MERCURIAL ( paul atreides.. )

018. Fatuous Charades, Youthful Values..

"Julius Pollux." 

Someone who has never heard a child's attempt at lionhearted battles with a complex vocabulary when all their finest soldiers are yet to shed the baby teeth for sturdy ones, could never appreciate the luck which had rained over Paul Atreides and Mercury Yaranes, to have outrun his father's guard on duty to watch out for them. As an epitome of completely innocent insubordination, their second outlaw behavior was, of course, to climb the tallest tree overlooking behind the Caladan Castle and ahead, the fish market of the valley. But then again, familiarity was scarcely enough to entertain either of the two young souls whose feet were dangling over the edge of the branch. 

This marked the first day of the second length visit Paul's new best friend would have taken to his planet without her parents' convoy and thankfully, though storm clouds were gathered above, Mercury was not acting weird on their behalf. On the contrary, she was shining brighter than ever while presenting him with the request of playing the most widely spread game, the one which dubiously transcended cultures and time unanimously, like some sort of force of nature. It was only once he agreed reluctantly to the proposed play, that the girl evoked a name with ancient robustness behind it, making the young heir to a Duchy legacy chuckle in his own foolishness of having assumed his history-loving partner in mischief would offer to spend their afternoon on silly, pointless charades. 

"The Egyptian Greek scholar?" the inquiry was inevitable from Paul. Archaic customs from the Old Earth had always had importance on Caladan, but amongst the myriad of traditions they have kept and adapted into their lifestyle, the House of Atreides treasured the democratic spirit founded during a distant Hellenistic Age the most. "What does he have to do with the game?" he continued, his intrigue coming forth not through his tone bordering peaking annoyance in the thinness of his voice, but rather in the way his feet dangled in the air a notch faster, more consciously impatient. Apparently their little adventure to the top of a tree was nothing but a coop in which his gentleman nature of letting Mercury win had him faced with her challenge to this other game of hide and seek. 

Undeniably, he had been a little disappointed to hear the name of the game at first, but now that she spoke of names he had only seen in dusty domes and on collapsing tapestries of little importance, Paul was excited to know and learn more. Mercury beamed a generously shining smile in return to him playing along already. While he had his reticence of showing such a wide joy while he was missing a tooth by the natural order of things, the girl shamelessly let the world witness the signs of 'growing', claiming they were bravados rather than pinned weakness. Compelled by her confidence, Paul started threading a small smile as well, though expectancy for an answer almost morphed it into a frown. 

"He's the first to ever write about this game," she explained, bustling with energy such that the branch they were on protested in quiet creaks under the erratic manner of her movements and ample gestures. "Isn't it fascinating that the same writer who compiled a Greek lexicon for Emperor Commodus can also be considered the father of a game as popular and simple as hide and seek? That's exactly the same Emperor whose name is written in your grandfather's old amphitheater, amongst many others. An Emperor most known for his love of the Gladiatorial Arena in which he also participated." Slurring complicated words here and there did not challenge the child enough to slow her speech or rethink the grandeur of her sentences. 

"It is peculiar, to say at least," Paul nodded along, his understanding of those words not yet picky enough on phonetics to think about correcting her pronunciation. "However I am not really surprised," a shrug followed.

"You're not?" Mercury's glare burned into the side of his face.

With his hands building their tendency to raise, he hurried his bored pace of speech, even if he had to force himself through some words without following any of the diction rules Thufir gave him so far, "Father believes that the lessons of Ancient Greece have spread through time and space because they stand as a pillar of emancipation towards democracy. So if 'hide and seek' was invented during those times, then I am not surprised the game endured for so long, with hardly any changes to it."