Crossed Bones: The Relicant Chronicles Book 3 by Rosenberg Aaron

Author:Rosenberg, Aaron
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Falstaff Books
Published: 2020-01-11T00:00:00+00:00

20

Noniki was meditating.

Or at least, that was what he was attempting to do.

Every morning upon waking and washing he found a quiet spot and sat, crosslegged, back straight but shoulders relaxed, hands resting loosely on his thighs. Then he closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing, slow and steady, in and out, letting his mind empty of all thought and his senses open to the world around him, exactly as the Hakara Ikibanichi had taught him. He repeated that in the evening, as dusk was beginning to fade to night, thinking upon the day’s events and clearing away any questions or stress before sleep.

That had proven to be far easier among the Brothers of Many Spirits, in their secluded monastery, than it was upon the road.

When he had left Ginzai with Seikoku and Jitu Kanai, it had not been a problem. Although Seikoku had shown no interest in meditating herself, and teased him about it from time to time, she had always given him space to perform the cleansing ritual each morning and each evening. Kanai had been interested in taking up meditation himself, and after the first day had joined Noniki, the sturdy potter proving surprisingly good at emptying his mind and at sitting stock still.

It was only as more people had joined them that it had become more difficult. Some of those had also expressed interest, and had tried meditating themselves. A few had quickly grown bored with it, but others had stayed, and the morning and evening meditation went from two to ten in a short time, and then to sixteen. Others had scoffed at the practice but had quickly been shushed, reminded that this little traveling community was open to anyone who wished to join—provided they extended the same courtesy to others. Which included not mocking anyone for their habits or practices. “Do not meditate if you do not wish,” Noniki had told several new additions over the weeks of travel, “but allow those who do the freedom and peace to enjoy it.”

As the group had grown, however, Noniki had been faced with a new and different problem—people were eager to ask him questions, and many of them had trouble waiting until after he had opened his eyes again and risen back to his feet. Seikoku and Minawa did their best to intercept those, since neither of them participated in the morning ritual, but some simply insisted upon speaking to Noniki directly.

Even when they did not, it was a challenge to enter the meditative state when you had several dozen people stirring all around you, carrying water, feeding animals, preparing their own food, reorganizing their gear and supplies, and just generally milling about and performing all the usual acts of waking up and getting themselves ready to face the new day.

Right now, though, Noniki was trying even harder than usual to tune all of that out and center himself, his mind, and his spirit. He desperately needed to find that inner peace and quiet—which of course made it twice as elusive.

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