After the threat from Teresal, I slept poorly. My mind struggled to wrap itself around the concept of slavery in general, of child slavery, and from what I grasped from the little details Norilena had gleaned, even greater perversions.
I knew, of course, that slavery existed, and everyone was most cautious in the port cities to never wander great distances alone. I don’t think I ever really gave it much credence in my previous journeys. Sure, the threat of thieves and assault is always a risk for visiting seamen and merchants, but the warnings of gangs who would sell unwary travelers into slavery had always seemed like telling stories to children to not go swimming too deep to avoid the sea monsters. In theory, it probably had happened. But long ago and to someone far away.
Now I wasn’t sure. Hours passed in fitful tossing before exhaustion finally claimed me.
With the good fortune of the discovery of the school of bloodfish, we turned for home. We were far north, well outside of normal shipping trade routes, far outside the waters of most fishing vessels. The captain estimated a full seven days to return to Karendar. We therefor began to work on processing about half of the catch for long term use. It’s not the most pleasant of jobs, and it’s almost as long and tiring as catching them. I am no herbalist, but Aunt Valerus believes, as did my grandmother, that all of the clan will have a basic knowledge of many things, so Tylerian tasked me as her assistant in gathering the blood and scales to bottle or grind, depending on her instructions, for reagents and potions. It is a relatively foul job, and timing is meticulous. The rest went into a specially design hold with salt water, to help maintain their freshness that demands the highest price. The prices for either half would be a great boon to the clan.
I had informed the Captain of the truth of our refugees. What he thought then, I did not know, and he kept his own counsel for most of the trip. It seemed I had done what was necessary in gathering the information he needed. Still, I attempted, after the long days, or during breaks, to find out more about the tenets that Teresal bound herself to as a devotee of Law. I know now that I was searching for a way to satisfy everyone and still demolish the chains of bondage that held Dajeek and Valerik. I had begun to think that somehow Teresal had wrapped herself in chains no less degrading. Perhaps I was a fool then. But I had an idea.
Deep in the night, after most were asleep, but most especially after our guests were asleep, I woke the captain and made my suggestion. I don’t know what the look really meant, but at the time, I imagined that Loricare’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction. Who knows, maybe it had just been the reflection of the moon, but he agreed with my inspiration.
I used to think my parents were always slightly disappointed with me. Not that they didn’t love me, or treated me poorly. Just in comparison to my sister. How could they not react with more favor to her, my elder by nearly an hour? It nearly cost my mother her life, the complications that twins caused. Why reproduction for those of the people is so difficult in comparison to the breeding of some of the other races is far beyond the knowledge I possess, but twins are extremely rare, and viewed as a high blessing of the Fates. Even so, it is very dangerous for us, and my mother’s stubborness, or so I have heard said by older relatives, in not giving up command of the Nature’s Sacrifice, supposedly added to to the trials of labor. At that time, she was new as a captain and my father served as first mate.
As a result, we were birthed at sea. The ship is large, so that was not a concern, and has always been staffed with the clan wind mage, the clan sea mage, and even a weather mage. So goes the story, that given a prospect of twins, great-grandmother had insisted on requesting additional resources be aboard. Supposedly even a Kahina of luck was en-route to the bi-annual clan gathering, when timing suggested that birth would occur. Of course, the timing had been off but as mother says, the Fates wait on no one.
Its probably no real surprise that Kaloryien chose to follow the mistress of the moon, given that she came silent into the full night, bathed in the dark light of the home of the Fates. I, on the hand, arrived as the sun crested the horizon, and the dawn breezes blew across the bow from the north.
Throughout the first twenty years of childhood, father claimed repeatedly that the phrase “night and day” was created just for us. Regardless, we shared a bond that few in our society could understand, as twins are so rare.
My sister’s power, and her ties to the Sehanine, Fate of the Moon, mother of all, were recognized early, and she was often in attendance at the Temple. I, on the other hand, favored Airdree and Sashelas, Fates of Air and Sea, and spent more time around the ships, the docks, and at sea.
Regardless of our differences, my sister and I love each other deeply, and what no one knew was that we were connected, mentally. We could always point in the direction of the other, and out to about fifty kilometers, we had a sort of empathic bond. Not words, not even all emotions, but more basic, more raw perhaps.
I planned to use that to solve my problems.
Last Dreams 