Chapter 9 #5
Curious, mostly just to check how it worked, she typed in ‘vora vakara’.
The title that everyone called her and the other humans, given to them for their efforts rescuing themselves and Atem.
Though Holly was pretty sure Atem was just pussy drunk because all they did was unlock his cage. He had done everything else.
Hearing people call her that name, knowing that, on Turv, it was a title of high honor and respect, always made her feel like a fraud. Even just now, her bodyguard calling her that seemed wrong. The fact that Romival had taken to calling her just vakara also made her curious.
Vora vakara was a phrase in ancient Domtri. The language imprint Holly received was modern Domtri, so she didn’t immediately know the ancient words. Ancient Domtri was still used for some things, like titles, and especially in poetry, which was popular here.
The full definition popped up on her holo display.
All of them. Ancient domini was a poetic language and, often, a word had multiple translations.
Vora vakara, most accurately, translated as ‘warrior in deed if not in name’.
Most literally, however, it was ‘nameless warrior’.
Vakara, the name that Romival was using, literally meant ‘warrior’.
It could also be translated as ‘brave one’, ‘one who fights’, or ‘refusal to surrender’.
Not a single translation that Holly felt applied to her.
Was Romival mocking her by calling her that and she just was too dumb to pick up on it?
He had seen her quack and fall over in fright the first time he saw her and somehow decided that she was a warrior?
No, he was definitely being sarcastic. At the very least, he was being ironically playful, like calling a big dude ‘tiny’.
She just didn’t know if he was that kind of guy. Really, she knew very little about him.
Biting her lip, Holly typed in Romival’s name.
First Scholar Romival. The domini had something like a last name, a clan name, but it was shed once a person earned a new name.
Children and adults that served their clan kept their clan names.
People who got careers invariably would earn a name in their profession, along with the number that they ranked within that category – if there was a rank.
Or, as in the humans’ case, one could earn a title completely unrelated to their profession.
Holly’s name wasn’t Holly Roberts by domini rules.
It was Vora Vakara Holly. Her title, the one she felt was a joke, was her name now.
And if it went by clan, being adopted by Atem as his sister meant his clan name would be hers. She didn’t even know his clan name.
She didn’t know Romival’s clan name either, but it wasn’t really necessary. First Scholar was the only such position on all of Turv. She got what she wanted immediately.
The moment she started the search, she was inundated with information about a young prodigy quickly rising in the ranks of scholars.
Thanks to the neural imprints, learning was easier and faster than old fashioned studying.
However, it still took time since there was a limit in how much could be imprinted in a single tenday.
Romival was famous because he studied the normal way faster than the neural imprints could keep up.
He still used them, supplementing his own intelligence and speed, but he didn’t need them.
She found a whole profile on him, like an encyclopedia entry, that described his early life, his education, how quickly he mastered the eight major academic disciplines, before specializing in subspace engineering, all the while learning about every other minor discipline he could, challenging the ranks above him to test higher than them to usurp their position, and continue upwards in rank until he became Second Scholar.
He then inherited the title of First Scholar after the previous one was executed for treason.
He hadn’t earned the title of First Scholar by exam the way he did the others, but he was still the smartest man on Turv.
Seeing it all laid out, her eyes scrolling down the list of disciplines he had mastered – including the grade of his final exam in each of them proving his mastery – she found herself breathless.
She knew he was smart but seeing the proof of it was something else. This was the guy that had kissed her senseless the other day? What the heck was he seeing in her?
“I don’t get it,” she mumbled, looking over the disciplines he mastered.
Mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, history, philosophy, linguistics – the major eight disciplines.
Then, beneath those, his particular specialty: subspace engineering.
Which, she knew, was the secret these aliens held to faster than light travel and communication, allowing them to speak to other galaxies with the ease that she could call someone across the room.
Which, in itself, branched out into multiple other subspecialties within that category – all of which he mastered.
Then, below that, the other sub-disciplines that he had worked his way through.
