Book 2, Chapters 7-11: Kagnyaa

This takes place after Book 2

“You have to leave your room for something other than classes at some point.”  Kagnyaa’s teammates were standing outside her door, Govezze calling in through the slightly-opened door.  They were taking their lives in their hands, risking irritating martial house.

But they weren’t moving.

“I don’t see any reason to do that.”  

Kagnyaa was not having a good time of it.  Staying in her room seemed like the most reasonable way to handle things.

“Oh, by the Three and their books and all the things they turn their heads at,” complained her surviving roommate,  Kelmoolkie. “Let them in so I can study, would you? You’ve been ridiculous ever since Her Highness-”

“Don’t call her that!”

“I will call her whatever I want, and you can fight me over it or learn to accept it,” Kelkie countered.  “Come on in, you two. She’s being ridiculous.”

“You said that already” Kagnyaa complained.

“So, ah.”  Taabletaab cleared his throat.  “I, ah. I tailored a couple uniforms for you and did some Martial embroidery on the linens…”  He was carrying an armload of navy, orange-red, and red. “I noticed you, uh, you’d gone back to the base uniform.”

“I hate it all.”  She slouched further on her bed.  “I hate all of it. The fancy clothes, the fancy hair.  I despise it.”

“So.”  Govezze sat down on the edge of Kagnyaa’s bed.  She was carrying some ribbons in various shades of red and a comb.  “I did some reading on ancient warriors and their braiding patterns.  I know you don’t want to do the whole thing with the royal patterns anymore, but you’re of House [].  You’re a warrior. So I thought that something like this….” She reached out. Taabletaab handed her a book and she flipped it open to a diagram.  “Something like this?” This time, it was a question.

Kagnyaa wanted to just turn away.  They were trying to get her out of the room, and it was useless.  “I was an idiot,” she complained.  “I was worshiping someone who was useless.  Worse than useless! She was a liar and a cheat and she was – I was an idiot,” she repeated.  

“A little,” Govezze agreed.  “But you’re our idiot. So. This is a warrior from the very early times.  Her name was Govezgovvie – I think I was named after her” she admitted shyly.  “But I’m not the warrior. That’s you. So what do you think?”

Kagnyaa made herself look at the pattern, really look at it.  It looked start and simple, until you noticed the number of strands in the three braids.  “Do you think you could…?”

“Of course I can.  And for you, of course I would.  But first, into that uniform. Taabletaab did a lot of work.  And it’ll look more you than the frou-frou and a lot more you than wandering around in an ill-fitting sack.  All right?”

Her friends had gone to a lot of effort.  They had done research for her.

“All right.”  She hesitated.  “I mean. Thank you.”

So Solace went and gave me two Books of all the characters, and thus is getting all the Edally ficlets ever. 

This one takes place sometime around the time Riensin is talking to Instructor Dainanan about aether in textile codes. 

Book 2, Chapters 1-6: Denedien

“Now class.” Instructor Dainanan leaned forward, smiling.  “While this is a class mainly on theory, we are always going to have some practice involved.  So each of you has a small piece of linen and several colors of embroidery thread. We no longer know exactly how the ancients wove aether into their outfits, but what we do know is how they sometimes put codes and meanings into their embroidery.  Work in small teams, come up with a code, and see if you can work in something that your teammates can read.”

Denedien looked at his school-assigned teammates and stifled a sigh.  They were nice people. They were even clever people. Uzharrienie was even quite pretty.  Kivsi was very entertaining. But they had absolutely no interest in the finer things in life. Continue reading →

Chapter 20-end, Book One: Davenpor (When much younger)

“Can you take pets to school?”

The carriage that went to Edally Academy from the middle of the country had five people in it, and four of them were students headed for Edally.  

Technically, the carriage went from Ossulund to Ilelteddez, but it had stopped in Kuddyinnie, the city where Davenpor lived, and three other cities.  Only Loonnoozhno had gotten on in Ossulund..

And only Davenpor had a carrier full of weasels.  “They’re not pets,” he explained. He had been explaining this for a very long time.  “They’re companions, except Lazlyu, who is more of a, well, a working weasel.” Continue reading →

Chapter 12-18, Book One: Tesdes (and Kekdela)

“You!  You, come here, would you?  Come here.”

The girl grabbing Tesdes’ arm was dressed in such elaborately tailored clothes that he was surprised that she could move.  Her overvest was to her knees on one side and above her hip on the other, and closed with what had to be fifty teeny pearl buttons – and that was just one layer.

She was going to find the uniform she was carrying very boring, he thought.

That was secondary.  She was grabbing. Grabbing!  His arm.   He looked at her hand, looked at his arm, looked back at her hand.

She dropped his arm and shook her head.  “People! All right, yes, we don’t technically know each other, but you’re Tesdes, right?” Continue reading →