Dau and Yaut entered without looking back, then stood heartward, waiting, their ears already quieting, their eyes lulled.
They had arrived at the best portion of the local solar cycle, as the star’s light subsided to a mellowness that did not overwhelm Jao eyes as the fullness of the day did. The Bond had gauged the flow well in convening the Naukra at this particular moment.
Off to the side, the green-gray ocean rolled toward the shore, its energies agitated by a storm cell hanging low and black on the horizon. The rising surf was white-capped, the air alive with spray. It would be difficult to put its potent invitation out of his mind and concentrate on the matters at hand.
He took a step toward the gleaming black rocks, which were as tall as his head, and felt the subtle pressure already building within. Flow at its finest. He already felt more at peace with what had to be accomplished.
Pluthrak, of course, was hoping to validate his actions here on Terra. This would allow Aille to take up his Pluthrak affiliation again, securing both his career and future, as well as bringing honor to his progenitors. Pluthrak was too subtle to seek outright oudh status over Terra, for that would be too humiliating for Narvo. They wished, instead, to use the crisis to finally force Narvo into proper association. The beginning of it, at least.
Narvo sought just the opposite, to prove Aille had been selfish and motivated only by kochan politics, that he had cared nothing for the welfare of his kind, but had only sought to make of himself a hero and Oppuk a fool, that it had been both a personal disagreement between the two of them of the basest sort and a move to increase the fortunes of Pluthrak. They would be willing, he was certain, to cede oudh status on Terra—but only at the price of Pluthrak suffering an equal humiliation. Which, of course, could only be Aille’s punishment. If they had their way, he would be cut off from the solace of Pluthrak forever, shorn of any opportunity to enter a marriage-group and continue his career. Most likely, he would have to give up his life.
Neither outcome would be good for the Jao. The Pluthrak solution, in the long run, no more than the Narvo. They were still thinking in the old ways, Pluthrak no less than the others, as if traditional kochan relations encompassed all of a universe’s wisdom. Aille had once thought so himself, but did no longer.
What he still failed to comprehend was whether the Bond understood. What was needed was not simply to develop association between the two most powerful of the Jao kochan, but to begin transforming association itself. Or the Jao, in the end, would come to resemble the Ekhat who had created them.
But how could he, barely emerged, bring the Jao to that realization? Aille was still looking for the answer, although he felt it, shimmering just beneath conscious recognition.
“Aille, formerly krinnu ava Pluthrak, now kroudh,” a low voice summoned him from within the sleek circle.
He entered, feeling the carefully tuned energies shear around his body. Oppuk glowered as Aille took his place in the center, but his whiskers tingled, his ears flexed, even his blood sang as the flow of this configuration swept around him. It was as though the essence of water itself were here and he swam in a deep, cool sea which invigorated every cell in his body. Positive energy was building here. The Bond designers had done well.
He let it flow through him, sluice his worries and apprehensions away until he felt thoroughly purified. Without conscious intention, calm-acceptance now softened his angles and cleared the emotional sparkles of green from his eyes. He knew they must be as quiet as those of any Harrier present.
Oppuk looked out of place, his body clearly in the throes of angry-resentment. A number of Narvo elders flanked him, their vai camiti similar to his, but more balanced.
“It is forbidden,” said the Preceptor who had called him inside the circle, “for one kochan to challenge another, once oudh status has been bestowed, Yet you seized control of this world against the lawful Governor, Oppuk krinnu ava Narvo.” The black eyes, still as the depths of space, turned to him. “How will you defend your choices?”