Chapter Nineteen: The Flying Machine
“Emma? E-emma?” Iarin’s voice echoes in my head and in the darkness. “Emma?”
I jerk awake.
I’m our room at the inn, and Iarin is sitting at the side of the bed next to me.
“Iarin?”
“E-emma! A-a-are you all right? I found you c-collapsed on the floor in the corridor… Emma, what’s going on, a-are you sick?”
Then everything comes back. I push aside the collar of my dress to see if the tattoo on my shoulder is still there.
It is.
“Y-yes, I noticed that, too,” Iarin is saying, “Where did it come from?”
“I don’t know,” I say weakly. “What language is this thing?”
“I-it’s... it’s old Kuarthian,” Iarin says softly. “‘Saajika zirtena’ is how it’s read, Wh-which means–“
”Subject Thirteen, I know.”
“Pardon?” Iarin says sharply.
“What?”
“D-did you just say you know what it says?”
“Yeah.”
“B-but you don’t know where it’s from? I-in other words, you read it?”
“Yes...”
“But th-that’s impossible. Kuarthian is a dead language. N-nobody studies it anymore, except perhaps the Scholars here in Ealym, a-and then only because it’s needed to read some older texts and literature. Wh-where on Earth did you learn Kuarthian?”
“I... I don’t know. Maybe it’s part of my real memories?”
“H-hang on a moment.”
Iarin goes to the wall of the room, where her bag rests, and pulls out a book. She runs over to me, flips to a random page, and points to a paragraph at the top.
“C-can you read this? And translate it for me?”
I glance at the page. “... ‘in time, this was to become a major problem that could not be overlooked,’” I read.
Iarin reads over the same passage. “Th-that’s... right! T-try saying something.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, I don’t know, anything. ‘My name is Emma Bering,’ or something like that.”
“Okay... uh...” The words come to me, entirely unexpected. “Nida namaza Emma Bering.”
Iarin looks puzzled. “Th-that was right, again. But how? K-kuarthian and Hanoran aren’t that different, b-but you still can’t master either in a day.“
"I don’t know. Like I said, maybe it’s in my real memories?”
“P-perhaps”
Then, out of nowhere, she says, “K-kagami might hold the clue.”
“Huh?”
“Th-think about it. After all those villages were destroyed a while ago, Kagami’s o-one of the last Kuarthians on the planet. A-and he’s got to be related to this somehow, because... i-it’s obvious he knows something. Like in D-d-dara-Kozca...” Iarin falls silent for a moment, then bravely picks up the thread of conversation again. “H-he kept talking about your ‘status,’ or something, l-like he was saying that you’re... th-that you’re not... human, I guess.”
Well, no surprises there. “He also,” I say, “knows about that ‘Eri’ thing, whatever it is.” I guess Zenna’s mom wasn’t all that crazy after all. But still. What the hell’s an ‘Eri,’ and what does it have to do with me? I wish somebody would tell me these things.
“Y-yes. Listen, Emma, you should rest. I-it’s a long walk to Litha, and you aren’t looking so well.”
“All right.”
Iarin leaves the room, looking back at me with concern in her grey eyes. I wish everyone would stop looking at me like that, like I’m some pathetic invalid that they all feel sorry for in a vague sort of way. There’s nothing wrong with me at all. I mean, what happened at Dara-Kozca happened, and it’s no good playing the blame game, because it was my fault; and it’s no good lowering their voices and bowing their heads and trying to avoid it as a topic of conversation because it happened. It happened, but I think I’ve accepted it and all. Nope, I’m okay. Just fine. Nothin’ to see here, people. Move along. I’m not a freaking train wreck. I’m a person, even a non-human person who got Koreth almost killed. So stop treating me like a charity case in a telethon, will you? Because everything’s just fine. I’m here talking to you, aren’t I? I’m not being an idiot, sobbing my head off anymore. I’m okay.
* * * * *
Morning comes, thankfully taking most of the sleet with it. The sky is clear and blank, and I realize it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a cloudless sky. The sunlight glitters on a thin layer of morning frost, which still freaks me out a bit, as it’s supposed to be June.
Iarin uses the remainder of the money she’s carrying to pay for provisions, water, and warmer, less tattered clothes; a clean shirt and canvas pants and a thick wool coat for me. I pack away the ruined and bloodstained sweatshirt and jeans I was wearing on the Monday when all this started in my bag. Not very practical, I know, but it is pretty much my last link with the past world, with my world, with my “false memories,” or whatever they may be.
We set off for Litha amid bright but weak sunshine, glittering frost, and the big friendly shadows of the tall mountains. Ealym feels a little caged in, I guess, surrounded by all these high peaks, but I find it comforting, protective. Sae, conversely, is looking pale and a bit claustrophobic, and I hurry ahead of Iarin (who’s buried in some new book she got back in Athene) to catch up with her and Attaraya.
Weirdly enough, when I get close to them, I find them engrossed in a conversation that doesn’t involve pushing each other back and forth or shouting “Shut up!” and “No, you shut up!” Woah. Bizzarro world. Sae and ‘Raya getting along, just another sign of the approaching apocalypse.
