THE SHERIFF OF HNUT / CH. 3: THE BARGAIN

Extracts from report of first contact group

While there are plenty of problems in the city, there are no (official) blood-feuds practised there, as it's a 'city of refuge' in the Old Testament sense. So, it looks like if we do set up a local group of experts like normal, the city might be the best place for them to be based. Quite what that does in connection to not being political I'm not sure.

There's certainly no way we want someone taking a forcefield spike or disk to his blood-feud, or a duel, for that matter, it'd make our contacts more feared than Zerkers. See initial observation report for why people fear Zerkers, plus parallel report.

One of the major causes of duals is when one unmarried male starts to talk to a female desired by another. If the pre-existing relationship has progressed to the point of gaining her parent's blessing, then killing of her intended would provoke a full blood-feud. Normal male experience is that anger blots out rational thought and thus the expectation is that single boys don't talk to an engaged girl, because they'll end up dead one way or another.

The blood feud, however, would still be triggered if the death was not caused by a duel over the girl, but a fight over some other matter, or even if it was accidental (though in this case it would be a limited blood-feud, not involving other family members). Hence the need for a city of refuge.

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HNUT, BROTHERDAY, 40TH OF AUTUMN, JUST AFTER LUNCH.

After a busy four and a half weeks of settling in, studying cases and listening to things that the villagers were concerned about, getting to know the villagers and a bit of the village life, and not to mention a few days visiting other villages on his patch, Dirak realised that he'd not seen Lenepoli at all in the last week, not even at the well-attended mid-week discussion meeting. In his first week she would spend time at the school gate, chatting to parents as the kids went home after a studious morning, and when he'd wandered over she'd introduced him to a lot of people there. But he hadn't seen her there either this week. Was it because of approaching winter? He didn't think that was likely, and he hoped she wasn't ill, and decided to visit.

----------------------------------------

“Lenepoli! You have a visitor.” Her mother called.

“Male or female?” Lenepoli shouted back from upstairs.

“Dirak, with flowers, hoping you're not sick!” he shouted himself.

“Well! The guilty party returns!” She said, bouncing downstairs.

“I'm moderately cross with you, but the flowers are a nice touch, so I'll forgive you. Oooh, my favourites, thank you!” She clutched them to herself and did a girlish pirouette. “Why did you think I was sick?”

“You haven't been outside the school all week, and I didn't see you at the midweek-meeting either.

“Ah! He observes the effects of his crime. It's certainly all your fault,” Lenepoli said, accusingly.

“What have I done?”

“First and foremost, got Girt married off. Secondly, you've not been studiously making an effort of being seen with me.”

“I didn't realise that was a problem, sorry.”

“It wouldn't be, you've been busy. But all the men Girt had kept away — even some twice my age — suddenly decided when you were away last week that you've decided if you're not interested, they are, and therefore I'm their perfect wife. I can barely move out of doors without someone protesting their desire to woo me.”

“So... you'd like me to woo you instead?”

“You I don't know well enough to prefer decapitation over marriage. You don't mind, do you, just pretending you want to get to know me better?”

“I don't need to pretend that, I do.”

“Oooh, did you hear that, mum? Sometimes he says the nicest things. One person, a widower, collected his child from class on Motherday and then right in front of me and everyone, asked the carefully anonymous child what he or she thought of him starting to woo me.”

“What did the child say?” Dirak asked.

“That they liked me but valued their grades, so stop being so stupid, dad, in case I thought they'd put him up to it.”

“Does the anonymous child get extra grades for that answer?”

“No. I'm tempted, but there's always the risk it might encourage others. There are quite a lot of widowers, you might have noticed.”

“I have. It was one of the peculiarities I noticed and haven't had time to research. What's happening to the mothers?”

“Growler attacks. Most often its in the early winter,” Lenepoli said.

“It's almost winter now. What's special about this time of year?”

“The packs are moving then, and while the men do early-winter repairs to corrals, fences and out-buildings that always seem unimportant in the autumn, the women collect nuts and berries.”

“You included?” He asked, concerned.

“Sometimes.”

“Do you go armed?”

“Not very effectively. We normally take some men with us... let me rephrase that. The women with husbands who aren't busy with repairs take their husbands, the girls with boyfriends take their boyfriends. To ask someone to go is a pretty strong suggestion that you're very interested, so I've not asked anyone. Girt tried to notice when I was going. I tried to make sure he didn't, which wasn't very sensible from the growler perspective but certainly saved my sanity.”

