Post by devilinthedetails on Jul 7, 2022 12:09:04 GMT 10
Series: Son of Carthak
Title: Circles and Pi
Rating: PG-13 for references to corporal punishment.
Event: Easy as Pie
Words: 611
Summary: Binur, pi, and pie. Or Mequen helps Binur calculate the area of a circle under the stern gaze of his tutor.
Circles and Pi
“There.” Mequen leaned across the desk he shared with Binur in the classroom where they were the only students under the vulture-sharp gaze of a tutor who seemd to have been born without a sense of humor. Dipped his quill in the inkwell. Sketched out a mathematical equation that made Binur’s head spin like a sandstorm. An equation their tutor insisted allowed the diligent student to calculate the area of a circle. Binur was very much not a diligent student at the moment. His attention distracted by his rumbling stomach that urged him to contemplate at length the delicacies with which he could sate it. “Easy as pi.”
Pi. That was the strange symbol that was mostly to blame for Binur’s spinning head. He decided not to dwell on it. Made his own quip in response to his best friend’s pun. “Easy as pie, you mean. Succulent fig pie.”
“Fig pie with dates.” Mequen picked up on Binur’s wistful daydream. Amplifying it.
“And raisins,” added Binur. Mouth watering like the Zekoi delta during the spring flood season.
“And nuts! And honey!” Mequen’s voice was too loud. Too excited. Attracting trouble in the form of their stern, decidedly unamused tutor. Their tutor who had most likely never laughed at a joke or even had a friend to exchange one with—the probable cause of his eternal, scowling misery.
“What is going on here?” demanded their tutor. Rod hovering over Mequen’s knuckles. Poised to rap down on them. Splitting skin. Drawing blood. Mequen wasn’t just Binur’s best friend, after all. He was also Binur’s whipping boy. The one who had the dubious honor of being thrashed by their tutor for all of Binur’s mistakes and misbehaviors because nobody but the emperor or empress could strike the heir to the Carthaki throne.
Not that Binur’s parents made a habit of beating him, but Father had been adamant about abiding by the custom of the heir to the throne having a whipping boy. Father, Binur had observed on more than one occasion, was far more likely to defer to tradition than Mother. Mother, it was widely agreed at court and in Thak City, was an unconventional woman. One who would rather spit at tradition than yield to its wisdom as Grandmother said. Mother would snort whenever Grandmother ventured such a comment.
“Nothing,” Binur chirped. Fixing his most innocent birdy smile on his severe tutor. Utterly unable to charm the man who apparerently had a heart carved from the limestone that had been used to build the pyramid tombs of the ancient emperors. Tombs with curses hewn into their sealed entrances. “We were just discussing pie.”
Not exactly a lie, he told himself. A misunderstanding. A misdirection. A convenient misspelling. Not a lie. Never a lie. He would swear that to his parents until his cheeks turned blue if questioned. If called to account for his mischief.
“Not the mathematical one, I presume.” Their tutor’s glower had only grown at Binur’s protestations. “You will finish the equations I set you prefer you go to lunch, Your Imperial Highness, and you will do so in silence. So I suggest you put your nose to the grindstone before I assign you extra work as punishment.”
Their tutor was always threatening him and Mequen with extra work as punishment for misbehavior both minor and major. A sure sign of a limited imagination, Binur was certain. A limited imagination that probably explained more than anything else their tutor’s failure to appreciate the many wonders of pie. How it could steal a schoolboy’s attention. Make his mouth water and his mind wander as if through desert sands in search of an oasis.
Title: Circles and Pi
Rating: PG-13 for references to corporal punishment.
Event: Easy as Pie
Words: 611
Summary: Binur, pi, and pie. Or Mequen helps Binur calculate the area of a circle under the stern gaze of his tutor.
Circles and Pi
“There.” Mequen leaned across the desk he shared with Binur in the classroom where they were the only students under the vulture-sharp gaze of a tutor who seemd to have been born without a sense of humor. Dipped his quill in the inkwell. Sketched out a mathematical equation that made Binur’s head spin like a sandstorm. An equation their tutor insisted allowed the diligent student to calculate the area of a circle. Binur was very much not a diligent student at the moment. His attention distracted by his rumbling stomach that urged him to contemplate at length the delicacies with which he could sate it. “Easy as pi.”
Pi. That was the strange symbol that was mostly to blame for Binur’s spinning head. He decided not to dwell on it. Made his own quip in response to his best friend’s pun. “Easy as pie, you mean. Succulent fig pie.”
“Fig pie with dates.” Mequen picked up on Binur’s wistful daydream. Amplifying it.
“And raisins,” added Binur. Mouth watering like the Zekoi delta during the spring flood season.
“And nuts! And honey!” Mequen’s voice was too loud. Too excited. Attracting trouble in the form of their stern, decidedly unamused tutor. Their tutor who had most likely never laughed at a joke or even had a friend to exchange one with—the probable cause of his eternal, scowling misery.
“What is going on here?” demanded their tutor. Rod hovering over Mequen’s knuckles. Poised to rap down on them. Splitting skin. Drawing blood. Mequen wasn’t just Binur’s best friend, after all. He was also Binur’s whipping boy. The one who had the dubious honor of being thrashed by their tutor for all of Binur’s mistakes and misbehaviors because nobody but the emperor or empress could strike the heir to the Carthaki throne.
Not that Binur’s parents made a habit of beating him, but Father had been adamant about abiding by the custom of the heir to the throne having a whipping boy. Father, Binur had observed on more than one occasion, was far more likely to defer to tradition than Mother. Mother, it was widely agreed at court and in Thak City, was an unconventional woman. One who would rather spit at tradition than yield to its wisdom as Grandmother said. Mother would snort whenever Grandmother ventured such a comment.
“Nothing,” Binur chirped. Fixing his most innocent birdy smile on his severe tutor. Utterly unable to charm the man who apparerently had a heart carved from the limestone that had been used to build the pyramid tombs of the ancient emperors. Tombs with curses hewn into their sealed entrances. “We were just discussing pie.”
Not exactly a lie, he told himself. A misunderstanding. A misdirection. A convenient misspelling. Not a lie. Never a lie. He would swear that to his parents until his cheeks turned blue if questioned. If called to account for his mischief.
“Not the mathematical one, I presume.” Their tutor’s glower had only grown at Binur’s protestations. “You will finish the equations I set you prefer you go to lunch, Your Imperial Highness, and you will do so in silence. So I suggest you put your nose to the grindstone before I assign you extra work as punishment.”
Their tutor was always threatening him and Mequen with extra work as punishment for misbehavior both minor and major. A sure sign of a limited imagination, Binur was certain. A limited imagination that probably explained more than anything else their tutor’s failure to appreciate the many wonders of pie. How it could steal a schoolboy’s attention. Make his mouth water and his mind wander as if through desert sands in search of an oasis.