Between Starfalls

by S Kaeth

  Manic giggles rang out, grabbing her attention with the complete disregard for decorum. A little boy launched himself at Taunos regardless of the bandages, and her ebr caught him. As if he were a player on a stage, Taunos rolled backward in defeat while the boy lifted his arms in victory.

  The healer from the Outside scolded him in caustic tones, something about mending broken bones, and the red-haired former ebr laughed. “Taunos has an aversion to caution.”

  “And what if you two hit a machine?” scolded the healer.

  “Takiyah looks bored. She needs something to do,” Taunos grinned.

  Taunos’s sister laughed, fiddling with a quaint piece of cloth over her shoulders. Answer eyed the fabric. These Outsiders were not civilized—she couldn’t expect their taste to be refined. A large Outsider man sat at a table mixing powders and liquids. No one seemed to be supervising him, but again, the Doctor surely could handle it.

  There was no sign of Dode. Answer reined in her temper.

  “Answer.” Taunos straightened, seeing her. “What brings you here?”

  “Where is Lady Dode?”

  “Dode?”

  “The Lady Dode,” Answer said, stressing her title and frowning at Taunos’s lack of manners. “Do not forget your place.”

  Taunos gave her that impossible grin. “I’m no longer your ebr, Answer. Do you forget?”

  His sister hushed him, and amazingly, Taunos turned back around, though he gave Answer a stern look. He’d never been so obedient for her. Wrapping her shawl around herself, the sister approached, her steps stiff and limping. In her hands, she carried a little wooden box.

  Answer hesitated. She could leave, but if Dode was merely running late, Answer would appear hasty or perhaps even afraid of these people. That would never do. She straightened her posture and stood her ground.

  With a smile, the Outsider held out the box, chattering away something in Rinaryn.

  There was little choice. Answer accepted it, refusing to marvel openly at the beauty of the wood. “You should speak the Traveller’s Tongue if you intend for me to understand you.”

  “She cannot,” Taunos began, and his sister spun around and snapped at him. Whatever she said, Taunos turned away and took the little boy to the opposite end of the Hall with the Outsider man and his mixing. Relief filled Answer, despite herself.

  Kaemada turned back to Answer, and crudely gestured toward a small table near the wall on which sat a pot, satchels of tea leaves, and two plain mugs. The motions were too big, too sweeping, but the meaning was clear. Once again, Answer found herself trapped by etiquette, and she sat, bracing for an uncomfortable time. Ignoring a summons was one thing—she could claim she was too busy—but to decline refreshment while waiting around would be ever so rude.

  With a smile, Kaemada gestured for her to open the box.

  Surprise filled her as the light reflected off several gleaming crystals nestled inside. Kaemada was prattling away at her, and Answer made her tone severe. “These crystals are meant to be read in silence.”

  Kaemada settled back, her hands clasped in her lap and embarrassment on her face.

  Answer returned her attention to the crystals, taking more time than strictly necessary to read them. A part of her enjoyed watching Kaemada squirm. But the crystals spoke clearly of apologies, atonement for past wrongs, desire for new beginnings, and hope for friendship.

  “Who tutored you?” Answer finally asked, unable to keep the appreciation from her voice. The crystals were lovely and perfect and the wooden box would have been expensive.

  “Tjodlik.”

  Answer nodded, recognizing Dode’s nephew’s name. She stressed his title. “Lord Tjodlik tutored you well.”

  With yet another smile, Kaemada babbled something, and Answer frowned. Undaunted, Kaemada tried again, this time adding abundant gestures.

  It left Answer to guess aloud, like a child. “Your… Heart? Your heart… Smile? Happy. Your heart is happy. Glad. You are glad… I… Heart? Emotion… Smile… Like! You are glad I like them.”

  Kaemada smiled like a young child and nodded.

  It was contagious, and a smile tugged at her own mouth, which she suppressed. Answer cast a self-conscious glance around the room. “This is an absurd way of communicating.”