“Will you please tell me when and where you're going, because I could easily consider going a part of my duty, even without the attraction of your company. And I would very much hate anything to happen to so excellent a source of information about this village as yourself. I presume there's some organisation? Or does everyone go in dribs and drabs? If there is any time when there are less men than normal, it would be only right and proper for the ladies to ask me if I could come.” He saw her face cloud at the suggestion that he go with others. “Not right and proper. Sometimes it's not just a time for picking berries.”

“Ah. Winter nut collecting happens and so do some other outside activities that pass the time?”

“So say the rumours. Very discretely, of course. But.. the woods are large, and couples do sometimes disappear without many nuts to explain what kept them.”

“Now, learning that, my policeman brain thinks people getting separated in a big wood... and asks if the deadly growlers are always seen, if the victim is always found, and so on.”

“You think some of the deaths could be murders?”

“I've not found statistics. How many growler victims were there last year?”

“Three. All had been harvesting together. And yes, the growlers were seen, including by me, much too close for comfort. It was a large pack, perhaps twenty of them. The year before, none. The year before that, two I heard of in separate attacks.”

“Nut and berry collecting only happens in a short window of time, though?”

“No, all of autumn and until the snow in winter.”

“Three events in about a hundred and fifty or sixty.” he nodded, “people try to stay vigilant, but the first growler group...”

“Exactly. Or actually, the last, after everyone thought they'd gone past.”

“A wizard could set warning alerts,” he mused.

“What about an apprentice?”

“Apprentices don't leave the city.”

“Ex-apprentices? Don't bother,” she laughed “I know some questions don't get answers.”

“There are other ways of course, lower technology. More easily made and replaced. Bells, on ropes, for instance. Or... do any people here catch fluffies? Or keep them for meat even?”

“I do, sometimes. The small ones.”

“How about this: A light cage, or a leash to keep the fluffy from straying, a reasonable distance from the gatherers. The fluffy eats its fill on lovely fresh forest gleanings or whatever, a welcome variation in diet and less food you need to supply. A growler pack comes, smells the fluffy and goes to investigate. The fluffy screams, because it can't get away. Sad for the fluffy, but the nut-gatherers are warned.”

“And run away to be eaten as they run,” Lenepoli concluded.

“No. They climb trees and call for help.”

“Have you seen the trees?”

“You haven't taken me yet. A first experiment, then. See if I can help you climb trees quickly and safely. Are you busy this afternoon? And may I cook you a meal sometime? I have some dishes I like to cook which serve even numbers best.”

“When you say 'you', are you inviting my parents or just me?” Lenepoli asked, realising her mother had left them to talk in private.

“If you want to invite your parents along, I don't mind.” Dirak said, not wanting her feel under pressure.

“As in, do I want my parents to experience the delights of your cooking and keep things safe and non-romantic? I actually quite like the idea of getting rid of unwanted suitors. If you don't mind me using you like that?”

“I don't mind spending time with you at all. I enjoy it even. I just didn't want to fuel rumours. But if you want rumour fuel, will you take me nut collecting this afternoon?”

“Happily. And let me suggest you cook tomorrow evening and depending on how many nuts we find I've a recipe I'd like to cook for you. And would you happen to have a book or other information on the colours of a Zerker's crest? I hear that green means angry, what does orange mean?”

“Would you like to guess?”

“If I guessed it might be embarrassing.”

“if I told you it might be embarrassing.”

“Hunger? Excitement? Embarrassment? Anticipation?”

“Anticipation sounds like a good approximation.”

“I was going to suggest attraction next.”

“Hmm, have you seen orange there before today?”

“Not really.”

“Attraction should have been around for a while.”

“Hmm. Your crest can't be growing still can it? I'm sure it's larger than it was when we first met.”

“As a teacher of the young, Lenepoli, you should well know that certain situations make the male crest swell.”

“Such as the presence of a prospective mate?”

“I was going to say an attractive female taking an interest in a male's crest. I guess it amounts to the same thing.”

“Oooh and more orange still. Your crest is giving you away, Dirak. It seems that you're developing feelings towards me.”

