"Satori, it's been a while! You haven't changed... A bit." The man said as he arched his brow, looking Satori down and up.
Satori sighed, having a small smile. "Likewise Aich, although you have changed." Aich laughed in response, waving Satori to follow him.
Satori had just entered the mansion being kindly greeted by servants who took their belongings to their rooms. Now he was following Aich with Lenlin behind him, though he discreetly glanced at him and shook his head, telling him to leave before their host opened a door.
Lenlin curtly nodded, stepping back.
"We can chat in here, it's my office." He held the door open while Satori walked in, closing it after. "It's quite nice, far different from Kou that's for sure." He said, taking a seat on a nice plush chair. "I can't tell if that's a compliment but I'll take it..." Aich took the seat in front of Satori, taking in a deep breath.
Although he said he had two things to attend to in Parthevia, he actually only had one thing he had to do which would be in the capital. Where he was now was for personal reasons, taking advantage of the trip.
Aich was a very old friend of Satori's, someone he had met as a teenager at the palace of Rakushou.
"I see you're still stuck in Kou, still close to the royal family." Aich started, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his lap. Satori only looked down with half-lidded eyes. "Yes... I believe I'm too deep in, I've tried to leave on numerous occasions but, they have me on a short leash."
"You're barely in the country yet you can't escape it, how ironic." He sighed, his face drooping with sympathy. "I'm not you Aich, I can't just leave and expect them to forget about me. I've been trying to get my brother to replace me, but it'd take a lot for them to accept him. He wants the position but... He so incompetent." He let out a sharp and hard breath, disappointment lingering in the back of his mind at the thought of his older brother.
"Why don't you just leave, they'll give your spot to someone else easily. You could come here or even go to Riem." Aich suggested, pushing himself up.
"Don't you get it? I'm not someone they can simply ignore, I know a lot, maybe even too much about the Empire's plans. Maybe I could get away, but I'd just live in fear, and my family would be shamed because of me. I've looked at Riem and here too, neither really appeases me."
Aich felt bad for his friend, as dedicated as he was he couldn't leave, meanwhile here he was, lavishing in his riches separated from the Empire. "I could help you, I have connections in the palace, if you change sides, they'd give you protection."
Satori slowly looked up at him, his eyes dim with his brows sorrow. "I appreciate the thought but, I'm trying to escape war, not continue in it. That and, I doubt there's much Parthevia would do, Kou is willing to ally with them, and I'm sure it's the same for Parthevia. That's why I'm here right now, to discuss being 'allies'." Aich's eyes widened at this, thinking about what that meant for him. Groaning he brushed his fingers through his brown hair, slouching into the couch. "Thanks for the heads up. Good to know this country is going to shit sooner than I thought."
"Yeah..." He muttered. He had no other reason for being here other than catching up with his friend. But it was nice to talk about his worries, even if it didn't help them.
On every one of his missions outside of Kou, he thought about moving to the countries, wishing he could. He was stuck in Kou, all thanks to his father being careless, and him being naive enough to think he could fix it. The Emporer was far too fond of him, something he thought he could actually benefit from. If only he had known about Kiyumi's connection to the royal family sooner, then he wouldn't have ever gotten so close. His wife had a very twisted relationship with the Empress, Gyokouen. The Empress disliked her for no reasonable cause, she acted on it once and that was enough to tell them they had to leave. Leave before their beloved daughter got involved. Though Satori feared it might be too late for that.
He wasn't going to give up on leaving, even if it felt like he was running right into his own downfall.
~
"I can't believe you Kiari, Kiyumi and I didn't raise you to be like this." Satori was rubbing the bridge of his nose, his anger more than clear already but the vein popping out of his temple really assured Kiari.
She and Sinbad were sitting with their hands on their laps, back straight as Satori yelled at them. Teijin was behind them, he had gleefully told Satori what they had done.
"But... You did only say he had to be watching, he was!" Kiari added, but her attempt to plead didn't make it any better. "That's not the point Kiari, you deceived him and did something that wasn't safe." He retorted, snapping his fan closed the gleam of anger in his eyes more clear than before. He darted his fan to Sinbad, groaning. "And you... You're lucky I'm benevolent. If it weren't for how confided my daughter was with you, I'd have you walk back to your home." Sinbad only gulped, he knew he'd be mad but he wasn't expecting this. With how nice he was to his daughter he thought they'd get off with a short scolding.
"Satori are you really still in here?" Aich sweatdropped as he opened the doors behind them, expecting a light atmosphere rather than the tension of anger and fear looming in the air.
"Aich would you mind not interfering." He grew a tickmark pointing his fan at him with a shoo. "Hey, this is my house, I can do what I want. And right now I think it's time for dinner." Aich ignored his friend, crossing his arms with a sigh.
Satori scoffed. "Don't you understand what they've done!"
"No, but I can see they're just children. And I know they didn't get hurt nor did anyone else get hurt..." Aich side-eyed Teijin, a glance that held much judgment and distrust. Even Aich could tell that Teijin was a bit creepy, simply the way he looked at Kiari was enough. How Satori didn't notice was beyond him.
