ITL 8

[blondiechic0]

            He wondered what Desin had planted for Orinakin.  “Have you ever planted something for the pharaoh?”

            Desin laughed.  “Kudorin’s entire park is a challenge for me.  Ever since he became pharaoh, I’ve tried to plant there, to plot out new flowerbeds.  It’s one of the most beautiful, flourishing places I’ve ever seen.  But it doesn’t need me.  The flowers, the bushes, the trees, the grass, they all grow entirely without my interference.  The gods do their own work there.”

            “Someone has to plant the seeds,” Bade argued.

            “Gods don’t require seeds,” Desin said.  Stretching out his long, muscular legs before him, he finished his juice.  “I haven’t been the royal farmer for even a year, and I’ve had to face a lot of new challenges over the past months.  In the beginning of the year, I was frustrated with my progress, and I felt overwhelmed, and I saw Kudorin make a flower grow into full bloom from nothing, simply by touching the soil and saying a few words that I couldn’t even understand.  I was so upset, I asked him why I even bothered, why I even had this job, why I’d even been born, if he could do that.”

            “What did he say?” Bade asked.  From simple soil to a blooming flower, with words and a touch?  He had to see that.

            “He’s Kudorin, so he touched me and called me Anosabim,” Desin said.  “Then he explained that yes, he could do my job.  And he could do Selorin’s, and Orinakin’s, and everyone else’s.  But that would take a lot of time and focus, and would pull his attention in too many directions at once.  If he had to approve the building of a temple and keep track of how much wheat we have and settle disputes and do everything, every day, for all of his reign, he wouldn’t have the time or attention or energy left to serve the gods and tend to the people.  He’d be so busy running the country that he wouldn’t have time to lead the country.  And, if he hired people to do those things for him, they wouldn’t be blessed by the gods, and they wouldn’t do as well as the Anorians deserve.  So, he has us, to be an extension of him, to step in, to run each branch of the country and serve the gods and serve the people and flourish under what the gods have granted us.  No one can do this job as well as I can, because I was born to do it.”

            Kudorin’s brothers not only embraced their roles, they saw themselves as extensions of the pharaoh.  The more that they did themselves, the more they freed him up to lead.  The pharaoh was not only a ruler and a leader, he was the sum of his brothers, the sum of his people, the sum of his land, the sum of his gods.  Bade’s mind boggled if he thought too hard about that, so he moved on to another question.  “What does he do, in relation to your work?”

            “I talk with him, about our progress, about our plans.  I ask for his input and approval.  And, when it’s necessary, he provides the rains, or holds off the clouds.”  Desin grinned.  “I’m great with a hoe, but I can’t make it rain.”

That last line always makes me snicker, cause I'm immature like that. Just sayin'.

[Mountie]

             “I enjoy your company, Bade.”  He licked his lips.  “Very much.  You tempt me more than you should.”

This statement coupled with the one about Orinakin needing a boyfriend and Kudorin wanting Bade to get to know all his brothers and being favored by the gods had me really when I first read the story thinking...  there is more happening here with  than Bade being for 

I must say that I found this chapter scorching hot in so may ways.        And I  at Bades reaction the next morning. And I also 

            He couldn’t wait to tell Vade all about it.  The-

            Vade.

            Stunned from the pain of that blow, Bade opened his eyes, suddenly and horribly hollow inside.  He couldn’t share this experience with Vade.  He couldn’t share any of these experiences with Vade.  Oh, he could write letters home, but Vade wasn’t here, in the midst of it, in the moment.  Vade had never seen this palace, had never walked in these hallways, had never met Orinakin’s brothers, had never conversed with a bela.

            Slowly, he met his eyes in the mirror.  Seeing himself, he also saw Vade.  “It’ll be all right,” he whispered, raising a hand to the mirror, touching his reflection.  “We’ll make it work.  We’ll figure out a way.”

            The mirror-Vade didn’t look at all convinced.

I have never been a twin but it has to be excruciating to be separated from your other half.

And then the most amazing thing happened 

            The sunrise.

            Stilled in mid-chew, Bade stared.

            A few minutes passed in silence.  The growing light, the rich and varied color, the yellows and oranges and pinks and reds, it was a masterpiece in motion, dramatic and powerful.  It wasn’t simply a very pretty sunrise, it was the potency of the gods, in all their glory, mounting the heavens, awesome and terrible, bringing light to a new day.

            “Praise the gods,” Desin murmured, making the sign.  “Praise Akanoti.  Praise Anosukinom.”  Slapping Bade on the back, he started forward again.  “There’s a lot to do today.”

            “Sunrises don’t look like that in Nosupolis,” Bade said, hurrying to catch up with him, trying not to spill the milk.

            “They don’t look like that anywhere that isn’t Orina Anoris,”

I learned new things about Desin in this chapter and I like learning about the brothers.  Desin is so different from his brothers but also is so alike.  I love his straightforwardness. and I like that he works with the land.  I like his balance. and as blondiechic0 his sence of humour.