We left Bex with her head swirling and her heart despairing about the possibility of being forced to follow the family tradition of becoming a Sand Grinder. Chapter 2 finds her on her way to her friend, Muut’s place to see if he will join her for the storytelling event. Along the way, she gets distracted by one of the many traders who come into town for the Liberation Day celebrations. Seeking direction, she gets more than she expected…
Chapter 2
In my anger with my friends, I had forgotten to pick up the nammit milk that Ma needed for dinner. This led to yet another uncomfortable discussion over dinner. Somehow, she knew I hadn’t gone to the Guild Master’s office like she had requested. So, she made me promise to go with her to see Master Cherznach in the morning. Something about begging him to reconsider my application. Following in my da’s footsteps and all that.
She was so angry with me. But there was something else I had detected in her response—fear. I had never known my ma to be afraid of anything. When da passed, she simply pulled up her bootstraps and got on with life. She even left her position on the council to take a more active role in my upbringing. Although, I kind of wish she hadn’t. I had so much freedom with Da, but Ma was strict. She had expectations. Rules. Life became more organized.
It’s not like I cause a lot of trouble. I’m just curious. I like to explore and have adventures. Now a days, everyone is too busy to go exploring with me. I can usually convince Muut to join me, that is when he’s not in the middle of some bizarre experiment. Sarja and Nyraj had their liberation day last year, so they are well and truly stuck into their new roles within the community. Given Nyraj’s size and strength he was a natural Blaster. And Sarja, with her gift of convincing the toughest of negotiators was quickly becoming a master diplomat. I had no doubt she would be requested to apprentice with the council within the year. Then it’s only a matter of time before they too get married off and start their families.
Not me. I have no intention of becoming a Grinder. And getting married? No chance. Ma will just have to accept that I want more out of life. I want to explore the world and have adventures. Like the ones in Xan Janal’s stories. After I’ve explored every inch of our world, then maybe. Maybe I’ll consider settling into a more respectable role. I’m not sure what that would be, but it won’t be grinding sand.
***
I made my way to Muut’s lab, hoping to convince him to join me for Xan’s storytelling evening. Kicking stones along the way, I chewed on Ma’s harsh words. They still rang in my ears as she demanded I go with her to the Guild Master’s chamber in the morning. I kicked a stone a little harder and it bounced off a board that was propped up in front of a small shack. Looking up I read the sign proclaiming:
Madam Korba can read your future!
Give direction to the most aimless!
Help find your love mate!
Only one crystal per reading.
We often get travelers passing through, especially as liberation day approaches. As I passed the doorway, a voice croaked out to me.
“Care to find out what your future holds? See what is the right guild for you?”
My curiosity got the better of me and I ducked inside even though I knew it was just a sham. These travelers show up every year looking for a fresh crop of scared soon to be apprentices. Easy prey as they sell their soothing words to gullible youths on the verge of fully joining the community. Giving them hope for their future. I’d even heard that some parents would pay them just to direct their kids to their preferred guild.
It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the dim light. My nostrils flared as they filled with the exotic scent that snaked through the small room on a layer of smoke. An old woman sat behind a little table covered in a sparkling yellow cloth. Her milky eyes perched above her bulbous nose, followed me as I took the seat opposite her. She reached across the table, palms up, releasing a light tinkling as the trinkets around her wrist sang with her movement.
“Gives me your hands, deary,” she crooned.
I placed my hands in her warm meaty palms. Her nails were long and well-shaped. They reminded me of the talons on the erudus that circled the skies looking for carrion.
“You haves a strong mind,” she turned my hands over and examined the lines of my palms. Releasing my right hand, she traced a line on my left palm with one of her long claws, “You are troubled…about your future.”
“Well, yah, that’s why most people come to you, right?” I snarked. What was I even doing here?
“You wish to joins a guild not of your parents direction,” she spoke in a thick, sing song accent.
“No, I don’t wish to join any guild,” I tried to pull my hand from her grip. “You clearly can’t read my future. This is just a scam and you’re a fraud.”
Her grip tightened, and she looked up at me, her filmy eyes wide and probing. They may have been blue or green at one time. Now they were grey ringed in dark purple blotches. “Who is your father?”
“You’re the truth seer, you tell me,” I quipped, thinking, “Hah, he’s dead you old hag.”
