The Wrath Of the Forgotten (4 page)

Madame Hao’s lips curled upward slightly. “No, but they were none too happy when they put themselves back together. I dare say they were almost murderous.”

Nori winced. “So how did Flara and her friends escape that encounter with their lives?”

Madame Hao took in a deep breath and smirked. “Somehow that girl appeased them with her apology. She’s a savant when it comes to understanding and connecting with elemental spirits. Flara’s nearly mastered the art of kami summoning. I often wonder what school of magic she’ll focus on next.”

“I’m not sure what help I would be against kami spirits,” Nori said. “Is that the most dangerous thing they’ve done?”

“Of course it isn’t.” Madame Hao shook her head. “Those three are the utter embodiments of chaos, discord, and trouble. Despite them being so… reckless, I’m so proud of them. Be that as it may, I was commanded to make sure she was safe at all times. Now that she’s blossomed, I can’t do that properly and remain headmistress of the university.”

A soft voice called out. “Excuse me, Headmistress? Are you in here? I was told you summoned me.”

Madame Hao’s eyes lit up. “There she is now. Let’s go meet your new best friend, shall we?”

Nori’s stomach swirled for a moment. He ran his thumbs against the insides of his index and middle fingers. Up until this moment, he assumed that being a secret bodyguard was going to be an easy task where he was often ignored by his master. His spirit trembled.

He followed the headmistress back into the office. A young woman stood in the center of the room, just behind the pair of chairs. Long black hair hung freely from her head, and several strands blocked her face. She wore a butter yellow dress that fell to her knees. A pair of greenish blue eyes first locked on Madame Hao, but then they drifted over to Nori. The young woman’s shoulders sank down a little. Her eyes widened. She brought in her arms close to her chest.

“Miss Flara,” Madame Hao said. “Please sit down. I have someone I would like you to meet.”

Flara darted her attention from him to Madame Hao for a mere second before she returned it to Nori. Her voice came out in a squeak. “Um… o-okay.”

Flara took several awkward steps over to the chairs, all the while watching Nori. She sat down in the chair furthest from him, which coincidently rested beside all of his belongings. Madame Hao took her place behind the desk and then waved her hand at the last remaining chair.

“Please come and join us, Mr. Nori,” she said.

Flara tried to scoot her chair further away as Nori took a seat. When her chair legs hit Nori’s bags, she glanced down.

“Oh dear,” Flara said. “I-is this your s-stuff?” She swallowed hard, but kept her eyes averted from Nori’s. “Is this your ch-chair? I’m terribly sorry. I didn’t know I took your chair.”

“It’s quite alright, Miss Flara,” Madame Hao said.

Flara placed her small hands in her lap. She tried smoothing the front of her dress, even though it looked perfectly flat. When she couldn’t flatten it anymore, she began fumbling with her fingers. Though she still appeared small compared to him, Nori suspected she stood taller than many of the other lowlander females.

“Miss Flara, this is Mr. Daisko Nori,” Madame Hao said. “He’s here from Xian Ba.”

Flara peeked out from under her hair, but then averted her eyes again. Her words came out in a low mumble. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Nori.”

Nori kept his hands in front of him, right in his lap. “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite get that. What did you say, Mam?”

Flara quivered a little more, and she turned around in her chair to better face him. She met his gaze, but her irises waivered. This time, her voice carried a little more volume. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Nori.” She gripped one of her thumbs in her other hand. “W-what brings you t-to Jadai?”

“I’m here for you, Mam,” Nori said.

Flara’s eyes got wider and she sank deeper into the chair. “F-f-for me? W-why are you here for m-me?”

Madame Hao said “He’s a Qu-Tar. He’s here to protect you.”

“A Qu-Tar?” Flara asked. A deep frown etched itself on her face. “This is because I conducted that experiment, isn’t it?”

“I’m afraid so,” Madame Hao replied. “But there were other things that had built up the need for you to have greater protection.”

