“It was selfish when we invaded Oramin and forced them to change their culture and religion to ours,” Lucas continued. “And then we continued to do the same thing to Zimoro, which caused Dengria to come to their aid. And yet we still beat those three countries like it was nothing. We forced everyone to change, when I say we should celebrate the differences!”

Indenuel stared at Lucas. “You mean… forced them to stop slavery?”

Lucas gave a sigh. “The thing everyone comes to. Yes, Zimoro and Oramin shouldn’t have practiced slavery. Yes, it should have been stopped, but the High Elders overstepped their bounds. It’s not just slavery they’re stopping. They are making sure everyone follows their religion. Stopping slavery is just the heroic battle cry they screamed to get the troops rallied.”

Indenuel stared at Lucas, feeling uncomfortable. “But slavery did end, so there is that.”

“Yep,” Lucas said. “And in the process, Oraminian and Zimoran economy collapsed, making them completely dependent on us for survival. There could have been another way to help them end their slavery without pulling it out from under them and forcing them to rely on us to survive. With the complete domination of Oramin, Zimoro, and Dengria, the High Elders are the most powerful people in the world. All they have to do is win this war with Kiam, and the entire world will be under one religion. Their religion. Everyone knows the King and Queen are just puppets. The High Elders are out to seek the world, and you are the missing card in their hand.”

Indenuel felt his fingers turn cold. He simply clung to the thing he had learned from childhood. Slavery was wrong. Santollia needed to end it. The dehumanization of tree talkers was an insult to God.

Indenuel? It was Derio in the trees.

I’m fine. He let Derio sense he was in no real danger while keeping his internal dialogue hidden.

We are almost ready to go.

Lucas looked down his bottle again. “Say, do any of your Warrior powers have the ability to magically create wine?” Indenuel shook his head ever so slightly. Lucas frowned. “Pity.” He got up again and stretched before he noticed Indenuel’s face. “Oh, the ministers will really come after me if I convert the Warrior to a peace cause.”

“But the Kiamese army now, they need to be stopped,” Indenuel said with little of the conviction in his voice.

“Why, though?” Lucas asked. “Kiam is fighting us because they want to protect their religion and culture. Santollia is fighting because we want control of the whole world. Who do you think should win?”

Indenuel stayed silent so he wouldn’t reveal how little he knew about politics and war. He didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of this man.

This man, the town drunkard.

A drunkard who knew a lot about politics and war.

“So you think… you think my role in all this is to help the High Elders become the world power? Not to defeat Kiam and… end slavery?” Indenuel asked.

“There has never been any proof that Kiam practices slavery,” Lucas said. “Kiam struck us first after we conquered the other three countries. They got scared that Santollia would enter Kiam and force them to change their culture and religion, and everyone else just assumed that meant they practice slavery, since it was our battle cry with the other war.”

“Stay away from him!” Indenuel turned to see a man striding forward and pushing Lucas away. Lucas’ eyes hardened. “You stay away from the Warrior. You have no right to be around him.”

There was a familiarity to the hardness in Lucas’ eyes as he took the abuse. Indenuel grabbed the approaching man’s arm and kept him from getting any closer.

“Leave him alone,” Indenuel said, not meaning for his voice to sound so dangerous.

The man bowed. “Forgive me, Warrior.” The man gave a final warning look at Lucas before leaving. Lucas brushed off the dirt from his shirt.

“Thank you for listening. It’s more than anyone else in this town has done for me,” Lucas said.

“I can tell this town you’ve always been clean of demons,” Indenuel said.

Lucas laughed. “They won’t care. A town always needs someone to push all their troubles on. God forbid they take accountability for themselves.”

Indenuel was again reminded of the hurt his town had given. Gracia once screamed at Lucia when they had a horrible hailstorm a few years ago. It didn’t matter the weather controllers weren’t powerful enough. What mattered was Lucia was someone they believed was of the devil.

“Will you be alright here?” Indenuel asked.

“Don’t worry about me, boy. I’ve survived this long. As long as I can get my drink, I’ll last a little longer,” Lucas said.

Indenuel gave Lucas a small bow. “I must return. May God bless you on your way.”

Lucas shook his head as he held his bottle close. “I doubt God cares.” He hobbled off toward another street. Two men chatted before they stopped and eyed Lucas with a distrusting, almost fearful gaze. Indenuel turned and headed back on the road that led toward the inn.

