Armaran chapter 11

FIN - Katsotaan kuinka käy seuraavan päivityksen, koska se osuisi juurikin Uuteen vuoteen. Toivotan kuitenkin kaikille rauhallista joulua! (Onneksi suomenkielessä ei ole samanlaista uskonnollista pelleilyä kuin englanninkielisessä joulussa, vaikka meillä onkin väännetty jo useita vuosia kättä mm. Suvivirren laulamisesta kevätjuhlissa. En itse tunnusta mitään uskontoa, mutta minusta kristinusko on silti huomattavan suuri tekijä kulttuurissamme)

ENG - We'll see if the next update will actually be right before New Year's. I wish you all a peaceful Christmas! (and don't get all troller-loller because I used the C-word, I'm not religious but I see Christianity as a great force in the cultures of most Western-civilised nations)

Armaran chapter 11

Amina walked towards the school, nervous. Mr. Streckke had been praising Ms. Slava some more over the breakfast, but Amina's first impression of the woman wasn't quite as flattering. She was also worried what the other children would think of her. People with children seldom moved to Tenera, so all of the children had known each other for several years.

Amina saw a couple of children entering the school building. As her eyes met the door, she remembered the inscriptions above it. This time she could stop in front of the door to take a better look at them.

As she was trying to read the letters, a boy behind her said: ”It's no use if you don't know Universal.”

Amina turned to look and saw a boy perhaps two years older than herself. He was wearing clean and nice clothes and his hair had obviously been combed in the morning. ”I know only Armaranian,” she said even though he didn't ask.

He shrugged. ”I haven't learned all the words myself yet, but it's some kind of historical phrase,” he said and walked in past her.

Amina followed him and walked straight to the big room. It was a classroom and small tables had been grouped in each corner. Some children seemed to be sitting with other children of their own age, but others were perhaps the wealthier children. Amina had no idea where to sit.

Ms. Slava entered the room and clapped her hands to get everyone's attention and to quiet them down. ”We have a new student today. Her name is Amina,” she said audibly and nodded towards Amina. ”Please, sit down by the window,” she said to Amina.

Amina walked slowly and quite hesitantly through the classroom. Beside the windows, there were two separate school desks. She could feel everyone's eyes on her back.

Ms. Slava had begun to give out instructions to one table and proceeded quickly and efficiently around the classroom. When she was done with everyone else, she came to Amina and explained to her what she wanted her to learn on that day.

Amina listened carefully to the teacher's instructions and started with her letters straight away. From time to time, she showed all the characters she had scribbled to Ms. Slava, who very patiently pointed out all the errors and gave her advice on how to improve her hand. During lunch break one of the girls Amina had met the day before promised to borrow her a small chalkboard so she could practice Ms. Slava's frilly letters also at home, as the girl had done herself. Amina thanked her and was happy to have been able to get to know someone a little better.

On the second day, Amina spent very little time practicing writing letters. Ms. Slava had prepared simple mathematical problems for her to solve, and it took most of her day to get them done. During lunch break she had another chance to speak with some of the girls she had met before. A couple of boys kept interrupting them. As she didn't watch over the children during their break time, the boys wouldn't run away even when the girls threathened to tell Ms. Slava.

Amina didn't find the situation intimidating in any way, or perhaps not even bullying at all, as it was nothing worse than what she'd seen or experienced in Groshna. In general, boys were stupid most of the time, but they were better at getting themselves rather than others hurt.

On the third day, Ms. Slava made Amina read aloud in front of the entire class. Amina had found out that the tables were arranged according to the level of the students which meant that most of them were sitting next to children of their own age. Amina felt like being bullied as she was reading in front of everyone, but a teacher couldn't be a bully, could she? Amina managed to read better than in Ms. Slava's office a few days earlier. Some of the boys tried to interrupt her, but Ms. Slava wouldn't let anything disrupt her class and gave the boys triple homework staright away and more would follow if they didn't stop immediately. It silenced the boys efficiently.

After Amina finished reading the text, Ms. Slava asked some of the older and more advanced students for feedback on Amina's talent. Amina was terrified. She had not expected anyone but the teacher to evaluate her skills.

The boy who was studying the text above the door stood up instantly. His remarks were kind and encouraging and he emphasized Amina's potential to improve her talent. One of the first things Amina had noticed about him was that he seemed to be far more educated than any other student. One of the girls had told her that he spent only winters in Tenera and that he probably had a private tutor in the city for every summer. Ms. Slava was nodding to his comments and asked the opinion of a few other students. No one said anything half as kind about Amina as the first boy.

When she left school, Amina was thinking what true erudition and civility was. She decided it was a combination of knowledge and sophistication. You could be polite and well-behaved without education, but someone with a degree should be courteous in every occasion and to everyone, as such people should have the understanding of those less privileged and therefore less civilized. She wasn't about to have a crush on the cityboy but she esteemed him greatly.

Amina lost the track of her thoughts as someone pushed her hard on the back and she fell on her face. She could feel the skin on her palms scraping with sand and her knees were smarting.

