Chapter 2

This is Chaptero Dos. Knock yourself (yourselves?) out!

Chapter 2

It’s morning again.

Today starts the same as yesterday. I am up first, and I watch Qae come to life. Candle after candle is lit, until Qae is awake.

We drop from our lofts again, and get dressed. We grab a white-boiled egg each as we head out into the street.

“I can’t wait for today!” Hart begins the conversation as we start to peel our eggs. I love eggs. Like seeds that hatch inside of you, giving you strength and filling your belly.

“For sun’s sake, Hart, are we to hear every morning how eager you are to begin the day?” Imber is her calm, light-haired self..

“Yes, because every day is to Hart another opportunity to show off how eager she is to be an adult.”

     “Oh, but I agree with her! I absolutely need to know how people came to be. I mean, where did the first woman come from? And the first man?”

     “No, Imber, I wish to know why we have laws. Who decided them? Why are they there? That is more important, at least to me.”

     “I wonder how animals came to be.”

     “People.”

     “Animals.”

     “Laws.”

     “Hart!”

I listen to their bickering, but don’t join in, as usual. I’m on the side of Imber in this matter, though. The natural elements are so much more important than the human ones.

I think of this as I walk down the earth-toned street, all brown and black. Clay and sod buildings loom up out of the beautiful early-morning darkness. I love my home.

My bare feet slap the soil path as I think about the coming growing season. I want to grow in my studio some new things this year. Perhaps some vines, or a few bright flowers. Or both. I cannot wait to have my own studio to decorate. For once, I am like my sisters, in that I am eager to grow up in a respect. How ironic it is.

We stop at the same clay steps of yesterday. The familiar flickering of the flame streetlights lights them, just like yesterday. The same heads, same hair, same eyes are around us too. Only the dull colors of the tunicas are different. I notice Imber and Hart walk over to join a girl with black, curly hair. I follow them, if only to avoid being alone on the first day.

“Peace!” she flashes us a grin. Her skin is very pale. “What are your names?”

     Imber begins. “Sauver Seel Imber. Call me Imber.” She flashes her quiet, Imber smile.

     “Sauver Hede Viri,” I interject, after a long pause. Hart would normally go next, but instead, she stands there with a first – a face slightly marred by nerves. “Call me Viri.”

     “Sauver Hart.” She adds meekly. “Just Hart. For now.”

     “No Laki yet?” She gives yet another smile, this time a sympathetic one. I wonder if her mouth ever gets tired.

     “Not yet. But it will come. At least, according to my dear sisters.” She returned the grimace. “What’s your name?”

     “Collen Fleur Haele. Call me Haele. I am a healer, or I will be soon. What are your Lakis? Do you know yet?” 

     “I plan to study water. I am the fish among us.” Imber grins yet again. If I have to grin this much to make friends, I definitely do not want them.

     “I grow things. Plants, flowers. I’m a grower.” I do not smile, but she doesn’t seem to mind. She just nods. “That’s free. I love flowers.”

     “When did you know?” Hart blurted out. “Your Laki, I mean. My sisters seemed to know from the heartbeat they were born.”

     “Oh, so did I. But don’t let it worry you. My brother found out on the last day of his Teaching. He’s a clayer.” She nods, her curls bouncing around her thin face.

     Hart nods too, but she’s obviously not convinced.

Just then, Merzen, our teacher, steps out onto the clay steps we are standing on. “Teens!” she calls. “If you wish to learn, assemble.” She is not threatening, just obeying an Ancient Law. No people shall be pressured, required, pestered, forced, influenced, or otherwise cajoled into doing anything against their will. I can’t imagine not having that law around to protect our freedom.

All the thirteens walk to the steps and into the building. I notice faces, bodies. A blonde girl with a wide face and brown eyes standing next to a girl with brown hair so long the braid reaches down to her lower back. A boy laughing with some short-haired girls. A few black-haired, tan-skinned, muscled boys in a group, looking like they could all be related. I am embarrassed to find my head turning.

