Bloodkin (Jaseth of Jaelshead) (21 page)

Then Myr Billy had our Mentors write out their names in Nea’thi and help us pronounce them. Charlie borrowed my pen and wrote for me
Ϛaioћлeжa Ұлeßжa.

“Okay, so the Ϛ at the start is like the Human hard ‘c’ sound, but with an ‘h’ rounding after it. More like ‘kh’, see? The ‘ћ’ in
the middle is a sort of ‘sch’, but keep your tongue wide. “Л” is a long ‘l’ sound, and ‘ß’ is like a ‘ss’.” I practised it with the right cadences until I had got it to Charlie’s satisfaction:
Khaioschllecha Vvllesscha
with that odd-sounding ‘cz’ that had to be forced gutturally from the back of my throat.

After a time of murmured practice from the group, Myr Billy clapped his hands.

“Lovely, lovely, that’s a good start. I think we deserve a break, hmm?” He motioned for us to leave our desks and follow him to the far end of the room. We sat on the couches and he indicated to a huge metal jug sitting in a ceramic plinth. “Would anyone care for coffee? Who wants to do the honours?”

Thomas stepped forward and stared at the jug until, remarkably, steam began to rise from the spout and the smell of freshly-brewed coffee filled the room. Myr Billy opened a cupboard set into the base of one of the bookcases and pulled out seventeen mugs, placing them on a table, into which Thomas poured coffee from the jug.

“Milk anyone? Sugar?” Myr Billy passed around a bowl and a small jug of milk and we relaxed into the couches. When we were all sipping quietly, he sat forward in his seat and addressed us.

“This is how your days at the Academy will be. We have meditation first thing.” Telgeth groaned and Myr Billy looked at him sternly. “It’s very important, you know. You have to be able to close your mind from distractions to be able to use Hầұeӣ. Meditation provides the mental clarity you will all require. All your Mentors meditate daily, I’m sure.”

I glanced at Charlie, who shrugged. I had never seen him meditate before. He leaned over and whispered, “What do you think I do every morning while I’m waiting for you to wake up?” Huh, well, that explained it then; he
had
always seemed to be awake before me.

“So after meditation we will have lectures all morning, with a break in the middle. Then I believe you go back to your Hall for lunch. In the afternoon we will have a practical session, often based on what you have learned in the morning.” He waved towards the marble work-benches. “We have another break in the middle and we will finish up here late afternoon when you will return to the
Hall to complete your assigned homework.” Telgeth made a rude noise, but this time Myr Billy ignored him. “Later on in the year you will have guest lecturers to teach you about their specialist fields. Professors of biology, chemistry and physics, horticulture, history and law, as well as lecturers from the Temple who will give you an introduction to Solastry. These all being applicable to your use of Hầұeӣ. For now though, we will stick to the basics, yes?” We all nodded, I was wide-eyed and feeling a bit overwhelmed. “Right, is everyone finished? Good, good, just leave your mugs on the table. A Journeyman will come in during the lunch break to take care of them for us.” He grinned, his face creasing. “Come now, back to your desks.”

Once we had all been seated again and facing him, Myr Billy rubbed out the words on the blackboard and wrote
Hầұeӣ
again, in large letters, underlining it firmly.

“Now you know how to pronounce it properly, I want to give you a quick introduction to the evolution and use of Hầұeӣ. Please feel free to take notes.”

My hand flew across the page as he spoke, concentrating so hard on writing that I hardly had time to take in what he was saying.

The early Nea’thi tribes had moved up into this area some 300,000 years ago, where they evolved into large, strong creatures with pale skin and light hair suiting the northern climate. Myr Billy looked around the room appreciatively, his eyes lingering on Lolitha.

“See, with the exception of this lass here, Lolitha is it? Yes, yes, you all have the blonde or auburn hair that is evidence of your Nea’thi genetic heritage.”

I looked around and realised he was right, we
did
all have fair hair, from Dunkerle’s pale blonde spikes to Telgeth’s orange mop.

“Lolitha dear, you have some southern blood in you, perhaps?”

She blushed and ran a hand self-consciously through her black bob. “Yeah, my mother’s grandfather was from Yhull.”

