The next day, I got to breakfast early, and noticed Lemlia at the far end of the table. I went over and sat by her, grabbing some fruit and cereal.
"Do you want to go to the arena again this afternoon, Lemlia?" I asked, "I was hoping you could explain some lines from "A Tale of Two Passions" to me. I knew you would be the one to ask."
Lemlia didn't respond. The Signa sitting next to her looked at me strangely, and cracked his knuckles. Little warning bells went off in my head.
"I'm sorry, Draal", said the big Arlian, "but the Lady and I were having a private conversation. It is a matter that concerns those of us who work for the good of the city. I hope you don't mind, but I think she'd rather eat alone. You understand."
I nodded weakly and moved to another seat. I felt crushed. I wasn't good enough for them. An amusing toy, but not worth their respect. I was sub-sentient, an outsider, an impostor. I was cut off from both worlds, neither Draal nor Signa. I left my meal and went to my room.
I sat on my bed and moped. I tossed and turned and sighed and groaned. Someone knocked on my door. I ignored it. They knocked again. I ignored harder. They began really beating that door, so I got up and opened it.
To my surprise, Lemlia was there. Before I could say anything, she put a finger to her mouth-guards and slipped inside, slamming the door shut behind her. Everything about her seemed tense, afraid. Instinctively, I lowered my voice.
"Lemlia, what's wrong? Who's after you? Are you alright?" She shook her head fiercely, as if gathering her thoughts.
"Attla, there's something we haven't been telling you. I think it's time you knew." We sat down on the edge of my bed. The covers were still unmade. "You've read the histories. You've read the plays. Doesn't anything seem odd about them?"
I looked at her blankly.
"Isn't something missing? Something important?"
Eventually, it all came together. One factor tied all the stories together.
"There aren't any Draals or Kattas!" I replied. "None of the stories acknowledged the input or even the existence of anyone but the royalty!"
Lemlia nodded. "With the exception of Quenta the Wise, it's always been official policy never to record the doings of the lower classes."
I was shocked. Lower Classes?
"It's always taught that the Kattas are dumb but obedient beasts, and the Draals are no better. They aren't to be given credit for their work, because they are sub-sentient. Since the Industrial Revolution, three hundred years ago, the cities have always had more food than they needed. The royalty have always been scared that if the Draals were able to learn, they'd try to usurp the power of the King and Queen.
In order to prevent the Draals from revolt, they need to be constantly working. Much of the resources produced by the farms are secretly discarded, to keep the lower classes from having too much spare time, learning too much, and running wild. Almost all the silla you ever picked was just thrown out."
I was boiling! What treachery! What lies! Lemlia continued.
"When you interrupted Ghodi, he was advising me- no, he was commanding me- not to associate with you. He says I dishonour the royalty by treating you the same way I treat a real person. Ghodi has been going around, behind the King and Queen's backs, telling us all to ignore you, to pretend you don't exist. There's even talk of having you killed."
I jumped to my feet, and began pacing back and forth, clutching my head in consternation.
"Isse Trittnis, Lemlia! The Draal have always considered the Signa their equals! It was just a simple matter of needing someone to lead!" I punched the wall in anger, and I felt my eyes go red. Lemlia got up and unfolded her wings. The gossamer skin wrapped around me, and I put down my arms. Her touch was cool and delicate: I didn't move, for fear my spikes would hurt her. We stood, silent for a while. My eyes turned back to blue. Slowly, we sat back down. It was a long time before we talked again.
"When I saw you reading Romo and Yiita." Lemlia whispered. "I knew you understood by the passion in your voice. You learned math, history, all the things the royalty are taught, and then some. Your brain is as capable as ours, if not more so. It was the labour that took your energy, kept you ignorant. I was wrong about you. I'm so sorry, Attla. I'm so sorry."
I embraced Lemlia's shaking shoulders. I could feel the pain she was going through, the guilt and the shame were almost visible on her chitin. More than anything else, I wanted to comfort her, tell her that everything was going to be alright. I wanted to make her happy.
"Lemlia" I said, "I don't hold this against you. No one could. It is a fault of history, an accident in society that we can fix. Lemlia, I swear, I will do everything in my power to help bring harmony to the classes. If they knew…", but Lemlia cut me off.
"You can't do that, Attla, don't you see? The only reason you've survived this long is that you haven't made ripples! You've kept to yourself! If you start drawing their attention, they'll eliminate you!"
We sat. My mind raced. Lemlia put her arm over my spikes, and I thought about how much I wanted to make things right. Suddenly, an idea came to me.
"Lemlia" I began, "Do you know the story of The Great Split War?"
Lemlia nodded.
"Does the fortress they used still exist?"
Lemlia's eyes got wide, and she nodded again: "It's abandoned. No one wanted to live underground, with all those heavy lead walls."
