Chapter 4
2150, Nualavera, Rakhana
The sound of footsteps, heavy, trying to be soft, ran down the hallway.
Irikah pushed down her coverlet from her shoulders, green eyes sleepy but widening with interest….She slipped her legs out from under the thin covers, night air warm through an open window barred halfway-up to prevent young Drells and Drellahnas from climbing the sill and stool, or leaning too far out and falling the four stories to the grounds below her boudicea….The large, ample bed for one so small and frail looked immensely lonely with its now being empty….Irikah felt along the silk covers to a designed horn-pilaster connected to the foot of the bed, supporting her in her diminishing sleepiness….Tiptoeing over to the tall double-doors of her boudicea, she pressed her small teness among a violet-silver tebris to the double-dovetailed panels of the door's lower surfacing, and listened for anyone to be moving outside in the hall again….At first she heard nothing, and drew her teness away, then heard a repeat of the heavy but trying-to-be-soft footsteps running down the hall again with others, additional footsteps she recognized belonging to her father….Living down the hall from her parents' boudicea, she was familiar with the sound of their feet going to and from the room and main cottus.
Waiting until she was sure there were no more feet running through the hall, she pulled on the handle of the door and peered out.
She saw no one in the hallway, but at the opposite end from her parents' boudicea, the large doors closed softly and slowly with their weight. Opening her door wider, she slipped out into the hallway and began to creep towards her parents' rooms….She stopped, unsure if she should go there, and looked to the opposite door-end, then back to her parents' doors….She looked behind her to the other doors, "….What are you doing," Irikah leapt into the air….Across from her boudicea doors were her brothers—Cartira and Casnar—their heads poking out of the opening of their doorway.
On the carpet and rushes again, Irikah drew her hands' backs of the wrists to her waist, and tilted her under-developed crests side to side, "….I heard something….I was going to check if Mamua was okay."
"Papua's up," Cartira looked from her little figure in a green man'naan to the doors at the end opposite their parents' rooms….His head was above Casnar's, column'ed over each other in their doorway, their bodies hidden still inside their shared boudicea, "….Something's a mess when Papua's up."
"What do you think it could be?…." Irikah's hand raised to her lip.
"I saw it," Casnar, the middle of the three in ages, made a pouty surl at Cartira and Irikah, "….A maneau'ilya ( labor wife ) was at the doorway, waiting for that burrell that came running through….Papua's gone gotten some braustha'ilya ( "flesh"-wife ) pregnant, and I bet she's having his baby in the cofahealh ( hospital ) below."
"Don't say that," Casnar's smooth-crested head was slapped by Cartira's higher, heavier hand, "….Mamua's down the hall, you Loud Mouth."
"I bet it's true," Casnar nursed his crest with a rubbing palm, where Cartira had left his fingers' burning impression by the slap, "….I told you—I saw Papua doing some Drellahna the other morning, in the garden arbor behind the coniulde ( dining hall )….He's been doing other Drellahnas since—"
"I said shut your mouth," Cartira gave his brother a withering stare, "….Papua doesn't do that…." Casnar rolled his green eyes to this.
Irikah strode back towards them, passed their door on her way to the other doorway's ending, "….I'm going to see if what Casnar says is true."
"Papua will strip our backs if he finds us out of our beds…." Irikah turned and looked at Cartira, then at Casnar—She spun around, her man'naan clinging to her lithe frame as she did, and scampered on her skinny legs down the hall towards the doors, "….No, Iri—" Cartira grabbed Casnar by his silk shirt, and Casnar kicked his older brother in the shin, squirmed out of his shirt still hung by Cartira's fingers, freed himself and ran down the hall after his sister….Cartira stared at the empty shirt in his grip to the bare, gold back of his brother—wearing now only his white undinnias as he raced down the hallway after Irikah—Cartira dropped the shirt on the floor and took off after his defiant younger siblings, "….You two, get back here—" Cartira saw them look back at him, Casnar and Irikah seeing him run down the hall to catch them, and the pair slipped through the heavy doors at the end, entering the main cottus.
"This way, Iri," Casnar led her down the next passage in search of the hospital below their level in the cottus, where Casnar anticipated finding their father, the burrell he had seen, and the labor wives.
Cartira reached the doors and slipped out into the main cottus….He saw Casnar's fleeing gold back—and Irikah's green man'naan—as they both ran from him, and Cartira pursued, quick of foot….Under his breath, "….You two are in for it."
Casnar and Irikah reached a staircase made of blue-silver stone and ran down these, feet light and quick, taking them to the lower level of the cottus rooms.
