The Initiate Brother Duology Read Free

was told to come here at this time to discuss my Seclusion.”
    The Supreme Master had forgotten.
    “Have you completed your term, Initiate?” Sister Morima asked suddenly.
    Shuyun bowed to the nun, while watching his master out of the corner of his eye. He decided it would be impolite not to answer.
    “I’m only a senior Neophyte, honored Sister, but yes, I have just finished my Seclusion.”
    “Good for you, senior Neophyte. Did you stop the sand?” She smiled as she asked this question.
    “No, honored Sister,” the boy said, his tone serious, “I failed to stop the hour glass from measuring time. I can count the grains and name each one as it falls, but that is all.”
    The Botahist nun was unable to hide her surprise.
    By the Lord Botahara, the Supreme Master thought, what karma has arranged for the Sister to be here now!
    “Shuyun-sum, Sister Morima has graced us with her presence, so our interview must be postponed. I will call for you at another time.”
    Shuyun knelt, touching his head to the floor, and backed out of the room. “Thank you, Supreme Master.” Then, suddenly emboldened, he asked, “May I join the junior Initiates in chi quan? They’re about to begin.”
    The Supreme Master nodded his assent and made mental note to speak with the boy about addressing him after being dismissed.
    As soon as Shuyun was out of hearing, the woman asked, “Is this true?”
    “Yes, Sister, the junior Initiates train in chi quan every day at this time.”
    “You know what I mean, Brother!” She allowed impatience into her voice. “Is his chi ten ability so far developed?”
    The Supreme Master shrugged. “I have only spoken to him just now.”
    The nun adjusted her posture, sitting more erect, forcing herself into a studied calm. “I believe he was telling the truth.” She drew a deep breath and then almost whispered, “By the Lord Botahara!”
    The sounds of the chi quan class drifted in from the courtyard and filled the silence in the study.
    “And what do you plan to do with such a one, Brother?”
    “If he learns to walk the Seven Paths, he shall serve Lord Botahara, as do all of our Order.”
    “Which is to say, you will indenture one with such abilities to some power-hungry lord, and draw him into the intrigues of the Empire for your own gains.”
    The Supreme Master was surprised by Sister Morima’s sudden attack, but forced himself to remain calm; his voice, as always, was controlled. “We should not forget that the Lord Botahara was a peer of the Empire, born a ‘power-hungry lord,’ as you say. The political intentions of our Order, such as they are, have always been aimed at maintaining a climate in which the following of Lord Botahara can grow. We have no other purpose.
Your
Order benefits as much from our “intrigues”—which amount to nothing more than giving sound advice—as does my own, Sister Morima.”
    “I am not a Neophyte in need of instruction, Brother Nodaku. I choose my words with great care. So, you will take this boy and thrust him into a society of decadence where even the best training may not save him? Three of your Order died of the Great Plague—don’t deny it! Botahist monks
died
of disease! Could you really be willing to risk one with such talent? What if he could learn to stop the sand?”
    The Supreme Master fought to maintain his outward calm. How did she know about the plague deaths? Everything possible had been done to keep them secret. What a world! Spies everywhere! “To serve a peer of the Empire is a great test, Sister. If a member of our Order cannot pass it…” the old monk shrugged, “that is his karma. Stopping the sand is much more difficult than serving among the peers.”
    “Who was this one in his former life?” Sister Morima asked, pushing what she sensed was an advantage.
    The Supreme Master shook his head. “We do not know.”
    “But he was a monk or perhaps,” the nun touched her tongue to her lip, “perhaps a Sister?”
    “That