The Games for Nihon (BOOK THREE)

Chapter 23 - The Aftermath

"You stupid children," Mother hissed.

She grabbed Orì by the shoulder, but Orì stepped away from her. She had turned back into her long and slippery form as soon as they had been alone again. She escaped her mother's grip easily.

Mother glared at her.

"Stupid, stupid," Barâan repeated, shaking his head with disapproval, but it was clear that he had no idea what Mother meant. Until a moment ago, he had considered Orì's storytelling a triumph for the family. After all, the audience had cheered.

"Be quiet, Barâan," Mother ordered.

Barâan looked confused but did as she said. He sat down on his new throne and shuffled around, searching for the most comfortable position.

"I thought you would be pleased, Mother," Orì said innocently.

"You thought no such thing. You have no idea what you have just done." Mother turned to Sofia. Her usually pleasant face became distorted with fury. "And you," she said, her voice quivering.

"What about me?" Sofia asked.

"Do you know what you did? What you instigated my daughter to do?"

"I just told her a story that might help her win the competition. My uncle told me about it a few years ago."

"Told it to you like that?"

Sofia smiled. "Stories change every time they are told."

"Is it true?" Ami intercepted timidly.

"No!" Mother snapped.

"Then why does it matter?"

"It matters because stories become true. The more they are told, the more they live and move and change. And this is a story that should not live. In fact, your uncle should have warned you not to repeat it. On the Other Side, it is forbidden."

"He did tell me," Sofia said. "I thought he was being dramatic."

It was true. At the time when Uncle Sermon had told her the story, he had made a big show of its secrecy, and while Sofia had enjoyed that, she hadn't exactly believed him. Still, she had been careful not to repeat it, keeping it for herself. But over the years, not telling the story out loud, she had forgotten it, only remembering bits and pieces during her journey through Nihon, not knowing where they were coming from.

A few nights ago, while training with Antibe in her dream, she had suddenly, without planning to, asked the sorceress about it. Antibe had been unsurprised. She had told Sofia that she had sensed this knowledge in her. So, it is true? Sofia had asked her. It is true and not true, Antibe had replied. Through the centuries, there have been so many versions of the story that it is difficult to tell which is which. Personally, I find the snake hard to believe, but who can know for sure? Be careful who you tell it to. This story has more power than most of us will ever wield in our lifetime.

Sofia had not completely understood this, and she still didn't. Yet, Mother seemed to understand, and it made her feel both victorious and confused.

"Well," she said, more nonchalantly than she felt, "now it is out. There is nothing we can do."

For a moment, she was afraid that Mother would pounce onto that last sentence. That she would order them to repeal the story, or that she would hurt the people who had listened to it, or order them to keep it secret, or to forget it. But Mother sighed and nodded. She looked at each of them in turn.

"If I had known the trouble you would bring me..."

"Then you would never have deliberately put us in danger, so that you'd have a reason to invade Epoch?" Orì finished the sentence.