(⚠️) Earth Song | FE Fates

(/\) 12: Elise

Elise

Before Katonah knew it, a month had passed. It was hard to keep track of the days going by, because both Leo and Camilla kept her busy, and by the time she flumped down into bed, exhausted, it was time to get up again, for more hours spent writing and reading words and learning the protocol of royal society.

Thankfully, Leo had stopped with the letter sheet — she graduated to a new level of the curriculum, one that involved him writing down simple sentences for her to sit down, sound out, and comprehend. He was as rigorous with these sentences as he had been with the letters, and Katonah was better for it — within five days, she had the basics of present tense sentences, but found that it only grew more complicated after that. After all, there was past tense, future tense, present participle, and an assortment of others that she had used, verbally, but not understood up to this point in time. All of the complexities certainly didn't help her opinion of the idea of a written language overall.

"Trust me," Leo said when she brought this up, "there will be many uses for this skill down the line. So many, in fact, that you'll find yourself grateful that I put you through the trouble."

"I'm sure there are many uses," Katonah said grumpily as he began to ink out a new sentence on the parchment, "but why is a written language necessary? My tribe has gone without it for centuries."

"It isn't," he admitted.

Aha!

"And I can't say I understand why the man who decided that it was a good idea believed that it was," Leo continued. "But I do feel that it was inevitable. Humans are a progressive species — it is in our bones to build upon what we've created and improve it. After learning to speak coherently, it wouldn't be long before we decided to try and convey speech through letters as well. And perhaps writing is a distinction that separates us from the beasts. Think about it: the idea of using symbols scratched out in ink — or mud — to represent concepts. Objects. Ideas. To the early peoples, such an idea would have been absurd. Yet it proves that we're sentient beings. That we are conscious, aware of ourselves. In a way, written language is proof that we, in fact, are enlightened. Our intellect exemplifies us, the alpha predator, the cleverest beast to roam the earth because of our ability to communicate and coordinate not only verbally, but via secret symbols that no other animal can decipher. You see?"

She was astounded. "I...I never thought of it that way."

He smirked. "No, you wouldn't have. You are one of those confused beasts, after all."

She laughed. "How dare you. It's your rigorous coursework that makes me so beastly!"

"Yet, for a savage, you're progressing fairly well. Now, tell me what this sentence says."

They did that a lot. Laughed. Talked, discussed things in length that Katonah was curious about or did not understand. Teasing less often, but the fact that they sometimes picked on each other at all, without the threat of repercussions, was incredible, considering Leo's temperament.

Perhaps it was because the meditation relaxed Leo, made him easier to talk to.

Over those four weeks, they went out several times to that cliff top and lay down under the sun, letting their minds quiet themselves. After the first few times, they no longer felt awkward lying down beside each other — for Katonah, knowing that Leo was there with her had a curious effect, allowing her to slip down into that not-there-ness more easily than she would have been able to alone.

A few times, Katonah gave Leo some light counsel, reminding him to let himself drift, and to not try too hard, but she soon realized that the young prince needed no instruction to sink into his own meditative state. It was almost as though he had mastered the transition the first time, impossible as that might have seemed. Once, she pretended to sink away but stayed fully alert, watching him out of the corner of her eye. Always, he had his fingers laced across his chest, his left leg crossed over his right, brows furrowed slightly as he took deep, expansive breaths. Then, as his mind no doubt calmed, his eyebrows, his mouth, his cheekbones...his entire face relaxed. The armor eased, allowed Katonah see through the cracks, to the young, sweet-looking boy that Leo rarely allowed see the light of day.