Chapter Twenty-Two: At the Inn

 

“Hot water!” Anglorae yelled, banging down money on the startled innkeeper’s table. “And lots of it!”

The inn John had chosen was small and shabby, but it was all they could afford in Mardoo with the little money they had. Southerners had flocked north to escape the brutal winter, and the city was crowded with visitors, driving the prices in the city skyhigh.

The innkeeper solemnly counted their money and led them up to a room. He said to Kyosti, “It’s not often that we see soldiers from Chithoobra here. Why so far from the capital?”

Kyosti threw a smile in his direction. “That would be the Queen’s business.”

He could almost hear the innkeeper’s hackles rising. “Well I’m afraid I’ll have to see your permit. Both of you.”

Swallowing down his retort, Kyosti slung his backpack off his shoulder and rifled in it, searching for his sheaf of papers. He could hear Anglorae doing the same, grumbling. John and Sanji had gone very quiet next to them. Arm-deep in his bag, Kyosti’s fingers brushed against the box tucked at the bottom, and his heart lurched. They were back in civilization again; if soldiers caught him, that would be the end for him.

Finally he found his permit and handed it over for inspection. With many mutters and grunts, the innkeeper looked over the papers. It took a while, as it always did, and Anglorae seethed at Kyosti’s side. He could feel her hand clenching and unclenching where it brushed against his.

The innkeeper handed the permits back and left them at their door, calling over his shoulder, “I’ll send the hot water up,” like absolutely nothing had happened.

“I’m sorry---” Sanji started, all in a rush, but Kyosti dragged her into the room first.

“All Innis carry permits,” he told her. “And because northerners can’t tell the difference between Innis and Seers, Seers have to carry permits too.”

Something cracked against the wall. It sounded like someone---John?---had punched the wall. Sanji sputtered for words for a moment. “And, what, you have to show them to anyone who asks?”

“Demands, more like,” Anglorae snapped. “They could turn us into the army if we refuse.”

“And what do these permits say?” Sanji asked.

Kyosti still had his in his hand. “You can look at it, if you like,” holding it out.

She hesitated, then pushed his hand away like the permit was covered in dung. “No, no, I don’t want to see it. It just doesn’t seem right.”

Anglorae’s only response to that was to snort. Kyosti said nothing. After a moment, he put the permit back in his bag, his hand once again brushing the box with the Innis knife.

I’m doing the right thing, he thought.

The hot water came quickly, and they gratefully washed off the salt and sweat of the journey. The next order of business was dinner. Mardoo, as a large seaside city on the shores of the Aururio Ocean, had a thriving fishing trade, and the small inn only served fish and a local bread-like substance that was stuffed with fish paste.

The innkeeper placed the fish before them with a hearty “Enjoy your meal!” Was it just Kyosti, or was there malice in his voice? He seemed like the kind of person who enjoyed feeding fish to Innis?

Kyosti had eaten a lot of fish before, of course. As part of the effort to integrate them into society, all Innis who left the ice were given fish for almost every meal in school. Kyosti had known a boy who had simply starved himself to death instead of eat the sacred animal, but Kyosti had learned to get over it.

Anglorae, as a Seer, had never experienced this. Even though Seers were heretics who worshipped birds, they still held fish and other sea creatures as servants of the Leopard Queen. So, of course, as soon as she saw what was on the platter, she leapt to her feet.

“How dare you!” she yelled. A sudden silence fell in the inn. “You can’t feed me fish!”

Kyosti almost lunged across the table to stop her, but she easily evaded him. “You---disrespectful---”

The innkeeper, sounding soooo confused, said, “Miss, that’s all I have. Either it...or leave my inn.”

Anglorae flung insults at him as he walked away, but John was evidently restraining her.

“I’m sorry, why can’t you eat fish?” Sanji wondered, but Kyosti shook his head. On the outside he managed to remain calm, but on the inside he was seething with rage. Leave it to Anglorae to make a complete scene! Can’t he even eat in peace?

He dug into the fish, and was about to take a bite when a hand rested on his arm. He jumped and pulled away. The hand slipped something onto his plate, then a voice with a heavy Innis accent said loudly, “Would you like more water?”

For a moment, Kyosti couldn’t comprehend what had just happened. Sanji leaned over and whispered in his ear, “He put a plain roll on your plate,” and he still didn’t understand. 

“Thank you,” Anglorae whispered, unusually quiet. That was when it had clicked. There was an Innis standing two inches away from where Kyosti sat, and he’d snuck food without fish for him and Anglorae.

