In Retrospect, a Really Bad Idea
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Spike was just about to rinse a length of freshly-died
cloth when Waei stormed into his workshop. Rali, who was perched on a workbench
on the far side of the room, squealed and jumped down, running over to greet
her grandfather.
"Ah, Rali-madaliel! Are you enjoying watching
Laio?" Waei asked, swinging the little girl high into the air.
Rali giggled and nodded her head, flapping her wings as
Waei tossed her around. "He's making me a new tunic!"
"Is he now?" Waei commented, setting Rali back
down on the bench, safely away from the various chemicals, plants and open
fires of the dyeshop. "Perhaps he can make some
sort of restraint for our honored guests' children."
Spike's head jerked up from the dye vat when he heard the
muttered comment. "Xander's children? What did
they do this time?"
Waei growled—not a common occurrence. "Oh,
nothing…other than knocking the glass out of four windows, breaking or bending all
the hanging rods in the marketplace, and tearing up one of the public gardens?"
"Today?" Spike asked weakly. That was a lot
of damage.
"In the last three hours," Waei amended quickly.
"They're a menace. No wonder Vaishi and Fain were hurt by them. They
should be captured and sold as weapons of war! With them around, no one would
ever need to invade—people would leave of their own accord!"
Spike winced. He'd hoped that the siv's integration into
life in Na'alha would go smoothly—Xander and his two mates would find places
for themselves and the two children would begin lessons. Part of that hope had
materialized—Pairdra and Saelen were quickly welcomed by the warriors' guild as
instructors. They had enough experience in different fighting disciplines to be
an asset to the hold, and they were confident enough teachers to get their
points across.
Xander hadn't been so lucky. His only truly strong point
was swimming, and they didn't need instructors for that—unlike the siv, most
dalhari learned as children, and the hold had enough teachers already. His
building skills were inappropriate for dalhari holds, and he didn't have even
the experience of an advanced apprentice. Eventually the family had decided to
put Xander in charge of the kids—not something he was happy about, but he
managed.
The kids were the truly disappointing part of the family's
adaptation, however. They spoke siv and trade, as well as a few basic words in
dalhari. That wouldn't have been a problem except that they didn't really want
to take lessons in private as most dalhari children did. They were used to
classroom settings, like what the dalhari had at university. The siv youth were
also uninterested in the topics the dalhari teachers prepared for them. Mai'zi
had already decided that she wanted to be a warrior, so she didn't want to
study languages, and only a few things about science captured her interest.
History fascinated her because of the battles, but she only wanted to study siv
history. Hainien was a bit better since he had a real interest in botany, but
he fell asleep during language lessons and mathematics.
Regardless of how poorly the performed in studying,
though, no one wanted them to stop being instructed. When those two kids got
outside the classroom, the entire hold shuddered. Xander wasn't doing a very
good job of keeping control of his kids; he would let them do whatever they
wanted without any supervision for most of the day. What that meant was a pair
of siv adolescents running around the hold, getting into everything. They had
blatantly ignored both Xander's and the elders' admonitions to refrain from
climbing on the buildings, so they could invariably be found many feet in the
air, clinging to ledges and jumping from wall to wall. It unnerved the dalhari,
who tended to fly and climb about their buildings with more care and caution.
When Xander did bother to reprimand his kids, it was
completely ineffective. He would make them go to their rooms for the evening or
lecture them about misbehaving, but nothing seemed to work. They would stay
quiet for a day or two before acting up again. Unless whatever they did
bothered Xander or someone complained to him, nothing whatsoever was done about
them. It didn’t' help Xander any that no one in his family was talking to him
very much; Spike wasn't sure what was going on there, but he got the impression
from Vaishi and Fain that it had to do with his harsh treatment of the others
during their trip to Na'alha. Apparently Xander had been unkind to his mates
and children.
"Maybe they need some sort of structured
activity," Spike suggested after a few minutes of thinking. "A responsibility, like weeding a garden or collecting an
herb."
Waei frowned. "Hmm…it's an idea. I'll discuss it with
Gaha. In the meantime, though, see if you can say something to Xander. We're
trying very hard to be hospitable, but this time those two have caused
expensive damage. The glass they shattered will have to be ordered from Jitalos; it was the dark purple Gaha so admires."
