Well, hello hello! First off, I must apologize for that unplanned hiatus. I got waylaid with Real Life and other projects, and I also kind of lost my nerve. But I'm over it (I think) and now I'm back! I want to thank anyone who's reading this, and give a huge virtual hug to those who've shown their support for this little story so far. It means so much more than you know. And thanks to Mark of the most recent guest review: your words stung a little, but dang if they weren't motivating. I can assure you that I do plan to see this story through. I may have stepped away for a moment, but never once did I think of abandoning it.

With that, I'm very pleased to present Chapter 4.

Soundtrack - Inara's Theme: "Flowers [feat. Nori]" by In Love With a Ghost, Let's Go - EP (2017)

CHAPTER FOUR

CURIOSITY

03 - 06 - 2506

"What do you suppose boys are really like?"

It took Inara a moment to register the question, and pull away from her human anatomy text. She straightened up, with a frown.

Inara and Riz sat sat beside each other on their favorite perch: the wide, cushioned windowsill in Inara's room. Riz had turned toward the sun-dappled afternoon, dangling her legs out the open window. Inara faced the other direction, her lap covered with light-paper and pages of hand-written notes.

Riz held a lock of her hair up to the sun, where it shone gold. "Boys our age, I mean."

"What are you talking about?" It came out shorter than Inara intended. "We've met plenty of boys, at the Functions."

"The Functions." Riz scoffed. "Those aren't real life, Inara. There are Chaperones around every pillar, and if you try to talk to any of the boys, just talk to them, they go all red, and clam up."

Inara couldn't disagree. Companions-in-training went into the Functions eager to flex their conversation skills and, yes, to interact with living, breathing young men. They were often disappointed. The sons of Sihnon's wealthiest families might be brilliant and charming under normal circumstances, but when placed next to a future Companion, they seemed to forget their own names.

It was likely because they were dwelling on the fact that they would contract with these women, as clients, in a few years' time.

Inara set aside her tablet. "So, you want to know what boys are like when we're not there to intimidate them?"

"Yes." Riz leaned on the word, palms pressed into her thighs. Inara had to smile.

Not all Companions serviced men, and most serviced all genders, but in either case, curiosity was natural. Men of any age weren't allowed inside most Training Houses, Madrassa included. Even Houses for male Companions barred entrance to those who weren't training or teaching there.

Riz often complained about their sequestered lifestyle. Inara didn't mind it, really. She didn't even think about it, most of the time.

But that was before she'd had a face-to-face, un-Chaperoned interaction with a flesh-and-blood boy.

"I think we might be better off not knowing," she said, voice light.

Riz raised an eyebrow at her. "You think we can learn everything we need to know from a lecture. But there's nothing like first-hand experience, if you ask me." She made a fist, and tapped it against her knee. "If only we could see what boys are like around normal girls." Her eyes brightened, snapping to Inara's. "We could go undercover."

Inara shook her head, with a laugh. "Riz."

"I'm serious." Riz lifted one leg onto the windowsill, turning toward her. "We could sneak out one night, and-"

"Get caught by the Priestess, who would turn us into stone sculptures with one glare," Inara finished.

Riz smirked. "It'd be worth it."

"I'm not so sure about that." Inara picked up her tablet again, and turned it on, trying to direct her focus back to her impending Holistic Physiology exam.

Her eyes scanned the text without absorbing a single word. All she could see was her father's stable boy, hair dripping water over his brow, standing up to face her. The way he'd called her "Miss," shaping the title into an insult on his tongue.

To be fair, she had turned the sprinklers on him. She'd done it to catch him off guard, give her a chance to cut off his escape. Inara blushed, to imagine how she must have looked, brandishing a stick against the boy.

Inara had managed two pages before Riz tipped her eyes over the top of her animated graphic novel, and broke the quiet.

"Don't you have to meet with the Priestess this afternoon?"

Inara sprang to her feet, notes and tablet tumbling off her lap.

"Aiya," she breathed. "I completely forgot."

She scrambled to pull her slippers onto her feet, throwing a robe over her shoulders, to wrap around her plain camisole. Riz looked on, amused, as Inara flew to her mirror, and winced.

