THE SHERIFF OF HNUT / CH. 23: RELATIONS
WENDIG, SITHINI'S GRANDPARENTS' HOME, RESTDAY 10TH WINTER
“Qwalf, don't you ever open your post?” the member of parliament for Wendig asked her cousin.
“What's the point if you're going to come and shout at me anyway? Who's the young red?”
“Qwalf, cousin, and possible ignoramus, before I answer, has the phrase 'green-turned-red' ever managed to get past your fingers and into your ears?”
“Is this any way for someone to treat their host?” he demanded of Sithini.
“It's a good question,” his wife said, “answer it.”
“Old history. I don't know, myths, stories. Bedtime stories for the young. Rubbish.”
“Ignoramus Qwalf, but nevertheless father of master-watchmaker Qwan of Reqiq, who married Ranthilakiina, then heir of the Southern throne, the green-turned-red, please allow me to introduce to you Wizardess Sithinilakiina, who was born green and turned red, as befits the current heir of the Southern throne; your grand-daughter.”
“I bring to you a bucket of evidence, grandfather, that I'm my father's daughter.”
“A bucket of evidence? What, watch-parts? Why would you bring a bucket of watch parts?”
“Do it girl!” her grandmother tittered, gleefully, “Do it! It'll only set and go to waste otherwise!”
“What are you talking about, wife?” the old man asked. And then he realised, but it was too late, and Sithini was being hugged by her grandmother and her grandfather was looking sheepish, and quite natural in a moss-covered rock sort of way. “OK, fine, yes, I remember this feeling. Why didn't Qwan tell us who your mother was?”
“Because I wasn't home,” his wife said, “and you kicked him out, Qwalf the rock, and since you kicked our only son out of the house and you don't read half your mail unless it's bills and you don't let me read it either, that's why. Stubborn, that's what you are! Now, lass, will you give me a hand cleaning up?”
“Of course I will!” Sithini said.
----------------------------------------
AFTER LUNCH, GORP, SHASHANA'S HOME, RESTDAY, 10TH WINTER
“Hi, Shashana,” Lenepoli greeted her. “You know I said Dirak had a friend he'd want to introduce to your brother?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“Shashana, can I introduce Wizardess Keldi, who's the lecturer in history and politics at the college?”
“I thought that wizards don't get involved in politics?”
“They don't, not if they can help it.” Keldi agreed, “Which is why they need to be well informed about what politicians are currently thinking, so they don't accidentally say 'of course' when it turns out to be something political.”
“Urm, I guess that makes sense.”
“I'm not here politically, but I am more political than most, just because of who I am. My full name tends to get a reaction, at least among nobles.”
“Like Mum, you mean?”
“You wouldn't be yellow otherwise, unless both your parents were yellows.”
“My mother is Enana, daughter of Engah.”
Keldi nodded, “of what was clan Ened. I will present my deepest sympathies, the accident that killed her aunt must have been a big shock for her. I am Keldithanapoli, my husband is Kand of the Keleds, so they might have grown up almost neighbours.”
“And you want to talk to my brother?”
“If he is a winterborn yellow, I most certainly do.”
“My parents are ... a little nervous of letting him meet nobles.”
“I'm not surprised, given what was happening just in Tumpf.” Keldi said, “Two weeks ago I had only heard of one winterborn yellow in my lifetime, and he had been killed in what everyone said was an accident. Now I've met little Yalinth of Hnut, some gorgeous fluffballs who no longer irritate Yalinth, and it turns out that some blue boys in my daughter's school are actually winterborn yellows, and visiting Hnut this weekend, so I'm, not as desperate to meet your brother as I might have been, but on the other hand if your parents would like to visit some other parents, that's easy to arrange. And if there is ever any trouble, then wizards will protect them.”
“You'd better come and see my parents then,” Shashana said.
“Thank you,” Keldi said.
“But I expect mother will say Eneth's not at home.”
“How old is he?” Dirak asked.
“He's eight.”
“Well... plenty of time for her to get used to the idea of a marital alliances with the Yants, then.”
“You're matchmaking and Yalinth is a Yant? Of course she is, sorry. I don't think the Yants would approve of a marital alliance with us.”
“Why not?”
“Powerful clans have long memories.” Shashana replied.
“Yanepoli is old, and has recently repented of one stubbornness,” Lenepoli said, “perhaps she'll repent of another. How's your brother's faith?”
“Forthright. Forthright and sometimes offensive, Keldithanapoli.”
“I can tolerate some offence from the young.”
“Sounds like he might get on well with Yalinth,” Lenepoli said.
“As long as they agree with each other,” Keldi added. “It might be worth them not meeting of course, given teenage attitudes. Well, that's something we could ask them. I'm sure they'll hear my thoughts.”
----------------------------------------
GORP, AT SHASHANA'S PARENTS' HOME, RESTDAY, 10TH WINTER
“Mother,” Shashana said formally, “Allow me to introduce Wizardess Keldithanapoli, friend of my friends.”
“The past comes back to haunt me, then?”
“I grieve with you for my friend Endalinth and what the accident has done to your clan, Enana.”
“Well, my clan and I weren't exactly on speaking terms, but thank you.”
“There's a lot of stupidity in the nobility. As far as I am concerned, there are two reasons the nobility have for existing: to ensure there are yellows born and to ensure there are some non-bellicose noble males around for my descendants to marry. Selfish of me, but there it is.”
