We went to hear some music. Rilley and Os demonstrated piano at the festival, which was still going. By now, Rilley learned a simple part to play on the high end while Os did most of it. They sounded fantastic! Both of ‘em shared romantic looks, and all of us couples giggled.
All of us, Fa and Mea, Fae and Meae, and the Council all sat around enjoying it.
Micansen got to his feet. “Lieges, we must discuss the treaty with Par Vu!”
Fa smiled at him. “Lesonarah went to Par Vu lastweek. His treaty is signed, my friend. Sit, and enjoy this music.”
“But, Lieges, the treaty with Elshar Mashai! Elshar Mashai Zheien Colony needs—”
His healer tried to get him to sit down. He wept. “Habis ha! No one will ever trade with me again!” He slapped a tear off his face and stared at the wetness, eyes black!
An Elshar trader in cobalt blue robes came running. “Micansen, dear friend, I will trade with you!”
“So will I!”
A crowd in cobalt blue—all master traders with white clothes under the robes—gathered to help him sit down.
“You will not chastise me?”
That first one hugged him. “Oh, don’t worry about it! The Mashai all left when Oparnen tried to take us! We are all happy here, and when you feel like leading us, we—”
“What do you need? I’ll do it now!”
“My friend, just sit here. I go to all of our people once a week and hear all their concerns. Tular had a dispute, and the trader simply gave his item back! Then that trader got his friend to offer more trade for it, then traded for it with that friend. We haven’t had to call Terisch. All the traders are making trade, and we’re all happy.”
Micansen looked a bit confused.
His healer put a leaf in his hand. “Take this and be happy. Your people are all right.”
“What is it?”
“You’re shaking a bit, is all. If you don’t want it, I’ll take it back.”
“Why am I shaking? I was strong!” He cried.
The healer put the leaf in his mouth and hummed. He gave a sigh and stopped shaking. “Oh, that’s better.”
The man sat by him and put an arm around him. He kept dark eyes, and got the memory-sharing look with the healer.
That lady sat by him. “Mic—” She wiped tears off his face.
His healer nodded, a bit emphatically. She smiled. “I think it is time we ended our courtship. Don’t you agree, Mic?”
He looked stricken! “I—I--”
She held up a necklace that sparkled. “May I wear my fermahie’s necklace? Is tradition in our family to choose the one from a favored ancestor, for good fortune, in marriage!”
“But, if they take her out of stasis—”
“Pirad cannot help me. We did not have stasis, when we first came to Lidara.” She sighed, and got teary. “But, I have you. I brought my house from Lidara. Perhaps one of our bahies will live in it.” She smiled.
Micansen waved up a very flowery document, recited a long love poem, and my sister and her husband played, “Someday My Prince Will Come”.
The happy couple seemed to enjoy it, then put their namesigns on the document, then their handprints. Ella whispered that usually, Zheien use namesigns. An Elshar explained that when Elshar had Elders, they adopted some Zheien customs. Because a lot of Zheien married Elshars and vice versa, they formed Elshar Zheiea as a pact between Elshar and Zheien. Lidara was the first prov of old Elshar to adopt namesigns on their marriage records.
Elsie and Nes joined the long line of dancers that stretched along the entire commons in the middle of our city. So did Stacy and Het. Rilley and Os. Bedelia and Keiley. Tom and Farley sighed.
Pas hugged them. “Ne this sorrow. Soon, you gain strength.”
Farley got teary. “How long, Galar? It seems with every mission, I am longer in your chambers.”
Galar wept. But Konomai hugged him. “Farley, you are only a week in Galar’s chambers. You will heal. Hold to your Ella, and rest in your festival. Did you know? Today, tomorrow and the next are your days, to celebrate your marriage to Ella. And, to remember that she saved us. You helped her in this. Think nae much, but enjoy music, and eat pastries.”
Tom pulled him against us and kissed his head. “Eae, and when, Pas? We shall enjoy the three days of our Wedding Festival, and celebrate my dear wife, who saved our lives at great sacrifice of her health!”
