It takes four tries for Russet to get the pronunciation right, but e finally does. E pesters me to teach em more words, so I settle for a few choice phrases like "Hello", "Goodbye", "I am hungry", etc.
A waitress offers us our menus. I look down at mine, food I recognize is in English, but I really want to try something from the Otherworld. I ask Papa to translate the menu for me, but instead he offers up another idea.
"Missy, you know zee Communication spell don't you?"
"Yes. But I've only used it a handful of times, I haven't really needed it."
"Try to cast it on yourself and see if you can translate zese Oservorld letters."
"Um-"
"No one vill notice Missy." He says encouragingly.
My heart picks up a few paces when I realize Papa may know more about me than I thought. So I look around, take a breath and focus. My eyes shine for a moment and my tongue gets this tingling feeling, then I start to see the foreign symbols on the menu warp into readable English. I'm only able to trace a few choice words.
"Vat do you see?" Papa asks.
I shake my head in disappointment. "Only the root words. A few alphabets they all have in common, the articles 'the', 'is' 'in' and 'it'. But nothing descriptive. No adjectives, no nouns." I frown.
Papa grunts, but in an endearing way. "That's not bad at all Missy. I honestly didn't sink you vould see anytink. Communication is a tricky spell. It allows zee caster to speak in tongues, but such tongues are limited to zee caster's own, individual experience."
"Huh?" I respond dumbly.
"I think I can explain it to her." Russet offers. "You are human. Not only that, but you are wildseed. The Communication spell works differently for everyone. Since you are human, it would allow you to easily translate any other human language into your native tongue. But for those that are nativeseed human, meaning they are mixed with other races, it would also allow them to speak the other tongues of their bloodline."
What the?! And he taught me German the hard way!
Papa wags his finger. "Don't look at me like zat. You're smart Missy. You schould know it's just as important to know zee tongues by heart, as much as by magick. It'll come in handy schould you find yourself in a situation vere you can't cast."
I pout, but he's right.
Papa clears his throat. "You vould have to spend some time in zee Oservorld to pick up oser languages not of your bloodline. Breathe in zee air, drink zee vater, eat zee food, and congregate vith oser races to learn seir tongues. Time spent in zee Oservorld is also magick asorbed. Magick you could take hold of by tappink into zee mainstream of mana flow."
I think I'm beginning to understand it now. "It's a cultural thing. It takes time."
I tell Papa what I would like to try, and he orders me a broth of noodles and seasonal vegetables, making sure to mention I'm vegetarian and not to use animal stock, then a small side bowl of Otherworld berries. Russet orders a baked potato with herbs, salt, and butter. Papa gets himself roasted pheasant with wild rice, smothered in a mulberry-wine sauce. As for our drinks, Russet simply orders a black, Irish tea, with a little bit of honey, and Papa orders his signature coffee. I get a green-tea, lemonade.
"May I have one of your lemons, Lumie?" Russets asks, stirring es tea with both hands on the spoon, as if the teacup were a cauldron.
They don't have brownie-sized cups here?
"Verwildert what else are you? Besides human."
He swallows a gulp of his coffee and wipes his mouth. "Ah. Orc."
Papa has mentioned it once or twice, I always knew he wasn't fully-human, but I want to know exactly what an "Orc" is.
He's speaking more to me now. "I know vat you're sinkink. And you are correct. Orcs are part of zee gremlin family. Every race has a genus. Beinks like Russet, are part of zee fae family. Vich is zee largest and most complex family tree in all of magick-kind. Zere is a hierarchy to every family tree, vith zee beasts on zee bottom and zee sentient on top. In my genus, orcs are zee most humanesque, folloved by ogres, trolls, zen goblins. I believe vee passed a group of orcs on our vay here."
Those horned, fanged, striped guys?
Papa hums. "In my genus, vee have a predominantly male population. A lot of us interbreed. I get my orc blood from my Papa's side. Orc females are far and few in between. But believe you, me, zey are beautiful. Savage, but beautiful. Hehe. You have heard of zee Amazon vomen."
"The Amazons were orcs?!" I smile in disbelief.