Cartira ran down the stairs, closer to catching them.
Irikah and Casnar gasped at how quickly Cartira had caught up behind them, his feet hitting the bottom landing of the stairs—They bolted down the lower passage, Casnar in the lead….Cartira was gaining on Irikah though she was fleet….Worriedly glancing ahead of Casnar, "….Casnar, Iri—Get back here!…." The two ahead of Cartira were as fast as Wyrrtuns, and Cartira had to push himself to keep up, not sure he would overtake them as they wound lower in the cottus and passed into the sponsored families' quarters—the section of the cottus that was allocated to a select, privileged few among the many families of Drell and Drellahnas that were sworn to the Soterios treasach, headed by Mu'kalien and Suanna Sousan-Soterios—and Cartira didn't dare speak out loud here for fear he might wake someone who would see them racing down the hall so late at night….Their father would find out they had left their boudiceas, and punishment would be a given.
Casnar and Irikah took a sharp turn down another stairwell, down to the hospital chambers of the cottus, and Cartira heard raised voices as he pivoted and went down after them, nearly crashing into the pair as they had stopped at the bottom and were listening.
"We should not be here," Cartira grabbed both their shoulders, standing between them.
"….can't be here, Mitan'cela…." Cartira heard his father's voice.
Casnar looked at Irikah, passed their brother's shirt-front between them, "….Papua only calls Mamua 'Mitan'cela', right?….So is Mamua in there?—No!—It's his lover…." Casnar swung his gaze up triumphantly at Cartira, but Cartira was focused ahead, his expression mute though he was listening to what was ongoing in the room not too far from the staircase and them, and until now he had kept his grip fastened to each their shoulders, distant to what Casnar had stated….He released them, and Cartira took the final steps down from the staircase to continue walking towards the voices.
"Maybe Mamua is with him—"
"Mamua's still in bed, Cartira!"
Casnar and Irikah crept down the final steps after him.
"….having this child…whether you like it or not, Mu'kalien—" Cartira knew his mother's voice, and subvocals, and that who was speaking to his father right then was not Suanna Sousan-Soterios, "….It's coming—"
"Sered," a labor wife, "….the baby is cresting….I need to know what you wish for us to do with it—"
"If you have this child," Mu'kalien's tone was rife with torment and anguish, "….I will send it to the Isle," Cartira could hear strain in his father's vocals, as he was trying to threaten the drellahna into aborting the birth, "….I will never acknowledge this sprat as mine, commea ( understand )?…." Her cry pierced the air—The door was closed before her voice could echo into the hall and upper cottus areas so shrilly, but the door did not catch well….Muffled, Casnar, Irikah, and Cartira could still hear them arguing, "….Mitan'cela, please!….I have my children, my Suanna—Let us destro—"
"—I'm….having….this….chil—" Her voice cut, and she keened into a high-pitched cry of pain.
Irikah ran back to the stairs and sat down—away from Cartira and Casnar, away from the painful pants and shrieks, covering her tenesses with her palms tightly.
The sound of silence followed, and Irikah could hear her pulse in her ears….racing.
And then, choking forth from the silence all around, the cry of young, fresh lungs.…Cartira turned to stare at Casnar, then Irikah sitting on the staircase….Irikah, hearing the faint cries through her pulse and palms, lowered her hands from the sides of her head.
All three jumped at the sound of violent action—Something….A bowl, furniture?….All of the above?….Were either thrown or blown over, and then the footsteps sounded rough and loud, coming towards the doorway in the hall….The door banged open.
Cartira, Casnar, and Irikah had already run from the hall, or down the staircase, and jumped into a nearby closet, shutting the door before Mu'kalien came out in his angry storm, his entourage following silently behind him.
Cartira leaned against the door as it was closed, keeping his back to it, and he slid down, trembling with adrenaline and fear of being caught by their father….The angry threats his father had made about sending the child to the Isle—Merce'des, the Isle of Tears—made him know there was no jest in the threat to the obstinate drellahna….She had produced the "fruit of her labor", and now his father would see his threats through.
As Cartira waited with his brother and sister inside the closet, listening to the footsteps over the stones and rushes, the bustle of movement stopped at the end of the hall, and on the stairs.
They heard their father, "….I want it gone as soon as possible….Tell her it died, send it to the School….Commea ( Understand )?…."
"What of her, Sered?"
For a moment, nothing was said by Mu'kalien, then: "….Let her rest….Tend to her….She is a favorite…." More steps commenced to the upper level, over the staircase.
