“Don’t you see, Sobei? I’m going to be stuck with a life like what Awasa wants, like Mother has. I’ve got to see the world and taste adventure. At the least I’ll have this one journey to last me all my days. I’ll deal with the repercussions later. And maybe … maybe I won’t want to come back. You can’t deny me my chance to be myself.”
Turesobei shook his head and cursed. She only wanted what he wanted himself. He’d be a hypocrite to tell her no.
“Sobei … I … I was going to run away tomorrow anyway. I had a plan. This thing with Iniru fit right into it. That’s why I wanted you to boost the origami spell so bad. I wanted to talk to Iniru, but I also wanted to know that it would work, so we could stay in touch after I left.”
Turesobei started piling barrels and hay at the back, so no one could see them or the denekon. “It’s on your head, then.”
Chapter Nineteen
Turesobei released the sleep spell before dawn and cast a new, extended spell of personal obscuration over himself, Enashoma, and their denekon. That made the spell harder, but he had a strip for it and the time to cast slowly, letting the air and shadow energies gather properly.
The gates opened. The wagon lurched into action, alongside a dozen others. The guards didn’t challenge the driver. He was on his way out and they seemed to know him.
The wagon bumped along the main road, heading east toward the port of Dakanuru on the Taba River. Enashoma’s eyes sparkled with excitement. That irritated Turesobei more. She had played him, and he didn’t appreciate being manipulated, especially by his little sister. She had no idea what she was getting into.
“You understand the risk?”
“I do.”
The wagon turned on a side road and stopped in a wooded area a few leagues later.
“This is our stop,” Enashoma said.
The driver opened the gate, stumbled back in surprise, and drew a knife. “Who they heck are you?!”
Turesobei put one hand in a pouch, the other on his sword.
“I decided to join my sister. You didn’t see us.” He turned to Shoma. “Did you pay him already?”
“Twelve copper. I still owe him a jade.”
Turesobei pulled out four jade coins and tossed them to the man, whose eyes lit up.
“That’s a good reward. I could have sent her home and reported you for taking a baojendari girl out of the city. Where’re you heading?”
“Batsa.”
“Go there. Don’t come back to Ekaran.”
The driver nodded, but cursed under his breath. He slammed the gate shut, turned around, and headed back toward the main road.
Turesobei and Enashoma mounted up.
“We’ve got to follow him,” Turesobei said, “and make sure he doesn’t head back to the city to sell us out.”
Once the wagon turned toward Dakanuru, Turesobei led them off the road and north.
“At least I know now why you packed so many supplies. But how did you get the ink and strips out of my pack?”
She didn’t meet his eyes. “I snuck into your room after I asked Grandfather about the Deadly Twelve.”
Turesobei narrowed his eyes. He kept his door locked.
“You did no such thing. Lu Bei!”
The fetch popped out, wringing his hands. “Um, yes, master? What — what can I do for you?”
Enashoma tugged Turesobei’s sleeve. “Don’t be mad at him. I talked him into it.”
“He’s my fetch! And he shouldn’t deceive me. Or go against my wishes.”
“I am so humbly most apologetic, master.” Lu Bei batted his eyes and pouted. “Please forgive me. I didn’t go against your wishes. Not exactly. You would have agreed.”
“What makes you so certain?” Turesobei asked.
“I know, master. I know. And this is better. She was going to run away anyhow.”
“You didn’t tell me she had told you that!”
“I didn’t tell Lu Bei!” Shoma said. “He figured it out.”
“I accidentally overheard things I wasn’t supposed to hear.”
Turesobei poked Lu Bei in the belly. “From now on, you tell me things I would want to know. And don’t make assumptions about what I will do.”
“Yes, master. I promise.”
He rolled his eyes. That promise would never be kept.
“Get back in the pack.”
A wave of silken rain rolled toward them. As the rain pattered down, Enashoma held her arms out and laughed. She stuck her tongue out to catch raindrops.
“Freedom!”
He hoped she’d still be happy about it in the end.