"Indeed Missy. Zee most famous of orcs vere in fact, female. Zee Amazons vere a group of orc females zat banded togeser, stranded on an island vith zee absence of any males to keep seir population goink. And yes, zey vere just as strong and tall as zee legends depict. Seir 'tribal markinks' vere in fact, seir skin pigments, not tattoos or var-paint at all. And orc females usually have blunted or lack horns. And even fewer have fangs zat breach seir lips. So you can see vhy zey vere mistaken for giant, human vomen."
"Wow…"
Russet speaks up. "You have a proud heritage, Verwildert."
"I do. Orc men are known for beink excellent fighters, and fierce protectors. Vee each make a vow to defend our homes and families to zee death. And as our culture has it- an Orc man who cannot protect and provide is neither man nor Orc."
He closes his eyes and smiles softly. "I remember ven I vent on my pilgrimage. As all Orc men must... Zee rite of passage for a male is to in fact, go on a pilgrimage and brink back resources for zee tribe. Zee sons must surpass seir fathers vith seir spoils. And you must return heftier zan ven you left, or zey'll send you back! Hahaha!"
"Pilgrimage, Rite of Passage? And as for the females?"
"Zat, I do not know. Zee vomen keep it to zemselves, it is a mystery to us."
"That explains why you're so strong and tall, despite your age. That's no walking cane." Russet compliments.
Papa hollers. "I'd better be! Or my Papa vould be turnink in his grave! He died lookink no older zan middle-aged. And he lived for dreihundert jahre! You schould see my brothers, I'm zee scrawniest."
300 years... So how old are you Papa? With those broad shoulders, straight back, and long legs?!
"But let us, continue. I want to know about you." Russet pushes.
My bowl of berries arrive. Russet helps emself to a few, and Papa takes a handful. I just stare at them, not quite sure what to do. Papa and Russet laugh at my obvious alienation.
The red ones remind me of raspberries, except that they're spikey. The blue ones resemble blueberries, but they have green speckles on them. Russet squeezes one open, and the juice on the inside is also green. These look like strawberries, except they're pink, not red. And they're shaped like chili-peppers, but sport the many little seeds strawberries bear on their flesh. And these are blackberries? But the little lumps are rainbow-colored.
I try a "blueberry" first, it looking the safest to eat. It tastes just like a blueberry, except it's a little sourer. Ah! Never mind, apparently it's a fruit that has the effect of pop rocks!
I take a bite out of the "pepper-strawberry" only to find out that it's hollow on the inside. It's a chewy, dry fruit, but has a floral taste and smell.
Now for the "rainbow-berries." It's especially juicy, and not as tough as normal blackberries. In fact, they melt away as soon as they hit my tongue. The flavor explosion is immense. Sweet, sour, bitter, then tangy.
Finally a "spikey berry". I pick it up, it's not as sharp as it looks. In fact, it's seems almost fragile. I gingerly take a bite and… It's crunchy! It doesn't hurt at all. It reminds me of the texture you get when you freeze-dry fruit. The raspberry flavor is intensified, with a sweet finish. I like the spikey berries the best.
Russet and Papa giggle and snicker at the various faces I make while trying each piece of fruit. Eventually I pick up on their individual tastes and textures, and figure out how to eat them with no problem. I instinctively know now which ones to bite and chew, which to suck, and which to let melt on my tongue before swallowing, to not miss out on their effects.
Russet's potato arrives shorty, and e smothers it in extra salt and butter. I offer to cut the potato for em into small portions, and I evenly distribute the slathered butter so no part is left unseasoned.
No tiny cups, no tiny cutlery. Didn't I walk over a group of pygmies earlier?
Russet stabs the potato chunks with es fork, which is more like a pitchfork in comparison, and eats from the points.
Okay, that is pretty adorable.
Papa's food arrives a few minutes later and we resume our conversation. "Anything more to say Verwildert?" Russet asks all ears.
Papa rubs his chin. "Hmmm. I suppose I could say a little more. But I don't only vant to be talkink about myself."
We nod.
"Anyvay, yes. I grew up on a large farm. Vee tended chickens, and cows, goats, sheep and I had my own horse. His name vas Wahnsinn."
Ah yes, that crazy horse he aptly named "Insanity".
