Serial, Kherishdar's Exception, Episode 21: Yelling at the Sky

I went through the device’s translation, mouthing the words under my breath, asking the device to repeat certain sentences and trying to make the vowels sound crisper: an unexpectedly difficult task, because while I could mimic them while listening, when I tried to form fresh phrases or sentences, I lost track of how they were supposed to sound. But the device was a great help in that, and I pored over the stored conversation…. Until I reached the word ‘bitch.’ When I looked it up, I discovered it was a female animal of the type commonly kept as pets. That made me lower the tablet in exasperation. So animals are food, beloved family members, and an insult as a comparison?

And you call us confusing.

I wanted to know more. I wanted to be able to talk more clearly. I set to it, eager.

No sooner had I begun sorting through Lenore’s notebooks again—searching for information on adjectives, because I wanted to be able to use more of them on her brother when I saw him next—when Ruben appeared in the door. Looking quite uncomfortable at that, but with the rigidity of someone attempting to project formality despite his agitation. “Osulkedi,” he said and stopped. Guessing at his concerns, I held up the device to show him he could use his own tongue and I could use mine. Relieved, he continued. “You… are all right?”

“Yes?” I said, puzzled.

“So… no one’s bothered you?”

He guessed, then. I wondered how that worked: was he responsible for Lenore’s brother’s behavior, the way an Ai-Naidari lord would have been? Did he have the power to control the other male? I wondered what Correction looked like in aunera. “I have not been bothered, no.”

“Then…” He stopped, and I pitied him his evident inability to find a way to apologize for actions he wasn’t sure I found distressing. He didn’t have Andrew Clark’s ease with words, that quicksilver ability to work a conversation around to whatever needed saying. For an aunerai, Clark had shown an unexpected mastery of what needed to be spoken to and what needed to be spoken around… no doubt that was one of the qualities that Jaran had found comforting, and fascinating. Andrew Clark had been facile even in imperfect Ai-Naidari, which he’d used with the ease of a trained elocutionist. He’d had a good ear for mimicking the sounds, so his accent had been minimal, and if he’d lacked Lenore’s fluency, he’d spoken the words he’d known convincingly. It was only toward the end, when he’d been confounded by his own emotions, that he’d begun losing some of that confidence.

“You’ll tell me if someone disturbs you?” Ruben said at last. “I want you to feel comfortable here, osulkedi.”

“I will be sure to tell you,” I said. “It is you I speak to, yes? You are functioning as the lord of the colony?”

“I… yes. More or less.”

I eyed that translation, fascinated. So much uncertainty in a lord. I wanted to ask about it, but it seemed impolite; if he was already having trouble with authority, questioning him about it would only make it worse. Wouldn’t it? Would such inquiries from an alien be more or less likely to undermine what confidence he had? More or less—I laughed, which made him smile tentatively at me. “I understand,” I said to him. “Thank you. I will be sure to inform you if I am troubled by anything significant.”

“Or insignificant,” he said. “We want you to be happy here, osulkedi.”

Quite the achievement that would be. Was I happy anywhere? “So if I am troubled by the weather?” I asked, chancing the attempt to tease him, wondering if he would interpret it correctly, and—

“Then I would stand outside in the square and yell at the sky?” he said. “I’m not sure it would change anything.”

Yes, he was smiling more now, and it made his eyes brighter. “It would entertain me.”

“And maybe you’d forget your discomfort?” He laughed too, and it was a good laugh, a rumble in his chest. No Ai-Naidari has a chest that broad: the way the sound resonated fascinated me. “Worth it then.”

“You are very accommodating,” I said to him. “And I thank you. But I’m fine now, truly.”

“Then I’ll leave you to your work.” He touched the backs of two fingers to his brow—a farewell gesture? Who knew? I suppose I would, eventually. But how would I learn without asking? Observation only took one so far.

Adjectives. I settled down to read. And discovered by accident that the device also translated written words, if one held it above the document in question. “Shemena,” I muttered to myself, “now I’m in trouble.”

Because… how could one not want to know everything if given the opportunity? All the books behind me! It was enough to make my ears quiver with want.

I was aiming the device at the text near the back of one of Lenore’s notebooks when Emma exploded into the room. “Laurence Serapis! I can’t believe him!”