Fields of Wrath

by Mickey Zucker Reichert

  “No, Mistri.” Tae kept his tone gentle. “You call him Bobbin, but his name is Prince Arturo.”

  Mistri’s gaze went suddenly to her companion. “Bobbin prince?” She shook her head doubtfully, then made a noise of disbelief. She started to laugh.

  Tae could not join her mirth. “He is a prince, Mistri. Prince Arturo of Béarn. Béarn’s our high kingdom.”

  Mistri shook her head again, more forcefully. “No it not.”

  Tae tried again. “Our high kingdom.” He made a gesture that encompassed Subikahn, Matrinka, and himself. “Not your high kingdom.”

  Mistri tipped her head. She clearly did not understand.

  Tae lowered his head and sighed. He had to remember that, despite her size, Mistri was quite young.

  “What’s wrong?” Matrinka came to Tae’s side. Mistri shrank away, and Arturo put his hands out to widen his protective shield. It was almost comical to watch a human attempting to hide a giant behind his back.

  Tae addressed Matrinka in the common tongue. “She’s practically a toddler. I don’t know what to say or how to say it.”

  Matrinka snickered, which drew Tae’s attention fully. She explained, “Tae, I saw you with Subikahn as a child. You’re the best father I’ve ever known, the kind everyone wishes he had.”

  Tae had no idea. “Really?”

  “Really.” Matrinka’s tone left no room for doubt. “You were always romping on the floor. Don’t say anything to Ra-khir, but he always seemed a bit miffed by how excited Saviar would get whenever the time came for him and Kevral to visit you.”

  Tae could not help smiling. He had always considered the Knight of Erythane superior to him in almost every way. “But the twins were boys. I don’t know how to entertain girls.”

  “Until they hit double digits, there’s not a whole lot of difference.”

  Tae was not sure he agreed with that, but he did not argue. Unlike him, Matrinka had raised a son and daughters. “Well, I gave a lot of horseback rides.” He looked doubtfully at the enormous child. “I don’t think that would be wise here.”

  Matrinka appeared almost scandalized by the suggestion. “Don’t you dare put anything on your back! I just got done fixing it.”

  Tae turned his head slowly to rest his gaze entirely on Matrinka. “She could give me horseback rides. She might outweigh me.” At full height, she probably matched him almost perfectly. He had more muscle mass than she did, he supposed, but she still had quite a bit of baby fat.

  Mistri poked her head around Arturo. “What you saying?” she demanded.

  Tae did remember young children had short attention spans. He switched back to the island tongue. “This woman is Queen Matrinka. She’s Art . . . Bobbin’s mother.”

  Mistri’s blue eyes widened until she looked more owl than human. “Bobbin has mummy?”

  Tae smiled but suppressed a laugh. “Everyone has a mother, Mistri.”

  “Even alsona?”

  “Even alsona. Even your parents. Even intelligent beings like me and Bobbin who are neither Kjempemagiska nor alsona.” Tae found the concept almost impossible to convey with words. The Heimstadr language had no overarching concept of people, only alsona and Kjempemagiska as separate beings. Everything else living fell into plant or animal categories.

  Mistri tipped her head farther, clearly considering.

  Tae suspected she had enough to think about for the moment. “I’m going to try to talk to Bobbin now.”

  Mistri ignored the pronouncement. “I scared.” Tears filled her oversized eyes. “Want go home, Tae. You take home?”

  Tae sighed deeply, uncertain how to explain the situation to someone so young. “I wish I could.” He sought the proper words. “We didn’t mean to steal you. We just wanted . . .” He suspected that would not prove a strong enough word to justify kidnapping. “. . . we needed to bring Bobbin home. Just like your family will want to bring you back home.” A shiver traversed him at the realization of what those simple words implied. “Bobbin is lost. We’re taking him back to his family.”

  Mistri put her arms around Arturo and spoke into the side of his head. “You lost Bobbin? This you family?”

  Arturo shook his head. “Not . . .” he said clumsily. “. . . not.”

  Mistri looked at Tae. “He say ‘not.’ He mean not he mummy. Not he family. Right, Bobbin?”