Everyone looks like I do, sure of themselves, their friends and their Lakis. I hope Hart won’t feel too out of place.

We all file into the classrooms and sit down, me between Fleur and Imber. The boy at the front of my row lights the six-hour candle of the girl behind him, a brown-haired girl with layered hair. The lighting chain passes onto me. I watched the wick catch with a flare.

I lean back to light the candle of the person behind me, and I am surprised to see it is one of the tan-skinned, black-haired boys. I catch his eye, and he smiles. I don’t smile back. I just hold out my candle. He lights his with a disappointed look on his face. I turn around quickly. What just happened?

I rummage in my bag just to find something to do. My hand touches a soft ball of clay, a bundle of twigs, some charcoal ink, a hollowed-out wooden twig pen, a writing cloth, light grey from years of writing and washing, a clay jug of water, and an extra candle, for the way home. I wait until my face no longer appears red in the reflection from my open water jug, then look up and wait for instructions.

Merzen sails into the room in high dudgeon. “Greetings, teens!” she interrupts the talking and laughing going on. “Sit down, please. ”Everyone is already seated.

“Today, you will begin your teaching for real. The element we will be studying for the next two days is. . .” She pauses. “The history of Qae!” We all gasp, sounding foolish, and lean forward in our seats.

None of us know anything about what was in the past. It is the custom to keep the history of Qae from your children until they are Taught. We do not know how people got here, how laws were created, anything. I have waited my whole life to learn this.

“In the beginning, there was a race of people, who arose from the soil like plants. They were filled with wisdom, and to make sure Qae would always survive, they made the laws we know today.”

I hear excited whispers around me.

That makes sense. But I wonder how the people grew out of the ground. Did they grow from actual seeds, or spring from spores, like mold? Even better, can people still grow out of soil? That would be amazing. But she begins to speak again, interrupting my thoughts.

     “Now for the laws. I am guessing you don’t know all of them, just how to live by them. So listen carefully.”

     “The first law of Qae. No person shall say anything not completely true, omit any pertinent information, deceive, or be untruthful to any other person or party.”

     “Second – Every person will (be) accepted/ accept the way they are, no matter who, how, or what they are.”

     Excuse me- did we not know that since the age of two?

     “Three– No person may ‘own’ anything. Every person and every thing exists to rely on her-him- or itself, not to be owned by anything or anyone else.”

     Own - what does that mean? These laws are not making very much sense. I can see my peers shaking their heads as well. I had expected more.

     “Fourth – no person may purposely drastically change their appearance for any length of time.”

     Who would do that? And why?

     “The fifth law – no one will trade or barter anything not a useful, usable item.

     “Sixth- No person will discriminate, embarrass, victimize, hatefully tease, harm, or be rude to another person, no matter where said person is located at the time.

     “Seventh - No people shall be pressured, required, pestered, forced, influenced, or otherwise cajoled into doing anything against their will.

“Eighth - Each citizen shall choose useful work to do to help Qae. This will be based on their passion, talent, or Laki.

“Ninth – Teenagers are not allowed to be romantically involved or in love.

“Tenth – All people are required to sleep at least eight hours in twenty four.

“Eleventh – no people shall be more powerful than any others regardless of. . .” I un-focus my attention. This is extremely boring. I would love to be in a greenhouse right now. How much more of this will we have to take? As if in answer, her voice stops droning on.

“Well, that’s it!” she beams.

What? She can not be serious! I hear moans from my peers, and feel like joining in. What will we do until half-burn?

“Until the day candle is half-burnt, we will spend some time getting to know our peers! Let’s go around the room, teens, and you can tell things about yourselves. Start with your name, if you know your Laki you may share that, where you live, who your family are, anything else pertinent. These are, after all, the people you will work with, and eventually you will live with one of them. Pretend it is your Crease. Present yourself! Let’s start with you.” She points to the blonde boy again.

