Kayla was surprised to find herself serving food to the prisoners in the city dungeon again. When she was little, she'd dreamed of a grand future for herself. She'd imagined herself as the daughter of a great Duke, or the wife of some other important official. The daydreams took some of the drudgery out of the tedious daily chores she'd been assigned by the city elders. One of the chores she'd initially despised the most had been to see to the needs of the prisoners in the dungeon. Then one day, the guards brought the Chief Adviser down. Kayla had been fascinated by this new prisoner immediately. He was completely different from the other prisoners. They had made life miserable for her. This man was soft spoken, and his gaze was sharp and clear.
Kayla had started to serve the man before the others so he could have his pick of the meager food that was permitted the prisoners. Then when she'd finished her rounds, she would go back and spend a little time with him while he told her stories about other worlds and strange creatures. Kayla was only about 4 Rens at the time, but from the guards' whispers she got the impression these stories had something to do with the reason he'd been imprisoned.
After about a month, the man did something new. "Kayla", he'd said, "I must repay you for your kindness." Kayla had started to object, but the man continued over her protests. "They've taken all my worldly possessions, but there is something I can give you that you my find more valuable than any amount of personal wealth." He always talked like that, in a sort of somber, high sounding way, and he often used words Kayla wasn't familiar with. Kayla had grown used to it after a few days. And that was one of the things that had originally aroused her curiosity.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
He continued, "How would you like to learn to interpret symbols?". Kayla was immediately intrigued. She wasn't sure what he meant by "interpret", but she knew that symbols were the strange markings that some of the city councilmen made in their records and consulted whenever they performed any official business. If she could "interpret" them, maybe then they would assign her some less tedious duties.
"It may be somewhat risky, but I'm willing to take the chance if you are. Before we begin, though, you must promise me that you won't tell anyone about this." Kayla had been very puzzled about the need for secrecy, but the old man was very insistent. Kayla didn't really have anyone to confide in anyway, so she'd agreed to keep the secret.
Over the next eleven months, the man had drilled her in the interpretation of symbols. She'd learned how to identify the individual symbols that stood for sounds, and the special ones that were short for quantities. She'd learned how when the symbols were put together, they made words, and words put together made sentences. Sometimes, a woman would come to visit the old man, and he would be very sad for several days afterwards. But he always rallied and insisted that Kayla continue her lessons. Kayla was very young, so she learned quickly. By the time they came to take him away for his execution, Kayla was able to interpret all the symbols used by the city elders. But she never revealed her secret knowledge to anyone. She'd managed to keep that secret until just last week, shortly after her 17th Ren. That was the day she had been assigned to see to the new prisoner called Arkin.
