Champion 3: Token by Jack Porter

Author:Jack Porter [Porter, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ink Riot Books
Published: 2021-03-02T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

I thought long and hard about Talia’s words during the journey to the next House.

My actions had consequences. This much was clear. Even as a slave—albeit a slave with more power and status than most—my actions could have unexpected consequences.

It was the right thing to do to offer Robine my protection. I knew that in my soul.

Now I just had to make sure that when the price of my actions came due, I was able to pay it.

I wasn’t gifted in the art of politics. In fact, I was barely a beginner, and didn’t even know who all the players were, or what the end goal of each might be.

To me, this was a world where the things I could see was only a part of the equation, and that there were hidden eddies and swirls behind it all that were at least as important, if not more so.

And those eddies were dangerous. An unwary soul could be dragged under at any moment, never to be seen again.

It would doubtless take years to gain a true understanding of how to play the game, more years still before being considered anywhere close to a master.

Until then, I would be it the mercy of those who knew how to win.

It was a thought that made me uncomfortable in the private, darkened space of my own palanquin.

And yet, I wasn’t entirely helpless.

If this world was like a game of chess, then I was little more than a single pawn. Talia had said that her father might sell me if it served his purpose.

But a pawn could be part of a winning strategy, not just in how it was sold, but for its own attacking capacity as well.

And maybe, in this game, I didn’t have to stay just a pawn. If I applied myself, I could become a far more useful and dangerous piece.

By the time we reached our destination, I had made myself a quiet promise.

I couldn’t control what Talia’s father might choose to do. Nor would I go back on my offer to protect Robine.

Which meant that my only option was to continue to train as hard as I could, and to grow as strong as humanly possible, so that whatever the Gildermanes might throw at us, we would be ready.

I would be ready.

When the door to my ride opened, allowing me to step out of its confinement once again, I found myself gazing toward another fine Homestead, the equal of the Ringtail House we had just left behind and then some.

A full complement of guards stood at the entrance, and as the others in my retinue also climbed out of their palanquins, a single servant approached and bowed low.

“Welcome to House Inkskin,” the man said. Then he clapped his hands, summoning a small army of others, and guided us through the elegant mansion to our rooms.

Just like when we visited the Ringtail clan, the head of the Inkskin Household did not expect to see most of us until the evening meal.

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