“You consider yellows a boon, then?”
“The reason I'm here today, Enana is to invite you to Hnut, where you'll meet Taresha who has three winterborn sons aged ten to sixteen, Tanepoli whose Tagelah and Talinth were rescued from Tumpf, and Yagel mother of Yalinth who just turned six. Tanepoli has declared that Tan will be ruled by yellows, or will cease to be a clan, and would like some choices for her daughters. I expect you'd like to talk to Taresha about raising teenage boys who hear your thoughts, and I expect Yalinth would like some help convincing Taresha's boys that it's rude not to believe in God. The other reason I'm here is to say that winterborns are very much cherished by wizards; and to give you this for your son. In case of danger, it can make a ball of force like Dirak put around Shashana. Point the end without the button on straight up, and at head-height, hug those you wish to protect, and press the button. Try to ensure you're not too close to furniture or those attacking though, as what protects can also damage. Dirak can tell you more and help you practice with it.”
“It is also one of the most terrifying ways to get down a hill that I can think of,” Lenepoli said, “but for some reason the boys think its fun.”
“And who's going to recharge them?” Keldi asked.
“Sithini,” Dirak said. “She taught them that game. But she also showed them what happened if they turned it on when standing on rock rather than snow, and I think that made her point that they don't turn them on if it's crowded unless they're really afraid for their lives. And she also said she could recharge them but not every wizard could. And even fewer would if they'd been playing games with them.”
“Hmm, I guess she did the right thing.”
“I'm fairly certain she did, Keldi.” Dirak said. “It's not like some of us can avoid thinking about such entertainments.”
“Enana,” Lenepoli asked, “I know you have good reasons to fear, but I think you have good reasons to trust Me and Dirak.”
“Tell me first, about lady Yanepoli of the Yant. What would her reaction be to learning that Enana born of the Ened asks permission to enter her house? That you plan to introduce my son to Yalinth? Will she declare the blood-feud forgotten and not just inactive?”
“Or will she object to it being forgiven according to the word of Jesus?” Shashana asked.
“I did not know of a blood-feud,” Keldi said. “How long has it been inactive?”
“A long time. My father knew the motive, but did not tell me.”
“I will call Kand, my husband. My daughter is the person to petition Yanepoli. Lanthithanapoli has reached an understanding with Yanepoli's only grandson, Yalb. But it has long been the tradition that no blood-feud survive marriage to a royal.”
“Kand of the Keled?” Enana asked.
“You know him?”
“I did, by reputation, anyway. My parents were convinced that my younger sister should marry him, actually.”
“To heal a forgotten blood-feud?” Keldi guessed.
“Yes. She secretly wrote to me saying that she wasn't in favour of the match, but she thought he was prepared to go through with it because of parental pressure, and what could she do. I, um, suggested she could put him right off her by saying that she wanted his family's help in dealing with another one.”
“Ah... so it's your fault he was hiding away from the world on a freezing cold beach when I eventually tracked him down?”
“She said she'd tried it and he'd vanished. Sorry.”
“It's entirely possible that you saved your sister a royal plucking or worse, assuming she wasn't so opposed to the idea that she'd have accepted me barging in and the wedding hadn't taken place.”
“Female duels have been illegal for centuries, Keldi.” Lenepoli said.
“Lenepoli,” Dirak said, “Do you honestly think that would have made much difference to how Keldi behaved if she was feeling bellicose?”
“What a thing to say, Dirak!” Keldi objected, “Of course it would. A plucking contest isn't covered by the anti-duelling law.”
“For one feather,” Dirak said.
“One feather, one contest, yes. There's nothing about how many contests you're allowed in a minute though.”
“I should re-read that law, it seems.” Dirak said mildly. “You were already married by then?” he asked Enana.
“Yes, happily married and unhappily exiled from home.”
“By your parents, or by Endalinth?” Keldi asked.
“Perhaps I'm wrong to say exiled. My father said 'you've set your heart on a marriage that's now legal but didn't used to be. Old attitudes die hard, and it would be safer for your children if you dyed your feathers and went a long way inland; either to the city or to a remote village without many nobles.' So that's what we did.”
“And you've not seen them since?” Keldi asked.
“We've written, but they've never met my children. Father has died, mother is too old to travel now.”
“I will gladly take you to visit your mother and sister, Enana,” Keldi said, “And I will tell any who listen what my opinion is of those who increase the population of yellows, and of those who would like to make that hard. But probably not this week, I'm supposed to not get too excited.”
“A medical problem?”
Keldi smiled, “A colleague pointed out that it was all very well for me to complain that there weren't enough pure-blooded nobility around, but I could do something to help that situation. So, if God has no other plans, I have asked him if I might have a peace-loving son to preserve Kand's genetics, and a daughter I can convince to marry a godly blue. Even if he is a season younger than her, hint-hint, Dirak.”
“We have decided on the plans and on the place for our house, Keldi, but we've not started building it yet,” Lenepoli said. “Give us time to do that before you start trying to arrange marriages for our unlaid eggs. And weren't you going to send Lanthi to talk to Yanepoli? Maybe with Dad in tow, too?”
“Your father? Why didn't I think of that.”
----------------------------------------
HNUT, RESTDAY 10TH WINTER
“Yalb?” Kand asked, “are you aware of your family having any blood-feuds?”
“None that are active. Grandma has a firm policy that they're an evil best forgotten.”
