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trained from birth to respect their elders and speak when spoken to and not
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otherwise. Timka watched them all, detached but inclined to sympathize with
the young Min. He reminded her a lot of the boys she'd played games with in
the woods what seemed such a very long time ago.
"Tsssst-tsssst," the High Mother said. "Young idiot, more trouble than he's
worth, but if you want him, he's yours. Bring him back whole if you can, no
doubt his family will miss him." She stretched over, tapped Chulji's hard
exo-skull. "Behave yourself and don't bring disgrace on the Nests. Now get out
of here and let adults talk in peace." She turned her eyes on the Aggitj.
"This will bore you also, Aggitj; why don't you go with these nidlings and
plot mischief to make your elders sorry they gave in and hauled you along."
Hal turned to Skeen, she nodded, he grinned, made a graceful deep bow. "With
pleasure, Oh Mightiness." The small black neuters fussing about them, the six
youths went bouncing out of the garden. As soon as they were hidden by trees
and shrubbery, their voices came back with snatches of laughter. Skeen
couldn't hear what they were saying, but she suspected they were taking the
High Mother's instructions quite happily and planning something she
emphatically wanted to know nothing about.
Demmirrmar pulled the second lily from about her neck and tossed it away.
"It's hard to break the ties, but necessary." The air whistled through her
spiracles in the Skirrik version of a sigh. "Rama tells me you hope to find
Ykx in the Coraish Gather; she tells me she warned you the Gather might be
empty. It is. Two tribes of the desert Chalarosh made an arashin-gey against
them, a purification sweep, and managed to exterminate all the Ykx left there.
They were dying out anyway, don't know why, so the place has been empty the
past twenty some years. Looted. Picked over. Anything with a pretense of value
has been carried off.''
Pegwai moved his feet impatiently. "It's not loot we want, but knowledge.
That's even more important now. How long before all the Ykx are gone? What do
we know about them? Nothing." He glanced at Skeen, his face red with the
passion in him on this subject. She moved close to him, put her hand on his
shoulder, squeezed lightly. He calmed, took a deep breath. "I brought an
imager with me; even ruins can give us a lot about the Ykx and my companion is
learned in the interpretation of such things. Will you help us, High Mother?"
Demmirrmar contemplated Timka. "The Min can't go with you. The Chalarosh will
never permit that."
Timka chuckled. "Nor am I all that interested in turning over stones in a
ruin. I will quite happily remain behind."
Skeen frowned. "Timmy& "
Timka wrinkled her nose, but she'd given up long ago on Skeen's habit with
nicknames. "What the Seeker means, High Mother, is that I have bitter enemies
among the Mountain Min, particularly one, who would be delighted to catch me
alone and undefended."
"Mountain Min," the High Mother said thoughtfully. "We have no commerce with
them. Would they really follow you across the Tenga Bourhh?"
"Might. Might not. Depends."
"On what?"
"On how desperate my enemy is. Time works for her if she can wait. We have to
go back when the quest is done."
"The Stranger's Gate."
"Yes."
"You won't be particularly comfortable, young Min, but you will be safe
staying here. My Nest is yours."
"I thank you, High Mother and accept with pleasure. Chulji and I might teach
each other while we wait. He can find the dolphin and I can find the Skirrik."
"Good idea. You can keep that imp out of my webs. On your head not mine, young
Min." She turned to Skeen and Pegwai. "Are you weary, must you rest? I would
like to hear the tale of the Gate and the Pass-Through and the Ykx; there is
no point trying to gain a hearing with the Cadda Kana today, or the
Doferethapanad. It's one of their eternal feast days, something to do with a
war or a miracle of a well going dry. I've heard explanations of all this
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to-do a thousand times and I still don't understand a word. If it were some
sort of carnival and a lot of loud fun, I could begin to understand but the
Chalarosh take all of this nonsense so seriously; I hope you are not seriously
religious, it gets so tiring trying to grasp the ungraspable." She hauled
herself out of the water and stood dripping while a cadre of neuters bustled
about her, washing, wiping, polishing. When they were done, she skritched
orders at a handful who darted away while the rest scurried to their waiting
places in the bushes. "I've sent for some cold ale; story-tellers from other
Waves find it oils their tongues nicely. And there's a pleasant sittage just
beyond where there are benches your kind seem to find comfortable."
Coming before the Cadda Kana. Questions. Interminable and annoying. Keep your
temper, Skeen, you know these types, out wait them. Permission given to
proceed into the interior. Scholar Pegwai Dih, Lumat Seeker Skeen. Provided
Scholar and Seeker take along a guide and an inlal of klazits to protect them
from the dangers of the countryside. To protect the countryside from us, Skeen
thought. The Aggitj argument. The boys insisted on going along. Skeen was
their patron, they said; they were oath-fasted to her, bound to protect her,
to fetch and carry for her, to do whatever she wanted or needed. Muttering
among the veiled men behind the long table on the dais. Permission given. Too
easy, Skeen thought, an inlal of klazits (whatever those are) and a guide; are
we cover for spies? She wasn't happy about the possibility. The nomads were
nasty to intruders. No, she wasn't happy at all. This could get them all
killed; she had no faith in the understanding or abilities of those fuckin'
gits planning to use them, yes, she was sure of it.
Timka the Min they wanted to put in preventive detention, but agreed to leave
her with the High Mother Demmirrmar provided she was available for inspection
every second day.
Chulji Sipor started to argue he was part of the team now, but was instantly
suppressed by the High Mother. The Kana didn't know he was Min and she wanted
to keep their ignorance intact. You've got studies, she told him. Put your
energies into them.
Petitioners dismissed. Hand on Skeen's arm, holding her back, escort
separating her from the others. There are questions, her detainer said (eyes [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]