“Ah. What do you know of the Before Time?”
“Oh, ma’am, do any of us know very much? I’ve heard the stories. Men were foolish and did foolish things, they did not respect the earth, they worshipped the ease machines and the world punished them by becoming barren. The blanket of air was withdrawn, the Hot Times came when the sun burned everyone, the great ice continents melted, and the waters rose. That was the First Waters Rising. Then came the time of the Big Kill, when people died by the millions. Plants could not grow. Many peoples and types of animals and plants did not survive. I did not know until recently that a great sky stone or stones had fallen then. The abbot says they did, bringing great earthquakes and changing the map of the world. That was the Time When No One Moved Around . . .”
“We say the Time of Darkness,” said Sister Solace. “A second dark age.”
Xulai went on. “I learned that when people resolved never again to worship the ease machines, the world relented and let things grow once more, though the land area is much reduced from what it was before. This new inundation will reduce it further.”
Sister Solace said, “I’m told it is because some great aquifers remained sealed in solid stone from the beginnings of the earth, and now the waters have found ways to get out. At least that is what your friend the traveler says. I met him at lunch today. He says people far to the east of us in places called the Edges found it out. I didn’t have time to ask him for any details. Now, what else have you learned?”
“I’ve learned that people have become more numerous in a few places: here and in Tingawa, though east of us, where many survived on the other side of the great desert, where those Edges are you spoke of, they have recently had a plague that has reduced their numbers greatly. There are supposed to be people living across the great waters to the south. Until the Sea People made war on us, ships transported cargoes back and forth from there.”
Sister Solace nodded thoughtfully, then turned to Sister Tomea. “We will take a few days to find the classes that will help Xulai best. I will do that myself. At her age it seems unnecessary, but will a Tingawan chaperone be coming with her?”
Sister Tomea looked inquiringly at Xulai, who smiled and replied, “Precious Wind would do that only if such a thing were customary with other students in the . . . you call it the upper school?”
“Yes. Our schools take children at age three to . . . eighty or more, I suppose. We have no universities that stand alone. Teachers are rare beasts. We find they thrive best in a supportive environment, whether they teach toddlers or adults. As for chaperones, we’ve had a few Tingawan women with chaperones, but not for some time. The war with the Sea People has separated us.”
So it began. For the rest of the afternoon, Xulai moved in Sister Solace’s shadow, in and out of classrooms, always quietly, at the back, for the most part unnoticed by students ranging widely in age. Late in the afternoon, they returned to Sister Solace’s study, where they were given tea.
“I hope you heard something that particularly interested you,” Sister Solace remarked, handing Xulai a cup. “It’s dreadful when a student simply is not interested.”
Xulai nodded her thanks for the cup. “I was particularly interested in the discussion of the oceans. It seems there are many books about things that happen there that most of us do not know about. It seems, also, that there is a great deal known about genetics—mostly in the Before Books, of course—but I’d like to know more about that. I was fascinated by the teacher who was telling the students that all of us, mice, men, fish, horses, have genetic plans that are much the same, and it’s only the little valves that turn one thing on and another thing off that make us different.”
She nodded, writing things down. “Very well, we’ll turn you loose in the library among the books we have on oceans and their dwellers and what is still known about genetics. We don’t have the devices and equipment to do the things the Before people did, but at least you’ll get the idea. All students are expected to ride, run, walk long distances, and use various weapons, including guile, for someone’s life or safety may depend upon it, so there will be some active periods in each day. If you come across a subject you would like to know more about, come to me, and we will arrange it. I’d like you to teach Tingawan to a handful of students who need to learn the language. Will that do?”
Xulai said, “Except the teaching part . . .”
“Oh, you’ll do well at that. These are very young students, children at the age when learning a language is like learning to breathe. You’ll enjoy it. Tell them stories in Tingawan, translate, repeat; they’ll be telling them to you before long. If you don’t know any stories, ask the school librarian for some children’s books.”
That evening, not long after supper, one of the blue-veiled men, a sly, foxy-looking fellow, arrived with an invitation for Xulai to visit the dyer in his new quarters. As Precious Wind got up, prepared to accompany her, Xulai pressed her back into her chair. “No, Precious Wind. I just want
