Journeymaster 3
“Fu!” Nikko didn’t bother to knock on the door before bursting in anymore. Her call was all the warning she decided he deserved. “I heard the great news!”
He turned to welcome her, trying to hide the smile that threatened to turn into smug pleasure. This was wiped away as the girl rushed across the room and gave him a big, unexpected hug.
Okay. All that I just experienced was absolutely worth the hug.
Nikko then pushed him at arm’s length to see his new robes. She wasn’t the least bit intimidated, “Wow! They look so good on you!”
“You think so?” he asked.
Note to wear the robes more often.
“They look good. A little odd, but good,” she answered.
Maybe not all the time, though.
“Why not come in for a little while?” Fu suggested, realizing a moment too late that the girl was already inside.
“Great!” Nikko made herself at home on his chair. “I want to hear all about it. Was it scary?”
“Not at all,” he fibbed. “In fact, I was initiated by one of the Manor Lords. I had it before I even walked in there.”
“Oh?” she said. Instead of being impressed, she looked a little worried.
“What is wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing,” it was her turn to fib. She always looked the other way when she wasn’t telling the truth.
“I know that voice,” he told her gently. “There is no fooling the mind mage.”
Nikko tried to force a half smile as she took his hands in hers. It was her “sincere talk time” expression that he knew all too well.
“I think it’s fabulous that all your hard work is being recognized, Fu. Don’t get me wrong,” she began.
“But?” Fu prompted, watching her eyes carefully.
“I’m just worried.”
“About what?”
“The intentions of the Manor,” she glanced down. Then back up again. “I know you’re a brilliant and skilled mage. People here respect you. You’re practically a genius at what you do.”
Fu did the best he could to seem abashed. Even if he wasn’t.
“I just think it’s suspicious how all this was conducted,” Nikko pointed out. “They take you from home, stick you in classes and in a few turns, promote you to Journeymaster. From the Manor Lords themselves. Doesn’t that worry you?”
He sighed softly. As much as his ego wanted to gloss over what she said, as much as he’d like it all to be that the Manor Lords were recognizing his skill and brilliance, he couldn’t get the nagging feeling out of his head that she was right. All of this was very peculiar and happening very fast.
“Almost as if they had special plans for me.”
“Exactly,” she said.
“Did I say that out loud?” Fu’s chin jerked up in surprise.
“Yes, you did,” Nikko laughed softly, patting his cheek. “All this work is making you absent-minded at an early age, Fu. Now that you’ve got this position, maybe you can relax a bit more.”
“Relax? Now I have to figure out exactly what they want to appoint me to do. I am not sure if they want research or teaching or applied magics,” he explained, spreading his hands.
That’s when he noticed that she looked disappointed.
“Is something wrong again?” he asked.
“No,” she looked down. Then back up again, “Yes. Actually. I was just hoping to see more of you. But I suppose that probably won’t happen.”
Fu blinked in surprise, “Why not?”
“Well, if you’re a Journeymaster and I’m just a student, that would be a little…”
“No… no. It means nothing,” he found himself at a loss for what to say. The moment he needed his wit most, it abandoned him.
“Maybe not to you, but,” Nikko sighed and brushed her hair out of her face. He noticed she was wearing it down more often lately. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just being silly.”
“I never think you are silly,” Fu tried to reassure her.
“Well,” her eyes fell on his desk, mouth open to say one thing. Changing her mind in mid-sound, she said something different, “Oh, Fu. Is this the Newsletter?”
He cursed under his breath for leaving it in plain sight. But there was nothing more to do for it now, “It was just something I found.”
Fu wasn’t sure how Nikko felt about the Anarchy movement. Of course, that wasn’t the movement’s real name – people as smart as those who organized the movement would never name it something like “Anarchy.” It was the term the Manor gave the group, hoping to put them in a bad light in the minds of the people. It didn’t work.
Month after month, the Newsletter appeared, posted on cornerstones, left on porches, scattered around the city where people could read it. No one knew where the writing came from or who left it. The publishing schedule was so random that it was hard to know when to look for the culprits.
“I think it’s fascinating,” she told him, picking it up.
“You… you… do?” he stammered, then shook his head out. “Yes, I think it is a brilliant concept, too. Some of the writing is somewhat elementary, but then, most of the people reading this are not exactly students in the Manor.”
Nikko ran her eyes over the parchment quietly. Then she said, “Some people don’t think it’s true. But I think it is.”
A question without being a question.
The Newsletter contained many short articles that mainly focused on real-life stories in the Manor city. Something about it could only be the truth, and the truth did not always show the Manor in the positive light that the establishment attempted to pass itself off in. It was difficult for the Manor to really do much about the Newsletter as the writing was always very careful to never directly accuse anyone or anything. It simply told stories that people otherwise wouldn’t know.
More and more, Anarchy began to spread the word about secrets that caused people to question the workings of the Manor. However, should the Manor actually make a move against the Newsletter, it would incriminate them further. As long as the Manor kept cool, the Masters could continue to try to deny the claims and persuade the people against the movement.
“I believe there is a lot of truth in the writing, yes. I am curious how anyone can know so much about everything that happens in the city. It is as if the writer sees everything on the streets,” Fu mused out loud. It was the first time he spoke to someone else about this.
“Writer?” she glanced at him. “Many people write this.”
“Really? How do you know?” he asked, leaning over her shoulder to look at the Newsletter, too.
“Just the way the writing sounds. It has many voices and subtle differences,” Nikko told him with a teasing smile. “Maybe if you took some time to read it without an academic mind, you’d hear them.”
“Perhaps,” he answered.
“I didn’t know that you were interested in the Anarchy movement,” she put the paper down and looked at him. “Isn’t that awkward since you just accepted this position?”
“Maybe a little,” Fu told her. “Just because I work there does not mean I have to agree with everything they do. Besides, maybe something I figure out by being on the inside can…”
“FuSo secret spy,” she giggled at him.
He laughed a little, too, “Well, it is certainly not something I have considered taking action on. I just think whoever leads this movement is very clever. They know how to reach the normal people and give them information they can use to make up their own mind. That is even more dangerous than making a direct move against the Manor.”
“I never thought about that,” Nikko mused quietly to herself. “Do you plan on joining them?”
“Me? A rebel?”
“You do it every day, right in the halls of the school,” she teased.
“Well, not exactly like they do,” he shook his head. “I am just a disgruntled student.”
“Journeymaster,” she corrected.
“Journeymaster,” he echoed. “Besides, it is pretty dangerous doing what they do.”
“No more dangerous than what you do all the time,” Nikko sighed.
“You think so?” Fu asked, realizing he was starting to repeat himself. He was just so strained to keep the conversation going. For some reason, he really didn’t want her to leave so soon.
“You tell me,” she rewarded him with an arched eyebrow.
Fu leaned forward, attempting to give a smooth smile, “How about if I try something dangerous right now… and invite you to a dinner tonight. With me. To eat. Because of celebration.”
Nikko paused, looking more surprised than he expected her to. “What if I say that I’d like that very much?”