Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Once on the street, Roka quickly caught her bearings again and started toward the witch doctor’s home. The criminal aspect of Chuiji’s abuse vanished from her mind. She would come back to Montaima within the timeframe she had given the lawman, but she was satisfied that everything would be handled as it should. She was not worried.

Blessedly, the witch doctor had no other pressing work and was able to check on Chuiji’s family right away. Roka gave her the directions and went back to the inn.

Her master had not yet returned from checking on the family, so Roka gathered up their things. They were light travelers, relying on local goodwill, nature, and the occasional well-placed coin to provide for them. On their first visit to Montaima, she and her master had paid for a room at the inn. During their stay, they had uncovered and eliminated a protection scheme that had afflicted the town. As thanks, Neayui the innkeeper had offered to waive the cost of their next stay.

Such jobs and rewards had been common during Roka’s travels with her master. As a result, their possessions amounted to two backpacks and two swords. Roka tucked her sheathed sword under her belt and then took the two backpacks with her down to the inn’s lobby to wait for her master. She took the few minutes before he arrived to collect her travel-ready fish and say her goodbyes to Imasa and her mother.

When Roka’s master came in, he exchanged his own goodbyes and informed Neayui about the condition of Chuiji’s family. The innkeeper seemed slightly disappointed that he hadn’t gone through with the execution. Roka made a mental note to keep a careful eye on her during future visits. Neayui seemed adept at manipulating Master Yusubru into things, and not always with gentle outcomes in mind.

With the goodbyes out of the way, Roka’s master took his backpack and they silently left the inn.

Neither of them said a word as they walked to the edge of town where the merchant and his cart had been waiting for them. They arrived to find their ride gone. Their price was probably not worth being late to pick up his cargo, something that both Roka and her master had understood.

They stood together in silence, looking down the road that would take them to the capital. Trotting hooves and the noisy scrape of wooden wheels on the dirt street came up behind them. A new cart stopped beside them, this one bigger than the merchant’s and enclosed by a canvas top. In the driver’s seat, a white-faced woman looked down at them. A small-time Ensign merchant.

“Do you need a ride?” she asked with a broken foreign accent. “I am going to Topto.”

Roka and her master shared a look. He shook his head. She nodded. After a few seconds under her disapproving stare, he nodded as well.

Roka turned to the driver. “Thank you for your kindness. We are going to Topto as well and would be happy to accept.”

The driver smiled at them. No pox marks distorted the pale features of her face. “There is space in the back. It is yours.”

***

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Montaima slowly disappeared behind trees and the horizon. Roka and her master sat on a bench on the back of the covered cart. Their legs dangled over the edge, their sandals floating just above the passing gravel road. The driver up front was quiet. Boxes of fresh fruit filled the space in-between them.

“We should have walked,” Master Yusubru said, his voice covered by the sound of the cart’s wheels.

“This is faster and more comfortable,” Roka said. The cart was a little bouncy, but it would be multiple days before it was enough to hurt their backsides.

“More comfortable how?”

“I’m sure she will be perfectly accommodating.”

“She probably only offered to give us a ride because it made her feel superior. This is what I hate about being so close to the capital, too many Ensigns.”

“She is the first we have met in many months.”

“One is too many, and there’ll be plenty more soon enough. Arrogant glue faces.”

Roka didn’t respond. She wasn’t thrilled getting a ride from an Ensign either, but help had been offered and she wasn’t one to turn it down. The driver hadn’t even asked for payment, though Roka would offer her a small sum when they arrived in Topto. Even if she didn’t turn the payment down, it would be worth it to arrive in the capital earlier than they had planned. Roka was looking forward to the Breaking Fast celebration that commenced that night in the city.

There would be decorations in the streets and food vendors selling rare and delicious snacks. Daily parades would wander the main streets and circle the imperial citadel. Roka had seen many Breaking Fast festivals in the past, but never in Topto. To say she was excited would be an understatement.

“Thank you for calming me down in the village,” her master said.

“There is no need to thank me, master,” Roka said.

“Indeed, there is need. You saved a man’s life. I am still not certain he deserved it, but I know I would be regretting my actions now if you had not stopped me.”

Roka stared ahead at the road funneling out behind them. “You came upon the man in the middle of his barbarism. You had good reason to be upset. I am not sure I would have acted any differently.”

“I am,” her master said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Many times, I have seen you angrier than I was today. You do not show it like I do, neither do you allow it to rule you. I cannot say I am as in control of myself as you are.”

Roka remained quiet. She could feel something was different. She had always been aware of her master’s mood swings, and he was certainly aware himself, but they had never discussed it. If the situation arose that he needed to be calmed down, she was there to do him that service. Afterwards, he might apologize to her for his actions or thank her for interceding, but they would never talk about it further.

“For a long time,” he continued, “I have known you to be far wiser than your years, and certainly far wiser than me. I might have seen it in you when I first took you on as my apprentice, knowing that you could be there to temper what I could not, but it is only recently that I realized how important that factor really was.”

Roka held her breath. Was it time? They had recently celebrated her birthday, and Sentinel’s found great significance in the twentieth year. The timing was perfect.

“Not only do you excel in your analysis of others and their deeds, making rational and smart decisions, but you are also my equal in the sword. Your knowledge of the laws of this land is complete. You know when and where they should be stretched and when they should not.”

“Master,” she said, unable to contain herself.

“I believe you know where I am going with this,” he said. “Once we are settled in Topto, I have been invited to meet with the emperor. You, of course, will join me. Shortly after our meeting, I will release you from your apprenticeship and declare you a full Sentinel.”

For so long, her course had been decided by Master Yusubru. She had been happy with that, as he had taken her to many exciting places and taught her many important things, but a part of her had always been dissatisfied with his lifestyle. She had longed to make her own choice about where to go next. More than that, she had longed for one of those choices to be to remain in one place. Being declared a full Sentinel in the empire’s capital gave her the perfect opportunity to make that choice.

“Master,” she said again, unable to put her gratitude or excitement into words. For the second time in the six years she had traveled with him, she hugged him.