"Zhè shì shén me," she muttered. She tugged her unruly curls into a bun, securing it with a pair of jade hair sticks.

"There's something going on with you." Riz tilted her head. "You've been so out of orbit, this whole week."

"Have I?" Inara smoothed the silk robe across her chest, knotting it around her waist.

"If you weren't about to be late, I'd make you sit down right now, and tell me what's wrong."

Inara clasped her friend's hand, and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek.

"There's nothing to tell." She smiled through the pang that tore into her stomach. "I'm fine."

Riz pursed her coral lips, skeptical, but let Inara go, and returned to her light-paper comic. Inara slipped into the corridor, with a deep breath.

She let her mind be contained by the walls around her, and picked up her feet to hurry down the hall.

/*/*\*\

"How have you been?" A cup of toasted rice green tea accompanied Priestess Song's question.

Inara accepted the cup with a smile. "Very well, thank you."

The Priestess arched her brow. "I wasn't asking as a pleasantry. Try again."

Inara breathed in the rising steam, and stalled, eyes brushing over the room.

Priestess Song had chosen minimal décor for her private quarters, limiting the furniture to floor cushions and a low tea table. Her parlor distinguished itself from the rest of the house, with its rich ornamentation and dark, warm hues. Min preferred a subtler palette of spring green, greys and browns. The room had always calmed Inara, since before she had the words to express it.

She sighed. "I'm not sure how to answer, if I'm honest."

"It's always a good idea to be honest."

Always? Inara dropped her eyes to her lap.

"Qīn ài de, what's troubling you?"

Inara crossed an arm over her chest, to rub her shoulder. She opened her mouth, only to close it again.

"The examination period is a difficult time," said Priestess Song, with a knowing nod. "Difficult, and emotional, for any Companion-in-training. But especially for you, I think."

Inara ducked her eyes to her cup. Her throat cinched, in anticipation.

"You were born in this House. You grew up here. It's only natural that you have reservations about leaving." A smile curved Min's voice. "Madrassa has become a part of you, and it seems impossible to imagine yourself anywhere else. I felt the same way."

Inara looked up. "You trained here," she said, remembering. With my mother.

"Yes." Min's eyes warmed. "And I've never been able to keep away for long. I contracted on a pleasure ship for just two years before I returned, to serve as Apprentice to the former Priestess. I was 25 when I stepped into the position myself."

"Have you ever-" Inara paused, "…wished you'd chosen a different path?"

"Never." The Priestess shook her head. "It has been difficult. More difficult than I ever imagined, but infinitely more rewarding, as well. To run Madrassa, and help each trainee find her place here. It's not a responsibility I take lightly, which is why I've devoted much thought as to whom I will train to replace me."

Inara knit her brow. "You're retiring?"

"This is my 20th year. Each Priestess remains in the position for no more than 25. Within the last five years, she must allow at least two for the training of an Apprentice to succeed her."

Inara held Min's eyes. An Apprentice. The word warmed her throat, cradled there.

"I'm telling you this, Inara, because I want to offer the Apprenticeship to you."

Inara's pulse lashed her wrists. Her hands locked around her tea cup. She stared back at the Priestess, mind swept clean of words.

Min lifted a hand. "Such an offer wouldn't be made until your graduation ceremony. You have plenty of time to consider how you'll respond. However." She laid the word down, firm. "This represents a momentous commitment, for the both of us. If you want this, you'll have to prove it. To do that you must watch, learn, and show me what you're capable of. You'll spend hours a day as my shadow, several times a week, for the next seven months. That's in addition to your examinations. Are you willing to take that on?"

"Yes." It flushed her to the fingertips, free of hesitation. She only faltered the moment after, a hitch in her breath. "But why me?"

"I see all the necessary qualities in you. Patience, compassion, focus. But most importantly, I see your love for this House." Min's voice flickered, lit from within. "To be Priestess means to love Madrassa more than anything else. More than success, more than fame, more than all of the material rewards your friends and your father may be encouraging you to pursue."

Inara swallowed. No doubt Solomon would have something to say about his daughter following in the footsteps of Min Song, pursuing the Priestesshood, instead of a placement in a Companion establishment.

