There, he murmured in my language, “Yes, my Circe, you do.”
I blinked.
Jeez, was he some kind of language savant or what? He was picking up English way faster than I was picking up Korwahk and he only had me and Diandra to listen to.
“You’re freaking me out,” I whispered.
“Sorry, my dear, I didn’t catch that,” Diandra said and I didn’t even have to look at her to know she was fighting back laughter. And losing.
“He’s freaking me out, um… shocking me, surprising me but in a not so good way. He’s learning our language very fast and it’s not natural.”
“It isn’t surprising that he would pick things up quickly. He meets often with ambassadors, dignitaries and foreigners from many lands. It is important for him to hear and understand them therefore it is known widely our Dax speaks seven languages fluently, my dear,” Diandra told me, I whipped around so fast Lahn had to jerk his head back and I stared up at him.
“You speak seven languages?” I breathed, Diandra translated and he nodded so I leaned in and kept breathing, “Seven?”
His eyes roamed my face and one side of his lips twitched before he replied in English, “Yes, Circe, seven.”
“Then why don’t you know English?” I shouted. “I mean, Valearian or whatever!”
He waited for the translation and then Diandra translated his response. “Because it is spoken in Hawkvale and Lunwyn, which are peaceful nations that do not cross the Green Sea to make war or find trouble. And it is spoken in Middleland, which is ruled by a tyrant who I would not honor by learning his language.”
Shit, that made sense. Still, it was annoying.
“Well, unlucky for you that your wife speaks the one language probably in this world that you don’t speak.”
“No,” he replied, “there are many lands too far away to wage war on Korwahk whose languages I do not know. None of them speak Valearian, which brings me to the question of what small kingdom you are from.”
Uh-oh.
I turned forward, mostly to buy time.
“Circe,” he called then Diandra translated the rest, “look at me.”
I bit my lip and turned back to him.
His eyebrows went up with his question, “What kingdom are you from?”
“Um…” Shit. Well, here goes. “Seattle.”
His brows descended but only to knit over narrowed eyes. “Seattle?”
“Yes, it’s a very small kingdom,” I told him.
“Like Bellebryn?” he asked.
Hell, I didn’t even know what Bellebryn was.
Well, I had a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right.
“Yes.”
He nodded.
Shoo.
“Where is it?” he went on.
Shit.