“I am trying to remain rational about our plans of spending time together today and Restday, and to remind myself it's just you using me to keep others away. I apologise if my crest's behaviour causes you embarrassment. ”

“I'm not just using you, Dirak, we need to get to know each other to know if we're really interested and it's not just novelty or something. And Embarrassment is not the right word, anticipation might be a better word. But maybe I shouldn't be discussing what seeing your crest respond to me does where anyone can walk in on us.”

“Maybe we shouldn't be discussing it at all? Until we know each other better?” Dirak asked, starting to get embarrassed himself. She nodded. Then in a detached, but curious voice she asked, “What is it about that colour that makes me want to reach out and touch it?”

“Probably the knowledge that you're causing it. But if you do I'm going to decide that you are not just interested in a pretend suitor.”

“Drat, too late for mere curiosity. It's got a different structure to my father's.”

“Probably. The Zerk influence again. Most crests rise in anger, mine deflates now”

“Meaning you're not likely to get a burst crest in a fight. Clever. Why didn't I learn that when I was specialising?”

“You specialised? What did you study?”

“Basic anatomy, medicine and herbology.”

“That's very useful.”

“I thought so. I've not been able to make much use of it. We do have a full doctor, after all.”

“And you're never called on to help?”

“Not so far. Are you prepared to share anything about what you studied?”

“Most lately, I've studied law, and the principles and science of crime scene investigation.”

“Practical for your current role.”

“You make it sound like I won't have this role for long.”

“Sorry. I was thinking that you'd had a different one previously.”

“One of these days, I'm going to surprise you and answer one of those questions,” he said.

“Surprise me? It'll be a great surprise if you tell me you never studied any wizardry.”

“Oh, I did. Most police have done. The wizards do not intervene, but they do use their abilities to give aid to state officials if you ask properly.”

“You know what I meant, Dirak, but still, I find myself surprised. Can you talk to me about it?'

“Certainly.”

“What? There are no great oaths of silence?”

“None. None at all.”

“But... The wizards don't share their secrets openly!”

“You are wrong. They are busy, mainly because they are careful and they are rightly terrified of the forces they manipulate, but they do not hide their secrets. They are happy to educate. The preservation and dissemination of knowledge is their purpose.”

“They don't do a very good job.”

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“No? For hundreds of years they have succeeded in teaching ignorant and wilfully foolish students the intricate knowledge of the forces that are or at least were far beyond the understanding of most of the scientifically advanced race that developed them. They educate educators and your own studies have benefited from their learning, I'm sure.”

“I stand corrected. And I would like to ask you to teach me what you can, and also teach my students. As you have pointed out, passing on knowledge is a challenge. And you did mention this search for new candidates...”

“I did.” he said, and then laughed.

“What?”

“I can guess what the first test will be. Can you imagine the assessor's face if the entire class says 'oh, we did that last year, that was fun!”

She laughed, and then asked, “Will it be fun?”

“I hope so, to those who want to learn. And also a little challenging to organise. Or maybe not. Qnut is famous for the bits of copper you can just pick up if you look around. Is there any around here?”

“Some. Hence the dangerous copper jewellery you've probably seen. How much do you need?”

“Not much in terms of weight. But I'd need wire. Long lengths of thin wire, if I'm dreaming why not ask for the impossible? So I'll ask for a roll of it, like a spool of sewing thread, thin enough to break without much effort.”

“I need to introduce you to some more people in the village, then. Eventually.”

“After we've collected some nuts?” Dirak asked. “Yes. Now the question is, do we go hand in hand?”

“Lenepoli... are you that attracted to my crest?”

“Probably not. But I'm that convinced that you're not going to assume that pretending to be my boyfriend means we're going to get married by Shortnight. Wow, that's next week, isn't it? I'm actually reasonably convinced that before you start getting seriously annoying, you're going to be very keen to work out what I think about you. And therefore not annoy me.”

“I think you find me more of a potential mate that anyone else you know.”

“Yes. But I'm not sure that marriage is for me. And despite what your crest thinks, you are being very undemanding and not pushing yourself on me. I find that really really attractive at the moment. Does that make sense?”

“You want space to think about it, I'm giving you space, I'm hoping you'll give me space too. There's a point where we 'click' there — in our uncertainty.”

“Yes.”

“But we do seem to get on fairly well.” Dirak said.

“I'd noticed that.” Lenepoli agreed. “So, shall we hold hands without it representing a serious attachment, but more a mutual exploration of what that feels like?”