  Arturo nodded.

  Tae saw no use in arguing the point. “Bobbin was hurt very badly. He was on a warship fighting a battle against . . .” He thought it best not to get specific, “. . . pirates. We’re not sure how he wound up with you.” He opened the way for Mistri to tell her story.

  “Find Bobbin beach. Same one you come to.”

  It made sense the tide would wash a body onto the same shore it did most flotsam. “He was badly injured when you found him, wasn’t he?”

  Mistri’s tone turned grave. “He very very hurt.” She brightened, “We make better. He friend.”

  Tae looked at Arturo, hoping the prince would answer even though he addressed Mistri. “He doesn’t talk, does he?”

  “He animal.” She sounded almost proud. “Smart animal. He learn talk. A little.”

  “He learned to talk like this.” Tae hoped Imorelda’s silence meant she still maintained the proper mental level to allow him to communicate with Mistri. *But not like this, right?*

  Mistri bobbed her head excitedly, still clutching Arturo. *That right! Have to usaro. He no answer anari. Not even simple anari.*

  *He can’t hear anari,* Tae explained. *We can’t hear anari.* He attempted to portray a concept of oneness that included at least everyone on the ship other than Mistri. He did not know how well he managed to do so. When he communicated in any mental language, pictures, emotions and impressions often accompanied the words he received. However, he had no idea if the speakers sent these things on purpose or if it happened as an unintentional aside. *But we are still . . . He did not know a comprehensive word for “people” in usaro or anari, as Mistri had referred to the languages, so he used the common term and tried to focus on the inclusiveness of its meaning.

  Mistri pursed her lips, which made her appear pouty rather than thoughtful. *I don’t know this word “people.”*

  Tae was afraid of that. He still hoped to include Arturo, so he switched back to speech. “It’s a word we use to refer to all living things that walk on two legs, have two arms, and are intelligent enough to make things and talk to one another. Do you have a word for that in your language?”

  Mistri chewed her lower lip and clung to the mental language. *Kjempemagiska are masters. Alsona are servants. Both walk on two legs, have two arms, make things, and talk. Very different. We have no word for both together.*

  Tae had suspected as much. The Kjempemagiska considered the alsona a lesser species and showed no qualms about killing them, often in vicious fashion.

  For a youngster, Mistri had good focusing skills. She managed to remain on subject longer than most her age. *Pretty birds walk on two legs, have two wings, and talk a little bit. Usaro only. Are they people, too?*

  Tae could not help smiling. He would hardly refer to crows as “pretty birds,” but some did mimic human speech. He imagined Heimstadr had different animals, including colorful crows, but did not want to get into that right now. He also did not want to spend time explaining the difference between real communication and repetition, so he took the easy way out. *Wings do not count as arms. Arms have hands, which can hold things. Wings do not.*

  *Pretty birds hold things with their feet.* Mistri simulated picking up an object with her foot and sticking it into her mouth.

  Tae had never seen crows do more than pick up a twig or shiny object in their beaks and carry it to their nests. Still, he did not wish to discuss birds. *“People” would include Kjempemagiska, alsona, elves, us and maybe some other beings we do
n’t yet know about.* He suddenly realized the gods also fell into his description, but he doubted they would appreciate it. Having no idea of Kjempemagiska religion, he avoided the subject.

  Mistri did not seem to notice. *Elves?*

  *Another type of people. Our captain is one of them.* Realizing they had lapsed back into mind communication, Tae spoke aloud. “This word ‘people’ is important to us. It reminds us that, even though we come in various shapes and sizes, and a range of colors and types; even though we may live in different parts of the world or even on different worlds; even though we speak different . . .” Tae found another word that did not translate. “. . . ‘languages,’ we are all basically the same.”

  Mistri held her head in her hands and shook it broadly back and forth. She was wildly confused. “No understand. We same? No.” She shook her head harder. “No.” She pointed at Arturo. “Animal.” She embraced him. “Love animal mine.”

