"You did what?!" Eranae dropped the piece of bread from her mouth, then composing herself she returned to the calm demeanour, "Sorry, I didn't intend to yell."
Pearl's mother who sat on the stool adjacent to his own asked him something in Narlspeech. Era guessed that it was about how she had reacted to Pearl's retelling of his meeting with the vicious spirit inside the weapon. Pearl hadn't told anyone, not even his mother, about the ethereal nature of the weapon. Pearl turned to his mother and said something in Narlspeech. She looked at Era and smiled sympathetically.
Vesir-et-Shiran, or Ember for short, was Pearl's mother and didn't know how to speak Cerhini although she was familiar with Kedan and a little Temerish. That was a bit strange, most people preferred learning Cerhini before going for the other two.
Ember was one of Nanaral's most gifted lifesingers and also happened to be the daughter of the village's alderman. Her cabin was larger than most in the village and was furnished with all kinds of trinkets and goods from across several regions. Her husband, along with her eldest son and daughter ran a trading caravan that dealt in exotic goods. This left the oversized wooden house alone for Ember and her younger son, Pearl.
"Mother asked why did you yell like that," Pearl told, "So I said that you lost your silver anklet to the sea and I didn't find anything like it in the creek. It's a good enough explanation."
"It is," Era agreed but returned to the cause of her outburst, "But did you really bind the spirit, without any precautions like putting on a mind seal, or setting up some terms of agreement?"
"I don't know how to do either of those," Pearl defended, "But other than that, I did bind the spirit. And she speaks with me, in fact she is speaking with me right now?"
"What?" Era asked, trying not to sound confused. She should've expected this, given how Pearl's recalling of the event was going on.
"Yes," Pearl nodded, "Rel has asked me, several times now, to kill you. She says you are very boring and doesn't want me to share the binding with you."
"Rel?" Era repeated, "Share the binding?" How could one share a binding? She asked herself. It was unheard of. Era reached out with lifesong and tried to sense the weapon, and there it was. But it shouldn't have been. For the weapon to be bounded, the previous binder should be...dead. That was how it's supposed to work.
"Relkanar'idelan," Pearl said, "That's the name of the god inside that weapon. Didn't you know...oh, you never bothered to ask her."
"I am not supposed to befriend the spirit," Era told, remembering the instructions the scholars had given her, "Neither are you, actually, or anyone. That thing inside the makana is a force of nature, pure and brutal, without any hint of human emotion or morals. You cannot allow it to influence you."
Pearl paused for a moment and then said, "Rel agrees with you on the force of nature part, but she places a counter argument on the influencing part."
"Does she now?" Era dipped the bread in the meat stew, as Renkayan etiquette dictated, "I would like to hear what she...no, it has to say."
"She says that you are very rude," Pearl interpreted, "And she wants you to evoke the mind seal so that she can communicate with you directly."
"First ask her about the binding," Era said, "How are both of us bound to the weapon at the same time."
"Are we?" Pearl raised an eyebrow, "I have been feeling an unnatural pull towards the weapon. Is that how you are feeling as well?"
"Yes, and it is wrong." Era explained, "Each relic can be bound to only a single person at a time. Only after the person's death can the relic be free for someone else to bind. Traditionally, a relic is passed down in a family or in a temple, from parent to child, teacher to student, predecessor to successor."
"So how did you receive this?" Pearl asked, "From your father, or a mentor?"
"It's not important." Era asserted, "I want to know how are we both bound to the weapon at the same time? It's been tried before but has never worked out, it has never even been a possibility."
Pearl looked down, at the firepit around which they had been sitting. After a brief pause, he looked back at Eranae.
"Rel says that she will only tell you if you evoke the mind seal and promise that you will never invoke it again." Pearl relayed.
Era didn't answer immediately. Instead, she thought about the proposal. This new information could benefit the cause, more people could bind a single relic and gain the perks it granted. But for that, she would have to open herself to the terrible being, allowing it to sway her mind. Eranae weighed both sides of the idea. The positive outcome would benefit many at the cost of the negative outcome which would only trouble her. After that, it was a simple choice.
"Alright," Era told Pearl, "But I lack the lifesong to do so immediately."
"Okay," Pearl said, "Rel says that she isn't in any hurry. She can wait."
Era nodded and continued eating. Ember asked about the matter of conversation to which Pearl lied, telling that it was about how her ship was attacked by pirates and got caught in a storm. It was half true. Era had told Pearl the real version on their way to the village, she had even told him about Nydekar and the Elaia. Pearl, however, had told his mother that Era was from Utankar so as to not imply that she fled a city that was recently invaded.
Eranae didn't know why, but she felt that she could trust Pearl and rely on him, although they had met only a few hours ago. She wondered whether it could be due to their strange binding, because in a way her essence was bound to Pearl's through the essence of the spirit, Relkanar'idelan. Did he feel the same way, was it why he had helped her? Era couldn't help but think as she ate the meal.
"I feel much better now," she sighed, lowering her empty bowl, "Thank you for this delicious supper."
Pearl translated the words for his mother. She replied in a proud tone.
"It is the least we can do for someone in need." Pearl told her.
"That's very noble of you," Eranae rose from her stool, "By the way, Pearl, is there any spot around here where the wind is strong?"
"I can think of a few." He replied.
"Good, can you take me to the nearest one?" She asked, "I must replenish my lifesong."