nautical

[aetheling]

Cymbeline doesn't really like boats, but they're the only way to get anywhere in a reasonable period of time, especially when "anywhere" isn't on the mainland. Today he is sailing to Vectis, to oversee the change of governorship; his father the king is needed for courtly matters back home and his mother the queen, despite being the source of his royal blood, declines to involve herself in affairs of state when she can avoid it. Zoyah takes more after Ranae than after Charles in this department. So, it falls to Cymbeline.

Walking on a boat is even more difficult than walking on land, and Cymbeline is no great shakes at the latter to begin with. Unfortunately, neither he nor Kerem, the court magician and Cymbeline's confidante, have been able to figure out how to apply the principles of practicable magic to alleviating princely clumsiness. So Cymbeline is clinging to the railing of the boat, watching the waves, trying to avoid having to walk anywhere.

Comments

[treasuresuntold]

She smiles and kisses his cheek.

[aetheling]

"Why do you do that?" he asks lightly.

[treasuresuntold]

I like you.

[aetheling]

Fair enough; any more detailed report will probably have to wait until they have more vocabulary between them. He shrugs, moves on. They're going to run out of signs from this book soon, although review will of course be available, and then she can learn to fingerspell and read Loegrian to fill in other words. Or maybe Kerem will find another book of signs, though Cymbeline's not even sure why they had this one.

[treasuresuntold]

At least by the time she starts properly learning to read Loegrian, she's going to understand it pretty well. She's hardly ever giving him the look today.

[aetheling]

That is good!

However, Cymbeline has other obligations today. First of all, breakfast is called for - he has this brought into the study, for both of them, but it distracts from lessons nonetheless. And then:

"I have lessons too," he says. "After lunch, I can teach you more. Do you want to read what you've learned so far again until then?"

[treasuresuntold]

She shrugs.

[aetheling]

"Okay," he says, because he's not sure what else she'd do, and off he goes to learn the finer points of Iberiola, and poke at magic with Kerem, and help Zoyah through her protocol lessons, which he finished a year ago but which she struggles with. "I'll be back later."

[treasuresuntold]

Jade waves cheerfully and goes back to her book of signs.

[aetheling]

Cymbeline returns, with lunch for both of them, at noon. "Having fun?" he asks.

[treasuresuntold]

She giggles soundlessly.

[aetheling]

"I'll take that as a yes."

He has the afternoon free; in the evening he'll be doing some miscellaneous court tasks for his parents, but until then his time is his own, and he opts to spend it entirely on going through this book.

They are approaching the end of the book, and Kerem said he was pretty sure it was the only one in the library. Cymbeline supposes they can invent more signs.

[treasuresuntold]

Still, with just the signs in this book and a little imagination, it's possible to say a lot. And Jade is positively chatty in the name of practice. She talks about Cymbeline's house, about his family, about the clothes she borrowed from his sister; she questions him about the sorts of things he does with magic.

She does not volunteer any information about her life under the sea.

[aetheling]

He's happy to answer questions, confirm or deny or correct the grammar of her remarks about his life.

He has his own questions, though.

"Yes, I do have a sister. She has a brother, me. We are brother and sister. Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

[treasuresuntold]

I have brothers and sisters.

[aetheling]

"How many?" He produces the page of numbers in case she needs it.

[treasuresuntold]

She looks at the numbers and shrugs helplessly, moving her finger down the column past ten, past a hundred, then trailing it off the page.

[aetheling]

Cymbeline looks at her skeptically, and introduces several new orders of magnitude.

[treasuresuntold]

Jade shrugs again.

I don't know.

[aetheling]

"Do sea people - merfolk - have children differently?" he wonders. Something with eggs that could confuse the issue, he supposes...

[treasuresuntold]

Different?

[aetheling]

"There's me, there's Zoyah, one at a time, no others," says Cymbeline. "Same mother, same father, I am three years older than her. Are you more like - fish? Or something?" This seems like a rude question, but he doesn't know how to couch it delicately.

[treasuresuntold]

...Something occurs to her.

How many wives does your father have?

[aetheling]

"Just my mother."

[treasuresuntold]

Aha. The mystery is solved. Jade nods.

My father has more. My father is old. I have more sisters and more brothers. I don't know all my sisters. I don't know all my brothers.