Three boys were standing behind her, laughing and shouting insults at her.

Amina got up on her knees and looked at the palms of her hands. There were no scratches or marks of any kind left on them. She felt little tingling on her cheek but it ended as soon as it began. Praie. Amina got on her feet with her back at the boys who were still calling her names and laughing. She turned to face them. ”Was that a push? I didn't even notice it because I was lost in my thoughts and stumbled on a rock,” she said defiantly.

The boys stopped laughing. ”Teacher's pet!” ”Stupid country kid!” ”Miserable orphan!”

Amina wondered if she'd have started to cry after hearing such things if it wasn't for Praie. She raised her hands in the air. ”It didn't hurt at all and I didn't even get scrapes. I guess you townboys are just too weak since you can't even push a girl over.”

The boys were serious. They were certainly used to girls crying and any victim having some part of them bloodied.

”Oh, look! No bruises at all!” Amina said and raised her hem enough to show her unharmed knees.

The boys were glancing at one another annoyed and confused. One of them picked up a rock and tossed it in his hands for a while. When he hoped Amina was focused on something else he tossed it at her as hard as he could.

Amina's hand got up in a flash and caught the rock in midair. ”And look how slow you are. You sure wouldn't survive if you didn't have your mamas wiping your butts!” Amina tried to come up with insults as juvenile as the ones the boys had thrown at her.

The boy who tossed the rock was staring at her hand and the rock in awe, perhaps even a little fearfully. He was backing away slowly. One of his friends called him a coward. Amina threw the rock to his toes swiftly. His eyes watered and he bit his lip so he wouldn't cry out loud. He turned and limped as fast as he could. The third boy followed immidiately after losing the support of his friends.

Amina stood still a minute, breathing slowly in and out. ”You didn't have to hurt him, you know,” she whispered softly. Praie disagreed. However, it said it interfered only because the boys were disrupting its peace of mind. Amina wondered if Praie was being so childish because she was a child, or if all Gahim were as annoying moping beings. Praie had already returned to its gloom at the back of her head and didn't care about her thoughts anymore.

Something rustled in the undergrowth. Amina didn't have to see it, she could tell from the sole feeling that it was a Gahim. It didn't want to show itself so Amina whispered ”Gahim arimma hajahka” and carried on.

Amina told no one at the Streckke house about what had happened. If the boys wanted her to be punished for defending herself, she'd gladly tell everyone what they had done. On the other hand, she had no marks left on her body to prove anything. Only some dirt had smudged her dress.

***

It was raining on the fourth day of school and Amina was scribbling more letters. Ms. Slava told her she'd be placed at one of the tables after the next days off. She was also explaining in detail what they'd be doing on the next day for the common good. Amina listened carefully and prepared in the evening. Ms. Slava had told her that if it was still rainy, they'd be helping some of the older residents by cleaning their houses. If the weather was dry, they'd be filling some holes in the road near the town.

The next morning was cloudy but dry. Amina asked the house maid for a shawl in case it started to rain later. As she arrived at the school, she saw many of the students waiting outside. Some were clearly prepared to stay indoors, others seemed better prepared for wet weather. Amina had a chance to speak with some of the girls before Ms. Slava stepped out.

”Come closer, please! I don't want to have to shout!” Ms. Slava said in an audible voice.

The children gathered around the door.

”The weather today is better than yesterday, but it looks like it might rain again any minute. Those of you who don't want to be outdoors, please form small groups and go help the elderly. The rest of you, please come with me to the smithy. We will get the tools we need there,” Ms. Slava instructed them.

Most of the girls went to help the elderly. Most of the younger students stayed out with a handful of older students. Amina was vexed by the fact that the bullying boys were staying outside. However, so was Eric the civilized boy.

Ms. Slava led the way to the smithy.

A muscular and soot-covered man was waiting for them at the door. He used very few but polite words as he gave them shovels, buckets, and a wooden wheelbarrow.

Ms. Slava nodded at the man coldly, wrinkling her nose.

They headed out of town to a great hole that had been dug up in the gravely soil. They filled the buckets and the wheelbarrow with gravel. The holes they were to fill were a little farther away from town. All the students were silent under the watchful eye of Ms. Slava. Even though she hardly did anything but instruct the students what to do, Amina was certain she'd be the one to get all the praise for the good deed her students in fact did.

After all of the gravel had been poured into the holes, Ms. Slava inspected their work. She sent the older students to get another batch of gravel on their own.

They bully boys were visibly annoyed that Ms. Slava stayed in watch of the younger ones. Amina was happy even though she had no one to talk to. To muse herself, she began to recite the story she had told the spirits when she wanted them to remember the language of Armaran.

Youngest students gathered around her to listen even though most of them knew the story already, as they had so few chances to hear them.

Ms. Slava was standing a little further away but Amina was certain she was listening to the story.

After Amina finished, a little boy asked her whether she knew any other stories.