They rode all day and camped in a wooded glade for the night. Turesobei helped Enashoma make a fire and screen it with fresh pine branches.
“Do you know the town of Ibintai?” he asked.
“I’ve never been further north than Tesisa,” she replied.
“It’s outside Ekaran Province. A couple of days north of Tesisa. Only a little out of the way. We’ll stop there and buy more supplies. I can get you some light armor and a glaive.”
“A staff is fine. I don’t want to cut anyone.”
“You might have to. You’ve got to protect yourself. You might have to kill someone, or a monster. Better get used to the idea. You can’t hesitate. Trust me.”
She curled up next to him. Every time she heard a strange noise in the forest, she squirmed. An animal made a crashing sound in the woods. Probably a raccoon.
“Scared?”
“Yes,” she replied, “and it’s wonderful.”
Chapter Twenty
The countryside in northern Ekaran Province consisted primarily of terraced farmland used to grow rice and managed woodlands teeming with pigs, deer, and other game. Few areas were truly wild in the well-managed lands of the Chonda. This made off-road travel easy and nearly as fast as using the main highways for two people mounted on denekon. Turesobei had only ridden through most of these areas by road, but had a detailed map that showed common hunting trails, which they frequently used.
The combination of the spell of darksight and the denekons' finely tuned senses allowed them to ride pre-dawn and through twilight.
Enashoma never grumbled, never complained. She wanted freedom. She was getting it. He knew she was uncomfortable from sleeping on the ground and riding twelve hours every day. He admired her ability to smile and never gripe.
Turesobei said nothing more about her decision. As they rode, he told her as much as he knew about survival and wild beasts, which wasn’t as much as he wished. One couldn’t specialize in wizardry and learn much about anything else. But he had learned a lot on the last expedition. Lu Bei knew far more than Turesobei did, and he lectured them frequently, but he was a poor teacher and had never seen a scholarly tangent he wasn’t eager to follow.
After three days, they reached Tesisa Shrine. It was only a half-day’s ride off the direct route to the Monolith of Sooku. An earthquake a century ago had destroyed the shrine’s neighboring town. What the shaking hadn’t torn down, the resulting fires had burned away. The people had moved on. The shrine yet stood, but was crumbling and wrapped in kudzu.
Enashoma pulled up her mount within sight of the shrine. “Sobei, promise you won’t be mad at me.”
“Gods! What else have you done?”
“Just promise. Okay?”
“I will do no such thing. Why—”
A scent drifted on the wind. Overly sweet jasmine. He’d recognize that particular perfume anywhere.
“No, no, no. How — How could she …”
“What are you talking about?”
“Why is she here? You didn’t send her out here with my things?!”
“Her? I don’t know what you mean.” He shot her a stare. “Honestly!”
“Then we’ve got to get out of here. We’ll be caught and have to go back.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. There can’t be a she here. There’s only one person meeting us. No one else knows
but him.”
Turesobei didn’t bother to ask her who.
“Lu Bei. I need you to scout.”
“Of course, master.”
Lu Bei flew up and over to the other side of the shrine. He returned a minute later, looking like he’d chewed on a dozen lemons.
“You’re not going to like this, master. You are not going to like this at all.”
“Do we need to ride away?”
“It’s safe. They have your stuff. They’re not going to make you go back.”
Enashoma and Turesobei turned to each other and simultaneously said: “They?”
“I’m not telling you,” said Lu Bei. “You’ll see. I’ve got to hide now, thank the gods!”
He crawled back into the pack and turned into a book.
Turesobei rolled his eyes. “Well, let’s find out.”
They rode around to the other side. Turesobei didn’t like what he saw. Zaiporo leaned back against a wall, fiddling with one of his hardened leather braces. Awasa sat lotus in a patch of purple and yellow flowers, tying them into chains.
Idiots. Two complete idiots.
Noticing them, Zaiporo’s eyes brightened. His lips peeled back into a huge smile. Awasa stood, nervous, sheepish.
