Her Lord turned to the two humans and asked something. Ita couldn’t understand it and she also couldn’t understand their response, so she didn’t understand why he grumbled something and became fluid again, turning into a human again! That ability to masquerade as something he wasn’t was still deeply disturbing.
Serenity reached into a bag that appeared on his back when he shifted and pulled out a potion. Ita was astonished when he handed it to the bleeding Kaelitha Sterath. “This will stop your bleeding. That’s about all it will do, but at least it’ll do that. Drink it.” He spoke in the royal dialect again, and the Sterath followed orders like a good prisoner.
Ita wrinkled her long nose in slight disgust. Yes, she’d followed orders, but she’d never allowed the Kaelitha to forget that they’d captured her unjustly; she hadn’t surrendered. They’d had to hold the threat of force over her to get her to comply; there was no threat to her honor possible from them. It seemed like these two had allowed themselves to be captured. Yes, a Shameful One was powerful, but that didn’t mean you should just give up!
While she was thinking, one of the humans said something unintelligible and Serenity replied. Ita could hear faint sounds coming from the other human’s hand in the same unknown language. She wished she knew a true translation spell, but she didn’t.
The closest thing she had ever managed was a “shared understanding” spell. It wasn’t a translation spell. The words didn’t change and it was purely one-way - from another to her, she couldn’t reverse it. It was really a teaching spell - well, a spell to help with learning.
Its uses were limited because it could only relay current, immediate understanding and conclusions, not whatever body of knowledge and experience that was used to reach those conclusions. That didn’t mean it wasn’t useful; it simply meant that it couldn’t pass on that much information at once. It could help her learn, not shove the knowledge into her head wholesale. She’d been disappointed when she found that out; she’d hoped it could shortcut the long boring parts. Instead, it seemed like it had made them worse, because she was expected to be faster than before she’d learned the spell.
The important thing now was that it did share the understanding. It ought to make it easier for her to learn this language, and if she was going to be stuck on this planet with her Lord, she should know as many languages as he did. Someone had to be able to talk to the locals, and it shouldn’t usually be the Lord. However informal he wanted to be. Unfortunately, that meant she had to ask.
While she was thinking, several other humans had entered the room. She’d better ask before they made it impossible.
“Serenity?” It wasn’t possible to call someone else your lord in modeless Sterath. That required a mode, after all.
Her Lord turned towards her, even though he’d been paying attention to the new humans a moment before. “What is it, Ita?”
It all came out in a rush of words. “I have a spell that can let me understand things better but it requires borrowing someone else’s understanding. It should help me learn this language and at least understand it until I do but it won’t help me speak it. It requires using your understanding; I’d have to create a link between us, and I’d know what you know. May I cast it?”
“A link…” Serenity tilted his head to one side. Ita didn’t know what he was thinking, but she waited anxiously. After a moment, he nodded. “We’ll see how that works; at least it shouldn’t be harmful. Be careful, but yes, you may.”
Ita placed her hand on his arm, then realized it was covered. Why were his arms covered with something so thin? It wasn’t a beautiful Honor outfit and it wasn’t armor, so what was the point?
Whatever the reason was, that wouldn’t work; she needed a direct body-to-body connection for the spell. The easiest spots were either his hands or the back of his neck. The head was a better connection; it didn't seem like he'd mind.
She moved her hand to the back of his neck and started the chant. It was not a simple spell; Contagion-based spells rarely were. Elemental spells were far easier from what she’d seen; they simply didn’t work for her. Still, she’d done this one often enough she could probably cast it in her sleep; at least once a day for years. Otherwise, there was no way she’d be so accomplished a spellcaster at her age and Tier. She felt the link snap into place, followed by the shared understanding.
It was overwhelming. The feel of Death Itself wrapped like a warm blanket around her was the most overwhelming, but past that she could see so many colors she’d never seen before and they moved all the time; she could see two viewpoints, and one of them was watching her -
It stopped. Not all of it or all at once; the second vision went first, followed by the strange sights and other feelings she hadn’t even really noticed over the chaos. The feel of the comfort of Death - that had to be the Peace of the Grave of Serenity’s Name.
As she thought that, she caught an echo that told her that while the Name Serenity meant the Peace of the Grave in Sterath, Serenity didn’t consider them identical - and that while they were both his, he preferred Serenity. It didn’t quite make sense, but she understood it. That much she knew was from her spell.
It was also clear that somehow he was getting echoes of her thoughts. She didn’t understand that; it had never happened before with that spell. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before.
