“I do agree, though I’m hesitant to cease his studies
on magic.” Edward started listing what he taught me.
“Let’s go in order. Logbi is a word for greeting
someone lower than you. Loge is a word for greeting someone your own class or
higher than you. Your status is determined by your title, not your age, so you
may meet someone younger than you with a higher class. When you meet someone,
shake their hand and introduce yourself. It is customary for the lesser or
younger man to introduce himself first, but men and boys introduce themselves
before any woman or girl.”
“You need a name more appropriate. I think you can
keep the name Dylan; it’s not too odd,” Edward said.
He took his usual place on the seat and Divina leaned
back; a sure sign that it was going to be a long story. Divina’s shirt came up
to show her navel.
“People have four names and a title. Your first name
is your own. Your second name is your family position; if you are the first
boy, first girl, twin, second boy, second girl… Your name is set by those
factors, so no one has a choice. Your third name is the date of your birth; the
year, season, month, and time of month. We do have months and years, and they’re
calculated somewhat like yours are, but there are only seven months, which are
divided and read more like your world’s old Roman way. The third name cannot be
chosen either. Your fourth name is the important one; your family’s name. Girls
take their mother’s last name and boys take their father’s. You cannot claim
the last name until the parent gives it, unless the parent is dead. Until then,
you add ‘le’ to the end, which is a disgraceful title that means you haven’t
earned your blood yet. Family is very important. The mother is the head of the
girls in the family, and the father is head of the boys.
“Women are respected, men are expected to defend them
and mind their manners around them. In formal situations, men stand when women
enter the room. You don’t cuss or speak of religion in front of women. But
we’re getting away from the subject.
“When telling someone your name, use the last name,
your title, and then your first name. After you’ve met the person, you can use
their first, then last name, only to them, or just their last name and title,
also only to them. When speaking to others about them, use the last name,
title, then first name order. Call children or those who haven’t earned their
last name by their first name. You can also use first names with someone you’re
very close to, and you use the title with someone older or higher titled than
you. People of Duran respect their elders.”
“Divina doesn’t address you with a title,” I said,
looking at her. She looked bored.
“Divina is… outspoken. Most women don’t act like
her,” Edward explained.
Divina gave me her gorgeous smile and I had the
irrational and irresistible urge to reach out and touch her. I quickly turned
my attention to Edward. “What is your title?”
“Mal. There are simple titles, like “mas,” which is
that of a doctor, or “do,” which is a servant title. Some are complex, like
mine. It means that I’m a father to sons, I’ve been married, I’ve saved a life,
I’m able to handle, distribute, and prescribe class five medicine, I’ve
completed schooling as one of the best in my class, and some other stuff I
forget. I’m also registered as a wizard, but won’t pick up the title because I
would only be able to teach wizards who are already good at magic. They usually
believe they know better than me.”
I looked at Divina. “What is your name and title?
Divina hardly sounds Asian.”
“My actual name is Alia Vemie. My title is Sij. It’s
Modo oriented, and a Ronez gave me Divina as a nickname. Alia is a mythological
goddess said to have come to Duran to spread culture and knowledge between the
lands. That’s why he called me Divina; I was named after Alia.”
“You’re an only child?” Edward asked me. I nodded and
he thought for a minute. “When were you born?” I told him and he sat back. “As
for your last name is it your father’s?”
“No; it’s my mother’s, and I’d love to get rid of
it.” Had I known my father’s last name, I would have used it the day I turned
eighteen.
“Then take my name. No one would doubt you and it’s a
well-respected name,” he said.
I knew that telling me I could use his name was a big
deal, but I really didn’t know what to say until the moment to say anything
sailed awkwardly away.
“As for your title, I really don’t know. You didn’t
finish school.”
“Not college, which is optional. I finished high school,
though. I’ve died. Is there a title for that?”
“Not unless it was to save another’s life or in
battle. And you’d have to stay dead. Your job was worth no title. You haven’t
married and had no children.”
“I had a cat that I fed and cared for. Most of the
time.”
