• interwoven sword.
  • balthazar's flame.
  • dwayna's kiss.
  • grenth's shadow.
  • melandru's branches.
  • lyssa's mask.
  • the godless.
  • voice of the ancestors.
  • book of secrets.
    • back
    ~well of silence~

    A New Language

    There is still the shadow I am dealing with, the man who made me the silent creature I am today.

    Siamat asked me a strange question recently. He wanted to know if I love him. How do you answer a question like that accurately when you can barely communicate?

    The most I have been able to do is say his name, and that is with hours, even days of practice. I never thought I would be able to say even that much. But he doesn’t really understand what that means, and I can’t truly explain it. I suspect even if I could speak normally it would be difficult to explain. The language of gestures can be so much less, and so much more than the language of spoken words. So much communication is nonverbal anyway that I rarely notice the difference with Qehara.

    I would like to share this with Siamat, but we hardly have time to breathe, let alone to indulge in strange pastimes. Communication on the battlefield is already limited to gestures and grunts or screams.

    I’m not sure what he wants from me, aside from what we have now. What is there to gain with declarations of love? My devotion will always lie first with Qehara. Siamat is quickly becoming second, especially as I have not heard from my brother in a long time. I don’t know if I want him any more involved with me than that. There is still the shadow I am dealing with, the man who made me the silent creature I am today.

    He has been following me, and I don’t know why. If I lead Siamat to him, I am not sure what will happen. I will need to learn all I can before I report to Qehara again. It is just as well that Siamat will not understand what is said when I confront my shadow.

    Zara Amaya