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“What do you think made you different from the other fae?” Sal asked, looking at Meriwether, wondering what it must be like to know that you had lived lives before, to have the memories of who you’d been before, and, even though it seemed fascinating, it was something Sal knew he’d never want.
Meriwether rubbed his antler. “I honestly don’t know. There were always fae who were different, who chose to walk away rather than have to deal with our race, but once we came here things were different. We couldn’t walk away and we became the saviours of our race, because we were willing to do things that no one else was, until the fae, our race, decided that what we’d done was something they couldn’t accept. It was then we realised we were different, although Emrys always knew, and our only option was to keep fighting for the rights of the races we created, because the fae looked at them as little more than a means to an end.” He sighed. “The family I’d loved walked away from me because they couldn’t accept the choice I’d made, they couldn’t accept that I wanted to a be a part of the Council and work with the Moonjumpers, and I haven’t seen them since. From what I can tell the settlement fae trapped themselves in more than one way when they created the wards that were simply meant to keep the other races out.”
“There are still fae who chose to walk away,” Lucille said. “I see them at the Council, coming to us because they don’t know where else to begin, so they can live a different life to the ones their parents wanted them to. Now I know that the fae always seem to remember their past lives I might ask some of the fae I know if they can or if it’s different for the settlement fae.”
“It may well be.” Meriwether shrugged. “I haven’t met anyone who left the settlements behind, so I don’t know as much about them as you do, and if you find out I’d like to know.”
“Of course, Merry. I’ll send you a letter if I can’t get back to Quiar.”
“That will be interesting.” Meriwether smiled. “We don’t often get dragon post here.”
“Dragon post?” Sal asked, hoping he wasn’t asking questions that the others had already asked before, because he didn’t want to annoy them.
Lucille and Meriwether looked at each other. “There are dragons on Siaral,” Lucille replied, “placed there by Piaras, I believe, although I may be wrong, and the race creators he was working with. It’s the breeders who’ve worked since then to make them one of the most useful creatures around the Web, because they have the ability to travel the worlds without needing the doors. Dragons the size of my hand…” She put her palm out. “…are used around the Web to send post, although it can be expensive, and at the Council we have a room full of them. We all have free us, while the races of Athare have to pay an administration fee.” She shrugged. “It’s one of the many ways they earn money to pay for the training of Moonjumpers, the wages we earn once we’re fully trained, and everything else the Council needs to be able to keep running.”
“Running the Council isn’t cheap. I remember when we were first starting up and trying to find ways of earning the money we needed then, which was less than it is now, because we didn’t need to pay for the tattoos too.” Meriwether glanced around the table. “When we first created the Moonjumper’s Council we relied on the Moonjumpers wanting to sign up to help us, rather than being the people who made them, because the Web was a very different place.”
“It didn’t take very long for the fae to become uncomfortable with the natural Moonjumpers, if they were ever comfortable with them, and the created Moonjumpers became the only way for them to keep control.” Lucille ran a hand through her hair. “The fae have always wanted to be in control of the Web, but they realised after the loss of Aerith that it wasn’t possible. Losing Aerith meant families lost members they didn’t want to lose and it was the Golds who started the mass migration to the settlements.”
“The Gold elder was never happy with the idea of creating the worlds and was one of the three elders, I believe, who was arguing against it rather than for it, although he never spoke up in the meetings with the Queen.” Meriwether shook his head. “Unfortunately there were several members of his family who thought it was a brilliant idea, because it would give them a chance to work with their abilities in a way they never had before… which was also why several Golds stayed behind on Kalinia… and it was them who convinced him in the end. Three of them were lost on Aerith and they would have changed the world.”
“Most of the records for Aerith are in one of the locked libraries.” Lucille sighed. “I will be able to read them, but not until I’m a journeyman Moonjumper, and that’s not for years. I’ve always been tempted to travel there, but I’ve heard stories about the world from Moonjumpers who chose to leave it behind for good that make me think I’m going to need to study the world before I dare travel there.”
“Studying the records will give you little information on the world that Aerith’s become,” Meriwether said, “unless there are books in there that I don’t know about.”
Lucille looked at the deer and nodded. “There are a couple in there from Aerith Moonjumpers who’ve chosen to join the Council and write about the world that they came from, in return for a special dispensation from the fae.” She raised her eyebrows. “Do you know about the special dispensations?”
“We didn’t have anything like that in my time,” Meriwether admitted.
“Natural Moonjumpers who travel from a world that is out of the control of the fae, from the past or future, or ,as happened once, from another Web, are given a special dispensation to travel the worlds – which is a little tattoo on the back of their neck – in return for the knowledge they have of their world, time, or Web.” Lucille smiled. “It hasn’t happened recently, because few natural Moonjumpers really want to work with the Council, but it has happened before and all the records are kept in the locked library. When I reach journeyman status I’ll be given a special tattoo that will unlock the door for me, that I only get because I studied all the worlds and passed all the exams. Journeymen who studied all the worlds but didn’t pass the exams will get a tattoo that will allow them to enter the library with someone else who can and not alone.”
“There seem to be a lot of things that the tattoos can do that we don’t know about,” Sal commented. “Is that the fae trying to keep control of everything again.”
“Mostly.” Lucille smiled. “The tattoos themselves were created by using a magical script and magical ink, so you have to have both in order to make the magic work, and getting hold of the ink is the hardest part. What has happened in some parts of the Web is experimentation with paint that can be made to work in the same way, because the script is easy enough to copy.” She pulled her sleeve up and pointed to one of her tattoos. “This one is for Athare. All Moonjumpers get this tattoo when they’ve passed the first exam, which is always on Athare, but there are those who fail, who are given a slightly different tattoo that doesn’t permit them to go anywhere. It’s basically a symbol in case they try again, which did happen before, because no Moonjumper is permitted to retake the first exam. Some do go on to retake other exams, but they’ll never be able to travel to the world if they didn’t pass it the first time.”
“How many is your first class didn’t pass the Athare exam?” Meriwether asked.
“Just over half.”
“A lot of people don’t realise how much hard work you need to put in to become a Council Moonjumper.” Meriwether smiled. “The first exam is the easiest, as most applicants are from Athare, and yet they don’t do the work they need to do in order to pass. For someone like Lucille, who chose to study all the worlds of the Web, the work gets a lot harder after the first exam, because they don’t permit you to study another world during the time you’re studying Athare, in case you do fail.”
Lucille nodded. “It took me just over a decade to do all the exams. I applied to become a Moonjumper on the day of my ninth birthday, which is the youngest you’re permitted to apply, and I know I was accepted that young because of my family. My mother passed all the exams in twelve years, after applying at fifteen, and my grandmother took fifteen, after applying at twelve.” She smiled. “My grandmother is still walking the worlds at seventy-eight and shows no sign of stopping.”
Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.
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Date: 2013-10-08 04:09 am (UTC)I think that should say "free use" above.
>> from the past or future, or ,as happened once<<
Spacing error: that should say "or, as" above.