“Well that explains it then!” Myr Billy continued.

With their large craniums, the early Nea’thi civilisation discovered and mastered the use of Hầұeӣ, living well in tribal systems with a rudimentary culture and language. Humans evolved separately in their homeland far to the south, but around 50,000 years ago had begun to encroach on Nea’thi territory.

“All this is hypothetical, of course,” Myr Billy admitted. “Our written history began long after we moved into the Enclaves.” He sighed and waved his hands apologetically, disappointed by this lack of firm evidence.

Humans and Nea’thi had a tenuous co-existence, but the Humans’ smaller size and lesser dietary requirements meant that their numbers increased to the point where they began to crowd out the Nea’thi tribes. There was a degree of interbreeding, of course, and the resulting offspring passed onto their children the ability to use Hầұeӣ, though the primitive Human culture did not foster or teach them how to use it. By around 40,000 years ago, the situation had become precarious for the Nea’thi. The warlike traits of the Humans had driven them nearly to extinction. The remaining Nea’thi tribes had discovered entrances to underground tunnel systems that led far beneath the Rhye Mountains that encircled the area, and began to build habitations where they could escape the Human tribes and enjoy the thermal heat provided by deep underground vents. During the summers they would emerge and stockpile food, trying all the while to avoid incursions by groups of predatory Humans.

After some 20,000 years of this semi-subterranean lifestyle, the Humans on the surface had become so populous that leaving the Enclaves during the summer was simply too dangerous. By this time, the Nea’thi had tunnelled further under the mountains, assisted by Hầұeӣ. Three huge natural caverns had been discovered, all with an abundance of water and luminous algae and deep enough to be warm all year round. Habitations were built and hydroponic systems were set up, growing food crops modified using a combination of selective breeding and Hầұeӣ to adapt them to underground cultivation. The Nea’thi diet was supplemented by farmed subterranean fishes, and now they could exist without having to go outside, the entire
Nea’thi population moved to these new Enclaves and sealed off the entrances.

They soon realised that the genetic oddity of albinism that throws itself up on occasion was actually suited to their new underground lifestyle, and Nea’thi albinos were encouraged to breed, as it were. Advances in genetic tweaking with Hầұeӣ meant that after a few thousand years in the Enclaves the Nea’thi people all had the red eyes, grey skin and colourless hair that they had to this day.

“Our particular form of albinism is recessive, however. That’s why Mingles often inherit the colouring of their Human parent. We don’t have any Mingles in this class, do we?” Myr Billy looked around the room. “No? Oh well, no matter.”

“Hey Myr Billy?” called Telgeth. Myr Billy squinted a little to see who had spoken. “Ah, Telgeth, yes? You have a question? Good. Please, anyone, if you need clarification please just ask. But raise your hand so I know whom I am speaking to.”

Telgeth raised his hand. “Myr Billy, so can Mingles be Nea’thi-Blood too?”

“Ah, good question, Telgeth. The short answer is no. Mingles are people of mixed Human and Nea’thi heritage, the result of unions that have occurred since the Leaving. Nea’thi-Bloods such as yourself have Nea’thi DNA from interbreeding between the two species
before
the Nea’thi went Underground. You understand the concept of DNA? Don’t worry, Myr Stewart will teach you more about genetics and evolution later on in the year. Anyway, Nea’thi-Bloods and Mingles are the two types of non-Nea’thi that can use Hầұeӣ. ‘Bloodkin’ is the term for any student of Hầұeӣ studying at the Academy with the aid of a Mentor, it caught on in the early days of the Academy after the Leaving. I believe the ‘kin’ does not refer to any ties of kinship as such, rather it is merely a term of affection, like ‘munchkin’ perhaps, seeing as ‘Nea’thi-Blood’ is such a mouthful. Does that answer your question?”

“Yeah, pretty much. What’s a munchkin?”

Myr Billy stared at Telgeth for a long moment, gauging whether the question was a joke. Apparently he decided it was, because he scratched his head for a second and continued.

