Sword and Mind

9

"Friends in high places, eh?"

"I suppose."

Rumah cut her eyes at Pallu. "So he's yer teacher, eh? Swordfighter?"

"Aye, don't let his age and size fool you. He's laid me flat more times than I wish to admit."

"How many teachers do ya 'ave?"

"Seven if you include my father. Three for sword, three for mind."

"So they're trainin' ya ta be a fighter, eh?"

"Aye."

"And yer Da? What's he teach ya?"

"Mind tricks and reading, writing, math, sciences."

"Ya're wantin' ta teach me the same."

Pallu stopped and looked her in the eyes. "I'm wanting to teach you what and how much you want to learn. If you try to learn telekinesis on your own, you'll hurt yourself like you did before and quite possibly even worse than those headaches."

"It could get worse 'an that?!"

"Aye. You could go mad or injure yourself irrevocably."

"Ir-what-ably?"

"You could permanently hurt yourself."

Rumah whistled through her teeth as they resumed their walk. "How?"

"It's hard to explain. It's like falling out of a tree and breaking your leg and you can't set it and the leg doesn't heal right. Only it's your mind."

"Whoa. I didn't know that was possible. But ya said everyone can do the mind tricks."

"Aye. But everybody's afraid it's magic. They don't want to do it or learn how. Hopefully it'll change. It's quite useful."

Rumah remained quiet, watching Pallu for any clues about her sincerity. "Where ya headed?"

"To check in with my father. He never likes it when I leave early."

"Well, I better get a goin'." Rumah drifts away from Pallu.

"You're not coming up? He might have something about the..." she touched her forehead. "My friends are out and about the town. Yunin has some friends here, and he wants to visit them."

Rumah stopped and looked around her as if the faces could tell her what her decision should be. "Alright. But just fur a lil' bit."

Pallu's smile took up half her face. "I'm glad to hear it. Come on. It's just around the corner." With a gentle hand on Rumah's back, Pallu directed her to her home. It was a tall two story wooden structure and narrow. The outside was not much be speak of as the house was somewhat dark from the outside. "It's not much to look at. But it's home."

As the pair entered, the house became the cozy home that Rumah only thought existed in her dreams. There was no excessive decorations or furniture, simply the comforts of good overstuffed armchairs and a sitting sofa, tables laden with what must be sentimental items and oil lamps. The rooms Pallu escorted Rumah through were nothing like the outside: they were bright and airy and scented with the aroma of freshly cooked breakfast.

"Papa?" Pallu called.

"I'm in the cellar, love."

"What's he doin' down 'ere?"

"Thinking most likely." Then called, "Papa, I've brought a guest."

"I'll be up." Rumah heard footsteps ascending the stairs and a graying head peep out of the door. "My goodness child, you go from bringing not a soul to this place to having all sorts of company."