Jane, the shore of the Fenland
* I know that you know that there are visitors on the beach. Why do you not come with me to greet them? *
Having seen the sailors safely return to their home, Jane and Ud returned to Ud's caverns. A few days later, an eagle, a griffin, a Cosm, and a Coyn set up a camp on the immense expanse of beach on the shore of the Great Wash, at the very southern tip of Ud's territory.
The visitors did very little besides fish, hunt, talk, and sing. The little Coyn had a string instrument which Jane knew was a guitar. It was wrong in this place. It didn't belong here. It made her feel strange. She knew the sight of the Cosm and his eagle. She had seen him before but didn't feel comfortable meeting with him.
Ud knew him well. He was another of her students. Years ago, he and eagle were a lost pair and Ud took them in like Ud had taken her in. Ud said he was a lost soul just like Jane was a lost soul. Ud had a habit of taking in strays.
She declined to meet him several rotations ago. He was back and now he brought the griffin and the Coyn with the guitar. The sight of the two made her want to run and hide. She wanted them gone or she wanted to escape far away.
The Coyn frightened her. This Coyn girl with no magic, chronic pain, and chronic lingering fatigue: Jane actually shook when she tried to convince herself to meet the Coyn. It made no sense. Other than Ud, she knew she was the most magical living being ever placed on this world. She knew that if she was so inclined, she could rule the world through her power alone. She wasn't sure but it might even be why she was put here by the gods, though personally, ruling the world did not appeal to her. Left to herself, all she desired was amiable company and maybe a quiet life raising a family and perhaps running a farm.
She once lived a different life which was short, lonely, and difficult. When that life was over, the gods of this place took her and molded her into the monster she was now. Yes, she was a monster and she knew it. Her power was closer to a god's than it was to any silverhaired Cosm mage. She didn't like that she was made this way, but she was never given a choice. This is how she was born, and this is how she would stay until she died.
She knew she was a power. Like her teacher Ud, she used a significant fraction of her power to keep the rest of it from radiating out of her and mentally quashing other living beings around her. With such strength, why did this tiny ill Coyn cause such fear in her? Why did the sight of the griffin cause her such sorrow? She could crush both of them with just a thought though she knew she would never do such an evil thing to powerless sapients.
* Jane, child, you must come out. *
"No, I'm scared, and I don't even know why I am scared of them."
* It's not those two you are scared of, love. You are scared of your fate, which is currently hurtling toward you. Those two are its herald. You can not hide here forever. *
"Yes, I can. I can do a lot of good here. I can help those sailors. I could find those pirates. I can find the lost and take them home. I can have a purpose here."
* You are hiding from yourself. Your life and your fate are elsewhere, dearest. I have seen the shape of it and it is good. Quit fighting destiny, Jane. Come out. *
She felt Ud leave. She was frozen and could not move, trapped inside this nameless fear.
---
Emily, on the beach
I was comfortable in a cloth hammock chair Usruldes made for me, relaxing and casually playing riffs. I felt like I was on a vacation. Usruldes was cooking the fish I had caught earlier for dinner. I found it amusing that he was inept at fishing. Cadrees and Asgotl were goofing off in some good-natured acrobatic one-upmanship. It was fun watching their antics.
I was trying to remember how to play a bit of guitar picking from the classic rock band, Yes, but it just wasn't working.
I suddenly found myself floating upward in the chair. The chair and I stopped, and I saw a sight in front of me that left me frozen for several moments. It was a spider on the same size scale as a small whale.
"I hope that you are Usruldes' teacher, Ud, because if you're not, then I am in big trouble."
* Yes, tiny one, I am Ud, and you must be Emily. * I could feel amusement and surprise in her answer.
"Nice to meet you, Ud."
* You too, Emily. Please, pardon my rudeness in putting you on my eye level, but you are small enough that I can not see you when you are on the ground. I can tell where you are because I can feel the air currents around you, so I will never step on you accidentally, but it is so much nicer to see a person. Usually, I leave your kind on the ground and mindcast to them; but since you are here with Usruldes, I thought it polite to speak face-to-face at least once. *
"Thank you," I replied. "That was most considerate of you."
I then asked a question that had bothered me since the time Usruldes told me about Ud and the Fens. "Ud, you have a large underground home stretching from the mountains to the ocean. Most of the middle of your home must be underneath the Fenland. You have got to be below the water table. How do you keep the water out?"
* Excellent engineering and lots of spiderwebs. I can vary the strength, density, hardness, and elasticity of my web, depending on what I want to build with it. *
"Oh, I guess I deserved that answer," I laughed at myself. "Where is your newest student hiding?"
* She is lingering nearby, fearful of you and the griffin. *
That answer made me sad. "How's her memory?"
* Not fully returned. *
"Does she remember what she did to me and Asgotl in Aybhas?"
* Not yet. She is fighting it. *
"I can understand that. Nobody w...would want to wake up to be a killer after maintaining a self-image of living a moral and ethical life. It could undermine self-worth in a big way. That's a hard truth to face."
