When the spacefarers weren’t doing some kind of therapy, they were in council, discussing trade agreements and that kind of dumb stuff. Grandam was there, too. At least the council kept ol’ Liriili busy so she wasn’t always yelling at or for Maati.
Although once, in front of the whole council, just because Maati dropped a piece of hard copy she was bringing from the doctors concerning the wellness of some of the returnees, Liriili had snapped at her.
“Honestly, you are the clumsiest messenger I have ever had! And the slowest! You would have never been given such a responsible position if the council hadn’t been softhearted about you being orphaned. And now look at how you repay their trust!”
Everybody was so preoccupied with all the important things they were thinking of that nobody cared “when hot blood rose to Maati’s face or that her ears rang with viizaar Liriili’s hurtful words. She couldn’t read their minds, but they could read hers, and in former times people had always been kind. But now nobody cared what one little flunky felt. They were worrying about the grievous hurts their scientists, diplomats, teachers, and traders had suffered.
A hundred faces -watched impassively as Maati bent to pick up the paper and hand it to Liriili, who snatched it from her hand. Maati would have been even more humiliated if she thought they -were really paying any attention, but clearly almost every single one of them had used the distraction to get lost in his or her own thoughts. Thoughts she couldn’t read.
In times past, Liriili would have her stay close by during council sessions, in case messages needed to be delivered to outlying areas, but these days the viizaar couldn’t wait to get rid of her. She sent Maati out on the silliest errands, errands that could have been handled easily enough with a beep on the corn unit, anything to get Maati out of her sight.
Maati had recently heard VLfec^haanye-feriiii Neeva remark to some of the others, “I wish Khornya and the young man, Aari, had chosen to stay with us. I cannot understand what was so urgent that they had to go collect salvage with Captain Becker.”
The notion had crossed Maati’s mind that ^he knew exactly who had made them feel like outcasts and made their lives miserable enough to drive them away. Just as that thought crossed her mind the viizaar’s voice had cut through her musings like a laser.
Obviously our Khornya was attracted to the boy and they wished to be alone together without the weight of custom that ^as unfamiliar to Khornya and that, frankly, the boy is too unstable to deal with at this time. Maati, our water has grown quite stale. Please go fetch some more and see to it that this is ^sposed of.”
Maati barely stopped herself from saying, “What do you think YOU have a horn on your head for anyway? Freshen it yourself!”
But that would really cause trouble. The half-formed thought alone brought a hard stare from Liriili. But Maati was a messenger, not some kind of a subspecies to be ordered to do busy work because the viizaar felt like exercising her authority.
Just when Maati thought it couldn’t get any worse, the Ancestors-the onehorned four-leggeds who were one of two species from which, back in the time before the Beginning, the Linyaari had ultimately been formed-sent for Grandam Naadiina. They insisted that she bring with her the space travelers who continued to suffer from nightmares and other emotional ills, despite the healings of their families and physicians. All were to attend the Ancestors in their hilly home. The personal attendants of the Ancestors called the occasion a “retreat.” Maati thought of it as an abandonment.
No sooner had Grandam and the others disappeared from sight than the viizaar sent for Maati and informed her that, during Grandam’s audience with the Ancestors, the viizaar could not allow a young girl to remain alone in the pavilion she shared with Grandam. Therefore, Maati would be given a guest mat in the viizaar’s tent and would sleep there until Grandam returned.
“That way you will be handy in case I need you,” the Viizaar said with a false smile. What she really intended -was to keep her own eye on Maati. Every time Maati wanted to go visit with someone, or -was asked to graze with a group of other youngsters, Liriili invented some urgent errand for Maati to carry out.