“That's encouraging. But you think she is likely to remember some? There's a tradition that blood-feuds can't pull in a thanapoli.”
“Very sensible tradition, given the law of the talon. I'm very happy to renounce them if that'd help.” Yalb offered.
“Not entirely.” Kand said, “I guess you need to petition Yanepoli, Lanthi.”
“To renounce any outstanding feuds?”
“That'd be ideal, yes.”
“And do I detect a note of urgency?” Lanthi asked.
“Shashana's mother has never known the cause, but she remembers being told there was a blood-feud between her old clan and yours, Yalb. Hence she's a bit worried about coming.”
“What's the clan-name?”
“Ened,” Kand replied. “The clan is headless now, Endegel died from a fever and Endalinth drowned in a boating accident soon afterwards.”
“I expect I know what Grandma will say, but make your petition, Lanthi.”
----------------------------------------
HNUT, RESTDAY 10TH WINTER
“A blood-feud with Ened?” Yanepoli asked, incredulously, “Don't be ridiculous! Who said that?”
“Maybe I misunderstood. Enana, daughter of Engah told Keldi her father said there was an old blood feud, but did not name the reason. Maybe it was from his side.”
“More possible, I suppose. But I'm firmly convinced that the only good reason to claim a blood-feud is to get rid of an unwelcome suitor. I admit I made up a few when I was young...”
“You made up blood-feuds, grandma?” Yalb was shocked.
“I knew they were made up. I knew I wasn't going to tell anyone except the suitor, and it helped the clan's reputation. 'You don't even remember it? We do.' Terribly bellicose I could be back then. Reassure her no true Yant has prosecuted a blood-feud since the aliens came and told us about God's grace. She's very welcome. Who'd hold on to a blood-feud against an Ened, anyway? It'd be a total waste of time.”
“Why do say that, grandma?” Yalb asked. “I mean, I'm not debating that they're an evil, but you make it sound like no one would bother.”
“It was clan policy, for hundreds of years: only have daughters.”
“I guess she's broken with clan policy, she has a son.”
“Well, there are a few, like the one I was trying to get rid of. But the clan has died anyway, poor things. How old's the lad?”
“Eight, Yanepoli. An eight year old believing winterborn.” Kand supplied.
“Well, make sure Keldi brings him along too. Those three lads have got Yalinth sulking, and she was in a dilemma about whether it's right to pray for a little bit of divine retribution, last time I heard.”
----------------------------------------
GORP, RESTDAY 10TH WINTER
“Eneth, I want to introduce you to Lenepoli,” Shashana said, “my friend from the city.”
“Mmm,” he replied, without looking up from his book, “Lenepoli and Dirak and Keldithanapoli daughter of lots of thanapolis. I heard.”
“Well, if you know everything, come on then,” Dirak said.
“I'm reading.”
“I noticed that. Good book?”
“It was, before people started interrupting,” Eneth said, deliberately rudely.
“Ever had a discussion with someone called Bob Sathie Bill?”
“Which one? That's three names. An alien?”
“I'll take that as no then, shall I?” Keldi asked.
“Who's Yalinth?” He asked, obviously having heard someone's thought.
“Great grand-daughter of lady Yanepoli. Lady Yanepoli of the Yant invites you to go and help Yalinth convince some bigger boys that they're wrong.”
“We've got a blood-feud with the Yant.”
“We guess Yanepoli didn't like your great-grandfather.”
“She lied!” Eneth exclaimed.
“Made up several, apparently.”
“I don't fight.” Eneth exclaimed.
“So? You can obviously argue.” Dirak said, “Go convince Yalinth that she can't expect any help from you and you can come back to your book. What is it? Oh, the Restday mystery. I remember reading that.”
“No!” Eneth screamed, blocking his ears. And stared accusingly at Keldi, outraged, “You did that deliberately!”
“Now you won't mind coming, will you?” Keldi said, smugly.
“She just ruined my book!”
“No, I just thought how I think it ought to end, to a boy who is being deliberately rude, but that is your last warning. I don't make idle threats.” Holding out her hands, she said, “I don't recommend it, but you may listen in detail to the thoughts in my mind, if you wish, young winterborn, and understand what you stir up with your rudeness, what you make me struggle against. If you really knew the meaning of thanapoli, you ought to expect far worse than a ruined story.”
“Tathanapoli was good,” he protested, naming the heroine of his book.
“Yes, she was. She was a very good queen, who loved her people and who restored order after the rule of the princes. But she also wounded some people who were simply slow to be properly respectful, and not because she was especially angry at them, but because some unrelated news had made her cross and their lack of respect was the final straw. And then she hurt her husband because he stopped her from doing more than wounding them. She was furiously angry and only Zerkers get the privilege of being angry and thinking clearly at the same time. Because she was a good person she was very sorry when she'd done it, but because she was angry and a thanapoli, she did it.”
“Sorry, Keldithanapoli. I was rude.”
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
“Yes. When my daughter was your age she was only that rude when she was hiding from something embarrassing. What is it?”
“I won't be able to help Yalinth,” he admitted, “I want to believe, but don't really.”
“Perhaps you'll be able to help her more than you expect, Eneth.” Keldi said,
“And perhaps she'll be able to help you.”
----------------------------------------
QUIF'S HOME, THE CITY, RESTDAY, 10TH WINTER
“Sithini! How did it go?”