Spike swore softly. "Does she know yet?" He did
not want to be around when the Mirh elder found out
that four panes of her favorite glass had been ruined.
"No. I'll tell her this evening," Waei replied.
"Save the shards. Perhaps one of the artisans can
make a mosaic out of it," Spike offered.
"Good thought," Waei said on his way out. "Although we'd best give it to someone else. I doubt
Gaha would want a constant reminder of those two anywhere near her."
After Waei was gone, Rali ventured off the workbench to
watch her father hang up the newly dyed cloth. "It's blue!" She said
happily, admiring the fabric that would become her new tunic.
"That it is, Rali-love. While it dries, I need to
change the dye a little so it's the right color for another order," Spike
told his daughter. "Do you want to help me with that?"
Rali nodded vigorously, fuchsia curls bouncing everywhere.
Spike picked her up and set her on the edge of his main work table while he
collected a few supplies. The dye was a bit too bright for the order of cloak
material he was about to complete, so he needed to dull it down a bit. A bit of
raw urush would do the trick.
Opening one large jar, he handed Rali several small hunks of the mineral.
"You toss those in the mortar, one at a time,"
He said as he picked up the grinding instrument. Rali had a great time playing
with him, trying to avoid the pestle as she threw in little pieces of the
stuff. Once it was done, he picked her up with one arm and took up the mortar
in the other hand. "Now, sprinkle the urush into
the vat, Rali." Rali reached over and threw in the pulverized material,
watching as it sunk to the bottom of the vat. It would need to heat for at
least two hours, and preferably overnight, before it was ready.
"Do you want to go find Del?" Spike asked Rali
once they'd cleaned up.
"For lunch," Rali responded as she dried her
hands. Spike put a screen around the fire and closed the shutters before
following his daughter out of the dyeshop.
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Hainien followed Mai'zi down the hall, bouncing off the
high-relief carvings on the walls. "Wait up!" He cried, watching with
dismay as she darted down one hallway.
Mai'zi slowed a bit so that Hainien could see where she
was going. The young siv darted out one door, narrowly avoiding a dalhari who
was entering the building she'd just left. She turned around in time to see
Hainien barrel out the same doorway, rolling right between the startled
dalhari's legs.
"Where are y'going?" Hainien asked as they darted through the
streets. Mai'zi shrugged and kept on going.
"I don't know; somewhere we've not been to yet,"
She replied, spotting a large building they'd not explored so far. The main
entrance was open, so she ran inside, with Hainien right behind her. The
interior was cool and dark, and the siv blinked a few times until their eyes
adjusted.
"It smells funny in here," Hainien commented as
they roamed the halls.
"It's cold too," Mai'zi complained, shivering.
"But not in here," She said, poking her head into one room.
"There's a fire!"
Hainien followed Mai'zi into the room, which was indeed a
lot warmer than the hallway. A large fire blazed merrily in a free-standing
fireplace, surrounded by a screen and several huge vats that seemed to sit
almost inside the fire. "What is this place?"
"I think it's the weavers' guild," Mai'zi said,
pointing to a length of vibrant blue cloth suspended from the ceiling. "See?"
Hainien nodded, studying the room. "What's in
those?" He asked, gesturing toward the dye vats.
"Let's see," Mai'zi replied, climbing onto a
stool to look into the pots. It was really hot next to the fires, and little
wisps of vapor could be seen rising from the surface of inky-black liquid.
"I dunno. Maybe it's the stuff they used to dye
that fabric blue. The other pots are empty."
Hainien climbed up as well, frowning into the opaque
fluid. "How do they make dye?"
Mai'zi got down and walked over to a storage shelf.
"They use this stuff---grind it up and toss it in the water, then put in
fabric or fiber and let it sit!"
"Wow. That sounds neat," Hainien said, moving
over to study the shelves. He couldn't read the labels, but there were bunches
of different words on the hundreds of jars. Some things were in huge bins set
into the wall—they must use a lot of those for dying. Other things were simply
tiny mounds of dust in little jars—those dyes wouldn't color very much, he
guessed.
