Excerpt: Stories of God's Court

A red-haired young man carefully mopped sweat off of his brow as he squinted ahead. “We’re almost there,” he assured his companions. “Just a bit further, and we’ll finally be back in your city.”
“Praised be the God!” the oldest-looking man exclaimed. “And your figures, of course, Lord Wave,” he added, hurriedly. “If you hadn’t figured out all of those tricks, we would have been stuck in that labyrinth for a lot longer, I warrant.”
“Let’s not count blessings to high,” Roy cautioned. “As I told you earlier, I have reason to believe that we were trapped in that maze for quite a while, longer than any of us suspect, in fact. We shall have to check when we reach the city, of course, but I fear that the time we spent underground will be measured in months or even years rather than in days or weeks.”
“And yet the fact that we return at all is a triumph, Lord Wave, and one to be laid at your feet,” the leader of the group countered. “We have much to be thankful to you for, Lord Mathematician, and I hope to be able to pay you back as you deserve when we reach Ekundayo.”
Roy shook his head at the dark-skinned men who surrounded him. “A fresh horse to get me back to God’s Court is all I request. I have probably been away over long, and I do not wish to alarm the others by too long of an absence.”
The other men shook their heads in disbelief, but the leader, Camara Adeben, laughed and slapped Roy on the back. “Well spoken, my Lord, well spoken indeed! Very well, we shall give you a fresh horse to return you to the Emperor’s Castle, but we shall also send after you the payment that you have more than earned for helping us to see Father Sun and Mother Sky again.”
“As you wish,” Roy bowed, giving in to what he sensed as the inevitable. “Now, shall we hurry onwards? I, at least, am eager to reach Ekundayo and find out how much time has passed while we tarried underground.” With that, he surged ahead a bit, but he still caught the quiet conversation behind him.
“Tarried?” Camara Adeben snorted. “Only a truly dedicated person would call being stuck down there tarrying, considering it wasn’t our own will. Well, men, let’s catch up with Lord Wave and see our homes once again!”
Roy sensed the others spur their horses on to catch up with his, and he shifted so as to give the horse more maneuverability and speed. Soon, Elaxi! Wait for me just a bit longer, and I shall return to you!