Kyosti took the roll off his plate and handed it to Anglorae. She started to protest, but he said, “I’m used to it.” He started to eat the fish. It was something to do other than focus on the fact that, for the first time since he graduated military school at fourteen, he was in the same room as another Innis.

The Innis crouched next to them. “What is your name?” he asked simply.

Kyosti took a bite mechanically. “Kyosti, son of Rhoda and Qynell.”

This startled a laugh out of the man. “I am Yella, son of Yella and Qynell.”

This finally snapped Kyosti out of his eating, and he laughed too. “I see! Qynell...daughter of Rhoda and Qynell?”

“Yes!”

“Then you are my nephew,” Kyosti confirmed for him, and Sanji gasped. “Tell me, how is my sister?”

“I will come to your room tonight and we can talk until dawn,” Yella said. “My master will beat me if I stay.” Kyosti nodded and reached out his hand. Yella took it, and Kyosti took a deep breath, enjoying the feeling of his cold hand. An Innis hand. After a moment, Yella slipped away, and Kyosti’s hand fell against the floor.

Sanji’s hand touched his other arm lightly. “Kyosti…”

He reached out and took her hand. Her skin felt blazing hot, such a comparison to Yella’s hand. He blinked in disappointment, but decided to keep holding her hand. “Let’s eat,” he announced.

As he promised, Yella came much later that night, after the inn had grown completely silent. He came in through the window, climbing the tree outside and clambering through the open shudders.

“I am lucky you are in this room,” he muttered as John helped him up from the floor. Sanji began to speak excitedly, but he cut her off. “We must be very quiet.” He suddenly switched to Innis. “Uncle, how did you come here? What has happened to my mother’s family in these many years?”

Anglorae hissed. “You’re very brave to speak that here,” she whispered.

Yella ignored her for the Seer she was, as Kyosti expected him to. “Do you still speak the language, uncle?”

Kyosti struggled with himself for a moment, then said in Chith, “I don’t understand what you’re saying. I came here when I was thirteen. I don’t speak the language anymore.”

For a moment, Yella said nothing. Kyosti could easily imagine his sinking expression. When he had come to the empire, he had seen it many times as the Chith beat all other languages out of the students. Finally, Yella said, “Uncle, you came here when you were so young?”

Kyosti nodded, his heart clenching. For a moment, he thought Yella would ask him what had happened, but thankfully his nephew decided not to.

“And a soldier from Chithoobra!” Yella had forced some admiration into his voice. “Is that a big city, uncle?”

“Big,” Kyosti confirmed. “Bigger than Mardoo. And in all that city, there are only two Innis.”

Yella reached out and took his hand again. Kyosti clung to him, but still the tears did not come. He felt dry, wrung out like a dishrag, and he didn’t think it was the desert around them. “But there are many Innis here?” he asked.

Yella nodded. “Yes, many. They keep us in the hot, dry place. I can’t stand it here, under the eye of that hated man, may the great Moon bite his face off.” Kyosti laughed, forgetting he wasn’t supposed to know Innis. To his surprise, Anglorae snickered too. “None of us can run away because we couldn’t survive in the desert and we can’t use the Chith boats.”

Kyosti rubbed his face tiredly. “Yes, I think that’s the idea.”

“But, uncle, did you hear?” Yella’s voice grew softer. “Rhoda is here.”

Kyosti sat up straight.

“Your father?” Sanji yelped. The other four jumped, and John shushed her. “Sorry, sorry! But didn’t you say your father’s name was Rhoda?”

“Yes, that’s true, but I think Yella means my sister, Rhoda.” He raised an eyebrow. “Right?”

“Yes, my aunt, your sister, Rhoda. She’s here, in the city! I met her by chance one day in the market, and we meet often now. Do you want me to fetch her? I can bring her in the morning.”

“Wouldn’t that be fun?” Sanji gushed, her voice barely quiet enough. “You should!”

Kyosti found himself shaking his head. “No, we have to leave the city in the morning. We simply can’t wait. As we Innis say…” He hesitated for a long moment, then plunged forward. “As we Innis say, a bird never stays on the Ice, and a whale never travels north for long.”

He could sense John’s and Sanji’s confusion, but Yella only hummed in understanding. “I understand. I will tell my aunt I saw you then. She will be pleased to know you live. And where to find you, if…”

Kyosti nodded. “Yes. If.”

______

Photo by Edgars Jonaitis on Unsplash