“I like my grandma, she has a very mossy sense of humour,” Sithini said.
“And your grandfather?”
“Basically said 'OK, fine, yes, you're my granddaughter all right, and I suppose I might have made a mistake in saying your mother was a war-monger, but I'm still covered in moss. I'm going to get clean and then have my rest-day nap.'”
“And that was the last you saw of him?” Quif asked.
“Yes.”
“So not-overjoyed at admitting he was wrong, that he didn't bother to talk to you?”
“Or not-overjoyed in the moss. He doesn't even read letters, not since he kicked dad out, so me going there was a total surprise. I had a good talk to Grandma, though. But... I don't know, it's nice to know I've got some family, but really, they could be complete strangers. I don't know what I was expecting, but this wasn't it. The watch museum feels more like a lost relative's home. Does that make sense?”
Quif nodded. “Will you go back?”
“Probably. No moss next time.” Sithini said.
“I want to show you something.” Quif said.
“Oh? Does it by any chance go tick and have six jewels?”
“It does. And feathers.”
“Quif, you can't have finished it already!”
“No, I haven't. This is... a trial run, just a prototype, really. Most of the parts are from my parts tray, to see if my idea works.”
“But your masterpiece has to be a standard watch, Quif, no improvising.”
“Just come and see and tell me if you like it, please?”
“Does your Dad approve?” Sithini challenged.
“He does, yes. He approves of you seeing it, of me spending time with you, and with my little modification to the standard. And it is a very little modification.” He handed her the watch. There were feathers engraved on it, she noticed, or were they etched? Silently she accepted the loupe that Quif offered. “Considerate.” she said, after a little while. “Most considerate, Quif. I'm sure that Master Gatekeeper will thank you for providing the watch
with it's own pause. But why?”
“Why? I don't understand.”
“Why is it that you've got loads of things to do but you spend time on things that are not necessary?”
“I don't know. Because I'm me? I love tinkering. Why do you make a mess only to clear it up?”
“It's an expression of who I am, too.”
“I'm not very good at collecting moss. I hope you appreciate the gum though.”
Sithini tried to turn to face him, in confusion. She couldn't, and the light dawned.
“You've just stuck my shoes to the floor!” She laughed.
“It worked then?”
“I hope you didn't build the pause just to get my feet stuck.”
“No. But it seemed like a good opportunity.”
“Hmm. So, now you've caught yourself a wizardess,” Sithini asked, “what are you planning to do with me?”
“Well, I did have various ideas about letting you go eventually, but I'm not sure I want to. You've got a beautiful laugh, Sithini.”
“Do you know, no one's ever stuck my shoes to the floor before.”
“No? Why not?”
“Afraid of what I'll do in response, I guess. Or afraid they might need to buy me new shoes.”
“Ah. Urm... Maybe I ought to try to release the gum?”
“If you get it wrong, you might get stuck too,” Sithini warned, “Or damage the floor-boards.”
“I've done something really silly, haven't I?”
“No, Quif. You've set out on a bold, adventurous, and imaginative journey of discovery. I imagine that new shoes cost more than a new floorboard. Do you know any carpenters?” Quif groaned.
----------------------------------------
HNUT, YALINTH'S HOME, RESTDAY, 10TH WINTER
“You deliberately got Keldithanapoli angry? Deliberately insulted her?” Denas asked, shocked that anyone would do that.
“Yes,” Eneth confirmed.
“You are so dumb,” Wirth, Denas's youngest brother said, equally surprised, “have you got a death-wish?”
“I didn't want to come; I was reading,” Eneth replied. “I thought they might go away if I was rude enough.”
“Sounds like a good reason to get diced. How come you're still in one piece?” Denas asked, curiously.
“She was patient, instead of shredding me she told me I was being an idiot and offered to let me listen to the rage I'd triggered in her.” Eneth said, “But you're being equally dumb, I hear.”
“Who said that?”
“I said it,” Eneth replied scornfully. “Other people thought it. You're ignoring someone important, dangerous, and powerful, who you ought to be very careful not to offend, aren't you?” He glanced at Yalinth, who had been dragged out of her room to greet the new visitors, and was sitting beside Yanepoli. She was grinning and thought her thanks to him. Turning to Yanepoli, he said “I am not a believer, not like my sister, not like you, not like Keldithanapoli. But I have no wish to give offence, your ladyship, neither to yourself nor to the creator you serve.”
“But you don't believe in Him?” Yalinth asked, confused.
“He exists,” Eneth said. “But it's too confusing.”
“What's confusing?” Yalinth asked.
“Why does lady Yanepoli have a blood feud with us? Why is mum always scared I'll be killed?”
“Young Eneth, there is no blood-feud, there never has been a blood-feud. When I was young your great-grandfather started chasing me and he thought 'go away, you fool' meant 'keep trying', so I lied. I lied because I was sure he wouldn't win a duel against another male who was chasing me, and I liked your great-grandfather enough that I didn't want him dead.”
“There's no blood-feud?” Eneth asked, confused.
“No blood-feud. And if you ever need to run away from danger, remember that you can come here, and that you will be welcome. Or if you just want to come and visit, of course.”
“Why would I want to marry Yalinth?” Eneth asked, confused on hearing that thought from Yanepoli too.
“The idea might have grown on you in ten years or so.”
“Ten years? That's forever!” Eneth exclaimed.
“Not when you're my age, young one. Not when you're my age.”
