Assigning Blame, Part II
Sirshi left the temple, heading for the library. There were only so many places Roshil and Aonva would be, and the library was the most likely. Hopefully, they’d still be there, and she wouldn’t have to look harder for them.
What would’ve happened if they hadn’t shown up in the temple? Master Indyur was annoying, but until then, Sirshi had kept it together. If they hadn’t shown up, Sirshi would still be at the temple. She’d be having a normal day. Everything would be fine. Didn’t that make this their fault?
No, it’s Master Indyur’s fault. She’s the one that started all of this. This is all her fault.
The more Sirshi thought about it, the angrier she got. Why did Master Indyur visit if she hated it so much? Why couldn’t she have stayed in Torpn and left Sirshi and Master Moudren alone?
What would happen if Sirshi had to change masters? Would she be back with Master Daktra? He was in the Temple of the Known Shadow, where she didn’t want to be. It was always so dark inside. There were other priests in the Temple of the Rising Sun. Would she be stuck with one of them? She didn’t want to be with one of them. She wanted to be with Master Moudren.
She walked into the library, then realized she had no idea where in the library Roshil and Aonva would be. Why did everyone have to keep making her day more difficult?
The librarian whose name Sirshi couldn’t remember looked up at her as she walked in.
“Second floor, back corner near the advanced magic section. Look for a nest of books.”
“Thanks,” Sirshi grumbled, then walked up the flight of stairs to the second floor of the library. Of course they hung out as far from the entrance as they could get. Wasn’t that what they always did? Stayed as far away from other people as they could? Why did they have to go into the temple? Why couldn’t they have stayed away like they always did? And how did the librarian know she was looking for Roshil and Aonva?
Sure enough, Sirshi found the girls huddled in a corner, with books spread out around them. No one else was anywhere near them, almost like everyone was avoiding them. Which they probably were doing.
Roshil was rubbing Aonva’s back. Aonva was trembling and mumbling something.
“Hi,” Sirshi said.
Roshil flashed her a crooked smile. Aonva looked up at her, and Sirshi saw tears in her eyes.
“Master Indyur’s horrible,” Sirshi said, sitting down across from them. “Why does she get to have her own temple? She’s so stuck up. She reminds me way too much of my parents. And all their friends. And Ekla used to be like that too.”
“We didn’t mean to bother you.” Aonva’s voice was soft. “We had an idea for organizing the books in the library.”
“I thought you might want to help,” Roshil said. “If nothing else, it’d mean we’d be spending a lot of time here, and you could fend people off when they bothered us. I thought you might enjoy that.”
Getting to scare away people that bothered her friends sounded exactly like something Sirshi wanted to do. She could start with Master Indyur, then that guy that nearly got Aonva in trouble for cheating, and that one master artisan that kept calling Roshil a monster. Sirshi had a long list of people she didn’t like.
“Master Indyur threatened to get Master Moudren in trouble after I yelled at her.”
“In trouble for what?” Roshil asked. “Master Moudren’s the best. Well, actually, Master Grund’s the best, but Master Moudren’s nice too.”
“Because I guess I’m not supposed to yell at masters,” Sirshi said. “And yelling at my sister counts, and Master Indyur is going to tell Our Lady Exalted Priest that Master Moudren is doing a terrible job of being my master.”
“That probably means a hearing,” Aonva said. “You and Master Moudren are the defendants, Master Indyur is the one bringing the complaint. Master Indyur has enough evidence to start a full hearing. Calling a master into question is important, so everything’s going to happen fast. They’ll probably talk to Master Ekla too, since she was involved in the last incident. Probably Master Daktra, since he was your original master. We can provide our testimonies supporting you, but apprentice testimonies don’t usually weigh as much as a master’s testimony.”
“I’ll talk to Master Grund. He’ll figure this out.”
“No, he can’t,” Aonva said. “This is up to Our Lady Exalted Priest. He can vouch for Sirshi, but he doesn’t know her very well. Neither does Our Lady Arch Mage, otherwise I could talk to her.”
“Won’t Our Lady Exalted Priest take over Sirshi’s apprenticeship? Like Master Grund did after Master Udra messed up mine?”
“Who cares? I don’t want anyone else taking over my apprenticeship.”
“That’s not necessarily what would happen. It’d be up to Our Lady Exalted Priest.”
Sirshi had only met Lady Runslo a few times. She always looked like she was in a different conversation, like her mind was in another kingdom. Sirshi wasn’t sure she liked her, but she didn’t dislike her either. But she wanted to keep Master Moudren as her master. What if Lady Runslo put her with Master Indyur?
“Yet another adult deciding my life for me,” Sirshi growled. “I’m so sick of this!”
“I’m sorry,” Aonva said. “If we hadn’t been there, this wouldn’t be happening.”
“If Master Indyur weren’t horrible, this wouldn’t be happening,” Sirshi said. How was someone like Master Indyur even a master?
“What can we do to fix this?” Roshil asked.
“We can’t do much,” Aonva said. “Sirshi, you might want to talk to Master Daktra and Master Ekla. I’m sure she’ll understand, though. She’s your sister.”
She’d barely talked to Ekla in the past year. She’d barely seen Master Daktra since Master Moudren took her on as an apprentice. Now they held her future in their hands. Them, Master Indyur, and Lady Runslo. No, not just her future, Master Moudren’s future. Sirshi had lost her temper, and Master Moudren was paying for it.
“Thanks. Are you two alright?”
“We’re used to it,” Roshil said. “People are mean to us all the time.”
Sirshi turned her attention to Aonva. Her eyes were still puffy, but she didn’t see any tears.
“I’ll be alright. It was a lot for me. I don’t like yelling.”
“Oh.” Sirshi was sure she already knew that, but suddenly she felt bad about yelling around Aonva. She needed to yell less around her. Why did she feel bad about it now? Because she’d found her friend crying? Whatever the case, she had to get better.
“I’ll start talking to people I guess,” she said. “Thanks for your help, I guess.”
“That’s what friends are for,” Roshil said, smiling.
“Yeah. Friends.”
She had to go find and talk to Masters Daktra and Ekla. She didn’t know where to start searching, but dinner was approaching. Maybe she could talk to them when she got there. She didn’t want to, but it had to be done. It was for Master Moudren. And Sirshi would do anything for her.