"Lemlia" I said "We could go there. We could bring a few people from this city who want to escape, and we could all go there and start over. We'll bring a load of food and fabrics, and grow those edible fungi they have in the East…"
Lemlia's eyes grew wider and wider. Almost imperceptibly, she began nodding with every point I made. We got excited about it, started talking about new generations and social changes. We made diagrams and theories. Suddenly, Lemlia's head snapped up.
"What time is it?"
I checked my clock. "About three."
"I have to go." Lemlia went to the door, and checked the hallway. "Don't tell anyone I was here. I have to go. I love you." She left.
I love you.
Did she just say "I love you?"
My mind reeled. I did a few more drawings- some of the new home, and others of Lemlia and I together. Love? How can a Draal love? Lemlia needs a Signa, someone who can make her a Queen… But millions of Signettes never become Queens… My mind was full of questions.
I went out and wandered the halls. I came to an exit, and looked at the Katta standing there. I had always thought they were dumb animals, but now I had to question that. If I didn't, I would be no better than the oppressors of the past. This Arlian was my brother, literally and figuratively. I checked to make sure no one else was around.
"Hey" I said nervously, "Hey, you!"
The nameless Katta swung down and looked at me. I felt uncomfortable.
"Look… can you understand me? Do you really do this because you choose to? Can you think? I'd always been taught…" The Katta interrupted me. His hand came down and wrapped around my torso, lifting me off the ground. I felt nauseous as he brought me around in his three-fingered grip to look at his face. My blue eyes met his purple eyes. I stopped fidgeting. I was in the presence of a giant.
His other hand came up, and a single oversized finger, larger than my leg, caressed the top of my head roughly. The Katta slapped his chest, then poked mine. He slowly, gently put me down. I understood. The Katta do not speak, because they need no words. They have only one idea. It is the reason they fight, the reason they protect, the reason they serve. One word. Love.
The next few weeks were a flurry of secret activity. Our dream was taking form, and I was proud to work for something I believed in. Lemlia and I got together a clandestine group of rebels- mostly Draals, but with a few young royals- who decided to work for a new city. Gradually, we moved supplies out east, to the derelict old hideaway. The day we reinstalled the camouflaged main gate, I renamed it in a big ceremony. From then on, we all called it New Hope City.
Lemlia and the rebel royalty still put in an appearance at the castle, mostly to get us information. The Draals, Kattas and I mostly stayed at New Hope City, preparing for the day we would become independent. Fortunately, the power source for the scouter had been copied by the scientists, so we could install lights underground with no fires. These allowed us to start a small silla garden, as well as grow drake-leaf, chort, sumba, and a few medicinal herbs. It looked as though we really would be capable of being self-sufficient.
Tiik had faked his own death to come with us- he said it was his best practical joke ever. He had fun, but he worked like ten Arlians. It was his presence that made the underground seem like home. We slept in the same room, and listened to each other's breathing.
Master Zoran came over: it was my great gift to him, making a place where he could be respected as he deserved. His retirement age had come- if we had left him in the city of his birth, they would have killed him.
One Signa, Trally, kept forgetting to treat the Draals as equals. He seemed to instinctively avoid work, and push others around. No matter what we told him, he never really got the idea that he was not necessarily better than a Draal. Lemlia came over one day, saw what he was doing, and kicked him, right in the chest. I almost cheered. That was the greatest step forward we ever made as a community.
Meanwhile, the city didn't seem to notice the steady stream of resources that went off into the wilderness. The scouter technology was being expanded at an incredible pace- the temple-suction system alone spawned ten new inventions, including a kind of hovercraft. Other cities were sending over spies to steal developments: there was talk of war.
Lemlia and I stepped up the growth of New Hope City, hoping to get it all working before any serious violence started. The birth of a new society was difficult, and it taxed us all very much.
It took us a whole year to complete- every room was furnished, every circuit was operational. The alien power supply would run for decades, with only a few stones as fuel. On the last day, everyone involved gathered outside the entrance, and looked at our handiwork. All together, we were an incredible crowd. I motioned for a Katta we had named Gimbal to put me up on his shoulders. I waved my arms to attract attention, and began to speak.
"Citizens of New Hope City! You have laboured long and hard for this dream! I am proud to see that we have done this great thing in the name of equality! In the name of peace! In the name of friendship!"
The multicoloured crowd roared like the ocean.
"We have broken away from the old order of things! The Kattas, Draals, Signas, Signettes -and yes, even the Kings and Queens- shall be equals! Worthy of respect! Worthy of credit for their accomplishments! Worthy of acceptance! Worthy of place!" I picked out Lemlia in the masses. Our eyes locked. "Worthy of love!"
"In that spirit, my friends, I give this place to you: The City of New Hope!" We all cheered, and entered as one. We had our first banquet together: those who cooked and served sat down with those who directed and oversaw. The meal was a great success, and I helped to wash the dishes with two Signas and a Katta. We all milled about afterwards, discussing the bright future and complimenting each other's hard work. I went to bed happy.
Click here for Part Four