  Arturo allowed her to hold him without any sign of objection, though it hampered his ability to protect her. It seemed futile, but Tae knew he needed to at least try to get through to Arturo. “To us, animals are creatures with limited ability to think. They may be able to communicate on a basic level with sounds and body movements, but they can’t create or string together words to make a point. They don’t use their mouths to talk. Do you understand?”

  Mistri released Arturo, but her head continued shaking. “Bobbin say words, not many. You talk . . . good. They . . .” The young giantess indicated Subikahn and Matrinka. “They . . . say words? Talk?”

  Tae sighed and looked at Arturo, who only glared back. At the moment, he truly did resemble an animal. “They do talk, Mistri. Very well. But it’s a different . . . ‘language.’”

  “Lan-widge,” Mistri repeated slowly. “What mean?”

  Tae was not sure he could explain. Even the adults of Mistri’s world did not seem capable of understanding a concept that had no logic to them. All dogs barked, no matter their birthplace. All cats meowed. To them, usaro and anari were equally innate and universal. Anyone who did not understand it was considered unintelligent and, by definition, animal. “Let me show you. I’m going to tell Arturo’s mother to sit on the floor using words that will make sense to her but not to you.” He turned to face Matrinka. “Sit on the floor.”

  Matrinka looked startled. “Why?”

  “Just do it, please.”

  Matrinka sat.

  Tae looked triumphantly at Mistri, who seemed strangely unimpressed. “You say to me usaro. She hear.”

  “What?” It took a moment for understanding to seep into Tae’s brain. She thinks Matrinka heard what I told Mistri in the language of Heimstadr. The Common Trading instructions could just as well have been idle whistling. Mistri had vast experience with Arturo, who understood a lot of usaro words, even if he could only speak a few. Tae attempted to explain, “They don’t understand what I’m saying to you or what you’re saying to me because they don’t know usaro. They can’t even hear anari, let alone speak it. Our world has several languages. All of them you have to speak aloud. I asked Matrinka to sit using our Common Trading language, but she also knows ‘Béarnese.’”

  Tae pointed out Subikahn. “He speaks Common Trading, Eastern, Renshai and Northern.”

  Mistri shook her head more slowly.

  Tae sighed again. If they hoped to use her kidnapping for any positive purpose, she had to understand. “Let’s take a single word as example.” He picked something Mistri would certainly know. “Aldrnari.”

  “Aldrnari,” Mistri repeated, pronouncing it old-NAR-ee.

  “In Common Trading, the same word is ‘fire.’ In Northern, it’s bruni. In Béarnese, it’s feuer. In Elvish, it’s hyrr.”

  Captain called through the hatch in Common Trading, “Unless you’re referring to the Great Fire, in which case it’s villieldr.”

  Tae jerked his head upward. He had not heard the hatch open. “You speak their language?”

  Matrinka scrambled to her feet.

  Captain descended. “No, but I know enough of the human languages to figure out what you’re doing. I’m just not sure why.”

  Tae did not want to become sidelined by a discussion of his intentions and techniques. The longer he talked to Mistri, the more he learned about the Kjempemagiska and how to communicate with them. “Are we still being pursued?”

  Captain hopped down the last stair into the hold. “We’ve either lost them, or they’ve decided not to chase us any farther. Either way, we’re safe for the moment.”

  “Who’s steering the ship?” Subikahn addressed Captain but kept his gaze on Arturo.

  “I am.” Captain did not explain how he did so while belowdecks.

  Though he wanted to join them, Tae withdrew from the discussion. He needed to continue his conversation with Mistri before she either tired of it or decided to stop cooperating for some other reason. “What I’m trying to tell you is that Arturo does talk. He was fluent in Common Trading and Béarnese, like his mother.”

  Mistri seemed more focused on the exchange between Tae and the captain. *Those sounds you made at each other. Those sounds can mean . . . words?*

  The intention of his thoughts came through. Mistri was trying hard to understand, and that boded well. Her mind seemed to be likening it to a substitution code, the type a child might employ with another to keep parents from understanding their conversation. *Yes.* Tae still fumbled for the best way to build on that explanation.

