Disclaimer: You know what is mine and what is not.
Well, this is my worst chapter ever. I hate it. With a profound ardency I did not know I had. However, I felt I should post it if not to recieve helpful comments, at least so that I can fall back into the story again.
After two weeks visting relations, I have kind of forgotten where I was going with this chapter. After all, I never write things down. Stupid, stupid me! Maybe by the time I return form yet another visit to relations for another week I will remember what I was and am doing. I am so sorry!
Oh yeah, italics are mind speech. Enjoy!
The brown man reclined in his chair. It groaned and protested his movements like a tree under the winter gales of the blackest, darkest night. Daine looked into his eyes empty of hope and waited for him to continue. When he did not and the silence began to scream with the tension of ten thousand secrets, she leaned forward and moved to speak. "I do not even know your name," she sighed without breaking eye contact.
"Nor I yours, but that is not what you wished to hear from me."
"My Ma always said manners and politeness are far more important than any curiosity you can feel."
"Her sentiments are very wise then. I am Akuji Chiamaka, Professor of History and Legends. I teach of the gods and ancient ones long since past, and often I wonder how it was that they could see what it is we cannot. Perhaps, stranger, you have come to us to shed some light on the matter?"
"I don't think so, Professor; I've never been too good with philosophy and such things," she grinned, "I would much rather be outside with the horses and other People. "I'm Sarra Weirynsra; my professor finds my knack with animals slightly annoying at times."
Professor Akuji smiled almost wistfully before asking, "Your professor, where is he now?" The sadness in his eyes swirled like a hurricane. It was hypnotic.
"I do not know. We were separated several days back," thinking of Numair and his odd eccentricities brought bitter tears to her lashes. She blinked them away; she refused to show weakness now when before she had not cracked with sorrow. Not yet. She refused to admit she feared never seeing his smile again. No, that was not true. She would have Arram if she could never leave. No, that was not possible either. He would leave soon, and he would take no one with him. She would be doomed to linger here, in the decaying halls where glory once dwelled on an island once filled with hope and joy. She would be alone.
"You miss him," Professor Akuji stated. It was not a question; she did not answer.
When the silence became too loud to bear once more, Daine filled it, "Anyone would miss Numair if they were separated for too long." Somehow, speaking his name made the pain in her chest double so that it felt as though her heart was shattering. Perhaps it was; perhaps when she looked, there would be hundreds of tiny blood red glass shards tattering her skin and running in a scarlet ribbon over her hands.
"You love him," there was no inflection in his voice.
"Yes," she responded after a pause pregnant with uncertainty and fear. She did not want to tell a stranger of her heart. She did not want to hear the words herself. She did not want to remember how she had whispered those words to him and how she had loved him with more of her heart than she knew she possessed. She did not want to weep as she did once the admittance passed her lips straight from her heart.
He waited until her tears stopped. He was slightly stunned at her revelation, but he was amazed at the way she collected herself once more. Only moments after uttering the words she herself dreaded to know, she was once more sitting in front of him with a slightly less composed appearance, but proud nevertheless. No emotion crossed his face, but he felt almost and unnaturally indebted to her. Therefore, when he leaned forward to tell her his tale that only one other had ever heard in its entirety, he was not surprised, "I have a long tale to tell to you, one that you will most likely find no interest in. However, I feel that I must tell someone, and you know the meaning of secrets and pain. I can read it in your eyes; hear it in your voice.
"My mother was a slave to a wealthy nobleman when she met my father. She had traveled to the palace as a personal slave to her master's wife, and she attended the many banquets and balls her lady appeared at. Of course my mother always lingered in the shadows, but so did he. My father was one of the Banjiku performers; he was a cat-man, and my mother fell in love with him. At the time, the Banjiku tribesmen were free people; they no longer have that right, that privilege as my lord Emperor describes it. Because of his freedom, he bought my mother from her lord after months of saving and extra labor. He loved her as much as she worshipped him. They lived together in happiness for many years until they both died of Black Fever almost eight years ago.
"You have said that you are not a Carthaki native. That is a very important fact because the Banjiku tribes are native only to Carthak. They have a unique power. No one can understand it, except the Banjiku of course. They say this gift of theirs is sent from the gods. I for one believe it truly is; however, it has been under intense debate since before I can even remember. The more powerful of mages began to fear them because they could not understand. No matter how much they studied and theorized, they could not explain the fierce bond between a Banjiku man and his animal. The people with a connection to the larger, fiercer creatures were the first to be ostracized. The cat-people, dog-people, and other such people as the crocodile-people were banned from using their power. It was a foolish law made in haste without a thought placed into it. There was not a way for the people to tune out their friends; it is like severing a limb from your own flesh. I know you understand what I am describing. The people could do nothing; they were trapped between their own nature and the law.
