Judith Slays Holofernes, Pt VI

It has been some time since I last wrote, primarily because there has been nothing much worth writing about until now.  I decided that rather than spring my ward’s destiny on her right away, I would take the time to become a friend and confident, to build up a foundation of trust between us.  It has been working and, I will say, has been almost… pleasant. She is much as I imagine it might have been to have had a daughter, except I do not (yet) have the troublesome burden of disciplining her.  Not that she has given me- or anyone- cause to discipline her. Her words and deeds are so within the Law (as they Judaeans call their divinely delivered code of conduct) that I overhear the other servants marveling at her discipline.  This discipline gives me great hope, indeed, for her future chances of survival. But it takes more than just discipline of mind and body, more than just the natural instincts she has for grace and strength. She needs actual training, which is today I arranged for her to “accidentally” see some of my scarring.

“Ku-Aya,” she said (and she is always careful to pronounce my name properly) “What happened to your leg?”

I was relieved when she asked- the scars are quite horrible, indeed, but she is so polite I wasn’t certain she would comment.

“It was an injury of my youth, my Lady,” I demurred, but with enough of an opening in my voice to let her know that she might press for more details, should she wish.  And because she is a person who genuinely cares for others, she did.

“What could have made such marks, my dear one?”

I hesitated- not genuinely, but for effect.  “A demon, my lady,” and then I looked away, as though embarrassed to be admitting to such a foolish notion.  But then her warm fingertips caught my chin and brought my eyes to hers.

“Demons are very serious, Ku-Aya.  How did you get away?”

For a moment my heart stopped.  She did not try to deny the existence of demons!  This removed one barrier, at least.

“My people are trained to destroy demons,” I said quietly.  “My father cast a spell that drove it back into the outer darkness, and I used a knife to sever its tentacles before it could drag me along with it.”

I kept my eyes on hers, willing her to ask me more.

“That does not sound like the actions of a servant, Ku-Aya,” she said at last.

“I am called to be a servant to mankind, my lady,” I said.  “And so are you.”

Judith Slays Holofernes, Pt V

Crazy dreams last night and a wonky yoga practice this morning (I am obviously quite off-balance) but at least I got some writing in!  This afternoon is my first-ever volunteer session with Girls, Inc, during which I'll talk about communication between fellow girls/women.  This may end up being useful for this year's NaNo project...

***

Today I actually met my Potential, no table or makeup between us.  It made me realize that my arrival time was even better than anticipated, because I was able to shadow along behind her as she was introduced to the actual running of Massenah’s household, and thereby learn what would and would not be expected of her, and what her schedule would be- the better for me to begin crafting our training schedule around it.  Too, the experience created a bond between us in her mind, two strangers in a new place, and that is something I shall certainly attempt to build on.

But now a description of my ward: I find she is quite serious-minded, which is fortunate, and diligent in her religious studies, which may work either for or against me- we shall see.  She is not completely illiterate, which was a shock to me, but of course she only reads (slowly) Judaean, so I need not fear if she discovers my Diaries. But I don’t believe she would snoop through my things- she does not appear to be the type to whom it would even occur.  She seems kind, and slow to anger (a servant broke a vessel in her presence, but she reacted with patience), and has a quick wit about her (she made us- yes, even me- laugh more than once with her dry observations today). Is it possible I might actually enjoy the time I’m to spend with this Jewess?

Judith Slays Holofernes, Pt IV

Today was a bit of a busy day for me, so writing got done during nap time.

I'm running into a problem with names.  You see, the name "Judith" essentially means "Jewess", so I'd thought to play with that by having my Watcher-narrator only ever refer to her charge as "the Jewess" (this going hand-in-hand with her initial prejudice against Judaeans), but to be frank it's getting awkward and weird.  I'll keep going with it, for now, but I need to figured out a better way to do what I'm trying to do.

***

We could not have timed our arrival better had we tried.

Our small caravan rolled up to the gates not long before sunset, and after the proper documentation was provided, we were ushered into what seemed a city-wide celebration.  This Manasseh must be influential, indeed, to have so many lay aside their work for a day of revelry, merely to celebrate his wedding day. The air was thick with the smell of spices, incense, and honey, and everywhere I looked (for I did look, from between the cracks in the curtain) I saw people laughing, singing, and dancing.  I will admit, there is a certain appeal to the style of song these desert folk engage in- a way of bringing their voices together into a greater whole.  Perhaps there will be some culture to study here, after all.

I got my first glimpse of the Jewess when I was presented to her at the wedding feast: dressed in expensive fabrics; dripping in gold and jewels; hair oiled and styled elaborately; she was undeniably beautiful.  I searched her face- trying not to appear too bold- to see if there was any hint of wit or cunning, two traits I feel are essential to a Slayer’s survival beyond the first month- but she was gilded with so many paints that it was hard to get a true sense of her, beyond her youth.  She did smile at me, and spoke quite a pretty thank you to my “handler”, before Manasseh directed that I be taken back to the house, where I might partake in the servants’ feast.