Astronomy, sociology, anthropology, meteorology, etc, etc…
Down and down the list went. Creating in her mind a male that had to know everything there was possible to learn.
And at the very bottom was the short list of his current studies.
First was theoretical to practical advanced subspace navigation and locomotion – which was definitely a series of words – and beneath that was basic medical sciences.
Medical sciences? Wasn’t that for healers, not scholars? Why was he studying that? The fact that it was labeled as basic threw her off too. Did that mean he was just starting it?
Leaning back in her chair, she stared at Romival’s profile, more than a little overwhelmed at the depth of it.
All of this was the sexy wizard who had left hickeys across her chest that were still vibrantly red and purple.
What could he possibly be seeing in her?
Was it just that she was alien and exotic?
Or was it an extension of his drive to learn the unknown?
She looked down at her body that, being generous, could be described as willowy.
She honestly thought scrawny was more accurate.
She looked like she had just barely passed through her awkward teenage gangly phase.
Her boobs and hips weren’t as big as Hattie’s, her face and bearing weren’t as elegant as Scarlet’s, her personality wasn’t as friendly or engaging as Alanna’s, and she definitely wasn’t as brave as Peony.
So, then, why…?
“Human!”
She cried out in fear, throwing herself against the back wall when her pod door was suddenly yanked open, and a female voice yelled inside.
Her heart was pounding, and she was barely able to recognize Valorii as she threw her head back, laughing riotously.
Just beside and behind her, Brava was similarly cackling.
“Oh, ancestors, that was funny!” Valorii gasped for breath. “You should see yourself, human. So pathetic. You look terrified.”
“It’s almost cute,” Brava added brightly.
“What are you researching, human?” Valorii pushed her head into the one-person pod. She laughed when she read the screen. “First Scholar? Why are you learning about Romival?”
“Isn’t he investigating the humans’ home world?” Brava muttered out loud. “He might have come around to ask her some questions.”
“And you became interested in him?” Valorii let out a single bark of laughter. “You might as well give up, human. No matter how tight your cunt is, a male like Romival needs intellectual stimulation and you... Well, look at you.”
Holly said nothing, lowering her eyes to her lap.
Just ignore them. Don’t give them a reaction. They’ll find someone else to torment if you aren’t amusing to them.
“Come on out here, human,” Valorii said, grabbing her arm hard enough to bruise. Yanking hard enough to jerk her shoulder in its socket.
Holly had no choice but to come spilling from the pod, hissing in pain. Valorii released her almost immediately, wiping her hands on her skirt as though touching Holly, even over Holly’s long sleeve, had infected her somehow.
“There, that’s better,” Valorii grinned. “Though, I have to say, I’m surprised. You weigh as much as a pup, human. Do you not eat or something? I’m almost concerned. How could a male possibly fuck a human and not break you if you’re so fragile?”
“They’re not all thin,” Brava interjected helpfully. “The brown haired one is quite rotund. I think this one is just scrawny.”
That word made Holly wince, hitting harder because she had just described herself thus.
Valorii was poking her now. Her shoulder, her arm, to her elbow. Hitting the tender bruise she had just made on the way down.
“All bone. No muscle at all,” she mumbled, clearly unimpressed. “And what is with this hair? Why would you choose this color?”
“Like pup puke yellow,” Brava snickered as Valorii pulled at one of the strands, jerking at Holly’s head with each sharp tug.
Holly was trying to shrink in on herself, holding her arms close to her body, keeping her head down, repeating to herself to just not react. They would go away. Leave her alone.
No one in the archive was even looking their way. Everyone in the pods were more focused on their own research and the front desk lady had her holo goggles back on and was talking to someone on a comm as she worked.
Even if they did notice, no one was going to help her. Domini didn’t understand the concept of cowardice. They would expect her to fight Valorii, literally fight her, if she had a problem with what she was doing.
But Holly couldn’t do that. Despite having five brothers, she had never thrown a punch in her life. She had five brothers! She didn’t have to fight, they were always willing to do it for her. And she was quite happy to let them do that because pain hurt, and she couldn’t handle confrontation.