----------------------------------------
HNUT, RUATH AND ETHEPOLI'S HOME, SKYDAY MORNING, 11TH WINTER
“Ahah! I thought my big brother might be here!” Sithini said, “So, how well's the rumour mill working?”
“Urm, in what respect?” Dirak asked.
“Have you heard about what Quif did yesterday?”
“No.”
“Saneth probably has something to report about me, then,” Sithini said. “You really ought to keep in touch with your spies, Dirak,” she said, teasing.
“I didn't know I needed to check up with them daily. But is this about you or about Quif? Or about the both of you?”
“Quif glued my shoes to the floor, and then got his fingers stuck, just after telling me about the glue. I was laughing so much that I didn't dare try anything myself.”
“Hence you called Saneth?” Lenepoli asked.
“Exactly.”
“You couldn't step out of your shoes?” Dirak asked.
“That didn't help the problem of Quif being stuck to my leg, no. He used the glue that they normally use on watch straps, it sticks skin to skin really quickly. He said, 'so if I had glue on my finger and just touched you like this, hey, what's happened?'”
“I see, I think. So what else has Saneth got to report?”
“That since we were forced to spend the time together we decided to have a little talk.”
“And?” Lenepoli prompted.
“And we've agreed to avoid each other so he's got time to finish his masterpiece, and then... well, then he'll be up here and I will be too, and maybe if he asks nicely I'll let him make some promises to me and make some in return.”
“And did Saneth recommend you're as silly as we're planning to be and aim to marry a moon before the double moon?”
Sithini pulled a face, “There'll be other double moons, I've no urge to leap into marriage and motherhood before I know Quif a lot better. I want him to at least get his ASC, anyway. But what's the state of your house plans?”
“Yalb has taken my ideas and made some excellent changes, including such boring things as outside doors, and once we've paid our respects to Keldi, and picked them up, we're going to go and check our measuring.”
“So Keldi's retreated to your library?”
“She has, yes.” Dirak confirmed. “Kand recommends treading carefully. He says the Keldi we know and love has got to 'the little bit irritable' stage of carrying.”
“Ah, right. And you're really planning to get married in nine days time?”
“Doesn't seem very feasible does it?” Lenepoli asked. “Frozen ground, not even foundations in place. How can we have a home to move into that soon?”
“Well, if it's only the building work you're worried about, there's always Dirak's flat with his single bed... Or you could just enjoy the comforts of library. Oh, except Keldi's going to still be there, I suppose?”
“She and Kand will be there until hatching, yes.” Lenepoli said.
“How's your extruder doing, Dirak?” Sithini asked.
“Crude, but it seems to work. We're going to be getting some loads of mine-tailings delivered from Qnut tomorrow, much to everyone's confusion. Cost of mine tailings: nothing at all, cost of delivery, more than we'd like.”
“So today is just checking the soil depth?”
“And digging it out.” Dirak corrected. “Want to help?”
“Assuming you're not going to do it all with muscle power.” Sithini agreed.
“Have no fear. I had a go with a pick this time the day before yesterday, much to everyone's amusement. It didn't quite bounce, but it didn't exactly make much impression either.”
“And you're going to build the walls entirely out of Qnut mine tailings?”
“If we don't get any good stone from the foundations, we'll have to. If we do then there are some bits I'm thinking of making out of real stone.”
“Oh yes?” Sithini prompted.
“Walls for certain rooms, for instance,” Lenepoli said.
“OK. And if there's no stone?”
“Twin walls of crystal with the inner surfaces painted,” Dirak said.
“Not filled with dry soil?” Sithini asked.
“That's a possibility, but we'd still want the paint. Soil isn't that attractive.”
“Depends on your soil, with a bit of heat-treating some look pretty. But OK, shall we go and dig?” Sithini asked.
“We need to brave a potentially irritable Keldi first,” Dirak pointed out, “unless we wait until after lunch and the memorial service.”
“You'd better be quick then, Zerker Dirak,” Sithini said, “Or I predict moss in your future.”
“I predict that moss is in my future whatever I do, Sithini.”
----------------------------------------
DIRAK'S OFFICE, SKYDAY.
“Hello Yalinth!” Dirak said, “Can I help?”
“Bob Sathie Bill wants to say 'hello!'” Yalinth replied.
“That's nice of him.”
“And he wants to know why Keldi's grumpy,” she added.
“I heard that!” Keldi shouted, “Get in here, Yalinth!”
“Hello Keldithanapoli. Are you grumpy?”
“Yes, I am, Yalinth.” Keldi said.
“Why? Oh. The cemetery?”
“Yes.” Keldi said. She felt fragile. She was fragile, or rather the eggs swelling her waistline were fragile. She could have gone up the hill yesterday, probably, but she really didn't feel like it today. Traipsing up the hill to give a history lecture was precisely the last thing she wanted to do. But she had made a promise.
“Lanthi could do it.” Yalinth said.
“Pardon?” Keldi said, surprised.
“Bob Sathie Bill says Lanthithanapoli will be respected, Keldithanapoli, that you mustn't risk your children, and he wants to know if you've spoken to the doctor.”
“Why should I? It's not like I've not laid an egg before.”
“Urm. He says it's normal for them, and in the circumstances it might be a good idea for you to do it too.”
“In what circumstances?” Keldi asked.
“He says he knows something you don't know.” Yalinth said.
“Is he saying there's a problem?” Kand asked, going to beside Keldi.