"Really, you should applaud them for doing it safely." He brought his hands down on their shoulders, grinning. Sinbad awkwardly chuckled, Kiari doing the same with a smile.
"And anyway, I bet Kiari rarely gets the chance to do anything in Kou, let her have some fun, it's not every day someone like Sinbad comes along. Seems like a fun kid, you should trust him a little more." Aich gave their shoulder one last strong pat before picking himself up, giving Satori a nice big smile.
He crossed his arms, relaxing his shoulders as he stared at Aich's expression. His words gave Satori an odd comfort. To his own dismay, Aich was a reliable man, one who knew who he could trust by only glancing at them. He hated to admit it but he wasn't so great at that. Him saying that, and the look he gave Teijin was one he couldn't ignore.
He glanced at Teijin, wondering if what Kiari was telling him was actually true. Then he rolled his eyes down to Sinbad, he didn't like it but maybe he should trust him a little bit more. If he had been scheming something he would've shown signs by now.
"Fine, you two get ready for dinner, I'll meet you there in a minute. Teijin you can get to work." His words at Kiari and Sinbad on their feet in an instant, relieved to get out. Sinbad had already turned on his heel to the door while Kiari quickly bowed. "Thank you father, you too Aich." She flipped to Aich, sending him a quick smile before following Sinbad to the dining room.
Teijin waited for them to leave before he bowed to Satori, glancing at Aich while he walked out.
"So you actually trust Sinbad?" Satori started once they had all left. "Yep." His friend smiled, walking up to him and slapping his shoulder. Satori's eyes twitched from the slap, his annoyance coming back. "You only just met him." He said that but he knew he could trust Aich's instincts and intuition far more than anyone else in the world.
"Perhaps but I know how untrustworthy people look like Satori, none share anything with Sinbad, at least not right now."
"Then what about Teijin, you don't seem to like him. Considering how long Kiari has wanted me to get rid of him, and your instant disapproval I take it she was right after all." Satori brushed his hair back with his hand, his bitter annoyance even more noticeable with his eyes on full show.
"Yeah, I don't know what she says about him but I'd bet they're all right." Aich chuckled, feeling bad for the young girl.
"I guess I'll be giving Teijin other things to worry about then."
~
Some days passed, days spent in Aich's mansion. Sinbad to no surprise had made a reputation for himself those few days. He started getting along with the entire crew, entertaining their stories and giving his own that they all enjoyed. Lenlin was now fond of Sinbad along with the other soldiers and servants, and Aich who was wanting to employ him now too. Even Satori's saltiness towards him dissipated, something Kiari was in awe of. She enjoyed Sinbad's company as much as everyone else, more so now that Satori trusted him enough that Teijin didn't have to follow them everywhere.
"Sinbad, you said you only live with your mother right?" Satori questioned, standing in front of the door of the carriage. Today was the day of departure to the capital, they put their stuff back into carriages. Sinbad had just finished loading his share into the carts, standing near Satori. "Yeah, why do you ask?" He took a few steps closer to Satori, arching his eyebrow.
Satori looked down at him, "Hm, you'll also be having to join the military here soon. If they aren't already pestering you about it." He paused, analyzing Sinbad's expression at this. He had a frown with eyes that didn't seem too pleased about this topic. Didn't seem to him Sinbad had any interest in the political affairs of his own country. "...Yeah."
"Well, I'd like to offer you a... Position." Satori sighed, knowing he sounded like Aich right now.
Sinbad stayed silent, curiously staring up at him. "If you'd like I can take you back to Kou with me. I'd employ you as my attendant of sorts, for both Kiari and myself. You're useful, and although I haven't had much time to observe you, I can tell you're a trustworthy boy as well. I'd be glad to take you as part of my household. In doing so, you also wouldn't have to serve any military time." He said it all in a monotone, his expression honest but serious.
Sinbad's eyes widened as he took in what he said. It would be amazing to leave, and with the fact that he'd be with Satori too, that meant he'd travel. But reality soon kicked in, he couldn't leave his mother. "I... I can't, I need to take care of my mom. But thank you." He looked down, sighing.
Satori crossed his arms, carrying a poker face. "Your mother is invited."
He became hopeful yet again, but as before the actuality of it all kicked in. He wasn't sure how his mother would do on a ship, especially for that long. That and, with the way Kiari had described Kou he wasn't sure that's what he wanted for his mother or for himself. Kou was a place to travel to, definitely, but... To live within, he wasn't so sure.
That and he didn't know if he was ready to leave yet.
"This will be the only time I ask, you'll have until we depart for Kou at the port." Satori cut in, he knew how hard this decision might be on the boy, and he'd give him the time to think about it.
Sinbad blinked, somewhat expecting the entire offer to be a joke, but Satori's face told him otherwise. "Thank you, I'll think about it." He said that but, he already knew what he'd say.
"Alright! I'm ready!" Kiari exclaimed, running up to them, dressed up, and prepared to take on the trip.
"Alright Lenlin, aren't we ready to go?" Lenlin appeared behind Kiari, he had been helping her with her hair again. "Seems like it."
"Then let's get going."