  The woman gestured again, this time without speaking. “Me… You… You? Me, you. Me and you! You and I… Building? Pushing… Working! You and I working… Together?”

  Again, the smile and nod.

  “Well, yes, this does involve some working together, but it is no less absurd or inefficient!”

  A shrug answered her. Kaemada gestured to where the Kamalti Doctor and the red-haired ebr were working on the machine. She first pointed with a single, ungracious finger before catching herself and using her whole hand to gesture, as was proper.

  Answer shook her head, refusing to give words to the scene. Yes, Outsiders and Kamalti were working together here in the Healing Hall, but it would never continue. The Outsiders had misstepped badly, and the Scouts would never forgive them. Answer had to stand with the Scouts or risk losing everything. Besides, the Outsiders were violent and terrifying and uncivilized. Especially if one believed the stories. It was the Outsiders who had broken their vows first. No relationship could last between the two races.

  Kaemada fidgeted a moment and then gestured to the tea with a questioning look on her face.

  She nodded, keeping an eye on the herbs. Would this woman try to drug her? She herself had drugged her brother, but that had been necessary. The Outsider swept a white packet of tea toward herself—that would be leaves mixed with pain-numbing herbs—and slid a satchel of plain leaves over to Answer. The woman suppressed a grimace as she hefted the pot of hot water and poured, placing her tea leaves in to steep. Answer inspected hers, but it appeared to be standard and untampered with.

  Eyes narrowing slightly, she considered the woman quietly. Kaemada had arrived during the Running of the Ebrs, a Running called because of her wrath on this woman’s brother. A brother she was apparently very close to. And yet, this woman called Answer here to apologize to her?

  Uncertain how to handle the thought, she asked, “Do you know where the Lady Dode is?”

  Kaemada shook her head. With a frown, Answer looked over the room. Taunos stood watching her. Kaemada babbled something. The woman’s gestures were easy to read this time.

  “He will stay over there, far from here,” Answer said, and the Outsider nodded.

  “Why do you care about my comfort, to send your brother away? Or are you simply making certain a fight does not break out? Because I assure you, a proper lady does not get into a fistfight.”

  To her surprise, Kaemada laughed, leaving Answer to wonder if she were being mocked. Laughter echoed across the room as well—Taunos was throwing rolls of bandages at the red-headed ebr, who taunted him with playful insults. They both subsided when the Outsider healer snapped at them, enlisting Taunos’s help to turn the black-haired ebr to avoid bedsores.

  How could she reconcile the gentleness, the carefree joy, with the violence, the petty annoyances, and constant small rebellions she’d lived with over the last few faces? It seemed hardly possible this was the same man. She glanced at Kaemada quickly, just a flick of her eyes, to find Kaemada watching as well, a fond smile on her face.

  “Is this for show?” Answer turned on Kaemada.

  With a puzzled look, Kaemada shook her head.

  “This is how he normally is?” Answer asked.

  Kaemada began gesturing again.

  Answer sighed. “This truly is a ridiculous way to communicate.”

  The woman called out something, and the little boy ran over, while Taunos frowned, making no effort to hide his surveillance.

  Answer watched the little boy cautiously as he waved at her with a big smile. Kaemada indicated him and said, “Eian.”

  Then she babbled something and gestured, but it was the boy who spoke in proper Traveller’s. “Do you m
ind if he translates for me? I mean no offense.”

  Caught off-guard, Answer nodded. “Go ahead.”

  A smile brightened her whole face as she tousled the boy’s brown curls. “You’re right that it’s awkward speaking without words. But I did not wish you to be uncomfortable while waiting.”

  “Why do you care about my comfort?” Answer asked again, narrowing her eyes.

  “You’re a person,” Kaemada said, as if that was an answer in itself. “What made you choose to be a Scout?”

  The question threw her. “I wanted to see the Outside. For that, I had to become a Scout.”

  The woman tilted her head. “No one else goes outside?”

  “Of course not! Only Scouts, and only those who train for it. It would be terrible if just anyone went Outside—anything could happen.”

