Charlie slaps down another book in front of Thandi. She grimaces as she looks up at him. “Is this how you were taught when you were being tutored?”
“Yes. Memorize it and then we will discuss the finer points of Sippari trade routes and the current trading companies.” He taps the cover of the book. “We only have three months until the next edition comes out and we need to review new routes. There are usually only a few small changes each year, so if you memorize this, then we don’t need to worry about memorizing a large amount afterwards.”
Thandi nods, stretching her fingers and readying her notepad as she opens the book. It starts with a complex diagram spread that unfolds from the book, hundreds of lines criss-crossing the map. “This is all Sippari routes…?”
“Only the Sippari routes having to do with Istres. They go everywhere and it truly does make a difference when you need to say, get a message somewhere fast, or send something somewhere, or import something at a moment’s notice.”
“Charlie… most of these don’t affect Roseview… I understand knowing some of these, but… only three end here.”
“Yes, start with those three and radiate out. We manage the territory all along the Green Coast, so we have to know these thirty-seven specifically. But if you look here, see how there are twenty in this region of Boyoma alone? The Delta trades with them, so we’ll have to pay apt attention to what comes and goes.”
Thandi nods and gets to work. She does have a knack for memorizing from books, as much as she has a knack for forgetting things. The patches in her memory are slowly lessening, though, and she feels… useful. She’s happy to help. And Charlie seems to appreciate having someone willing to try to get to his level of understanding of the duchy. It makes her smile.
Thandi pours herself into it with a fervor she once stoked with her magic studies. Now, though, she has company, and a comrade. A rival, even, when a lively debate sparks between them.
“We need a road.” Thandi leans back in her seat, sighing.
“We have roads.”
“Real roads. These dirt and barely cobbled paths are a relic!”
“Certainly we can use more patrols…”
“Oh, come now, Charlie, you’ve walked them as well as I. They’re unkind. Look at these roads in Sippar.”
“Sippar! Well, if I too had workers that would trade labor for schooling then we wouldn’t be having this conversation!”
And so on. She enjoys it immensely, and she enjoys further that there’s something else she hadn’t… really gotten when she was with Vitani. Vutani praised her in one breath and then broke her down the next. Charlie… he at first was quite rough, and quite rude, but always constructive. Now it seems like he’s been doing little else but praising her.
It’s refreshing. Very refreshing.
And… outside.
She can go outside whenever she wants. It doesn’t matter when. If the spirit moves her, she rises and stands out in the sun. She would even stand out in a light drizzle, eyes closed, taking in the sounds and the feeling of warm summer rain misting her skin. Charlie often goes with her, a silent partner there to keep her company.Yes… she does like this new life of hers. It’s truly hers now.
