7
RAMYA
“Table… chair… window… door…” Gwrlain repeated the words he had learnt that morning to his three tutors as they pointed at different objects. He was fanatical about learning Ramya’s language, pushing himself and focusing all his energies on perfecting his pronunciation. She admired his rapid progress.
“Sssawwlung.” Gwrlain struggled with the word and one of his tutors snickered.
“No, no, no, you see-through fool! It’s ceiling. Try again.” She laughed, getting too comfortable in her role and taking advantage of Gwrlain’s good humour when he made a mistake. Gwrlain shrugged and attempted to form the word, but for the Melokai she had gone too far.
Ramya sprang up, crossed the room and slapped the tutor, yanking her out of her chair by her hair. “How dare you insult the Melokai’