“There’re no cats on this world. Try to come up with
something you can use.” We both sat there in deep thought for about ten minutes
before giving up. “I guess you can only be considered an apprentice in
wizardry. You can register as home-schooled and take a very long test to get
the credit. I warn you; it’s hard, but school is very important here. Until you
do, you’ll take the title, tai. Dylan Reyd Toka Yatunus-tai.”
It was interesting… I’ve been called worse. “How do
you say ‘I am’?”
“Mokate, and then the name.”
“How am I going to take an academic test if I can’t
speak, let alone read, Sudo?”
“It’s not difficult to learn. Sudo follows the rules
of English closely, Modo is more like Latin, and Vido is more like Hebrew… or
Chinese… I get those two mixed up. Writing and reading is simple. Every
syllable has a symbol and there are fifty-two symbols. You will have trouble
pronouncing several syllables. There are small symbols like a dot or a line you
add to the symbol to slightly change the syllable. Names use a much more
complicated writing, and you’ll have to learn the symbol for each name. This
isn’t a problem when you meet someone because you can ask how to write or say a
name. In order to take your title formally, you’ll need to fill out and sign a
form. I can fill it out but you must sign your
new
name in Sudo.” He
picked up Divina’s burnt book and found a place inside the cover that wasn’t
blackened. He pulled a pencil out of his bag, but it wasn’t the one I used to
sign our books. It had graphite and an eraser; just like all the other pencils
I’d used. He very quickly wrote my new name down in four symbols. The first
symbol was pretty complicated. “Work on this until you can write it naturally
and quickly.”
I nodded and lay on my stomach on the bed to work
while Edward and Divina started playing cards. After an hour of listening to
them cussing and insulting each other in other languages, I sat up. I was
pretty sure the game they were playing was the same one they had started an
hour earlier.
“Can I play?” I asked. Edward sat back and put his
hand over his eyes.
“Sure,” Divina answered. “Kiro lost half an hour
ago.”
He glared at her. “I have not lost. You put the wrong
card down and I win. And I let you cheat. That blue knight was worth nothing because
there’s a full moon. You used it as a wildcard.”
“I’m facing west, which makes my last even an odd,
which bumps my next card up; therefore, my knight was a silver general.” Edward
groaned but she went on. “So… my silver general is a wildcard under the full
moon.”
“Never mind,” I said. The game gave me a headache
just neuron-linking about it.
“No, seriously, this game is over. You lost, Kiro.
Give up.”
“I will not. I have not lost. I have never lost at
cards. Go.”
She put down a card and he put one on top of it. She
must have predicted his choice, because she put down three cards at once and
pushed them to the side. She then put another card down and smirked at Edward.
He stared at the card keenly.
“What are you waiting for?” Divina asked. He didn’t respond.
After a few minutes, she asked again and he smirked at her.
“The time shift.” He set a card down. Divina was deep
in thought for a second before she made a sound somewhere between a gasp and a
cry. Edward’s cruel sneer grew and he sat back.
It was interesting to watch their unguarded
reactions. It was very, very clear that both of them absolutely hated to lose.
If that was how they acted over a game of cards, I could only imagine how they
would be in a real battle.
“No. You… I have a gold general.”
“There’re two players. There is nothing to beat me,”
he responded. She glared at him. “You wanted me to give up because you knew I
could win with this card.”
“There’s no rule against bluffing. If you weren’t so
stubborn…”
“I would have lost.” Edward looked at me. “Divina and
I get a little competitive when we’re playing each other, so you’re probably
better off with private lessons,” he said. I nodded, surprisingly relieved, and
went back to my name practice.
Divina relaxed on the bed while I sprawled on the
floor with the book in front of me. I wrote for hours until my hands cramped up
and my chest hurt, then I rolled over and studied the ceiling. The lamp was
growing dim and the sun had set. Edward and Divina had both fallen asleep. It
occurred to me that while they worried about wearing me out, it was I who was
wearing them out. I got up slowly, in desperate need to stretch. I didn’t want
to practice my Sudo signature anymore, but didn’t want to sleep, either.
Instead, I decided to explore the ship. I knew it was stupid, but I really
hadn’t gotten to be on my own, or more importantly; out of their watch, in so
long.
The second I stepped outside and slid the door shut,
I felt a rush of adrenalin.