:Yes, sorry about that.: Serenity’s voice rang in her mind. It wasn’t quite the same as the voice she’d heard before; it was closest to modeless Sterath, but he wasn’t speaking in Sterath. Before she could panic, he continued. :I’m thinking at you in English; your spell is working and giving you the meaning. As for how I’m hearing you, you’re shouting at me over the link you - well, we - established. I thought something might happen, but I wasn’t expecting it to be this severe.:
Serenity was calming down Ita when she said something about “the presence of Death” and he realized he was still holding his Incarnate. He regretfully let it go, knowing that very few people found its presence comforting the way he did; he’d only needed it until people arrived to take control of the two Scouts.
The link with Ita was supposed to just help her learn the language, but it looked like it was doing more than that. She was completely overwhelmed. She’d somehow managed to trigger Linked Sight with everything active; Serenity was fairly confident he’d turned it off now, but she was still jumpy. It ought to be back to being just the spell’s effect and she’d said she’d used the spell before; why was it giving her issues?
Serenity took in the chaos around him and noticed that Ita flinched. Well, there was a possible reason. :You’ve only ever used this in controlled circumstances, haven’t you?:
With Rissa, Serenity knew it was her telepathy managing things across the link. Here, he was fairly confident it was Ita’s spell. He wasn’t certain why he could hear her in return, now that she was no longer shouting.
:With a teacher. You’re - you’re hearing four conversations at once!:
Hearing, maybe. Paying attention to? Only a little. There was quite a crowd in the room trying to figure out what to do next. They’d all piled into the room within minutes of Serenity telling Rachel the situation was over.
The two scientists were talking to a police sergeant about their experiences; Serenity wasn’t certain why they hadn’t been pulled into another room. There was a military liaison officer talking to another policeman about how to handle the Sterath; they seemed to be disagreeing on where they should end up. Two policemen over in the corner were talking about a new restaurant; that was odd, but Serenity supposed they hadn’t been given anything else to do yet. Even stranger, the minister for the church somehow heard about what was going on and was talking to another policeman in front of - how had a reporter gotten into the room? He didn’t have a camera, but the big 6 on his polo shirt gave it away.
Ita was positively shaking beside Serenity.
Serenity frowned and turned to her. :Turn the spell off if you need to.:
:No! No, no, I can deal with this. I need to. I need to understand what’s happening. Humans are just so loud! And so many of them. Why doesn’t their Lord just make the decision?:
Oh, of course. She was used to the rigid structure of autocracy. No wonder she was having issues. :Different chains of command. We’re supposed to be able to make our own decisions based on the rules, but this isn’t a normal situation. On top of that, the rules are different for different people.: Serenity glanced over at the reporter as he told Ita that.
:Look, just follow along. I can explain what’s happening later, see what you can pick up on your own. I need to talk to some of these people. Unfortunately.: Serenity hopped down from the table he’d leaned against after the fight; he wasn’t certain when that had turned into actually sitting on the table. Probably when everyone came into the room.
:Yes, Lord.:
Serenity wasn’t certain if he wanted to break Ita of that habit. Her blind obedience was both annoying and useful. He was certain he’d want her to loosen up and question a little, but this wasn’t a good time for it; even if she were a bit looser, this was a good time for her to just follow his lead.
Strangely, no one seemed to have noticed Ita; everyone’s attention was on the two Sterath in the middle of the room. They were also leaving Serenity alone. As much as he kind of preferred it that way, it didn’t make sense; not only had he had his Incarnate up earlier, he was the one who’d captured the Sterath. There was no way people would be leaving him alone if they realized he was there. On top of that, Ita hadn’t been silent when she cast her spell, but no one seemed to have noticed. :Ita? Are you doing something to keep people from noticing us?:
:They have no connection to me. They would see us if they looked, but until then, the lack of connection means a lack of attention.: Ita sounded proud, but seemed to droop a moment later. :I’ve used it a lot these last five years. It helps, but it’s not complete protection. If someone’s actually looking for you, it doesn’t do anything; there’s a connection between you. Even a weak connection is enough. Once you’re noticed, it takes a long time to fade, and anyone pointing you out is enough. I had to cover you as well since I was making a strong link, but that means that any connection to you will also reveal me.:
That was a heck of a spell. Not invisibility, but …. The ability to be overlooked. To be somebody else’s problem, as it were.
It would be easier if everyone didn’t know Ita existed, and this gave Serenity a good way to manage that. :Go in the hall, pick a room other than the one you hid in - one to the left, perhaps? Just go in and close the door. I’ll come find you before I leave or I’ll send someone to get you.:
Ita crouched in respect, then headed out through the door into the hallway. Even though it made some noise, no one seemed to notice over the noise in the large room.
It seemed to work just as well as it sounded, at least in good circumstances. If he’d known she could do that, he’d have asked her to use it instead of the dimness and mist spells. Or at least he’d have asked if it could cover the two humans; it might not have been able to. What connection did she have to them, after all?
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