Under a Starless Sky novel Chapter 52

Shen sat on the floor next to the hearth. He was given a huge plate of food, more than he could eat, and it was clear he was meant to eat first, before Arne and his family. He wanted to protest and give it back, but that could have been seen as an insult. Arne had food on his plate. He would learn in time, there was an order of service- guest first, children, elderly, those who had contributed to the meal or process, slaves, then the host. Guest would have a meal delivered first, and friend of the guest would also be served. As soon as guest ate the first bite and approved, food would be distributed accordingly. This meal was slightly different, due to being off schedule. The children were given dried fruit for snacks. They used stools for tables while sitting on the floor. Arne’s wife sat next to him, nursing. There were other women in the house. Other men. Children, too. There were lots of questions put forth. There was a Tarmorian present. She had served the food to Arne and Shen.

Torny sat near, holding a child for a friend who needed a break. “Is Loxy a true ghost, or a projection of someone living remotely?”

“She is Bilocated?” Yaffa asked.

“I don’t think this is what we’re experiencing,” Jerica said. She was a light master, and Torny’s triad-friend, maker of the rune a fifth above hers- and she had the gift of Bilocation. Her hair was read. She was slender. Her hair was flame red. There was splattering of freckles as if someone had sloshed excess paint from a brush straight into her face. Shen felt as if he had known in another life, but didn’t place her in time, space, or dream. One eye was green the other blue. It was explained by her that when she pushed a doppelganger, her eyes were both blue, and her origin form held both green- the only distinction between them.

“We have heard grandmother speak of tree spirits for ages, but never seen anything like that tonight,” Arne said. “Will your friends return?”

“Loxy is always with me,” Shen said.

“Even now?” Torny asked. “Is she hiding?”

TL came out of the shadows. All eyes were wide. She bowed to Aslog. “May I come into the light, and sit near my husband?”

“Of course,” Aslog said.

‘Someone asked, can someone be married to a ghost?’ ‘Can you be married to an idea?’ was the reply.

TL sat next to Shen.

“Do you want food or drink?” this came from the servant girl. Her name was Bao.

“No, thank you,” TL said. “I do hope, Arne, that we have not caused too much trouble. It was right of Shen to share this secret. It has been a burden to him. Ghost is really not the appropriate term for who and what I am, but it’s close enough for now.”

“You must tell us your story on how you came to be together,” Aslog said.

“I am more interested in knowing your relationship with him. You called him husband?” Jerica asked.

“Does it matter? You are free to flirt with him, are you not?” TL said.

“He prefers ghosts, and old people who will be ghost soon enough,” Jerica said. “He may not see me.”

Shen choked. TL hit his back and freed it. “Thanks,” he managed.

“He sees you,” TL assured her. “He sees everyone.”

“He is your husband, or your slave?” Jerica asked.

“You make a distinction?” TL said.

“Slaves are property, and are protected, coveted. A person with sovereignty has more options in bedding partners,” Jerica said.

“What does your husband say?” TL asked.

“Do you think when he is at sea I must be chaste? Do you think he doesn’t have relations with foreigners abroad?” Jerica asked.

“You’re okay with that?” Shen asked.

“Men will do what men do. Women will do what women do. I love my husband, I want him happy. He is always welcomed home,” Jerica said.

“May they always return,” the women said, in chorus.

“Husband and wife means relationship,” Jerica said. “A partnership, sharing wealth. Women govern the property. Children belong to the community. Every milk breast feeds every child.”

“And every adult,” Tane said, toasting air.

“Hell’a better than goat milk, that’s for sure,’ Erico agreed.

“It takes every person, man and woman, to ensure the security of the child,” Arne said. “All people are children. All people deserve to be held, hugged, and accepted with touch, affection. All people, regardless of age, gender, or position, at any time can asked to be held. A person may decline, but only if there is another willing to meet that need. Being intimate with grandmother has raised your esteem with almost everyone here. I bet by morning, the whole island will want to know more.”

“And a lot of old, lonely ladies, will come knocking,” Erico said, getting laughter.