The food was a surprise.  I had braced myself for a table of unfamiliar dishes of questionable preparation, but I must be strictly honest in these Diaries and the honest truth is that except for the lack of pork I quite enjoyed the meal.

Judith Slays Holofernes, Pt III

I didn't get up early this morning, so instead I'm staying up a bit late to write.  To be completely honest, I spent about an hour doing research to churn out maybe fifteen minutes worth of writing, and writing I'm not over-pleased with, at that.  But I have a bit of a better grounding in the ancient world I'm playing in, now, so I'm sure it will all turn out fine in the end...

***

It is strange to have to play such a passive role.  All my life I’ve been trained to be active- not physically active, perhaps, but mentally so.  I’ve always done the research to find the tools to eradicate the threats. Sometimes that tool was information that was passed along to others, but sometimes it was magic that I myself was perfectly capable of performing.  Now, however, I am expected to sit here like a stone in a storm while all around me documents are forged, bribes are exchanged, and further transportation is arranged. I am to focus on perfecting my Judaean accent, which, frankly, needs no improving, but I think primarily they want me out of the way while the men work.  The agent taking on the role of “old family retainer” spends all his spare moments refining the glamoire that will allow him to present me with no suspicion, and although I attempted to help him adjust his technique to the current moon phase, he dismissed me in no uncertain terms. Oh well, he’s the one who will have squinty-looking eyes.

We are less than a handful of days out from Bethulia, and the travel has been fairly uneventful.  I cannot decide if I am surprised, or not. On the one hand, it seems as though people are always talking about times of war bringing out brigands and such to harass travelers, because they fear no reprisal.  On the other hand, it seems logical to believe that the brigands are just as likely to have been killed in battle as anyone else.

Thinking of battles brings my mind back to Babylon.  How I miss it! Miss it as it was, I mean- full of beauty and art and culture and learning.  The Watcher’s Council had been there for nearly a thousand years- it seems impossible we will not return and help rebuild.  But there are those who mutter that before we were in Babylon, we were in Egypt, and perhaps we should go back, especially now that an Egyptian Slayer has been called.

Fah, enough of such speculation.  Better I turn my mind to Bethulia, and how to inform my ward of her sacred duty.  Because, as serene a face as I gave the Elders when accepting this assignment, the truth is that I have no idea how to convince her of the truth of the world and her role in it.

Judith Slays Holofernes, Pt II

I'm doing my best to get up early so that I can work out and then write.  We'll see how that goes as the month progresses.  My hope is that this will be my New Routine, and thus I'll be able to bring writing back to a more prominent role in my life.  I miss it.  Anyway, on to story!

***

By the time we had organized our Council-in-Exile enough to check back in on this newest Potential, a full year had passed, and the Scryers informed us she was betrothed to a man of great local power and influence.  There was no way to get to her in time to prevent the marriage, and so a new strategy had to be come up with, one involving a female Watcher.

Me.

I expected the Elders to put up more of a fuss about it, but I suppose when your quiver has been depleted, you are thankful for what few arrows remain.  And at any rate their attention was divided now between the newly Called Slayer in Egypt, and discussions of establishing a new capital for our activities.

I was given a crash-course in how to get along with Jews without offending them overmuch (they have too many rules to possibly be considered rational, but when one has spent a lifetime studying the intricacies of magic, I suppose a few dietary restrictions aren’t really that bad), provided with documents announcing I was a “bridal gift” from a far-flung family member, and sent on my way.

I will admit, it rankles to be taking the role of servant, especially to a Jewess, but it is my Sacred Duty to educate, guide, and protect her until she is Called, and there is no other way of getting close to a married woman.  Woman! Girl. She is younger than I am by more than a decade. Her people claim there is only one God, when I myself have personally spoken with at least three- none of whom bear any sort of resemblance to their desert sky king.  Still, I must remind myself there is the potential to learn in all situations, even this one, and a field assignment is a doorway to greater success within the Council. Besides, if she is Called, she is not likely to survive long, and then I will get to return and help rebuild the Council, and perhaps even teach young Watchers, myself.  Of course, if she doesn’t survive long that won’t be much credit to me as a Watcher, I suppose. Which means I’d better make sure she gets over the strange Jewish squeamishness surrounding blood, or at the very least dies doing something important.

Judith Slays Holofernes, Pt I

Happy NaNoWriMo!

Just like the past few years, my goal this year is not so much "50k words in 30 Days!" as it is "Write at least 10 minutes every day!" and "Post it without editing so that you're forced to keep moving!"  Like a literary shark, baby!

