Inheritance

Part 2. Chapter 72: Language

Eory sketched down a letter from the waif language that looked similar to the letter in the sentence from Moonpool. "You seem a lot more... Outgoing than the other Astral Elves. Why is that?"

While Eory worked on translating that letter, Juree turned his attention to a different one—one that looked dwarvish to him. "Oh, the other Astral Elves had this silly notion that their emotions were the cause of the in-fighting with the other Astral Elves who wanted to keep slaves, so they purged their emotions using magic. I took no part in it."

Eory paused in the midst of trying to find the match for the waif letter in the Common version of the fairytale he had brought. "They have no emotions?"

Juree shook his head. "None at all."

Eory's attention was split; he was thinking about how nice it might be not to have emotions while at the same time trying to concentrate and make sure that the letter in the waif language did, indeed, correspond to the letter in Common.

Eory thought of his dark passions and desires, wondering if the whole world would be better off if he didn't have emotions, and if he would be, too. He whispered, "I wish I didn't have emotions. Can you purge them?"

Juree chuckled, shaking his head. "I would never do something so cruel. I know that having emotions can hurt worse than even the deepest wound at times, but a life where you can't feel companionship, or joy, or desire, or love, and yes, even pain, is not one worth living. You've seen the other Astral Elves; they are little more than walking corpses."

Eory derailed their conversation, showing Juree his translation of the letter. "It bears the most resemblance to this letter from the waif language, but it's still not an exact copy..."

Juree looked at the letter, setting his own letter aside. "The only difference is this dot above the letter, which resembles an accent mark from the elven language... I must assume that your translation is correct."

Eory smiled at that and then picked a different letter to translate, working in silence for a time.

At the back of his mind, Eory kept thinking of the emotions he wished he didn't have. He hunched over, hugging his stomach. He thought of how Pollyanna, his closest companion at the fortress, and the woman who had never dreamed of abandoning the Arrozan family, had watched him being dragged away by the human, Ashaya, and done nothing about it. He thought of how Maruka, a man who kissed him so well and doted on him so lovingly, refused to take the bracelet off that was inhibiting his power, despite the fact that it meant Eory could not defend himself against Ashaya.

Uncertainty about the motives of these two people who he couldn't stop himself from loving so much morphed into sharp pain in both his mind and stomach. Eory said aloud, "Why should you think pain is worth feeling?"

Juree tapped his pen against his cheek, pondering his letter and Eory's question "Because if all you felt was happiness, you wouldn't even be able to tell you were feeling happiness any longer. You would have nothing to compare it to, after all. It would quickly become a neutral state—like feeling nothing at all. I know you have lived a life of pain and suffering. I've heard of how you were caged and raised with only one companion—the Redeemer of Maribel--but I imagine the pieces of joy you have experienced, despite such pain, have felt all the more precious because of it."

Eory gave it some thought. His life had been mostly composed of painful memories and even more painful emotions. He thought about the scraps of happiness he had experienced often to keep himself from going mad: He thought about how Kori had saved him when no one else would, and the fierce loyalty and love he felt toward her for not just saving his body, but trying to save his soul as well. He thought about how grateful he was to Them and Terran for saving him from Ashaya, and how their companionship made him feel so comfortable in his own skin.