Bloodkin (Jaseth of Jaelshead) (24 page)

Telgeth groaned.

“No, really! Meditation is essential, you’ll see. They know what they’re doing at the Academy.”

I gratefully accepted the pipe as it was passed around and almost immediately the throbbing in my head lessened, then drifted away altogether. Thomas repacked the pipe when it reached him, but Telgeth gestured at it.

“Ooh, can I light it?”

The Mentors all laughed and Thomas groaned in mock desperation, cradling his head in his arms on the table.

“Ugh, there’s always one! Hell Telgeth, you will be the end of me. After you, I’m going back to the Enclave for some peace. You’re my last Bloodkin, I swear!”

Everyone laughed and Telgeth threw up his hands. In the rich air of the late afternoon we were all flushed full of our day’s successes, both relieved and excited. There was no way then that we could have known what was going to happen to us in the next year. No way we could have known quite how prophetic Thomas’ words would prove to be.

e made it back to the Hall just in time for dinner, and afterwards I grabbed a candle and a holder from Myn Eve and set it up on my workbench. The couple of hours we had spent at the Thistle had left me relaxed and buoyant, and with my headache gone I easily managed to light the candle ten times in a row to Charlie’s satisfaction. Each time he created one of his wee dousing shields to catch the smoke and he floated them over to the fireplace to release the smoke up the chimney.

“Can’t you just Hầұeӣ it so there’s no smoke at all?” I asked him.

“Oh well, I suppose I could, but that would be hard, and you’d probably end up with some sort of ashy residue. This is way easier.”

“Oh.”

I felt triumphant, but weariness crept up on me like a leprechaun and suddenly I was yawning widely and struggling to keep my eyes open.

“Come on Jas, you’ve still got your readings to do.”

With a groan I levered myself from my chair and after checking in my journal I went to the bookcase and pulled out the two volumes Myr Billy had prescribed.

“Um, I think I’ll go read these in bed if you don’t mind, Charlie.”

“Of course, boyo. I’ll wake you in the morning. Sleep well.” He gave a friendly wave as I escaped to my room, rotating my glowbe to get some light.

I had only just started on the second volume, with the section on the Leaving when my eyes drooped and I laid the book down beside me. I’ll just rest my eyes a little bit, I thought, then keep reading. Just for a second. But sleep had me in its overwhelming clutches and soon I was dreaming of woodchips and magic and a dangerous, violet-eyed woman.

Luckily for me, I already knew most of the basic history of the Leaving that Myr Billy lectured on the next day. Its importance had been drummed into me by my tutors at home, as it was the beginning of the modern age and our current political and legal systems. My day had begun when an irritatingly bouncy Charlie had strode into my room and whisked back the curtains.

The Mentors had accompanied us to our second day at the Academy which started, as promised, with meditation. Myr Billy had written the words
Hấњấρ Ờѫầρ
on the board and had arranged the little floor seats in a rough circle in the area between our workbenches and the couches at the back. These seats were little more than cushions on the ground with a padded back support. Myr Billy indicated that we take a blanket from the pile, and we sat in a circle with crossed legs and covered our knees with the blankets.

“Good morning everyone. You will see I have written the words Hấњấρ Ờѫầρ on the board. Can you say that with me?”

“
Hyangyarh yomnyarh,
” we chanted.

“Good. This is what we call a mantra. Don’t worry about the translation, there is no exact meaning, except perhaps it is a declaration of a peaceful heart or peaceful intentions. We use
this mantra to help still our minds as we meditate. Now, you know the process, yes? It is a time for us to think about nothing. Yes, that’s right, nothing. We let go of the things that distract us, worry us, and we sit in peaceful nothingness. Now, rest your arms on your knees like this, and curl your middle finger up so that it touches your thumb. Good. Close your eyes and think about your breathing. Silently, as you breathe in say
Hấњấρ
, then
Ờѫầρ
as you breathe out. Very simple. Now, thoughts will come to you and that is okay. Acknowledge them, then push them away. Think of nothing but your breathing at the mantra. Does everyone understand? Good. Let’s begin.”

I curled my fingers together on my knees and closed my eyes. How hard could it be? I breathed in and thinking
Hấњấρ
in my head, then out, thinking
Ờѫầρ.
In and out. Hấњấρ Ờѫầρ. In and out.

Unbidden, thoughts of Sallagh came into my head, pretty blonde Sallagh with her upturned nose and sweet mouth and— Oh bollocks. Push it away. I tried to concentrate on the mantra, to keep my mind clear, but images and snatches of conversation kept popping in. Acknowledge them and push them away, I thought. Hấњấρ Ờѫầρ.

The half-hour stretched interminably. At one point Donnick gave a little snore, then started awake. Well, at least
I
hadn’t fallen asleep! I had had maybe a minute at most of empty breathing in between mind wanderings. Gawd, this meditation business was
hard
. Finally Myr Billy raised his hands and spoke quietly, “So mote it be,” and we opened our eyes.

“It’s difficult at first, I know, but like anything, practice does make perfect. I bet you all had screaming headaches after yesterday, yes? Well, this will help. Come, back to your desks.” Myr Billy stood from his seat with more grace than any one hundred and fifty year old should have and returned to the front of the classroom. The rest of us Bloodkin struggled to our feet and wobbled over to our desks, readying pens and paper for the lecture.

