As they followed the carpet out, Jen and Bror chatted enthusiastically in Queltan. Rienna recognized mentions of the king, but not much else. This left Rienna to her thoughts, which once again drifted to the lies that the Sovereign had told. She went through the cycle of thoughts many times before they reached the carriage, each time wondering what could be done about it. She was never able to come up with a viable answer.
The two other gate guards were already waiting for them at the carriage, at least Rienna thought they were from the gate. She had never really taken the time to remember their faces. She had just been too preoccupied with other things.
Getting into the carriage, Jen said, "I cannot believe the King thought Bror was a palace guard! It is one of the most honored positions! Maybe he will be promoted to palace guard one day." Once Rienna was seated she continued speaking, "The soldiers are going to drop us off near my instructor's office on the way back. It is not too far from the care center."
"Your instructor?" Rienna inquired as the carriage began moving.
"Yes, Mr. Kulendale. He is teaching me different languages, specifically yours," Jen said. The carriage passed over the drawbridge with a bump, causing Rienna to almost hit her head on the door.
Jen didn't seem to notice, "He works at the University. He told me about an ancient tablet with a language that they could not decipher. They think it has something to do with the origin of magic."
"That's why you're so interested in Xio's abilities," Rienna realized.
"Yes, learning about magic and its origin could greatly benefit Rufdand," Jen said. "Maybe Mr. Kulendale can show Xio some drawings when we get there."
"I would gladly help!" Xio piped up from Rienna's lap. Bror flinched, apparently having forgotten that Xio could speak. Xio sniffed and let out a little purr and Xia left her spot from under the seat and cuddled up next to Jen.
Rienna and Jen chatted for the rest of the ride discussing many things including the geography of the continent they were on. Vieryen and Rufdand resided in the Northwest part of the continent and were, though small, two of the three largest kingdoms in the entire continent. The largest lay more towards the central north at the edge of a giant desert. Rienna found it quite fascinating; until recently she had thought Vieryen was the only kingdom left in a flat world that went on forever.
Soon the carriage came to a stop in front of a modest stone building with a tall roof. There was a faded wood sign in front of the door with fancy cursive writing. It reminded her of a weird oddities shop back in Vieryen.
"Takk." Jen said to Bror as she jumped out of the carriage, "Come on, Rienna!"
Rienna picked up Xia and carefully left the carriage as Xio rushed in front of her. "Thank you." she said to Bror as she exited, and again to the guards in the front, though she wasn't sure whether they understood as much of her language as Bror did.
The moment both Rienna and Jen were safely in front of the building, the carriage began moving again as the guards directed the horses in front of them. I guess big goodbyes aren't their thing. Rienna stroked Xia's fur thoughtfully. Rienna looked at the sky, it was getting dark and she was pretty tired, she hoped that they would get back to go back to the care center soon.
"Mr. Kulendale is kind, but his hearing is not so great, so he will probably sound like he is yelling a lot. Other than that though, he is a rather quiet person," Jen said, opening the door slowly. "This place is technically a shop, but Mr. Kulendale lives upstairs and primarily works at the university."
"What sort of shop is this supposed to be?" Rienna asked.
"Originally I think it was a bookstore of some sort, but now Mr. Kulendale owns the place and just has never taken down the sign. Now it is like his office or classroom. This is where I go for my language classes." Jen walked through the door and held it open for Rienna and the cats. "Mr. Kulendale?!" She called out.
"So it's not a shop anymore?" Rienna clarified.
"Yes. It is a shop in every way except for the actual 'shop' part. It has even got a bell on the door that Kulendale absolutely hates," Jen responded.
Rienna looked up and saw the bell Jen was talking about. "Why doesn't he get rid of it?"
Jen sighed, "I do not know. Maybe he likes complaining about it." She shrugged then called out again, "Qun. Kulendale?!"
They were in a small hallway with framed paintings along the glossy, red-stained wooden walls. A voice came from around the corner, "Jen, er det du?"
"Ja!" Jen said as a man came around the corridor.
"Med, deter ikke triveren din," Mr. Kulendale said in confusion. He looked to be of the older sort. About in his fifties or sixties, with thin white hair and a scruffy beard.
"Yes, but I wanted to introduce you to Rienna and Xio," Jen said enthusiastically.
"Mrow!" Xia gave an indignant meow.
"Also Xia," Jen added quickly.
"You wanted to introduce me to cats? At six in the evening?" Mr. Kulendale said, easily switching his language to match Jen's.
"And Rienna!" Jen said with a defensive tone. "Also, I had not realized it was that late in the day," She added a little sheepishly.
Mr. Kulendale looked at Rienna, then back at Jen. He sighed. "Well, okay then. Come sit down," he said, gesturing around the corridor. "Would you like any tea, Rienna?"
"Um... no thank you," Rienna said.
"Alright, then. Come this way." He said, walking back around the corridor.
