8. The First Lesson
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE FIRST LESSON
“Your equivalent would be death.”
His matter-of-fact statement rang in my ears.
“Oh,” was all I could say to that.
Riel cleared his throat and continued. “ Mana is a bottomless force, but you’re drawing power from your own, limited essence. It doesn’t feel good because it’s killing you. Once you learn to draw from the right source, you will find that your stamina increases. You should also be able to heal yourself without issue.”
“I see.” I digested this new knowledge with some difficulty. “So… what comes next?”
“You need rest. I’m guessing you’ve already been feeling better?”
I contemplated his question and nodded. Honestly, I could tell something was different since the moment I passed through The Rift. The lingering ache from riding the avida aside, I felt good. I’d eaten most of my food yesterday without feeling sick afterward, and I was only occasionally light-headed. The realization made me hopeful that things were looking up.
“ Mana is plentiful here. It’s all around us, in the air, the grass, the water. The same cannot be said for your world. As long as you don’t expend any more energy, you should recover on your own, given some time.”
“So… you’re saying that all of this is the universe telling me I need a vacation?” I couldn’t help but crack a smile at the absurdity of the idea.
“Something like that,” Riel agreed. “But while you recover, you might as well learn how to properly use your abilities. We’ll start from the beginning, with concepts, as if you were a child. When you’re feeling better, we’ll move on to applying what you learned.”
Swishing my legs back and forth in the water, I leaned back on my elbows. “And you’re going to be my teacher?” I clarified, not sure how I felt about that. “You sure you don’t have anything better to do?”
Riel’s face was unreadable. “Some might consider that to be an insulting question.”
I quickly straightened up, realizing that I’d gotten a little too comfortable somewhere along the way. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. Obviously, you have other things to do. I’m really grateful that you’re taking the time to help me instead.”
Riel joined me on the bank once more, leaving about two feet of space between us, and cocked his head in my direction. “Don’t be sorry. It’s a good question,” he said with a grin, surprising me. “I don’t. Have anything better to do, that is. I’m all yours.”
“Oh.” I blushed despite myself. “Well, thanks. I appreciate it.”
“Since today is your first lesson, I’ll let you guide things,” he suggested. “Are there any things you have questions about so far?”
“There are,” I admitted, worrying my bottom lip. “But do you mind if we start with more general things? I feel like the magic-related stuff is just… too much right now. I’ve been trying to adjust, since everything is so different here. Like, okay, the Goddess. I don’t mean any disrespect, but I’m not religious my self, so please be patient with me. How much is she… a part of everything? Does everyone believe in her? Are there commandments to follow?”
Riel looked up at the sky as he considered my question.
“It’s complicated,” he admitted. “Some take Her more seriously than others. My mother, for example. You’ll meet her eventually. It’s part of her responsibility to serve as our people’s religious leader of sorts. My generation has been taught the stories, but most of us have never felt the Goddess’s presence. At least, not in the way the elders claim to. Some believe She’s abandoned us. But regardless, the faith remains a cornerstone of our culture. And there are no commands, but… to say there are some guidelines, perhaps, would be accurate.”
“Should I be doing the greeting, then?” I queried. “The one Luenki used?”
“ Ishamenarin ?” Jeez, the word sounded like silk on his tongue. “No, it’s not expected of you. It’s more of a tradition than anything else; one of those things that people do for a reason no one knows anymore. You may hear ‘ Keerya savessan ’ as well, but that one’s not a greeting. Best not to repeat that in polite company.”
“Oh?” My interest was piqued.
“Valuen is another deity, the Goddess’s consort. When their relationship was still new, a jealous mortal, Keerya, tested them. She claimed that she had slept with Valuen and carried his child. It nearly tore their relationship apart. Luckily, Valuen was able to convince the Goddess that it was a ruse. As he has a soft spot for mortals, he even asked Her to be merciful toward Keerya. ‘ Keerya savessan ’ essentially means ‘Keerya spoke the truth.’ It is blasphemy, implying that the Goddess was a fool to believe Her consort and have mercy on the woman.”
“Ah, gotcha. A no-no word,” I mused, nodding along.
“A no-no word,” Riel agreed, a smile teasing his mouth. “Do you have anything similar?”
“Oh, lots,” I said enthusiastically. Where did one even start? “ There’s shit, fuck, damn. Ah… ours don’t have stories behind them, though. They’re just crude. Shit is, like, poop. Fuck is… well, that’s a really versatile word. Technically, it’s a crude way of saying sex, or an exclamation for when you have strong feelings toward something. ‘Damn’ is like ‘go to hell.’ That one is religious, I guess.”
“Hm. I’ve heard those before,” Riel commented.
“Really?” I was impressed. “It’s crazy how fluent you are.”
“You were born shortly after The Rift opened, were you not?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“As a member of our leading family, I’ve been involved in discussions with the Americans from the start. It’s likely that I’ve been speaking English longer than you have.”
“Pfft.” I shook my head at how absurd the thought was. “That’s wild. You can’t be that much older than me. They had a kid front and center during political talks?”