“He doesn't think so.” Yalinth said.
“Yalinth?” Lenepoli said, thinking that Keldi looked like she was carrying more than two eggs, maybe even four. “Can Bob Sathie Bill read my thoughts?”
“He says yes.” Yalinth said.
“OK, well, maybe it's best if you don't listen, but I'll think of what I know about when it's a good idea to have a doctor around at a laying, and when it's not a good idea, and then maybe he can understand better.”
“OK,” Yalinth agreed, on, Bob's behalf.
[Right], Lenepoli thought, [Normally it's a bad idea to have a doctor around, mothers can get over-protective, violent even, if they're disturbed at the wrong time. Especially older mothers. So suggesting a doctor means you think there's a risk to Keldi or her eggs. Keldi looks like she's certainly carrying more than one egg, maybe three or even four. One or two eggs is not normally a cause for a doctor to be involved. It's instinctive among us that a mother holds her egg as it is laid, and cleans it herself. Her lower arms will catch the egg as it leaves her body, and her upper arms will be hugging any laid earlier. If Keldi's eggs come too fast, she will not be ready, and that is a danger to the eggs; a female doctor or trusted helper might be needed to clean her eggs for her. That's a big trust at a time she won't feel like trusting. If they come at the normal speed, and a third egg is coming, she might trust the first one to Kand, her husband. But she's not likely to trust him to clean one, that's the way we females are. If she has four, she will be exhausted, maybe even too exhausted to clean the last egg properly, and her eggs might be small, or need special care. Again in those cases a doctor might be needed, both for Keldi and the eggs.] “Did he get all that?”
“Bob Sathie Bill wants to know if it's a rude question to ask Keldi if she knows how many eggs she's carrying,” Yalinth giggled.
“A dumb question, but not rude. Of course I don't; we leave that secret to God.”
“Then he says that God says you need a bigger nest, and just to be safe Bob says make sure that Kand and a trusted female are around, and warning the doctor to be available might be a wise precaution.”
“What did you tell him, Lenepoli?” Keldi asked.
“I told him that if your eggs come fast then you're not likely to trust Kand to clean them, but if you've got two in your arms and another one comes then maybe you'd trust Kand to hold.”
“Hmm, maybe you're right. You think I'm carrying triplets?” Keldi asked.
“I've not seen any mothers as mature as you, Keldi, and I learned that that can make a difference.” Lenepoli said, “But... I've seen several mothers of triplets and none of them looked as big as you.”
“So you mean I'm way past my prime, or I'm carrying three or four, or both?”
“Bob says 'something like that, yes.' And he says he doesn't want to spoil surprises you want to keep surprises, but God lets him know the answer to yes-no questions if you want to know. Oh!”
“What's oh! mean?” Dirak asked.
“I asked him if that means he can't tell me who I'll get married to and he said of course he can, but I'm too little to think about that and don't I want the surprise of working it out myself.”
“Let's do some safer yes-no questions.” Keldi said, “Should I give my talk?”
“No,” Lenepoli said. “of course you shouldn't Keldi, not unless you fly, but even then, it's miserably cold up on the ridge at this time of year, we're sheltered down here, but there's a vicious wind. I didn't realise you were so near your time, I'm sure Dad didn't either. Traditional values say you stay put. Let Kand do it or Lanthi, or people will say you're not looking after your precious little passengers.”
“Yalinth, please ask Bob if God says Lanthi should do it,” Sithini asked.
“Not Lanthi,” Yalinth said, with a little smile.
“Me?” Kand asked.
“No, Kand,” Sithini said, crouching down to look at Yalinth, she said “It's me, isn't it?”
Yalinth nodded and said, “you think really quickly, Sithinilakiina.”
“Sometimes,” Sithini agreed. “Sometimes that just means I forget things though. It almost has to be me, either speaking on Keldi's behalf or my own. People have been promised a royal wizardess, after all.”
“Lanthi should go with you, Bob says.”
“Does he say why?”
“He doesn't know,” Yalinth said. Then added, “I'm not listening to you.”
“But did you hear?” Sithini asked.
“You want to ask Bob something you thought of earlier, but don't want to scare me.”
“Thank you for not listening, Yalinth. Bob can listen to my thoughts?”
“Yes.”
“I'm thinking my question to him with all the background he might want to know, then. There. Was that too fast for him?”
“He says he missed the start. And maybe the middle too.”
Sithini smiled, but it wasn't something to smile about: [Bob], she thought more slowly, [we have recently found an old evil, a hool. Thought-hearers were hated, feared, and so yellow fluffballs born in winter — newly hatched thought-hearers, used to be left in a hool to slowly starve. It is shocking; they have been illegal for centuries, but there was one, still in use. The old law was so bloodthirsty that no one dared to accuse a relative. Maybe Yalinth has told you about it, about the little fluffballs we rescued. I don't know how much she knows, and don't want her to know my fear: that where there was one, might there not be another? Could you check? Are there more fluffballs starving to death somewhere? Stolen from their parents by relatives who are afraid of thought-hearers? Keldi's speech, which I will give, is because hundreds of years ago the fluffballs of defeated enemies and thought-hearing fluffballs were left to die in a hool just near the village, and the men who found their skeletons have been trying to hide it from their families. It would be good to say with confidence the evil is past, just as blood-feuds are past and punishment of innocents for the crime of a family member is past.]