“You don't expect it will feel like it's feeding our emotions but not helping us make sane decisions?”

“You're probably right. But on the other hand... Maybe my attitude to marriage is fear. So logic won't help.”

“Whereas I know I'm attracted to the idea of marriage, and the blue of your plumage, but... I guess for me the fear comes from not being certain that I might make a mistake, and fall for a beautiful girl that I can't actually get on with. Extra attraction doesn't help there.”

“Prayer might. After all, God promises wisdom to those who ask,” Lenepoli said. “Prayer might might help you get over your fear of marriage too.”

“Yes. It probably will. But actually... I don't think I am very scared of marriage to you. I think that I'm feeling uncertain about why I'm not scared. Shouldn't I be?”

“Lenepoli, let's not hold hands, I don't think we're ready.”

“All right,” she said. He heard disappointment in her voice.

“But it would be very discourteous of me to not help you over any obstacles. I presume there are some.”

“A few,” she agreed. “Do you need anything in particular to help me get up an unclimbable tree?”

“I'm looking forwards to seeing the trees so I can work that out. Why do you say unclimbable?”

“They're tall and thin with no low branches.”

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THE WOODS. BROTHERDAY

“What sort of trees are they, do you know?” Dirak asked.

“Hynf, if that helps at all.”

“Not much.”

“They drop some leaves every winter, more if its very cold. And they drop branches if it gets really cold or too windy.”

“That doesn't sound like an ideal climb, a tree that can let go of its branches.”

“No, and the branches come off quite easily.”

“And the nuts are from the trees?”

“Yes.”

“What do the berries grow on?”

“Fallen branches, see?.”

“Ooh! So the tree gets its fruit down low if it's cold?”

“Yes.”

“These are hynfruit?” Dirak asked, looking at the berries.

“You've heard of them?”

“I've only seen them dried. A favourite snack of someone I knew.”

“Really? They're supposed to keep you awake at night if you dry them.”

“That's what he said, too. That tree over there is a different sort.”

“Yes, glue tree.”

“That's what you call it? OK. And people tap the glue?”

“Yes. You know it by a different name?”

“Gum tree, or angar tree,” he said.

“Angar? That's the tree your staff is made from?”

“Yes. Any straight ones around?” he asked, looking at the wizened twisted form.

“Some. They're fairly rare.”

“Like worms with teeth, now that Reqiq is no more. They grew there. I didn't realise...” he looked around. “It's so like the hills above where I was born, except for the Hynf trees. I've missed walking in woods, thank you.”

“Does that mean we should tell people not to use them for bean poles?”

“Bean poles? Oh what riches misused... For what some apprentice wizards would pay for one straight pole of angar wood for a wizard's staff, you could probably buy a month's food and lodging in the city for a large family as long as they didn't mind staying in Drana.”

“We don't have much use for money here. Nor see many wizards.”

“I know. It's a lovely place you have here. But would wizards be welcome?”

“To come and barter for some bean poles? Some of them are longer than your staff. If they came with useful things to barter, I'm sure they'd be welcome.”

“Perhaps I ought to have a look, so no one's journey gets wasted.”

“Yes. It's a long way from the city, whether that's by thlunk or cart.”

“I doubt they'd use either, being wizards. But straight trees should be looked after, allowed to grow and reproduce, not just be cut down.”

“Genetics, yes. We don't want to eradicate the most useful genes.” She looked at him shyly. “Have you met many other Zerkers, Dirak? Your genes seem worth preserving.”

“Zerkers are very rare, and unless we're in love or in battle, hard to spot. You know that we were once hunted down? Purged?”

“Fear of the other. Yes.”

“That's what the wizards are afraid of, you realise? The alien's arrival protected the Zerkers. I've seen the records, a final purge was being planned. But if the populace feared Zerkers, what about Wizards whose studies could kill hundreds if they went wrong?”

“There were some hiding in our village, you know.”

“Your mother's ancestors.” It wasn't really a question.

“How do you know?”

“Blue plumage in a female is a sign of at lest some Zerker ancestry, you have it, so does your mother.”

“You're saying I am part Zerker, Mum too?”

“You're bluer than my mother. You might even be able to make Zerker enzymes.”

“How?” Lenepoli asked.