“How am I g-going to keep my identity a secret if he’s following me around everywhere?” Flara asked. She turned to Nori. “No o-offense, but I d-don’t want you here. I just want to be a normal person like everyone else.”

A cold spasm trembled in Nori’s chest. He averted his eyes. “I’m a Qu-Tar, Mam. I’ve been trained to protect people without being obtrusive. You won’t have to talk to me, or even acknowledge me. Please allow me to do my job.”

“It’ll look suspicious if I have a t-towering bodyguard following me,” Flara said.

“If anyone asks, I’ll tell them I’ve been hired by your silk merchant parents,” Nori said. “I promise you’ll have your privacy. I won’t be towering over you all of the time. Just shadowing you to make sure nothing bad happens to you.”

For a long moment, Flara remained still. Her eyes fell downcast and she brought her arms close to her body.

She asked, “I d-don’t have a choice, d-do I?”

Nori sighed. “No, Mam. Your mother’s wishes were perfectly explained.”

Madame Hao spoke up. “This doesn’t have to be unpleasant, Miss Flara. It’s for your own protection.”

“I know,” Flara said. She peered up at Madame Hao. “May I please be excused and be allowed to return to class? I’m missing a fascinating lesson on earth kami physiology.”

“Of course, dear,” Madame Hao replied. “Nori has to settle into his room anyway. He’ll meet up with you later.”

Flara stood up, but didn’t move toward the door. “A-are you going to carry that giant weapon around with you as you follow me?”

Nori swallowed to moisten his dry throat. “Yes, I intend to.”

Flara let out a sigh, and then she exited the room with considerable haste.

“That poor girl,” Madame Hao said. “All she wants to do is read books and be normal. I’m sure you can sympathize with how she feels.”

Nori eased around to face her. “Why do you say that? I don’t desire to be something I’m not. I’m proud to be an Onistan.”

Madame Hao held up her hands. “I know that. I mean I’m sure you understand how it feels to be uncomfortable in your environment.”

“I wouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable if people in general didn’t place so much emphasis on race.” Nori stood up and grabbed his things. “I’d really like to be shown to my room now.”

“Of course,” Madame Hao said. She yelled for one of the guards to enter the room. After a brief moment, a female guard entered. Madame Hao nodded to her. “Show Mr. Nori to the accommodations we have prepared for him. I hope you don’t mind that I put you right beside Flara’s room. That should make your job easier.”

Nori followed the guard out of the room and down the stairs.

HIS ROOM WAS
fairly nice, considering it had been designed for a lowlander. The top of Nori’s head almost grazed the ceiling. A bed also meant for a lowlander rested against the wall. A doorway in the room opened up to a smaller room with a large tub in it. A small table stood by the tub, and a pair of medium-sized buckets filled with water rested on the table.

Nori would have to get more buckets.

He put his bags on the bed and began to unload them. One of the bags contained his battle armor breastplate, gloves and grieves, shoulder and waist pads, and his battle sandals. Nori stacked his Qu-Tar armor against the wall in a nice little row.

In the other bag, Nori pulled out an assortment of comfortable cotton garments. Rather than wear his current outfit, Nori changed into a pair of comfortable slacks, a long-sleeved shirt, and a pair of sandals.

Nori gently placed his lute case on the bed and opened it. His face scrunched up.

“Idiot,” Nori thought. “Why didn’t you suggest using the ‘wandering lute player’ as your cover? That would have made things a little easier.”

Nori closed the case and put the base on his shoulder. He carried the tetsubo in his other hand and rested it on his other shoulder. As he left his bedroom, the wandering lute player notion grew more prevalent. A grin curled on his face and he made his way to the stairwell. At the moment, the hallways were barren and full of solitude. He traipsed into the grand foyer and took a seat by the wall beside the front doors. Nori set the tetsubo beside him and then opened the lute case.

