The child was carefully examined in Cathbad's shop, where it was discovered
that she did understand English. Her early confusion might have been just
out of fear. Unfortunately, she was definitely mute so trying to get any
information about who see was and where she came from was like pulling eye-
teeth. When asked where she was from, she merely pointed at the water on
the map.
Since it was apparent she was going to be with them for awhile, Cathbad cast a spell that would give her a human appearance for her protection. Under this spell, she had the appearance of a cinnamon-skinned child with black hair and dark eyes, clad in a red dress.
The hardest part was naming her. Because she could neither speak nor write nor read, she could not tell him her name. Since they couldn't forever call her "the child", Cathbad gave her the one name he could think of when he saw her: Naiya (sea nymph).
To Danae, this was all very frightening and very frustrating. It was frightening to watch them walk around talking about her, wondering about her, wondering what to do with her, and casting spells on her, while she sat back unable to fight back or say a word in their defense. It was strange the way humans spoke the language of Talk. Their mouths were constantly flapping, like gulls. Apparently they moved their mouths to speak Talk.
For some reason their Talk was similar to her Thought-Speak. It had the same sounds and the same meanings but they used their mouths. Why did they use their mouths Danae wondered? Didn't they know mouths were for eating, not speaking?
Danae and her mother spoke Thought-Speak. It was a language not really spoken, but felt. While swimming they would chat with each other by sending thoughts through what her Mama called "the whisper-thread." Even when she was small, she told her Mama what she needed by sending it. At first, they were simple daydreams of light and colour and little messages like "Hungry" or "Tired." As she grew older, she would tell her Mama jokes and stories.
She shuddered as images of debris.pieces of wood.from a ship. Danae clutched herself as her mind recalled how the sea turned black and the waves yanked her away from Mama. Danae could still remember the panicked expression on her Mama's face as she was yanked away from her.
"Naiya." The sound of the druid calling her Land-Name broke her reverie. "Come, the King wishes to see you," he said. Danae took his hand. For now it was probably best that she be obedient towards her captors: that she let them call her that strange name and follow her rules. Right now, they were the only ones offering shelter.
Cathbad brought her before the King. "If you're wondering, I cast a spell that will give her a human appearance," he said.
"Have you found anything?"
"She does understand English, so we can communicate with her. She's mute, though. As for her species, I don't know. I thought at first she might be a nymph, but there are some things that just don't fit. I gave her the name, Naiya, because I couldn't think of anything else."
The King ordered that she be taken to one of the spare rooms and declared that while she was in Kells, she was to be given the same treatment as his daughter.
Deirdre looked towards their new house guest. Danae was running her fingers along the curtains. She couldn't help but wonder what the poor little girl was thinking. She knew she'd be frightened if she was separated from her father and cast into the sea whilst being pursued by an evil goddess. How frightened Naiya must be, she thought.
Deirdre took it upon herself to show Naiya around the castle. She showed first to her father's room, then to hers so that Naiya would always know where she could find her. Deirdre smiled when Naiya began searching through her closet. When she found her harp, she held it to her ear and began plucking each of the strings.
Deirdre smiled. At least someone had found a use for her harp. "Here, let me show you how to tune it," she said. She showed Naiya how to loosen and tighten the strings. "Come on let's go to your room now, Naiya." The child set the harp down on the bed. "You can keep it; I don't play anymore." Naiya looked up her as if to ask "Are you sure?"
"Yes, it's yours, now come on," Deirdre said. The two girls walked, turning down the halls, studying passages, with Deirdre chatting the entire time about the various rooms. Danae was happy to let the girl talk: it took some of the focus off of her. She was grateful Deirdre let her keep the harp. Maybe if she practiced, she could learn the dolphin songs and play them for Mama. Then it hit her: Mama was gone and she might not come back to hear her music.
It's funny the way grief strikes out of the blue. One minute you're listening to someone mention something about some mundane topic such as the weather then all of a sudden it hits you: So and So is gone and you'll never see them again. Danae felt her face grow warm.
Deirdre turned around. "What's wrong?" she asked, forgetting Naiya couldn't talk. Danae concentrated and tried to speak Thought-Speak to her. She shoved the vision towards Deirdre with all the strength in her bones. She'd never concentrated that hard with her mother: with her mother all she had to do was send and her mother would receive. With Deirdre it seemed to take a Herculean strength just to create a single word, and when she was finished with her short message (Mama gone), Deirdre was still staring at her blankly. Danae opened her mouth to try to speak but all that would come out were strange noises. (Cathbad had said her vocal cords weren't designed for speech.) All Deirdre could do was hold the girl and what for the spell to pass. Her father had said, "Naiya needs a friend more than ever now," and Deirdre was determined reach her. Even if she couldn't talk, surely she'd understand gestures of friendship.