"Look! We eat this for breakfast!" Mai'zi said,
holding up a dried leaf. "I wonder what color it dyes things?"
"Only one way to find out," Hainien said,
pointing to the fire place. Mai'zi grinned and ran over to it, holding the leaf
over the pot.
"No, they grind the stuff up first. Must work better
that way," Mai'zi said, carrying the leaf back over to the table.
"Hand me one of those grindy-things,
Hainien." Hainien retrieved a mortar and pestle from one shelf and gave it
to Mai'zi, before getting one of his own. She powdered the leaf and dumped it
into an empty pot. Meanwhile, Hainien looked through several jars before
picking up three and carrying them over to the work table. He upended two of
them right away before selecting five or six leaves out of the third. They were
soon ground and his contribution joined Mai'zi's in the pot.
"Anything else?" Hainien asked as his sister
prowled through the shelves.
"Yeah. There's something they use to make
the dye stick in the fabric—I remember that from watching somebody dye yarn in
Caildin. It smells funny—just a sec," She said, opening and sniffing jars.
A minute later, she returned to Hainien carrying a mortar full of a powdery
gray substance. "This is it!" She said, tossing in what amounted to
two pounds of mordant.
"Now we need water," Hainien said, looking
around.
"Over there," Mai'zi said, eyeing a faucet on
one wall. They found a couple of smaller buckets and quickly started filling
the vat with water. It took many, many trips, because the vat was huge and they
couldn't carry but so much water at once. Eventually, though, the thing was
full.
The kids perched on stools and watched as the stuff they'd
put in the vat started seeping color into the water. "Shouldn't we stir
it?" Hainien said, picking up a long wooden rod. Mai'zi nodded and took
the staff from him, sinking it into the vat and moving it around. It was hard
work, so Hainien reached over to help her stir. The liquid began to turn a dark
color, quickly becoming black.
"Oh, I wanted something besides black," Mai'zi
muttered sadly, looking at the murky liquid.
"It might not be, y'know,"
Hainien replied. "After all, that stuff looks black, but I bet it made
that blue color on the fabric."
Mai'zi looked over at the other dye with hope in her eyes.
"Yeah. Is there any fabric around here?"
Hainien got off his stool and prowled around the shop. The
only fabric he could find was a huge bolt of heavy wool piled on a table in the
corner. "Help me with this," He said, tugging at the bolt. Mai'zi got
up and helped him carry the fabric over. Hainien unrolled part of the fabric
and dunked it into the dye. When he pulled it out, it looked the same.
"That didn't do anything."
"It takes time, stupid," Mai'zi said, pushing
more fabric in. "Just dump in the rest," She said, shoving fabric
into the vat.
"There's not enough room!" Hainien said, noting
how full the vat was getting.
"Dip some out with the bucket," Mai'zi said,
handing him one of the ones they'd used to fill the vat. Hainien dipped out
some of the dye, looking for a place to put it. He poured the first bucket into
the other dye vat, which had a lot of space left in it. Figuring that was a
good a place as any to put the excess dye, he poured seven more buckets full of
dye into the other while Mai'zi fed in the last of the woolen fabric.
"Now we wait, right?" Hainien asked once they
were done.
"Yes, but it might take a really long time. We'd
better just come back tomorrow," Mai'zi replied. "Besides, I'm hungry."
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Del felt her daughter run into her legs before she saw the
girl or Laio in the doorway. She looked up from a mountain of papers she was
supposed to be reading to greet her mate. "Laio, it's been…what, ten
hours?"
"And now it's time for lunch," Spike replied
sweetly. "Or have you already eaten?"
"I'm hungry!" Rali announced, climbing into
Del's lap.
"You're always hungry," Del amended, hugging her
daughter close. "Come on, we'll find something to eat."
Del led Spike out of the office and through the forge. The
day was bright and sunny—it was too bad that the forge was so far behind in its
paperwork. She wanted to kill the master in charge of it, since he had been the
one to slack off. But seeing Rali and Laio made it impossible to stay in a bad
mood, so by the time they got to their quarters, she was smiling again.
"And what is it you want for lunch, Rali?" Del asked her squirming
daughter.