This year I decided I wanted to try my hand at fan-fiction, and a friend of mine suggested something set in the Buffyverse, so here it is- a Buffyverse fan-fiction of Biblical Proportions.

***

You will have noticed, of course, the gap in my Diaries.  It has been more than a year since I last wrote, and much has happened in the interim,  more than can reasonably expected to be recorded, especially by one such as I who has been so often disciplined for wasting clay on needless descriptions.  So I will prove that I can, in fact, be brief, and provide a summary of what occurred:

Sennacherib destroyed our City, and we fled.

But you see, that is not very satisfying- there is so much more to know, so much more that is important to this moment in time, this moment in which I have taken up the mantle of Watcher, and am making my way to the mountain town of Bethulia to find my ward.

Let me try again.

Sennacherib burned Babylon to the ground, and all of us- Council and Academy alike- fled, salvaging what Diaries and artifacts we could.  We were forced to abandon much of it, and our scryers cannot tell what may have survived. Sennacherib, it seems, has magic users of his own.

Aside from the horrific loss of life and destruction of property, his timing derailed a Project that was in its earliest, most fragile stages.  The Council had just located the most recent Potential, a young Jewess, and preparations were being begun to send a Watcher to her, my classmate Hassimir.

Hassimir was killed during the invasion, and all our thoughts were on our own survival.  Besides, the girl was only eleven years old- unlikely to be Called any time soon.

Festivities

It was an extremely full and satisfying day for the O'Richey-O household.  We had two Events scheduled for today: TLG's School Picnic in the AM, and the Multicultural Festival in the PM.

For the picnic we signed up to bring brownies, and I thought it would be a good experience for TLG and I to bake them early in the morning, and then bring them to the picnic.  Pride in accomplishments, and all that.  So around 0900 (after a quick trip to the store to buy eggs, which he helped me check for cracks) we began the process.

He was extremely excited about the egg.

It didn't take too long to put the batter together (even including cleaning up the egg he crushed rather than cracked), and soon we were popping it into the oven.

Official Taste Tester

Which, uh, kind of decided not to work.  As in, it decided that 250 was pretty much it's default setting, consequences be damned.  I kept those brownies in there nearly 90 minutes (did manage to coax the oven up to about 335 for the last 10), and finally had to pull them out so they could cool for fifteen minutes before we left.

Those brownies were 100% not done.

Now, they were done enough.  Enough that I'd eat them, or give them to family to eat, and just enjoy the chewy rawness of the bottom.  But to take to a Class Picnic, where people might actually complain about salmonella?  No.  So on our way to school we popped into WalMart to pick up a substitute; "We already have brownies!" TLG shrieked in indignation (pride in accomplishment, sigh), but after I explained the situation (ie lied and told him I didn't think we had enough) he grudgingly agreed to their purchase, with the caveat that he got to carry them.

The point of the picnic was to celebrate grandparents, but since TLG's all live far far away, we instead brought my aunt and uncle to represent the generation.  TLG had a grand old time running his great uncle ragged on the playground!

Not nearly as death-trappish as they were in MY day.

I may or may not have indulged in some hokey pokey with him.  But there's no photographic evidence, so who can tell.

Fortunately for everyone he fell asleep on the way home, so he got an hour nap (and I got a chance to write some Severan stuff, which I'll share in a few days) before we had to get ready for Event Number Two.

I'd been so focused on the chance to eat delicious ethnic foods that I had totally spaced on the fact that we've got some multiculturalism in our household, too.  But fortunately at the very last moment it occurred to me, and I squeezed TLG into his vintage lederhosen (passed down through the family from the aforementioned great uncle).  I was bummed that I hadn't thought of it in time to have my mom ship me my dirndls, but there's always next year...

Ready to Ride!  Possibly for the last time, because he's just about outgrown that seat.

We rode my bike there (love being able to ride my bike to fun things) and TLG was an immediate hit with the police officers wandering around: they gave him a shield sticker and directed us to the bike corral.  Once we had it locked up, TLG made a beeline for the playground, but pretty quickly thereafter he caught sight of the hula dancers on stage and got mesmerized.  I eventually coaxed him back down, and we checked out some of the booths, until he told me he wanted food- but then on the way to the food he caught sight of kids with balloon animals, so we had to take a detour for "a brown monkey!"

He would literally bite his money's face off within five minutes.  Enemies beware.

Monkey secured, we got ourselves some delicious street tacos, and followed it up with a peach ice-pop to share.

Not necessarily multicultural, but a favorite from the Farmer's Market we were excited to find here.

We spent some time watching beautiful Mexican dancers, and playing with a little paper toy bus (TLG is enamored of city buses), but eventually we were ready to head home.

They looked like butterflies.

A burst of sunshine!

All in all it was a great time, and next year I'm thinking I'll wear my dirndl, have Nathan wear a kilt, and we flip a coin to see which of our 52 flavors TLG will represent!

Cultured!