Chapter 55: Emperor Jai

For the next day and a half I stayed there until my leg no longer felt like it needed to be amputated. In that time I watched the sparring between the two brothers twice more.

I had yet to reveal my true identity to my saviors but there was a thought forming in my head. My last evening there I pulled the old lady aside and told her my wishes.

“Is there a reason why you stay hidden away here?” She took some time to answer but once she did I found no artifice in her words.

“No real reason, just a disillusion with the way things are going out there.” She pointed beyond the forest.

“What about those two? They’re young men. Do they have no need for more?”

Again she took her time answering. “We’ve discussed it from time to time, but we’ve been hidden away here so long I have no one to sponsor them into polite society.”