Page 104 of Dark Destiny: A New Thread in the Tapestry

"As you wish, Clan Mother." He pulled out another slim case, this one black.

William lifted one of the small devices from the case and placed it on the palm of his hand. "These are more comfortable in the ears. The material molds even better to the shape of the ear, and after a few seconds, people can't even feel them. Khiann would be able to sleep comfortably while wearing them, so there is no need to remove them. From now on, he will understand everyone speaking English around him, or at least to some extent. The old-tongue vocabulary is far from complete, and my team is still building it. We will keep pushing updates to the devices as we go, so the translation will get better and better. Right now, they enable a simple conversation and not much more."

"I assume that it works in the other direction as well? Khiann is not saying much at the moment, so there is not much to translate, but he is also getting better and better."

"The earpieces can translate the old tongue into English, but that also naturally suffers from the same vocabulary limitations. I hope that by the time Khiann can actually speak, we will have a much richer model. The device identifies the language on its own and translates."

"Is it already working?" she asked.

"Yes. Would you like to try?"

"Yes, I would." She pulled them from their case and put them in her ears. "How will it know to translate from English to the old tongue?"

William smiled. "You will tell it."

"That sounds simple." She activated the earpieces, and the world around her grew quiet. She shifted in the chair and cleared her throat. "Translating earpieces, please translate for me what William says in English into the old tongue."

William chuckled, and she heard it as the machine's imitation of a laugh. Then he started speaking, and all she heard was the translation. "My mate is cooking lamb and inviting her whole family over. It's going to be very noisy and crowded in our house."

It was almost simultaneous, with only a fraction of a second delay between William's lips moving and the words arriving, but it was far from good. It arrived in a plain, clumsy version of the old tongue, stripped of all its grace, yet the meaning came through, and that was all that mattered.

"Passable," she said, and took them out. "Awkward, but passable."

"That's the best we have for now." He handed her the new pair. "Gertrude told me that you don't want Khiann to have to deal with too many new faces. That's why I didn't come down. But if you want me to fit them for him, I will gladly do that."

"Thank you, William. But I can manage. Go home to your lamb dinner with Kaia's noisy family."

He laughed. "Don't tell her this, but I love the noise. Growing up as the only child of an immortal female, I love the hustle and bustle of Kaia's big family, especially her little brothers and sister. They can be a handful, but they are fun."

"I am sure she knows." Annani leaned in and patted William's arm. "Give Kaia and her family my warm regards."

"Thank you. I will."

Khiann was still asleep when Annani returned to the ward, and so were three of the four guards.

They had synchronized their sleeping and waking cycles, which was far from optimal. When Khiann was awake, she wanted to give him all her attention and could not do that for the others.

The fourth, the one at the far end who might be Adaluh, tracked her across the room.

"Hello, Adaluh," she said as she took her chair beside Khiann's bed. "How are you feeling this Saturday afternoon?"

"Silim," he replied.

Annani was stunned. "Good for you, Adaluh. You wished me health. Your memory of speech is returning."

"He-am."

"Excellent."

Annani felt guilty for not walking over and coaxing more words out of Adaluh, but she was eager for Khiann to wake up so she could explain the earpieces to him and put them on. He would love to finally understand what the medical staff were saying to him.

He woke more often now and stayed awake longer, as did the others. She counted it among the small mercies of the day.

When his eyes opened and found hers, the smile illuminating his features was precious.

"Good morning, my love." She rose to her feet, leaned over him, and kissed his forehead. She took his hand. "I have something for you."

She pulled out her own little case, opened it, and let him look at the two small devices inside.