“I will expect you to help me out, brother,” Shen said to Erico. There was laughter as he coughed on his milk. “Are there people that are not open to being generous?”

“Yes. Of course. Most people who have a limited ability to love or to fight, they align themselves with someone they can tolerate,” Arne said. “They usually align themselves with people who would not aggressively pursue affection. Slaves are granted protection from all advances, protected from battling as a form of conflict resolution. Some stewards are better than others, just as some people are nicer than others. Slaves don’t lose their voice. They are welcomed in the light and in the circle.”

“Boa,” Aslog said. “Tell the truth, have you been mistreated?”

“I have not,” Boa said. “I chose this.”

“Why?” Shen asked.

“I do not want to have sex with monsters,” Boa said. “These are the ugliest people I have ever met. They are kind, I perform my duties, but that is it.”

“She came to us a free person,” Arne said. “It was to be an exchange. We would teach her about ship making, she was to teach us to see in the dark.”

“Has she?” Shen asked.

“They are too stupid to learn,” Boa said.

“I learned,” Shen said.

Boa’s eyes narrowed. “You lie,” she said.

“Boa, he is our guest,” Aslog said.

“I will not suffer lies and ignorance…” Boa protested.

“I will teach…” Shen started.

“No!” Boa said. She flipped her script. “They are not on the path. They deviate, allowing men to know script and stones and light magic.”

“You can see in the dark?” Arne asked.

“It is not vision, but an ability of the mind to adapt to acoustical feedback in such a way a map is rendered in the brain,” Shen said.

“You’re a clicker,” Boa said. “That is not True sight.”

“There is also the ability to see with one’s heart,” Shen said. “It is really difficult to learn. It’s difficult to teach. I may not be able to teach that, but it is not an impossible task. Just, difficult.” Shen tried to explain. There are fish that can see electromagnetic radiation. They can find their prey even in the dark. The heartbeat of prey can be discerned like a candle in the night. Just swimming at a speed can create enough of an electromagnetic signal that the sense can be used to detect them. Humans have an electromagnetic sense that is latent, but it is there, just as all animals have it. An adaptation to fight predators who are strong in EM sight is the ability to ‘freeze.’ When prey senses danger their heart stops, they go still, they go dark and silent and the predator passes in the dark. The heart kicks back on and they go quickly about their business. Humans also can experience freeze when threatened. You can’t have this ability to freeze if you don’t also have the sense discernment of EM predation. Human’s sense of smell has decline due to the dominance of sight and hearing. EM sense has also declined due to the dominance of sight and hearing, but also because we are the top of the food chain. In the wild, people have sense when something is sneaking up on them. People have sense when someone is staring at them. People who live in the dark are going to develop Second Sight. The heart is a light that paints everything in its sphere of influence. The echo of that beat paints a map in the brain. To see this, you have to not ‘see’ with your visual center of the brain, and not ‘hear’ with the hearing part of your brain. Even though both these brain regions contribute to Second Sight, either can also turn it off when threshold of signal is met. “Every living cell respond to that heart light all the time. Every living thing receives, reflects, and transmit heart light. There are no dead things. All is light. The heart light is the observer that collapses the field.”

They clearly did not understand everything, but some of it was taken and woven into their paradigm, and some were already trying to push the threshold of their ability to perceive.

“Who taught you?” Boa said.

“L’ma, Holder of Easterly’s light,” Shen said.

“I have never heard of Easterly,” Boa said. “And I doubt seriously my people would teach your kind the path.”

“I am your people,” Shen told her.

“Being born in the land doesn’t make you people,” Boa argued.

“I was borne of a woman as dark as you. As short and arrogant as you,” Shen said, clearly angry.

“That doesn’t make any sense. She must have found you in a basket and told you she gave birth,” Boa said. “Regardless, she would not teach you this sight…”

“She didn’t! They didn’t,” Shen said. “I learned on my own, vicariously, watching. L’Ma, Lanore, Master of Light, born in East Midelay, apprenticed in West Midelay, and raised to Master in Sinter. She is my mother.”

“You cannot be one of us,” Boa said.