"Von a goot many races vith him. But he vas no race horse, he vas zere to help out in zee fields. I considered him more of a pet, really. He bred a champion foal too. Vich vee sold to a racer. Wahnsinn vas vild, Papa sought he vas untamable, and vanted to put him down. But I insisted I could get srough to him. And zwei years later, after he broke my ribs and leg, vee finally got along. Almost killed me zat horse did!"
Russet and I exchange concerned glances.
"Mama and my younger brothers vorked zee fields. Vee grew a small portion of crop, but our dairy products vere our main source of income. Papa, my older brothers and myself raised zee animals. Vee had pets too. Lots of pets. Dogs to herd zee cattle, a house cat to catch zee pests. My eldest brother, Sturm. He had a huntink falcon. I had my horse. Hurrikan, zee second eldest, had his dog. Thunda, my younger brother, also had his dog. Zey didn't just herd, but vere excellent hunters. Sose guys couldn't stop arguink and competink over voose dog vas better. Zee drei of zem often vent on trips togeser. And zee cat belonged to Blitz. Zee youngest of us all. He alvays vas a quiet one. Preferred to tend the plants and read indoors."
I love Papa's storytelling, and this side of him I know everything about.
"Blitz and Thunda, zey actually run my brewery. Beink zat zey know crop zee best and all. I get a profit, because it's my land zey're vorkink on. But oser zan zat, it's all seir own. I don't dictate or argue. Sturm and Hurrikan own zee creamery I constructed. It's zee same case. My land, but seir business. I bought sose pockets of land as gifts for zem. I vas zee only one zat didn't expand zee family business. Figured I at least owed it to zem to invest. As you know, I vent off to zee Council. Got into politics. Sturm's son. He inherited zee Atchung farm. Vith his vife and tvin boys. Zey sell mostly raw products now. No need to process cheese and mayo anymore for a profit. Zat's vat Sturm's creamery is for. Zey're little family mostly likes to keep to zemselves." Papa closes his eyes and scratches his stubble. "All of my brothers have sons. Except for Blitz. He has a daughter. Zee last time I saw her, sche vas pregnant, only after a month of beink married! My family is so big… It's hard to keep in touch sometimes. Let alone keep track! Hölle."
My soup arrives, a strange bright red, bubbling soup that kinda feels and tastes like tomato with some chewy, hearty grains in it of some sort, and other vegetables I don't recognize. Tastes like minestrone and beef barley had a baby.
He continues. "Sturm has a vife and son. And zwei grandsons. Zee tvins I mentioned. Hurrikan, remarried after his ex-vife cheated on him. He has a son from her, and anoser son from his current vife. His eldest son has his vife and drei boys. His younger son has only recently married. Thunda has vier boys himself. All of zem each have seir own son and vives. Einer of sose vives is pregnant again, if I'm not mistaken. Or did sche have zee babe already? But vich vife, I am not sure. And Blitz. Blitz is a vidower. I remember how heart-broken he vas… Ven his vife died. Sche vas a sveetheart. But frail. Sche died in childbirth, and sche vas mundane. So he couldn't use magick on her to save her life, he vas, however, able to save his child."
Russet and I awaken in alarm, that last particular detail new to me as well.
Papa pauses. He looks at me with seriousness. "Zere are laws against usink magick on zee mundane. Even if you are married or related to zem. I personally, sink it's an injustice. But I didn't make zee laws at zee time. *Sigh* It's considered unfair. It vould cause certain mundane people to live longer and healsier zan osers because zey have magickal relatives or spouses. And no mundane is supposed to have advantage over zee oser. But in zee case of an unborn child, beink unable to determine vether or not zey are magick folk yet- its better safe zan sorry. So zee laws are different for zem." He shakes his head. "He still has his daughter, a young, new bride now. Expectink her first child- his first grandchild. Blitz vas zee only one voo married a mundane voman. Vas smitten by her, he said. Couldn't stop it, even if he vanted to, even if he tried."
Papa takes my hands. "Missy."
"Y-yes?"
His stare is intense. "I can't tell you voo to love. But take my advice. I don't discriminate against any sort of love. But please. Take. My. Advice."
I gulp.
Russet shrinks away slightly.
