A thought had crossed my mind, keeping me up at night. The wyrm was weak enough to penetrate with a bone trap. She described it as an earth worm with razor teeth. I drew up the plan, and had it neatly folded in my hands.
Lucian glared at me, his mechanical eye looking all around before focusing on me. He laid an empty paper out in the table, writing things down, and boxing them off on two pieces of paper. There were ten symbols written in red.
"This is the alphabet. Learn writing these first, the black are consonants, and the red are vowels. Do a couple pages first. I have to go on patrol. I will see you soon."
"Wait, before you go." I handed him the paper.
"What is this?"
"It's a foldable blade, and it's not for what you think it is. I would like two, if possible, but one might suffice."
"Oh, sure. The hunter wishes to kill my best friend and high lord with this to free herself."
"No, it is for… something…" I bit my lip. "More sinister." I closed my eyes, just say it. "I'll need it under a mountain." I peeked an eye.
His eyes widened. "What do you know?"
"I had a dream, I could not hear anything, but I saw the beast. I died; I just wanted a better advantage." I explained all the mechanics of the knife to him, and he took notes on the side. "Don't tell Tamlin, he worries enough, and he won't approve of this."
"I do have to run this by him."
"And when he tells you, no? You'll let me be split in half by a mouth full of teeth?" I shivered. "Never mind, I tried." I reached for the paper, and he pulled back.
He folded the paper and tucked it in his tunic. "We will train later."
"Thank you, Lucian, I appreciate you taking this time for me."
"Sure." He left and I took this paper to my room with what looked like a children's book.
I wrote them repeatedly. Feeling how they felt in my hand. I used the print on the pages to help be a little more accurate. Alis watched from afar, and after some time, she walked up next to me.
"Jill fell down the mountain."
"So, this word is Jill."
"Correct it's pronounced like this." She enunciated the syllables as she pointed to the letters.
Knowing the spoken language made this much easier. After I had ten full pages of each. I began my work out. I had to get stronger, faster, not just smarter. All these things I know I would have to do before the time came.
The next day I returned to Lucian and gave him the papers, I then pointed to the letters and pronounced the ones I remembered.
"You're actually learning."
"I wanted to learn, why would I ask if I did not mean it."
"Do this next." A string of a few letters formed together as he wrote them. "These change sounds when together. He pronounced them and handed me the paper back.
I read them off repeatedly, remembering the individual letters. I spoke the words over and over, putting an image to the sound. It was slowly becoming easier. After that, I was writing short sentences. Alis helped me in my room.
"I handed that paper off to a friend of mine, he said two was possible, but it might take a couple of weeks."
I frowned. A few weeks, I had a few months. I'll need trained too. "Okay." I tapped my fingers, how to train without them? My leg shook as I looked put the window.
"Tell me what all you saw."
"I was dropped in a trench, and a wyrm ate me. It was short, but brutal. I didn't see much else. It scares me, but if it happens, I want to be prepared."
I got up, leaving the table to go to my room.
When she left, I used the remaining paper to write down things I could remember form my old life. I wanted to keep that piece with me. I wrote down songs, and described their sounds, and how they made me feel.
I pressed hard into the thoughts, willing them forward. A little light emerged, fingers playing on a piano. The sound was lovely, and then a voice, but it was muddled. Tamlin had a room with a piano in it. Seen it while exploring.
I wonder if he would mind if I touched it? Slinking out of my room, I felt like I was being watched; more than usual. I pressed the door open and shut it behind me. The feeling fading.
I looked around the dark room, the only light coming from cracks in the red curtains. I flicked the heavy velvet material open, letting the light pore in and wash over the room. The window was a set of double doors, I opened them too, a breeze coming though filling the air with the scent of spring flowers.
The white marble floors had veins of gold. They flowed like that up the pillars. A large red carpet under the golden piano with a garden of flowers embroidered around the edges. The symbol of the spring court in the center.
I sat on the bench, uncovering the keys, and tucking the lid in. I closed my eyes, and for a second, I wasn't here anymore.
"What will you play this time?" The voice felt familiar, a female's voice.
My fingers skimmed the top of the keys, feeling the black and white keys and their placements. It felt familiar, like I had sat at this piano before. I pressed on one that felt right. The tone rang though my mind, another little spark emerging. I pressed a few more, and more.
It morphed into song, and the feeling washed over me like a crashing wave, immersing me fully.
The soft and sweet melody shifting into something more dynamic, full of purpose. I reached to find the name, but still hidden, just beyond that barrier of my memory bank.
I finished strong, hitting every key until the big finale. I breathed hard, holding the last set of keys down. Calming as it faded out. I grinned, chuckling to myself.
"That was beautiful." My body froze as Tamlin's voice came from behind me. "Where did you learn to play like that?"
Blood drained from my face; I needed a lie. "I was a noble's daughter at one point, I learned when I was young, played often. When we fell out of fortune, I never saw another piano until now." That was good, somewhat believable.
"You should play more, you looked happy."
I stood, stepping away. "That's all I remember." Not a lie, it came to me in a spark, and it was the only thing I remembered. I moved past him out the door, back to my room to write down my experience.