It got harder to breathe. The other countries they conquered, how had they been treated in all this? Was it true they were forced to give up their way of life? More than just slavery?

Indenuel approached the carriages as the servants finished placing the bags and boxes into the cart.

“Did you have a good walk?” Adosina asked. Indenuel nodded, still not prepared to talk. “Did you have some breakfast?” Indenuel shook his head. “Do you want any?” He shook his head again. She reached over and placed her palm under his elbow, a touch of friendship, the only touch she was allowed to do. There was worry on her face. “Are you alright?”

“Fine, fine.”

Adosina nodded before going off to her carriage. Indenuel approached his when Nathaniel joined him with a book and pressed a small loaf of rye bread in his hand.

“I’m not hungry,” Indenuel said again.

“You didn’t have dinner last night,” was the only answer Nathaniel gave.

He remembered his state of panic last night at the thought of performing an exorcism. He never got his appetite back. He took a tiny bite of the loaf to try and give himself some energy as Nathaniel cracked open his book. “Alright, so we’re going to try something trickier. I want to-”

“Nathaniel?” Indenuel asked.

He stopped talking, glancing up from his book. “Yes?”

Indenuel swallowed the bread, not exactly sure how to vocalize how he felt. He did know one thing, though. His knowledge of the war was seriously lacking. “I want to ask you some questions about the war on our way to the next town, if that’s alright with you.”

Nathaniel slowly lowered his book, a curious look on his face. “Of course. What’s going on?”

Indenuel let out a breath. “Is it true there’s no proof Kiam has slaves?”

“There’s no proof. That is correct. However, whether they have slaves or not, they struck us first, and we need to protect ourselves,” Nathaniel said.

“Like the other nations needed to protect themselves from us?” Indenuel asked.

Nathaniel gave him a comforting smile. “This sounds like you need a conversation with my father. I’ll have him join you this morning instead. Are you still fine to practice with swords at lunch?”

“Yes, yes I should be. Thanks.”

Nathaniel gave Indenuel’s shoulder a strong pat before heading toward Martin. Indenuel looked at his carriage he figured was now his own. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to see Martin, but he couldn’t deny he had questions for him. A lot of questions. And Martin might not be the best source for the answers, but it was a start.

***

Martin oversaw the workers loading the carriages. The servants had gotten what they needed for their lunch, even though the innkeeper had offered to give Martin some of their food. He assured them they would have enough.

Nathaniel walked toward him. “Indenuel has some questions for you, Father.”

Martin paused, then searched for Indenuel. “Any idea what kind of questions?”

“History of the war, by the sound of it. And a bit of politics.”

Martin smiled. “And you ran away from the politics as usual?”

Nathaniel laughed. “I get too confused with it all.”

“If you could finish up here for me, I’ll see what he wants.” Martin walked over to Indenuel’s carriage. He peeked in the window and gave a smile. “Good morning, Indenuel. Nathaniel said you had some questions?” By the furrow of Indenuel’s brow and the frown tugging on his mouth, it was clear something was bothering the boy. “You look troubled. Did something happen?”

Indenuel opened his mouth, then closed it again. He sat forward, rubbing his head. “It seems my knowledge of the war isn’t clear,” Indenuel finally said. “In Mountain Pass we only talked about the war with Kiam. Not… not the others. If I’m going to become the Warrior, I need to understand the wars better.”

Martin gave a nod. “A noble aspiration, indeed. That is very wise of you.”

“Thank you. Would you care to join me and we could talk about it?” Indenuel was guarded.

He answered with a smile. “Of course. But tell me, Indenuel. Have you ever seen a map of the world?” Indenuel shook his head. “Let me go get one. I believe it will help as I answer your questions.”

Martin continued to smile until he turned away from the carriage, then his smile dropped. He couldn’t say why, but there was something in Indenuel’s tone that warned him this would be more of an interrogation than it would be quenching an inquisitive mind. Martin borrowed a map from Riel and headed back to the carriage, running into Derio while he did so.

“Did Indenuel meet with anyone on his morning walk?” Martin asked quietly.

“Yes, sir. The trees wouldn’t let me hear the conversation since no permission was given to listen in, but there was a gentleman Indenuel was talking to,” Derio said.

Martin patted Derio on the shoulder. “Once I’m in the carriage, begin our journey to the next town.”

“Right away, sir.”

Martin took a deep breath before he put the smile back on his face. He was ready.