Chapter 5 - Tuesday's Domain
Seven days ago; on the outskirts of the capital.
"'Well, for the first time, you're late, Izrik,' Anika said with a broad smile on her face. She had her hands on her sides as she spoke. She wore loose clothing with an oversized makeshift turban that she made from a piece of white silk that she grabbed from somewhere. Her entire attire made her look like a kid in grown-up clothing. She is a petite lady who loved wearing white clothing that is too big for her. Her reason is that loose clothing allows her to conceal and carry things in her clothes without raising suspicion. In a way, her petit stature and her child-like face makes her look like the least likely suspect even if she robbed the palace treasury.
"I sat in a corner of the stables playing with Tuesday's mane as I watched them. Izrik looked as if he was struck by lightning when he heard Anika's greeting. His eyes were wide open, and his hands suddenly became stiff on his sides. Anika immediately broke out into a burst of hearty laughter, but she maintained her pose. She was the shortest in our group while I am the tallest. And I find it amusing to think that the three of us spend time together the most.
"'I didn't know that a time was set for our meeting,' Izrik replied in defense. He came from a kensei family. The sword saints of the kingdom came almost exclusively from their clan—and the most skilled, from his house. The training of a kensei is said to be so difficult that failing the training often results in the death of the pupil as well. This is likely why Izrik's clan is the smallest among the major clans. Most of the minor clans are even bigger than the Shibafu Clan. And before the downfall of Izrik's family, House Kojima of the Shibafu Clan was the most powerful of the seven major houses of their clan.
"The Shibafu Clan has retained its status as a major clan because it has only failed once in its duty—to protect the Kingdom of Zeiken-Shi against assassins and other clandestine threats that regular army and police cannot protect against. Their second duty is to protect the Celestial Emperor. It has recently failed at its second duty but never on its first duty. Like all members of the Shibafu clan, Izrik was trained to be the perfect duelist. It is hard to match him when it comes to a one-on-one duel with weapons. It only becomes challenging for him once eizou usage is involved. And it is part of his discipline to arrive at any location before anyone else. He claims that it is part of his preparation ritual; he spends the lead time to attune his energy with the energy of the location. This, he claims, is one of the unique skills of a sword saint. Whether it is true or not, no one has never been earlier than Izrik whenever we meet at a certain place.
"'Not all roosters crow at the same time,' Anika replied with the same childish grin and pose. 'You wouldn't be the earliest at a meeting place all the time,' Anika teased with the same grin.
"'It's a good thing that I am not a rooster then,' Izrik replied with a slight smile. He walked towards Tuesday and tapped my shoulder gently as he passed me by. 'The Midmoon Stables is a strange place to meet,' he continued as he looked around. Tuesday snorted gently at Izrik's statement and shook his head. 'It is always a pleasure to see you, of course, Tuesday,' Izrik said apologetically as he gently stroked Tuesday's head as he continued to inspect the wooden beams of the stable. It was not his first time to be at the stables, but he always treats any place like it was his first time there. He would inspect every beam, every pillar, every tile or wood panel on the floor. He would inspect everything closely and silently with his sharp eyes.
"'It is the closest thing we have to a secure location. No one knows we're here and no one would suspect to look for us here,' Anika replied with the same impish smile. We used to escape from our houses late at night and sneak in here to gather and talk. All eleven of us. When we turned ten, we would gather here to drink. Mingmei does not leave their house anymore at that time and Mingmai already died so it was just the nine of us. Anika then pulled a small wooden stool and sat down. She watched Izrik do his usual inspection of the place without saying anything. We were all used to him already by now.
"'How many of us are still here in the capital?' Izrik asked without turning his head.
"'Five. The three of us, Liam and Yiiq-Yin,' Anika replied quickly. She pulled out a small scroll case from her sleeve and tapped her left palm gently with it. It was a wooden scroll case that was carved out of a single piece of wood. It was plain except for the small runes that lined the top and bottom edges of the scroll case. She showed me the scroll inside the case earlier already and I had the shock of my life when I read the contents. I felt a rush like what I felt before when all eleven of us would meet for practice or a class at the temples. Anika's scroll made me feel worried, but it made me feel nostalgic at the same time. Before Mingmai's death, we would solve every problem together. It may sound stupid but if our other five friends were in trouble, I felt sure that we would rescue them and solve the problem that they found themselves in together. And the encounter would mean that we would be a complete group once more. This, I strongly felt.
"'Anika's cousin intercepted an odd message. And it was what made her send that short Wind Message to all of us and find out who is missing,' I explained. Anika and I have been talking about it for quite some time before Izrik arrived. I agreed to relay some of what we talked about to Izrik when he gets to the stables so that she wouldn't have to repeat everything herself.
"'Having only half of us left here in the capital is already odd for me. Did they notify any of us? Did they say where they were going and why? Do we know why they had to leave the capital?' Izrik asked as he turned to look at me and then at Anika and then back at me. I merely shrugged my shoulders in response for I really had no idea. Izrik looked agitated when he spoke. His breathing was fast and shallow. However, there seemed to be something else lurking; hidden; behind his agitation. Something else that I could not quite tell clearly yet at that point. Something else that I was not sure if Izrik was even aware of.
