17 Aid (1/2)

The dinner table was, for once, crowded. Li got the impression that when it had been built, it was meant for a full family. It was a rectangular and sturdily built with oak. There were preservation runes inscribed to prevent mold and rot. It was large enough for a family, but not a crowd, seating only four people, so Li sat away from the table, watching over what was happening.

Li realized that for over a month, it had only been him and Old Thane eating and living together. The old man never had visitors, and for the first time, he knew why.

”You should have made some new friends!” said Jeanne as she put down her mug. A moustache of beer foam bubbled above her pink lips. The basket that Azhar had carried in was full of cured meats and a pitcher of beer, and Jeanne had decided rather loudly that it was time to make merry.

Old Thane shook his head and took a small sip of his beer. ”The men and women I called friends have long passed into the gates of Valhul. I cannot tarnish their memory with new companions. Besides, any friend at this age seeing me with these eyes would have been there to pity me, and pity is the last thing I need.”

Jeanne frowned. ”People are good these days. It's not like how it was when you fought against the demons. There's so much peace and so much prosperity – I'm sure at least some folk would have loved to get to know you and your riveting tales.”

”Oh Jeanne, you're kind, but as naïve as ever,” said Old Thane as he shook his head with a smile.

”No, no,” she protested, a little emboldened by the drink. ”It's true. My mentor at the Temple says that ever since the Duchess graced us with her good rule, smiles have never been so plentiful.”

”Ya know, that sounds exactly like what I'd say if my livelihood depended on kissin' the crown's arse,” muttered Azhar as he chewed on a slice of ham.

”Oh, quiet, you,” said Jeanne as she lightly punched his shoulder. ”Always so cynical.”

”And you're a little too sunshine and flowers,” said Azhar. ”A whole lotta' the good out there ain't gonna last when something like a war comes knocking.”

”He's right,” said Li. He sat with his arms crossed and seat drawn back, carefully watching the trio interact with Old Thane. They got along well enough. ”There's a lot of scum out there. Peacetime is when they're too afraid to show themselves, but come war? You get to see the worst of all of them.”

Sylvie pushed her chair forward so that she sat beside Li. She leaned forward, eyes twinkling with interest. ”You sound like you've been in a war. Tell me, was it in your home country?”

Li pushed his chair back and said, ”You could say that.”

He remembered his experiences fighting for the army. Unpleasant, to say the very least. It wasn't the same as this world, of course, but in many aspects, he figured it was worse. So many more people died in so many more impersonal ways on a modern battlefield.

”Oh, Sylvie, there you go again with your obsession with the East,” said Jeanne as she looked at Sylvie with a playful smile.

”Stop it, Jeanne,” said Sylvie as she looked at Li once before looking away bashfully. ”It's, you know, history. Li might be the only living person in this whole kingdom that knows anything about what few preserved Eastern tales and secrets we have.”

”Your gear's Eastern,” said Li. ”Seems like you already know a decent amount about where I come from.”

Sylvie perked up, happy that Li was engaging her. ”You could say that, but even so, Soleilian records of the Xia are so sparse. Our last contact was one hundred years ago, can you believe it? My ninja equipment and training all come from dusty scrolls that were traded over so very long ago.”

She put her hands on her knees and leaned forward, her curiosity-addled eyes almost boring holes through Li. ”I don't mean to impose, but could you tell us about your land? I've dreamed – I mean, I've studied so much about it.”

Li shook his head. ”Can't help you there. I remember very little about where I came from.”

This was the convenient lie he had settled on to make an excuse about why he knew so little about where he was supposed to be from. The fact that Sylvie confirmed that there were no others like him here to disprove him meant he was comfortable saying it.

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”Mighty convenient, huh?” remarked Azhar. He sat at the very end of the table with his arms crossed like Li.

”Got a problem?” said Li.

Jeanne reached across the table and gave Azhar's head a light karate chop. ”Shush. Li is a good man. He's taken care of Thane and he saved our lives. You should be more thankful.”