As he shut the door behind him, something caught the corner of his eye. He turned to see a small bag tacked to his door. He looked around but didn’t see anyone nearby. He opened the bag to see a familiar green ribbon and a folded piece of paper.
His heart dropped. He quickly unfolded the piece of paper. There was a brief note: Don’t worry, I’ve only taken her shopping. Remember, I like ‘em wild.
Justan swallowed. Kenn abducting Ma'am? On the surface it was a ludicrous idea. Sure, she hadn’t been there to wake him as she had promised, but Justan couldn’t imagine anyone catching her unawares, much less someone as inept as Kenn. What finally convinced him was the ribbon.
He remembered a time during practice when one of her ribbons fell out of her hair. When he had tried to pick it up, she had smacked his hand so hard, it hurt for days. Ma’am would not have let it out of her sight.
He held the ribbon carefully in his hands. The note said he had taken her shopping. His hands clenched into fists. Justan strapped on his new swords and ran towards the Training Market. That's where Kenn had to have taken her. Justan didn’t know what he was looking for, but he didn't care.
He searched up and down the streets, pushing past crowds and vendors looking to make deals. Where would they be? Kenn obviously couldn’t hold her hostage out in the open.
Justan was well known by now. Many people in the market called out his name as he passed by. He politely nodded, but didn’t speak to anyone. He didn't have time for any delays. The strategy test would start in about two hours.
After traversing the length of the Training Market several times, Justan hesitated at the city border. Reneul seemed to loom over him. The only place left to search was the Reneul Market, in the city. But it was off limits. He had signed a contract stating that he would not leave the training grounds this year. If he was caught leaving with all these witnesses, his contract would be forfeit and he would not be able to enter the academy. Perhaps that was what Kenn was trying to get him to do. Perhaps they were watching him, just waiting for him to step over the line so that they could call the guards.
A year ago, Justan would not have hesitated. He would have gone back to take the test. Taking this kind of chance would have been unacceptable to the old Justan. But he had changed. Some things were more important than the tests. The memory of Kenn’s sickening smile directed at Ma'am convinced him. Ignoring the watchful eyes of the passers-by, he stepped into the city.
He searched up and down the market street of Reneul looking for any sign of them. Time grew short. He knew that if he were to search any longer, he would miss the test and the last year of training would go to waste. He could lose any chance he had of entering the academy. All the people who helped him this year would have done so in vain. Ma’am, Hilt . . .
Justan came to a stop so fast he stumbled. He had been ignoring Hilt’s words from the night before. It was ridiculous to think that he could find them in the city all by himself! Why hadn’t he gone and found Swift Kendyl or Oz the Dagger and told them of the situation? The vision in his mind of himself as ‘the hero saving the day’ that had overridden his common sense. The thought that his indulging such a selfish notion could hurt Ma’am was something he could not bear.
He had to get back. Justan’s heart beat madly in his chest as he sprinted back to the Training School. His only thoughts were of reaching someone in authority to help. He made his way back to the Training Market and began once more pushing his way through the crowd.
Then something stopped him dead in his tracks. There was another green ribbon. This one tacked to the gnarled wooden door of an old storeroom that looked like it hadn’t been used in some time.
Without thinking, Justan pulled his swords. He charged the door and kicked it in. He darted inside and caught a quick glimpse of Kenn standing over an unconscious Ma’am before something wet splashed him in the face. He blacked out.
Justan slowly became aware of muffled voices. He couldn’t move at all. He couldn’t feel his body. The only thing he could feel was his eyelids and they felt like they were glued shut. The voices got louder. He strained to hear what was being said.
“The test is over. He missed it. Now let’s get out of here. We didn’t have much of that stuff left when I hit him and I don’t know how long they’re going to sleep.” It was Benjo's voice.
Kenn's greasy voice came out in response. “Yeah, yeah. The test may be over . . . but I don’t think that’s enough.”
“Come on, Kenn. Let’s go.” Benjo was starting to sound worried.
“I don’t think so.” Kenn must have seen Justan’s eyelids twitch, because he kicked him in the ribs. “Wake up, Justan! I want you to see something.”
Justan’s eyes fluttered open. He could see somewhat, but the edges of his vision were clouded over. His head felt like it had been stuffed with cotton. He still couldn't move his limbs.
“Why?” he croaked.
“Why what, Justan?”
“Why . . . this?” Was all he could squeeze out.
“Because you are everything I hate in this world!” Kenn snarled. “You think you are so much better than everybody else just because your daddy makes sure you get all the breaks.” He kicked Justan again, harder this time. “Now because of you, I am out of the school! My one chance to get ahead in life and a spoiled boy takes me down.”
“I didn’t do this to you, Kenn,” Justan coughed. The kick had hurt that time, but he was starting to get some of his movement back. “You did this to yourself.”
