Author's Chapter Notes: It's been less than a month! Let's hear the cheering! *crickets* Fine. My lovely beta, Oparu, beta'ed this (no duh) and suggested the italic-Ancient idea, which was quite lovely. Heh, I just realized after I posted it that the italics didn't show up. *facepalm* But it's fixed, so...yay. And yes, it's short, but I plan on writing more quickly now (yeah, like that worked in the past), so the chapters might be a hundred words shorter, but there'll be more of them.
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The guard stopped directly in front of Elizabeth’s cell. The lock on the cell’s gate was opened by a complicated-looking device pulled from the guard’s belt. It wasn’t exactly a key, but it wasn’t exactly not…
Her thoughts on this world’s security devices were rudely interrupted by the guard storming in and grabbing Asluna by her forearm. To her credit, she didn’t scream. Instead, she glared at her captor with a look of pure hatred. She knew what was going to happen, and she knew there was no way to stop it.
Elizabeth, however, couldn’t just sit there and watch an innocent woman be taken away against her will. At least she thought she was innocent—Elizabeth had been taken for no particular reason, hadn’t she? Regardless, she stood up, and the guard noticed her and growled a “sit down” in her general direction.
It didn’t register at first, but eventually she realized he was speaking Ancient. She refused to lower her gaze and directly disobeyed his order. “I want to speak to whoever is in charge,” she said in Ancient, much more confidently than she felt. The guard’s belt not only held the alien key ring, but also a dagger and two types of firearms.
“You will,” he answered, still dragging Asluna away.
“I want to speak to them now.”
Her blatant defiance was obviously not a common occurrence here. The guard shoved Asluna towards his counterparts outside the cell and advanced on Elizabeth, backing her up against the metal bars, and sending lances of pain down her back. She refused to wince. “You will speak with him when he decided he wants to see you.” Casting a glance up and down her body, he added, “It shouldn’t be long.”
She repressed the urge to punch him and instead realized that her knee was in an optimal position to injure his groin. That would probably be frowned upon though, and she swallowed any reply that might have made him angrier.
He turned away from her and exited the cell, grabbing the taken woman by her hair. Ketna watched her go with a sad expression, but she seemed to be used to it. Elizabeth looked around the cell—now minus one occupant—and saw the Ancient woman looking at her curiously.
“Why would you want to speak to the leaders?” she asked, her voice raspy from perhaps weeks of disuse.
Elizabeth turned to face her. “So I could better understand why we’re here, what they want, and how we can escape.”
She looked at her, genuinely confused. “But he would never tell you. They would do nothing but hurt you.”
“It’s worth a try,” she countered, sitting down next to her. It was rather ungraceful, for she had to keep her back straight.
“But they might kill you.”
Elizabeth looked at her. “Is that really any worse than sitting here waiting to die?”
The woman looked at her. “Here, you have a chance.”
“I don’t think talking to them will really make a difference.” When the other woman didn’t respond, she added, “When you were taken, were there other females with you?”
The woman was taken aback. She did the Ancient equivalent of a stutter. “No. It was just my husband with me. They killed—they killed…” She trailed off.
“I’m sorry. I was just wondering why…never mind. There must be some reason, and I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough.” She leaned back against the bars, casting a glance around the cell again. Ketna was looking at her, confused. The other two women, who were used to others conversing in languages unknown to them, simply looked scared. Elizabeth switched back to English. “I was just speaking—”
“Yeah, her language.” She dismissed it with a gesture. “Go ahead.”
“You speak two languages?” the other woman said incredulously.
Elizabeth reverted back to Ancient. “Yes. More as well, but not ones that are known…here.”
“Where are you from?”
Elizabeth took her time before she spoke, “Far away from here. We are explorers. My name is Elizabeth, by the way,” she added, suddenly realizing she hadn’t properly introduced herself to her.
She nodded. “I’m Modreni.” She stopped. “Two languages. I've never known of a civilized person who has spoken more than one.”
“I assume you don’t have any other cultures on your planet?” Elizabeth asked.