“Child, you do not belong here,” her fingers tightened around my wrist, crushing my hand. “Seek your father. He is in danger.”
I jerked my hand trying to free it from her grasp. I spat at her, “My father is dead. Long ago.”
“No, that is a lie.”
“He died of stone lung and my mother wouldn’t lie,” I tugged again, trying to free my hand.
“You are meant for greater things than the life of a sand grinder,” she released my hand and stared at me through her milky eyes. “Seek your father. He will tell you the truth.”
“You’re a liar,” I screamed at her as I scrambled backwards out of the hut. “My father is dead, you old hag!”
She stood in the doorway, her words chasing me as I fled down the alley, “Seek your father.”
***
My hand trembled as I rapped lightly on Muut’s lab door before pushing it open. That old hag had rattled me more than I expected. What was I thinking? I’d never been tempted by one of those grifters. Why did I have to stop in that hut? I steadied my breathing as I looked at Thamuut hunching over his work bench, surrounded by various tubes and vials bubbling and steaming away. My eyes adjusted to the dim amber light, and I breathed a deep relaxing sigh. I always felt better when I was with him, even when he was completely focused on one of his experiments. Muut and I have been friends since the day I cleaned his scraped knee when he was just learning to walk. At only a year younger, he's like the little brother I always wanted, even if he is way more serious than me.
I walked over to his work bench and waited for him to finish. The round glass tray nearest me held a thick, light green fluid with purple dots floating on its surface. Leaning over to get a closer look, my hand slowly stretched out to poke at it.
“Don’t touch that,” Muut said, slapping my hand away.
“What are you cooking up now?” I asked as I twirled away from him. Muut always had his nose either buried in a book or bent over a magnalense. His shirt front was usually a collection of smears, splashes or drips accumulated as he moved through his experiments. He was perched on a stool peering through one of his many lenses. I leaned in to see what was so interesting and his frizzy hair tickled my nose. I tried to hold it in, but all the dust and the steam got up my nose and I sneezed.
“Oh, jeez Bex, why’d you have to do that? That’s taken me hours to collect,” he squealed at me as he jumped back sending his stool careening across the floor. It bounced off the bookshelf causing a glass vial of orange oily liquid to teeter off and smash to the floor. Pointing at the now bubbling mess on the floor that looked to be slowly eating through the stone, he growled at me, “And that has taken me months to perfect.”
“Well, if it’s perfect, then you’ll be able to recreate it in no time,” I smiled, hoping to make him laugh.
“Is there something you wanted? I have work to do,” he grumbled as he picked up a syphon pen and squatted over the boiling goo.
“I was just checking to see if you were coming to the story telling tonight,” I stepped over the mess on the floor and picked up the stool. Sitting on it, I watched him carefully suck in a collection of the orange smeary mixture, carry it carefully to his bench and release it into another beaker. Then he opened a drawer, grabbed a handful of sand, and threw it over the mess on the floor. I stared as the bubbles froze and the stone ceased sizzling.
“Wow, what was that stuff?” I asked, reaching out to press my finger into the slowly hardening mass.
“Do. Not. Touch. It.” Muut scolded without turning to look at me.
“So, are you coming tonight?” My hand was inches away from a large bubble suspended in mid-burst. “Xan promised to tell the story of when he was exploring the caves filled with blue crystals.”
“We’ve heard that one so many times already,” Muut said, his eyes once again pressed against the viewer of the magnalense.
“I know, but I love it when he describes the multi-headed worm that lives in them and how it nearly chewed off his arm before he killed it,” I pleaded.
“Really Bex, aren’t you getting a bit past all these fantasies?”
“They aren’t fantasies. You know they’re real,” I protested. “Don’t you?”
“I know that Xan tells a great story, but I need to finish this experiment. I’m so close to solving the volatility problem. If I stop now, it may take another month.”
“Well, I’m going,” I stated, hopping off the stool and tugging on my braid. “And, of course, Sarja and Nyraj will be there. They never miss his stories. You can join us or stay here with your freaky, smelly goo.”
I started for the door and smiled when I heard a reluctant sigh from Muut.
“What’s another month,” he muttered slapping his hands on his knees. “Hang on, I just need to clean up my table.”
Let me know what you think of the story so far…