Klithyia

Chapter 4

"I want you to see this," he said, eyes burning into my own. Even then, though I was so young, we were almost eye level. I could have stared into those eyes for years, memorizing every line. But he turned away from me and towards the table again. 

"I have something for you. You've been here for over a week now, and it is time we begin."

I was still learning how to speak, and the words got stuck in my throat. It hurt to force my voice into action, and my tongue flapped around in my mouth, unused to being used for words. Instead of speaking, I just nodded and came forth to the table. I had only seen ten winters, and, like every young Luriel my age, had entered the awkward stage of life. Already my face was altering, my eyes sinking back into my head like the adults. But even though the man before me was an adult, his eyes were still towards the surface of his face, ever so slightly slanted at the ends. It was strange to me; it was foreign. Yet it was beautiful.

"I asked this before, now I ask it again. What do you see on the table?"

My young eyes looked down, nose crinkling at the smell emanating from down below me.There upon the table was the unmistakable outline of a body covered in cloth. I couldn't tell what species it was, nor the gender. "A sleeping... person," I said, my voice hoarse. I was getting frustrated, for there was so much more I wanted to say. There always was, but I knew he couldn't speak the sign language of the Luriels. I wanted to say that the person must be uncomfortable under that cloth. I wouldn't be able to sleep like that. And why did it smell so bad?

He laughed, making me smile. I always swelled with happiness when I heard the tinkling laugh of the Biccas. It made me feel special, like I made them happy. I could watch their hair shift with their movement. Already the white strands flowing from their head was less disgusting to me. 

He said, "It is a person, but she isn't sleeping. Evinan, do you know what death is? Do you know what dead people are?"

Death. Death. I had heard the word before, and I most likely would have known the meaning had it been transmitted by hand. "No."

"Death is a strange word, and means many different things to different people. In essence, death is when you cease to exist. Your bodily remains stay behind, but the person you are departs from this world. Do you understand?"

I didn't. "Yes."

He smiled, and must have noticed my confusion. "I believe your people have a word for it. It looks like this," he muttered. He then took his fingers, only half the length of my own, and clumsily interlocked them to the shape of four interlocking Xs. It took me a minute to understand the word, but my confusion cleared when I saw the word. I nodded enthusiastically, understanding the meaning. He really messed up the definition.

"It is a woman from Kryptzaline. We found her wandering around the edge of the training field. We spoke to her. She was miserable, Evinan. She was born into the healer's role, and wanted to be someone else. She wanted to be an artist. So we gave her her dream."

"You... you killed her? Did she tell you to kill her?"

"No to both those things. We do not kill, Evinan, we strive for betterment. Her body will produce enough klithyia to benefit the lives of dozens of artists. We told her our plans, and she resisted out of pure mortal folly. She wanted to live. She did not understand what we said. We deprived the world of a wonderful woman, but through her we better the lives of many others. In the end, more good comes to the world than any she could have single-handedly caused. Do you understand, Evinan?"

I should have been horrified. I should have realized then and there that they were evil. But I didn't understand half the words he said, and I couldn't believe that one so beautiful was capable of evil. I still had much to learn. "Yes," I said, and after a pause I added, "Is that what you will do to me?"