I was minding my own business, sneaking around, but stopped dead when I
reached a room full of angry voices. At any second, the door could open and
someone would come out. Surely I wouldn’t get in trouble… until the person
started talking to me. As quietly as I could, I took off in the other direction.
I was rounding a corner when we collided. He was much heavier than me (and
steady as a rock wall) so I took most of the damage, but when I looked up, I
realized we were both on the ground.
“Ite, ite, moshi ite!” he said. He was out of breath,
though he was already pulling himself to his feet. I was less graceful, and
when we were both on our feet, I recognized him.
“Sorry,” I said, the word slipping out before I could
stop it. I froze. It was the guy from dinner with the black hair and
purple/blue eyes who talked to me, and I just spoke in English. He frowned and
I waited for everything to explode.
We both just stared at each other with wide eyes.
Then he very slowly reached out his hand. “Loge.
Mokate Ishte-le Mordon.”
I’m not the brightest person sometimes, but I’m not
slow. I shook his hand and tried not to groan as his grip crushed mine. “Logbi.
Mokate Yatunus-tai Dylan,” I said slowly, not bothering to mimic his accent.
“Kedose me sekemas?” he asked, to which I said
nothing. His frown returned. “Modo te lekiris?”
He was getting suspicious, so I made a surely fatal
decision. If I was lucky, no one would believe him when he ran off to tell
someone. And everyone knows I’m lucky.
I sighed. “I…” I pointed to myself, “speak…” I make
the classic sign of speaking, “laba Sudo.”
He frowned, but then smiled brightly.
“Semo de…” he pointed to me, “laba…” then clapped his
hand over his mouth. “Daka gorame?”
He was asking if that’s why I didn’t speak earlier. I
got the idea that he had known I wasn’t mute. I nodded. “Yes. Mowa.” Instead of
reacting with fear the way Edward figured people would, he seemed to find it
cool.
“Yes,” he nodded as he mimicked me. “Mika sora Laba?”
he asked.
“Laba is no. Laba. No.”
He repeated the term.
“I…” I pointed to myself, “speak…” I made the speech
sign again, “English.”
“I… speak… Sudo.” He copied my expressions and even
my accent.
And so we were friends just like that. We would never
see each other after sunrise, he was several years younger than me, and we
could hardly talk to each other, but it was nice to meet someone who wanted to
hang out with a foreigner.
“Mordon!” Some man was calling my new friend, and he
sounded angry.
Mordon’s eyes widened in surprise and fear right
before he grabbed my arm and pulled me with him down the hall. Given that the
alternative was sticking around to meet an angry alien, I followed willingly.
We ran until we rounded the corner of a three-way fork and ducked down. He
peered over the corner before looking at me and laughing quietly.
“Tera a kesato…” he pointed back behind him and then
made the motion of holding a cup. “…kuso de dzumoga …” he pulled a little, dark
blue bottle out of his pocket and mimicked pouring it into the cup.
“What is this?” I asked.
“Suia kuso,” he said, making the classic sign of
sleep. He then raised his finger in a sign of either “wait” or “however”.
“Shimo, kagosa iedo…” As he spoke, he purposely wavered as if drunk, until I
nodded that I got the point. “Yabuha migehte.”
In translation; he used a sleeping potion on someone,
but it didn’t work well and the victim got violent.
“Who?” I asked. He frowned. “Who was that?” I pointed
down the hall.
He thought for a minute before pointing to himself.
“Ishte-le.” He pointed down the hall. “Ishte.”
“Oh, your father. Was that the man sitting next to
you at dinner?” I indicated him, pointed to the empty space next to me, and
then using the spoon to eat.
He nodded, then pointed beside me. “Amoke datte?
I was fairly sure he was asking about Edward. I
pointed beside me. “Yatunus-mal Kiro. I call him Edward.”
“Edward,” he repeated. “Your father?” He picked up
languages ridiculously well.
“No. Laba. My teacher. My mentor…” I couldn’t think
of anything to indicate teacher. Then I remembered that the word for “wizard”,
which Edward taught me at the springs. “Yabe teacher. He teaches me Yabe.” I
pointed from my side, to my head, to myself.