Finally the child stopped quivering as though she'd made a conscientious effort to stop getting upset as though she had realized the futility of it all. She stretched and relaxed herself before letting Deirdre continue the tour.
Finally they came to her room. It was nothing like anything she'd lived in. Danae and her Mama were used to a life of sleeping in the dunes of beaches, rock caves, underwater caves, or sometimes just sleeping with dolphins. Sleeping with the dolphins was always hard to coordinate due to the way the herd moved. Dolphins didn't really sleep in the way humans thought of it: curling up, lying down, and shutting their eyes. When it came time to sleep, they would shut off part of their brain and become very still for awhile. Mama and Danae would usually enmesh deep within the group, sleeping and migrating with the calves. Mama said she had learned long ago how to sleep and keep her senses on red alert at the same time. If Danae had a nightmare, her mother was immediately there with comforting words.
Deirdre gave a weak smile as she watched Naiya study the room. "I suppose it's not what you're used to. We do our best." She trailed off at that point. Though she didn't totally understand humans, Danae could tell by the tone in her voice that her feelings were hurt. She concentrated and tried to send the word "Sorry," but for some reason Deirdre couldn't understand Thought-Speak and it just made her more exhausted. It was very queer the way she couldn't understand Thought-Speak, but Danae knew Deirdre probably thought it was very queer she couldn't understand Talk.
Danae tried to think of a way to show her gratitude. She supposed being in the house of the light people was far better than being in the house of the metal people. Mama once told her that bringers of light can only be warriors of good. Then she remembered: one time when she was in the water, close to shore, she saw a man and a woman hug each other. She thought that was so queer because she never saw any of the dolphins touch each other like that. When she asked their mother, she laughed.
"Hugging is their way of showing they care for one another," she said.
"It looked like the way you let me cling to you when we rest at night," Danae said.
Her mother had hugged her then and she hugged Deirdre. Immediately the princess relaxed and Danae felt better, having relieved her sorrow in even a small way. The princess left the room. Danae opened the drawers and the cupboards of her new room. Inside were clothes, strange items such as a long rope and a round little ball, and little blocks with hard covers, weird characters, and strange pictures.
This was all together too much for Danae to take in at once. She set her harp under what she guessed was a bed, then climbed in and went to sleep. She'd figure everything out in the morning.
Since it was apparent she was going to be with them for awhile, Cathbad cast a spell that would give her a human appearance for her protection. Under this spell, she had the appearance of a cinnamon-skinned child with black hair and dark eyes, clad in a red dress.
The hardest part was naming her. Because she could neither speak nor write nor read, she could not tell him her name. Since they couldn't forever call her "the child", Cathbad gave her the one name he could think of when he saw her: Naiya (sea nymph).
To Danae, this was all very frightening and very frustrating. It was frightening to watch them walk around talking about her, wondering about her, wondering what to do with her, and casting spells on her, while she sat back unable to fight back or say a word in their defense. It was strange the way humans spoke the language of Talk. Their mouths were constantly flapping, like gulls. Apparently they moved their mouths to speak Talk.
For some reason their Talk was similar to her Thought-Speak. It had the same sounds and the same meanings but they used their mouths. Why did they use their mouths Danae wondered? Didn't they know mouths were for eating, not speaking?
Danae and her mother spoke Thought-Speak. It was a language not really spoken, but felt. While swimming they would chat with each other by sending thoughts through what her Mama called "the whisper-thread." Even when she was small, she told her Mama what she needed by sending it. At first, they were simple daydreams of light and colour and little messages like "Hungry" or "Tired." As she grew older, she would tell her Mama jokes and stories.
She shuddered as images of debris.pieces of wood.from a ship. Danae clutched herself as her mind recalled how the sea turned black and the waves yanked her away from Mama. Danae could still remember the panicked expression on her Mama's face as she was yanked away from her.
"Naiya." The sound of the druid calling her Land-Name broke her reverie. "Come, the King wishes to see you," he said. Danae took his hand. For now it was probably best that she be obedient towards her captors: that she let them call her that strange name and follow her rules. Right now, they were the only ones offering shelter.
Cathbad brought her before the King. "If you're wondering, I cast a spell that will give her a human appearance," he said.
"Have you found anything?"
"She does understand English, so we can communicate with her. She's mute, though. As for her species, I don't know. I thought at first she might be a nymph, but there are some things that just don't fit. I gave her the name, Naiya, because I couldn't think of anything else."
