Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Roka and her charge did not talk as they traveled the rest of the way to his office. Revealing his identity as a slave seemed to have tamped down his will to speak, and Roka focused more on his safety than conversation. She kept an eye out for suspicious characters, but no further attack presented itself. When they reached the office she explained the events of the past half-hour, defended the slave’s delay, and left when she could be sure no one would blame him for the attack. The Sentinel reputation would likely prevent any punishment—instances of slave abuse dropped drastically whenever Sentinels were nearby—but she wanted to be absolutely certain.

Yusubru, Talit, and the guard finished transferring custody of the two Seilib Jihuza members to the local komhak just as Roka reunited with them. They met outside the komhak office and caught up. The two perpetrators in question were known to the komhak but had thus far eluded them. They had not known the Seilib Jihuza were interested in taking advantage of the merchant treasury office’s operations.

As they talked, Roka noticed that Talit remained stiff, even with the situation resolved. She guessed it might have something to do with her lecture. While Yusubru and the guard discussed reporting the crime to the emperor, she approached Talit, briefly bowing her head in respect.

“I apologize for my earlier tone. I should have been more careful with my words.”

“What? No, there was nothing wrong with your tone. You were right, I was not thinking, either about my personal safety or your ability to fulfill your duties. I am the one that should apologize. Why are you coming to me?”

“You seemed tense.”

He was quiet for a moment. “I am furious.”

“Furious?” Roka asked. Considering his attitude had changed after learning the clerk was a slave, it had not been the explanation she was expecting. “That the slave concealed his identity?”

“No, no, not at all,” Talit said, waving the insinuation away with a hand. “I am furious that these criminals would be so bold as to assault a defenseless slave in my city, in broad daylight no less. It is a time of celebration and they sought to harm a man who could not fight back.”

A bemused smile crossed Roka’s lips. “Talit, surely you don’t believe the Breaking Fast celebration would be enough to keep hardened criminals from thinking themselves immune from consequences? It is possible to break the law and participate in the festival at the same time.”

“I suppose I knew that, but I cannot say I was ready to see it play out in front of me.” His voice grew sardonic. “You might be surprised to know I don’t get many opportunities to view the crime of my city up close. Learning the victim was a slave aggravated my anger into rage. I believe I was close to kicking one of the criminals.”

Roka appreciated his sentiment, but the revelation that he wished to harm the perpetrators surprised her. She would have thought a man born to administration would be more controlled in his approach to criminal punishment.

“I am gratified to know they were captured before they could inflict any true harm,” Roka said, “and that their crimes will be measured and dealt with appropriately.”

Talit took a deep breath through his nose and then exhaled before saying, “It would have been much more gratifying if I had seen them go to the measuring with a few more bruises.”

***

With the resolution of the slave clerk’s mugging, Roka’s chance to experience the city ended. It came far too quickly for her liking. The scheduled choral ball required significant preparation for Talit, the heir to the imperial throne, and a not insignificant amount of preparation for Roka. Even lacking the wardrobe and accompanying makeup of a typical court lady, she did not want to appear as a dirty Sentinel in front of so many important figures attending the ball. Going without a bath had not been so bad for a meeting on personal terms with the emperor. Meeting with the rest of the city elite meant Roka could no longer be sloppy.

Stolen novel; please report.

Talit left first, heading directly to the imperial residence. Roka and Yusubru made their way back to their quarters in the Citadel Proper. They separated from there, the citadel bathhouse being gender-segregated rather than shared, a somewhat odd arrangement considering most baths in the empire saved on space and water by putting everyone together. As Roka understood it, Ensign influence had contributed to the bathing system. Roka had not known them to be prudish, but her pool of knowledge on their culture remained shallow.

When Roka entered the women’s bath, she found Elise King already there, soaking and reclining against the stone retaining wall of the pool.

“Ah, Roka, daughter of Barata and Fuuko,” she said. “I thought I might see you here.”

Roka paused, first because she had not expected the Ensign woman to remember the names of her parents or pronounce them correctly—a difficult feat, even for those familiar with Ninzamian custom—and then because the sight of a naked Ensign shocked her. So much pale skin was difficult to take in.

She shook off her surprise as best she could and entered the water. “Ms. King, I am glad to see you again.” The temperature of the water gave her another shock. “Oh,” she said involuntarily, “that is nice.”

“Not too hot for your liking?”

“I don’t mind a little hot water on a hotter day. This is just right.”

Elise King remained quiet as Roka settled in to soak.

“I want to apologize for my master’s behavior today,” Roka said.

The other woman waved the apology away with a hand. “I appreciate you saying that, but it is no more than I am used to. He is even somewhat justified. During our war of invasion, I was too young to understand what was happening. I do not begrudge the resentment of someone who fought in it.” Her eyes narrowed. “Of course, when he shows his bigotry to my face, I will continue to stand up to it.”

Roka chuckled. “A smart move. It is always better to confront my master on these things.” She paused. “Unless you have done something actually wrong, at which point it is best to either surrender or run. He can be… aggressive.”

Elise King raised an eyebrow. “Tell me, how long have you traveled with your master? Or has there been much travel? I am not so familiar with the Sentinel ways of training.”

“Travel is very much a part of it,” Roka said. “It is the best way to find experience. My journeying with Master Yusubru has allowed me to witness every kind of crime be committed by every kind of person.”

“And your master was with you at all times?”

“Almost all times. There were occasions where we spent a day or two apart.” Roka smiled miserably in remembrance. “For the first year, he would take my sword with him whenever we were to be apart for more than an hour. An apprentice must inspire a great deal of trust for their master to allow them to go armed without supervision.”

Elise King smirked. “That must have been galling.”

“A little, but I understood why he did it. And he came to trust me faster than most master and apprentice pairings. I have met apprentices like myself that have not been given autonomy after five years of service.”

“Still, it seems to me you give him a great deal of leeway.”

Roka thought of her master’s many outbursts and the number of times she had stepped in to stop him from doing something rash. She did not always intervene, only when he might truly take something too far.

“Perhaps you are right,” she said, “but he generally knows what is truly just.”

The Ensign woman swirled her finger in the steamy water. Donparsh woman, Roka told herself. She needed to start thinking of her and her people in the terms they preferred, otherwise she might let slip the wrong word at the wrong time. Her master’s nomenclature clung to her too doggedly.

“It must be difficult to travel alone with such a man,” Elise King said. “As a woman, I mean.”

“It was uncomfortable at first, but we quickly became accustomed to each other. And it is not so hard to find privacy on the road when necessary.”

“You became quite close, then?”

“There is no closer bond than that between master and apprentice. I would say we are powerfully close.”

Elise King nodded, a slight frown crossing her lips. “You have a serious face,” she said, “and at the school you showed you have a serious mind.”

It was Roka’s turn to frown. She opened her mouth to respond, but the other woman kept going.

“It is disappointing to learn that despite that, you are still a silly girl.”

“Wha–?” Roka started, her mind going blank. “What?”

But Elise King was already leaving the water. She grabbed a towel from a nearby imperial slave, thanked her, and dried herself off as she walked to the dressing area. Roka stared after her, baffled as to what had just happened. She didn’t think she had said anything wrong, but the Donparsh woman left the room without another word.