“Awasa! Zaiporo!” Turesobei yelled. “What in Torment’s flames are you doing here?” He glanced around. “Where’s Marumi? Lord Kobarai? Lady Fumiri?”
“We came alone,” Awasa whispered. She didn’t meet his eyes.
“What on earth were you thinking?!”
Enashoma dismounted and stalked toward Zaiporo. Greeted by her fuming scowl, the smile drained from his face. He took a step back. Enashoma pointed at Awasa.
“What’s she doing here?!”
“I’m sorry. Very, very sorry.”
“This wasn’t part of our plan!”
“She caught me trying to leave. She was going to turn me in if I didn’t tell her where I was going.”
“So you let her come along?”
“She followed me anyway, and I tried to ditch her, but I got scared she’d get hurt.”
Turesobei dismounted. Awasa stepped toward him. Once, twice. Then she thought better of it and backed away.
“Awasa, you’ve got to go back.”
“Of course, Turesobei. We can return together. You can’t throw everything away to go after her.”
“You’re going to be in so much trouble for coming out here.”
“Not if you come back with me,” Awasa told him. “We can make up an excuse about how you had to rescue me from some sort of demon beast. It will be okay.”
“Not for Zaiporo,” Turesobei said. “He can never go back. Never.”
“Why not?” Awasa said.
Turesobei wanted to pull his hair out. “Are you really that dumb?”
“I’m not stupid!”
“Could’ve fooled me,” Turesobei replied. “A zaboko boy running off with a noble baojendari girl? He’ll be flogged and exiled, along with his mother and sisters. Even the Chonda won’t forgive this.”
“You could make up an excuse,” Enashoma said, “and they would believe you. You could tell them that Awasa ran off after you and Zaiporo stuck with her because he’s her guardian. But it doesn’t really matter because he’s not going back.”
“What do you know of it?” Turesobei asked.
“I just know, okay.”
“You two planned to run off together?”
Shoma nodded.
“But you didn’t plan on Awasa and me being along?” Turesobei said.
“Not you, not at first,” Enashoma replied. “But then I decided to help you. We never wanted Awasa along. She’s got to go home.”
Turesobei pointed at Zaiporo. “You’re running off with him?”
“It’s not like that,” Enashoma said. “We’re friends and we’re trying to find lives for ourselves. Where we can be who we want to be.”
Awasa interrupted. “What’s wrong with who you are? What’s wrong with being a Chonda lady? And you, Zaiporo, why would you want to be something different?”
“Because I don’t want to spend my entire life as a Chonda lackey, you dimwit. I want to be a man of my own. But you wouldn’t understand, princess. You see nothing wrong with bossing me around for the rest of your life.”
“But it’s a good place for a zaboko.”
“For a zaboko? Argh! I’m leaving.”
Enashoma grabbed his arm. “Wait. We’ve got to sort this out.”
“Well, that’s easy enough,” Turesobei said. “Shoma, you and Awasa are going to ride back to Ekaran. Zaiporo, you can ride with me to Ibintai and then go your own way.”
Shoma clapped her hand against her forehead. “Not this again. I’m not going back.”
“Someone has to take Awasa back.”
“You can take me back, Turesobei,” Awasa begged. “I want to go back. Let these two do whatever they want.”
“I’m on a mission. I have somewhere else to be.”
“If you insist on going after her,” Awasa declared, “then I’ll just have to go along with you.”
“Her name is Iniru. And I love her. And you’re going to have to deal with that. You’re not going to push me into taking you back home. If I have to drag you along with us, I will. But you’ll probably get killed along the way. And even if you don’t, your reputation will be ruined. Your station. Everything. No man would be willing to marry you.”
“It won’t matter, because you’ll marry me. You won’t care where I’ve been, because we’ll have been to the same place.”
“Gods, you’re annoying,” Shoma told her. “Let’s leave her here, Sobei.”
“Oh, I want to, but we can’t.”
A rotting barn stood next to the shrine. He stormed over and kicked the side. Planks shattered and fell in a cloud of dust. The storm sigil on his cheek burned hot and bright. He turned back toward them.
