Chapter 21

A week later students of Yagn-Sho were heading to Sekania.

To keep the journey secret, the group was split up. More than thirty people would attract too much attention, so the masters have decided that they would leave the quarters at regular intervals in pairs. They were to spend three weeks in Sekania, intensively learning and exchanging experience with the female Scribes' Association. Swimming lessons were also planned. They could not be carried out in Yagn-Sho due to the location of the quarters.

Kalena and Galaspiael were to ride practically in the middle of the night. The trip was their last chance to spend time together before the coronation, and they hoped to try out a new invention. Sekanian beach was a great place for this.

They focused completely on the journey. Galaspiael did not mention what they've talked about during Confession Day, although the girl saw that he was still hurt by rejection.

"It's good that this year we are going there. When I was a student, they came to us," he said. "They were everywhere. At that moment I didn't feel sorry for them that they had such strict husbands and fathers. I prayed that they would leave as soon as possible."

"Was it that bad?"

"When you are the best in fighting lessons and suddenly you fall almost to the bottom because some Sekanian girl beat you with her luck, yes it is. It was a time when I wanted to be a good student, at least in terms of results. My master stubbornly believed that I would succeed someday and I wanted to prove that he had not been wrong."

"What happened to him? Why isn't he teaching now?"

"As soon as I finished training, he left Kagolania. After some time, Tessale's master also disappeared somewhere, and later a few more" Galaspiael broke off, sighed, then smiled. "I hope they're okay. Perhaps they started working in a different school."

Slowly they headed for the isthmus and sekanian forest. From that point, the road to the capital city - Suei - took about a day. This was not their destination today, although Galaspiael talked a lot about sekanian capital. He promised Kalena that they would go there someday, but the girl sincerely doubted that there would ever be an opportunity for it.

"Can you fall asleep while riding a horse?" She asked, seeing that the boy closes his eyes from time to time. It was almost dawn, they spent all night on the road.

"No," he replied and yawned, "but you can try. If you won't fall asleep, you can skip your first lessons."

"I'm afraid to fall."

The prince fixed the bundles. Meanwhile, two men came up from the opposite direction. When Kalena wanted to pass them by, they blocked her way.

"What is going on?!" She snapped in confusion.

"Let us go," Galaspiael asked. "We want to get to Sekania safely and not to cause any trouble

"The Righteous Conspiracy demands your luggage. Give it now!" One of the men said.

The prince nodded.

"Look, Kalena. Righteous Conspiracy. That's amazing."

"Yes," the other man said eagerly. "We're from the Conspiracy! Absolutely!"

Kalena pursed her lips nervously. There was no help, the last couple was supposed to get there after a few hours. She hoped that they wouldn't have to fight. Her heart began to pound when she saw Galaspiael and the three other men dismounted.

"Come what are you waiting for?"

The girl was stunned when Galaspiael turned to her. She didn't want to fight these people. She usually believed in her skills, but not now.

Her master calmly waited for the attack. Finally, one of the enemies shouted furiously and attacked. He thought that he would break the boy's defense with a strong blow, but the prince answered confidently. Rarely did people regard him as an experienced swordsman, which he often used in combat.

Kalena could not look passively. She attacked without thinking about the consequences. The opponent was taller than her and much stronger, so she had to be careful. Two blades gave only an apparent advantage if they could not be used properly.

"Calm down!" Galaspiael advised while kicking his opponent. "Nothing is happening. It's just training."

Hearing his voice, she felt more confident and attacked again, this time with greater calmness. Unfortunately, her opponent set the pace until she could do nothing but defend herself. Galaspiael noticed this and quickly ran to help her.

Suddenly she felt unspeakable relief, but at the same time shame. She devoted so much time learning to fight, just so that when she had the unique opportunity to prove herself, he would have to save her.

"What will we do with them?" She asked uncertainly.

"I think you should kill them," Galaspiael replied, and her blood chilled.

"No!" The man who fought with him tried to get up but fell to the ground again. "Have mercy, please."

"Or let's beat them even harder, then they will learn not to attack travelers." The boy laughed. "You're not from the Conspiracy, are you?"

"Don't kill us, dear sir," the other joined. "We're not in this Oath, but you understand that you have to live for something, right? We did not mean harm, maybe damage a little and take something, but only that."

"If you impersonate the Conspiracy members, you won't enjoy life for a long time," Galaspiael said, tucking the shen into a leather case. "They'd better not find out about you.

He signaled Kalena to get back on the horse."

"They won't find out, calm head," he whispered, so they couldn't hear him anymore. "Now we will say that we are from the Scribes' Association."

*

"I feel ashamed," Kalena said quietly when they left.

Galaspiael looked at her in surprise.

"What are you ashamed of? You stood up to fight."