“No,” she answered, then stopped. “Well, we have the slaves, but nobody ever talks to them, and they seem to understand Ancient, so…”
Elizabeth was slightly shocked but didn’t let it show. “Slaves?”
“Yeah. Slaves—servants?” she tried to explain, thinking perhaps the language barrier was causing the problem. “You know, someone who serves under you—”
She interrupted Modreni. “No, I know what they are. We just—we don’t have them anymore.”
Modreni was stunned. “You don’t? How do you—do you…so you actually do your own…” It was if she couldn’t bring herself to say the words.
“Our own washing, preparing of food, that sort of thing?” Elizabeth clarified. When Modreni nodded, she did the same, though it hurt her head. “Yes.”
Modreni suddenly dropped her eyes. “Oh.” She didn’t elaborate, but Elizabeth knew what she was thinking, and it made her slightly angry. She was already not in the best of moods, but being put on the same pedestal as what Modreni considered a slave wasn’t helping. Sooner or later, Modreni would have to do her own tasks, and she would probably end up being a slave herself to the guards. Elizabeth declined to point this out and instead turned her conversational efforts to Ketna, the only other occupant in the cell she could understand.
“What happened?” Ketna inquired, obviously aware of Modreni’s avoidance.
Elizabeth sighed. “Does your society have slaves?”
Ketna shook her head.
“Well, hers does, and since I do everyday jobs, she sees me as slightly inferior.” Elizabeth tried to put this as nicely as possible even though she thought it was despicable.
Ketna’s typical teenage reaction almost made her smile. “That’s stupid.” For a moment, she and Elizabeth sounded like they could’ve been back on Earth, sisters talking about gossip. Ketna’s face contorted into a grimace, and Modreni, who saw her, narrowed her eyes. “Yeah, that’s right, I don’t have a slave either.”
Elizabeth at least knew that teenage sarcasm had no language—well, culture—barrier.
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What? No asterisks and squiggles? Well, except for the last one. And the first one. Those don't count. Heh, did you know AMS stands for the American Meteorological Society? You probably did. But people call me AMS instead of typing out arcticmoonshadow, and for a while I thought they were saying I had something to do with weather until I realized what it stood for. YOUR NAME, YOU IDIOT. Anyway. That was about three years ago. It just popped into my head because I watched the weather. Review please!
The guard stopped directly in front of Elizabeth’s cell. The lock on the cell’s gate was opened by a complicated-looking device pulled from the guard’s belt. It wasn’t exactly a key, but it wasn’t exactly not…
Her thoughts on this world’s security devices were rudely interrupted by the guard storming in and grabbing Asluna by her forearm. To her credit, she didn’t scream. Instead, she glared at her captor with a look of pure hatred. She knew what was going to happen, and she knew there was no way to stop it.
Elizabeth, however, couldn’t just sit there and watch an innocent woman be taken away against her will. At least she thought she was innocent—Elizabeth had been taken for no particular reason, hadn’t she? Regardless, she stood up, and the guard noticed her and growled a “sit down” in her general direction.
It didn’t register at first, but eventually she realized he was speaking Ancient. She refused to lower her gaze and directly disobeyed his order. “I want to speak to whoever is in charge,” she said in Ancient, much more confidently than she felt. The guard’s belt not only held the alien key ring, but also a dagger and two types of firearms.
“You will,” he answered, still dragging Asluna away.
“I want to speak to them now.”
Her blatant defiance was obviously not a common occurrence here. The guard shoved Asluna towards his counterparts outside the cell and advanced on Elizabeth, backing her up against the metal bars, and sending lances of pain down her back. She refused to wince. “You will speak with him when he decided he wants to see you.” Casting a glance up and down her body, he added, “It shouldn’t be long.”
She repressed the urge to punch him and instead realized that her knee was in an optimal position to injure his groin. That would probably be frowned upon though, and she swallowed any reply that might have made him angrier.
He turned away from her and exited the cell, grabbing the taken woman by her hair. Ketna watched her go with a sad expression, but she seemed to be used to it. Elizabeth looked around the cell—now minus one occupant—and saw the Ancient woman looking at her curiously.
