Flecks of Gold

by Buck, Alicia

  “Do you know anything about Kirosan?” I asked as we moved around in the dance patterns.

  “I know that Princess Kasala is twenty-five years old. You didn’t appear to me to be twenty-five.”

  “I could tell you knew I was lying.”

  “Is that the only reason you and Breeohan decided to tell me the truth?” He sounded stern, and his smile vanished.

  “No. Breeohan was going to tell you no matter what, and I didn’t want to pretend to be a princess in the first place. I don’t know why Breeohan thought it would be a better plan than just being me.”

  “Your eyes do create a problem.”

  “But why would it be so bad for an ordinary person to have gold eyes?”

  “Our world is not quite like yours, Mary, as you have begun to discover. Equality is slow to emerge and there is only so much I can do to encourage that trend. You may think that kings are all powerful, but even a tyrant cannot have complete control, and I hope that I am not a tyrant. I walk a dune that constantly shifts under me so that I must hurriedly and repeatedly pull up my feet from the falling edges. I have tried to promote the notion that those who are not courtiers are worthy of the same respect, but it is like telling a sandstorm to turn its course.

  “Even should you behave strangely, most would rather believe you an eccentric or heretic princess than a commoner. Gold flecks in courtier’s eyes have stood for generations to mean that one has a superior heritage. If you had come to the palace with your royal golden eyes and claimed to be merely a commoner, you would be saying that the color doesn’t mean anything. There are those who would have killed you on sight to stop that idea from spreading.”

  “I can’t believe a whole culture would be so obsessed with eye color.”

  He smiled indulgently. “It is no stranger than the white men of your history who thought people with darker skin a subspecies.”

  I flushed, thinking of my grandfather and the discomfort my own darker complexion had brought me within Mom’s family.

  “They were stupid, too,” I said bitterly.

  “Yes, but such beliefs take years to undo, as you also know from your history.”

  “You certainly know a lot about my world.”

  His eyes became instantly distant. He turned me in the dance so that I could no longer read his expression, his silence a sudden weight.

  I’d been feeling more comfortable with King Verone, but his reaction reminded me that he was still the king of an entire country, and I was simply a girl. He’d said he hoped he wasn’t a tyrant, but did that mean he wasn’t? Was there something to fear from him? I stumbled in my worry and almost stepped on his foot.

  “I’m sorry, Your Majesty.” I nervously looked to see if he was angry.

  He must have read something of what I was feeling. “You must excuse me, Mary. I’m not angry, and I know you want very much to speak of Earth. You are far from home, and Sogran and I are the only ones you can talk to about it. But I am not sure what to say to you, and Sogran is sometimes difficult to decipher.” He smiled ruefully. “Perhaps we have learned enough for today. I shall send for you tomorrow.” He bowed the bow a king gives a princess, and I dipped into the bow reserved for a ruler. He went to the door, opened it for me, which surprised me once again, and asked his servant to show me the way back to my rooms. I turned back before going around a corner to see the king slumped against the side of the door frame, looking at nothing. I decided that Sogran was not the only person who was hard to understand.

  Chapter 13

  I wasn’t required to go to dinner in the ballroom, so I stayed in my room. It had been a long day and after eating I went straight to bed. The next day I rose just in time to get dressed and meet the training general. He scowled at me as I entered the private sparring room. “You’re late.”

  “I thought I just made it.”

  “To just make it is to be late. You should be waiting here for me to be free. I should not be waiting for you.”

  “I’ll try to get here before you do next time,” I said, exasperated.

  “See that you do or I will work you so hard you will vomit, and then I will start all over again.”

  I shivered. What a stickler! I wasn’t even late.

  “Let’s begin,” he said.

  We started out with the sword that he had used yesterday, but after awhile we switched to knife-work. I did worse with this because I had never worked with knives in karate. He had to show me how to hold the knife as well as explain the differences in body movement to compensate for using a shorter weapon.

  Sogran finally got frustrated enough that he stopped me mid-stroke. “I think I will teach you only a few blocks and strikes with the knife. You are too used to working with weapons with longer reach. I will cure you of that later. For now, you need to learn at least two different weapons. I think I can work with you on the sword. You seem to have some background knowledge. Is there any other weapon we have that you would know how to use?”

  “I practiced with staffs, sais, and nunchucks.”

  “I know what a staff is, but the words ‘sais’ and ‘nunchuck’ mean nothing to me. Could you show me if we have anything like them on the rack?” He swept his arm over the rack of weapons against the wall.

  I looked but didn’t see anything similar. “I guess I will have to work with a staff.”

  “It would seem so. Grab those two staves, and we will begin.”

  The strikes were slightly different, but they were related enough that I was soon able to spar. I had to watch my hands. We had to stop a few times to fix bruises, and once my finger broke. Despite the quick healing, the pain taught me better than words. I swiftly learned how to protect myself.

  By the time Sogran called a halt, I was gasping, my face so hot I could fry an egg on it.