"The emperor was not so sympathetic. He had them incarcerated and restricted; he made slaves of them. Before long, all the tribesmen were given the brand of slave, even those who were only part-blooded. After all, they still had the foreign gift. Now, all my people are enslaved and forced to dance and perform for the emperor's delight. The nobility has brainwashed them, convinced them that they were always slaves and will always be as such. They have told them that their gods have willed it such. There is no more basic a brutality."
Here Professor Akuji sighed and rested his forehead against his dark, steepled fingers. His eyes were pressed tightly shut while he tried to gather himself to begin again. Pain was etched into thin lines that marred his otherwise handsome face. Midnight black eyes snapped open and he continued in his deep, reverberating voice, "You are wondering how it is then that I am not one of the hundreds, thousands of lives the emperor holds tightly in his hands. I can see it in your eyes. No one but you knows about my Banjiku inheritance. You see, I also have the Gift. It placed me in the University a long time ago, and I have never left. Yes, everyone knows I have an overwhelming love for cats and they seem to reciprocate, but I have always been one of them. I will always be another of the dark skinned professors desperate to feed their families in the encroaching gloom. While I stay here, I can do nothing. I did nothing and continue to do so as I let my people rot in their iron collars!"
Daine felt the weight of his voice crash through her. His eyes sparked for a moment with self-hate and desperation. She watched him. His breathing was heavy and he buried his face in his hands. Asha purred and leapt to his lap to rub his face and twine herself in his arms. The comfort she wrapped around the tired professor calmed him and he threaded his long fingers into her tawny fur. "There is much more to my story I am afraid. However, I do not believe it is necessary for you to know much more as of now. Perhaps later when I discover what Asha has in store for me, I will tell it to you."
There was no laughter on his face. His eyes once more were blank and empty. His voice was even and toneless. She wished, for a moment, she knew more of what had caught at his heart and was slowly ripping it to pieces. Long moments rested between them. It seemed that with every breath she slid away from him. She could feel it; he did not want her here, with him. Despite the tension in the air, she felt that she could trust him. Gently, Daine turned to Asha. Yes, purred the golden cat, he will not tell a soul. He is a good man. Lonely, but good. A cat's word was worth its weight in gold and Daine knew it. She sighed and leaned forward. This was her time now. She could not be a little girl frightened of strangers. She had to be the strong woman she had been trained to be by the most powerful people in Tortall. "There is something I want to tell you now, Professor. You have told me a secret of yours, and I feel I can tell you mine. You already know that I possess the same wild magic as you, except mine connects me to every living animal. Ever since I ended up here I have been hiding that bit of fact. But, I am not from Galla as I said.
"I was born in Galla, but I fled from there about four years ago to Tortall. There, a mage, Numair Salmalin discovered me. He has taught me everything I know about my magic and almost everything else. We fell in love, but war is no place for that. I know it, but what else could I do? What if he died? What if I died and he never knew? Anyway, we were lost in the Realms of the Gods when I became sick. We were told by stormwings that I was poisoned by the spidren's web I was caught in. Apparently they had to use a special poison to catch animal gods. I'm starting to think that one of Numair's attempts to cure me sent me here, or maybe it killed me. Either way, I'm here now, eleven years in his past."
Professor Akuji stared at the girl before him. Her storm colored eyes burned with a feverish light as she spoke. Had she just told him that she was a goddess? She was in the Realms of the Gods, a place no mortal had set foot in for hundreds maybe thousands of years. What was more; she was affected by a poison structured to bring down gods, at least minor gods. Her eyes never left his face. He watched her soft lips form her words and her throat move as she set them free. Slowly, her words seeped into his skin like rain into dry earth. She was trapped eleven years in her love's past. That meant he was here. A man who understood their magic, wild magic she had called it. Suddenly a fierce admiration for the girl in front of him swelled in his chest. She told him her most guarded of secrets and she was still strong. She had been here a while already; her skin was darkening into a sun-kissed gold and her hair was threaded with strands of gold fire.
His hope purred and stretched on his lap. Do you see? I have brought you hope, a reason to fight. She will not let you go to the Black God without a reason. She is People too and knows you cannot give up. There is no such option.
Yes, he replied to the aloof Asha, I still have loose ends to resolve. His hands caressed her skin in a rhythmic pattern as he continued to think. No, Hell was still near calling his name, but first this girl needed him. Before ice smothered him, he needed to set his people free. He still had a small remnant of Hope, and she purred and slept on his lap and spilled her heart before him. Lovely Hope, lovely Asha.
Don't worry, I will fix the second half of this chapter!
This was a little boring, yes, but its meant to help introduce the new character, sorry! Again!
Review and tell me what you liked and didn't. Questions? I've got answers! Review and I will do my best to impart upon you my knowledge, feeble as it is!