Amina thought for a moment whether it would be wise to share her heritage. She had always been proud of her parents and their talent as storytellers, but the Fatil were still not welcome in some parts of Armaran. ”I am Fatil. Or I will be some day. I know most of the stories in my family and I'm going to learn the rest of them before I grow up,” she replied.

The little boy got very excited. ”Can you tell another one?”

Amina glanced at Ms. Slava from the corner of her eye. The teacher had turned to face her. ”Maybe later. I'm sure we'll get more gravel real soon,” Amina said.

A few minutes later the older students returned with more gravel and they carried on their work.

Ms. Slava inspected the results again. ”This should be enough for today. The next rain will reveal if there is need for more gravel. We will head back to town. Eric and Joseph, will you be as kind as to return the tools?” she asked of the oldest boys.

Eric sighed and Joseph sneered. ”Sure,” Eric replied, but Joseph protested: ”We can't take all these at once!”

Amina volunteered to help. Many of the children looked at her as though she was deranged, but were happy that their help was not needed.

However, Ms. Slava ordered an additional boy to help them. She headed swiftly back towards Tenera and left the children to find their own way back.

The bully boys sneered at Amina and sprinted back home. Other children began to move towards town as well.

Eric and Joseph loaded as many tools as they could on the wheelbarrow and divided the rest between the four of them. Their progress was slow and downbeat.

Eventually Eric broke the silence. ”Why did you want to help? There are rarely any volunteers,” he asked Amina.

Amina shrugged. ”I've got to know most of Armaran in a few days but I'm still unfamiliar with the smithy.”

Eric seemed a little surprised. ”Do you always want to get acquainted with the entire village where you live?”

Amina shook her head. ”The smithy tells a lot about a village. The blacksmith does a lot of important work that some people overlook. For instance, if a hammer is poorly made, even the best carpenter can't make the best buildings with it.”

Eric thought for a moment. ”Did I understand correctly: You volunteered to help us take back the tools to the smithy in order to get a better look at it and perhaps say hello to the blacksmith?”

Amina nodded. ”Ms. Slava is obviously disgusted by working men. And I don't think Mr. Streckke appriciates them much, either. But just because you don't like somebody, doesn't mean you have to be rude to them. Many people don't like the Fatil, but that never stopped my family from traveling to that kinda places. My daddy always said, that we don't have to tell stories where people don't like them, but they don't have to shun us, when we don't bother them.”

”Are you really a Fatil?” the additional boy asked.

Eric and Joseph looked at Amina with curiosity.

”Yes, I am. And I like to tell the stories. My own favourites are about General Stenvil,” Amina replied. ”In the last village where I lived, the chargé d'affaires said that acoording to the town rules, I'm too young to perform, but I was thinking about asking about it here, too. Whenever the next town fair is, I'm going to tell stories, if I get a permission.”

”You should ask Ms. Slava as well. She is very rigorous about her students free time,” Eric adviced.

Amina thanked him with a smile.

As they reached Tenera, they saw immediately that the smithy was closed. Joseph tried the handle but the door was locked. ”Why is everything against me today...” he swore.

They waited for several minutes but there was no sight of the blacksmith, and it began to drizzle.

Amina promised to stay and wait for him so everyone else could go home.

Jospeh and the additional boy left immediately, but Eric stayed a while longer and before leaving asked Amina again if she'd be okay on her own.

Amina didn't have to wait by herself for long, and the blacksmith was very sorry for the wait.

Amina assured him she didn't mind and told the blacksmith about herself and Jared.

He was a kind man even though he didn't know Jared. He was obviously used to being treated with condescension but it didn't bother him. He had lived in Tenera all his life and while he was the apprentice, he had fallen in love with the blacksmith's daughter. They got married but she died a few years later. The heart-broken blacksmith had left the smithy to his apprentice and moved to live with his nephew in a city.

Amina listened with interest and compassion to the events of his life and told in return about her fate as an orphan.

The blacksmith promised her she could come over at any time.

Amina returned to the Streckke house happy even though she got soaked on the way.

The house maid sent her straight to her room to get changed and then to dinner.

”Good evening, my love,” Mr. Streckke greeted her when she finally managed to get to the dining room. ”How was your day?”

Amina smiled and sat down at the table. ”It was interesting to go outside of town even though filling the holes wasn't all that facinating. It's too bad it started to rain again. I waited at the smithy to return the tools because I didn't think it would take long, and everyone else could go home,” Amina described her day.

Mrs. Streckke smiled at her. ”Oh, aren't you the sweetest.”

”Indeed, almost a noble act from your part! I could not stay a moment too long near that horrid smelly building!” Streckke's son bemoaned.

Amina was still nervous about the young man's skeletal appearence and avoided him as much as she could.

The conversation was immediately moving on, and Amina was as good as forgotten. She didn't mind it as she was just a guest.

When she returned to her room, Amina decided to write to Jared and Kros. She wanted to tell them both about her meeting with the blacksmith and about everything that had happened during her first week in Tenera. She was facing to days with nothing to do. Praie was still keeping to itself and Amina was fine with it.