Page 26 of Thief of Roses
Careful?Of course he was careful!Nothing would be served if he intimidated her with his size or actions however unintentional.Were not deliberate displays of non-aggression simply practical consideration?
“Tellest me what thou needest.”Maybe there was more he could do.
“Can’t you just be natural?”She pleaded and accused.“Can’t you just speak like you’re not reciting a monologue and move without it looking like you’ve memorized steps?If you don’t want me or my company, you needn’t be coy about it.Just tell me!”
“Y do wish thy companie,”he assured her.“And yf my actionnes seem mooste unnatural, thanne Y do syncerelie apologyse for that yn addytionne.”
“I keep getting meaningless apologies,”she growled, a sound to rival any he could make.“Is that all you can do?What reasons have you, Baró?Or are you no better than a trained bear mouthing words?I thought more of you than that.”
Astonished at the accusation, he faltered.He had definitely returned to her prematurely.
“Y was once told, by a sorceress of thy people, that an apologie coupled wyth a reason ‘twas only a way to justyfie a wrong.Yf thou desyrest reason, Y shall give yt thee.”
“Very well.”She sat sideways on the bench and crossed her arms.“You have apologized without justifying it.Now tell me what the hell is going on, Baró.”
“Thy blood time came early and heavie.”He pointed to the cauldron of linens.“I fynd such yntoxycatyng and fyght not to be underfoot.Y came today because thy smell ys strong and Y could not stay away any longer.”
“I missed you!”The phrase would ordinarily cause delight but an undercurrent of fury still existed.“You wanted my company and then you disappeared.You’d been gone so long, too long that I thought...”
The moments of silence stretched on.
“How woldest thou prefer Y be natural?”Baró ventured in a whisper.
“That wasn’t fair of me.”Her shoulders slumped.“You can’t help being what you are.”
While her accusations of mindless recitation and choreography of his movements embarrassed him, her allowance shamed him.She spoke the truth of course, but he fought the hampering changes of his body.He bowed his head and took a step back.
“Y move cautyouslie so as not to affrayen thee,”he said.“Thou art correct.Y have with practyce adjusted my movements.Thou hast not seen me on all fours, though that beeth mooste natural for me.Y paas slowlie that Y may accorden upryght yn human fashionne.As for words...”He fumbled here, not sure what to say about the mechanics of his speech and his language.“The Magyc requyreth precysionne yn thy words whyche therefore requyreth forethought.”
“It’s not just that.All your words are careful, Magic or not.”
“Words cometh not naturallie to me eft.”He had grown agitated that his efforts had been mistaken for dimwittedness or lack of consideration.“Whan thys,”he gestured at his face, looking for words, distressed at the humiliation of having to explain,“doth changed, so too doth the rest — my jaw, my throat, my tongue.Y lost mine abylytie to speak.”He wished he could communicate the immensity of the accomplishment that he could do so now.“For manie years, Y spoke not at all, reduced to grunts and growls until Y devysed a way to replycate thy sounds.Y know not how to further alter yt that yt mayeth seem more natural.”
“I know you’re trying.”She rubbed her eyes.“I knew there was something wrong with your...”She gestured to the area around her own throat.
“Aye.”
“I am so frustrated, Baró, and I am taking it out on you.If I don’t see you, I don’t have any company.When I do see you, our communication lacks, you by your changes, me by the fact your language is not my first.And you speak a dialect so old, I sometimes don’t understand at all.”
When her attention turned introspective and self-directed, Baró emerged from the corridor.He lowered himself onto the bench on the other side of the table and folded his hands, keeping them in sight.
“Mine apologies agayn, Rivani.”
“Do you truly desire my company?Or is there some other motive?”
“Y need thy companie and Y have come to desyre yt.”He stared at his hands.“My mynd doth revert whence not yn companie.Y have lost so much of myself and continue to do so whan alone.Y once knew manie languages and yet am fortunate styll to have mooste pofsefsionne of oon.”He glanced at her, catching his bottom lip with a pointed tooth.“Y thought that thou wouldst not desyre my companie more than necefsarie.”
“In the first days, I did not, thinking you were bent on torturing me because of some silly flower.”
“The rose hath more ymportance thanne thou myghtest realyse.”
“I know it’s magic,”she waved it off.“I know I should never have taken it.I was angry at myself, Baró, and I was angry at you because there were consequences for my actions.Being bound to the land for so long a time bothers me, but it is a small price in perspective.If you are here to help the time pass, perhaps I will not suffocate as I fear.”She paused, her face collapsing into introspective thought before she redirected her attention back to him.“Did you ever speak Rivanic?”
“Y knew some, deryved from others’ conversationne moostlie, and whan thy caravans or carttes passeth through, Y do oft harken to their speech.”
“Would you be amenable to re-learning?I often find myself questioning your words.If you need company and occupation to assist in keeping your mind engaged, then perhaps our communication would improve if you spoke my language instead.”
He considered the idea with enthusiasm.If they would have difficulty communicating no matter the language, he may as well be learning a new one, facilitating better understanding on her end and retaining his more sophisticated faculties.