Myr Billy lectured about the Leaving for the rest of the morning as we scribbled furiously, giving us only a short break
for coffee somewhere in the middle. He talked about the young Queen Lilbecz, newly elected, and the taint that had begun to devastate the underground waterways, causing widespread illness in the Enclaves. We learned about the refugees that started arriving from villages near the surface, bloodied and weary after groups of Humans had broken into the tunnel system and attempted to massacre the Nea’thi populations. Queen Lilbecz had struggled valiantly to convince the Enclaves that something had to be done, and with the help of her Advisor she organised scouting parties from each of the Enclaves to go Outside to investigate the Human activity that threatened the Nea’thi.

Myr Billy described the horrors that greeted the scouts out in the Human world. What was now one country was then a number of smaller ones, mired in sectarian violence, priests and mullahs and power-hungry princes and presidents were ravaging the land. The industry of war was pumping pollution into the lakes and rivers that had seeped down and poisoned the water. Horrified by the reports she received, Queen Lilbecz gathered her supporters who enlisted regiments of Nea’thi, and in a concerted effort these armies opened the tunnels and went Outside to confront the warring Humans. The Humans reacted, predictably, with terror as the Nea’thi bore down on them, not using weapons, but Hầұeӣ to disarm and subdue fighters. The regiments swept through the countries from tunnel entrances in the north, south and east, as Humans fled west, away from these nightmare invaders from the deep, with their red eyes and magic, to meet in the giant port of Allyon, the seat of the most voracious of the city-princes. Warring factions of Human refugees reached an uneasy truce, but religious leaders began to preach about the end of the world, apocalypse, that the Nea’thi were vampires or demons of hell, unleashed by the wickedness of their traditional enemies.

Regiments of the three Enclaves met outside Allyon as the riots started and the city began to burn. Queen Lilbecz ordered her troops to quell the violence and put out the fires, and with one great push the regiments cleared the city walls. In the confusion
of the fighting however, the Queen was captured by a group of Humans and taken to the Prince, who shaved her head like a slave and paraded her from the walls of his palace. His High Priest, insane with fear, wanted to prove that the Nea’thi were immortal demons, fallen angels who had followed an evil god named Satan to hell, to rally the rioting Humans into fighting the invaders for the glory of God, so they would achieve their places in an afterlife called Heaven. He convinced the Prince to conduct a public beheading of the Queen on the steps of the palace, in full view of the crowds of Humans that had gathered below.

“Myr Billy?” Telgeth waved his hand around. “Why didn’t she just stop them? You know, with Hầұeӣ and stuff.”

“Ah yes, good question Telgeth. Now she could have, of course, created a shield or escaped or called for aid from the regiments who were just arriving. But she didn’t, which is why we revere her memory to this very day.”

Queen Lilbecz realised that the Humans needed to understand that the Nea’thi were not immortal demons. Longer lived than Humans, yes, but not creatures of Satan that could not be killed, so she made the ultimate sacrifice – her life. She gave a speech to the crowd before she was led to the block, a speech my tutors had made me learn by heart. She spoke of the Nea’thi, the Enclaves, Hầұeӣ, which wasn’t
really
magic, and her desire for nothing but peace for both races. As she was led to her death she called out the ancient Nea’thi words of ending and acceptance “So mote it be,” and was then beheaded on the steps of the palace, in front of a huge crowd of Humans and Nea’thi.

The Prince and High Priest, upon seeing her blood, just as red as theirs, spill onto the stones with no release of demonic spirit, realised they had made a terrible mistake and fell to their knees, weeping. The rest of the Human crowd, their emotions reinforced with Hầұeӣ from the grieving regiments, followed suit. Queen Lilbecz’ Advisor, a wise and ancient Nea’thi gentleman, had picked his way through the tearful crowd and climbed the steps to the palace, where he proclaimed a new republic for all the people of the land, and an eternal peace in the memory of their courageous Queen. The rest, as they say, is history.

Telgeth waved his hand again. “Myr Billy, how could the people understand what they were saying?”

“Another good question, Telgeth. Queen Lilbecz’ scouts had reported that the Humans spoke a language quite different to Nea’thi. It had taken the regiments almost a full year between the Leaving and the final events at Allyon. During that time, the Queen had made every effort to learn this strange language. Not all Humans had fled west, of course. Some more open-minded individuals had listened to the Nea’thi as they met and were swayed by their message of a non-religious future of peace and democracy. Many of these turned out to be Nea’thi-Bloods, like yourselves, their ability to use Hầұeӣ a pleasant surprise to the Queen and the regiments that detected them. One of these, a girl named Haylithia, not much older than yourselves at the time, became a particular friend of the Queen, and indeed later became the first Human Queen to be elected when order was restored and voting was held.” I knew all about Haylithia, of course, she had been a Jaelshead girl and we were particularly proud of the district’s contribution to the foundation of the country.

“She was the one who commanded the establishment of the Academies and provided for the proper education of the Nea’thi-Bloods. Of course I’m sure that this will be common knowledge for most of you.” Myr Billy waggled his eyebrows at the class. “You will be receiving more nuanced lessons on the Leaving, and indeed on pre-Leaving society from our friends in the History department later on in your course. But I think that is enough talk for one morning, yes? Tomorrow we will be looking more closely at these new systems the Nea’thi instituted.” Myr Billy wrote some names on the board, followed by chapter numbers as our required readings for the night.

“Now I’m sure you all practised with your candles last night, hmm? Good, well, this afternoon we will begin learning about Ћieл, in the form of oxygen-proof shields – the type used to douse fires. See you after lunch!”