“But then how do you explain the Hralhym’s reaction?” Sae is saying.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. But come on, she could be no one special, just with the same name.”
“How many Iarin Elliths do you think there are in Athene? Besides, with how she avoids telling anyone her last name, and how people have reacted to her–"
“Are we even sure their kid’s name was Iarin, though? It could have been, like, Aeran or Eelan or something like that.”
“But then the way she was acting wouldn’t make sense. I’m sure it’s her. No wonder no one would believe–"
Attaraya glances behind her, sees me, and presses her index finger to her lips in a shhing motion. Sae falls silent instantly.
“What’s going on?” I ask. “What’s this about Iarin?”
“Nothing,” says Attaraya, a bit too quickly.
“You won’t get rid of me like that. What’s wrong with Iarin?”
“Nothing,” Sae says, also too quickly. “There’s nothing wrong with Iarin. It’s just... we didn’t expect her to be... that Iarin.” Sae and Attaraya exchange looks.
“What Iarin?”
Attaraya sighs. “Yeesh. I keep forgetting: you don’t know anything. Maren and Kandarin Ellith were two of the five Scholars of Athene, up to about... eleven years ago. I guess they were pretty important, real smart and all that. But most people know them because they spent a long time trying to ask for an armistice between Hanora and Sareil.”
“Oh. Well. I bet that went over well.”
“Exactly. They spoke to both sides, I guess, and they were imprisoned by Hralhyms Seid and Meaya a ton of times–“
Sae clears her throat loudly.
“All right, so the Council weren’t completely open-minded either.” she admits. “But we had our reasons–"
”Oh, and we didn’t?”
“Cut it out!” I say, before we can get to the aforementioned pushing and shoving. “What happened to them?”
“They were executed,” Attaraya says, “Eleven years ago. By Hralhym Meaya.”
“What? Why?” And here I thought the Hralhym was supposed to be a just ruler and all that. I thought she was pretty cool and all... you know, after she stopped trying to throw us in prison.
“You met her. Doesn’t it seem like something she would do? She was just pissed off that they didn’t agree with her.”
“Your grip on the facts seems to be pretty loose,” Sae snaps. “The Hralhym was afraid they’d spread distrust of her among the people. That was the last thing she needed, back then. She’s half-Hanoran. The people didn’t accept her, and she was trying to do the best she could in an unfamiliar situation. She didn’t have a choice.”
“Who’s telling this story, me or you? And what the hell kind of excuse is that? Call us Hanorans what you like, at least we never did anything like that.”
“Oh really? What fantasy world do you live in?”
“Uhm... could we get back to the point...?” I interject. “Please?”
“Fine. While we’re talking about this, I’d like to point out that it wasn’t entirely the Hralhym’s decision. It was mostly Kagami’s idea.”
“You... you don’t think they—”
”No, they probably didn’t know anything. I mean, it would have been obvious that he was in Hanora, but only the Hralhym is supposed to really know who makes up her Circle of Elders... it’s supposed to prevent them from being bribed by outside powers.”
“But they were trying to bring the war to an end... which Kagami... doesn’t want.”
“That’s it.”
Of course. It all leads back to Kagami.
“So Maren and Kandarin Ellith were hanged in Samei-Kozca, leaving behind their eight-year-old daughter,” Attaraya says.
“Iarin.”
“Yes. The stories... the ones I heard say she was there, you know. At the hanging. She tried to Heal her parents, but of course it didn’t work. Even magic doesn’t bring back the dead.”
“I don’t think she’s been forgiven for what her parents said and did. Even by us,” Attaraya admits.
Well, that explains why the Council was so pissed off at her even when she didn’t do anything. It also makes sense of our conversation so long ago, back when we lost Koreth at Arael. When I lost Koreth at Arael.
I glance back at her, walking a bit behind us, serenely buried behind a very thick book entitled The Historye of the Rise and Fall of Imperial Irim Kuarth. No wonder she’s plodding and stammering in her words, afraid of slipping up, afraid of saying the wrong thing. Afraid of getting her frail self killed over some perceived slight. No wonder she hides beneath books, no wonder she hurries away into a world of her own whenever Sae or I quarrel with Attaraya. Given what happened to her parents, she must be terrified of causing conflict. The bright sun is shining, the frost is melting in the slowly warming air... but my spirits are dragged back down again as I find myself feeling quite sorry for her.
* * * * *
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A/N: Well, that's... really late. Sorry guys. XD And on top of that, nothing interesting happens in this chapter to make the wait worth it! I'm afraid the B part is quite the same... but the climax of the story starts with chapter 20, it'll get better then, I promise!
So without further ado, come tear it up! And thanks to you all for putting up with me all this time. XD *showers you with cookies*
Sorry, but...I find it MUCH easier to do it this way. That way I don't have to file my (overly nitpicky) thoughts in my head while I read on, only to forget them later.
