“I know you will. But you’re talking about taking on an entire country. We… we’re just not strong enough. Not yet. For now, I think we should stay at Riyans’ and soak up all the knowledge he can give us. The stronger we are, the harder we’ll be able to strike back.”
His friend nodded. “I’m going to wring every last grain of knowledge out of that woman. I’m not leaving until I do. Whatever it takes, Vir. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
There was something in Maiya’s eyes that scared him, but he couldn’t place what. “L-let’s head back for now. Akros is gonna be worried sick that his ’risto guests just up and vanished on him.”
“Let that chal sweat,” Maiya seethed. “Not like he’s done right by either of us. He doesn’t deserve our courtesy.”
“I’m the last person in the world to defend that chal, but we don’t want to attract any more attention than absolutely necessary.”
“Right,” Maiya said, gazing off into the distance. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
“Let’s, uh… let’s fix our makeup first?”
Luckily, Vir had packed their makeup kits in the rucksacks they’d brought along. Their makeup had been smeared badly, and the single orb’s light didn’t help matters; fixing it took an entire hour.
The pattering sounds of rain had died off by the time they’d finished, and they made good time back to Akros’ house.
“I don’t want to stay here,” Maiya said. “I can’t stand being here. I feel like… like I want to burn this whole village to the ground.”
Vir tried to ignore the scary things coming out of her mouth. “It’s dangerous to travel at night. How about sleeping at my old place instead?”
If he was honest, his house was the last place Vir wanted to visit, but there was something there he needed to retrieve. Something important.
As Vir expected, Akros was beside himself with worry. The man had been getting ready to put a search party together, so it seemed like they arrived just in time.
“Please, stay with us! I hope we have not inconvenienced you? If we have, please tell us how we can compensate you!”
As much as Vir wanted to spit on the man, he refrained out of a desire not to make a scene. Their actions were already suspicious as it was. If someone traced them back to Apramor’s home and then informed Hiranyan knights, it could pose a risk to them and Riyan. As much as he wanted to give into his feelings, he had to be responsible here.
“We appreciate your generosity,” Vir said through gritted teeth. “But we have just learned of complications that require us to return home at once. I hope you understand.”
“How did you—ah!” Akros said, coming to the conclusion Vir hoped for. The only way to send messages in a village like Brij was via letter, and a runner entering the village late at night would have visited the village leader’s home first—Akros’ place.
The Sawai had other options. Communications orbs existed, though as Maiya had learned from Tanya, they were so exorbitantly expensive that only the wealthiest families had one.
Akros must have concluded that Vir belonged to such a family, because his eyes went as wide as saucers.
“Thank you for your hospitality,” Vir said, throwing him a small handful of Imperium coppers. The man’s entire family eyed the coin like a pack of starving bandies, and Vir could almost imagine the saliva oozing out of their mouths.
“Disgusting,” Maiya said once they’d mounted Bumpy and rode out of earshot.
“It is, isn’t it?” Vir replied. “To think I once looked up to these people. To think I wanted to be like them. No matter how much I try to empathize, it all just seems so hollow now. So… meaningless.”
Rising at dawn to tend the fields of work in the woods—day after day, year after year—with only marriage and having kids to look forward to. What was the point of a life like that?
Maiya once said it was a depressing way to live. Vir had disagreed back then, but now? It was hard not to see things that way. The world was such a vast place. To spend life cloistered in some corner of the world felt like a tragic waste.
Vir asked Maiya to extinguish her Magic Lamp orb, and they rode out of the village, navigating only by the light of the stars and Prana Vision. It was imperative no one noticed them reach their destination, and while the streets were empty, Vir wasn’t taking any chances.
Bumpy initially startled at penetrating the inky darkness, but he trusted Vir’s excellent navigation. Before long, the dirt road widened, and they arrived at Vir’s old home.
Instead of tying Bumpy up at the stables, Vir led the Ash’va around back. This way, any villagers traveling the road would see only an abandoned house—same as always.
Unlike Maiya’s home, Vir’s residence hadn’t been barred. His greatest fear was that someone might have moved into it, but it was unwarranted—after all, no one had claimed Maiya’s home, and Vir’s was far smaller and out of the way. More of a shack, really.
The flimsy latch on the door had already been broken, making entering a simple matter of pushing open the door.
Owing to Prana Vision, Vir saw far more than Maiya, so he held her hand and guided her within. They found a similar scene inside, with cookware and odds and ends strewn across the floor like discarded trash.
“They left your furniture, at least,” Maiya said, prompting a chuckle from Vir.
“Only because our stuff wasn’t even worth stealing. Guess that’s one benefit of being as poor as a pauper.”
He did note that the cooler’s Magic Cold orb was missing.
Vir peered into the bedroom. The villagers had appropriated the single bed he shared with his father, leaving the room bare.
“Find what you’re looking for?” Maiya asked, unable to make heads or tails of the darkness.
“Nah. It can wait until morning. I don’t want to risk using Magic Lamp here.”
“Hmm. Why don’t we leave now, instead? I feel like I’m suffocating, Vir. Every minute, I feel like I’m drowning. Bumpy made it here alright, yeah? We can travel at night.”
“Reaching the outskirts of the village was one thing. Braving the plains and the sands all the way back to Riyan’s place? There’s a reason no one travels at night,” Vir said, squeezing her hand. “Trust me, I don’t enjoy being here any more than you do. Can I ask you to bear with it for just a few more hours?”
Maiya relented and sat on the floor in a corner of the bedroom.
They both knew that no rest would be forthcoming on this night, no matter how tired they were.
Vir didn’t even try to sleep. He retrieved a blanket from Bumpy and just huddled together with Maiya, pressing his back against her for warmth.
The hours passed in agonizing silence, with both of them lost in their thoughts.
Vir had always suspected that Apramor would land in hot water if the knights learned of his actions, but never in his wildest nightmares did he think they’d kill the kindhearted priest, let alone Lady Aliscia.
His heart ached at the thought. It was cruel. It was beyond cruel. Was this what Hiranya was really like? Ruled by tyrants and despots? How many other tragedies befell people in other towns and cities every day? How many atrocities went unnoticed—unpunished? Knights were supposed to protect people, not execute them!
Maiya was right. Things couldn’t stand as they were. The blood boiled within Vir’s chest and his head grew hot. Even if he took out a knight, what of it? The blight came from the very top. Only by cutting off the head would change come. Vir shook off those thoughts. They were dangerous thoughts, liable to get him killed. He could almost hear Riyan scolding him for his folly.
Vir and Maiya had been quick to brand their instructor a criminal, fleeing from the government. But now, he wondered whether his judgment had been unfair. It felt like with every new thing he learned, the line between good and evil grew ever blurrier.