He gripped the neck of the lute gently as if it were a lover. His enormous fingers strummed across the strings and created several soft notes. The notes resonated in the expanse of the foyer and vibrated through the halls. Nori continued to wiggle his fingers against the strings, going up and down the musical scales. A slow but steady momentum of warmth built up in his spirit. Nori closed his eyes in ecstasy as the notes blended together to form familiar melodies. A profound smile had forced itself upon his face, and for once, Nori allowed it to remain.

Nori stopped and drew in a great breath before he played the lute for real. The first song he played was one that his mother had taught him long ago. The winding crescendos and heartwarming refrains filtered through the corridors and drew Nori back in time through his memory.

At first Nori sat alone in the foyer, but then a young man stumbled into the open expanse. The young man stared at Nori with the imaginative wonder that a child might have at the onset of a great festival. He disappeared, but returned a few moments later with at least a half dozen friends.

Nori’s fingers continued to dance across the strings. When one song ended, he immediately went into another. More students collected around him. No one whispered. No one beamed terrified or distasteful expressions at him. For a brief moment, they didn’t see him, they only heard the music. Several mage students nodded their heads in time with notes. Others stared dreamily at Nori, perhaps unable to fathom how such a brutish fellow could produce such wonders.

His heart jumped within his chest. Flara strolled down the stairs alongside a pair of women. Of the three, Flara was the tallest. One of her companions had long dark brown hair. She glared at Nori with utter detest and whispered something to Flara. The second woman had short blond hair, and rather than scowl, she smiled. Flara kept her distance at the back of the crowd, but she watched him in utter amazement.

Nori finished the song, and stopped. Students clapped, and several of them even skipped over to his open lute case to toss coins into it.

One student in particular stormed over. Her fists were bawled and her lips were squished together to form a wrinkled upside down ‘u’ between her cheeks. This student wasn’t either of Flara’s companions. She gave him a stare almost as intense as Flara’s brown-haired friend.

The female student wore a light blue dress with star patterns lining the bottom edge of her dress. She had light blond colored hair and slightly violet irises. The woman pointed a slender finger at Nori’s face. “This is a place of learning. This isn’t a place for you to earn food money. Move along, beggar.”

Nori gently placed his lute down and stood up. As Nori towered over her, the bravado of the woman evaporated. A collective gasp emerged from the crowd. The illusion of the music had faded, and now the students saw Nori for what he was.

Despite the crowd’s apprehension, Nori puffed out his chest and adopted a dramatic pose. “I’m not a beggar. I’m a wandering minstrel. I’ve been given permission to play here, anywhere I want. My name is Nori the Fabulous.”

The female student pointed and asked, “If you’re a minstrel, then how do you explain that?”

Nori glanced to what she pointed at. “My war club? That’s to defend myself against river pirates and people who would try and rob me.”

The crowd started to murmur amongst themselves. Flara’s companions whispered to one another. Suddenly the blond-haired companion stepped out in front of the crowd. Of the three, she was the shortest of the group. The blond wore a light orange dress that had two slits running up the sides. An intricate tattoo of a great tree covered her right thigh.

“That was a really pretty song,” she said. “Play another one!”

Several of the other students in the crowd agreed. Smiles covered many of their faces. Flara and the dark haired companion didn’t share their excitement. They watched him with an intense stare. Chills whirled throughout Nori’s body like a whirlwind.

Nori bent down and gently gripped his lute. “If the crowd wishes it, then I’ll play.”

He sat back down and strummed on the strings. Once more, the foyer became filled with beautiful lute music. People bobbed their heads along with the well-played notes, but Flara and her dark haired companion moved through the crowd.

He watched them, and never once did their eyes break apart from his. Nori didn’t turn his head though, and they disappeared through the front door of the university moments later. Slowly, he drifted his attention back to the blond. She had remained where she stood. A proud, victorious grin covered her round face. The woman had a stocky build, no doubt achieved through years of physical labor. In Nori’s experiences, most lowlanders lacked that body type.