“It takes something significant to first trigger the enzymes. Like seeing someone innocently and happily whistling while she walked into danger and no one stopping her. Once triggered they come more easily.”

“You're saying that you wouldn't be a Zerker if you'd not seen Shashana's attack, aren't you?”

“I am.”

“What happened to keeping secrets?”

“I can't remember why it was important.”

“Because you didn't want me falling for my idea of a hero who wasn't the real you. Or you were afraid I feared wizardry. Did you mean it about killing hundreds?”

“The advanced stuff. Like the shield I put round Shashana. If I'd got it wrong, could have decapitated them all and maybe you too, depending how close you were.

“I was outside the building to start with.”

“Absolute distance is what matters, obstacles get cut.”

“But you didn't get it wrong.”

“No. Praise the Saviour.”

“What is it like? The Zerk?”

“For me... Calmness, almost serene awareness of the things that were important to do, other emotions pushed aside, along with pain and fear.”

“Distractions ignored. Singularity of purpose. Time and other people just seem so slow.” Lenepoli said, “You feel like you could dance around their clumsy attempts to get to you.”

“You can.” he corrected. “Who were you quoting?”

“I felt terrified when I heard Shashana's whistle cut off, and saw her dragged away in the distance. I screamed for help, but it was as if no one understood what I was saying. And what could I do? One weak girl against so many thugs? They were too many, what could I do? But when you came, so fast and I thought, I can comfort Shashana and I ducked past the fleeing thugs, they were so slow, then I went into the room and couldn't get to her. Then you'd knocked the legs from under the last thug, and I told you to let me get to her, and you did. And then the thug hit the floor. But it didn't make sense, how could those things happen in the time it takes for someone to fall? So I thought I must have imagined it. Then when I came home, they let us graduate early; we'd taken our last exams, and Shashana was so scared all the time. Then I got here, and Girt met me. His breath smelt the same as the thugs'. Drunk on lust, and thoughtless desire. I told him to get away, leave me alone and he said 'nice to meet you too,' and tried to kiss me. I didn't think of it at the time, but I got away from him too easily. He said something about me vanishing, I didn't vanish, I just ducked under his slow arm, so easily, and ran past him to home. He always had been a bumbling fool. So I thought nothing of it.”

“You were in zerk, in your own way.”

“I must have imagined it.”

“Your genes are worth preserving, Zerkess Lenepoli. Your memories of that last thug are the same as mine, I just didn't realise. I thought it was the fog of battle. But it wasn't. You know what the Zerk is like. And you don't need to climb a tree; If you're in zerk, growlers are slow and bumbling too.”

“You think I should run round them? Or attack?”

“Which would you prefer? To save yourself, or to defend others?”

“I don't know how to fight, I'm not strong, what can I do?”

“You don't need much strength when you have the speed of a zerk attack. I'm sure I'm weaker than Girt, but he wouldn't stand a chance against me if I had a tool like a strong stick, or a knife.”

“Which should I learn? Not both, surely?”

“How much do you want me to teach you of wizardry?”

“As much as I can learn? But what does that have to do with a weapon? You're not going to convince me I can wield a staff like yours.”

“Catch.” He said, throwing intervention to her.

“It's so light!” she exclaimed. “How?”

“Under the bark, the outer edge of the angar wood is quite light but very strong, and once it's cut it becomes even stronger, because of the glue or the gum that's in it. But beyond the outer shell, there are a series of hollows separated by thin walls, full of glue or gum, which is heavy. But if you can break those walls before it hardens, you have a strong light pipe. And if rather than smashing the walls, you put a small hole in, then you can plug the holes in the end sections, and replace the gum. which gives you a good strong waterproof staff, suitable for helping you pick redfruit, or knocking out the teeth of growlers, or smashing their legs or necks. And of course you can heat the gum and put things inside it when you learn how to make them. Wizard's things, that enable them to do what they do.”

“Like not intervene, you mean?”

“Well, that too, but I meant the things that would enable them to cut their names onto inaccessible distant mountains if they wanted to — quite a lot of journeymen do, for some reason, or to talk from one part of the world to another part, or travel quickly from place to place, and even to the stars, to talk to the different alien races.”

“Different races plural??”

“The aliens that met us are called humans. There are 2 races of them, but even they find it hard to tell the difference from a distance. Much like us, the Zerkers and the majority. The Humans discovered us, and other races before us and after us. And taught us about the Saviour, and how to use the forces they have discovered, even though most humans do not know how. Even though most humans are not trusted to know.”

