Free The First Life of Tanan by Andrew Riley Page B

always sitting on Jelak’s bench?” asked Tanan.
    Soama ignored the question, focusing instead on removing a tiny scroll from the tube attached to the collar.  He pulled a silver ring from his finger and held it to his lips, whispering a few words.  Then he looked at the scroll through the ring, reading the words that were otherwise invisible.
    Soama looked at Anin.  “Lindelin says Jelak is acting Constable.  He wrote a report and sent it to Panna.  We will meet him in two days and take our leave from Komisan.”
    “And,” he looked at Tanan, “he says to tell you everything will be okay.”
    Soama turned back to Tanan.  “Go lie down for an hour and use the chant I taught you when we were working in the garden.  It will help with the blisters.”
    Once Tanan had left, Soama turned to Anin.  “Jelak sent a runner to the capitol this morning.  It will be an urgent message.  Once the runner reaches Yants Bay I expect the message will be carried on horseback.  I’m not sure if two days will be soon enough.”
    Anin nodded his agreement.  “Let’s leave for our rendezvous point this morning.  I’ll slip into Port Billen after dark and speak with my father.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
    Soama spent the rest of his morning sending a series of messages to fellow Abbots telling them that he was leaving and asking for an Abbot to be sent to the Abbey as soon as possible.  Then he packed his things.  Anin went to Tanan’s room to work more healing magic on the boy’s feet.  An hour later the three departed Soama’s Abbey.
    Late in the evening, they arrived at a narrow beach about five miles north of Port Billen.  Anin left Soama and Tanan on the beach and set off for the village to retrieve Lindelin and a boat.  Tanan and Soama climbed onto a large rock and sat looking out over the water.
    “How are you feeling?” Soama asked.
    “My feet feel better,” replied Tanan.
    “And how do you feel about what happened with the Constable?”
    “I know it was an accident, but I still feel like a terrible person.”
    “That’s because you have a conscience and a good heart,” said Soama, putting his arm around the boy’s shoulder and giving it an affectionate squeeze.
    “I want you to know about the man that died.  He was more than an ordinary Constable, he was a soldier in the King’s Legion. He was in Port Billen because he suspected you of being Lataki.  If he’d had enough evidence to prove it, he would have killed you.”
    “Just for being born a Lataki?” asked Tanan.
    “The Komisani have hundreds of years of fear and prejudice when it comes to the Lataki.  The Lataki aren’t bad people.  I have met Lataki and I can tell you that they fear the Komisani more than the Komisani fear them.  For hundreds of years the King’s Legion has been patrolling the mainland and they kill any Lataki that they find, just to keep them away from Komisan.  The Komisani live in fear of their Lataki cousins, but they are the ones who do the killing.”
    “That’s horrible,” said Tanan. “Why haven’t the Abbots told people about this?”
    “We have tried, but beliefs are hard to change.  And the Kings of Komisan have used the fear of the Lataki to rally and control people for many generations.  It is a complex situation.”
    The two sat in silence and watched the stars come out as the sky grew darker.
    “Soama,” said Tanan.  “Thank you for telling me this.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
    It was nearly midnight when they spotted Anin rowing his boat along the shoreline.  They ran down to the water and helped him pull the boat up onto the beach.
    “We need to hurry,” said Anin as he climbed out of the boat.  “Where are your packs?”
    The urgency in his voice spurred them to action.  They ran and grabbed their gear from the rock they had been sitting on and dumped it into the boat.  Tanan and Soama climbed in, then Anin pushed the boat into the water and jumped in.
    Anin grabbed the oars and