#Lore24 – Entry #147 – Muckenmyre Month #26 – The Truths We Are Taught
From the journal of Takara, Slave Inquisitor of the Stellae Illustris, Town Marshal of Grimbridge.
Immediately, my mind scrambled to come up with a proper report to my fellow Stellae Illustris, for surely they had come here seeking me, likely for dereliction of my duty and failure during my pursuit of the rebels. I would be punished severely, of course, but it would be what was required after all, and perhaps, with enough time I could work my way back up to prove my loyalty to the Emperor and…
Then the parts of my brain that had been awakened to a different way of life began to assert themselves. I finally realized Satella was trying to get my attention, asking me what was wrong, scanning the crowd for some undetected threat.
Finally I focused on the source of the conversation. It was odd that the Stellae Illustris would speak so openly in our secret tongue…and then I focused on the actual words that were being spoken. It wasn’t some reprimand or command to me, rather a jovial conversation, recounting some part of a recent journey, the troubles with a wagon along the road, the sights that had been along the way. My eyes fell upon the speakers, one of the humans, wearing the garb of a merchant, speaking to…a kerryn man wearing dusty travelers’ clothes in bright colors. I watched in utter fascination at the casual nature of this conversation, at how they switched back to common after a few moments, the merchant clapping his friend on the back and leading him inside his shop, and slowly it dawned upon me a new truth.
I began to hear more snippets of the language being spoken, and I looked to the eastern part of the square, saw more kerryn in the nearest parts of the market, dressed in all manner of colors and styles, chatting amongst themselves, seemingly without a care in the world, easily switching back to the common tongue when they spoke with the merchants.
I managed to stammer a question to Satella, to make certain that the language they spoke was as I now suspected, and, with a look of absolute shock upon her face, she confirmed what had taken me so long to puzzle out.
It was not a secret tongue the Stellae Illustris spoke amongst themselves in their clandestine activities.
It was the kerryn tongue.
It was a language that belonged to the kerryn! We had our own language!
In all my life, such a thing had never even seemed a possibility, that we kerryn could ever have our own language. I knew many tongues, certainly, for it was required during my normal slave training, but it wasn’t until I was formally accepted into the Stellae Illustris and proved my loyalty that I was taught their “secret” language, with its complex script and rapid speaking pace.
Heart pounding in my chest, my mind unable to process anything for the moment, I staggered toward the inn, earning some puzzled looks from those who passed us on the street. Satella, my dear friend, was there for me once again, taking hold of me and helping me to our shared room. I cried then, pouring out some of the many decades of pain that had built up within me, holding onto her for dear life, any semblance of self-control I had possessed shattered.
The Empire, and the long line of Emperors and all of those serving it, had taken our very language from us, had enslaved us and taught us that we were so much less than others within the Empire, that we could not be free, lest we break the world again. We were allowed only the “freedoms” they permitted, had to be controlled and kept in line at all times. If they could steal our language from us, erase all record of it save that which they would allow us to have once we had proved ourselves loyal enough…what else could they have taken? What “truths” had we been given that were anything but?
How much had truly been taken from us if our own language was now used against us, made a reward for the Stellae Illustris who would police our own kind?
It was late into the evening when I finally came to something that resembled my senses, or at least, had managed to stop bawling as I had been. As I lay in the bed, curled up with my head in Satella’s lap, her fingers gently running through my hair and along my ears to comfort me, I heard more of my language in the air, this time in song, coming from the common room below, heard the jovial music that accompanied the singer’s voice.
It was perhaps the most beautiful sound I had ever heard.
Finally picking myself up, giving Satella another strong embrace and thanking her sincerely for her friendship, I resolved to learn more about my people. I quickly washed my face and made some semblance of order with my appearance, and together we ventured downstairs.