Carmine (Completed)

Chapter 31

I turned. "You failed me Five."

Five's face twitched, but he did not look away from me. At least not with those non-directed eyes, he kept up his firm stature with his ams locked behind his back. He said, "I welcome your punishment mother."

I mused about that, while I touched my chin. "I will punish you later." For now, we need to prepare to leave. San Rosa might not have been so unwelcoming as I thought. 

I said, "Even Acomn does not want me here. Remembering her words clearly it might be very likely I put the lives of these people in danger if I stay here.

"Well, I got one thing, an armed escort, and Canus felt obliged to put forward the offer of our marriage to his family tonight, which will be looked down upon I reason. I wish to be a fly on a wall in that room, so coming here was not completely useless."

Five opened his lips.

I looked back at Janilla, who sat on the bed, while I stood between them. "Janilla, you are staying."

"What?" She asked in dismay.

"Carrying you to Ascus is dangerous. Also, you know it might be a good idea to leave. I heard no tales of Para or my past friends being killed. So we can assume they are not merciless aimless killers. They just want me, right Five?"

"Yes Mother," Five replied.

I continued, "Then we can part ways here. You are not in Eathen. Corona will not be on your tail enough to care about you in another country. I already made arrangements with the King to find a place for you where your abilities can be useful."

She stared with an open mouth, but I already rested my vocal assertions. Janilla closed her mouth with a sad resolve. Then, she said it, "No."

We stared at each other. I spoke first, "Jani—"

"I want to learn more. I mean I am scared, but it is like you said. It is too late to go back, we are too far gone in this mad world." She took up the book. "The more I read the more I feel like I lived like a fool. I do not want to live like that anymore."

Where was this coming from? 

"The Elamnites, these Gods, they knew more than us. In a way, they are your Gods. They did give you knowledge." I tapped the book's side as we exchanged directed glares between each other.

Janilla averted her eyes, "I guessed it is a choice between being a servant and being the master. Kind of reminds you of adventurers that seek the supposed wealth that is hidden in Elam. Corona always said those adventurers were fools and no such treasure existed. That was a lie."

Five replied, "No, Corona was right. Treasure is relative. To some people, the things Elam has are not considered treasures.  To Valor they are not treasures. What you are going to find is nothing special. It is only knowledge beyond your wildest dreams. It cannot cure hunger.

"Besides, It is one thing to know about Elam, it is another to enter it. If you do not belong there you will be killed on the spot, no excuses. It is impossible for any human to blend into Elam society, they would only have to look at you."

Janilla asked, "The colored eyes that they called Eyes of Sun? They creeped me out when I saw San Rosa with it. Hey, Lady Carmine how long do you think it will be before they come again?"

I waved my hand and made a facial shrug. "They attacked us when we were on the road. It would be harder for them to kill us here. Too many eyes, I guessed."

Five replied, "Yes, Sun innovated it. One look and they would know." He looked at me. "Elam wants to keep up the lie. Rampant blatant attacks would cause humans to get scared and scared animals are more dangerous than predators if the situation is right."