Rohvim #1: Metal and Flesh (31 page)
Read Rohvim #1: Metal and Flesh Online
Authors: Endi Webb
Intermission
From:
[email protected]
Date:
Mon, Feb 20, 2012 at 12:13 PM
Subject: Rohva Technology and other matters
Dear Mr. Luista,
I hope this letter finds you well. I enjoyed our last session very much, and I feel like the book is coming along nicely. Per your instructions, I am allowing myself a little latitude with certain thematic elements as they pertain to religious imagery, all the while keeping your primary objective in perspective—I am attempting to keep the imagery subtle, such that any person, atheist or otherwise, could pick up the book and have a good read, thus keeping the audience as wide as possible. I feel it is important to try, however, so I thank you for your indulgence.
I have a few more questions for you. I am a scientist by training and I feel almost compelled to include a technical description of the Rohva powers that you have described to me. Even as you tell me of them, my mind turns to voltages, currents, frequencies, capacitors, inductors, etc., and I want to discuss how a short range electromagnetic pulse could easily be generated between the hands of a rohva, and how by adjusting the voltage and frequency a rohva could easily arc electricity out of its hands while simultaneously sending signals to the skin covering the fingertips to impedance match the input signal so as to reduce resistive heating of the flesh. I know you want this series to be some kind of mesh between science fiction, fantasy and teen romance so as to maximize profit potential, so maybe I could add a bit to the science fiction portion at this point?
Also, I’m a little worried about Priam. In my notes it seems like he is Aeden’s best friend in the world, and even though he sees injustices in the society around him, I’m not entirely convinced that he would be willing to throw that all away for a complete stranger who stroked his ego a bit. Can we embellish a little? Maybe go back and make the two boys fight a few times, or make Yoruth do some kind of direct mind manipulation at this point? I know I’m not exactly a writer (why did you choose me again?), but I’ve read enough to know that the things a character does have to be believable, and right now, I’m not buying his future betrayal.
Thanks for the M&Ms you sent me yesterday. My kids ate them right up.
Sincerely,
Endi Webb
From:
[email protected]
Date:
Mon, Feb 20, 2012 at 8:31 PM
Subject: Re: Rohva Technology and other matters
My dear man! I simply adore the setup I have here! And, don’t mention the chocolates—it was nothing, really, our confectionaries can scarcely make finer in my time, and I thought, I will spare no expense for my ghost writer! And, my good man, do you know where I purchased them? It was truly unbelievable—I thought it was a dream. My driver was ushering me throughout town on my many important errands, when I saw it: an entire market devoted to walls! How perfect, I thought, here I am, a Rohva, travelled back to the far distant past, and I chance to stumble upon a place to upgrade my mind’s wall! So I enter this delightful market, and to my utter surprise and satisfaction, an old lady greets me at the door from her motorized chair! I tell you, the woman was 4 times my age! That would make her nearly 486 years old, but she didn’t look a day over it. She was a dear, really, laughing nonstop at my questions to her—where could I upgrade my translator software, did this market have a mind polisher, etc. She never answered, so I entered, and that’s when I discover that it is not a market for my mind’s wall—silly of me to think so since the technology has yet to be invented—but a vast storehouse of an unimaginably large variety of exotic and fine goods and wares! Truly, I lament that we ever lost such a glorious and remarkable past.
To your question, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, and NO! Absolutely not! There will be no technical discussions of any nature whatsoever! My good man, we discussed this! There will be time later on in the series, maybe after book 150, where we can begin to discuss technical details in the books themselves. For now, I want these people to be human! They’ve thought they were human their whole lives until some pesky master healer comes along and ruins their blissful ignorance. And my good sir, I am human! Sure, I am Rohva, but I consider myself a first class, genuine, make no mistake, no doubt about it human! Do I look like a collection of circuits and wires and metal to you? Hmm? I am not some toaster, my good man, I am as human as you, only more so because I can do things you can not. Can you send electricity out of your fingertips? I didn’t think so.
As for your other question, again, I must respectfully disagree. Tell me, have you never betrayed a friend? If you are human, as I am by the way, you most certainly have. Did you have a good reason for doing it? Unless you were being paid very highly to do so, I very much doubt it. You may set your original price of betrayal at, say, $18.60, but just as in that wonderful market of walls, the price keeps dropping! $18.60! $17.97! $15.48! And by the Creator’s beard, before you know it, you’re at half price, and you end up buying two large bags of those delectable chocolates instead of one, for the low, low price of 9 dollars and 30 cents! So no, please make Priam’s price unbelievably low. He has everything right now, and he needs to give it up for nothing. And then, when Yoruth has had his way with him, we just discard him like all this wonderful packaging my many purchases came in, and find another friend for Aeden.
I must go now, my excitable, excellent man, but let me assure you, you are doing a wonderful job! You say you are no writer, but I detect a bit of false modesty! Scientist indeed! But seriously, if you were a real writer, then I might have to pay you more. Of one mind and heart, my good man!
