Redemptor Secret Origin

Chapter 6 - A Hero of One

"Daddy, what's 'swindle' mean?" Nariah asked.

"I, uh," Rene stammered to Ophiuchus, "we don't have..."

Nariah tugged on his sleeve and repeated her question, "What's 'swindle' mean, Daddy?"

A smile hinted at the old man's lips.

"It means 'get something for nothing,'" Rene answered, then addressed the shinseon again, "I'm sorry, shinseon, really, and I do appreciate you healing us, it's just that, I don't, we don't exactly have any money right now, just at this sento."

"Aware of that fact, sellstalt Rene Naza, am I.

A shinseon cares not for silly coins, nor the baubles they buy."

"Oh, that's okay, Daddy," Nariah told him. "We can pay in shinwha. We'll pay in shinwha, please, Shinseon Ophiuchus."

Rene's eyes went wide. "Wait, what? Whoa, whoa, whoa..." but Ophiuchus was already responding.

"Come there shall a crucial time and sacred task. I will ask of you your aid.

And should that time come, and you accept, your pair's shinwha be paid."

Rene stood a little straighter, although he was afraid. "Shinseon, I know what I am in this city. I know I'm a sellstalt, and most days I take whatever work I can hustle, but I can't go making commitments about the future and especially the kind I think you're meaning because I've got this little girl to take care of. I'm all she's got, so I can't take the kind of risks that might come from helping someone in your line of work. Surviving in Tetrapolis un-ankle-shackled is hard enough as it is. You safe here in your Dome, you don't know what it's like out up there. You, you've been hiding in here ever since the Winds and they built the towers. But us, we're out there."

"Daddy," Nariah censured, "You're not being nice. Just say 'thank you' and do the shinwha when it's time to do it like Ophiuchus is asking. So what?"

Rene smiled at Ophiuchus and gave a nervous laugh. Rene turned to Nariah urgently. "Sweetie, it's not that I'm not being nice, it's just that you don't go around making shinwha to wizards-even very nice wizards-you just met, without, uh, without first..."

Chin tilted, arms crossed, Nariah was tapping her foot. "Without what?"

Rene tried to find the right words. "Nariah, I'm just trying to be a hero of one, okay? A hero for you. That's all I'm good for."

"Oh, Daddy," Nariah said softly. She touched his cheek and looked at him with her large eyes, understanding more than a girl of her orbits should. "You're good for more than that to me. You could shinwha to everyone in the whole planet if you had to."

Rene smiled, flustered. "Well, thank you for the confidence, my love." He turned back to Ophiuchus, who stood ready to give his grave reply.