The Right Words, Part II
Nourd walked with Master Gorkle through the court to the castle entrance. He’d tried the other entrances before, but after nearly being sick, Master Gorkle had decided it wasn’t a good idea. This way also gave them the opportunity to see more of the city.
Hundreds of scents floated through the air. Not only human emotion, but food. Nourd was fascinated by all the food the humans had. Not only fruit and plants, but pastries, breads, and sweets. Sweets were Nourd’s favorite. He’d tried chocolate with Oshal, and hadn’t thought of anything else for the rest of the day.
Nourd caught the scent of chocolate and stopped walking.
“I smell chocolate,” he said, his excitement growing. “I want some now. May I have some now?”
“No,” Master Gorkle said. “Too many sweets will make you sick.”
“But chocolate is delicious. How can it also make me sick?”
Master Gorkle emanated patience at all times. The only exception was when they were around Roshil. Zie didn’t like her either, but zie’d explained that they had to tolerate her. Nourd hadn’t needed a reason for that; he knew it was to keep Oshal happy.
“That’s how it is with sweets,” Master Gorkle said. “They can also hurt your teeth, so you need to be careful.”
Nourd wondered why there were so many rules in the human world, but he’d already asked that question many times. Master Gorkle had reminded him that there were a lot of rules in the forest too, but Nourd knew them all, because he’d grown up with them.
They reached the castle entrance, where Oshal and Lady Durwey were waiting for them. Lady Durwey was never far from Oshal. While humans all looked different, she looked more so than others. Her skin was darker, and her hair fell around her shoulders in distinct strands. Nourd thought it looked like wool. When he’d asked to touch it, Master Gorkle had gotten upset, but Lady Durwey had calmly told him that most people didn’t want you touching their hair. It was yet another part of “manners”.
“You wouldn’t ask Elder Wolf that, would you?” Master Gorkle had said.
Nourd had agreed. Elder Wolf would simply devour any human that tried touching her.
Oshal smiled. Nourd liked it when Oshal smiled. It reminded him of eating chocolate. It was the same rush, the same exhilaration. Nourd had the impulse to throw his arms around Oshal.
“I am happy that you are alive,” Nourd said.
“I’m happy you are too,” Oshal replied.
The way Anej had treated him was the same as almost every other human did. Nourd didn’t like feeling so out of place, but he never did with Oshal.
“I wish to squeeze you with my arms,” Nourd said.
“We call that ‘hugging’,” Oshal said. He spread his arms. “Go ahead.”
Nourd wrapped his arms around Oshal and squeezed. Oshal did the same, although somewhat more gently than Nourd did.
“Please stop now,” Oshal said through a strained voice. “You’re squeezing too hard.”
Nourd let go of him and stepped back. He liked Oshal’s smiles, but he liked his hugs even better.
“I liked that,” Nourd said.
“Me too, but try being a little softer next time.”
“I will try.”
“We should get going,” Lady Durwey said. “Apprentice Oshal and I have a busy day ahead of us.”
The four of them walked into the castle. As always, they walked slowly to allow Oshal to keep up.
“The castle is a large square,” Master Gorkle said. “It can take time to get where you need to go, but it’s easy enough to find your way.”
Nourd smelled the air. It smelled of humans, and something faintly sweet.
“What do I smell?” He smelled again. “It smells like flowers.”
“Every few weeks, the staff rubs flower water on the walls to make it smell nice,” Master Gorkle said.
Nourd wasn’t sure how he felt about using dead flowers to make a human dwelling smell nicer. He liked the smell, but the thought of killing flowers to make it happen didn’t sit well with him.
“I do not think I like that,” he said.
“It would smell worse without it,” Master Gorkle said. “We pick flowers and put them around the castle. That’s mostly what you smell. As they wilt, while they still have a scent, they’re crushed to make the water they put on the walls.”
Nourd had seen flowers around the court. Master Gorkle and Oshal had explained those to him as well. He didn’t like that either.
They walked down a long tunnel, which Master Gorkle called a corridor. It was lined with doors, like the ones on the human dwellings.
“Do humans live in these?” Nourd asked.
“No, these are rooms the masters can use to meet with their apprentices alone,” Master Gorkle explained.
“Or when some of them want to study together,” Oshal added.
“Apprentices live in the north tower,” Master Gorkle said. “As a druid, you’ll sleep in the gardens. You will still have a room set aside for you, if you want one.”
“Why would I need one?”
“To store changes of clothes, which you will be required to have, among other things. For now, we can continue to provide you with clothing.”
“We’re between the south and east towers,” Lady Durwey said. “Masters sleep in those two. The west tower is where the officers’ rooms are. You are never to go there unless specifically invited by an officer.”
“In the middle of the castle is the great hall,” Master Gorkle said. “That is where meals are served.”
“Is there chocolate?” Nourd asked, getting excited.
Oshal smiled at him, making Nourd feel even more excited.
“Sometimes,” Master Gorkle said. “As I said earlier, sweets must be enjoyed in moderation.”
They walked a little further before Master Gorkle pointed out one of the doors.
“There are doors that lead to many different places in the kingdom,” zie said. “One for the library, one for the forge, and one for each of the temples. There are doors that lead into the forest, and one that leads to the school.”
Master Gorkle had explained each of these to him before. A library was a sick, twisted place where humans splattered plant juice over dead trees. The forge was where they bashed pieces of earth together to make weapons with which to slaughter innocent animals, and occasionally other humans. The temples were places where humans worshiped things they couldn’t see that occasionally helped them kill each other better, and a school was a sort of prison where humans went to learn about all the ways humans had killed each other in the past.
While Nature’s Power allowed him to understand human speech (as much was possible), it didn’t allow him to read it. He saw what humans called “letters” or “numbers” on each door, but didn’t know what any of them meant.
“What is this door?” he asked, pointing to the door Master Gorkle had indicated earlier.
Oshal walked over to it and felt a series of bumps next to do the door.
“It’s the Temple of Words,” Oshal said. “They worship Yvgrengher, deity of literature, poetry, and music.” He turned back to them. “He teaches them that the right words can change the hearts and minds of anyone.”
Nourd frowned. He knew what literature and music were, but he’d never heard of poetry before.
“What is ‘poetry’?” he asked.
“It’s when you put words together to make people think differently about something,” Oshal said. “Or to make them think of something specific.”
Nourd thought of Anej and her words. Had that been poetry?
“Like Apprentice Anej,” he said. “She spoke of the forest, about things that weren’t there.”
“Apprentice Anej is an apprentice priest at the Temple of Words,” Lady Durwey said. “She was probably practicing poetry in the gardens.”
“I enjoyed it,” Nourd said.
“I’m glad,” Oshal said. “Maybe we can go there together some time. Tomorrow’s not too busy.”
Neither Lady Durwey nor Master Gorkle smelled happy about it. They stared at each other, although Nourd didn’t know why.
“Perhaps tomorrow,” Lady Durwey said. “Only if we can get everything else done today that we need.”
If Nourd had been a wolf, he would’ve been wagging his tail. Not only would he be seeing Oshal two days in a row, but he’d be able to go to the Temple of Words where Anej was and hear her poetry again. Perhaps then he’d be able to feel at home again, even if he couldn’t return.