.”

“This is hard, long, and sometimes dangerous. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Many keep to the early places of the Labyrinth, where the Empire holds sway and the dangers are known.”

“We do not do that. Instead, we forge into the depths of the Labyrinth, where the most unknown of the Artefacts are to be found. We conquer them. And we sell them back. Along with other stuff.”

“But, while we forge ahead, we can take apprentices and have them work to get the easier ones.”

“That is where you come.”

“When you enter the Labyrinth for the first time, the Labyrinth will give you a Profession. Consider it as an apprentice title. The Profession you get from entering the Labyrinth is weak, by the Labyrinth’s standards. But then, you are weak, by the same token.”

“But we will train you. We will show you how to grow in stature, and gain better Professions to replace your first one. And once you’re good enough, we will send you to conquer and bring back many unique wonders.”

Zacharias coughed a bit. One of the men gave him a flask, which he drank greedily.

“Edna Tilcott!”

Heads turned. Zacharias waited only a couple seconds.

“When I call you, raise your hand.”

One of the girls raised her hand finally.

“Good. Now, you are only of our rare ones, you have two scores at 18. When we enter the Labyrinth, you will be handed one of two possible Professions. I will ask you if you find yourself designated Watcher, that you tell us immediately, and I’ll have you reassigned. We already have a plan for your growth, and it will be easier if you become Mender.”

“The rest of you, your Profession is foreordained for now. So don’t worry.”

“Now, we will not train or outfit you here. Our esteemed Earl expects his adventure to be profitable, and we’ll be wasting our time – and our earnings – by trying to give you stupid and unprofitable tasks.”

“Now, all of you have your letters? Because if you do not, you will be useless to us and anyone. You need to be able to read to master the Labyrinth. Yes, that’s why King George III mandated that all his subjects know how to read. He’s smarter than you may have heard. Smarter than he used to be, anyway.”

Zacharias caught a worried glance by the woman companion of Amelia. He waved her concern away.

“We will ask you questions. If you cannot read, you will not be able to answer them. So, if you don’t really know your letters, raise your hand right now. Because once you enter the Labyrinth, if you do not, we WILL dock you for those two years of wages. And there’s plenty of work to be done in the Labyrinth, even if you’re too stupid to use your Profession. The crystal quarries don’t need much in stats. And that’s where you’re headed with an indenture if you fail me.”

Nobody raised their hand. Either everyone had indeed received the education mandated by the King, or they were hoping to pass. Rowan doubted it would be easy. You would be stupid to get saddled with 70 pounds of debt. Nobody would be getting away from that.

A couple of chariots came out of the side of the building.

“Now, climb. We’re heading to the Labyrinth. That’s where we have our real headquarters, and where we’ll start training you in the ways of your new life.”

The chariots were packed and heavy. Rowan felt each cobblestone, where yesterday had brought him a comfortable ride. The chariots turned and headed toward the southwest.

Straight toward the Queen’s House.

Straight toward the Gilded Gate of the Labyrinth.