Kenn ignored him. “At first I thought that you would get away with it and I'd be stuck on the street while you got into the Battle Academy!” His voice reached a feverish pitch. “Luckily I was able to get another potion from that old guy in town. Now you are out of it, too!”
Justan was starting to think that Kenn was insane.
Kenn pulled a dagger from a sheath at his belt and walked over to Ma’am, who was still unconscious on the floor. He pulled her head back by her hair and placed the knife against her throat. A giggle burst from his throat.
“Maybe I should take care of the wild lady.” Kenn's voice was off kilter. “One of her main goals in life seems to be to humiliate me.”
Suddenly Justan’s limbs didn’t seem so heavy. He lurched to his feet, but Benjo grabbed him tight.
“You know, though. I do like them wild. What do you think, Justan? You think she would like it?” Kenn ran his unshaven cheek against hers and grinned an evil grin. His voice lowered and became husky. “Yes, I think she would.”
“I will kill you!” Justan promised.
Kenn pressed the tip of his knife harder at Ma'am's throat, causing a bead of blood to form.
“Kenn, I-I don’t like this,” Benjo stammered.
“Hold him still! I want him to watch this.”
Justan thought he saw Ma’am’s eyelids flutter.
“No!” Benjo said. “You're going too far!” His grip around Justan lessened.
“Shut up and hold him!” Kenn hissed. “I’m going to enjoy this.” He put the knife down and lifted Ma'am's head from the floor. He fumbled with the fastenings on Ma’am’s clothes with one hand. He ran his tongue along her cheek.
What happened next was a blur. Benjo released Justan. He stumbled toward Kenn, but before he got there, it was already over.
With a roar, Ma'am bit into the side of Kenn's face. Her fist shot out and caught him in the throat. Kenn clutched at his face and throat, gasping for air. Ma'am was already on her feet. She kicked him over and over. Kenn stopped moving.
Justan tried to pull her away. She grabbed his wrist and threw him to the side. He waited for a moment, but when it didn't look like she was going to stop, he tried again.
This time he was able to grasp Ma'am around the waist. He lifted her away, still kicking at the air. He looked around for Benjo, but the man was gone. The door to the room was ajar.
“Enough, Ma’am! It’s over.” Kenn was unmoving, his eyes rolled back into his
head, his body bruised and broken from the beating. “He’s not worth it.”
Ma'am continued to struggle in his arms. “In my land, he would die for even thinking of what he was about to do!”
“Well not here,” Justan said, though he wasn’t completely sure that Kenn was still alive. “Let the council take care of him.”
He held her close until she stopped struggling. For a moment, her arms reached around him and held him back. He thought she began to sob. It didn’t last long.
“Fine!” She pushed him away. “Fine. We will call the guard to take him away.”
They didn’t have to wait long. One met them at the door. People in the market had heard the ruckus. Ma’am stormed outside while Justan tried to answer the guard’s questions. Soon another guard came and Justan watched as they took Kenn’s still form away. Kenn was still breathing, but barely. If the man didn't die from the beating Ma'am had given him, he would probably wish he were dead by the time the council got through with him.
Justan joined Ma’am on the street outside. He was shaken by her appearance. She looked disheveled and upset, fingering her hair and pacing back and forth. She wiped the cheek where Kenn had licked her over and over with a piece of cloth.
Justan stared at her, wanting to help, wanting to hold her close and tell her it was okay. But that wasn’t what she would want. He dug into his pocket and handed her the green ribbons that Kenn had taken. She snatched them from his hands and quickly weaved them back into her hair. As she did so, she seemed to regain some of her composure.
“You’re bleeding.” Justan pointed to her throat, where the tip of Kenn’s knife had pierced her skin.
She reached towards the wound but her hand stopped short of touching it. “It’s nothing,” she said, but her fingers were trembling.
A guard found their weapons inside. Justan retrieved them and handed the gray staff to Ma’am. She gripped the staff so tightly that Justan could hear the wood creak.
Ma’am seemed to take strength from the feel of her staff in her hands. By the time they started walking toward the Training Council Chambers, she seemed to be back to normal. They walked for a moment in silence before Justan spoke.
“How did it happen?”
Ma'am didn't look at him as she answered. “I was keeping watch outside of your room when I saw the two of them creeping along in the dark. When I approached them, that oily little goblin splashed me with something.”
“I’m sorry Ma’am, I-.”
“What we need to worry about now, Justan, is the fact that you missed the test today.”
“It’s over. Isn’t it?” He hung his head. “Kenn won. They won't let me take the test again. I finally had the chance of my life and he took it from me.”
Ma’am stopped and turned to face him. Her voice was matter of fact, “What do you mean, Justan? All you need is four points.”
“Four points.” Justan blinked. The thought hadn’t occurred to him. He had never before received more than two points in the armed combat test. Sure, he had improved over the last year, but four points? It was impossible. Wasn’t it? Justan steeled himself.
