“It sounds beautiful. I didn’t think anyone was allowed in Southern Nerathane,” Jala replied trying to mentally picture what the child described.
“My mother was. She went everywhere in Sanctuary,” Emily said, a bit of pride in her voice as well as sadness. “I wish I hadn’t hurt her,” she said after a long moment her voice fainter.
“I lost both of my parents too,” Jala said quietly, unsure what else to say. Perhaps if Emily knew she could understand the pang of loss, it would make it a bit easier for her. Misery did seem to love company.
“She loved me. That’s what makes the difference between me and the other Blights. Their mothers despised them and everything they got when they scanned minds was hate and loathing. I scanned and found love,” Emily said, her voice dropping back down to a whisper.
Jala nodded thoughtfully and ran a hand through Marrow’s thick fur, silent for a long moment. “I think that’s what makes a difference for all of us Emily. There are quite a few in this world that are not Blights but are still monsters,” she said quietly as they reached the stairs to the main hall.
Conversation ended as she headed up the stairs and through the thick double doors. Marrow walked along behind her silently and she hoped Emily was still close but had no way of telling. Ignoring the looks from the other students she headed into the Geography lecture hall and climbed to the top row of the seating. It was more difficult to hear at these heights but few other people sat on the top row. She had an advantage, though, even if she missed something the teacher was saying Marrow wouldn’t and could tell her what was said. Dropping her bag lightly in the chair beside her she sat down and looked over the mostly empty room. It was still several minutes before class and most were still in the hall gossiping. All of the friends she had were more advanced in their schooling, though, and she truly had no desire to gossip with strangers. It would be a safe bet that most of the gossip in the hall right now was about her, a topic she really didn’t care to pay attention to.
Leaning heavily on the desktop she looked down at the small circle where the teacher would stand and tried to make out what land they would be discussing today. As usual the map for the day was already up and she could make out the small scattered forms of the Seravae Isles. Smiling, she leaned back in her seat and took out her notebook. With a quick toss of the cover she flipped it to the notes she had made when she read the chapter in the book on the islands and quickly read over them.
“That’s not right,” Emily said quietly beside her.
Jala looked up from the notebook and glanced to the side of her where the voice had come from. “What’s not right?” she asked quietly taking care to make sure no one else was nearby. The last thing she needed was a rumor to start about her talking to herself.
“What they say about Seravae, all of the islands are inhabited not just three of them. All five of them have people. It’s just the two smaller ones are …” She trailed off as if searching for a word. “Uhh, not big houses I guess. They are different, more elite, only certain people can go there,” she finished.
Reaching into her bag Jala pulled out her book and flipped it open to the page showing the Seravae isles and studied the island chain. “It’s all supposed to be ruled by the House of Reavers,” she said after quickly scanning over the text to make sure her notes were correct.
“It’s not. The big island to the south is controlled by the Soulblades, the one just above it is controlled by the Spiritcallers, and the one in the north is led by the Wraiths. They are three separate orders, even though everyone else calls them houses, they aren’t,” Emily explained in a flood of whispers.
“It doesn’t say anything about that in the book,” Jala protested quietly flipping pages and scanning over the words quickly. “If they aren’t houses what are they?”
“The Soulblades are warriors, the Spiritcallers are Shamans, and the Wraiths are rogues. In order to become a Soulreaver you must pass through all three islands of training and attain at least three circles of each. The smaller island to the east is called the Reaver’s Island, even though the Official ruling house of Seravae is on the Soulblade isle, which is called the Wendesha isle by them by the way, in honor of one of the first Soulblade to reach ten circles on Sanctuary,” Emily explained. By her voice Jala guessed she was seated in the chair next to her and looking over the book as well.
How is it that she doesn’t know to brush her hair but she knows the advanced history of the Soulreavers? Marrow asked dryly.
I think when she scans minds she looks for the most valuable information and glazes over what we see as trivial mundane knowledge, Jala replied keeping the conversation mental to avoid insulting Emily.
“I still scan minds, and the two of you project your thoughts very loudly. The instinct is to go for information on magic, fighting, surroundings, and such. It didn’t occur to me at all to look for hygiene in my scans,” Emily said, not sounding offended in the least. “You know the Seravae islands are the reason the Academy calls its training circles. In Seravae, when a child passes a certain level of training, a circle is tattooed on his back. The left shoulder for swords, the right shoulder for stealth, and the center of the back for shamans training since to them the mastery of spirits is considered the most important,” she explained further, obviously enjoying the fact that she had more knowledge on the subject than the book did.
“How many circles are there for each?” Jala asked, flipping her notebook to a fresh page and taking notes once again.