Sarah Zettel: Reclamation

“I see. Is there anything else?”

Eric suppressed a sigh and straightened his shoulders. “I don’t think so. Whenever you’re ready, Ambassador.”

Eric stood back while Basq used the first two fingers on his right hand to tap an uneven rhythm on the surface of the door. The door slid away, creating a breeze that ruffled Basq’s scarlet wrappings.

The Notouch jerked her head up. Her eyes did not go round with shock or fear at the sight of Basq, which Eric would have expected, but narrowed to dark slits. The sight of Eric, though, made her draw back in her chair.

Eric walked into the room, keeping to one side of Basq. The Notouch did not kneel as she should have before another of the People. She just watched him come toward her. The pattern of the formal greeting of a Teacher to a Notouch came to Eric easily, as if he’d spoken it yesterday, not ten years ago.

He raised both hands with the palms turned toward the woman. “I stand in the place of the Nameless Powers and the Servant Garismit and so do I greet you who were named when the Powers walked the world.” The words of his native language felt strange, almost unwieldy, against his tongue. “I was named by them Teacher Hand kenu Lord Hand on the Seablade dena Enemy of the Aunorante Sangh. How did they name you, Notouch?”

For a moment she just stared at his unmarked hands. Then, the corner of her mouth twitched.

“So, it’s true. You did climb the World’s Wall.” She used the “level-eye” permutations and, for a minute, Eric wasn’t sure if she was insulting him or just talking to herself.

Despite himself, Eric was startled. “Who are ‘they’, Notouch?”

“Gossipers, Teacher. Heretics. It’s been ten years since you vanished and there were all sorts of stories.” She spoke directly to him now and still didn’t change her speech patterns. Her mouth spread into a knowing grin. “Tell me, are the birth ranks really observed in this place? His people are all bare as children.” She jerked her chin toward Basq. “Come to that, so are you.”

“What is she saying?” Basq cut in.

“Nothing you’d be interested in yet, Ambassador.” Eric lowered his hands. This was not behavior he’d ever seen from a Notouch. They bowed and groveled. They begged to be of use, any use at all. He understood that law and custom that made them behave that way, not natural inclination. Not really. But it had taken him a decade’s absence to work that out, and this woman had apparently just been plucked out of the canyons.

“I will decide what interests me, Eric Born.” A warning sounded clearly under the ice in Basq’s voice.

“You can talk to them?” The Notouch sounded genuinely impressed. “Tell them to give me my namestones back.”

“She’s asking about her namestones,” Eric told Basq.

Basq’s forehead drew together around where his eyebrows should have been. “What about them?”

“She wants them back.” Eric raised his own eyebrows and gave a small shrug. “I did tell you, Ambassador.”

Basq made no reply and Eric turned his attention back to the woman.

“You haven’t told me how to call you yet.”

“Nameless Powers preserve me.” She slid off the chair onto both knees and held her hands in front of her eyes to display her hand marks. “Teacher Hand kenu Lord Hand on the Seablade dena Enemy of the Aunorante Sangh, this despised one is Stone in the Wall dena Aria Born of the Black Wall. She craves your blessing and asks in what way she may serve?”

Without waiting for an answer, she picked herself up off the floor and folded her arms. The sardonic smile slid back into place.

Eric worked to smooth the grimace out of his own features. “She says that she is Stone in the Wall, born…originally…” He searched for a way to translate the primary name into something that would fit in Basq’s world. “Star in the Night Sky. A bit grandiose for a Notouch, isn’t it?” he added to the woman.

“This despised one begs her Teacher’s pardon if that name is discordant.” The casual shrug she gave him made a mockery of her subservient language. “It is what the Nameless Powers bestowed upon her.”

Frustration and bewilderment vied for dominance inside Eric. Where did they find her?

Never mind, he told himself. I need any help I can get.

“Listen quick, Aria Born of the Black Wall, do you want to stay with these people?”

Her eyes shifted toward Basq. “Not really. But I’m not leaving this place until I’ve found my stones.”

“You idiot Notouch.” Eric fought to keep his tone conversational. “We’re both pris—”

“Have you explained her status to her?” Basq’s shell of patience was clearly beginning to wear thin. “I have an extensive list of questions.”

Eric spread his hands. “She’s very upset about those stones.” He could do a great deal on his own, but another pair of eyes at the right time could make the difference between freedom and recapture. If getting her namestones back would put him on the right side of this superstitious woman, very well then. Besides, the more time he spent on this nonsense, the less time Basq would have to get what he wanted. “I can’t swear she’ll answer anything until she gets them back. I’ll try to make things clearer to her.”

Eric faced the Notouch again. “Do you want your namestones back?”

“If it so pleases her Teacher, this despised one does.” For a split second, the sarcasm faded.

“All right. For some reason his people"—he swept his hand at Basq in a gesture that was much grander than the language he was using—"want you to answer some questions. No matter what I say after this, you keep your mouth shut until they bring your namestones back, understand?”

The Notouch plunked herself down on the chair. She looked up at him with her lips pressed dramatically together.

Eric spread his hands to Basq again. “She won’t talk until she gets her namestones back.”

Basq said nothing, but Eric could see anger forming in his normally impassive eyes.

“Listen to me, Ambassador. Try to understand. This Notouch is a believer. What you…we…think of as a superstitious and primitive religion is reality to her. She can’t disregard it any more than you can disregard the laws of physics, do you understand?” Never mind that she’s already broken a dozen or more tenets just by the way she’s been talking to me. “ She’ll act according to what she knows as real. Those stones are onar, a…a…bond between her and the Nameless Powers. She’ll die before she helps the ones who have them.”

Come on, swallow it. Swallow it, you arrogant dandy.

Eric waited while Basq thought. He could almost hear the circuits buzzing in the other man’s head. Nothing was plain here. Nothing clear or simple.

What in the Realm of the Nameless do you want with Notouch talismans?

Who in the Realm of the Nameless is this Notouch you’ve found?

And how do I get myself out of here before you translate this conversation for yourselves? Eric did not glance at the walls. It would have been pointless. There was no way he was going to be able to see Vitae surveillance equipment.

Two red spots had appeared on Basq’s cheeks. “Tell her that she will speak. We will hurt her if we have to.”

Eric translated the declaration into the Realm’s most formal command grammar. “The Skyman says if dena Aria Born of the Black Wall does not speak, they will torture her.”

She just looked at him and said nothing.

Eric waited for what seemed a decent interval. “You are either going to have to give her back the namestones, or hurt her,” he told Basq. “I’ve made the situation as plain as I can.”