  “Can anyone join the Scouts?”

  Where were all these questions coming from? Pride forced the words out, even as she watched Kaemada’s face, looking for the trap. “Only noble families, of course, but any noble can choose to be a Scout, Philosopher, or Justice.”

  Another tilt of her head answered her, and confusion showed plainly on her face. “What if a noble wanted to be a painter or a Storyteller?”

  “Well, that would be absurd. Impossible. Painting is a hobby, and only commoners view it as a profession.”

  “Oh. How does one become a noble or a commoner?”

  She scoffed. “One is born into their status—one cannot become something else. The commoners take up their parents’ jobs unless they are fortunate enough to be fostered by someone with a profession they are more suited to. But nobles are given the choice of what they want to devote their lives to.”

  The woman’s gaze went far away, and she smiled.

  “What?”

  “Ah. The last time I was in my kaetal, among my people—it seems so long ago. I was upset that I could not be what I wanted to be, but it turns out I had more freedom than you.”

  Answer’s eyes narrowed, her composure fracturing. “What do you mean?”

  The woman’s hand indicated her companions. “Any of us can choose whatever task we want to do, and it can change day-to-day, even.”

  There was something open and vulnerable and humble about the injured woman being translated by a little boy. She didn’t feel the need to protect herself as she normally did in conversations. No rivals waited to pull her down or take her place. As they sat, Answer found herself opening up little by little, talking far more freely than she was used to doing. Perhaps it had some to do with the fact that in a few days it wouldn’t matter what Kaemada thought of her.

  “How does that even function if everyone changes their minds?”

  “We all work together or we won’t survive. People tend to concentrate on the tasks they’re good at. My frustration over my talents being frowned upon by the others seems small now.”

  “But there is no order there! How do you function without basic order, without the safety of the Scouts keeping that order?”

  A smile answered her. “Perhaps one day, if we put aside our fear and anger, we can find out. My people would benefit from so much of your knowledge.”

  “Yes, all the benefit would be yours.”

  She tilted her head. “Much, yes, especially if you helped us defend against the Darks. But I see ways we could help you, too. The air here is choked with smoke, and you have no room. There is no sun or wind or dirt here, no great expanses of trees or grasses. We could trade with each other, become friends once more, just as Elisabei and your Doctor have been learning from each other’s knowledge. Just as Tannevar and I supported each other.”

  “Impossible.”

  “Unlikely, perhaps, but then, that’s why we dream, isn’t it? To have the courage to reach for the unlikely.”

  It was absurd. The whole situation was.

  “Would you help me learn more about your etiquette here?” Kaemada asked. “I would like to avoid further misunderstandings, further resentments. Nothing like the Running can happen again.”

  Answer clenched her teeth on her agreement. The Running had been a terrible idea, and if she’d only been able to stop it… if she’d not acted on her own humiliation, but instead spoken to Taunos like a person… She’d considered him unreasonable, but her own unreasonable actions had led to this, and her guilt lay heavy on her shoulders whenever she saw his bandages.

  But tutoring the sister would be entirely inappropriate. She resolved to give her a book on the subject, surprised at herself.

  Had she leapt to a conclusion about these people at their first meeting? Fondness for the boy poured off Kaemada in every interaction, and guilt stabbed at Answer as she remembered the terror in the woman’s voice when they’d first met.

  “Each of us has stories we tell ourselves about who we are. But sometimes the stories are not accurate. Sometimes they’re too small,” Kaemada said, looking at Eian as he translated for her.

  “What do you mean?” Answer asked. Dode finally entered the Healing Hall, and Answer tensed. She needed to finish this conversation to catch her.

  “Please, do not let your society make you smaller than you are. And I will do the same. By putting aside the requirements placed on us by those who wish to contain us, we could each do great good for our people.”

  Answer nodded slowly, her thoughts going to her meeting with the Scouting leader. She barely noticed as Kaemada and the little boy left, feeling mystified. Dode seated herself, and Answer straightened, pushing thoughts of the strange woman out of her head.