“I have no choice. I will just have to do it, won’t I, Ma’am?”
Ma'am reached out and grabbed Justan's shoulders. Her striking green eyes pierced his.
“My name is Jhonate bin Leeths.”
With one squeeze to Justan’s shoulders, she turned and walked on toward the Training Council Tent. Justan stood stunned for a moment, then rushed after her. Suddenly, to Justan, nothing seemed impossible anymore.
Chapter Ten
Jhonate stood in front of the training council and explained in clipped sentences how she had allowed herself to become trapped by someone as incompetent as Kenn. Despite the serious nature of the subject, as Justan watched her a slight grin etched his cheek.
She had told him her name.
He had never heard a name quite like it. What did it mean? There were many different naming traditions in the various human kingdoms and Justan knew about a lot of them, but Jhonate was exotic. He knew nothing of where she was from. She avoided the subject every time he brought it up. He had figured out early on that wherever she did come from, a person’s name was given great meaning. He wondered if he was now allowed to call her by her name or if he was just allowed to know it.
When she finished her tale, the council gathered together and conferred. After a couple of minutes, Oz the Dagger stepped forward.
“Jhonate, daughter of Xedrion bin Leeths, we have determined that you are not at fault here.”
At fault? Justan wondered. Jhonate hadn’t done anything wrong. She had been the victim.
“However,” Oz continued. “You should not have taken it upon yourself to guard the boy last night. You should have let the proper authorities know if you had any suspicions of sabotage in the tests. In your contract, you promised to report everything of importance that happened during the training of this trainee. That you did not report the previous attempts on Justan is completely irresponsible.”
Jhonate stared down at that statement, her face a mask of embarrassment.
“But, seeing as you are an Academy student and not directly under our jurisdiction, we must defer judgment in this case to the Battle Academy Council. You should expect to hear from them soon.”
Justan's eyebrows rose. Jhonate was an Academy student? How was that possible? There hadn't been a new female academy student in years. One had to graduate from the Training School to enter and Justan knew that he would have heard of any female training student that passed the entrance exams. A few women had tried that he could remember, but none had succeeded.
Then again, it made some sense. In the beginning Justan had thought his father was using her as a spy to keep track of him. Now he understood that she had no choice. One of her responsibilities as a student would have been to report his progress to her superiors.
Still, the label of student seemed to diminish her somehow. Justan had always seen her as being something more. Now he didn’t know what to think.
He shrugged the thoughts away. It didn’t matter. She had become his closest friend. That was the important thing. He watched as Jhonate stiffly walked back to stand beside him, glaring at the ground.
“Justan, son of Faldon the Fierce, step before the council,” Oz commanded. “Now please tell us what in the world you were thinking?”
“Well, first of all, sir, let me say that this wasn’t Jho-, uh,” Was he supposed to say her name or not? “It wasn’t her fault, sir. I asked her to keep quiet about Kenn and Benjo. I was worried that things would get worse if they got in trouble.”
“We have already commented on her case, Justan. We are discussing you now. Tell us what happened this morning.”
Justan told his side of the story, leaving out the part where he left the training grounds and went into the city. He didn’t want to hang himself.
When he was finished, the council conferred again. This time they spoke for much longer, some of them quite animated. Justan glanced at Jhonate. She continued to stand with her head down, deep in thought.
Oz the Dagger stepped forth again. His face betrayed no emotion. “Justan, son of Faldon the Fierce, we have come to a decision. You have been in this Training School for three years. You have learned by now that a real warrior does not run blindly into battle. You should have informed the council as soon as you realized that she had been taken. It is possible that we would have found them and you would not have missed the strategy test.
“The fact that you rushed into such a situation knowing what was at stake was both irresponsible and selfish. It is time that you grew up and figured out that your decisions affect others, not just yourself. Kenn could have been successful in his attack on Jhonate. What would you have done then?”
Justan felt Jhonate’s hand press down on his shoulder for support, but he could not bear to look at her. The council was right. His ego had led to all of this.
“Considering yo
ur actions today, we cannot let you retake the strategy test. The rules are clear in this matter and you haven’t provided an adequate excuse for us to make an exception. However, son of Faldon, you will not be expelled from the school. You will be allowed to compete in the Armed Combat test tomorrow.”
Oz smiled reluctantly. “You have made great strides this year and we have been thrilled to see your improvement. You still have a chance to enter the academy with a strong performance tomorrow. I for one will be watching with interest.”
A guard escorted Justan and Jhonate out. Though the news was better than it could have been, Justan left with a heavy heart.
Jhonate stood in front of him and pointed towards the practice field. “Come, there is not much daylight left. You need to get one more good practice in before tomorrow.”
Eye of the Moonrat (The Bowl of Souls: Book One) Page 10