They continued the rest of the day and most of the next with light talk, mostly about the raising of sheep and the life in a small town. Kitalia had a good laugh when Kre explained about the belt and was a bit upset that she did not have the same experiences growing up. The experiences that she did have, however, remained a mystery to Kre as it was a topic that she never opened up about.
After a short rest to stretch their legs and rest the horses, Kre decided to see if he could get her to open up a little more. He was tired of her subtle, yet constant deflections in the conversation and more than a bit miffed that he had revealed so much of his own life without requiring her to do the same.
“Kitalia,” he began tentatively, as he was admittedly still a tiny bit afraid of her. “Why don’t you ever talk about your own past? I seem to have been telling you everything about mine, but we don’t ever talk about yours.
She shrugged. “There is not much to say. In comparison to the life of a boy that ends up a murderer, mine was relatively boring. The life of an Ylveryan is relatively simple and without much of interest to speak of.”
“You’re just saying that because you’re an Ylveryan,” Kre pointed out. “To me, a Tehynshin, you and your people are exotic and mysterious.”
“Exotic?” she asked, rolling the word around in her mouth like a sip of an unknown drink. “Exotic…”
“It means…” Kre was at a loss for how to explain the word. “I guess it means different, in a good way.”
“As opposed to different in a bad way? What word would you use for that?”
She was baiting him. He knew she was, so he tried a different kind of response. “I think that we Tehynshins have far too many words for that. Every one of them used as an excuse to show prejudice and bias against others.
“I’ve grown up with more than a few of those labels attached to me, and I know my friends have too. I’ve been called weird and strange, peculiar and odd. My best friend Syonette, when she and her family first came to town, they were looked at like complete foreigners. There are still some townsfolk that treat them like that, just because they have different mannerisms, customs, and experiences than those of us that grew up in Mintas.”
He felt that he had sidestepped whatever little verbal trap she had been setting and smiled. It wasn’t often that he had the upper hand in a debate, especially with such a wily opponent as Kitalia had been proving herself to be during this journey.
“So,” she said softly, “you believe that life in a small community where the usual issues of life pop up, such as bullies and social differences, is similar to the notion that one group of people thinks themselves above another, to the point of justifying the killing of those they consider lesser?”
The trap was sprung and Kre found himself neatly caught in it.
“That’s not what I’m saying at all,” he protested. “You know that wasn’t my point. And besides, that same belief that you say all Tehynshins have about your people, you Ylveryans have towards mine.”
“That makes it better then,” she said nodding. “If both parties are guilty of the same crime, it is okay to continue that course. Is that what you are saying?”