I knew our three days already passed, but why upset him?
Nathanhai tried to hug them both and fell against them. Healers bent our leiwege to hold them all. O, Tom, are we all unwell? Yelena is unwell—”
“I’m nae unwell, Nathan, you are! I feel fine!”
“My wife is well? O, happiness!” He giggled.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Tom’s happiness tingled on us all. “Ah, my well friends! Soon, we also rise. But today, we may enjoy the dancers as they step past us, and eat many pastries! Our colony is well, and Rahn Estar is also well, and Elshar Zheiea is well. Our healers care for us. I had nae fright in my sleep. Did you, Farley, Nathan? Perhaps Galar will let us to our homes soon.”
Of course, Tom woke up often, sweating, and our family still held onto the hair of everyone! But, I did notice that every day, it took less time for him to look around and realize, no one else is upset. We are well.
Maybe it’s well, that injured men make up things to explain what they can’t remember. Maybe I’m doing that, too. But, I can hug Tom, and he’s not miserable, and we are all improving together. We made it.
I didn’t see any more scary memories, but I thought about all those people I met in the other cities.
Per Naha came and sat with us. Novas! This man is leader of the Alb Council! He came with his son, Perisnah, King Of Kin Para. “Rest. We come as friends. I wish to thank you, Becky. You know you returned Vega’s parents from Earth?”
He shared memories that they found her parents, on machines to keep them alive. But, the foundation her father had ran out of money and they were going to turn the machines off. Because I worried about her, they investigated and brought them to Alb. Pirad revived ‘em both! Her adoption records said they were dead, because they were legally in vegetative states, and thought to be unable to return from that.
And, her aunt that died, Pirad revived her, too.
Pirad? No. That cat-fella, Pinda, did it. I just knew.
Anfon, King Of Calladia came. “We wish to thank you, for you found Ester for me! You saved our children from evil ones! And, because you spoke with Feronoras and discovered his terminals, you saved my entire Council! All are able to enjoy this festival in our city.”
“And now, I am able to help my husband visit all of our people. Thank you, Becky.” Ester smiled at me. She wore royal blue ribbons in her black hair. Another new Earthan princess! And there are a lot more Hispanic relatives of hers over there. They don’t have to worry about our stupid immigration policies, now. Zheien welcome everyone, and their kingdoms prosper.
Perisnah showed me how their new Elshars are happy in Kin Para. Most of them were artisans. That tiny boy who had to plow is happily making sand-pictures with his parents. They had 5 traders. Their output of artwork depicting the horrors of slavery made more trade in their first week in Kin Para, than their slaver made in the past year! Most of them were taken after D’gharr, from people who volunteered to fight. But a third of them were slaves in Prov 450000 when it was the last prov. Because they traded art.
Tom wanted to know how many of them we had in Esta Faho. About half? They found relatives among our Elshar artisans! Micansen and Keris knew their relatives, and a line of the newcomers came to meet them.
A couple of Earthans married people in Kin Para. Pol, Diplomat Of Kin Para was the one who contacted Per Naha about bringing those 117,000 foster kids from the US! Worldwide, they brought several million more! Kings were happy to welcome them, and many couples adopted them, and many of their parents came. Most of the time, abusive parents decided to change their ways.
A few, like those two foster dads I found in Kin Para, had to be deported back to Earth. The vast majority just ran the abuse progs and learned to behave better. Many of them had been abused as kids. We got about 20 more Earthans from that first ship of foster kids, including relatives and caregivers, here in Esta Faho.
I felt bad that we hadn’t toured Sara Kia or Esta Faho. But they all came to us. Sara Kia was mostly like Esta Faho, lots of flowers but not trees. They had a few Earthans. I didn’t find any crooks, but we made a lot of friends.
The next week, we moved into our house, at last, beside my family’s houses. And, a couple blocks of others! We had a real neighborhood and all of it was on the Beltline.
