Assigning Blame, Part III
When Sirshi got to the great hall for dinner, she didn’t see her sister or Master Daktra. She didn’t think she was that early, but she did spot Kurgm sitting in their usual spot. Roshil and Aonva went ahead of her and took seats. Sirshi sighed, then followed them and sat down.
“What have you three been up to today?” Kurgm asked.
Roshil and Aonva looked at Sirshi before answering.
“What happened?” Kurgm asked, his glance moving between the three of them. “Did Sirshi punch someone? Did I miss it?”
“I didn’t do anything,” Sirshi said, her temper rising. “Master Indyur started it.”
“You punched a master?” Kurgm said, his voice a little louder than she would’ve liked.
“She didn’t punch anyone,” Roshil said. “She just yelled a bit.”
“She deserved it after the way she was talking about you two!”
“What she say?” Kurgm asked. “How bad could it have been?”
“She called Roshil a thing,” Sirshi hissed. “She said she was ‘hardly a person’.”
“Who said that?”
Oshal took a seat with them, his sightless gaze fixed on Sirshi.
“Master Indyur,” Sirshi growled. “She’s visiting from Torpn.”
Oshal’s gaze moved to his sister. There were times Sirshi wished she had family like Oshal. He was always so nice to Roshil. Were normal families like that? Did they actually care about each other?
“Is everyone okay?” Oshal asked. “Master Moudren must’ve handled it, right?”
“Master Moudren’s capability as a master has been called into question,” Aonva said. “Master Indyur took it to Our Lady Exalted Priest earlier. They’ll likely be holding a hearing in the next few days.”
Sirshi explained the rest of the situation to them, trying not to lose her temper any more than she already had. Just the thought that some stuck up woman could stride in and declare that Sirshi couldn’t be Master Moudren’s apprentice anymore was enough to make her want to scream.
“I’m sure it will be okay,” Oshal said after she’d finished. “You’ve gotten a lot better. Our Lady Exalted Priest will see that.”
“We can go to the hearing too, right?” Kurgm asked. “For moral support.”
Before she could answer, they were interrupted by the officers entering the great hall. Everyone stood up as they took their seats. Before everyone sat down again, Sirshi caught a glimpse of her sister.
“I need to talk to my sister,” she said. “Master Moudren thinks it might help if she’s on our side.”
“Of course she’s on our side,” Kurgm said. “She’ll back you up.”
“Yeah, sure she will,” Sirshi said. “We’ll skip happily through fields of flowers holding hands because we’re such good sisters.”
“I don’t know about that,” Kurgm said. “I can’t really imagine her holding hands with anyone. Or skipping. Even being happy. She smiles sometimes, but I’m not sure I’d ever describe her as ‘happy’.”
Despite Kurgm having completely missed her sarcasm again, she did agree that she’d never seen Ekla happy. Maybe it was just their family that was never happy.
“I need her and Master Daktra, my old master.” She glanced around the great hall. “Where is he? He was always scolding me whenever I missed a meal.”
“He’s on assignment,” Oshal said. “I heard about it from someone at the Temple of the Known Shadow.”
“So we won’t have a chance to talk to him before the hearing,” Aonva said.
It was just Sirshi’s luck that he wasn’t there. Nothing had gone right.
“We should talk to Master Ekla now,” Oshal said. “Let her know what happened.”
“So she can lecture me?” Sirshi said. “Tell me how I need to control my temper, something something something, be perfect like me, something something something.”
“But if you don’t,” Kurgm said, “what happens to you and Master Moudren?”
Sirshi started to yell at him, but realized he had a point. She had to suck it up and take whatever lecture her sister gave her. If she didn’t, Ekla might never agree to help her, and Sirshi needed Ekla’s help.
Sirshi turned around to go talk to her sister, but Ekla was already making her way over to them.
“Hello, you five. Enjoying your dinner?”
Sirshi glared at her sister, then at her friends. Why was her sister suddenly with them?
“So far,” Oshal said. “I think the chicken was better yesterday, though. It’s a little dry today.”
“It’d be easier to cut if I could tear it off with my teeth,” Roshil muttered, glaring at her fork and knife.
