Friday, October 9, 2015

1.2 Partners. 1.2.2 The Map

1.2.2 The Map

The next afternoon after school, Vinga knocked at the door of Astrid's cottage.

“Greetings Rector,” Skye said. “What brings you?”

“Is Astrid home?” Vinga asked.

“Not yet.”

“Good,” Vinga said. “We need to talk. I worry for your daughter, Skye.”

Skye gestured Vinga to join her at the fire to sit. “Astrid? Why, dear?”

“She is inattentive in class and spends all her time with her sketchbook,” the teacher said. “And that silly little dragon pesters her constantly. I may have to hold her back a year.”

Furrows appeared on Skye’s brow and creases in the tattoos around her eyes: semaphores they called them, patterns of iridescent pigments that changed with the Rider's emotions and helped them communicate with the dragons. “I know she seems a bit childish, but I am certain she is learning.”

“I am not so sure,” Vinga said. “Her geography project was due today but she skipped class.”

“That's not like her,” Skye said.

Vinga continued. “Without knowledge of our geography she will not be able to navigate the mountains to the neighboring valleys. She cannot become a Rider,” she said.

Skye only half-listened to Vinga’s lecture, concerned instead that Astrid had not told her she would be absent from school. “She never declared to be a Rider,” Skye replied.

“I know,” Vinga said, “but she and that little dragon have a…special relationship and at the next Choosing—”

“Little Wing is too small to ride,” Skye interrupted.

“Yes, but—”

Astrid’s father, Jorie, stuck his head into the door and interrupted them. “Skye!” he said with a big grin on his face. “Come, Skye. You need to see this. Hello, Vinga, you too. Come!” He took them both by the arm and led them down the cobblestone path to the Manor where the crowd overflowed into the square.

Skye turned to her husband. “We didn’t hear the bell, what is the emergency?”

“Over here,” Jorie said and led them through the crowd until they reached the long north wall of the Manor, the single wall without windows and shutters that could not be opened to the weather. Everyone there looked at the wall and in front of it stood Astrid.

The wall was covered from end to end with spring flowers, a flood of colors and a sea of green. Skye looked closer. A field of green ivy surrounded a wash of blue hyacinths with a wide stripe of white and gray lisianthus splitting the green into upper and lower parts. Tiny red, yellow and blue flower petals stood out from the white and green. Skye and Vinga stared with open mouths at a map of their entire continent—in flowers. All of the villages of the mountains were displayed as well as the large countries to the north and south.

Villagers nudged Skye and Jorie aside to get a closer look. “Is this us here, Inverness?” one asked pointing to a small blue-bell by the eastern edge of the white camellias.

Astrid nodded. “And these are Andeer and Briey,” she said.

Her classmate Finn pointed to two neaby flower petals. “And Winterthur and Vernier here.”

“My cousin lives in Vernier,” Selena said and smiled.

“And Cherryth to the north,” Astrid said pointing to the bright green spray of leaves that separated the mountains of the Spine from Suleria displayed in pink carnations and Tur in blood red belladona.
Vinga stared at the map and cocked her head. “There is too much white,” she said softly and turned to Astrid. “I think Tur is much bigger than the Northern City States, Astrid.”

“But not as important,” Astrid replied.

A young boy pointed to the big splotch of red to the northeast. “Really?” he said. “Is Tur really that close?” Tur was the home of the Quarajii, the barbarian Hordes of their nightmares.

“Yes, Kel,” Skye said.

“That’s scary,” Kel said softly with a frown and stared wide eyed at the red smear that looked like it would naturally flow south to the mountains. His smile and those of the other children vanished.
Elder Leana pushed her way to the front of the crowd. “Do not fear, child. It’s nonsense and not a map. See here,” she said and waived her arms. “There’s open ocean to the north, and should be blue not white. And most of the mountains are green and not covered with snow like the map shows. Take no mind of this foolishness.”

Skye glared at Leana as she studied the map and turned to Vinga. “If Leana weren’t such a good healer,” Skye said, “we’d not listen to her at all.”

The boy's mother grabbed him and gave Skye a disapproving glare.

“Don't fret, now,” she said to the boy, “they cannot enter the mountains...”

“But what if they do?” the boy asked.

“…And if they do, the Riders will take care of them.”

“But what if…” the boy asked, his voice disappearing into the crowd as his mother dragged him away by the arm.

Finn leaned over to Astrid. “You might have used a less dramatic color for Tur,” he said. “No one wants to be reminded how close the Quarajii live.”

 “I’ll grant your daughter some artistic license here,” Vinga said and  shook her head in wonder. 

“What is this?” she asked pointing to a sky-blue carnation on the west coast of the southern continent.

“I don’t know,” Astrid said, “But something should be there.”

“Why dear?”

Astrid shrugged. “I don’t know. Something pretty belongs there.”

Skye smiled and leaned over to Vinga. “Still worried?” she asked. Vinga pursed her lips and shook her head slowly and Skye continued “It appears you are a better teacher than you thought,” she said.

“Much better,” Vinga replied, still staring at the map that showed places she had not taught them about.

...to be continued ...
(c) 2015 B. R. Strong, Jr.


[1] rector: teacher, usually head of the  school
[2]    The title 'Honorable' is a courtesy in referring to teachers, like “Mister or Madam.”

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