“They are so untrustworthy?”

“The humans are an ancient species, with six thousand years of written history, their planet is only two thirds ocean, and full of people and they have had hundreds, thousands of religions in that time, weapons of war that could have destroyed all life on the planet, and the things they taught us could be weapons even more terrible. It was onto that world, so sinful, that the Saviour came, two and a half thousand of their years ago. And I should add that some of their most deadly wars have been between different peoples who claimed the Saviour, not just God, was on their side.”

“Politics is the same, sin is the same, it seems, the universe over. Religion used for politics.”

“It is. But recently, some who worship God in truth, discovered that what they had thought were inviolable laws of the universe could be broken, and they learned to make shields, to fix a staff or a wagon in the air, defying gravity, and travel faster than the speed of light.”

“Light has a speed?”

“The light from stars has been travelling to us for years, centuries for some stars. They travelled such distances in a few days, and as well as teaching us about the Saviour, they taught the wizards about their discoveries, so that the knowledge would not be lost, even if their worlds — for they now live on two — plunge back into war. Because they pass on to us the message of hope — that God has entered history, and does not want any to perish. Those who call wizards blasphemers are doubly wrong, Lenepoli. There is no full wizard who is not a true believer. I over simplified before. Most wizarding knowledge is not secret, the science that all on the humans home planet know, but the greatest wizarding knowledge is only passed on to true believers. It is a sacred trust.”

“All on earth know how to make a shield?”

“No. But I know how to do everything I've told you about.”

“You know how to travel to the stars, to talk to aliens?” Lenepoli asked in surprise.

“Yes, well, I studied it all. I didn't put bubble-travel into my staff.”

“But you were an apprentice? They teach that to apprentices?”

“I was technically an apprentice, because for five years I failed to pass a single philosophy exam. You could say I had a problem with the philosophy professor, with non-intervention.”

“And then you intervened.”

“Yes. And I told them that I was right to intervene.”

“And you just threw it all away, to become a policeman?”

“They thought it was best. You see, they couldn't allow someone to be part of the college of wizards who had intervened in such an obvious way, without changing their policy on intervention. When they heard I was a Zerker, they realised that I would never back down. We're well known for begin stubborn.”

“Who, me, stubborn?”

“Who decided I had to visit you, when you were missing me so much that you practically danced downstairs?”

“Hey, don't you go applying your policing skills to how I feel! That's entirely not fair.”

“So, don't feel you really need to avoid touching my crest, Lenepoli. I'm pretty sure already that you don't only want a pretend boyfriend. Just... be aware that when you choose to do that, I've decided in my own stubborn way that you get a persistent suitor when you do.”

“It's such a beautiful colour. What made the difference for you? That I went into zerk?”

“Actually, no. I was praying on the way up here that I'd feel comfortable sharing my background with you, and that I'd stop being afraid of scaring you away, and also that somehow I'd get to know you well enough to know I wasn't making a mistake when the time was right. And then.... your eyes have been on my crest and your plumage has been fanning since you said my genes needed preserving. And I realised that not letting you know how I feel would be a real mistake, and so was trying to ignore you doing that for the time it's going to take me to teach you what I know. Plus of course your genes need preserving.”

“That's just so illogical. How do you know what my plumage is going to do?”

“But I still want to preserve your genes for future generations, and you've pretty much said that its me or no one. There, logic, see?”

“You're crazy. Don't change your mind about me, please.”

And seemingly of their own accord, the plumes on her head caressed his crest and their hands interlocked. “I ask what you offer as suitor, Dirak.” she whispered.

“I will pursue your good opinion, listen to your criticism, accompany you into danger and protect you, Lenepoli, until that time that we decide to marry and of course beyond. I will teach you what I can, and in the matter of wizardry teach you to the all the knowledge of an apprentice, such as any may be taught. Further, I will seek permission to teach you all I know, that you may be my equal in knowledge and true companion in all things.” He'd considerably elaborated on the traditional wording, and she looked into his eyes in surprise.

“You didn't need to make that part of our courtship, Dirak.”

“It will be though, won't it?”

