Maji Born

27 - A Language to Learn

Eirian meanwhile was resting. She could feel the dull ache of her head wound whenever she sat up, moved, thought too hard. It was enough to drive a person insane.

As she was stuck in the house she decided to explore its many nooks and crannies. She made her way from room to room admiring the decor and the many stain glass windows. The stained glass was different then what she had seen in Midais, it was black and opaque with intricate floral patterning.

She found herself inside a small music room when she reached the second floor. It was brimming with various instruments. She ran her fingers over the keys of the piano. Jumping slightly as one of the black keys made a deep noise. She moved on quickly, hoping she had not disturbed the household. 

The maids had been all over the place when she had woken, preparing for the Duke, Zehara, Lavinia, and Aritus' visit to the council. Eirian had eaten, wished them luck and then returned to her room. Devarak was somewhere around the house. He kept to himself a lot more than on their journey. She suspected he had other business to attend to.

There was a large library at the end of the hall on the third floor. It was filled with leather-bound books and several comfortable armchairs. She ran her finger along the spines, tracing the markings that graced them.

"I can teach you if you want."

Eirian jumped, retracting her fingers and turning. Devarak leaned against the door frame watching her. He smiled slightly and lazily pushed away from the frame, coming to stand at her side.

"To read," he said, giving her a knowing look.

She glanced away, embarrassed.

"I never learned," she said grudgingly. "My mother pulled me out of school. She wanted me to work." She glanced back at the book. "I wish I knew what they said."

Devarak reached out and removed the book she had touched from the shelf. He looked it over. 

"A History of Steel. Sounds dry." He said, "How much can you read?" He asked.

Eirian glanced at it, tracing the first letter. A.

"Not much. I know some of the letters and some simple words. I know my letters, for the most part"

Eirian turned gave a small shrug.

"Well, it's a start." Devarak ran his finger across the spines, finally settling on a small red book, 

"Here," he sat down at a table by the window and gestured for Eirian to join him. Eirian hesitated. Eyeing the book skeptically.

"I promise we'll take it slowly." Devarak coaxed.

Eirian slowly lowered into the chair, resting her hand on the table to stabilize herself. Her vision swam for a moment. Devarak gave her a worried look, glancing at the bandage wrapping over her head.

"How are you doing?"

Eirian reached up involuntarily to check and winced as she put pressure on the bandage. "I'm alright. The headaches are decreasing but I'm still a little off balance."

Devarak gave her a soft smile, "well that's good. You looked very out of it yesterday when you came in. Gave me a good scare." Devarak's fingers twitched and he hastily returned his gaze to the book.

"So this is 'A' which you know right?" He said pointing at the first letter. Eirian nodded. Devarak proceeded to explain how the letter combined to create each word. It turned out he had chosen a book of children's poetry. They were short easy phrases and Eirian realized that she was able to understand several basic statements. Devarak called an end to their lesson around noon when a maid poked her head into the room.