The Line of Kings by Michiru

Reaching Out

Artaher tries to show an interest in his father’s line of study.

Valarin Year 1490

Artaher thought to impress him with the recitation, Angaráto knew, but he could barely restrain a wince as his son skewed yet another vowel too close to his natural Vanyarin accent, and failed to resonate his subsequent r to the degree research indicated Avarin Quenya would favor. The further in to the short recital he got, the more Artaher seemed to falter, stumbling into awkwardly long pauses and mumbling his way through entire lines. It likely didn’t help that Lindalëar sat nearby, a smirk curling his lips and growing wider at every mistake Artaher made. The Teler had taken to coughing chuckles every few seconds, as the mistakes came faster and faster, and Angaráto could not even feel particularly offended on his son’s behalf; the mistakes were laughable, considering Artaher came from linguistically-inclined parents.

            At last, his son’s warbling, high voice fell into silence and made no further attempt to rise, but Angaráto knew he had not made it through the entire piece, a simple poem about of the stars translated from Quenya to, theoretically, the language of the Avari. Angaráto had himself made the translation several years before; he would need to revise it sometime, as it was stilted and unexpressive even without a child mangling it.

            “Can you not manage the rest?” he asked, trying to keep the hope from his voice, trying to think like Findecáno, who would surely know how to salvage the situation.

            “No, Father,” Artaher whispered, head ducked under Lindalëar’s scrutiny, shaking in the bright light of the scriptorium. “I forgot it.”

            “Come here and we’ll do it together,” Angaráto said, as Findecáno would have, except he never got the chance to speak the words, as Artaher turned promptly on his heel and fled, leaving behind a spattering of tears on the marble floor.

Chapter End Notes

Author’s Notes:

1.      Lindalëar: Telerin professor of linguistics, specializing in the language of the Valar. For some reason, he’s evolved into Angaráto’s rival, even though their areas of study do not compete. I suppose we’ll just have to assume that (like many) Lindalëar finds Angaráto’s obsession with the Avarin language pointless and unscholarly.

2.      Linguistic stuff is complete B.S., and I apologize to the professor most profusely. However, since relatively little is known about the Vanyarin strain of Quenya, who’s to say whether the r’s might be less resonant than r’s in Sindarin?

3.      The way this piece is set up now, I suppose Artaher tried to memorize and then recite the poem, which he then—due to nerves—forgot. However, the piece originally was meant to be an on-the-spot translation that Artaher simply wasn’t skilled enough to pull off. I’m not sure which version I prefer.