Cartira pressed his back into the door and his seat into the floor, "….I can't believe it….I won't…."
"What are we going to do," Irikah looked at Casnar.
"Nothing….We have a new playmate," Casnar looked back at her, "….I want to see it."
"I don't believe it," Cartira sat on the floor against the door, rubbing his crests, "…Papua has another 'Mitan'cela'?"
Casnar's breath hissed through his nostrils, "….Then go see her with your eyes!"
Irikah grabbed her hands and wrung these worriedly, "….Papua said to send it to the Isle….That's where Th'anes are from."
"How do you know that?…." Cartira blinked up at her.
"Mamua talks out loud when she 'slips', Cartira….Why send a baby there?"
Casnar was impatiently kicking at Cartira's shins to get him to stand and unblock the door, "….To train it."
"But it's a baby!"
"They like to start training them young."
Cartira kicked back at Casnar's foot, glaring at him, "….Who have you been talking to?"
"Malikia says he talks to a th'ane of Papua's."
"Malik—Malikia doesn't know anything."
Irikah threw her hands apart, "….Stop, Papua wants to send a baby there….What's to stop him from keeping the baby here?"
"It would hurt Mamua."
Irikah turned her gaze from Cartira to the door, "….Mamua's in slips most of the time….I want to see the baby…." Cartira had to admit, he was curious to see the newborn, too, and stood from the door and floor's corner….Opening the door, they filed out one by one.
Cartira went out last, behind his siblings….They moved single-file down the hall, checking ahead for any rooms that had people inside….Cartira and his brother and sister walked in silence, soft over the rushes and stone….A small baby-cry came from one of the rooms where they had seen the door close, and the voices heard of their father, the drellahna in labor, and the labor wife….Irikah went towards the doorway….Cautiously, she pushed the door open and peeped inside.
A drellahna lay asleep on a bed. Beside her bed was a cotavatre, a baby's "trestle", and inside the basket above its hold was a bundle wrapped in brown cloth.
Irikah gasped at the little face poking out from the swathing blanket, and waved Casnar over to join her, "….It has Papua's colors!…." Cartira remained at the doorway, holding his arm across his body….He had not joined his siblings in creeping up to the drellahna and her baby in the labor room….and for other reasons, he was afraid to go closer.
Irikah rose on her toes to lean over the trestle-basket and look closer at the baby's face….The newborn appeared to be sleeping.
The eyelids drew apart—First the top soft, puffy lids, followed by the translucent inner lids, and the eyes caused Irikah to smile, "….Casnar!—Look at the eyes!….They're so blue!…." Casnar peered around his sister's crests at the baby.
"It's all squished-looking."
Irikah's smile brightened with her teeth showing, and she waved at the baby.…The baby blinked its eyelids and made a smile, "….I love it," Irikah looked behind them at Cartira, still by the doorway frame, "….Come, Cartira!—Come closer…." But Cartira did not move.
"What gender is it?….I want to know if I have a brother, or a sister who can play with me," Casnar glanced coldly at Cartira.
"Should we look?…." Irikah was studying the bundling-job on the baby, deciding how she would unravel it.
"You have a half-brother," Irikah looked up at the drellahna with surprise—She lay on her side, crests under her head in a pillow, her eyes opened and her face turned towards them.
The three children were stricken, Irikah backing away into Casnar, "….We thought you were sleeping!"
The drellahna smiled, "….Not yet, but I want to….You should take him, give him to one of the families here and not let him be sent away."
"Who are you," Cartira, this moment, stepped from the doorway frame.
"I am No One….but your father favors me because I please him," she shifted on her side, and looked to the baby nearby, "….Perhaps no more…." Cartira fell quiet again, "….I name him Tetonbaum," her gaze lifted to Irikah and Casnar, "….Tetonbaum Soterios….He is your newest blood-brother."
Cartira gave them all his back suddenly, "….He's a ban'non ( clanless )."
"Don't mind him," Casnar waved dismissively at Cartira's back, "….He wants to be Papua's only hiriwa ( heir )….He tells Iri and I that we're nothing."
The drellahna gave a low chuckling sound, "….He will have to share power…." Cartira left the doorway, moving out into the hall to ignore them—and be away from the newborn.
Irikah held her hand above Tetonbaum, shadowing his face with her fingers dancing over his head, "….I like his name….Can't wait to play with our new little brother…." The drellahna named "No One"—by her own declaration—nodded contentedly, somewhat more at ease, as she closed her bright, sapphire eyes.