  “You are making too many mistakes. I don’t want you to unlearn all that I have been trying to teach you. Come again tomorrow.” He walked out of the room without a backward glance and without me ever getting the chance to ask him anything about his visit to Earth.

  The sun outside struck me with a singular spike of heat as I walked slowly back to the palace’s inner coolness. I was too exhausted to even feel satisfied when I reached my room without any wrong turns. A bath was waiting, for which I was grateful. I didn’t have the energy to magically clean myself.

  The king’s servant came a half hour later to herd me toward another dancing lesson. All this cattle wrestling was forcing me to learn the palace layout more quickly than I otherwise would have. This time I only had to suppress my desire once to grab the servant’s shirt front, shake him in frustration, and wrench him in front of me.

  When we reached the dance room, the king was again going through papers. He certainly liked to utilize his time to the fullest. His brows furrowed in concentration over the paper he was examining, so he didn’t notice me approach until I was standing right next to him. He looked up with the air of one whose mind is still mid-thought, but then his gaze focused on me. A smile blossomed.

  “Mary, you are here. I’m starting to get a headache from squinting.”

  “What are you reading?”

  “Oh, just some diplomatic dribble from the country next to us. Since we are mostly a desert country, we must watch our relations carefully with the surrounding countries so that we can import and export freely.”

  I leaned a little to get a look at the writing. It was all scribbles to me, and I realized that Breeohan had never taught me the lacing for writing. I hadn’t needed to look at my map once Breeohan joined me in my journey.

  “Do you know the lacing for your writing?” I asked.

  “Yes, I can show you if you wish.” He began constructing the lacing strand by strand in the air, each string a swirl of golden brown light. Though he did one piece at a time, he built the pattern quickly so that the lacing formed in a matter of seconds. “This is the thread you must change,” he pointed. I studied it carefully for a moment and then performed the lacing.
Instantly the words on the paper made sense. My eyes skimmed the flowery language until Breeohan’s name popped out at me.

  “We congratulate Zefan Breeohan on his recent attainment of Master’s class, and await Iberloah’s request of Tisimony’s presence to impart of our esteem personally,” I read aloud. “Who’s Tisimony, a person or a country?”

  “A country bordering ours. What that statement is really saying is that they wish to send some of their suitable young ladies in hopes that they can negotiate a marriage.”

  “Would you do it? Doesn’t Breeohan have any say in the matter?” I massaged a sudden cramp in my stomach. The king’s eyes dropped to my hands, and my palms stilled.

  “I will not pretend that an alliance would not be unwelcome, but I have already told Breeohan that he may marry whomever he wishes. I will not force him. Shall we begin today’s lesson?” He stood, dropping his papers onto the chair. His hand was warm and firm in mine as he guided me to the middle of the floor.

  He took me through the steps we had learned yesterday as a review, then began to elaborate on those steps as well as teaching me the beginning steps of a new dance style that was much more flowing. It was harder to do, considering that much of it was done without touching the other person. I had to learn the steps thoroughly since the absence of a lead increased the probability that I might turn the wrong way.

  We finally halted. I worried that I wouldn’t remember it all for the ball, especially if I had to learn more. I mean, how much can you really learn in five days? I expressed this concern to the king.

  “There isn’t too much more to learn, and Sogran, Breeohan, and I will make sure that you are otherwise occupied during any dances you do not know.”

  That was a relief, though I thought the attentions of the king, the heir, and the training general might be in demand, which would make keeping an eye on me much more difficult.

  There was silence for a moment, and I shifted nervously. “Have you found out anything about my mother or Kelson yet?” I asked in a rush.

  The king looked me in the eye. “I am sorry, but we have found nothing yet. You must admit that there is little information to help us in locating this Kelson.”

  I looked away to the marbled floor. “I know.” What was I doing here anyway? How was staying at the palace going to help find Mom? No one but me knew what to look for. I felt a great yearning to just leave the palace and search for Mom on my own, but I knew that would be fruitless. It was a big country, and I had no idea which direction to look.

  I glanced up again and found the king watching me intently. “I promise you I am doing all that is within my power to find your mother.”

  “Thank you.”

  I was tired and starving, not a good combination for exuding pep. I got lost once on the way to my room, but found my wrong turn almost immediately and was grateful to see Sentai had lain out a meal. I tucked into the food, hardly noticing what it tasted like. As I started to get a little fuller, I realized this probably was a good thing. It was one of the stranger Iberoahan dishes that, once my hunger lessened, my stomach had trouble handling. I stopped eating before I was full just to make sure I wouldn’t throw everything back up again and then went to lie down on the bed.

  The next thing I knew, I was being gently shaken awake. The morning sun streamed through the window in brilliant orange rays, though the air from the open shutters was still cool. I groaned and tried to shrug off the hand disturbing my slumber.

  “I am sorry to wake you, but if you sleep any longer you will be late for your lessons with the training general,” Sentai said.

  That brought me up with a start. “What time is it?” I grabbed the clothes Sentai held out for me and stuffed myself in them at sonic speed.

  “It is nearly the third portion, Princess.”