The King ordered that she be taken to one of the spare rooms and declared that while she was in Kells, she was to be given the same treatment as his daughter.
Deirdre looked towards their new house guest. Danae was running her fingers along the curtains. She couldn't help but wonder what the poor little girl was thinking. She knew she'd be frightened if she was separated from her father and cast into the sea whilst being pursued by an evil goddess. How frightened Naiya must be, she thought.
Deirdre took it upon herself to show Naiya around the castle. She showed first to her father's room, then to hers so that Naiya would always know where she could find her. Deirdre smiled when Naiya began searching through her closet. When she found her harp, she held it to her ear and began plucking each of the strings.
Deirdre smiled. At least someone had found a use for her harp. "Here, let me show you how to tune it," she said. She showed Naiya how to loosen and tighten the strings. "Come on let's go to your room now, Naiya." The child set the harp down on the bed. "You can keep it; I don't play anymore." Naiya looked up her as if to ask "Are you sure?"
"Yes, it's yours, now come on," Deirdre said. The two girls walked, turning down the halls, studying passages, with Deirdre chatting the entire time about the various rooms. Danae was happy to let the girl talk: it took some of the focus off of her. She was grateful Deirdre let her keep the harp. Maybe if she practiced, she could learn the dolphin songs and play them for Mama. Then it hit her: Mama was gone and she might not come back to hear her music.
It's funny the way grief strikes out of the blue. One minute you're listening to someone mention something about some mundane topic such as the weather then all of a sudden it hits you: So and So is gone and you'll never see them again. Danae felt her face grow warm.
Deirdre turned around. "What's wrong?" she asked, forgetting Naiya couldn't talk. Danae concentrated and tried to speak Thought-Speak to her. She shoved the vision towards Deirdre with all the strength in her bones. She'd never concentrated that hard with her mother: with her mother all she had to do was send and her mother would receive. With Deirdre it seemed to take a Herculean strength just to create a single word, and when she was finished with her short message (Mama gone), Deirdre was still staring at her blankly. Danae opened her mouth to try to speak but all that would come out were strange noises. (Cathbad had said her vocal cords weren't designed for speech.) All Deirdre could do was hold the girl and what for the spell to pass. Her father had said, "Naiya needs a friend more than ever now," and Deirdre was determined reach her. Even if she couldn't talk, surely she'd understand gestures of friendship.
Finally the child stopped quivering as though she'd made a conscientious effort to stop getting upset as though she had realized the futility of it all. She stretched and relaxed herself before letting Deirdre continue the tour.
Finally they came to her room. It was nothing like anything she'd lived in. Danae and her Mama were used to a life of sleeping in the dunes of beaches, rock caves, underwater caves, or sometimes just sleeping with dolphins. Sleeping with the dolphins was always hard to coordinate due to the way the herd moved. Dolphins didn't really sleep in the way humans thought of it: curling up, lying down, and shutting their eyes. When it came time to sleep, they would shut off part of their brain and become very still for awhile. Mama and Danae would usually enmesh deep within the group, sleeping and migrating with the calves. Mama said she had learned long ago how to sleep and keep her senses on red alert at the same time. If Danae had a nightmare, her mother was immediately there with comforting words.
Deirdre gave a weak smile as she watched Naiya study the room. "I suppose it's not what you're used to. We do our best." She trailed off at that point. Though she didn't totally understand humans, Danae could tell by the tone in her voice that her feelings were hurt. She concentrated and tried to send the word "Sorry," but for some reason Deirdre couldn't understand Thought-Speak and it just made her more exhausted. It was very queer the way she couldn't understand Thought-Speak, but Danae knew Deirdre probably thought it was very queer she couldn't understand Talk.
Danae tried to think of a way to show her gratitude. She supposed being in the house of the light people was far better than being in the house of the metal people. Mama once told her that bringers of light can only be warriors of good. Then she remembered: one time when she was in the water, close to shore, she saw a man and a woman hug each other. She thought that was so queer because she never saw any of the dolphins touch each other like that. When she asked their mother, she laughed.
"Hugging is their way of showing they care for one another," she said.
"It looked like the way you let me cling to you when we rest at night," Danae said.
Her mother had hugged her then and she hugged Deirdre. Immediately the princess relaxed and Danae felt better, having relieved her sorrow in even a small way. The princess left the room. Danae opened the drawers and the cupboards of her new room. Inside were clothes, strange items such as a long rope and a round little ball, and little blocks with hard covers, weird characters, and strange pictures.
This was all together too much for Danae to take in at once. She set her harp under what she guessed was a bed, then climbed in and went to sleep. She'd figure everything out in the morning.