“Why would you want to speak to the leaders?” she asked, her voice raspy from perhaps weeks of disuse.
Elizabeth turned to face her. “So I could better understand why we’re here, what they want, and how we can escape.”
She looked at her, genuinely confused. “But he would never tell you. They would do nothing but hurt you.”
“It’s worth a try,” she countered, sitting down next to her. It was rather ungraceful, for she had to keep her back straight.
“But they might kill you.”
Elizabeth looked at her. “Is that really any worse than sitting here waiting to die?”
The woman looked at her. “Here, you have a chance.”
“I don’t think talking to them will really make a difference.” When the other woman didn’t respond, she added, “When you were taken, were there other females with you?”
The woman was taken aback. She did the Ancient equivalent of a stutter. “No. It was just my husband with me. They killed—they killed…” She trailed off.
“I’m sorry. I was just wondering why…never mind. There must be some reason, and I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough.” She leaned back against the bars, casting a glance around the cell again. Ketna was looking at her, confused. The other two women, who were used to others conversing in languages unknown to them, simply looked scared. Elizabeth switched back to English. “I was just speaking—”
“Yeah, her language.” She dismissed it with a gesture. “Go ahead.”
“You speak two languages?” the other woman said incredulously.
Elizabeth reverted back to Ancient. “Yes. More as well, but not ones that are known…here.”
“Where are you from?”
Elizabeth took her time before she spoke, “Far away from here. We are explorers. My name is Elizabeth, by the way,” she added, suddenly realizing she hadn’t properly introduced herself to her.
She nodded. “I’m Modreni.” She stopped. “Two languages. I've never known of a civilized person who has spoken more than one.”
“I assume you don’t have any other cultures on your planet?” Elizabeth asked.
“No,” she answered, then stopped. “Well, we have the slaves, but nobody ever talks to them, and they seem to understand Ancient, so…”
Elizabeth was slightly shocked but didn’t let it show. “Slaves?”
“Yeah. Slaves—servants?” she tried to explain, thinking perhaps the language barrier was causing the problem. “You know, someone who serves under you—”
She interrupted Modreni. “No, I know what they are. We just—we don’t have them anymore.”
Modreni was stunned. “You don’t? How do you—do you…so you actually do your own…” It was if she couldn’t bring herself to say the words.
“Our own washing, preparing of food, that sort of thing?” Elizabeth clarified. When Modreni nodded, she did the same, though it hurt her head. “Yes.”
Modreni suddenly dropped her eyes. “Oh.” She didn’t elaborate, but Elizabeth knew what she was thinking, and it made her slightly angry. She was already not in the best of moods, but being put on the same pedestal as what Modreni considered a slave wasn’t helping. Sooner or later, Modreni would have to do her own tasks, and she would probably end up being a slave herself to the guards. Elizabeth declined to point this out and instead turned her conversational efforts to Ketna, the only other occupant in the cell she could understand.
“What happened?” Ketna inquired, obviously aware of Modreni’s avoidance.
Elizabeth sighed. “Does your society have slaves?”
Ketna shook her head.
“Well, hers does, and since I do everyday jobs, she sees me as slightly inferior.” Elizabeth tried to put this as nicely as possible even though she thought it was despicable.
Ketna’s typical teenage reaction almost made her smile. “That’s stupid.” For a moment, she and Elizabeth sounded like they could’ve been back on Earth, sisters talking about gossip. Ketna’s face contorted into a grimace, and Modreni, who saw her, narrowed her eyes. “Yeah, that’s right, I don’t have a slave either.”
Elizabeth at least knew that teenage sarcasm had no language—well, culture—barrier.
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What? No asterisks and squiggles? Well, except for the last one. And the first one. Those don't count. Heh, did you know AMS stands for the American Meteorological Society? You probably did. But people call me AMS instead of typing out arcticmoonshadow, and for a while I thought they were saying I had something to do with weather until I realized what it stood for. YOUR NAME, YOU IDIOT. Anyway. That was about three years ago. It just popped into my head because I watched the weather. Review please!