I want to apologize profusely for missing last month's update; I was right in the middle of my exams and I just had too much on my plate. Thankfully, it is now my summer vacation, so I hope to be able to write a lot more and get ahead for the next time I run out of time. Until then, I hope everyone enjoys this update, and as always thank you so much to everyone who comments, follows, or favorites! I really appreciate it.
Corrin rubbed at his temples, trying to quiet his nagging headache. As it turned out, meditating with the thoughts of every living thing around pressing in on you was not quiet in the slightest. He had sat for over an hour and a half, alternating between struggling to open his mental walls and wincing away from the cacophony of the forest around him, before Eragon had collected him on the way back down the mountain. Each of the three students were required to recite to Eragon everything they had heard during the meditation (Corrin's observations were embarrassingly the shortest and most basic) before he led them back to the Court for their other lessons.
They had arrived just in time to catch the dragons as they returned from a quick morning hunt. From the other apprentices, Corrin had picked up that all the morning lessons were of a variety that both the dragons and their Riders needed to learn; they didn't separate into their lessons for flying and fighting until after the midday meal. The dragons had dropped to land on the stone of the Court in a mosaic of colorful wings, and Corrin had had one of the (decreasingly common) moments in which he could not believe the turn his life had taken. Really, what was he, the common-born son of a blacksmith, doing here, among creatures and people out of legend?
Snapping out of said moment, however, he had noticed that the flutter of jewel-toned wings did not include any glimpse of black. Again, he recoursed to picking at the hints in Leah and Varog's conversation, and deduced that like the apprentices' earlier debate on the nomenclature of the mountain, it was a daily habit for Shruikan to fly solo while the Shur'tugal trained. Though he sometimes showed up to take part in flying practice, he mostly hunted around the lake and explored the mountains to the north and south.
Corrin hadn't had long to ponder that, however, before his attention was needed for other things. Now he and his companions were sitting cross-legged on the floor inside one of the cell-rooms in the east colonnade, whilst the silver-haired elf Yaela leaned against a table in front of them. Corrin knew that Kiera and the other two apprenticed dragons were reclining on the stone outside, close enough to listen as Ebrithil Yaela talked. Even as Corrin returned his hands to his lap, headache only slightly alleviated, Eragon ducked inside to stand against one column, and Murtagh followed to hover hesitantly in the opposite corner.
"Now that we're all here," Yaela intoned, shifting her weight to stand fully in front of the five Riders, "we can get started. It is the opinion of your masters and the senior spellcasters in the Court that the Riders' approach to communication needs... adjustment.
"The Riders of Vroengard were originally an organization comprised only of members of the Elven race, and even after humans were included in the pact, the Riders' magic was the hallmark of their power and skill. As such, the ancient language was the mother tongue, so to speak, of Vroengard and its inhabitants." Yaela glanced out towards the dragons as she spoke. "The extinction and now reconstruction of this order, however, necessitates a change in the Riders' approach to languages. As you all know already, the Riders Pact now includes not only elves and humans but dwarves and urgals as well. As such, the ancient language alone is no longer sufficient for you to discharge your responsibilities. The new Riders will have a duty to protect and serve all peoples of Alagaesia, and for that, you need to learn the relevant languages.
"Because new trainees will be included in the existing class, it serves no purpose for me to teach you one language at a time, sequentially, when new students will constantly be coming in. As such, every dragon and Rider currently sitting here will attend class in this room every day, and each individual will be expected to practice each of the four languages at least once a day. Clear?"
Yaela glanced at Corrin, and he jumped as he remembered that this lecture was mostly aimed at him and his dragon. "Yes, Ebrithil," he answered hurriedly, for both himself and Kiera.
"Good," Yaela said firmly. "Let's begin. Leah, I want you to start Corrin in the dwarven language. Go through some basic useful phrases, teach him the correct pronunciation, and such. Kiera, you listen to the two of them; I'll join you three in a minute. Thuviel, Galzra, I want you to quiz each other on the verb groups in the ancient language that we discussed last class. Varog, keep working with Ebrithil Eragon on teaching him the urgal tongue." Having delivered her instructions, Yaela turned and pointed one finger at Murtagh. "You and Thorn I'll evaluate myself; I only accept fluency in the ancient language if I've witnessed it firsthand." Murtagh looked more than a bit apprehensive, but nodded.
As Yaela advanced on the hapless Murtagh, Leah moved to sit cross-legged in front of Corrin. "So!" she began cheerfully. "Are you excited?"
Corrin was already dreading starting not one, but two new languages, but he managed to smile gamely. "Sure," he said. "It certainly sounds like it will be, um, interesting."
Leah gave him an amused look, but Kiera thankfully rescued him. I was more interested in her speech beforehand, she commented, radiating curiosity, about the old Riders and why they relied so much on the ancient language. We didn't get to learn much in Ellesmera about the histories, and almost nothing about Vroengard. I assume we learn more here?
"Oh, absolutely," Leah answered with both voice and mind. "We have an entire class just devoted to learning about the history of Alagaesia. Invidia teaches it, and she's really good; she actually has a system where we learn in a cycle of races and regions, so if you started with, say, the human population in Palancar valley, you'd learn about the rest of the human kingdoms, and then the elven cities inside and outside Du Weldenvarden, and then the other two races and the Riders, until eventually the class got back to learning about Palancar valley again. Invidia's old enough that she was alive for some parts of the histories she teaches, so she gives us a lot of detail, and she encourages us to discuss during lessons and try to come to our own conclusions about the history."
That sounds fascinating, Kiera replied. When can we start?
Leah laughed. "We go over to her… cell? alcove? ...room as soon as we finish language lessons," she told Kiera. "Speaking of which, I'm supposed to be teaching you both phrases in the dwarven language, so… we could do the history-related phrases I know,if you like."
"Will Yaela be alright with that?" Corrin asked, sufficiently familiar with Leah now to be a little suspicious of her suggestions.
Leah shrugged. "She said 'basic phrases', which leaves me a lot of room for creative interpretation. Anyways, she also said 'I'll join you three in a minute', which means she'll be personally frog-marching us through her intended work. A smart woman and a good teacher, our Yaela is, but she does not do delegation well."
That's Ebrithil Yaela to our unenlightened selves, Thuviel interjected tolerantly, with an edge of amusement that suggested he was referencing a prior conversation.
Leah waved a dismissive hand. "Yeah, yeah," she answered unconcernedly, before leaning forwards. "Now, to start with, the dwarves have a couple different words for the word 'history', each with a different connotation…"
Ah, ye olde language classes :( Sorry, Corrin. Unlike the last few updates, I did have the time to edit this properly, but I still want to be sure I haven't missed anything, so if anyone notices any continuity errors or issues with grammar/spelling, please comment and I will fix it immediately. Otherwise, I hope everyone is having a great June, and I will be back at most next month with the next chapter!