  “Holy cow, Sogran is going to kill me.” I grabbed a piece of bread from the table and dashed out the door, flying through hallways. I got to the training room breathing hard, but still before the third portion gong, my piece of bread mashed in my hand.

  Sogran walked in the instant after I did. He regarded me with raised eyebrows.

  “I assume that you haven’t yet eaten.” He looked pointedly at my hand. “It will be much harder to train winded and on an empty stomach.”

  I nodded to save breath, my hopes that he would let me eat the bread plummeting.

  “Well, sit down and eat while you recover from your harrowing journey here,” he said, surprising me.

  My bottom hit the floor, and I tore into the soft bread in case he decided to change his mind. After I finished, I stood slowly.

  “Thank you.” I wondered if he was having a good day to be so lenient.

  “I am not a monster, Mary.”

  I felt my face go hot. “Why did you and the king go to Earth?” I asked in a fit of daring.

  Sogran stood looking at the weapons along the wall for so long, his granite face especially unreadable, that I thought maybe he wasn’t going to answer. Great job, Mary. Make him mad so he can kill you off in practice, why don’t you?

  “Verone and I both had our reasons for wanting to leave Iberloah. When Verone discovered the lacing to travel across great distances, we both decided to test the untried lacing and see where it would take us, knowing we could explode just as easily as travel anywhere. I went first to make sure that wouldn’t happen to Verone, and ended up in a farther, stranger land than I had ever imagined the lacing would take me—America.”

  I opened my mouth to ask more, but Sogran stopped anything from getting out. “Since you have already warmed up, we will go straight into man-to-man weapons practice. Get the staff.” He turned away and got a staff of his own, then came to the middle of the floor, waiting.

  I sulked over to the rack and retrieved my staff slowly. Why was it like pulling teeth to get any information out of the king and the training general? Why would they both want to leave Iberloah in the first place? Granted, Iberloah couldn’t be very appealing to the lower classes, but both the king and training general were pretty high up on the Iberloahan food chain.

  I was so involved with my thoughts that I didn’t notice I had reached the middle of the floor until I felt a whop strike my stick and send it clattering to the ground.

  “Pay attention. You’re fortunate I decided to hit your stick instead of you.”

  I picked up my staff more warily and blocked his immediate thrust just in time. He kept a running commentary of what I should correct, or when I blocked well, but I had no breath or free brain space for any replies.

  We switched staff for sword after about an hour. The next hour I was far more stressed, consumed in focusing on every move Sogran made. A slice from a sword would be much more painful than a whack from a staff. I was doing pretty well until he got past my guard and nicked me under the arm. Pain lanced through my body, jolting my mind off my counter-strike.

  Sogran pulled back millimeters before touching my abdomen. “You must learn to block out the pain and keep fighting. If you lose your concentration, you will be dead.”

  “Why? Why do I have to fight at all? I should be at home with my mother.” I sank to my knees, the words coming out in great gasps as I struggled and failed to hold back the sobbing. “I shouldn’t have to fight and if I ever have to kill someone, I’ll have that on my conscience forever. I shouldn’t be here. Mom and I, we shouldn’t be here. Our biggest worry should be getting the bills paid on time, not death from barbaric weapons.” It was funny how being out of breath combined with a bloody slash on my arm knocked out the flood gates of my suppressed emotions.

  I was looking at the floor, vision blurry from the copious tears springing from my eyes when I felt a hand press my shoulder. I waited for the reprimand. None came. Sogran stood silently next to me while I cried.

  When I got myself under control enough to breathe properly, I sucked in the air deeply. Next, I fixed my arm with a lacing. The absence of pain helped me stop crying all together. Still, I slumped in emba
rrassment. Sogran removed his hand and sat next to me in one fluid movement. His poise made me more aware of my bad posture, so I straightened and looked at him.

  “You are right that things here are much less safe than your home on Earth in some ways, and that Iberloah might require of you things that you would never have had to face there. But know this, Mary, if you are trying to do what is right, you will never be given more than what you can handle. I believe you are here now for a reason and that you are meant to be here. You are needed, Mary.”

  It was strange to hear Sogran waxing motivational on me. He hadn’t really struck me as the encouragement-speaker type, but his words did something to me, loosened something I’d been holding back. I no longer clung to the bare hope I’d hidden deep down that being in Iberloah was all a dream or that I would wake to find myself strapped to some new state-of-the-art virtual reality simulator.

  I stood up. “Okay, I’m ready to spar again.”

  Sogran nodded. He stood waiting across from me. And this time I struck first.

  Chapter 14

  I left the training room more tired than yesterday. I’d put new energy into my attacking and blocking. Knowing that my life could depend on my skill or lack thereof spurred me on when I felt ready to drop.

  Sogran nodded approvingly at the end of practice. “All you needed was a little nick in the arm to get you to concentrate more fully. If I would have known that, I would have done it the first day.” At my look, granite man actually chuckled. “You can’t deny that you focus better once you have been hurt. Baro is a good example of that. You didn’t put your whole attention into fighting him until he had hit you in the stomach.”

  “You mean I didn’t go berserker until then,” I said.