Secrets of the Swords, Book 1

Chapter 38: News by Messenger and by Train

The door slammed, and Suthe looked up to see Nem Koel standing with her back pressed against it.

"We have a problem," she said, first to Suthe in Montese, and then in Shun Dwo to Saer Lon, who immediately stood up from the table where she had been lounging.

"What problem?" Suthe asked, but Nem Koel and Saer Lon were already engaged in their own conversation, muttered words of Shun Dwo flickering between them like flames from a fire. Suthe tried to catch the general tone of the conversation, but the words disappeared too quickly for her to make any sense of the sounds.

"It's barely even the morning yet," Suthe said, but her comment went largely ignored by the two other women in the room. "How could we possibly have a problem already?"

Nem Koel finished speaking with Saer Lon and turned to face Suthe, who tried to read her face for any clue of what this sudden problem might be.

"Were you able to meet the messenger from the theater?" Suthe asked. The meeting invitation had just come late the previous night, and she had been worrying over the outcome ever since.

Nem Koel nodded.

"Well, are they going to allow us to meet with a design expert?" Suthe pressed.

"Yes," Nem Koel replied slowly.

"Then what's the problem?" Suthe asked, crossing her arms.

Rather than directly answering, however, Suthe only received a question herself.

"Yesterday morning when you just popped up out of nowhere – where did you go?" Nem Koel asked.

Suthe froze. "Why does it matter?"

Nem Koel cast a glance towards the door, as though worried someone might burst through it at any moment. "Someone saw you disappearing. Well – lots of someones. And not just disappearing, but appearing, too."

Suthe sat down, her impatience suddenly washed out by a cold sweat that had broken out across her forehead. She had been so worried about the clockwork soldiers, she had almost forgotten about the people that had seen her that night. "Yes," she said, her voice sounding hollow to her own ears. "There were quite a few people who saw me."

Nem Koel continued. "They know about Montmyth's decree against druiths," she said. "And now after your strange appearance the night before last, there's a reward out for your capture. People will be watching you more closely than ever. You can't disappear anymore, or do anything else that you druiths do."

"I can't do anything else," Suthe countered defensively. "I only jump to different places. Is that really so much of a crime?"

Never mind that she had been considering robbing a bank with her abilities just the other day. It had only been a thought, but she hadn't acted on it!

"Well, they don't know that," Nem Koel said, also sitting down to better face Suthe. "People will be looking for anything mysterious or even hinting at a druith ability, especially from anyone matching your description."

Suthe pursed her lips. "It's not like I'm going to try to be found out," she said. "I just can't help it, sometimes."

Nem Koel opened her mouth, but hesitated just a moment.

"What is it?" Suthe asked.

"Well...is it true you really went all the way back to Fai?  How do you do that?"

If only I knew.

Suthe opened her mouth to give a response, but Saer Lon spoke up first, and Nem Koel turned away to give a quick reply.