This is part of Faranesque's World Building Challenge from r/WorldBuilding. Check out my hub post for details.
Preface: Most of my posts from this point on will likely focus on the crew of the Rōnni and the refugees with them, now I've done some of the cosmic establishment from Day 1.
In today's installment, Jalen and his wife Nerra briefly meet with Keldie, and a discussion of protecting what's yours comes up.
IV HEIRLOOM
"Leave be, Jalen Osan," Nerra's voice was firm as she sat him down in the chair. She tugged the comb through his hair and then his beard, not bothering to be gentle. "The Captain himself told you that we're under aegis-hold. From what we've seen, these people keep to that."
He grumbled as she worked. "I just worry. You know as well as I that Sleita is..." He paused, searching for the right word.
"Sheltered," she suggested, and got a nod in return. "But no. She was sheltered. Balvene kept her in a gilt cage for as long as we've known her. Now she's aware of how much more there is beyond the World where she was kept." She pulled hard at a tangle in his hair. "If anyone on this Ship did try to hurt her, they would not live to regret it."
"I beg to differ." The two looked up as a woman in a Yalleni wrap and hood entered, flanked by a tall woman of muscular build. The Yalleni pressed her palms together and bowed slightly. "Fair days to you both. I'm Keldie am-Wazal. The Captain wants to make sure you're all doing well, so I came by to check in."
Jalen rose from his seat and gave a brief bow of his own. "Ah, thank you, Lady. We're all doing well enough. I think we're all just a little ... cooped up. Some are coping better than others, but..." he trailed off, somewhat at a loss.
Nerra rested a hand on his arm and nodded to the two crewwomen. "We're all just eager to get to Pacam's Reach. We all appreciate what you've done, but we don't want to impose."
Keldie shook her head. "It's not an imposition, really. You have left your World behind, as did we. You are welcome on the Rōnni, as if you were kin."
Jalen scratched at his beard. "What did you mean, 'you beg to differ?'"
Keldie folded her hands in her sleeves. "You worry for the girl, Sleita? She is safe. The Captain has put all of your people under our aegis-hold. We take such things seriously on the Rōnni." The smile she gave next was a cold one. "Anyone that broke aegis would live exactly long enough to regret it."
Husband and wife shared a look, and then Nerra dropped a faint curtsy. "Thank you, lady."
"I am not a lady," Keldie shook her head. "I'm nothing like as fine." She gestured to Nerra's amulet. "You are more a lady than I with a bauble like that."
She touched the amulet. It was a simple thing, fashioned of brass with a polished piece of marbled onyx. "I... thank you, la-- ah, Keldie. It belonged to my mother's mother."
The woman with the Yalleni was looking at the amulet as well. Jalen considered her for a moment. Her hair was shaven, but unlike the Maldasi, it was all shaved down to an ash-blond fuzz. Her gray eyes seemed almost dull, but there was a definite edge beneath that seeming sleepiness. Her top was close-fit, allowing the honed muscle beneath to be seen. When he looked closer, Jalen noted there was a tattoo of a comet on one side of her neck, but there was a suggestion that this had been inked over some previous marking.
A card flicked over in his head as a memory turned up, and he looked up at her face a bit sharply, to see the woman watching him closely. As he met her gaze, she nodded. "I was in the Whardoni Soldiery. When the Regime fell, and I learned the truth of what they had done, I left."
Nerra was a little pale at that. "The Whardoni Soldiery? So you--"
The ex-soldier nodded. "Yes. They erased who I was. No name, no World. The Regime even erased the records when the end came, out of spite." Her jaw clenched briefly, and she reached up to press a finger to the comet tattoo. "As they erased me, I erased them."
Jalen felt his fingers popping, and looked down to see that his fists had clenched white-knuckle tight. He looked back to the ex-soldier. "I... that's horrible. To lose everything like that."
She nodded once. "Yes," came the blunt response. "The Regime is gone. If I have no World to my name, then I will sail with those bannerless." She stepped forward, lifting one hand to lift the marbled onyx amulet briefly. "Hold onto what's yours. Never let anyone take it away from you."
Nerra clutched the amulet tightly. "No one will." Her voice was quietly fierce.
The ex-soldier held her gaze for a moment, then nodded. "You have what the Anteceptosi called kiigoabaa. 'Quiet strength.' Beneath a soft, gentle exterior, you have a will of steel." She clapped Nerra on the shoulder, firm and strong. "You will do well, whatever World you call home now."
No comments:
Post a Comment