“Haso to yabe?” he asked, pointing to me.
I nodded. “Wizard. Yabe.”
“Oto mo yabe,” he said, pointing to himself.
Translation: He was a wizard, too. So we carried on
like that, talking about anything and everything we could sign until we neither
of us could retain anymore words or phrases. Subject change was confusing.
Mordon help up his finger and fell silent as if he
heard something. Obviously, his hearing was fantastic, because about five
minutes later, his father called out his name again. He was close enough to
hear, but not close enough to determine where his voice was coming from. Mordon
could tell, apparently, because he took off down the hallway to our right. I
followed, though I worried about getting lost or running into anyone else.
Eventually, we came to a door at the end of a hall,
which Mordon entered without hesitation. I had no reason to object, but when he
shut the door, I wished I had. We were in the weapon room. After listening for
his father for a few minutes, he turned, looked around, went over to one of the
walls, and then picked up two wooden swords. He threw one to me and I very
awkwardly caught it before it could clatter to the floor.
“Laba,” I said quickly.
“Yes,” he argued.
“Laba.”
“Yes.” We raised the swords, still arguing. “Kade?”
“Ready,” I answered. He swung his sword and I swung
mine. They didn’t meet each other; they bashed into our arms. Though we hadn’t
used much force, we both dropped our swords and cradled our arms. “Oww…” I
groaned. I couldn’t hear what he groaned.
We tried for only about a minute before he gave up.
Mordon seemed to be well trained, but he was strangely awkward with the wooden
sword. To me, he acted like he never held a wooden sword before, yet he knew
the techniques Edward used.
Apparently, that meant we had to find something else
to do. When he raised his fist like Edward had, I rolled my eyes. Sago didn’t
need alcohol and sports to have fun; just brute fighting. I raised my fist but,
like Edward, he lowered his arms.
“Otego nida,” he said. He cautiously stepped forward,
reached out, pushed my elbows in, and then raised my fists closer to my face.
I nodded and he stepped back, raising his fists
again, but in a martial arts stance.
“Ready,” he said.
“Kade,” I said. I made the first swing and he blocked
it, then sent his own. He wasn’t nearly as fast as Edward and I was able to
block. If anything, my fight technique was more of a defense, while his was
more of textbook routine, as if he knew the moves, but he didn’t want to use
them. All the same, he was much better with his fists than the sword, probably
because of his size.
After throwing a few pointless punches, we got a
little carried away and ten minutes later, we were wrestling. Neither of us
were very good at that. He was faster and stronger than me, but not like Edward
was, and I was a little bigger. It was more fun than training with Edward and
Divina because, although I didn’t learn as much, I was less embarrassed about
it.
It wasn’t very long before we were both too tired to
continue, but as we tried to catch our breath, we were laughing. When the
laughing died down, we slowly got to our feet. I took a minute to look around
the room.
His fist came fast from behind, but before I even
realized it was coming at me, I had dodged it, swung around, grabbed his arm,
and he was suddenly on the ground. I let go quickly. “Sorry,” I said. I wasn’t
sure what I had just done, but I was sure I shouldn’t have been able to move
that fast and react like that without a single thought.
“Gojenai,” he said leniently and accepted my hand to
help him up. He didn’t seem unsettled by my unusual agility. Even though he had
been play-attacking, my reaction was engrained by years of boarding school. I
just couldn’t remember being that fast before.
“I should go. Edward is asleep and he might wake up,”
I said while signing it as best as I could.
He nodded. “Bye,” he said.
“Bedo.” I left and snuck back up to the room.
I paused at the door, calming myself so I would be
quiet and not wake them. The door slid open to Edward and his thinly veiled
glare. Divina was sitting on the bed with a less subtle glare.
“I had to go to the bathroom.”
“For over an hour?” His voice was tight.
The food is terrible.
“I got lost. I didn’t
want to wake you. I really did think I would be back before you two woke up.”
Edward sighed. “Get in,” he said. I passed him like a
live bomb and he slid the door shut. “Did you run into any trouble?”
“None. I was careful. I’m sorry if I worried you.”
“Of course you worried us. We know how bad your luck
is; we thought you might have accidentally fallen off the ship,” Divina said.