“Now, where was I? Oh, right. The Enclaves developed in relative isolation from each other, what with the rather large distances between them. Tunnels were eventually carved to link them, and not long before the Leaving steam-carriage tracks were laid, but travelling between the Enclaves used to take months.” He pulled down a rolled map to the side of the blackboard. It was a map unlike any I had ever seen before. It still had most of the topographical features of the country, but extended out to encompass the surrounding mountain ranges that regular maps didn’t bother with. The four Capitols were still marked, each with a little crown, but most of the roads and other towns had been left off. Instead, there were three large stars, each over areas of high mountains that held no Human habitations, as well as a number of smaller stars and circles, linked with a series of blue lines.

“This is a map of the Underground. These lines are the highway tunnels, the small stars are Nea’thi villages. The circles are entrances to the tunnel network, and these are the Enclaves.”

He pointed at one, nestled in the mountain range far to the north of Vesturg. “This is Hầiờ. Any of the Mentors here from Hầiờ?” Sarah and Richard held up their hands. “Good! Now, come up the front so we can have a look at you.” Myr Billy turned to the rest of us. “See, as I was explaining, the Enclaves developed with a degree of separation, so there are slight differences in colouring between Nea’thi from the different Enclaves, mainly because of the nature of the particular strain of algae native to the area. See, Sarah and Richard here – I’ll use your Human-friendly names if you don’t mind – are excellent examples of Hầiờ colouring. Note the slight orange hue of their eyes and purple tint of their skin.”

Richard pulled up one sleeve of his robe and flexed his arm, much to Sarah’s amusement – the two Mentors apparently unfazed at being put on display in front of the whole class.

“Thank you, you may take your seats now.” Myr Billy turned back to the map, pointing at the large star to the east and north of Lille. “This is Жanờ, our local Enclave, if you will. Who are our Жanờ natives?” Thomas, Emma and James obediently stood. “See here the violet eyes and greenish skin? Yes, thank you.” They sat and he pointed to the last big star, far to the south of Fortesta and slightly west. “And this is Ұiờ.” Charlie and Jimmy stood without having to be prompted. “You will of course note the bluish skin and red eyes. Hmm, who’s left? Ah, Adam, is it? Yes, stand up. Now, where are you from?”

“I grew up in the village of Hầлжớњ and was educated in Жanờ, where my mother is from, but my father was from Ұiờ. They met when they were Journeymen.”

“Ah, how nice. Come, would you show us the location of Hầлжớњ?”

Adam borrowed Myr Billy’s pointer and indicated one of the smaller stars on the map, not far from Жanờ, and close to the circle that marked the tunnel entrance just east of Lille, near the beginning of the Jaelshead valley.

“Very good, yes. Now, you will see that Adam’s colouring is a mix of Жanờ and Ұiờ – slightly violet eyes and greenish-blue skin.” Adam grinned at us as Myr Billy took the pointer back and waved him to sit back down. “This of course is the main entrance to the underground system for Lille.” He tapped the circle by Adam’s village. “This is the one the Жanờ regiment used during the Leaving, and the one we used to bring out the stone during the construction of the Nea’thi Quarter.” He pulled a string on the bottom of the map and it rolled back up.

“Well, I think you’ve done enough writing for one morning, and I am definitely feeling a bit peckish. Go and have your lunch now. This afternoon we’ll discuss Hầұeӣ some more, then maybe try a few practical exercises, what do you think?”

I gulped, nervous again. We were actually going to try and use Hầұeӣ? I was going to set the Academy on fire!

“Good, yes. Oh, and before you go, you’ve all got the required texts yes? Good, well your reading for tonight is the first two chapters of
Introduction to Hầұeӣ
– yes, write that down – and
the section on the Leaving in Θaớфρeӣ’s
Guide to Human/Nea’thi Relations
. Right, off with you then. Give my regards to Yұieӣấ.” He swept out of the room, the first speedy movements we had seen him make all day, leaving us to trail in his wake. Out on the landing he darted upstairs to his office. Jimmy ducked ahead as we filed down the stairs.

“I’ll run on ahead and let Yұieӣấ know we’re on our way,” and he raced off. The rest of us followed rather more sedately, out the door and across the quad to the avenue that would take us back to the Hall and our lunch.