"You won't waste my time," Rickard said quickly. "I've taught small children foreign languages in the Southern Realm; you can't be that difficult." He smiled fleetingly.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“Oh… that’s good, then.” Ky offered a smile. “I’ll try my best to be a good student.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"I'll do my best to be a good teacher." Rickard dipped his head solemnly. "I'll most likely be in here if you decide you're ready for lessons."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“Thank you.” Ky nodded to him. “I’ll be sure to come find you.”
She bit back her anxious impulse to add a disclaimer about only if he wasn’t busy when she came. She had to be careful not to make him uncomfortable. To be aware of her status now.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Rickard nodded in return; it was almost a bow, but he seemed to catch himself.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky understood fully. Actually, probably not even fully. She’d only had three years of subservience. He’d had well over two times as long as she’d been alive. She hesitated. “Was Ivar annoyed with my pronunciation or was it something else?”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Rickard's face flushed immediately, and he shrank in in himself a little, averting his eyes. "I'm so sorry about that, miss. It...it was your pronunciation. But Northerners are known to be....blunt in speech. He meant no offense, I'm sure."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“Oh, no, no, sorry!” Ky said quickly. Damn her and her complete lack of social awareness. “I’m not upset at all. He’s allowed to be annoyed with me. Heck, I annoy myself sometimes.” Most of the time. Like now. She offered an awkward smile. “I didn’t mean to put you in an uncomfortable position, my apologies. I just want to know how I can do better, and can’t ask him myself. It was curiosity, not a bruised pride, I assure you. No hard feelings.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
He rubbed at his wrist self-consciously. "Nortung is essentially what Upper Tongue draws its roots from. It sounds similar, but the consonants are harsher. If you keep that in mind I think you've got an excellent start."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky nodded. "I'll try to remember that... any other tips off-hand?"
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Rickard thought for a moment. "Try to look for similarities between Upper Tongue words and Nortung words, miss. There should be quite a few."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"Makes sense." Ky nodded. "Hopefully that'll make it easier to pick up vocab... just gotta break through my terrible accent." She laughed a bit. "I'll win him over eventually." She shrugged. "Or not. But at the very least I'll have a new language. So it's win-win, really."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Rickard nodded. "That's a good way of thinking about it, miss." He smiled slightly. "If you already know nine languages at this age, you'll have no trouble picking up Nortung."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky blushed a little and shrugged. "I mean, I don't know." She shook her head slightly. "Hopefully my luck holds out."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"I'll do my best to help you out." He dipped his head. "I can't claim to be a native speaker, but I try."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