Jen, Rienna, and the cats followed the professor silently into a cozy room with walls lined with bookcases filled with books of many varieties. In the center of the room was a green circular rug, a circular table, and a few chairs with light blue circular cushions. He sure likes circles. Rienna thought, looking at the large amount of circles in the center of the room.
Once everyone was seated Mr. Kulendale spoke out, "So, why did you want to introduce me to cats and a child from the Crystal Sorceress’s realm? Also, why is a child from there even in Rufdand?"
"How did you know I was from Vieryen?" Rienna asked from her cushion on the floor. (Xio had taken the last available chair.)
"You look like you are from the Sorceress's realm. I also noticed you don't speak Queltan," The professor explained. "Anyways, why are you here again?"
How do I look different from anyone else? Rienna thought.
Meanwhile, Jen answered her teacher, "Xio can understand and speak any written or spoken language. I thought that maybe you could show him some of your notes on that ancient tablet?"
"Ah, so he's magic. Here, I think I have some papers with sketches of different words somewhere in this table," Kulendale responded, opening a drawer that Rienna hadn't noticed existed. "Here we go. This is the word we believe means magic and some phrases that include it." He put a couple of papers on top of the round table. "Have a look, Xio."
Xio jumped from his chair and onto the table to look at the notes. After a moment he said, "The word does not quites mean magic. It doesn't haves a word in either of your languages. 'Magic' is the closest word, but it is not quite right. Sees, this sentence, 'Youn potrolveil fu willion' would mean, 'Modern mages use magic.' which would be true but not necessary or useful in a document about magic."
The room sat in silence for a moment. "So you are saying that the word stands for a type of magic rather than magic itself?" Kulendale asked.
"More like a method of magic," Xio corrected. "But, yes --the word not mean magic. The word for magic would be 'tyle.' It is spelled with the third character of the word you thought was magic, then the first character, then the last two characters of that word here, and finally the fourth character here." he said, pointing out the words and characters with his small paws.
"One moment," Kulendale said excitedly, jumping out of his chair. He ran out through a door and quickly came back with a notebook and pencil in his hand. "Which characters did you say?"
Rienna and Jen watched with fascination as Xio pointed out characters to Kulendale and then began translating other words and phrases. Soon Xio began speaking in Queltan, to Kulendale's delight, and Rienna could no longer understand a word they were saying. Eventually, Mr. Kulendale had filled five pages with translations and pronunciations and Rienna had fallen asleep from boredom and exhaustion.
Rienna woke to Xia batting her face. Kulendale was putting his notes away and Jen was standing up from her chair. Rienna yawned, it had been a rather eventful day and she hadn't gotten much sleep the night before because, well, she had snuck out of Rufdand in the middle of the night during a storm. In fact, she probably hadn't gotten any sleep for over sixteen hours.
"What time is it?" Rienna asked, sitting up.
"About half past nine," Jen said.
Rienna yawned again. "Do you usually stay up this late? How are you still awake after all that has happened today?"
"I usually go to sleep around ten thirty, and I've gone longer without sleep."
Rienna just shook her head in amazement. I wonder if I'll be able to stay awake that long when I'm older, she thought, trying to imagine what she would be like in a few years. It was hard though, she no longer knew where she would be in the future, her entire perspective on life had changed in just five days.
"Well, despite how late it is, I am glad you came here," Mr. Kulendale said as everyone began standing up, "It has truly been a pleasure."
"Thank you, Qun. Kulendale," Jen said. "I am glad Xio could help you so much."
"Yes, me too. Goodbye, Jen. Goodbye, Rienna. Have a good night." Kulendale said, starting to gently herd them out of the room and out the door. He picked up a lantern from somewhere out of sight and lit it, "Here, have a light. Jen, you can return it the next time we meet."
"Goodbye, Qun. Kulendale. I'll return the lantern," Jen said, grabbing the light.
"Yes, thank you, goodbye," he said, then shut the door behind them.
Rienna stared at the door. "Well, that was strange," She commented.
Jen began walking down the now very empty and very dark road. "Yeah..." she said. "He gets kind of pushy when he wants you to leave. Also, he is kind of old. Old people are weird sometimes."
"I guess so..." Rienna began following Jen through the dark. She knew Jen said the care center was nearby, but she hoped it was not even a five-minute walk, she was just so tired. She was also very much disappointed. She had completely forgotten that the center was entirely out of town, so they had to walk for almost fifteen minutes.
As soon as they got inside Rienna said, "Do I get the same room?"
"Yes," Jen responded.
"Awesome. Thanks," Rienna said, slowly walking towards the hallway with all of the rooms. Her movements were sluggish and slow as she moved towards her room. "Follow me, Xio, Xia," she said.
Despite her slowness, Rienna was soon at her door. She let the cats in, then she closed the door and collapsed on the bed. I hope I never have a day this tiring again, She thought. She almost tried thinking more about the day, but it wasn't long before she and her cats were fast asleep.
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