To Save A Fox

Chapter 22 -- The Slaves

Shoju worked in the stables, tending to the Prince Akumazoku's horses. He had brough his whole team of horses for his mage, general, and slave masters to ride. With his masters gone, life seemed to have returned to normal. Yet, he terribly missed his friends who were slaves, like him.

He wondered what truly had become of that Irish boy named Bán-sionnach, and if Erlend Thorfinnson was still alive. They were not natives of this country, but they had always been so nice to him, and in return, he taught them both how to speak, read, and write in the native language.

Shoju wasn't always a slave.

His parents were once royalty that were in clear opposition to the King. Shoju was well educated, trained in many arts including sewing, cooking, making clothes, brewing, harvesting grains, tending to the horses, and in secret...his mom taught him ancient magic of the Yokai!

Shoju had dreamed of one day being a mage, but now those dreams have all been extinguished. His parents sold him to the King to pay off their debt, and still ended up being slayed by the sword.

Though the Prince was his master, he despised his master with every fiber of his body and dreamed of ways to bring justice to those who killed his parents and gave him this horrible existence.

"Sho-san..." said one of the slaves left behind as she was blinded for being a shaman in her youth. Her existence was far worse than his. And although she was an adult, she was also the Princes play thing.

"Jingu-san!" he softly said, walking over to her, taking her hand to guide her to a safe place inside the stable. "You shouldn't be out of the house! You could have been hurt!"

"I might be blind, but I still can see." she tells him "I can see far better than anyone else here. I can see you. I can see the sadness in your face." as she stroked her fingers down his cheeks. "And you know what else I can see in you?"

"What?" he asked.

"That you are like me, a shaman. You've been taught ancient spirit magic, but yet, you refuse to use it."

"Because my parents were killed for being magic users." he softly told her. "And, also, I am still underaged. My mother warned me against using complex magic at a young age."

"Why have you never told Prince Akumazoku-san that you can use magic? He would have given you a nobler profession than mucking up horses." She asked me.

"I like tending to the horses." as he gently brushed their hair. "Besides, the Prince has Erlend-san and the Onmyōji-san. I would only get in their way."

"You give yourself very little credit." she said, taking a seat on a wooden crate.

"Any clue when the Prince will return?"

"You are that eager to have him back?" she asked in return.

"Not really. I enjoy this illusion of being free." he told her "I just need to make certain that his outfit is sewed before he returns. And I'm certain he'll demand a hot meal."

"He was supposed to be back in a day or two." she told him "They must have run into a conflict with the snow women that has delayed them." She scooted over to his side "Why don't we run off together!?" she asked him "With our masters gone, we can sneak away into the night!"

"I'd love to." he whispered "But even if the Prince is gone, his eyes continue to watch!" as he watches as a soldier walks by. "What we need is a reason to advert those eyes away from us."

"A diversion!" she smiled.

"Indeed!" he nodded. "May I ask you a personal question?" he then asked her.