“Bob says thank you, he is checking, and he's funny. Why I shouldn't hear him just because I'm not listening to you?”
“I don't know, Yalinth, maybe he can't do that?”
“That's silly. He says you can say what you want to.”
“Praise God!” Sithini said.
“He's good.” Yalinth replied. “Bob says he needs to rest.”
“I expect so,” Keldi agreed. “And I need to give Sithini my talk, Dirak needs his building plans and someone needs to find Lanthi and tell her she's doing something to help Sithini.”
“Bob said Lanthi was talking to Yalb.” Yalinth said.
“Why am I not surprised,” Kand said, “Yalinth, can you take me to the doctor? I think it might be good for her to hear from you what Bob said.”
“I'll come too, Kand.” Lenepoli said. “I'll add my own observations.”
“Thank you, Lenepoli” Kand said, “And Keldi beloved, rest a bit while you're waiting for Lanthi; you're drooping.”
“I want to puzzle over Dirak and Yalb's plans for a bit, so please don't object too strongly, Keldi,” Sithini said.
“You mean you just want to take my notes and leave me in splendid isolation with my snack-bowl and pillow? What more could I want, other than my husband to come back quickly? Notes are here, take them!”
“Would you like some more contents for your bowl, Keldi?” Dirak offered. “It's looking almost empty.”
“How did that happen?” Keldi asked, puzzled.
“You've been eating almost non-stop, Keldi,” Kand said, smiling and putting some fruit into her hands, “Just like any mother of twins-or-more ought to. So yes please, Dirak.”
“Bully,” Keldi said, taking a bite from the delicious fruit. It had been a long time since her first pregnancy, but she remembered being told that in the last few days of carrying her body would be fighting to ensure there was as much nutrition in each egg as an adult would eat in a day, and it would double that if it could. If she was carrying triplets, she wasn't going to be getting fat. “Go fetch the doctor, Kand. She might want to tell me to eat more.”
----------------------------------------
“First impressions: you look hungry, Keldithanapoli,” the doctor said.
“I've been eating almost twice my normal intake,” Keldi replied.
“Since when?”
“The last week, I guess.”
“Hmm. No, don't get up, lie back down, may I feel your belly?”
“Yes. Kand said he felt three last night.”
“Then I won't prod, it's a bit late now, if you're due on Motherday. Where were they?”
Kand came over and indicated where he'd felt the bulges. “Here, here and here.”
“And that didn't strike you as odd?”
“Well, I was expecting the lower one to be lower, but Keldi had been lying down most of the evening.”
“And you thought that big as she was her eggs might have moved up?” the doctor suggested. “What do you think, Keldithanapoli? Any space in there?”
“Not for my organs.”
“Nor your bladder either, I presume?” the doctor asked.
“No.”
“And this is your second clutch?”
“Third. My son got killed in a duel two years ago.”
“Eat more. Not just fruit, though that's good. That top bulge might have been your stomach.”
“I told him that,” Keldi said.
“But one of your eggs is almost certainly in your pelvis already, so you almost certainly have three, and might have four. Six or seven days of almost double intake doesn't make eight. Don't be afraid of over-eating; you won't. Do be concerned about laying too soon, so no standing up longer than you absolutely need to, and do try to keep your stomach full, night and day. I'd recommend you chew your way through a lot of meat as a second or third breakfast, as soon as you can. Fatty if you can stomach it, ideally from different animals. Then at least a double teenager's portion of meat, plus normal starches and vegetables for lunch and dinner. Snacking on fruit, sweets, and vegetables, plus bacon if you can. After tonight, you're probably late for digesting the meat usefully, so concentrate on dairy for the calcium, and nuts, vegetables and sugars.”
“And when food seems revolting I've got about six hours?” Keldi asked.
“Probably less. Your last egg or two is still going to be accepting a while after the first one has calcified. Sorry to be harsh, but the hard truth is you'll probably break at least one egg if you start early. So eat, sleep, and use a chamber pot so you don't need to be on your feet as much. Do everything you can to stay off your feet. Then if something happens you know it wasn't you. Oh, and tell me, night or day, the moment you realise you're off your food.”
“You'll come?”
“Quads at your time of life? Of course I'll come. Where do you think you are, some heartless town where no one cares?”
----------------------------------------
THE HIGH FIELDS, SKYDAY.
“We have heard the history of our village, of our ancestors,” Pastor Ruath said, after Sithini's talk and after Yanepoli had given her reply, and then also Rangar had said some words. “You've heard what we know, what can be guessed, about the old bloodthirstiness that has left its mark here, and on almost all of us. The martyrs to the faith that almost certainly died here, where the strongest of the Northern clans held their court and where they were fought and died and killed their enemies, in spiritual blindness. You've heard how hundreds of lives were thrown away just down the river from here, at the contest grounds. Thousands of years of ignorant, stupid bloodshed that have left their poisonous marks on us, not least on Keldithanapoli and Lanthithanapoli. So much bloodshed, so much destruction.
“You have heard how it was only after the invasion of the South, which is itself lost in legend to most, that the queen, Yathanapoli met with God. You have heard how then-Yanepoli of the Yant turned to God, and how when the so-called princes seized power in more bloodshed, she welcomed her God-fearing friends here. So, that this village became a sanctuary, rather than a place to be feared. You've heard what half-truths had been guessed, and how a combination of horror and fear and secrecy has driven people to trust in lies and chemicals rather than in God. You have heard, I'm sure, that the hool of Tumpf has been found, and the criminals who ran it are now awaiting trial. Sithinilakiina has spoken of the reassurance she received from the Lord, and the astounding gift that God has given the alien Bob.