“All right.” He smiles. “I am Campum Ingen Lux, or I will be. Call me Lux. My Laki is lighting. So basically, I’m someone who knows how to run with a candle early in the morning. Nothing special. I live right on the river. I walk there every morning.” I hear Imber draw in a breath, and look over to see a look on her face akin to seeing a bright, beautiful light. Holy rain. I almost groan out loud. Not only is it against the law for teenagers to be in love, it is extremely impractical, as well as bad for all involved. And now there is at least one of us. Probably more. 

I yawn. It’s going to be a long, long day. I roll my eyes and play with my candle flame. Because I am quite sure these plant people underestimated the powers of teenage love. Especially forbidden teenage love. I roll my eyes again. Practicality is dead, I guess.

By now the introduction has passed on to a brown-haired girl a few seats in front of me. She begins nervously. “I’m Doa Katze. I- I don’t have a Laki yet. I live on Mone Street. My mother is . . . my mother is Doa Fonte Endi Sond.”

Doa Fonte Endi Sond is a famous healer known for curing a fatal sickness, called Bloodbath. A person who has Bloodbath coughs and coughs until they start coughing and vomiting blood. There was an epidemic a few years ago, and Imber almost died of it. Endi came to our house to help her, and tried some kind of new remedy on Imber. It worked. Now the sickness is curable. She also helped my mother when she was giving birth to my sisters and I, three babies in one day. I owe this girl’s mother everything. I look up to see my sisters are having the same reaction, as well as some other people. Katze is looking slightly sheepish.

The next girl in the row goes. She has a harsh looking face with black eyebrows, and her voice is deep and hoarse. “Gotha Gressa Kleine. I am a potter. And could everyone stop saying they “will be” their Laki? They already are. If you are unsure, it’s obviously not a Laki.”

She has a point.

“Ok then,” laughs the next boy in the row, the one in front of me. “I am Ben Yoelo Tresse. I am a candlemaker. And I am the boy who fell in the river.” He grins again. Am I the only teen who does not smile every minute? But just then, I begin to process what he said.

About eight years ago, a little boy fell in the river and had to be pulled out by a passing water-studier. The woman who saved him let everyone know about it, and the news traveled around Qae faster than a flame catches a twig. Everyone got a laugh out of it, but the boy seemed to disappear as soon as he was rescued. Everyone understood, who would want to be known as the mother who let her child fall in the water? But now here he was. For once, I am laughing like my sisters.

“I am Viri,” I say, still laughing. “Sauver Hede Viri. I’m a grower.” I nod.

The boy behind me goes. “Lotne Teyloe Neele. I am a clayer. Like all three of my brothers.” He gave a grin. Holy Rain. He was handsome. I look over to see Imber’s response. She doesn’t even look like she cares. Perhaps she truly is in love. Who knows. This is very funny, all the thirteens together in one place. We are all so different, so diverse, it’s like chemistry

                         • • •

I step out of the classroom, slightly slower than the tide of peers around me. I walk down the hall, catching sight of a few familiar faces as I go.

When I reach the street, my sisters and I gather around the same torch post. “Well, I am going to the river.” I can hear the part she didn’t add. Because Lux might be there. “Where will you all be?”

“Haele invited me over to her house. Anyone else want to come?”

“No, that’s all right.” I answer. “I would rather be at the library. Tell Haele I’ll see her tomorrow.”

“All right.”

“Great!” Imber beams. “I forgot my oil at home. May I follow you home, Viri?”

We start walking. We don’t speak until we pass through our doorway. We turn into our room, and Imber turns to me all in a rush. “Well, bye, Viri! I’ll be at the river.” She lets out a breath, clutching her oil to her chest. She looks like she wants to say something more, but doesn’t. She runs out all in a rush.

I sit on my loft for a minute, waiting until she is gone. Then I get up, grab a candle from the kitchen, and step out the door with a spring in my step. I light my candle from a passing woman’s and continue on my way.

I have somewhere else to be.