The Bridge To Nihon (BOOK ONE)

Chapter 18 - Kaido's Offer

Kaido leaned away from Sofia, and the room came back into focus. The talk and laughter and noises swashed back to the surface, spilling over. People's silhouettes sharpened, their movements became quick and sudden. The heat and smells in the room flared back up. There was the sulfur from the dragon's breath, penetrating into the building through every crevice, and the strangeness of the food and drink. All of it melted into a single, overpowering odor.

Sofia was so overwhelmed by this assault on her senses that she closed her eyes. She had to resist the urge to put her hands over her ears and crouch down on the floor. Kaido put his hand on her shoulder. She was too distracted to push him away.

"Just breathe," he said. "I had to do that. You never know who might be listening."

Sofia took a few deep breaths. At first, the unfamiliar air stung in her throat, then she grew accustomed to it again. 

She opened her eyes.

"Good," Kaido said. "And proving my point. You don't belong here. And yet, you don't cause the stir that you should. I wonder why that is?"

The last part was said mostly to himself. Sofia didn't know what to reply. He had dropped his previous mischief and was serious and kind now as if he was almost feeling sorry for the trouble he had caused her. He reminded her of Orì at that moment, of how she never knew where she was at with her, not even if she was right to call her her friend.

Suddenly, Sofia felt tired. She was so far from home. It was a world apart. And why had she come here? To find a girl she had only known for a short while. She had no idea where to look for her, and if she had even been honest with her. What if all of this had only been one of Orì's games, and tomorrow, she would go looking for Sofia at the river, to mock her, to say, 'I knew you wouldn't dare to cross the bridge, you boring little goody-two-shoes'?

Well, in that case, she would at least get a big surprise upon discovering that Sofia wasn't there anymore.

"It is dangerous, what you are doing here," Kaido said. "But I guess you already know that. Why did you come here?"

Sofia shook her head. "I'm not telling you."

It was as much as she would say to admit that he was right, but there was no expression of triumph on his face. Only worry.

"You are not safe," he continued. "Least of all here. People quite often appear friendly and helpful, but that doesn't mean that they are. Nothing is the way it seems in Nihon. Haven't you noticed that?"

"I have. I guess." Sofia wasn't sure.

"That's the only thing you can put your trust in. And into yourself. Remember that, it is the single most important lesson if you plan to get out of here alive."

Sofia squinted at him. It made her angry that she couldn't figure him out. "So, I should assume that you are lying to me right now?"

Kaido gave a little laugh. "You're a quick study, that's good. Yes, you should assume that I'm lying, even though I am not."

Sofia pondered his answer. It didn't help her in any way, but it put her at ease somehow. Which was probably exactly what it was supposed to do.

"I gave back your obsidian," Kaido said. "You don't understand the temptation, how much I wanted to keep it. Even a splinter would have sufficed to pay your room and board here for a week."

"I knew he was cheating me!" Sofia exclaimed, annoyed that she had still fallen for the innkeeper's charade.

"And that is not where he will stop. He's a nice man, good enough for these surroundings and for his profession. But he won't be able to help himself, and that wife of his neither. Just one glimpse of volcano glass makes people crazy around here. It has become so rare, some people spend their whole lives without as much as touching it. Where did you get it?"