Moonstones and Madness

Forty-one

     Xuiyang looked around nervously when he was admitted to the office. Even the generous praise for his role leading his team off-site did not help him relax. Knight-Master Lei pulled out a letter and set it on the table between them. "Your father has made requests about your training regime, but I guess you know about them."

Xuiyang looked down as he mumbled, "He says he is willing to let me have my flights of fancy as long as I am still getting the skills I need to serve the merchant house."

"What skills do you think you need to work on?" Knight-Master Lei coaxed.

"I still need to matriculate but I am learning so much working with the team. Manager Doak has also been very generous showing me the ropes both here and at your estates. I had no idea how complicated it would be to track all the tenant accounts. So more of that sort of thing. Oh, and maybe working out risks and margins but those depend a lot on contexts." Xuiyang sounded more confident now he had a chance to think about what he had been learning instead of his father's faulty assumptions.

"I will get Manager Doak to put an addendum onto the request for renewal to specify those expectations. Hopefully it will satisfy your family enough to let you continue here. We are lucky to have you."

Xuiyang was nearly skipping when he popped out to find Hae-sung and Chenhui. For Knight-Master Lei it marked the end of what he thought of as easy conversations. He had the two boys heading to Dageon come in together to talk about the trip.

"You are sending us home?" Hae-sung looked completely shocked. "I thought now I had recovered..."

Knight-Master Lei put up his hand. "I am sending a renewal request with each of you but I also know your family's might have other things in mind. Your mother is still very worried about your health, Hae-sung. Let her see you are well."

Hae-sung looked up quickly and nodded his understanding.

"Is it about my Dad, the way he showed up here?" Chenhui whispered.

"Yes, and no. I think your grandparents deserve to hear your side of things directly. I know it will be hard but it is better you can talk it through with them. After that, I think you should be able to set some boundaries but I will tell them how much we value your contributions."

When the other boys saw a pair of topped ranked trainees leaving the meeting looking so subdued, they started to worry. Some already knew they had not put in their best efforts, taking the trip away from the forge as an excuse to relax, or get complacent. For others it was easy to see the gaps between their two groups through the shared practice sets, and the different quality pieces on the workbench.

Even the most confident found the questions: "Why do you want to train here," and, "What are you doing to show us how much you want this," difficult. Two trainees left the meeting without even trying to answer, choosing to pack up instead. Others floundered but made commitments to improve.

Knight-Master Lei sighed quietly as Song-hee entered. The group was torn about their tough little street-fighter. He knew him to be a potentially brilliant tinker and mechanic but had watched him withdrawing ever since the local gang got their hooks into him. His first question got a straight-forward answer.

"It's my best shot, isn't it. Maybe even my only shot." Song-hee tilted his head up and stared Knight-Master Lei straight in the eye with his second answer, "I might not come from much but I'm still here, aren't I?" Then he looked away, and his voice got huskier, "It's not like I fit in, not really. Still too rough, I expect."

"Your grades have improved," Knight-Master Lei tried to be encouraging.

"Not like San Jin or Junseo will leave me alone about the book work. It's a like a brother sandwich, one doing the bossing and the other turning up with another scroll every time a fellow gets a break," Song-hee pouted.

Knight-Master Lei had to hide his smile behind his hand. He had seen San Jin serving as the walking bus to get the younger trainees to school on time and knew Junseo was seldom without something to read. He decided to switch tactics, "What would you say you are best at? What do you want to do more of if you stay?"

"Sticking with it. That's what I'm best at. I mean I am fairly good in a street fight but there will always be some better, quicker, sharper knives, whatever." Song-hee shrugged. "Yeah, just hanging in, even when it is hard, and others take against me, I can grind on but if there is more on offer it should be for making. Set pieces, new pieces, anything really."

"I'll keep that in mind. Maybe after you get through your exams you can spend half-days at the guildhall. Let them see you are ready to challenge up the levels. It will make your journeyman's application easier."

"Seriously?" Song-hee's voice squeaked. He never imagined such a possibility, not with the upfront fees and all the competition for spots.

"You are already a registered apprentice and well on the way to meeting the army's entrance requirements for junior engineers. Think about it while we are on the road but you should put away some of your bonuses to cover the extra materials and tests. Just don't let the gangs drag you down."

"Understood. Thank you."

Junseo was pacing back and forth in the courtyard, waiting for Song hee to emerge. "You're not abandoning me too, are you?" he blurted as soon as the other boy appeared.

"What are you talking about?" Song-hee scratched his head.

"San Jin's off with Scout Jia, again, Hae-sung and Chenhui are heading to Dageon with the security team, and it's our turn at the estate. That's what Manager Doak says anyway. Please say you are coming with us."

"I thought you didn't like my unsavory associates." Song-hee mimicked a high-born accent.

"I just didn't like you feeling you had to keep secrets from us and wouldn't let anyone help but I know you are done with gangs. No matter what Chenhui said the other day, it was smart of you not to cause a scene when we were still close to the inner courts. The King's guards would have assumed we were a threat and treated us accordingly." Junseo rubbed the top of the silk bag sticking out of his belt feeling guilty about his own mounting number of secrets.