The Language Of The Trees/ An Evalyce Novel [#NaNoWriMo16]

Chapter 2: An Unlikely Friendship

Talboa Forest, Northern Argoth, 10000 ft above the Aeryth Ocean, Year of the Minaret's Horn, 1722 CE

It would be three days before the constable could retrieve me, during which time this most unlikely of friendships solidified. Ari Jeffersson became many things to me- a friend when I needed one most, a teacher, bond-family in spirit. I hesitate to label him 'bond-father'. Our relationship was more akin to cousins removed, or possibly an uncle. He filled the void my father's passing had left and for the first time since that crushing loss it felt as though I had family again.

I would go on to spend many a day in the comfortable cabin in the woods. Irascible though he could be, Ari patiently began teaching me the craft of molding wood, clay, and stone to my whims. He taught me other things as well. I drank in the opportunities for learning, and, finding me a willing and eager student, Ari provided a firm grounding in mathematics, science, country and world history, cultural studies, and literature. I often went home laden with assignments that I delighted in tackling.

They say winter is a time for rest and rejuvenation. The winter I met Ari Jeffersson certainly rejuvenated the stagnant and dormant parts of me. The companionship and banter between us seemed to enliven Ari as well, something later confirmed by a visiting friend of Ari's I knew only as Myles. Myles visited every other month, bringing in supplies and staying for a day or so. He was charming, easy-going man, with a calm temperament that balanced Ari's nicely.

I daresay, Ari and I might both have continued to stagnate. He hid in the woods, keeping to himself, yet I had the feeling this wasn't quite the life that interested him. More than once I wondered how he had ended up where he was. I never dared ask though. I figured when he was good and ready, if he was good and ready, then he would share that story with me. My health certainly improved. Ari loved to cook, and always made sure I was well fed. I gained weight enough that I felt attractive for once, rather than an overgrown stork.

My stepmother railed at me at first, for having the indecency to visit this solitary man living in the middle of the forest.

"What will people say," she'd snapped, lips curled in disgust. I was pretty sure she was more concerned with her own reputation than with mine, or with my safety for that matter. People did start talking though, after I bloomed under Ari's care... talking about how healthy and happy I looked, how beautiful I'd grown. My stepmother began to get inquiries on my behalf, from parents' seeking to make a match for their sons. I placated her by having first meetings with a few of the young men, but truth be told, my heart wasn't in it. I didn't want to be fettered with a husband, with children. What I really wanted was to go to one of the Universities, and to find a job that thrilled me to be doing.

Winter months passed to summer and I met Ari's elder sister, who came to spend several weeks with him during the spring and summer. If Myles had become like an uncle, Tessa was a beloved aunt. Ari would grumble good-naturedly about his house being taken over by women, and go on off into the woods for fishing, trapping, or to listen to the trees speak, a skill I would eventually master. Myles and Tessa had their own airships, which they chose to land in a nearby forest clearing, rather than deal with the bother of docking in Tribeca's small airship paddocks.

As summer edged into autumn, Ari's teachings expanded to include tasks that, at times, almost seemed like games. I learnt to move stealthily, to track quarry through elaborate hide and seek games in the forest. I learnt strategy through mastering the game of chigali, and, as an early solstice gift, Ari provided me with my very own personal set of pieces, crafted from mossy agate. There were lessons in acting, and we would dress up in elaborate disguises, and wander the village of Tribeca with none the wiser. Playing pranks on Elaine and Cecile became a favourite past-time during these excursions. Eventually, the games became cat and mouse between us, with first one, then the other being quarry to the tracker. These games involved all of the lessons that had gone before, and the only place off-limits was the deep forest.