Riel cocked his head. “You might be surprised. Our lifespans vary somewhat.”
I bolted upright from my relaxed position. “Shit,” I breathed. “You’re not about to say you’re, like, 700 years old? I should have guessed.”
“Though a connection to mana grants us some additional benefits, the difference is not that vast. We are still mortal but live about twice as long. I’m in my forties by your years.”
“That’s not bad.” If I’d been with Chris and Devon, or chatting with my online gaming crew, I might have made some crass comment about that being prime Daddy age.
“I’m glad you think so,” Riel remarked wryly.
It was hard to stay focused. Better to change the subject before I let anything inappropriate slip. “What were things like back then, when The Rift first opened?”
When silence met my question, I glanced his way.
“What was it like in your world?” he asked instead of answering me .
“Uh…” I had to think back to what I’d heard from my parents and knew from my schooling. Was there anything I wasn’t supposed to mention? I couldn’t remember if George or Vivian had given me any topics that were considered national secrets. “Well, I wasn’t very present the first few years. But the way my parents talked about it, tensions were high. Nobody knew anything about the fae or what to expect, and a lot of people were afraid that war was coming. I think… our government was concerned that you guys would start pressuring us in some way, or that you’d give another country advantages we didn’t get and throw off the power balance. America has a precarious position… a certain reputation to uphold, you know.”
“Mm.” Riel went silent again. Eventually, he seemed to decide on what he wanted to say. “We had our own tensions to worry about,” he began. “There’s another family to the west. House Leimor.” A muscle ticked in his jaw. “We’ve been at odds with them since before I was born, but neither of us is willing to go to war. Some of us thought that The Rift was somehow their doing, at least before your government told us there was a section of The Rift to the west too.”
A thought occurred to me. “You mean the one in China?”
Riel hesitated, then inclined his head.
“Huh.” I wondered if a map of Earth and a map of this world would line up, like alternate realities on top of each other. People suspected that there might be more sections of The Rift that we didn’t know about, and that was just scratching the surface of things we didn’t know. “Well, I don’t remember hearing about that, but not a lot is common knowledge for civilians. There are probably still people that don’t think you exist, and the fae are all some big conspiracy theory.”
“Our people likely know even less,” Riel remarked dryly. “Though, to be fair, they don’t have much interest in foreign affairs. We're simple people. ”
“Yeah?” I was curious what he meant by that. They certainly didn’t come across dumb.
Riel made a sound of agreement but didn’t elaborate further.
We sat for a while in silence, enjoying the cool water and each other’s company. It was unexpectedly nice. At least so far, this was turning out to be a pleasant adventure. I’d never imagined that I would be able to enjoy the outdoors so freely like this.
“It’s nearly time for the late morning meal,” Riel said, interrupting my thoughts. “Shall we return, or would you like to stay a while longer?”
I felt a pang of disappointment at the thought of leaving, but wasn’t about to argue. “Yeah, we can head back, that’s fine.”
Riel pulled his legs from the pool and got to his feet, and I followed suit, being careful of my skirt. As soon as I left the water, the fatigue came trickling back. I’d miss the pool… not just for the rest of the day, but after all this, when I had to return to my normal life.
We rode back in silence. When we arrived back at the courtyard, I saw a few more casually dressed fae hanging around the huts, but they were quick to make themselves scarce.
“They’re actually not allowed to talk to me?” I inquired as Riel lifted me down.
“Not ‘not allowed’ exactly, but wary. Don’t let it get to you,” he told me. “They just haven’t seen many humans. When Mr. Kepler visited in the past, it was the same for him.”
Well, I couldn’t say that I understood, but it did make me feel a little better to know that George got the same treatment. That must have driven him crazy. “Are they servants?”
“Employees. We pay them to cook, clean, and tend to the land. Whatever we need. Most of them live in Miderrum, the city we passed when you first arrived.”
“I remember.”
“Come. We’ll eat, and then I’ll show you around.”
Riel led me back into the castle. Rather than taking the stairs to the second level where my room was, we passed the throne room and headed down a long hallway lined with windows. “These overlook the fields,” he commented. A flash of light from outside caught my eye, so I moved closer to see. There was a small crowd gathered in the field in a loose circle. The light sparked in different colors from the center of the group.
“Our soldiers,” Riel said from behind me. “They’re training.”
“Oh!” I squinted in an attempt to make out the distant figures. It made sense that there would be soldiers around, being a castle and all, but I couldn’t remember seeing one yet. They must be doing a stellar job of avoiding me. “The light… is that their magic? Why doesn’t mine look like that?”
“Good question. You have a different kind of magic. We’ll talk about that during your next lesson.” Riel resumed walking, and I jogged to keep up. “Down this way,” he indicated a hall that led to wide double doors, “is the banquet hall. And here are the kitchens.”
We stopped in front of another set of doors near the end of the hallway, and I noticed a tucked-away corner with a spiral staircase leading up and out of sight. In my head, I went over the areas of the castle we’d covered thus far.