  “Not quite what you expected, hmm?” Dode asked.

  Answer withdrew behind her aloof facade, closing up her emotions again. “Lady Dode, you certainly kept me waiting.”

  “Ah, yes, I apologize for that. My plan required that I be late.”

  Her plan? She’d been played. Answer rose to her feet. “You worked together to set this up?”

  Dode laughed, remaining seated. “No, dear, I worked alone to set this up. I knew she bought you the crystals in good faith and that you refused to meet her. That is as far as the planning went. Tell me, are you happy now that you refused a meeting?”

  “What did you want to meet with me about, Lady Dode?”

  “I wanted to check if these Outsiders’ belongings might be brought to them. The Hall is going to get quite… fragrant… with all the unwashed clothing,” Dode said.

  Answer frowned, then nodded. “I will make an inquiry.”

  “I also wondered if the Scouts are going to pay for the repairs to the chapel.” The elderly woman smiled at her.

  Answer drew herself up and took a deep breath to calm herself. “Lady Dode, good day to you.”

  JAETAN-EHREI

  Chapter Twenty-five

  There are many differences between dreamwalking and telepathy. When using telepathy, any reach out of one’s mind provides a hole another can use to enter that mind, and any information you consciously acknowledge is easily gleaned by the other. Secrets, knowledge, plans—every thought is available to the owner of the mind the psion is in. With dreamwalking, that knowledge can be better kept to oneself, at least for a few moments. However, dreamwalking is lethal if the psion cannot return to their body and makes it impossible for the psion to pay any attention to the outside environment.

  -notes from Kaemada Sierso, psion

  Ra’ael sat up and rubbed the grit from her eyes. Kaemada cried out in her sleep and Takiyah murmured, each battling their nightmares. Moving with care, Ra’ael got out of bed, wiggling her feet on the stone floor. It was eerie to sleep slung above the ground, and even more unnatural sleeping above hard, unforgiving stone. She still hadn’t gotten used to it and longed for her simple sleeping mats laid on good dirt. After a cautious stretch for healing wounds, she headed for the table at the side wall to make more calming tea.

  It had been five days since she’d awakened, five days since she’d learned the Kamalti were healing them only to judge them. It was disgusting. D
ode assured her she was doing everything she could to ‘help her fellows come to their senses,’ as she said. In the meantime, they had each gone through several rounds with the miraculous Kamalti healing machine. It was similar to being healed by Rinaryn healers back home, although Ra’ael would have much preferred those old, familiar ways. Regardless of the method, her body were nearly whole again.

  But the machine, just as with the healers, could only soothe physical hurts. Takiyah and Kaemada each bore deep wounds to their spirits, and Ra’ael had taken charge as soon as she'd regained mobility. Chants, Kamalti teas, and sacred stories were all she could do without the sacred herbs to burn or the proper leaves for teas, but she trusted the spirits that those would be enough. This was her realm, and Taunos eagerly followed her lead, grateful for something to do, she guessed.

  It probably would have been better for them all if Answer had stayed away, but the woman insisted on coming often for little meetings. Supposedly they were to meet Dode, but she spent much of her time talking with Kaemada instead. Seeing Answer couldn’t be good for Takiyah and Taunos’s spirits, not so soon after all they had been through. It was bad enough that they’d only been given Kamalti clothing to wear, not their own.

  Elisabei glanced over at her as she moved, but continued her hushed conversation with the Kamalti Doctor. A respect had bloomed between those two. Even the healer’s husband, on Kaemada’s urging, had begun opening up to Taunos while he fiddled with the strange powders he liked to mix. She smiled a little, shaking her head. Kaemada had also managed to get a group of Kamalti coming regularly for story-swapping nights! Kaemada was like a force of nature newly awakened. She’d always been mild-mannered until backed into a corner, and whatever had happened in the City of the Lost must have been quite the corner, because. Ra’ael was still waiting for the ripples to fade.