Ekla sat down next to Kurgm, putting her across from Sirshi.
“Apprentice Aonva said you wanted to talk to me.”
Sirshi glared at Aonva, who avoided her gaze.
“Thank you, Aonva,” Oshal said. “I hadn’t thought of that. That saved us some time.”
Roshil beamed at Aonva as Sirshi explained once again the situation she was in. Every time she tried skirting around the details, Kurgm would fill them in.
“It’s hardly fair that they’re holding yelling at me against you,” Ekla said. “It’s not the same as yelling at some random master you meet. We’re sisters, and unlike these two,” she pointed to Oshal and Roshil, “we don’t get along that well.”
“Can’t you tell Master Indyur that?” Kurgm asked.
“Master Indyur started this, but I doubt we’re going to be able to change her mind. After the way she talked to Apprentices Roshil and Aonva, I’m not eager to talk to her at all. Our Lady Exalted Priest is the one with whom we need to speak. Which we won’t be able to do before the hearing. It doesn’t sound like this is going to be resolved behind closed doors like most disputes between masters. There is evidence that you aren’t being properly taught manners, despite being in your fourth year, approaching your fifth.”
“My manners are fine!”
Ekla stared at her. It wasn’t a condescending stare, it wasn’t a glare, it was a regular stare. And she kept staring. It made Sirshi uncomfortable, enough so that she settled down a little.
“Sorry,” she grumbled.
“Even Apprentice Roshil’s table manners have improved,” Ekla continued.
Roshil said something that was lost through her mouthful of food.
“Arguably,” Ekla said with a sigh. “My point is, there’s no avoiding the hearing. Master Moudren has the most experience with you, but your friends and teachers will also be giving their opinions, as well as the other priests in the temple. I don’t know how much help I can be. True, I was the first incident, but I don’t have a lot of experience with you now. Actually, I’m not allowed to be around you alone, because I might set you off.”
Sirshi frowned. This was news to her. She must’ve been around Ekla recently. Ekla came to get Kurgm after meals all the time. And pick him up from temple. Although, Master Moudren was always with them. And her friends were with them at meals, as they were now. When was the last time she was alone with Ekla?
“So you can’t help,” Sirshi said. “Talking to you was pointless.”
“But now we know she’s on our side,” Kurgm said. “Right?”
“I’ll do what I can,” Ekla said. “I think you’re a good priest, and Master Moudren is good for you. If they try and move you now, especially with your fifth-year assignment coming up, you’ll resent your new master, and it won’t go well for anyone.”
“Our Lady Exalted Priest will think of that too,” Oshal said. “Everything will be okay.”
“What he said,” Kurgm said. “The court won’t separate you two this late into your apprenticeship.”
“If Our Lady Exalted Priest decides something,” Roshil said, “there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“I’m sure she won’t,” Aonva said quickly, nudging Roshil. “I mean, she won’t do anything bad.”
“Whatever happens,” Kurgm said, “we’re your friends. We’ll stick by you no matter what.”
Ekla smiled at him. Maybe she did get happy sometimes.
Sirshi liked the thought of her friends sticking by her. But just having friends wouldn’t get Master Moudren back if Lady Runslo decided Sirshi needed a different master. She didn’t want another master. She wanted Master Moudren. It wasn’t fair.
Ekla stood up.
“Before I go, there’s one thing you need to do if you want this to go your way. It’s the last thing any of us want you to do, but you’ll need to do it.”
Sirshi narrowed her eyes at her sister.
“What?”
“You’re going to have to apologize to Master Indyur.”
“I’m not apologizing to that stuck up—”
“Before you say something you shouldn’t,” Ekla said, “apologizing is best way to show you’re improving. It might not work entirely, but it’s necessary.”
Before Sirshi could raise her voice, Ekla returned to her table, leaving Sirshi to grapple with her words.
If you don’t, what happens to you and Master Moudren?
Kurgm’s words from earlier returned to Sirshi’s head. He was right. Just like with talking to her sister, she had to suck it up and apologize. Not just for herself, but for Master Moudren. This was her fault, and she had to fix it.
It had better be enough.