"Don't marry a mundane."
O-oh. Well, we won't have to worry about that.
"I just vant you to be happy. It's not zat I don't approve. But I don't vant you to go srough vat my brother had to. Even if your spouse lived a full life. You vould still outlive zem by AT LEAST a jahrhundert."
At least a century?
"You vould have to keep your magick a secret, even at home. And vat vould you do if you produced mundane children?"
I gasp quietly. That isn't going to happen. Children aren't going to happen. But… if that did. I'd be heartbroken.
"It vould only make you lonely all over again. Zat happy life vould last for only but a moment. And if sometink unfortanute happened to your kids or spouse, you'd be poverless to stop it. And believe me… No one vants to vatch seir loved ones die."
Papa claps his hands. "Ah. Zat's enough reminiscink for now. You know my story. Vat about you Russet?"
Russet awakens from es melancholy stupor. Having finished our food. We enjoy a refill of our drinks. "Ah. Yes. Well. I hail from the Otherworld. I'm native to it. I've lived there for half of my life, in the Highlands."
Papa looks impressed. "You're a Highlander? I heard it's fierce over zere."
Russet hums. "For humans, I suppose it would be." E looks at me, and smiles. "It has the highest concentration of the fae- my people there. It is the birthplace of our ancestors. Petunia knows it as the High Hunting Grounds. Both names are correct. Not only do the fae swarm there. But it is where the rarest of the rare, in terms of magickal creatures reside. Unicorns, dragons, sirens and sylph, even the merfolk."
"Merfolk! As in mermaids and mermen?"
"I can see the curiosity in your eyes, Lumie. Yes. Merfolk do exist. And they are as deadly as they are dazzling."
I avert my eyes, not wanting to look too excited. I'm definitely not ready to go to the Otherworld anytime soon, but I sure am eager.
"One day, I met Petunia. She was singing amidst a group of faeries. I was fascinated by her…" Russet's ears twitch in remembrance. "I could sense that her affinity was green magick, but here she was, playing with faeries. She was younger back then. Right now she's only middle-aged. As was I at the time. It must've been. Oh, I don't know. 200 years ago."
How old is she?!
"Green mages tend to live the longest. Their magick is directly connected to their bodies. And the surrounding environment. There really is no set life-span for a wizard. Especially a human wizard." E finishes es tea. "Mhm! She has a lovely voice. You should hear it. I was drawn to her. She was so deep into the Highlands, and looked like she showed no fear or worry. As if she was a faery herself! I had to go up to her. But I was terribly shy at the time. My life before Iris was dandy and all. But I've always loved you humans. Such fascinating creatures you are. I had never seen one before, but she smelled unmistakably human. This was my chance. I crept closer and watched her from afar. She began collecting wild plants and the surrounding faeries were even bringing some to her. I couldn't believe my eyes. Spellbound, I lost my footing and fell from the tree I was hanging from by my tail. It was so ungraceful of me." E groans. "Startled, Petunia drew her wand. But when she realized it was only me, she did the unthinkable."
Russet? Are you blushing?
"She picked me right up and hugged me! She dusted me off and nearly squeezed me to death. 'Ooooh! Are you alright? Are you hurt? Here. Let me help you, sweetie. Aww. Well aren't you just the cutest thing I've ever seen?!' she dared to say to me. As if I was… Was… Some sort of lost kitten or something else ridiculous like that! I'm a grown browny, not a sprout! So I wiggled myself free and demanded to know why she was so close to my nesting grounds. At the time, the browny clan was only half its size. Burgundy, Cordovan, Ecru, Tawny, Fallow and myself have known each other since we were born. I've always been the elder browny, I took it upon myself to expose myself first to this possible intruder. I tried to interrogate her, but she did not find me intimidating in the slightest. She could only coo and coddle me. I gave up. She was harmless anyway."
Poor Russet. It doesn't help that I feel the same way.
"So. We took a walk. I got to know her. Every couple of days or so, she would return. Sometimes bearing gifts. We would gossip and ramble and exchange ideas. Slowly, but surely she got to meet the rest of us. I admit, it took me longer to trust her, than I with you, Lumie."
Papa pats my hand.
