He and Cynara soon reached the weavers’ lodge, situated among those of other an’laik’i crafters. He asked Cynara to remain in the anteroom while he went to the First of Weavers with his request.
As he hoped, the crafters were curious to see this new human. The First was not personally known to Ronan, but he was amiable and quite willing to provide covering for Kalevi’s furless guest.
‘They don’t hate us?” Cynara asked when he returned to fetch her.
“They are not warriors or leaders who make policy or fight battles. They take satisfaction in their own work, and most have never left this world.”
“Not even on Walkabout?”
‘There are shaauri who remain very near their House or Line Holdings, and such almost always select as Body. An’laik’i, by nature, are not aggressive. But they do hear of all that passes in the settlement. I am the only other alien they have ever observed.”
The weavers crowded as close to Cynara as courtesy permitted, faces averted, silent only in voice. She allowed them to look their fill. The First offered a neutral greeting and came forward with a heavy vest made for a youth near Cynara’s size.
She took the folded garment carefully, smiling with her lips closed. “How am I to pay for this?”
“Since you are my responsibility and I am still of this House, you owe nothing.”
“I see,” she murmured, though he knew she did not. “How do you say ‘thank you’ in Voishaaur?”
“Ina-sh’ei vai kana—it means, roughly, ‘My honor to you.'”
She repeated the word with a comprehensible accent, and the Aho’An’s ears twitched in amazement. He answered eagerly and mimicked her smile.
“He asks that you come again if the vest proves inadequate to cover your body,” Ronan translated. “He is very sorry that you have no fur of your own.”
“At the moment, so am I.”
Ronan thanked the weavers and helped Cynara into the vest. It was vastly oversized, but it was warm and would cut the worst of the chill.
“You didn’t ask for one yourself,” she chided. “I presume your usual immunity to pain, hunger, the elements, and other human hazards is still operating at full capacity.”
“I am accustomed to the cold,” he said humbly.
“Someday I expect you to teach me these tricks of yours. Where now?”
“To Riama-ja… Place of Spirit.”
He led her through a new-budding garden to the compound of the ri’laik’i. Cynara paused to admire the intricate, interlocked designs carved into the walls and doors of the lodges. “These buildings are different from the weavers’,” she commented.
“They reflect the disciplines of those of Spirit—philosophers, artists, those who seek the intangible.”
“You’ve never mentioned shaauri religion. Are there priests as well?”
‘There are shaauri who study the wisdom of the Ancestors and interpret for all the House. They are of great importance to Kalevi, because my Line is committed to tradition in all things.” He entered the door of the first lodge and walked without hesitation to the inner door. The shaauri within did not look up from their work. Two sat at huge desks, poring over fragile books brought from Aur itself. Others simply gazed at some inner vision.
In the next lodge, shaauri artisans carved ceremonial staffs and painted pictorial records of Ain’Kalevi history on handmade scrolls. They hardly noticed the humans’ presence.
“Selection gives much easier jobs to some shaauri than others,” Cynara said when they had left the second lodge. “I’d far rather be one of these than a laborer in the field.”
“Yet each is suited to his or her task, without the need to seek elsewhere for contentment. Humans search always for such a place. You were not satisfied to remain a breeding female on Dharma; your Selection at birth was flawed.”
“So it was.” She met his gaze gravely. “But at least I still have a choice.”
“Sihvaaro teaches that all Paths are one.”
‘They allow him to speak of such revolutionary concepts freely?”
“Few listen, or believe.”
“Do you, Ronan?”
“I would follow Sihvaaro’s example and be content.”
She shook her head. “I think you still have your own Path to make.”
Her words said far more than what their simplest meaning implied. She still feared his loyalties and where they might lead him.
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