Adarna

Chapter 12

In Robin's sea-town, and the kingdom at large, it was unanimously accepted that there were forty-four gods, and that their names were known to all. This was, in actuality, a rather contested point. Supposedly, the name of each god embodied a specific sound, which was represented by a particular phoneme in a language. Words and names were then a combination of sounds that called on and paid homage to the gods. The problem with this was that cultures with varying languages could not come to an agreement on which of their sounds best represented the gods, or even what letters to use when spelling their names.

For example, in a neighbouring kingdom, they argued that there were only twenty-two gods and that those who believed otherwise were foolish. They regarded Rosk and Lladriel to be the same god, as in their tongue their phonemes were the same. They also argued—rather reasonably—that Disek's religious alphabet was flawed, stating that Shmm was spelt Simm, Tchimet was Qimmet, and that Qoyenya was a stupid name for a god, considering that the Q was supposedly silent.

Other regions argued that there were as many as a hundred gods, and that their lexicon had the sounds to prove it. In another region still, where the population was predominantly deaf and the people spoke through signs, they believed that there was no point in arguing over the names of the gods, or how to invoke them. Calling on a god directly was an act of disrespect and nothing else. And anyway, the gods were not bound to sound at all, but to rhythm. And so, to honour them the people moved with a certain rhythmic beat, and their signing held smooth stops and starts that lulled anyone unused to it into a trance.

On The Siren, contention around the gods was usually kept at bay by more pressing matters such as imminent death and tumultuous storms that drowned out any voice for debate. But the sun was beating down on the world with a vengeance, and everything was just a little too bright. The crew worked lethargically, and a good portion of them were taking an extended break to drink water and complain about the weather. There was no wind to cool their sweat, and none to fill their sails, and the water was as still as that in a glass cup. So not only was everyone tired, and hot, and frustrated, they were also stuck. In the drawn out stillness, these different beliefs began to take root on the ship.

Usually, this manifested itself in a scuffle or a shouting match, followed by sharp discipline from the Captain. In one case, Lark/Siobhan got into a heated fight with W.K (pronounced Wick) about the philosophy of names—the former believed that it was respectful for names to call on many gods, while the latter thought true faith was in simplicity—after which they were both confined to separate quarters until they calmed down.

So when Finn pulled Robin aside one day, with an unusual look in his eyes, his first thought was that he had gotten into some kind of fight or debate. His second thought was that the boy had come down with heatstroke. Dragging Finn over to the shade, he pressed a cold flask of water into his hands while he waited for him to speak. Finn shook slightly and turned his gaze away, looking uncomfortable.

"I, uhm, Robin you need to be careful of Helix."

A few distinct thoughts went through Robin's head at once. Among them were Helix, that giant of a man, the one you can always catch with a flask of alcohol when he's off the job, and Finn doesn't have heatstroke.

Those, among with a few other contextual clues, like the way Finn wouldn't meet his eyes, and the way he flinched back when Robin tried to check his pulse, made Robin come to one uncomfortable conclusion.

"Has he tried something with you, Finn?"

Finn shuddered. A week or so back, when they had finally found out about the rumours and speculations about their relationship, Finn had confided to Robin that he had never felt attraction to anyone—romantic or otherwise—and probably never would. The idea of being physically intimate with someone made him want to crawl out of his skin, and brought on him a nausea that being at sea never could. Robin had given him a firm hug, and that had been the end of it. If someone tried to do anything that made him uncomfortable, they would have Robin, Dinta, and Freyr to deal with.