Chapter 14
From a few feet away, Caitlin had watched Governor Narvo interact with the newcomer, a tall Jao with a regal bearing and velvety nap the color of newly minted gold. The two Jao danced. No other word could describe it, however much Jao were mystified by the human notion of dancing, along with most other human forms of art and recreation. Black eyes flickering green with emotion riveted one another as their bodies flowed from one shape to the next; all carefully stylized, each finger, whisker, and ear placed just so.
In human terms, she mused, watching the exchange, one might have labeled Oppuk krinnu ava Narvo a bully, trying to use his authority on this world to cow his new subordinate. And not succeeding, she thought. But these were not humans, and thinking one could understand them according to human interpretations inevitably led to trouble. That the Narvo did not like this new Pluthrak was apparent, though, and Caitlin was sure that the animosity went beyond simple kochan rivalry between Narvo and Pluthrak.
When Oppuk turned away, she stepped forward, driven by a sudden impulse and spoke in Jao. “Well, that made an interesting beginning.”
The Subcommandant turned and favored her with his full attention. His vai camiti was the most striking and unusual she’d ever seen, a solid mask of black over his eyes, like the that of a raccoon or a thief.
“You speak Jao very well,” he said in English, “better than any human I have encountered.”
“I have had the boon of a Jao bodyguard since I was very young,” she said. “I grew up knowing Jao as well as English.”
He gestured at her arms. “Were you formally trained?”
She realized she was still holding the shape of bemused-commiseration and shook her arms out, letting the form go. “No,” she said, rubbing her shoulder, which ached with the effort of holding the position, “I just picked up a few postures here and there by keeping my eyes open.”
“Then you observe closely,” the Jao said. “It would take a Jao youth many sessions to perform equally as well, although . . .” He stepped back and narrowed his eyes.
“What?” The weight of that green gaze lay heavy upon her and she realized a number of people, human and Jao, were staring. “Did I do it wrong?”
“It is the fingers,” he said. “Humans have one too many for the strictest classical purity of the form, but you could de-emphasize the defect by holding two of them together.” He reached for her hand and demonstrated, pressing her ring and little fingers together into the arch that indicated commiseration.
His touch was cool, his palms corded steel beneath the velvety nap. She held the pose for several seconds, letting him study the effect, then dropped her hand self-consciously. “I see,” she said. “Thank you for the instruction, Subcommandant. I shall endeavor to be worthy of the lesson.”
“Yes,” he said. “We all strive to be worthy, every light and dark, every cycle. It is a constant struggle.”
He was still studying her when a stubby dark-russet Jao spoke quietly into his ear. Caitlin took advantage of the distraction to slip back into the crowd. Kralik, who had been standing nearby, came alongside her.
“Not so fast,” he said in a low voice, when she finally paused beside one of the rock ledges where a rainbow of food samples was displayed. “What was that all about?”
“I’m not sure.” Her cheeks were hot and she knew how flustered she appeared to the human eye. How unfair, she thought, that with her species, such signs were involuntary and all too obvious for anyone who happened to be looking. Jao were able to select which emotions they wished to present to the world. Humans were always at the mercy of theirs.
“You did something, and said something. But I couldn’t tell what because your voices were too low. And he was commenting on it, right? I understood that much.”
“What I did, I think, was make a fool of myself!” She selected a gray-pink bit of flesh, bit into it and tried to ignore the gamey taste. “I tried to imitate one of their formal postures, the ones they use when they talk among themselves, but I didn’t do it very well and he was instructing me.”