* Can you help her? *
"I don't know if I can. I can't defeat her inner demons for her. All I can do is put out the welcome mat and heat up the w...water for tea. She's the one who has to walk through the door.
"I'm not in a great place myself. Frankly, the thought of seeing her and talking to her scares the crap out of me right now. I wouldn't even be here if not for the insistence of the gods. I've learned that I can get used to Cosm over that last year. It's not easy and it takes time, but it can be done in small doses. But Aylem? I've w...wondered before what it is about her that seems so much worse than other Cosm. I have to wonder if it's some form of cognitive dissonance or an uncanny valley-like effect. Are you familiar with the uncanny valley theory, Ud?"
* I have seen it set out in your mind, so yes, I know. It would be interesting to see the research results that were done in your previous world with robots. Robots: what an interesting concept. It's fascinating to me what a place with no magic can create. Autonomous mechanical machines: so creative! *
"Set out in my mind?"
* Oh. I forgot. I'm sorry about that... *
"Ud, it's alright. I've gotten used to the fact that people w...with strong mind magic can't avoid seeing what other people may have in their minds. It's a bit creepy but it's not something you can stop. Don't apologize for being what you w...were born to be, even if that's being a spider monster as big as a house."
* I find the way you think unique and unlike those who only recall this life. *
"That's not too surprising. This place is so very different from Earth. It would be so much fun just to hop on Asgotl and go explore it, with so many new things to see and places to discover. I doubt those stupid gods would cope if I did."
* They can be constricting for those they choose to use directly and they certainly have left their marks all over you. *
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
"What?"
* Can't you tell? Oh, no, I guess you can't. How very interesting. I can see Tiki's mark on you, and Landa's and Mugash's too. Galt went so far as to give you his eyes. He must have liked you. It's been centuries since he's done that. He's a good god to have on your side, so consider yourself lucky. Yes, and I see Giltak and Gertzpul have left marks too. *
"Not Mueb or Vassu?"
* Not yet, at least. *
I groaned, "I have to admit, I find the change in eye color spooky, but since I don't have a mirror, I don't think about it much because I'm not looking at myself every morning."
Usruldes walked over. "Hate to break things up, girls, but your fish is ready to eat, Emily."
It was novel to look down at Usruldes, which is a measure of how high Ud had me floating in my chair.
"One last thing, Ud?"
* Yes? *
"How much does Aylem remember?"
* England, right up to the day she died but nothing after that. *
"Oh, crappola."
Usruldes served up fire-roasted salmon on the beach. It was a wonderful meal since we kept that greedy griffin from stealing my fish.
"Oh, that fish looks so nice and juicy and..."
"Look, you big fat griffin, get aw...way from my dinner! Go get your own fish if you w...want some."
"And here I thought we were friends," he was pouring on the melodrama, thick and sticky.
"The line in this friendship, blubber brains, is drawn right here w...with my salmon."
He nudged my chair with his beak, which was almost as big as all of me, "you can't mean that, and I know you can't eat all of that."
"Stop, it, Asgotl," I was getting annoyed.
"Please?" He nudged my chair some more, making it impossible to eat.
"Usruldes, do you think you could levitate this excuse of a griffin and drop him in the drink for me, please?"
"Hmmm," he concentrated and Asgotl started rising off the ground.
"Hey! Wait one minute! Emily! Usruldes! Hey, stop it. I can't swim!"
* Fear not, little griffin, I will save you from drowning. *
"Ahhh! No! No! Somebody, help me!"
The sound of a heavy object falling in the water followed by frantic splashing noises carried up the beach.
"Ah," I sat back, "music to my ears."
"Huh," Cadrees made one of his few remarks, "I wonder how long it takes for a griffin that big to dry off?"
---
Jane, on the beach
During the morning, the little Coyn, who was a very good swimmer, would dive and cut stalks of kelp for about a half-hour or so and the Cosm man with her would gather them up and carry them onto the beach. Every afternoon, the man burned the kelp in a pit in the sand and then packed the ashes into waxed canvas bags that Ud made for him.
Every evening, the little Coyn would take out her guitar and play. She knew a lot of Renaissance and Baroque tunes. She'd also play and sing some songs I recognized as American cowboy songs. Now and then, she'd play something I knew from listening to the radio or going to shows in town when I was a girl.
It unnerved me. Did she also come from where I came from? That was the only explanation that made sense. I needed to know the story about her: where she was from, what did she know, how had she died, how did she come to be here? My curiosity grew by the day. By the sixth evening, it was maddening. To add insult to injury, Ud would wander by while I was eavesdropping every evening, cajoling me to go join the four visitors on the sand.
On the seventh evening, it felt like I had been punched in the stomach. She had been teaching her Cosm friend songs so they could sing them together. I found the rendition of that dreadful Western folksong a bit much, but they were enjoying themselves. In twangy American English, they sang:
"Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling, Clementine. You were lost and gone forever, dreadful sorrow, Clementine.
"In a cavern, in a canyon, excavating for a mine, dwelt a miner, forty-niner, and his daughter, Clementine."
