Im long past the need, dear lady. The coelura eased my pain as they also sheltered and provided for me.
Anguish again stabbed Caissa. Then they are coelura!
They are indeed! The quality of his voice cooled and, though his face remained serene, she felt him grow stern and his gown rippled darker.
Ive only heard of coelura once, she said, swallowing.
Once is usually enough. His sternness was disconcerting.
What I heard did not lead me to suspect their existence or … and she glanced above her at the glorious spinning coelura who were murmuring lightly, but without alarm.
What did you hear? The man was polite if adamant.
Seized by a sudden whim, she replied, mimicking the voice of a computer. Coelura, a passive ovoid aerial life form once indigenous to the northeastern Oriolis island group. That was all.
And Oriolis? the man prompted.
Oriolii have been interdicted by the Triadic cities and no intercourse is permitted.
Yet you deviated from your course to answer a survivor signal in an interdicted area?
A survivor signal is not to be ignored from whatever source, she replied with mock reproval.
The man laughed, an easy, hearty sound, unlike the artificial and socially acceptable snickers of her society.
Suddenly the coelura massed together, uttering a trill that was a warning despite its melodiousness.
Come, we must hurry, said the man. The sun is setting. While the coelura are abroad, we are safe. Once the sun is set, they rest and nocturnal amphibians prowl this beach. I have a shelter, rude but sufficient, a short … hop … from here.
But there are reasons why … Caissa began, thinking unfilial thoughts about her sires possible involvement in this mans accident. She was torn between a desire to detach herself completely and a deeper, burgeoning fear for the fate of the coelura if her sires stratagems were successful.
There are more urgent reasons why you will obey me, said the man, pointing towards the undulating shapes that were speeding across the lagoon towards the shore. The prinas are wasting no time. They have our scent.
Caissa required no further admonition as he took her hand and pulled her towards the thick vegetation just beyond the beach. Prinas were as fast on land as they were in the water.
The coelura will mask our spoor. But we must hurry.
I thought coelura were passive, she said, deftly pushing back the thick growth at her hosts right side. Coelura swirled behind them, their collective voice now almost menacing.
You mustnt believe everything you see displayed, my lady Coelura are generally the most obliging creatures in the world but they also recognize danger.
Then they had reached his shelter, built against the base of the basaltic palisade. The sloping roof was only apparent because the flight of coelura settled on its outline. Caissa couldnt imagine what had been used in its construction.
The man stepped to an apparently seamless wall and pulled open a doorway. She quickly entered and, as he followed her, the entrance sealed itself.
I would scarcely call this shelter rude, Caissa said, staring about her appreciatively.
The single unexpectedly large room was decorated, if not furnished, in patterns that glowed of themselves. The rock of the back wall was covered with shimmering strands. Natural stone formations had been transformed into a long couch. Other rock extrusions served as shelving for bowls of fruit, a leaf-covered plate and gourds.
This is a beautiful place.
And you naturally have been taught to appreciate beauty?
She gave him a sharp look for the odd flatness in his voice.
I have been so trained but … and she gestured about her as the patterns of the very fabric of the room seemed to shift and flow subtly, but this transcends that over-used word.
Rude or beauty?
You are rude, she replied stiffly, who are clothed in beauty.
He smiled then, as if he had been testing her, and his smile reached blue eyes accentuated by the greeny-blue of his gown.
My apologies. I have been long away from graciousness.
Living here?
Living alone. And here.
The care in which he phrased that qualification did not escape her even if she did not comprehend the distinction.