"'I think this was meant as a notification,' Anika said in a serious tone as he handed the small scroll case to Izrik. He carefully opened the scroll case and pulled out the small scroll inside. It was a copy of a message manifest that was made from the original using an eizou technique. Izrik and I always call it an eizou technique, but Anika and Mingmai has explained to us when we were children that it was like a king of magic. They access, draw and channel energies from, the different planes and turned it into an energy that would power their eizou abilities. And these eizou abilities were nothing short of magical. Most people in the other four kingdoms call them spells. Since we don't really have a sorcerer or magician in the Old Orient, an eizou-jin—people trained to use eizou—is the closest we have to a spellcaster.
"'Mingmei made a note conversion through your clan?' Izrik asked. The question left his jaw open. He looked so surprised that he was not able to take his eyes away from the parchment that Anika gave him nor say anything else.
"'Which is similar to doing a currency conversion through a messenger,' Anika said nodding. She knew full well that Izrik understood what it meant, but by stating the obvious of what was before Izrik's eyes, she effectively increased the disbelief that Izrik felt upon reading the contents of the scroll. Anika smiled at Izrik as she spoke. She looked amused as she observed Izrik's shock.
"'That does not make sense. Mingmei's clan oversees tax collection for the entire kingdom. They have the keys to the treasury! She could have any amount of money converted into any currency that the five kingdoms use or even into the imperial currency if she wanted to! The twins have been converting palace notes to merchant notes and vice versa since we were five!' Izrik complained as he turned towards me and Anika. He threw his arms sideways, shook his head, and handed the parchment back to Anika.
"'She obviously did this on purpose to let us know that she was involved in something. She knew someone from my clan would spot her transaction and bring it to my attention just because of the pure oddness of it,' Anika suggested. She rolled the parchment back into the small scroll case and placed it back into a hidden pocket in her oversized sleeves.
"'Are we sure that this is really Mingmei? Our Mingmei?' Izrik asked while holding his right hand forward at us as if cautioning us about suddenly jumping to the conclusion that the person who made the transaction was really Mingmei. His initial reaction—denial—was understandable. I had the same doubt mere minutes ago when I first read the parchment. What made it even doubtful was the fact that Mingmei has never left their house since the death of Mingmai—sixteen years ago. The idea of her suddenly leaving their house without letting her childhood friends know and then suddenly make a questionable transaction through Anika's clan was simply begging to be doubted.
"'Do you want to know how my cousin noticed this transaction? Mingmei used all our seals! All ten seals! It is not unusual to use multiple seals to establish identity, but using ten seals from the ten major clans would make your order stand out to any member of our clan because…well…ten symbols occupying two rows of the identity grid may not sound like it is too attention-grabbing to most people, but when you know that most people would only use one seal, you know what I'm talking about? So, then, yes, this is our Mingmei and she was obviously making sure that I will be notified of this order in case I am not the one who will receive and process it,' Anika explained. She then turned to me and nodded.
"'And no, none of the mounted patrols have seen five people leaving the capital—no group of three ladies and two men,' I said right away after Anika nodded at me. 'And since they are all known to each of our clans, I suspect that they left the capital concealed or in disguise,' I added.
"'So, what do we know so far?' Izrik asked. He was obviously trying to take control of the situation. Taking the lead was not really his strongest suit but given our situation, a semblance of order and control was best for our state of mind. 'We know that they are sending out a huge amount of money outside the capital. They want this money converted from palace notes to merchant notes. This makes the money untraceable once it leaves the capital. This also tells us that someone in the palace could be involved because how would they have this large amount of money in palace notes in the first place? Not one of them informed any of us three which is odd—Lynn or Ianme would have at least said something to me or to you, Anika. This tells us that they need to keep their actions and possibly identities secret. They had to let us know that they are leaving the capital without compromising their cover. They are probably all in disguise. Or they were forced to leave in secret and disguise because we all know how Ianme feels about concealing his presence or wearing a disguise. Do we know who sent them out on this mission?' Izrik asked at a rapid pace. He sounded nervous. 'Why are Liam and Yiiq-Yin not here yet?' he said irritably before Anika or I could reply to his series of statements.
"'Both Liam and Yiiq-Yin replied that they are in the capital. Liam was the first to reply to the Wind Message. I sent the second message about where we would meet a few minutes later,' Anika explained. She paused and looked out of the barn door as if expecting that someone else would suddenly arrive. 'When Eunshi was not the first to reply to the Wind Message, I knew that something was wrong. She's always the most sensitive to any air-based eizou,' Anika added immediately after she turned back towards us. Tuesday was asleep already and I stood up from my stool to bring out my weapons and a travel backpack that I prepared when I first received Anika's Wind Message. It has not been decided yet, but I knew right away that we would be going after our friends and possibly get them out of the mess that they got caught in.
"Anika turned to Izrik with a puzzled look. She shook her head briefly and stared at the ground for a moment. 'Hey, Izrik. What made you think that someone sent them out on a mission? They could be running away from someone here in the capital. Or they could be chasing after someone.'"