Chapter 12 Part 1: Year's End

Rustling papers stirred Jun from his studies. Amalie was sitting across the room—her office. Far from the imagination her figure and combat prowess gave, she sorted through papers as if this was a natural part of her life. Every once in a while a person would randomly appear near her. More often than not, they knocked at the door. Today was an exception. No one entered. Not even unexpectedly. Amalie wanted concentration.

Jun had offered to study somewhere else, but a few weeks ago the Jinshari had poisoned him. His weakened faith had made it a struggle to fight through. Since then, he had spent most of his days by her side where she could protect him. It made it hard for the Jinshari to approach. It also made it hard for him to go to any classes besides combat with Amalie. As for Mei, she was unwilling to be cooped up. She spent her nights out and about, making sure to attend class, particularly the ones that Arvad attended. 

Jun shrugged. While the sound had caught his attention, nothing stood out of the ordinary as Amalie peered at another scroll.

He returned to his book. The words were old. If Jun had to describe it, it was like reading ‘ye old language’, archaic and a slow read. It was the content that held him, certainly not the difficulty. As one of the older surviving works on runes, particularly fire runes, it was a treasure trove, if only he could unravel the words.

“Do you have any plans for today?” Amalie asked, wrenching him from his read. His silence answered for him. “I suppose you haven’t heard then. The school year is coming to a close. Starting this afternoon and until next week, there will be a year-end celebration. It might do you good to stretch for a bit.”

Jun frowned. He had no desire to incur the wrath of his clan. The constant vigilance against any deviation to the Matriarch's 'script' was enough hassle. And with his faith sitting near red, he could barely defend himself. Mei was stronger than him, which bothered him on many levels. How could he protect her, help her? As her father, he felt he was failing. His only advantage still lay in reading and swordsmanship, which he would not slack in.

“You will at least attend the final festival. I’m required to be there,” Amalie huffed. Jun noted her scowl.

“Don’t want to chaperone?” he teased. Amalie stilled and then looked to the window. A Jinshari hid in the branches of a distant tree.

“I suppose I should enjoy the celebration, but… too many bad memories.” Her words were softer, somber. Jun rolled his eyes. She clearly wanted to share her story.

“Like what?” he offered his ear and listened as she talked of her broken engagement. The final festival is when she had gathered enough repertoire to end it, but it hadn’t been without struggle. The Festival had also been the day when their Master had vanished. While she was pleased to have met more of his disciples, she wished old Bernard wrote.

As Jun wished she would end her pity party, Mei arrived, surprising both as she opened the door. Seeing it was her and not someone else, Jun and Amalie relaxed.

“Hey, are you going to come to the Festival?” Her question was a bit too on the mark. Jun narrowed his eyes, suspicious if she had been listening in.

“Not sure.”

“He’s attending the last day.” Amalie said definitively. “Other than that, it’s his call.” Her nose became glued to her work once more, Mei’s eyes boring into him. Jun shrugged.

“Could you?” Mei walked closer, sitting next to him.

“Why?” He couldn’t see an advantage to going. He needed to study runes, and he didn’t want to interact with Ellen right now. The few times in combat class were enough to force him to keep his distance, much as it pained him. Then there was the Jinshari. Even if he considered trying to make friends and allies, the matriarch had her hand in everything and made the peoples lives miserable. He would need to confront her eventually, but in the meantime, he couldn’t bring himself to interact with others with that threat looming.

“Well, then you could warn me, or the Silver Flame could...” Her voice trailed off as she spoke of the ‘not god’-like being. Jun snapped the book closed as he rose. Mei ducked her head, fidgeting with the mask. Then her eyes grew watery as she straightened, her eyes glaring. “Sorry I even asked!” She stormed out. Jun winced as the door slammed shut. Amalie huffed.

“That was certainly fatherly.” Jun sent her a stern look but she smirked. “I would have loved to have family around during this time. Sharing in the festivities, spending time with them. Considering how little you two have seen each other, it might ease the Jinshari’s hearts to have you take her around. Spend some quality time with her instead of having her with Arvad all the time.”

Jun paused. He hadn’t thought of that. Amalie reached down by her side. The sound of drawer opening reached his ears. She procured a small bag and then snapped her fingers. A person appeared beside her, bowing. Jun didn’t need directions as she tossed a small bag of coins. With a few fumbles he caught the bag and without a word, placed his book down at his spot. Footfalls graced the hall as he chased after Mei. He found her near the entrance and called out to her. She stopped and he chewed on his lip, stopping beside her. She tilted her head, waiting then started off again.

“Would you like to go to the festival together?” He asked. He knew what this looked like, especially to their clan. But he would make sure this was more like the times he had taken her to the fairs back on earth, a ‘daddy-daughter date’. His smile was half there. She tugged on her mask, her own smile peeking through.

“Sure old man. Just try to keep up this time.”

Jun refrained from swatting her over the head at the remark. He tucked the coin purse away and then offered his hand, unsure where to go, but willing to find out with her. Mei took it and they headed out of the estate.

It didn’t take long to learn about the activities. There were wooden plaques with the information around. There was fire shows every night, food that was being provided by the school and teacher gatherings where you could meet and greet. There were several competitions as well. Mei seemed mostly interested in the ninja skills based ones—dagger throwing being a prime example. Jun let her choose which ones to see, mentally thanking Amalie for giving him that little push as he watched Mei laugh and smile. Memories stirred his heart as he watched and walked. If only Ellen wasn’t so hostile. He would have invited her without a second thought, though he wasn’t sure she would enjoy seeing him with their daughter as his fiancé, let alone several other things that made this whole thing out of place.

Mei guided him away from the Jinshari as they enjoyed the festivities. She pointed out how some of the romantic couples shared snacks and treats and they laughed at the sight. They may have to pretend, but there were unspoken boundaries they would never cross.

As the day drew to a close, they ran into Arvad who invited them to watch the fire show.

Jun allowed the moment to sweep him away, forgetting about his faith crisis, his worries, and family for the time being. He watched the show as fires were sent skyward. Instead of acting like fireworks, they were guided to create moving creatures, sharing stories of what had occurred that year, including the accident with the field trip. Jun watched as fires depicting the monsters chased people, before being taken out by white flames. The crowd cheered but Jun watched the healers. Only one was depicted which set his heart at ease. No one knew he had helped.