The De'Nauguath Chronicles - Book 1: The Summoner's Daughter

Chapter 19: Shifting

Two weeks passed. The air sharpened, but not just from the growing cold outside. My focus grew. It was a funny feeling. I had strength to properly think. As if to let me recover from that first challenge, Michen didn't give me new tasks. I spoke to him in briefest passing sometimes, but studying was suddenly something that grabbed at me and wouldn't let go.

I spent most of my time helping Devna or trying to read all the things he'd read. I strained to keep up with him. I could speak a fair share of languages, but reading them was another matter. Devna gave me little things to do like compare dates or mark all the places a word appeared on a page. I reckoned we both had headaches from learning – or re-learning? – the Biyaño language, but it wasn't beyond our skills.

The bright all-over glare of a snowy sky woke me one day. A bell rang out for awhile. I hadn't noticed a bell tower, but apparently they had one here, or else they could charm music into the air that sounded just like it. When I went downstairs, a dozen food smells came at me. I heard far-off chatter and cooking. The sounds made me want to join in and run away at the same time. But when I reached the kitchens, there were so many people committed to cooking that they didn't ever stop long from their work. I grabbed a little food by the door and scurried to the library.

Devna set me to reading maps. It was a strange task, but he might've sensed my tired eyes. It was a marvel to see how many villages there really were. Maps were scarce in Krócia. Asking for directions meant getting a lengthy story about someone's travels. Most of the maps in this library had been treated like art.

I finally saw just how many miles were between the places I'd blindly trekked to for years. Some things were jarring. The train lines, at least according to these maps, were all but gone. The only sections left were the ones from Krócia to Krebba and a few lines far in the west, near Liida. They didn't connect. I hadn't imagined just how isolated people were because of it. When Gareth had taken me along on trade trips, he'd done it in a dozen different ways, including lacing my water with shine so that I wouldn't be awake to complain when the food ran low on the way.

When the afternoon came, I crept away when I saw Devna struggling to stay awake. I went back to my quarters and washed. I didn't know why, but I put the frock on. The cloth looked warmer than some of the other choices. It was a good fit, but I wasn't used to finery. Hell, I wasn't even used to skirts. Krócian women used a lot of skirts and borrowed their husbands' ratty old shirts for everything else. I'd mostly made due with sacking and then taken some of Mira's rags when it had become too tricky to make the sacking fit.

Even the Gerni didn't have much fare like this. It resembled the color of one of the banners Nomli had talked about. My pocked arms sometimes itched worse and sometimes quieted down entirely under it. It was a bit heavy, but there were moments when that weight was a comfort, as if I didn't know where my arms were otherwise.

I hid away until sunset. I didn't know the customs for feasts here. Folk wandered through the halls all day, but I didn't want to be stared at any longer than I needed to be. When I made it to the feasting hall, Devna was there, still in his monk's robes. He seemed like he'd be even less comfortable in new clothes than I'd be. We nodded from a distance, but I couldn't quite get to him. People interrupted my progress across the room by murmuring a greeting or – oddest of all – bowing to me. Eventually, I abandoned the idea of getting near Devna at all.

There was so much food. I counted six turkeys. I'd only eaten turkey once. There was grilled duck and fried trout and the finest pies I'd seen in years. It all made my knees shake. Someone inserted a plate into my hands, but I stood still while everyone else wandered around. There was so much food. I piled things on the plate and took a seat at the long, long table.