"Verdrin
and yimkia with paz!" Rali exclaimed. Spike nodded and
began to prepare a pot of the thick, spicy porridge. Meanwhile, Del took Rali
into the bathroom, where she scrubbed off a little remaining dye and got the
girl ready for bed. They had gotten up yesterday evening, so it was about time
for all of them to get a good day's sleep. By the time the two of them were
finished bathing, Spike was finished with meal preparation and has ready to
bathe himself.
Half an hour later the threesome sat down to a fresh, hot
meal. Rali entertained herself by playing in the soft paz grain briefly before eating her share. While she
did that, Spike and Del conversed over the day's events.
"Did Waei stop by the dyeshop
today?" Del asked over her lunch.
Spike nodded and grinned. "Those two kids are going
to be the end of him, aren't they?" He said lightly. His face turned
serious after a moment. "Although something does have to
be done about them. Replacing those windows and the hanging rods will be
expensive."
"The rods might be salvageable," Del said. Part
of Waei's visit had been to negotiate their repair.
"But the glass…well, Gaha isn't going to be pleased with that."
"No, no she isn't," Spike agreed. "Nor will
the other elders. I'm not happy with the situation either. It's not
acceptable."
"They aren't behaving well. Why won't Xander and the
others make them behave?" Del asked hotly. Spike shrugged.
"Xander grew up with parents that didn't care what he
did so long as he didn't draw any attention to himself. Unfortunately, he's the
parent who spends the most time with the kids. Pairdra and Saelen are usually
working."
"If Rali was like those two, I'd spend all my time
working as well," Del remarked.
"If you were like Xander, I'd spend all my time with
Rali, even if she acted like Mai'zi and Hainien," Spike shot back.
"You do spend all your time with Rali," Del
said, smirking.
"Not all my time," Spike replied, frowning.
"At least…" Del snorted.
"It's what you do when you have children, Laio. In
another decade or so she'll spend more time studying and less time following
you around."
"I know," Spike said sadly. He liked his
daughter. She was this miraculous thing that seemed to have loved him from the
moment she was born. Oh, she felt the same for Del, but for Spike it was truly
a gift beyond compare. Only his daughter and Del had ever expressed such strong
emotional ties to him, and allowed him to feel that way in return.
Rali, the daughter in question, had by now finished her
lunch and had fallen asleep, slumping back on the soft
pillows she sat on. Spike got up and carried her to bed, tucking warm, thick
blankets all around her. When he got back to the main room, Del was about
finished cleaning up, so he helped her do the last of the chores. "You
aren't going back out today, are you?" He asked hopefully.
Del snorted. "No. paperwork isn't that
interesting."
Spike smiled. "You'd rather do something else?"
Del just looked at him. "It was worth a shot."
The aqua dalhari grinned evilly and pushed Spike back
toward their bedroom. "Close the door," She said as Spike spun her
around and through the doorway. Spike obediently shut the door and pressed Del
against it, rubbing their bodies together. They may have been together for a
century, but it didn't feel that way for Spike. To him it was like they had
gotten bonded yesterday.
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"They WHAT!?!"
Waei flinched as his normally calm mate screamed at the
top of her lungs. On the floor at her feet was a large bowl full of dark purple
glass shards. "Gaha…"
"Where are those little animals?" She raged, her
skin darkening dramatically. Waei reached out and captured her hands before she
started clawing things in her anger.
"We'll deal with this. It is something for all the
elders to do," Waei reminded her. "And I'm preparing an order for
replacement glass."
"It won't match," Gaha pouted, staring down at
the broken windows.
"Then we'll make a mosaic of the different shades.
And, we can have the broken windows made into a hanging."
"Why would I want a reminder of those horrid little
things?" Gaha asked her mate.
"Laio said the same thing," Waei muttered under
his breath. "It doesn't have to be for you, Gaha."
"Fine, but whatever we decide on had better work, or
those siv, honored guests or not, are going to have to leave Na'alha. We can't
just keep replacing everything they destroy," Gaha stated firmly. Waei
nodded his agreement and led Gaha to a pile of cushions. She needed to relax a
little.