All of us went for a walk in Piedmont Park. Ella sighed. “Oh, the dogwoods are still blooming! Is it still Spring, on Earth?”
The date shocked me! “May? It’s May? But it was January 31st, last week!”
Tom cried and Pas waved up a bench to sit me on.
Pol was visiting us with Serena, and several of their kids. He got my attention. “Yea Becky, time differs between Hubs. Ours is Ye~ Hub. Theirs is the Earthan Hub. Their time is faster, and we think is because of Adia’s Final Battle with Eriganh! This also happened in the other future. We will live in our time, the same length of time as we were born here. You will also age at the same rate of here, because you dwell here.”
I calmed down. “So, is it Spring here?”
Tom noticed a loose sky blue ribbon and retied it on my blond hair. My thoughtful husband. “If you wish this to be Spring, I shall declare it, as did the King Of Camelot!”
I laughed. “But, no, seriously! Is there Spring here?”
He waved up a model of Alb. “Ah, we have a warm season and a cool season. King Challet nae named them. If you wish, our warm season can be Spring.”
I looked at a calendar. Spring is 50 days long? And a projection came up. There won’t be that much of a temperature drop, so the cool season’s more like Fall. The year’s 100 days? There was also a 300 day calendar for Alb Seer—oh, the 100 day calendar has longer days. Zhee days are like our days. So 300 is right. So, Spring’s 150 days! Well, a season’s 90 days on Earth, so it’s not that different, just milder.
Then I looked at calendars on Earth. We have different ones, too. The Chinese go by lunar months. Jewish people use an entirely different calendar, so that’s why Easter is on different weeks or months.
So a calendar is more subjective or depends on preferences, aside from 24-hour days and 365 day years with a leap year every 4. Mars has 25 hour days and a 688 day year! Elshar Zheiea’s orbit is a bit closer to our sun than Earth’s to Sol, but our sun is a bit smaller than Sol.
If we divided it up into 4 seasons, yes, it would be Spring. “Okay, People! It’s Spring!”
Ella, Yelena, Bedelia, Stacy and I cheered! So did Elsie and her sister! Our husbands laughed. Then I put the word out to all the Earthans to get together and propose a calendar for Elshar Zheiea that fits everyone’s needs. Tom liked the idea. So did Fa and Mea.
We made a big gazebo on Lake Meer for all of us, the 5 Councils Of Rahn Estar, to enjoy the lake and just do what friends do. Like one big family reunion. We had 5 round parts with seats facing the lake. Ducks, geese and swans with little ones walked back and forth. They all had little aandats under their tails, so no messes. Wet sand dried and blew away in the slight breeze. I thought the huge beach was such a wonderful idea! Piedmont Park didn’t have a beach. Just muddy banks.
Farley and Ella peeled an orange and fed slices to ducks. We had a grapefruit. Bedelia and Keiley sliced apples. Elsie and Nes made dog kibble from Zheien grains and held bowls of it. Stacy and Het and their kids giggled. So did Rilley and Os and their two girls. Elsie and Nes and her sister had a bunch of different fruits for them. Looking at all these families made me think, maybe it’s safe enough to think about starting our family. I touched a mental display and saw-- “Oh, Tom, we’re going to have a baby!”
“O, happiness! I wished for children, and Father Of All blessed us!”
Ella gasped. “Us, too!”
Like a chain reaction, we discovered all us ladies were pregnant except Rilley! She’s got birth control so she can wait a few years when her body can handle it better. Yelena gasped! “But, how? We haven’t been alone—”
Pas laughed. “All of you had husbands with perils! I saw this many times, when unwells threatened. Ne was ever unhappy to find this great hope.”
“It’s the Great Hope Of Esta Faho! I hope all of Esta Faho and our Rahn Estar catches it!”
Our visiting friends liked that idea, and soon, reports of many couples deciding to start their families came to us. Eae, we are safe, and we are building happiness, with all of our people of Rahn Estar.