Now I will tell you about other stuff that was happening, because mortal stuff is very tiny stuff compared to everything else that’s always going on. And this other stuff is important! You need to know it, too, because you are really new, like me.
THERE IS A BIG HOLE IN EXISTENCE. Can you see it? Mortals can’t, but you can. Look right there. Look look look! Now tilt your head and squint. And now laheelishrinjael jyama, shu enwa owamehikach. Ashkayeerikajishge ichttu. Ichttu, ichttu! No, your other left. See it now?
Yes, it is really big. That is where the Maelstrom punched through. The Three have patched over the hole, and it is healing; Naha says it should be fine in a couple billion years. But right now it is still a big hole and actually you should not ever go too close to that hole because there are still bits of Maelstrom stuck in it and they will eat you. That is why I told you about it. I’m a good teacher!
Now look here and here and here and here, and there. Those are smaller holes. They will not hurt you. They’re hard to see, even, right? But they hurt existence. Those are the holes that are left behind when godlings die. We are not very important, not like the Three. The universe does not come apart if we die. It does get kind of messed up, though. Especially when one of the very old ones dies, because they’ve been around long enough that existence has sort of grown around them, and leaned on them a little. Without them, it cracks and maybe stumbles. Then in a few eons it’s fine again.
Everything was already stumbly when the Maelstrom came. The Demons’ War killed demons, and they do not leave holes the way godlings do, but maybe they left little itchy bumps because then later everybody got cranky and had the Gods’ War. That one was really bad, because lots of godlings died in it—mostly young ones, but a few old ones, too. And maybe that is why it was so easy for Kahl to call the Maelstrom, and why Sieh changed and died—because when existence is shaky, all kinds of things can happen, good and bad.
(Like me! OK, that is not really why I happened. I happened because my parents had sex.)
Anyway so when Sieh died and the hole was there, everything in the universe got… drifty. Galaxies spun loose, with stars flying everywhichway. Wandering planets barged into solar systems without even asking! Even the dark matter has been getting snitty; it keeps shrinking down and trying to make pocket universes. The Three have to keep telling it to settle down.
Some of that was because of the big hole. But some of it was because Sieh was gone. All the planets and moons used to like Sieh. The suns didn’t like him as much because he stole planets sometimes, but they listened to him, and did what he asked. Every other god, they give attitude.
That is what a trickster does, see. Shifts things around, stirs things up, makes the strong weak and the weak strong, makes people mad in good times so they won’t get madder in bad ones.
Tricksters are important. They are not always funny, not always cruel, not always childish; there are many kinds of tricksters, and Sieh was not the only one. But he was the Trickster, the one who keeps existence on its toes, and without him, things keep going, but they don’t go well.
Tricksters are really, really important. OK so there.
WHEEEEEEE WHEEEEEEEE WHEEEEEEwhat? But that part was fun! I wanted to tell you about it so you would know how fun!
Oh, fine. I will skip the stuff that is not important, but I think you are being a storybully, and you should maybe just relax. OK. So Eino slept really really late the next day and I got bored with watching him, so I went to a couple of other planets nearby and found a big gassy one that had really fast winds that were fun to skate on. There were little dancing creatures in the wind so I danced with them, and deeper inside the planet there were big boxes floating that had lots of long-dead mortals inside but you are BORING and don’t want to know about that so I will skip ahead.
After I came back Eino was still asleep, so I sat down outside his room because I thought there might be more interesting things to look at in the hallway, and that is how I found out I was not supposed to be near his room. When people in the house began to stir, a boy I did not know saw me sitting in front of Eino’s door. He gasped really loud and ran off. (I was pretty sure that was not my fault.) Then Arolu came and found me and asked me to come with him.
We sat down in the house’s kitchen, where all the mortal food kept distracting me because it smelled so interesting, so finally Arolu asked another boy to get me a plate of food, and while I tried to figure out how to eat it, he talked. “I see you’ve met my son, Eino.”
“Oh! He’s your son?” I watched the other boy, who sat at the far end of the long table from me and Arolu. He used a small knife and a fork to shovel food into his mouth, so I tried to imitate him. Also I wondered why nobody had introduced me to him or to the boy who’d tattled on me. Maybe they were waiting for me to say hi first? “You and he aren’t much alike, though. He’s not very nice.”
Arolu chuckled. “Boys that age do tend to be… high-strung.” He spread his hands, as if in apology. “But along those lines… Lady Shill, it’s important that you not be seen alone with him. Especially not in intimate places, like his bedchamber.”
Bedchambers were intimate? “Why?” A piece of fruit slid off the knife; I giggled.
“Because you are female, Lady Shill, and he is male, and because you look older today than you did yesterday. I would have put you at seven then; now you look, hmm, ten.”
I looked down at myself, pleased to find that I had, indeed, gotten bigger. Being in the mortal realm was making me so much better! But—“Why does it matter that I look older now?”
“Because it is a reminder to everyone who meets you that your childlike appearance does not necessarily make you a child.”
“But I am a child!”
“For now.” Arolu reached over to a pot of liquid and poured some into a little cup, which he then offered to me. I sipped it and then kicked my feet because it was amazing! Sweet and sort of bitey, which made me grin at him. He smiled back. “Ginger juice, with a bit of serry-flower pulp. A Darren specialty; I’m told we sell quite a lot of it in northern Senm.”
“It’s good! Thank you!” He really was nice. I hoped Eino grew up to be more like him.
He inclined his head with perfect grace. “What I mean, Lady Shill, is that not only could you choose to become an adult in appearance, but you are maturing in fact—rapidly, as your recent change suggests. That is a dangerous thing.”
I stopped in the middle of sipping my juice, frowning. “I’m going to try really hard not to hurt anybody.”
His smile was suddenly sad. “I’m glad to hear that. But the fact remains you might hurt someone, for all your best intentions. Eino is impressionable, and even a young godling can be… impressive.”
I put my juice down, completely mystified. “Eino’s really strong, though. He’s even stronger than me in a lot of ways.” I felt this instinctively. “That’s why I want to stay near him, so I can get strong like that.”
“Yes.” Arolu stopped smiling. “You could use him that way. But what does he gain from the exchange? Will he grow stronger too?” When I inhaled, because I had never thought of it as using, Arolu sighed. “Study the history of gods and mortals on this world, Lady Shill. I suspect I cannot keep you from Eino; I’ve lived among enulai too long not to understand something of your kind and your natures. You must be what you are—but please, try not to make the same mistakes as others of your kind. That’s all I ask.”