"I can hardly call it a fight! Zarkin and Mizar could arrange a duel in which they gave their best and fought bravely, and I?" She looked away. "I was afraid to take out my weapons."

"I got scared myself when they suddenly jumped at us like that. You had to fight the more agile one and you did well! Everyone would think that he would crush you."

"He would have crushed me if not for your help."

"I only helped because you distracted him and I could deal with others. I'm tired, I couldn't beat them alone after a sleepless night... even after sleeping, I couldn't do it. It is not a bad thing that you were afraid." he added emphatically, seeing that her mood still did not improve. "Do you think Mizar, Zarkin and all of them would not be scared? I remember my first serious fight, I was terrified. At one point I stood completely still! I wanted to run away."

He made it up, she could bet. Galaspiael was a great swordsman. He had real talent.

After several dozen minutes of quiet riding, she was overwhelmed with fatigue. Fortunately, they arrived in the city just an hour later. The first lessons have already begun, but only a few students from Yagn-Sho participated in them.

Zarkin arrived in Astinia much earlier, so he took part in them. He stood in the courtyard, walled on four sides, among fifty people spaced at equal intervals. There was enough space between them to be able to exercise freely.

Sekanian combat teacher Raivara showed them new mover, kicks and punches, which they trained repeated several times. Later they practiced fighting in pairs. Zarkin was upset by his partner, whose movements were stiff and completely ill-considered.

The rest from physical exercise was calligraphy, history, and math classes. They were held in the main hall of the building belonging to the Sekanian Association. Everyone got a dozen clean exercise cards and texts to exchange. Zarkin was to rewrite a letter in which someone told about successful harvesting. Certainly, however, he was not a farmer, because the language he used was unnatural and Zarkin found it irritating. The author compared his field to the golden ocean for a long time.

*

The atmosphere was different here than in Yagn-Sho. All students sat at wide, oblong tables, higher than those in Kagolania. They could walk around the room and whisper if they wanted to.

"Mei!" Zarkin noticed the girl and gestured to her. "Bring me something to eat, I'm starving."

"Come with me," she asked, "why didn't you take anything from the dining room?"

"There was no time, and the break is in a few hours," he explained. "Where is the dining room here?"

"Shall I show you?" Without waiting for an answer, she took his hand gently, but he broke free from her. Nobody paid any attention to them as they went out into the corridor.

"You realized it quickly," he admitted. "Have you ever been here?"

"It's easy to orientate in a sekanian house." Mei opened the door for him. He smiled to himself, smelling roasted meat.

"Did you live in a sectarian house?" Zarkin continued to ask. He saw that she didn't want to talk about it, and it boosted his curiosity

"A few years ago. Sorry, I don't like to talk about it."

"And when will I order you?"

The rest of the smile disappeared from her face. She looked into Zarkin's eyes sadly and shook her head.

"Forgive me, my lord, but I will not follow this order. You can punish me for it in every possible way you can think of, but I just can't tell you."

She surprised him. He kicked back the chair and sat on it, snorting angrily.

"And at the same time, you demand me to trust you?"

"I'm not demanding anything, please don't make me do it. I would like to never go back to the past."

"Then get out of my sight until you want to reveal your secret," he drawled. "You don't want to talk to me, so good."

The girl, hearing it with horror, sank to her knees, Zarkin, however, ignored her and turned away ostentatiously.

"My lord, why are you like this?"

"Why don't you want to tell me? You are no longer living in your past, what will happen if you come back to it for a moment?"

"I don't want you to think about me badly."

"I'll be if you are going to have some secrets for me!"

"Good," she sighed. "It all has to do with my first owner who came from Sekania. That's when I lived in a sekanian home if you want to know. A few months after being sold into captivity, I rebelled a lot and... one day I did terrible harm to him. I've hurt my lord!"

The boy sighed deeply and rubbed his eyes.

"And that's it? This is your painful secret?"

"You don't understand, I almost killed him... my owner!"

"What's wrong with that?" Zarkin asked quite seriously. "I would do the same if I were in your place. The Sekanians treat their wives like the rest of the world treats slaves, so I understand you. I'm surprised you haven't tried to kill me yet."

"I wouldn't dare raise my hand with you!" Mei exclaimed.

"Interesting." The blonde boy smiled. "What's so bad about fighting for your freedom?"

Mei was stunned.

"Don't you understand? This man took me in, feed me kept me..."

"When I turned ten, I began to poison the people I hated," he confessed, "most often my owner and his wife. I dreamed that they would die, but unfortunately, my mother noticed it and told me to stop. He also kept me in his home. But at the same time, he also beat, starved and humiliated me. I don't think I did anything wrong." Zarkin paused and stroked her cheek. "You also didn't."