The Story of Samo-Chapter Two, Part Seven
After Samo had gone down a few hallways with the two truants, he saw Kiara walking toward him. She was marching as if ready to clobber him. When she saw Cemas and Yufas, she stopped and cocked her head to the side. Grinning out of one end of her mouth, she said, “What, are you recruiting for your army of world conquest?”
Cemas looked up at him, almost seeming excited. He said, “Conquest?”
Samo chuckled and said, “No, I was just returning them to their lessons. I can be a responsible human being, you know.”
“Oh, really? Well, I’ll walk with you. Then I’ll return you to the library like Kia asked me to.”
As they started down the hall again, Samo asked, “You left Kia in the library alone? With all those books? What will be left of him when we get back?”
“Oh hush,” she answered. As they walked, she stooped over and said to Yufas, who was seeming even more nervous than before, “Hi there, I’m Kiara. What’s your name?”
“Yufas.” He muttered it so softly that she could barely hear what he said.
She smiled at him. “That’s a nice name. I had an ancestor named Yufas. He was a soldier in the army.”
Coming from behind his cousin Cemas, Yufas said, “You’re descended from Yufas Culabar? We are too?”
“Really?” She stood and said proudly, “I guess that makes us cousins.”
Samo said, “Only if a distant relation from two hundred years ago counts as cousins.” He chuckled dryly and winced as Kiara poked him in a pressure point on his arm.
She said, “I said hush.” Returning her attention to Yufas, she motioned to Cemas and said, “What’s his name?”
Yufas answered, “He’s my cousin Cemas. He’s not related to Yufas Culabar, though. Different parent.”
“Aha. Well, where are you supposed to be? Are we almost there?”
Yufas turned to his cousin for askance. Cemas said, “Yeah, I think we’re close. If you hear an old lady screeching after one of us-”
They were interrupted by a woman, not quite old—she was somewhere in her thirties and still pretty—yelling the names of both Cemas and Yufas. Cemas winced and said, “Yeah, we’re here.” The woman walked up and, ignoring Samo and Kiara, took both of the boys by the ear and said, “There you are! Do you know how much trouble you’re in? Where have you been?”
As Cemas and Yufas were yowling and trying to get away, Samo said, “They were doing some great engineering work.”
The woman turned her scowl to him and said, “What?”
Unfazed by the scowl that usually turned rascally students into repentant angels—and even made Kiara flinch—Samo said, “They were testing an invention of Cemas’. I think he calls it a paper bird.” With that, he took the paper bird and threw it, sending it flying down the hall. “He may just be on his way to discovering the secret of flight.”
The teacher looked toward the paper bird and back at Samo incredulously. She frowned and swatted the boys on the back. “Get to your studies. I won’t punish you this time.” As they ran off—Cemas collected his paper bird—the teacher crossed her arms and said, “And who might you be?”
Samo answered, “Samo Diarcha. This is my friend Kiara Bonem.”
“How do you know the boys?”
Kiara said, “We don’t, really. Samo met them and decided to bring them back to their class.”
Shaking her head, the teacher chuckled. She said, “Well, thank you. Even if they were testing that thing out, they need to study their algebra. I’m Necine Valan. Are you students?”
“Yes ma’am,” Samo answered.
“Another thing,” Necine said. “I’m not married, so I don’t want you to call me ma’am. My students call me Miss Valan. Since you’re obviously in the upper classes, you can call me Necine.” As she started to turn away toward where she started, she stopped and said, “Samo Diarcha. Hm. You wouldn’t happen to have been Gianan’s apprentice, would you?”
Samo set his jaw and planted his foot, ready for another accusation. Through clenched teeth, he said, “Yes, I was.”
Necine nodded and said, sadly, “I’m sorry to hear about what happened. He was a nice man.” She smiled at the two of them and walked away.
When Necine was gone, Kiara poked him in the arm and said, “See? Not everyone thinks you did it.” She looked at him, still watching down the hall. He didn’t move, but she thought she saw a tear forming at the corner of his eye. When the water welled up enough to run down his stolidly firm cheek, she put her arms around his shoulders and gave him a squeeze. His arms hung at his side and he sobbed silently. She held him there for nearly a full minute before he said, “I’m not crying.”
Whispering, she answered, “I know. Let’s go back to the library. I think Kia may have gotten some lunch for us.” He patted her hand and started walking back with her, refusing to even acknowledge the tears on his face by wiping them away.
Tales of the Inventor's War 