I hated how they made me feel like a child but,
compared to them, I was a child. It had to be terrifying for Edward to have one
of the books forced into the hands of someone with so little experience. On top
of that, he had to live with a constant reminder that his brother died.
“I’m sorry,” I said, suddenly feeling more upset
about Ronez than Divina’s insult.
“Go to sleep. I wanted to teach you more but you need
your rest now so you won’t make mistakes tomorrow,” Edward said.
I nodded. I offered the bed to Edward but he said he
couldn’t sleep lying down in a ship full of people, so I got in the bed and to
my great joy, Divina stretched out next to me. I could smell the sweet scent of
incense in her hair and feel her warmth. While trying to quiet my mind, I found
my thoughts drifting back to Divina wanting revenge for Ronez’s murder, and I
wondered what she thought of natural death. What does any immortal think of
natural death?
What do I think of natural death?
* * *
I woke to Divina brushing my hair out of my face. She
smiled when I opened my eyes to see her so close to me. “It’s time to go,” she
said quietly. I nodded but didn’t move any further. “Edward’s talking to the
captain about directions.”
A man asking directions? Duran is weird
. “Why
don’t I dream?” I asked. She frowned. “The only dreams I’ve had since signing
my book were the two with Vretial. I keep looking forward to having dreams of
you, but they don’t come.”
She laughed quietly. “Guardians don’t dream.”
“Never?” I asked.
She shook her head. When she brushed my hair out of
my eyes again, her hand relaxed to rest against my cheek. Seconds passed before
her eyes quickly glanced at my lips and then back. It was a definite sign that
she wanted to kiss me. She leaned closer very slowly until her face was several
inches from mine. Her scent made me dizzy; I could only imagine what her
berry-pink lips would taste like.
Then the door slipped open and Edward stepped in.
Divina quickly let me go and stood up. Edward froze at the door, clearly
startled when he realized what he saw.
“Did I interrupt something?”
Divina didn’t look at either of us. “No.” She told
him before that she would kiss me because I was his apprentice, but she seemed
embarrassed to get caught when about to do so. “Did you find out what you
needed to know?” Divina asked, forcing herself to look him in the eyes.
“Yes,” he answered. Without another word, she grabbed
her bag and left. “Was she about to…?”
I stood. “No,” I lied. I didn’t want him to feel
guilty. Besides, if it embarrassed her to kiss me, I wasn’t exactly going to
bring it up again. I preferred to limit myself to one rejection per woman.
The sky was fairly light, but the sun hadn’t peeked
over the horizon yet. I couldn’t see the land. Uncomfortable with the awkward
silence, Edward got his bag and we left.
When we arrived at the deck, Divina was leaning over
the side to watch the sunrise. Edward joined her. Sago enjoyed nature more than
the humans I knew; most humans would be in a hurry to get off. Then again, most
people didn’t move to Houston for the nature scenes.
I hung back and tried to prepare myself for keeping
my mouth shut all day.
I could see the beach under the eerie light of the
two full moons and the blood red light of the rising sun. The ocean was loud
and the wind was strong. It was colder here than Mijii and Shomodii. Just off
the beach were houses and several trees, which looked like miniature versions
of the trees in Edward’s forest. Most of the houses were small, as were the
yards divided by tall wooden fences. They looked old-fashioned and peaceful.
There was a hard slap on my back and I jumped out of
my skin. When I crawled back into it, I turned to see Mordon.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi,” I answered. Edward and Divina were shocked,
which was both funny and sad. “What are you doing here?” I asked, signing pathetically.
Edward took a step forward, but Divina put her hand on his chest to stop him.
“I want speak bye,” he said.
I grinned even as I could see Edward grow tenser out
of the corner of my eye. He pushed passed Divina and stopped about ten feet
from Mordon. Mordon gave him a slight bow and held out his hand, which Edward
shook. While his outward demeanor was respectful, there was none of the
submissiveness I expected. With a society based on titles and magic, I figured
a young wizard would either be arrogant or overly submissive.
“Loge. Mokate Ishte-le Mordon.” Mordon stood tall,
met Edward’s eyes, but remained respectful.