"Continuing. Four seasons later and we were friends. I taught her many things, and she taught me all about mundane life."
Wait. She did? I interrupt. "Russet. Is The Headmistress wildseed?"
Russet turns es head sideways. "Of course she is. You could not tell?"
"B-but! She's so… Powerful! She's a warden of her own academy!"
Russet shrugs. "I suppose with her vast, wealth of knowledge, that and her flighty, ditzy attitude… It'd be difficult to tell where she comes from. But yes, she is wildseed. At the time, she was biding her time in the Otherworld. To avoid the social stigmas and pressures the mundane were trying to force upon her."
"What was going on?" I question.
Russet sighs. "Petunia was born during a time... when women had not gained their independence yet. Even in America, which was still a fresh, newly founded country, women were treated as property, and thought of nothing more than incubators for child-bearing and servants in the home. She left her family behind and had their memories wiped because her parents were trying to force her into marriage. Into becoming a housewife. And she was only thirteen. They had no clue that she was a wizard."
Papa stiffens. We lean in closer.
"When I met Petunia, she told me her story. She wasn't thirteen when I met her, but well into her twenties. And an unwed woman of that age, who has never produced a child, is considered a burden, even as far to call her a disgrace. Her family's high social status demanded she must marry otherwise she'd be given to someone against her will, to preserve the fortune and estate. So she left Earth. She moved to the Otherworld. Her father had already arranged a prospective husband for her, a man she had never met, but was promised to before she was even born. And when she became of age- that is, was old enough to bear children. He kept trying to marry her off to him. Petunia was powerless at the time, although she had already begun puberty. Her magick had not sprung forth. It was on her wedding day that she released her magick for the first time, and ran away. Thankfully before the ceremony could start. There was a great fuss and search for her. But with the help of a local guardian, she was able to erase her existence from the mundane world. However. She wasn't old enough to live in the Otherworld. Newly orphaned, and alone, she went to a magickal boarding school for girls. At the time, boys and girls had to go to separate academies. The magickal world may hold equal status for gender roles, but that did not change the time period, and thus, it would look suspicious for a co-ed school to exist. It was strange enough that a school for girls even existed- but most people saw it as nothing more than a place for wealthy women to learn etiquette and obedience. The magickal world played to the farce. It was still very common for twelve year old girls to marry men their fathers' age at the time too. What a mess it was. Perhaps that is why she sees your marriage as nothing but a smidgen. She sees the both of you as children in her eyes, and in her days, marriages of your type were typical. I am sorry if she seems insincere."
I bite my lip. "Let me cut to the chase. She graduated with honors and became the first female headmistress in American history. She is the first wildseed headmistress in magickal history, I might add. She had an alias at the time, and she wore her hair quite differently, wouldn't want to the mundane to catch on that the same woman had been running a school for over a hundred years without a sign of aging. In between her time in the Otherworld and on Earth, she took a few of us with her. The faeries I caught her singing with, are the same faeries you play with Lumie."
"They are?!"
"Woah. Woah." Papa motions us to stop with his hands. "Missy. You interact vith zee fae folk? Zat's dangerous!"
Russet hops up to stop him. "Rest assured Verwildert, she is in good hands. Petunia and those faeries have known each other for at least two centuries. And they are under contract not to use their magick to harm any of the students. Lumie also has us brownies to protect her."
"Mmmf." Papa relaxes. "Vell, aren't you just full of surprises." Papa directs at me while biting his thumb.
"I sympathized with Petunia. I wanted to help her cause. I wanted to help her run a school where everyone could be safe and happy, and do their magick in peace. Her school started out as an all-girls school. Where runaway brides and young wizard women could live in recluse. But she adapted to co-ed when the times changed. At the time, many of her young students were already mothers, so that couldn't be helped. But as the years went by she enforced a strict code on bearing children while still in the school-girl years. This encouraged wizard women not to marry so young, and flock to her school. I'm telling you, she was a revolutionary force for her time. I took my clan and moved into Iris. We met the others there, who she had rounded up as native brownies to Earth. Sepia, Sienna, Bole, Maroon, Umber and Wenge. And I haven't left since. Now I find myself with you, Lumie and Verwildert."
Papa and I look at each other. What a story.