"There were hools. There was a hool here, there are no more hools; may God be praised for this mercy that he has brought an end to that evil. This site where so many have been buried, we will set aside as a memorial. What happened here was evil, an evil that fed on secrecy and was compounded by secrecy. Today, we shine the light of truth into the horrors of the past, we dissociate ourselves from them, and we ask that the blood of the saviour will cleanse us from all guilt. Let the blood of the dead no longer cry out for recognition and for vengeance; vengeance belongs to God and we recognise the sins of the past. May the blood of the Son of God cleanse this place. Let us never forget, and never return to those evil times. Amen. Madam mayor, you had an idea you wished to present?”
She stood and said, “This village has long had a law rejecting the purges, rejecting the fear of Zerkers that was so common, and offering them sanctuary. Fear of Zerkers is not so common as it used to be, but many fear thought-hearers. My suggestion is that we be brave, as our ancestors were. They confronted that fear and welcomed Zerkers, and passed a by-law to that effect. Is there any who think we should not pass a similar by-law, to welcome thought-hearers? That is my suggestion. Do I hear voices opposed to it?”
“Not opposed, but a little confused.” Dirak said, “There are no purges or policies against thought-hearers that we can reject, what would the by-law say?”
“My thought is that we amend the current Zerker by-law. We must in any case as there are no more joint blood-feuds. I would add thought-hearer and wizard to those who may walk freely, and expect the protection from their neighbours from any trouble, be it official or unofficial.”
“As long as that official trouble does not stem from an illegal use of their abilities, you have my complete agreement,” Dirak said.
“You can't just have the word 'illegal', Dirak.” Sithini said, “That neuters the bylaw. It was illegal to be a Zerker, remember.”
“We'll obviously need to refine the wording,” Ruath said. “Any objections to the principle?”
“I don't know I have any say in the matter,” Sithini said, “since I don't live here yet, but I would like to suggest adding God-fearing alien into the list of people the village refuses to be scared of. Just in case Yalinth's friend Bob wishes to come to say hello.”
----------------------------------------
SITE OF DIRAK AND LENEPOLI'S NEW HOME.
“Do we really need this much space?” Lenepoli asked, looking at the markers she and Dirak had put down on the ground.
“Of course not,” Dirak replied. “We could all sleep in one hole in the ground and cook outside, and never have any guests.”
“But it's massive!”
“We could draw in the inner walls. You might change your mind.”
“It's really the same size as home?”
“Slightly smaller footprint, actually, if you include your parent's veranda.”
“I guess I don't normally look from one corner of home to the other, do I? What do we do now? Start digging?”
“First, we re-measure, because its much easier to move pegs than frozen ground. Then, there's some things I want to check with the help of intervention here, but we'll get to that later.”
“Let's get measuring, then. You measure and I check the plan again?”
“Can we do it the other way round? I know what the numbers ought to say too well.”
“OK. Should we do corner to corner too?”
“Yes. Both ways.”
“If all the sides are right, is that necessary?”
“It shouldn't be, but....”
“You want it perfect?” Lenepoli asked.
“I want it to work. The wizardry to build the walls could fail if we don't get the foundations right.”
“OK. Ultra precision here we go.” Lenepoli said, in resigned tones.
“Tape-measures aren't ultra precise, Lenepoli.” Sithini said, popping into sight from her travel-bubble. “But Dirak is right, If you deviate too far from right-angles then you're risking gaps that don't fuse together at the corners, unless Dirak spends another year making an extruder with a computer and laser-measuring device that can calculate its way around odd shapes, Or unless he makes something that'll follow a guide bars, which would mean no corners. Or we can persuade some aliens to come and build it for you, which is probably unlikely. So, I'm here to help.”
“Thank you, Sithini.” Dirak said. “Does that mean the grand discussion on the new law is over?”
“It looked like it was winding up, Kand is going to call me if it's not, and when it is, expect half the village to come and see what you're up to.”
“Let's get these pegs in the right place then,” Lenepoli said. “It's not supposed to be roughly seventeen and a third paces, is it?”
“I had a look as I was getting here,” Sithini said, “You've got a lovely parallelogram. Why didn't you start with twin laser beam? Or a 3-4-5 triangle out off sticks, at least?”
“We did,” Lenepoli said, holding up the triangle. “I guess it wasn't big enough.”
“Or we knocked it.” Dirak said, comparing it to the strings at one corner. “Or, extremely embarrassingly, either geometry isn't what it used to be or it's not a 3-4-5 triangle,” he added, as he compared it on the other side of the string. Its 'right-angle' was probably off by at least five degrees.
“But we checked it with the tape!” Lenepoli protested.
“Maybe part of the tape has been stretched or has shrunk? It is pretty old.”
“Good job I've got a twin-beam laser here, then isn't it?” Sithini said, “And a distance measurer.”
“Very good,” Lenepoli said feeling frustrated at the wasted time. “Any more plans to waste time and embarrass me, Dirak?” It had been his tape, after all.
“I did have.” Dirak said, “But Sithini's here now, so maybe not. But before the promised crowds get here to laugh at us, can I ask: will you marry me when we've finished this house?”