The shortish black-haired woman steps briskly into the room, the silk of her formal tunic and pants rustling so very softly. The lines of the tunic show off an athletic but womanly figure underneath; the bright colours go beautifully with her dark-tanned skin.
She perches more than sits on the high backed stool. “So,” she smiles. “You want to ask me questions. So ask?”
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Would you prefer to be addressed as Your Highness, Lady Healer, ma’am or a variation of your given name?
Rin smiles broadly. “Rin” is fine.
Rin, I was wondering, what made you notice Girey so that you paid enough attention to him to recognise who he was, back when he was with the other prisoners?
His arrogance. she smiles The way he was carrying himself, as if he owned the place.
How long was this after his family ‘had owned the place’?
Well, we’d just defeated them in battle, again, but…. Girey’s father’s dynasty had ruled for maybe a hundred and fifty years?
*Nods* Long emough to get proprietal.
Certainly. She smiles broadly. But not wise to be proprietorial when one is captive.
You may need to keep in mind that he can be slow to adjust to changed circumstances. *smile back*
Indeed. But he is adjusting.
I’m glad he wound up with you.
Don’t tell him? But I am too.
And what are you planning to do with your captive?
Don’t i wish I knew! Well… to be entirely honest, I do have a couple ideas. But nothing set in stone, yet.
Pleased to meet you! Would you be willing to tell us about learning to work with the Sira?
Certainly! What, in particular, would you like to know?
As much as you feel like telling us? How (and when) did you decide to pursue it? (What response did that get from those around you?) How, where, with whom did you study? What does working with it feel like? What can you do with it, what are you still learning to do, what is theoretically possible to do?
She smiles, settling back in her chair, a bit amused. I started studying the sira when I was in University. As I mentioned elsewhere, a teacher saw that I had a skill in sira. I studied at a Temple that accepted lay pupils – not all of them do, but they are very independent, at least here in Callenia, and each Temple can make the decision on its own.
How common are lay pupils? (One in ten students? More, less?) What prompted you to study as a lay pupil rather than join the priesthood?
I felt no calling to the Gods, no urge to devote my life to the service. And, as an Heir, it would have been irresponsible to give up my life; it wasn’t mine to give. I’d say that lay pupils in Callenia are about one in seven; they are closer to one in forty-nine in Bithrain, perhaps fewer.
Do you think it was irresponsible of Elen to join a religious order, then? Or was (is?) she far enough down the list of possible heirs that her life is more her own? Do about the same fraction of people study the sira in Callenia and Bithrain, priesthood and lay students together? (Do those who might have been lay students in Callenia join the priesthood in Bithrain, or not study at all? Or are the proportions different to begin with?)
Mmm, that’s a good question. She’s only one below me in the chain of succession, but we were getting the feeling, around the time she joined the order, that it was going to be a long, lone time before it was a concern for any of it. It’s hard for me to really tell how many Bitrani study the síra, because the Bithrain are so closed-mouthed about it. Perhaps in a few years I’ll be able to tell you.
How long do people in Callenia tend to live? Or does the royal family run to particularly long lives?
Well, the royal family may be a little more long-lived, simply because of better medical care, although we’re working on extending that out. But with current síra use, a Callanthe can live to about two hundred and fifty years old.