Rubies and Rumors

Chapter Eighteen

            Brother Suk-Chan shook his head as he watched his nephew trying to get ink off. He chuckled as he patted the boy on the back and had him follow along to the potting shed where there was a bit of lamp-oil set aside.

"It won't feel great but this usually works," he said handing over a small cloth soaked in the strong-smelling liquid. In-Yeon wrinkled his nose and went to work, stopping only when the side of his face started to sting.

"You should rinse that off now. Be sure to rinse your collar as well if you don't want the smell following you the rest of day."

In-Yeon's ears turned red at this oblique mention of laundry. He tried to start his explanation but stuttered and had to stop. He took a deep breath and tried again. "I think I am in trouble with the Masters, or at least the Head Librarian and maybe the Dorm-master. The Temple-master seemed to be okay but I don't know. He seemed amused by my mistake. But now I don't know who will sign my competition entry. It's this week and," In-Yeon stopped when his uncle put up a hand.

"Woah. Take a breath. Why don't you start by telling me about your afternoon in the city?"

In-Yeon grinned, took the breath as directed, and said, "Scary awesome. I had no idea Hae-sung and Junseo trained with Knight-Master Lie. Even though I'm just a junior the whole team couldn't have been nicer. Once Manager Doak kitted me up the team went through different levels with weapons and then ended up riding in the Royal Park. Hae-sung reviewed some of my homework with me and on the way back Junseo helped me with better anchor my stones."

"So, no reason for the masters to be interested?"

"No. Not at all. That was my fault for trying something I shouldn't have and then loosing my temper a bit." In-Yeon then explained his little bit of work and its aftermath before admitting he still felt a little bit like a wet noodle.

"Let me get this straight. The Temple-master found you drying your clothes with a warmed-up breeze to and all he did was help you put your laundry away?" His uncle tried to keep a straight face but started to chuckle when he said, "I bet our Librarian was just beside himself." He sobered enough to ask about In-Yeon losing his temper.

"You know how it is when the boys feel like they have permission to bully. So, I pretty much told the Dorm-master he needs to get better control over his pets. Then I put one on notice for touching me. Maybe if I wasn't as tired, I could have handled it better but they pissed over everything I own." In-Yeon stuck out his chin but also had to wipe away a tear with the back of his hand. "It's not like I couldn't take any one of them in a fair fight. I just don't because that is not what Grampa would want, it's not how he taught me."

"Right. The whole, the bigger man walks away, line. I remember it well. The problem is it doesn't cover the mean ones trying to trip you over, and over again, and how that can chip away at you."

In-Yeon straightened his shoulders and sheer relief rushed across his face as he nodded but then he started to worry. "I can't take them all at once. We know how vicious they are."

"Especially, when they can sneak around thinking they can get away with their nasty tricks. It should be different if you can call them out directly like you did in the dining hall. Still, you need to be cautious, keep your back to the wall when you can." His uncle scratched his beard and looked In-Yeon up and down. "First, let's re-charge your anchors," he said handing over the jade jars. Then he led In-Yeon through the full set of wind and water mantras. He started with the common version and then more slowly with the Sun Temple adaptations. With each cycle In-Yeon could feel more energy gathering around them.