“I’m so mad at the three of you.”
Enashoma pointed. “Sobei. Your cheek. The mark.”
“Yeah, it’s burning. I know. I’m surprised I haven’t turned into a lightning bolt and shot off into the heavens. Or incinerated you all.”
“I’m sorry, Turesobei,” Zaiporo said. He’d never called him by his first name before. “I tried to ditch her, too. It's not as easy as it seems.”
Turesobei walked up to him and met him eye-to-eye. Zaiporo stood his ground, but his gaze kept flicking to the storm sigil.
“Your intentions with my sister …”
“Are pure. We are,” he said icily, “only friends. Apparently. I would never do her any harm. I intended to protect her along the way. Not a chance I was going to let her do this on her own, once she confided in me about it.”
“Look, I understand your desire to leave. I do. Working for Awasa’s family … it’s a good position for a zaboko, but that’s not the same as being free. I get that. But you understand that life outside Batsakun, for a zaboko, can be a challenge, right?”
“I planned on making my way around the Orichomos to Zangaiden.”
“Sobei,” said Enashoma, “I think—
Turesobei rounded on her. “Nothing you say right now will improve things.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it and nodded.
Zaiporo lifted a hand. “Shh. I think I hear—”
Three armed zaboko men in rough hunting clothes rounded the corner of the ruined shrine. One had a bow trained on them. The other two held spears. One of the spear-wielders stepped forward. He had a long, curling mustache and a scar across his neck. Like someone had tried to slit his throat and failed.
“Well, what have we here?”
Chapter Twenty-One
Awasa screeched. Turesobei stepped over to shield her.
The lead huntsman planted the butt of his spear into the ground and leaned on it confidently. “Nice mounts. Nice clothes and weapons. Bet you’ve got money on you, too.”
Zaiporo drew his longsword. Turesobei turned his body and demon
strably moved his hand to the hilt of his sword so they wouldn’t notice him reaching into his pouch for a spell strip.
The huntsmen seemed unconcerned. Probably didn’t think much about two boys with swords. The man Turesobei guessed was the leader didn’t worry him. He only cared about the archer.
“Who are you?” Zaiporo asked.
“Shut your mouth, servant. We ask the questions.”
“They’re not huntsmen from Ekaran Province,” Turesobei said. “I know that much.”
“What makes you think that?” Turesobei shrugged, and the leader eyed him appreciatively. “Big score for us, men: a noble and his two sisters, I’d wager. You’re right about us, boy. We’re not from Ekaran. Don’t know how you could tell.”
“Just a hunch. I figured you were Gawo scouts. Need to work on your accents.”
“Let’s get done with it,” said the other scout with a spear.
“Kill the zaboko boy,” the leader said. “Take the others alive.”
Turesobei waved the spell strip so Zaiporo could see it but not the Gawo. He hoped Zaiporo noticed.
“That’s not going to happen,” Turesobei said. “Zaiporo, the girls, please. Lu Bei! Ghost hammer!”
Lu Bei popped into existence and flew forward as Turesobei quick-cast the spell of the ghost hammer. To cast a spell by uttering nothing more than the name was incredibly draining but he had little choice. He didn’t have time for the normal fifteen-second chant ghost hammer called for.
An over-sized, translucent mallet appeared in his hand.
The archer blinked in surprise — and hesitated. Big mistake. Turesobei threw the hammer. At short range, the ghost hammer never missed. It zoomed toward the archer and struck him in the chest. He dropped his bow as he was knocked back.
The leader brandished his spear and stepped forward. Lu Bei darted up and zapped him in the face. The man stumbled back, temporarily blinded.
Zaiporo grabbed Enashoma by the arm and drug her away. “Awasa! Come on.”
Turesobei heard their footsteps as they retreated. Good. They would be safe now and he could do whatever he needed to.
The third scout backed away. He drew a ram’s horn from his belt and blew three quick notes.
Storm Phase Series: Books 1-3 Page 42