Hepbeth woke from her short nap in the garden of Draygon's Keep and tuned into Jozlyn's thoughts. The mage was in her tower den, brewing something in the large cauldron that hung in her fireplace. Hepbeth picked up that Jozlyn was worrying about the color of this brew, which would be dark purple. The tabbi knew that the humans of this world were fighting some invading humans from another world and that her humans called these other humans Pyraln. From Jozlyn's thoughts the tabbi picked up that Jozlyn hoped to add some of this purple brew into the wine that the Pyraln would be drinking. But Jozlyn was remembering that the Pyraln who had visited on Luciheptal from time to time before their invasion didn't want to drink Luciheptal's purple wines. So the mage was worrying that the deep purple brew would change the color of the wine for the Pyraln. Then they wouldn't drink it.
Hepbeth knew from listening to the telepathic broadcasts from other tabbin who had observed the Pyraln, that these red-headed people from Rudhiral World couldn't see the color purple, nor could they see blue or indigo. But apparently Jozlyn didn't know this. Deciding that this information would be helpful to the humans, the tabbi got up and padded into Draygon's Keep.
When she reached Jozlyn's den high up in the tower, Hepbeth approached the mage and rubbed against her legs, then sat down by her feet and curled her tail around the woman's legs, moving the tip slowly up and down, tickling Jozlyn. Hepbeth always used this little trick when she wanted the mage's full attention. Jozlyn gave it to her.
"Pyraln not see purple," the tabbi telepathed.
"What do you mean, they can't see purple? Of course they can see purple!" Jozlyn answered her aloud. The tabbi could feel the mage's exasperation.
"Jozlyn not use intelligence," Hepbeth snorted, then moved away, sat down and licked her forepaw.
"Oh, so now I'm stupid?" The woman, hands akimbo, turned an annoyed look upon the tabbi.
"Not say Jozlyn stupid. Say Jozlyn not use intelligence." Hepbeth paused in mid-lick and looked up at her mage.
"Okay," the mage sighed and sat down at her desk. "How do I use my intelligence, then?"
Hepbeth spent a few minutes contemplating her favorite human. Then she resumed licking her paw. "Pyraln not have purple to see on Rudhiral World."
"I know that, Hepbeth. But when they come here, there's purple for them to see."
The tabbi stood and stretched leisurely, like all tabbin do. No point in staying here any longer, she decided, so she headed for the door. There she turned and made one last attempt to get Jozlyn to understand. "Pyraln not see purple!" With a final toss of her head, the tabbi stalked out. Well, she had tried. Perhaps if Jozlyn still needed to know and couldn't figure out how to use her intelligence, one of the other tabbin could explain it better. Hepbeth went back to the garden and selected a place to lie down. Before napping, she tuned into Jozlyn's thoughts once more, and was happy to discover that the mage had indeed used her intelligence and figured out what Hepbeth had tried to tell her. That Pyraln eyes were not capable of seeing the color purple. |