Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [302]
“I’m sorry.”
“Nothing to apologize for. Everybody sleeps in sometimes.”
Here in Gasara, the commotion surrounding Halnera seemed like a very distant thing. The plot to assassinate the emperor of the north to protect the peace of the United Southern Nations, too, seemed like a wild fantasy, compared to eating a hot meal at a clean table here in the inn.
Lively voices engaged in conversation outside the window, and darbaba carts rolled past. A newspaper boy with a bell around his neck walked down the street. Newspapers, an everyday thing in the real world, were a recent invention here. The first newspaper was started by someone who heard news about Halnera and wanted to know more about the phenomenon. This started a boom, and in the space of a few weeks, several newspapers were already in regular circulation. The articles weren’t all about Halnera anymore. Some talked about travel conditions along the high roads. There were even advertisements for lodgings and taverns.
Maybe that’s how newspapers started in the real world too, Wataru thought. He wondered if, eventually, they might start featuring serialized stories, or cartoon strips. If the assassination succeeded, he was sure that would find its way into an article too. That was headline news, for sure.
Wataru wondered how things in the real world were these days. What kind of news was in the papers? Though his body sat in the warm dining hall, his mind wandered. Mom. Uncle Lou. I hope you’re doing okay. I’m so far away, and I’m going to go even farther. I promised I would come home, but maybe I won’t be able to keep that promise…
“Wataru? There you are! Good morning!” Meena’s bright voice snapped Wataru back to reality. “What, just eating now? Sleepy head!”
Meena leaped to the seat next to Wataru and turned her bright eyes toward him. How many times had he been cheered just by the sight of those eyes? She stuck her face forward until their noses nearly touched. Wataru quickly looked down at the table, cramming the remnants of a crust of bread into his mouth.
“You shouldn’t eat so fast—you’ll choke!” Meena laughed out loud.
“Yeah, I know. What’s with you, Meena? You’re in a good mood.”
“You could tell?” Meena stood up and did a little dance on her stool. “I’ve got good news. Bubuho and the whole troupe are coming to Gasara!”
Which meant that Meena’s old circus, the Aeroga Elenora Spectacle Machine, was coming to town.
“A darbaba driver who came this morning had a letter for me from Bubuho. They’ll be here by day’s end!”
A wave of relief washed over Wataru. If her old circus friends were here in town, it would be much easier to leave Meena behind. Even if she insisted on coming with him, he was sure that Bubuho would be able to talk her out of it. It would make things that much simpler.
“But that’s not the best news,” Meena said, sitting down next Wataru and lowering her voice. “Remember when you met Bubuho the first time, he was talking to Granny?”
The old ankha woman they called Granny had asked Wataru what he would do if he couldn’t meet the Goddess. He had replied that he hadn’t thought about it. Then I have nothing more to ask you, she had said.
“I remember her.”
“Well, you should know that Granny is a diviner. She has the sight. She can see the future—nothing too far off, mind you, but she can see it. In fact, when she first met you, she was already able to see the Blood Star shining in the north, and she knew that Halnera was coming!”
That would explain her question. Maybe she knew that the arrival of Halnera meant Wataru might be chosen as the sacrifice.
“So…so what?”
Wataru couldn’t bring himself to share Meena’s joy. But she grabbed both his hands in hers tightly and pulled him toward her. “Listen, I wrote her a letter after what happened in Sono. I asked her to read your future. And I asked her to tell me if there was any way to change that future. Well, the letter got to her, and she looked. She