“I accept you as suitor, and look forward to all you offer. In exchange for all you offer, I freely give to you my time, my affection, my good opinion and my accompaniment in your travels, because how else can you protect me if you have to go elsewhere? I give to you my cooking when you choose to eat with me, and my company when you choose to cook for me. I give to you the freedom of my parent's home, and their blessing which they have already promised me. May God not part us before death, nor allow death to part us before we have many offspring to preserve our almost-destroyed people's genes.”

“May our enzymes speed us quickly in time of need, our claws be strong in defence of the needy, and never raised against the innocent.”

It was part of an old Zerker prayer he'd learned from his grandfather. He wasn't sure what to make of Lenepoli's addition of offspring; normally that was part of a marriage vow, so he didn't quote the prayer to the finish.

Eyes sparkling with mischief, Lenepoli did. “And may our children inherit the gift of our race in their time of need, but may no time of need come until they are mature.”

“Just how many children are you planning?”

“I plan on helping my betrothed make a home for us that's suitable for twins to start with, and then for my last few clutches to be quadruplets. As grandma said, 'I've got four arms, after all'.”

“You're amazing. Your grandmother had quadruplets?”

“Yes. Sadly there was a blood-feud, my mother's three brothers died.”

“But the feud is no more?”

“The last two of the attacking line died with them. The brothers were only ten, the attackers twenty.”

“Blood feuds are so wasteful.”

“Yes. The crazy thing is it was almost forgotten. You have none, I hope. I should have asked.” Lenepoli said.

“None. I should have asked you too. No others affect you?”

“No.”

“Praise the Saviour. My grandparents declared blood feuds a work of pure evil. Not a popular view but I hope we have daughters.”

“Just daughters?” Lenepoli was surprised.

“Mostly daughters, anyway. Too many boys means fights.”

“And we train them to be wizards, wizardesses?”

“If they're interested, certainly.”

“And you're going to have time for all this while you're still sheriff?”

“Your father had time to be pastor as he was acting sheriff.”

“That's not the same.”

“I know. What did my predecessors do? How busy were they?”

“From my memory, they spent a lot of time going to town — they did the trip at least weekly — and coming back talking politics with the men of the village, and mothers warned their daughters that they weren't going to stay or take anyone with them.”

“So if I don't go to town, I save a couple of days a week, don't I?”

“Isn't it part of your job?”

“I'll let you in on a secret.” he whispered to her, “the first test is to build a little radio receiver, to listen to news from the city, the second test is to build a little radio transmitter, and retune the radio from the first test to listen to what that transmits.”

“So every family with a child could listen to news from the city?”

“Sort of. The first radio whispers very quietly in your ear. There are more parts needed to make the volume loud enough so that any in a room can hear. But by the end of their first year an apprentice can make something that does this.” Dirac stroked a pattern on part of his staff, and suddenly there was a voice telling them that it was not yet time for the news.

“Can he hear us?” whispered Lenepoli.

“No, and it's a recording anyway. But I certainly don't need to go to town to listen to the weekly news summary. And nor do I need to spend time passing on what I've heard, if the interested people choose to listen with me.”

“You could have been doing this the last month?”

“I've got another little box I've been listening to. I don't think it's time to tell the village I was that over-skilled apprentice wizard. Or is it?”

“They're going to feel that you tricked them. So since it was really about catching yourself a girlfriend without any hero worship, I think you should say that, and not hide it any more.”

“How blatant do you want me to be?”

“How blatant? I don't understand.”

“Do you want me to pick you up and fly you to the village? Or have my staff glow? I've not got a secret set of clothes that say 'wizard' on them. And I'm not a wizard. I never passed my philosophy exams. Hence my staff can't be a wizard's staff can it?”

“Can you do anything useful? Like find out if there are any growler packs around?”

“No. Oh... well, maybe I could but Thuna would be very cross with me if I did it that way and Girt and friends went out to hunt the growlers.”

“Who's Thuna?”

“Thuna is a senior wizardess whose hobby is finding out about the migration paths of growlers. She puts radio transmitters on some of them to let her follow their paths. Selectively hunting down her test subjects would ruin her experiment and be a very good way of getting into her bad books, and poor thanks for her support when some people said I ought to be locked up for using wizardry to intervene.”

“You didn't, not really. But what would she think of people avoiding the area when one of her packs came past?”

“I don't want to guess," he said, then paused. "But... I've just had a silly idea. Shall we ask her if she wants to come for a chat?”