Siesta Luista
Act III
Chapter Eighteen
“…for, my children, what is life without mirth? How shall we pass our days without laughter? Otherwise, as women of stone shall we roam…” –Wisdom of Rutha, 54:3
Early in the morning, the travelers broke camp and descended into the wide valley. The vibrant greens and reds and oranges and yellows of the hills and mountains were more subdued here, and a high marine cloud layer formed a ceiling in the sky. The travelers, however, were in good spirits and made steady progress. Aeden and Betha brought up the rear, talking as they marched, keeping up with the group but hanging back just a bit.
“…and so Priam, he’s left there standing, holding the bag in his hands, not knowing quite what to do with it, while the royal guard is barking orders at him to back away from the princess and to kneel down on the ground!”
Betha gasped wide-eyed, “What did he do?”
“Well, what would you do? He backed away slowly, then threw the bag over the heads of the guard into the crowd and bolted. Half of the guards ran after the bag and the other half after him, but the marketplace was so crowded that he managed to sneak away. Lucky brat. I told my father, and he didn’t take me back to the capital city for two years—after a severe thrashing, of course. But by the time I returned, I’d grown quite a bit so no one recognized me…”
“Well I think it served you both right. What would have happened if you got caught?”
Aeden shrugged, “Oh I suppose they would have taken me before the king, verbally abuse me for a bit before sending me back to my father. Priam, I suppose they would have chopped off his left hand, both ears, and left him in the stocks for 60 days.”
“And we wonder why we have so many in the society who hate the nobility.”
“Do you hate the nobility?”
Betha demurred, “Well, no, not exactly. I think you’ve had far too many … too much … it’s just that everyone else is treated so poorly by nobles and royalty. Everything I have in my life, I had to work for. Hard. Our shop is successful because I drive hard bargains when I purchase. I’m an active member of the society, far more than many older members—even some Elder Council members. I’m apprentice to master Arturo. Tell me, how many non-noble friends besides Priam did you have growing up? Hmm? Did you ever see how the regular people lived?”
Aeden hesitated, “Well, no. I didn’t have very many close friends. And yes, I suppose we lived in a very nice part of the city and the servants did most of the interacting with the merchants and deliverymen. But we’re not all bad. Right?”
Betha smiled, “No, not all of you, just most of you … oh wait, you weren’t using the royal ‘we’, were you?”
Aeden mock-laughed, “Ha ha. Hey, if I was all bad, would the master healer have ever invited me into the society?” Betha held her smile, but said nothing. “Ha! There you go. You like the master healer, he likes me, therefore, you must like me. I knew I should have gone to university in the capital …”
Betha let out a belly laugh. “You? At the university? That’s a place for Rupert, not you, I’m afraid.” They walked in silence for a minute, and Betha remarked, “You and Rupert seem to be good friends these days.”
“Yeah, he’s all right. He’s … you know, Rupert. Awkward, gangly, says the wrong thing at the wrong time, not aware of anyone around him. But he’s a good guy. It’s almost touching how he’s tried to look after me since Priam disappeared.”
“I’ve known Rupert for many years now, and he’s never been as friendly to anyone like he has to you. We’ve been talking, him and I, and he finally feels like he has a real friend. I mean, I’m his friend and so is Darla … after a fashion, but he’s never had a buddy, you know, a good guy friend. So … thanks. That means a lot to me that you would be so nice to him.” She smiled once again at him and touched his shoulder briefly before walking on.
He looked down at his shoulder where she had touched and followed along behind her. “Well, you’ve definitely been a little friendlier to me the past few weeks. I remember when we met and for weeks after, you were like an icicle.”
Betha replied, “Well, from when I first laid eyes on you, when my father practically begged you to try on that priceless armor you’re wearing right now, and I saw you hungrily looking at it, feigning not to want it but feigning poorly, and then looking at yourself in the mirror for what seemed like ages ...”
Aeden interrupted, “When Priam and I came by? I didn’t even glance in the mirror then.”
Betha stayed silent.
“The first time I was there, you hadn’t come in until after I took it off.”
“Oh, look how far we’ve fallen behind, we should really …”
He interrupted again, “So you were looking at me through the window or something? And saw that I was watching myself in the mirror for what seemed like ages? Meaning that someone was watching me look at myself for ages?” He paused, “Did you like what you saw?”
Betha protested, “Oh stop. Get over yourself.” And marched on ahead.
“As I recall, I took off most of my …”
She blushed. “Rupert! Come over here!”
Afternoon came and the shadows grew longer, the sun burning off the marine layer of clouds. The older company members insisted on stopping for the night, and they found a place among the grasses on a bluff near a stream flowing out of the hills. They spied down below them a road, threading its way across the broad plain, ending in what looked like a small town many miles off. They decided a fire might draw unwanted attention that night and so simply laid their bedding in the grass and rested.
The younger members wandered around the bluff, playing and washing in the stream, resting their battered feet. Feeling refreshed, they decided to walk down to the road and look for any signposts that might guide their way. Halfway down the hill, Frederick sharply whispered, “Get down! Over to those trees!” he indicated with his palms for all to lower themselves to the ground, and pointed down the hill.
Walking along the road, hobbling really, was a group of soldiers, and even from their vantage point they could see the blank expressions on the faces. The youth crept over to a grove of trees and hid themselves, keeping an eye on the marching men and women. Darla whispered over to Aeden, “Don’t get any stupid ideas this time, prince!”