  *Why don’t they just use words? Are they trying to keep me from knowing what they said?*

  *It’s not a matter of privacy, Mistri.* The idea seemed so simple to Tae, so obvious. Exposed to many languages since birth, the people of the continent accepted the concept as part of the normal way of the world. The Islanders had no such experience to draw upon. *I don’t think I can explain it in a way you’ll understand. All you really need to know: Bobbin and I are the only ones here who can understand you. None of us even hears anari, except me; but even I can’t hear it all the time.* Tae continued to shield Imorelda and their bond. He also realized he could not expect the cat to remain silent at Mistri’s mental level at all times. *If I don’t respond, switch to usaro.*

  Once again, Tae tried to address Arturo. He used usaro, as Arturo seemed intent on remaining loyal only to Mistri. “Bobbin, I don’t know how much you remember, but I told Mistri the truth. You were born a prince and given the name Arturo as an infant. That woman, Queen Matrinka . . .” He waved in the general direction of Matrinka, “. . . is your mother. Your father is King Griff of Béarn.”

  Arturo merely stared.

  “You have two full sisters. Marisole is older, and Halika is younger. Halika, by the way, is the only one who continued to believe you might have survived the pirates’ attack after everyone else had given up hope. You also have four half siblings: your brother, Barrindar, and three sisters named Ivana, Calitha, and Eldorin. Ivana’s mother is an elf.” Tae studied Arturo, looking for any sign of recognition. Although he noticed none, at least the young prince appeared to be listening.

  Matrinka had glided closer as Tae spoke. “You’re telling him about his family, aren’t you?”

  Tae nodded. Names always translated one-to-one; and, to Tae’s knowledge, elves did not exist on Heimstadr, so he used the common word for them as well. He was not wholly certain he was using the royal titles correctly, either. He had gleaned those from overheard anari and its accompanying concepts. They seemed to refer to highest ranking Kjempemagiska and their offspring.

  “I tried that already. In common and in Béarnese.”

  Tae reluctantly plucked his gaze from Arturo to turn it on Matrinka. “The repetition won’t hurt, and it may allow him to realize it’s true. We have no reason to make up a history for him; but, even if we did, we’d have a hard time coordinating such details.” He swung his head back to Arturo, catchin
g a hint of reaction. “Unlike Mistri, he can also understand every word we say in Common Trading, even if he doesn’t want to acknowledge it.” Tae turned his attention back to Arturo in time to see something flicker through the silent man’s eyes in response to a conversation he pretended not to understand.

  Tae ignored the subtle response to continue.

  Matrinka’s eyes blurred, and she closed them. Her attempt to fight the tears came out in a quaver in her voice, “Tae, tell him we all love and desperately miss him. Remind him how happy we used to be, how much he enjoyed his life, how determined he was to serve Béarn to the best of his ability.”

  Tae tried to cut Matrinka off with a gesture.

  With her eyes tightly shut, Matrinka could not see him. “I didn’t want him to go on that ship, but he begged his father, Darris, me—”

  Tae seized Matrinka’s arm. “Matrinka, you need some air.”

  The queen’s eyes jerked open, and a tear spiraled down her cheek. She opened her mouth to say something, looked at Tae, and closed it. Turning away before another tear could fall, she headed quietly above decks.

  *Why did you do that?* Imorelda demanded.

  Mistri gave Tae an intense look. She was probably using anari, which he could not hear because Imorelda had switched levels to communicate.

  *I’ll explain later.* Tae worried Matrinka’s emotion might prove too much for Arturo’s fragile state. If they pressed too intently, he might withdraw or grow suspicious; a truly good life did not require a hard sell. *Please keep me with Mistri.*

  *You owe me.*

  *Hugely,* Tae agreed.

  Most humans wouldn’t know quality if it scratched their eyes out and batted them around the floor.

  —Imorelda

  THE RAIN THAT HAD PLAGUED much of the trip to Elves’ Island had abated, but the weather had grown significantly colder overall. The travelers’ breaths emerged in puffs of smoke, and frost rimed the horses’ whiskers. More for show than warmth, Ra-khir’s leather gloves seemed woefully inadequate, and he flexed his fingers repeatedly to keep them from stiffening on the reins.