She smiled. "I'm honored by your consideration, Priestess. I will strive to prove myself worthy of it."

"Wonderful." Min smiled in return. "Now, let me present your first lesson in how a Priestess maintains her House. It has to do with honesty." She lifted the teapot, and poured them both another cup. "As you know, I hold weekly meetings with each trainee in the last months leading up to her graduation. To air her doubts, her dreams, her difficulties. There are no secrets, and no subject is off-limits. In that vein, we must discuss what happened last Sunday."

Inara inhaled a sip of tea down her windpipe. Her eyes widened, as she muffled a cough into her hand. "What… what do you mean?"

"I imagine you feel I was unduly harsh with you."

The tea ceremony exam. Inara let out a breath. She shook her head. "No, not at all-"

"As a matter of fact, I was," Min interrupted. "And I will continue to be. For your own sake." She set down her tea cup, eyes levelling to Inara's. "If you were to make a mistake like that in your final evaluation, the Guild would not hesitate to dismiss you then and there. They will be infinitely stricter with you."

Inara bit the inside of her lip. "Because of my mother?" she asked, feather-light.

"In a way, yes. Not because of Kalindi herself, but because you are a bǎo wù. A child of a Companion, in the eyes of the Guild, has an unfair advantage over other trainees. They adjust their evaluation rubric accordingly."

"Of course." Inara ducked her eyes. "I'm grateful to you, for not allowing my mistake to go unremarked." She looked back up, and took in a breath. "I won't disappoint you again."

Priestess Song extended her hands across the table. Inara set aside her tea cup, and placed her own in the woman's cool, gentle hold.

"Listen to me." Min squeezed Inara's fingers. "You mustn't let the pressure of these coming months overpower you."

Inara nodded.

"It's unfortunate that your exam period coincides with the Election Session. Your father is under enormous stress, in the race for the Chancellor seat. Whatever he may be saying about your future, take it with a grain of rice." Min's mouth pinched tight. "Remember, he is an outsider. He doesn't understand our world as well as he thinks he does."

"Yes, Priestess." Inara had learned long ago not to defend her father to Min, or vice versa. The two didn't see eye to eye. It was a waste of breath to try and reconcile them.

The Priestess released Inara's hands, but not her eyes. "I sense that something happened, during your last visit. Would you like to talk about it?"

Inara held her breath. She did, more than anything. But honesty is not always a good idea.

"I behaved in a manner that I regret," she said at last. No doubt, Min thought this referred to an argument with her father. Inara wasn't going to correct her. "I took out my frustration on someone who did nothing to cause it. He certainly wasn't without fault," she added, "but he didn't deserve to be treated that way."

Min hummed in thought. "It sounds as if the issue is unresolved."

"Maybe. But I don't think he wants me to-" Speak to him, ever again, probably. "Dredge the matter up," Inara finished.

"Never assume what someone else is thinking. You've been trained to perceive the emotions of others, and to read body language as fluently as Chinese or English. But you have not yet advanced to the level of mind-reading." Her lips curled, then fell serious. "All you know is that you feel you did wrong by this person. All you can control is how you remedy that wrong."

"What should I do?" Inara asked, even as the answer crept up her neck.

"Apologize." The Priestess confirmed it. "Whatever happens after that is up to him, but he won't begrudge you a sincere apology."

Inara thought of the stable boy's eyes, keen and cold, glaring at her. He might.

But she left Min's parlor with one certainty, rooting down through her heels. The following day, after visiting her father, Inara was going to find the boy with the bucket, and set things right.

translations:

Zhè shì shén me - What [the heck] is this (very mild exclamation)

Qīn ài de - My dear

They drink a lot of tea in House Madrassa. They're a very well-hydrated bunch. Before you take off, I would so appreciate a word or two of response to this chapter. What are your impressions of Inara's relationship with the Priestess? I'm curious to hear how it comes off. And I'd be especially grateful for any constructive criticism you might have to offer.

So, does Inara manage to 'set things right' with the stable boy? *wink* You'll just have to stay tuned to find out - I'll be back next Wednesday with Chapter 5 (pinky promise.) Until then, hope you all have a real shiny week!