Monday, February 15, 2010

Chapter 8: History

   "Your mother was born in a large city, many, many miles from the desert. You can't imagine a city Ardan, so I will try and explain. There are no tents, but instead, houses made of hardened clay, stone, or wood. Instead of everyone working together to survive, people in the cities strive to propel themselves only. Everything is traded or bought. Nothing is given freely."
   "The city, named Balti, is run or controlled by a group of people called the Sumi, magicians who are greedy and sometimes cruel. There are six of them. I will not tell you there names because it has been so long that the six I knew may no longer be in control or even alive. Underneath the Sumi are the Tace, there are usually twelve of them. They too are magicians, but not as old or as powerful as the Sumi. They each control small sections of the city. For example, one watches trade, one medicine, one education, and so forth. The third, last, and lowest level are the Culon. These are many. Almost one hundred when I left. They are younger magicians. They speak for the people, teach at the schools, judge the crimes, and settle disagreements. Your father was a Culon. He was called Culon Bizo." Ardan rolled the name around on his tongue. Bizo... Culon Bizo... He did not speak, but listened on.
   "Your father met your mother four years before you were born. Her father was a Tace. Tace Agnon, a grand man, who was well respected and greatly loved. He was over education and loved children, and your father was one of his favorite teachers. He had him over for dinner one night and there he met your mother. Let me interject here, your mother received me as a gift on her eighth birthday, so I was there when this happened. She was only fifteen, but she fell in love with your father that first night, even though he was twenty. She used to speak to me every night about him. When she was seventeen, they were engaged, but turmoil broke out in the city. One of the Sumi, a very old man named Callis, died and the struggle to find a replacement divided the people. When Jannen took his place, the turmoil died and to your grandfather's great pleasure, your parents were married."
   "They had a nice house in one of the better neighborhoods, your father was incredibly gifted. He could speak every language and was always reading, which made him very intelligent. He also had some control over the weather... though to be honest I never saw him do more than move clouds, so that the sun would shine on your mother. When Arta became pregnant, your parents were thrilled. She sand all the time and your father seemed to float through the air. But just a month later your grandfather died and Ghava, a greedy, dark-souled Culon took his place. He changed all the education to suit him; began teaching dark magic and that power was more important than anything else. Your father was disgusted and made his feelings well known. He fought the changes, and he and some friends refused to deviate from what they had always taught and more importantly, what they believed. Eventually he taught in secret locations, to any child that was brave enough to come. Ghava's father-in-law, Tovu, was a Sumi. A man who's views were only kept in check by the others, but he began to gain power and supported his son-in-law whole-heartedly. It became illegal to speak ill of him or doubt him."
    "By the time you were four months along, two of your father's closest friends had been arrested and stripped of their magic, one had been banished and the other killed. Two months later they came for your father. He was reading when they came for him. They were non-magical men , but they had weapons. They arrested him, but before they dragged him away, he whispered to your mother to run away and he would find her; to hide, so they wouldn't get her as well as you. She did not leave immediately though. She did not believe they would truly hurt him, but an hour later a storm began to rage over the Sumi council building and then suddenly died. Moments after the storm had finished a close friend came to the door. The council had accused your father of treason and heresy. He had gone into a tirade about the morality of teaching, had accosted them for their behavior, and they had retaliated. Culon Bizo... your father... had been killed."
    "Your mother did not leave immediately, but packed two small bags along with plenty of food and then she ran. After two months of travel, she and I arrived here, just two weeks before you were born. It was your mother's only option. They would have killed you as well. That is the law in Balti. If a father is treacherous, so shall the son be, they are both put to death. You know the rest from there, but now you know the truth. I am sorry Ardan. It is not a happy tale."

1 comment:

  1. Hi I'm one of your mom's students and I read this chapter and loved it!

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