“That’s the tower, yeah?” I asked, pointing. “What’s up there?”
“Spare rooms,” Riel answered without bothering to follow my line of sight. Something about that made my bullshit detector perk up, but when he opened the door to the kitchens, the pleasant smells wafting into the hallway made my suspicion evaporate. My stomach concurred with an appreciative murmur.
The kitchens were organized in an L shape, the room neat and spacious. The employees were caught up in various stages of cleanup and meal preparation, so our presence wasn’t noticed immediately. Riel, to my surprise, strode right up to a pot bubbling away on the stove. Perhaps hanging around in the kitchens was normal behavior for him. He lifted the lid to examine the pot’s contents, and we both jumped in surprise when a spoon swatted the back of his hand.
The gentleman holding the spoon said something in their language, his tone chiding. He glanced at me before turning his back to us to give the pot a stir. “Sit if you want to eat,” he said in English. He was the first I’d met so far who spoke with an accent. Riel murmured a response that I didn’t catch, then came back to me with an apologetic look on his face.
“We take our food seriously,” he said by way of explanation. Motioning for me to join him, he guided me to a large prep table out of the way from the main action. Shortly after we’d taken our seats, the man from before approached. We were each given a small bowl with a steaming sauce and a thick slice of brown bread that was still warm.
Once we’d finished eating, we exited at the back of the room and passed through the banquet hall to end up in the hallway we’d walked through earlier.
“The whole place seems so empty. Is that just because of me?” I asked as we made our way back toward the front of the building. That was the only thing that made sense to me. Otherwise, why have all this space and not make use of it?
“Some of our forces are currently away on business, but it’s usually relatively quiet. Those who do live here are well looked after, and our guard, though small, is very capable.”
“Does it ever get lonely?”
“Sometimes,” he admitted after a beat. Although his body language didn’t change, something about his expression seemed pinched. I wondered if that was a sore point for him.
“I know what it’s like,” I offered, studying the floor so that I didn’t have to deal with eye contact. “I was lonely. I mean, the White House is pretty much always full, despite being so big. But there isn’t anyone my age. I have my bodyguards, Chris and Devon. They’re the only ones I talk to in real life. Everyone else is either there for the president, or there for my healings.” Thinking back, I added, “It could be suffocating at times, more than lonely, I think.”
“I know the feeling,” Riel confessed quietly. It was hard to put words to the look in his eyes, but I wanted to give the man a hug. Somehow, I got the feeling that we were kindred spirits, as nonsensical as that seemed. Heart swelling with sympathy, I came to a halt. When he noticed I’d stopped, Riel turned back with a quizzical expression on his face.
“I appreciate you.” The words fell out of my mouth. It was what I’d always wanted to hear from others, so it felt natural to say, but Riel gave me an odd look. I hurried to clarify. “I mean, you’ve been very welcoming, which I appreciate. And you’re showing me around and explaining things so that I’m not bored and confused in my room the whole time. So… yeah.”
“Hm.” Riel contemplated my words. I began to think that perhaps I had overshared, but apparently, I needn’t have worried. “And I suppose it doesn’t hurt that I’m easy on the eyes.”
My immediate reaction to his casual comment was an unladylike snort. I attempted to cover it up with a cough, but it sounded unconvincing even to my ears. So much for trying to be supportive. “Well, yeah, there’s that,” I mumbled in a last-ditch effort to salvage the conversation.
“So, you do think so, eseri ?” A slow smile spread across his face.
Wait one goddamn second. He was teasing me again!
“No. I don’t find arrogance attractive,” I responded frostily, stomping past him. “Let’s get this tour finished up with, shall we?”
His low chuckle made my cheeks warm.
As I rounded a corner, I nearly ran straight into someone. At the last second, the body shifted out of the way, and I stepped into the empty space it had inhabited. An apology sprang to my lips, only to die as I found myself looking up into a familiar sapphire-blue glare .
“Prince!” I squeaked, backing up to give him space, and knocked into Riel, who was turning the corner. In a flash, he grasped my elbow to steady me.
“Solois,” Riel said in greeting.
“Astonriel,” Solois responded in an even tone. His eyes flicked to me, then down to where Riel’s hand connected with my arm. I apparently wasn’t worth greeting as well, as he then looked back to Riel, saying something in their language.
“Indeed,” Riel replied cheerfully in English. “We just returned for our late morning meal, and I was giving her the tour. If you haven’t yet eaten, I suggest you hurry. We barely made it in time, and Juris was starting on supper before we left.”
Solois made a sound of acknowledgment and shot me a look awful close to a glare before stalking off. Gentle pressure on my elbow guided me to start walking again.
“What did he say?” I whispered once I figured we were out of earshot.
“Oh, just making polite conversation, asking after our general health.” Riel’s breezy tone suggested the crown prince had not, in fact, been asking after our health. The situation both confused and frustrated me, but I let it go. Prying wouldn’t be laying low or being polite.
We finished the tour, but my mood was soured for the rest of the day.