"Yes I loved her, how I loved her, though her shoes were number nine, herring boxes, without topses, sandals were for Clementine.
Switching back to speaking in Fosk, the man stopped singing after he had learned all the words: "Emily, what does that mean, a miner forty-niner?"
"Well, about a hundred years before I was born, people from the east side of my continent discovered there was a lot of gold in the mountains on the west side of the continent. Many moved out west, as one would say in America, my former country. The year that gold was discovered was 1849, by how we counted the years. All the folks who went out west to mine gold were called forty-niners after the year gold was found."
"Alright, but what about the number nine herring boxes?" he asked.
The Coyn laughed: "That's very crude humor. The lyric there implies she had huge feet, so huge that she resorted to wearing heavy paper boxes on her feet as if they were a pair of sandals. The reference to the herring either means there was a herringbone pattern printed on the paper of the box or that the boxes once contained preserved herring and she was reusing them as sandals."
"Oh." He sat and thought a bit. "Herring is a food, yes?"
"Yes, it's a fish."
"So what is a herringbone pattern?"
"It's a popular way to set up the warp and weft of a loom to make a pattern with different colored thread that looks like this." She drew in the sand. "And those are said to resemble the bones of a herring. I never saw the connection between fish bones and the herringbone pattern. But what do I know since I'm not a weaver?"
"How is it different from a chevron pattern?"
"Displacement. See, chevrons are connected across the break but herringbone displaces the colors at the break. Like this."
"Oh, I get it," he pulled out a tablet and started taking notes.
"What are you doing, Usruldes?"
"Taking notes."
"Why?"
"When you smile like that, Emily, I feel very nervous for some reason," he paused. "My mother said that I should take notes, and..."
"Blarg! Your mother! I should have known!" The little coyn smacked herself on the forehead and shook her head. "This is not anything worth taking notes over."
"I ask you, Emily, would you overlook a request from my mother?" he said sweetly.
"That's different," she said flatly.
"Really?"
"Just put that thing away," she grumbled and started plucking at the guitar again. The guitar style changed again. "It took me a while to get this to where I wanted it," what she was playing sounded difficult. Then she started singing a song that was on the radio a lot the year I died.
We'll meet again
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day
Keep smiling through
Just like you always do
'till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away...
She wasn't Vera Lynn but when she wasn't singing any of that American folk garbage, she had a sweet young-sounding soprano and hit all the notes right. It was sad listening to her sing that song, thinking of my brothers and the bombing and that I would never see them ever again---well, I don't think I missed my mother, who was a sot. I felt relief that I never had to deal with the chaos she created ever again. I did miss my brothers. I even missed my father, though he wasn't good for much. I was walking away to escape all those memories when she finished that song and started with another that was like a knife in my heart. I'm still not sure why it hit me so hard.
"Lully, lullah, thou little tiny child, bye-bye, lully, lullay.
Thou little tiny child, bye-bye, lully, lullay.
O sisters too, how may we do for to preserve this day?
This poor youngling for whom we sing, Bye-bye, lully, lullay.
She was singing the original version of the Medieval Coventry Carol, first written down in the reign of Elizabeth I, and not the Victorian version. I found myself adding in the harmony of the alto line.
Herod the king, in his raging, chargèd he hath this day
His men of might in his own sight all young children to slay.
That woe is me, poor child, for thee. and ever mourn and may
For thy parting neither say nor sing, bye bye, lully, lullay."
"So," the little Coyn said, adjusting the tuning on a string and not even bothering to look back at me, "do you know Es ist ein Ros entsprungen? by Praetorius?"
"Isn't that Lo how a rose ere blooming?"
"Yes, that's the English for it. I think I remember the English version, at least two verses. Do you? I assume you know the alto line?"
"Well, of course," I said. Didn't I just sing the alto on the Coventry Carol? Was she deaf?
"That's not a given. For example, I know all the women's parts to most of the music I can play, so I can sing any part when necessary. Hmm, Praetorius on the guitar is kinda weird. Can I do it? It's probably better a cappella. Let's see, F major if I remember correctly, soprano on C, alto on A." She played the two notes and started singing, and so did I. I hadn't sung with anyone for so long. I didn't realize how much I had missed it. We did all three verses.
"Have a seat if you’re going to stick around," the little Coyn said. "How's your memory of Mozart?"
"Wha...?"
"You know, w...we need a piano, or better y...yet, an organ for Mozart."
"What’s an organ, Emily?" the Cosm man asked, reaching for his tablet.
"A w...wonderful thing: you make pitched tubes powered by a bellows that can be played at the same time, using a board w...with levers to control it all. Most of it could be wood. That w...would make it easier to build in this culture than a piano, which requires steel piano w...wire and a cast metal soundboard w...with..."
"Emily," the man said, "you’re doing it again."
I had already snuck away. I didn't know if I could even manage a conversation. Just looking at her face made me want to run away. What was wrong with me? I went back to the place I was sleeping, lay on the bed, and stared at the ceiling for most of the night.
---