Over the next couple of weeks I feel lighter than I can ever remember being. I do the same things; see the twins, train with Aquin, visit the orphanage and spend time with Kedrick and my brother. But I’m happier. Telling Kedrick had been the right choice, though Olandon tells me it was a mistake.
The day is so hot, the air warps my view of the landscape in front of me. On days like today, designated groups of villagers comb the rotation for spot fires which start up for no other reason than it being too hot. They also work to clear leafy debris from the forest floors closest to the village and the palace before we reach the third.
I sit on the stairs in the shade of the Kaur wall with the twins, looking over the training yard. The other delegates are joining in the training today. They are stripped down to just their trousers in the heat. Our guards keep on their full attire, consisting of long-sleeved loose tunics and full-length trousers tucked into knee-high laced boots. Straps cross over their backs and underneath their arms to hold a chest plate tightly in place. Wide belts circle their hips with spaces for daggers and swords. They look very smart, but I wonder at the practicality of all of it in this heat.
There’s more than just friendly competition going on from what I can see. The delegates are pouring with sweat, I feel a little sorry for them. Malir and Rhone, the huge, muscled men who usually tail Kedrick are impressive fighters. If I had fought Malir, who was one of the older delegates, before now I would have seriously underestimated him. It had taken me a little while to understand Rhone and Malir were following Kedrick to guard him. Even my mother only took her Elite when going out to the village. Otherwise, our guards were for discipline and also acted as a safeguard against invasion.
“Lina.” Oberon’s voice breaks my daydream of joining in the fighting below me.
“Yes.”
“Our names all sound the same,” he says.
“Our names start with the letter ‘O’, it looks like this.” I draw an ‘O’ in the air. Ochave comes to sit on my lap, but his attention does not waver from the guards, who are practising archery today.
“Why?” Oberon asks.
“Well,” I say, “on Osolis, anyone who is unmarried has an ‘O’ at the start of their name. Do you remember what being married means?” Oberon nods. This had been one of Oberon’s questions from last week.
“When you get married you lose the ‘O’ at the front of your name,” I say. “So when I marry. My name will go from Olina, to Lina.” I try to imagine getting married and Kedrick pops into my mind. I push the image away. That will never happen.
Oberon creases his eyebrows as he ponders this. “But we call you Lina now,” he says.
They had actually called me ‘Eena’ for years.
“Family can call you by your name without the ‘O’ if the person says it is okay. It is a sign they love you very much.
“I love you, Lina,” Ochave says, turning in my lap. He has been listening after all. My heart melts a little at the innocent words coming from his young face framed by the curly mop of chestnut hair they both have. The colour is inherited from my mother. If they grow to Olandon’s height, they will be very sought after when they are older.
“I love you too, Ochave,” I say with a small smile.
“You gotta call me Chave now.” He stands up to his full height, which is level with the height of my eyes in sitting.
“Thank you, Chave, I am honoured,” I say with a dip of my head. My boys do not understand this yet, but it is considered one of the biggest compliments to allow someone to use your shortened name. Oberon is quick to echo Chave’s offer to call him Beron, and I repeat my thanks to him.
I walk to dinner with Olandon later. There is the usual murmur throughout the dinning ring that night. A few heads are held close together, whispering. Others talk in larger groups.
As I pass the table of blue-robed delegates, Malir hits a red-haired Bruma over the head.
“Fuck that hurt!” The younger delegate shouts, rubbing his head. A general hiss of disapproval sounds from the Solati court. It is echoed by my brother beside me.
The other Bruma delegates either think his words or our reaction is amusing. I smile as they roar with laughter. One of them is hitting their plate on the table. Mother will be having a seizure.
“Disgusting,” Olandon says. I frown and then tread on his foot as he waves at some young women. He elbows me in return and I laugh as his face heats.
Kedrick is already at the middle ring talking to Adnan, another of the Bruma. Adnan is much more reserved than the redhead who had shouted out. I enjoy hearing of his inventions back on Glacium and of the ideas he has had since being on our world. If mother and Uncle Cassius were not present, I would be interrogating him about ideas he may have had to improve Osolis. But I wish to live until I am at least twenty, and that won’t be achieved by revealing my large obsession with becoming Tatum.
I finish eating my regular green apple and dip my fingers in the small dish of water, using the napkin to dry my hands. As I prepare to leave, the Prince speaks.
“Tatum Avanna, I wondered if you could spare Lina tomorrow. I would like to see the Kaur forest here before we return.” I half turn to hear her answer, but freeze, a bit confused as gasps fill the room.
My mother looks between Kedrick and I with wide eyes. She never shows any expression on her barely wrinkled face, so I know something has shocked her deeply. I repeat his words over in my mind and inhale in horror, realising what he has said.
My heartbeat thunders in my ears, the sound is so loud it must be pulsating through the entire circular room. He has used my shortened name. Calling me Olina would be bad enough. But it was nearly unheard of for an unattached woman to let a male use her shortened name. And certainly not by a Bruma. By calling me Lina, he has implied we are lovers.
A hand grips my leg under the table. Mother is only a little taller than me and slim, but she is strong. Her nails dig in and I do my best to keep still, thinking fast.
I laugh. The nervous sound rings through the dining ring. “I am not married yet Prince Kedrick. That means I still have an ‘O’ at the start of my name. I know this is very different to Glacium. You also may not know when you are widowed, you have an ‘A’ at the front of your name.” I babble a bit as the deadly silence gets to me. I snap my mouth shut.
A hum of whispering starts. The nails dig in a bit more, I bite down on a whimper.
Kedrick’s eyebrows raise high on his forehead. “Oh, I beg your forgiveness, Tatuma. I fear the heat must be getting to me.” Some of the court laugh at this.
I take in a shallow breath. “We cannot expect you to come to a foreign world and know everything there is to know.”
I almost cry out as she removes her nails. The feeling is like removing five splinters at once. It is impossible to stop my shoulders from hunching slightly. I bite down on my lip to stop any sound from escaping.
Kedrick frowns, I don’t know if he realises what she was doing. “You are most understanding, I am sorry for the mistake.” Kedrick nods deeply at me and then at mother. I wince as he gets this the wrong way around.
Whispers and hushed talk start up again. Olandon lets out a breath beside me and grips my shaking hand underneath the table. I peek sideways at my mother without moving my head. She is leaning forward talking to an advisor, blissfully forgetting me for the time being. Unfortunately, this means Uncle Cassius is in my line of sight. He watches me with an eerie smile, as though someone else is holding strings and is pulling up the corners of his mouth. He only smiles for one reason. I will be getting a visit later on.
Rising, I walk out of the ring with measured steps, keeping my head high. Usually the court just whispers as I pass, but tonight they fully turn in their seats to watch the Solati who would let a Bruma use her shortened name go by.
It would be talked about for the rest of my life.