Kings Game

Chapter 20 - Home (3)

"What are you doing here?" Roran asked.

"I was just enjoying the sunset," she said. "It's peaceful up here and people rarely bother me this far out of town."

"Oh, I didn't mean to intrude. I'll leave you alone."

"No, it's okay...I mean, you don't have to go if you don't want to."

"Okay."

They stood there, staring at each other, Roran awkwardly holding his lantern while Sarah plucked at her robes.

"Congratulations on winning the tourney," she said.

"Thank you."

"Have you gone to see your father yet?"

Roran shook his head. "Haven't felt up to it."

"I'm sure he'd like to see you. I mean, he probably doesn't know who you are. I mean, I'm sure he knows he has a son but he wouldn't recognize you, but—"

"I know what you mean," said Roran, grinning slightly. His face turning serious, he asked, "How did you know about my father?"

"Oh, I heard you request it of the King. You said you wanted to find him."

"I only said that out loud on the platform. I know for a fact you weren't there."

"Oh...um...well, you see, I have very good hearing."

"You're not a clerk, are you?"

Sarah deflated slightly. She hugged herself. "No, I'm not. I'm more of a custodian. I keep things moving, so to speak."

"Before the final round, how did you get into my room?"

She shrugged. "I'm hard to see when I want to be. You can only see me because you're getting a little bit of help."

Sarah pointed to Roran's wrist, where Karyn's charm still dangled. Roran had gotten used to wearing it over the last week and often forgot it was there.

The sun dipped below the horizon, plunging the world into twilight. A cool breeze drifted down the mountain and Sarah pulled her robes tighter around herself. With the long flowing sleeves she could easily be covered in focus markings. It would explain how people had difficulty seeing her and how she could appear out of nowhere and hear conversations she wasn't a part of.

"Do you come here often?"

Sarah nodded.

"If you don't mind me asking, where do you stay?"

"I...well, you see. I stay...um, with my coworkers. Sort of..."

"You don't have to answer. I didn't mean to pry."

"No, it's okay, it's just a complicated answer. I'm not homeless though. Well, not homeless in the way people are normally homeless. I mean, I don't need a home. I mean—"

Roran started laughing.

Indignant, Sarah asked, "Are you laughing at me because I'm homeless?"

Roran shook his head and tried to answer, but only succeeded in laughing harder.

"I'm not homeless because I can't get a home. I could if I really wanted to...probably."

Roran folded in half, holding his stomach as he laughed harder and harder. Tears slipped from his eyes and snot started leaking out of his nose, which only made the laughing fit worse.

Sarah folded her arms and scowled at him.

Taking a moment to gather himself, Roran wiped the tears from his eyes and the snot from his face, before saying, "Sorry, I wasn't laughing at you, it's just that you haven't given me a straight answer since we met."