don’t care. You have to let them get it out of their systems, so you might have to put up with a bit of screaming and crying, but a happy equilibrium will soon be reached.” The last bit sounded like he was remembering the words from a textbook and I grimaced.
“Sounds like a load of bollocks, Charlie.” But he just laughed and refilled our mugs from the kettle.
“Hang on Jas, I’ve just got to do a bit of Hầұeӣ before we get too merry.” He stood and walked slowly around the perimeter of the camp, including the trees and the patch of grass the horses were still munching happily on. He circled the camp again, and then a third time, before coming to sit back down by the fire.
It was a ridiculous sort of ritual, and I giggled at him.
“What? You want protection, don’t you? I just went round and changed the air so we’d be safe.”
“Safe!” I spluttered. “You walked around in a circle three times!”
Charlie flapped a hand at me, aggrieved. “Yes three times! One for sound, one for visibility and one so that no one can come in.”
“Yeah, righto, how’d you do that?”
“The Hầұeӣ changes the properties of the air particles. You can do it all at once of course, but it’s a bit of a pain, and I’m weary and protection stuff like this isn’t really where my skills lie. Go see for yourself!”
So I stood and went to where Charlie had walked behind me. I reached out, expecting nothing, but my hand touched something solid. The air was actually
solid
, as if there was an invisible brick wall surrounding the camp.
“Shit Charlie,” I settled myself back down. “That’s pretty cool.”
Charlie beamed. “You’ll learn this stuff, don’t you worry kiddo. There’s lots of things in the physical world that can be manipulated with Hầұeӣ, when you know how.”
Hypnosis, shields,
fire.
It didn’t seem possible that I could do this stuff, but Charlie seemed to think I could. Charlie believed I had this Hầұeӣ. Unbelievable. I sipped at my tea, I was feeling surprisingly happy, giddy even. And now excited.
“Jas…?” Charlie began, looking at me.
“Yeah?”
“This word you keep saying, “bollocks,” what does it mean?”
I gasped with a laugh. “Seriously? I thought you knew everything about Humans! You spent ten years wandering about up here are you don’t know what bollocks are?”
Charlie grinned and rubbed at his brow, embarrassed. “Yes, but there are regional differences in your language, you know, especially the, uh, colloquialisms. They try, but they can’t teach us
everything
!”
I giggled. “Bollocks means balls. Testicles.”
Charlie snorted, “I thought it meant your arse! Like, your buttocks!”
“Ha, nope. It means your danglies.”
“Danglies!” Charlie hooted. “That’s brilliant!”
I was grinning at his delight. “Yeah, gangoolies!”
Charlie chortled, picking up on the game. “Nads!”
“Knackers!”
“Cullions!”
“Family jewels!”
“Jingleberries!”
“Plums!”
“Baws!”
“Gentleman’s vegetables!”
“Gentleman’s vegetables?!” Charlie cried, almost hysterical. And then I was thankful for his sound-proof Hầұeӣ barrier as we both shrieked with laughter, gasping for air and completely unable to speak any more.
The fire had died down to embers by the time we had exhausted ourselves with laughter, telling stupid jokes and swapping stories. My face ached as I crawled into my sleeping bag. We had said our goodnights, and I was feeling a bit drifty when I remembered something.
“Charlie?”
“Mmm?”
“Why were you worried about those assassins in Lille?”
Charlie sighed and shuffled in his sleeping bag.
“Were you hoping I would forget about it?”
He chuckled. “Very astute, Myr Jaseth.” He lifted himself onto his elbows and I could see his eyes glittering red in the embers’ light. “I spent some time in Lille when I was a Journeyman. I made some good friends there.”
“Oh.
“Sounds like a load of bollocks, Charlie.” But he just laughed and refilled our mugs from the kettle.
“Hang on Jas, I’ve just got to do a bit of Hầұeӣ before we get too merry.” He stood and walked slowly around the perimeter of the camp, including the trees and the patch of grass the horses were still munching happily on. He circled the camp again, and then a third time, before coming to sit back down by the fire.
It was a ridiculous sort of ritual, and I giggled at him.
“What? You want protection, don’t you? I just went round and changed the air so we’d be safe.”
“Safe!” I spluttered. “You walked around in a circle three times!”
Charlie flapped a hand at me, aggrieved. “Yes three times! One for sound, one for visibility and one so that no one can come in.”
“Yeah, righto, how’d you do that?”
“The Hầұeӣ changes the properties of the air particles. You can do it all at once of course, but it’s a bit of a pain, and I’m weary and protection stuff like this isn’t really where my skills lie. Go see for yourself!”
So I stood and went to where Charlie had walked behind me. I reached out, expecting nothing, but my hand touched something solid. The air was actually
solid
, as if there was an invisible brick wall surrounding the camp.
“Shit Charlie,” I settled myself back down. “That’s pretty cool.”
Charlie beamed. “You’ll learn this stuff, don’t you worry kiddo. There’s lots of things in the physical world that can be manipulated with Hầұeӣ, when you know how.”
Hypnosis, shields,
fire.
It didn’t seem possible that I could do this stuff, but Charlie seemed to think I could. Charlie believed I had this Hầұeӣ. Unbelievable. I sipped at my tea, I was feeling surprisingly happy, giddy even. And now excited.
“Jas…?” Charlie began, looking at me.
“Yeah?”
“This word you keep saying, “bollocks,” what does it mean?”
I gasped with a laugh. “Seriously? I thought you knew everything about Humans! You spent ten years wandering about up here are you don’t know what bollocks are?”
Charlie grinned and rubbed at his brow, embarrassed. “Yes, but there are regional differences in your language, you know, especially the, uh, colloquialisms. They try, but they can’t teach us
everything
!”
I giggled. “Bollocks means balls. Testicles.”
Charlie snorted, “I thought it meant your arse! Like, your buttocks!”
“Ha, nope. It means your danglies.”
“Danglies!” Charlie hooted. “That’s brilliant!”
I was grinning at his delight. “Yeah, gangoolies!”
Charlie chortled, picking up on the game. “Nads!”
“Knackers!”
“Cullions!”
“Family jewels!”
“Jingleberries!”
“Plums!”
“Baws!”
“Gentleman’s vegetables!”
“Gentleman’s vegetables?!” Charlie cried, almost hysterical. And then I was thankful for his sound-proof Hầұeӣ barrier as we both shrieked with laughter, gasping for air and completely unable to speak any more.
The fire had died down to embers by the time we had exhausted ourselves with laughter, telling stupid jokes and swapping stories. My face ached as I crawled into my sleeping bag. We had said our goodnights, and I was feeling a bit drifty when I remembered something.
“Charlie?”
“Mmm?”
“Why were you worried about those assassins in Lille?”
Charlie sighed and shuffled in his sleeping bag.
“Were you hoping I would forget about it?”
He chuckled. “Very astute, Myr Jaseth.” He lifted himself onto his elbows and I could see his eyes glittering red in the embers’ light. “I spent some time in Lille when I was a Journeyman. I made some good friends there.”
“Oh.
Similar Books
