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serious discourtesy." He placed the hide back under the stone platform. "Many of the same symbols are etched into the kiafta hides. I can ask Jylyj to
obtain a translation of some of them."
We took a few minutes to change into the thicker, warmer garments the Elphian had given us to wear at night. Reever also brushed out and rebraided
my hair, and knotted his own at the back in Jorenian warrior fashion. When we stepped outside into the cold twilight, Qonja and Hawk also emerged.
The Jorenian, accustomed to a much warmer climate, visibly shivered. "I can see why the tribe gathers around a fire at night."
Hawk went to Jylyj's kiafta and called out to him, then looked inside before returning. "He's not there."
I felt a twinge of guilt. Had my conversation with Hawk offended the Skartesh to the point that he would avoid us? "Perhaps he went ahead."
"Why would I do that?" Jylyj appeared out of nowhere, his dark eyes glittering. "Come. They are waiting."
We followed him to the center cooking pit, which had been cleared of pots and piled high with seasoned heartwood. The flames were already climbing
up the sides of the stacks and blazing brightly; I felt the heat on my face from twenty paces away.
The tribe had assembled around the point of each spiral in the fire stones, most of the females sitting with their children on hides stretched over the
ground while the men stood or moved freely around the fire. I heard only male voices at first, but then caught the quieter murmur of the women as they
spoke to the children.
All of the tribespeople fell silent as soon as they spotted us approaching, until the only sound I heard was the crackling of the fire.
Jylyj led us to a place between two spirals where an unadorned hide had been placed, and indicated that I should sit. Reever stood behind me as I sat
down, tucking my legs to the side as the tribeswomen did.
A rather noisy procession from the chieftain's kiafta distracted everyone, and I watched as several men in elaborately arranged furs led the chieftain to
three large stones used to shape a low platform. Rather than sit on them, Dnoc gestured for the older female following him to sit down, and then strode up
to the fire, casting what appeared to be a handful of soil into the flames. It must have been something else, for it caused a wide plume of fragrant purple
smoke to billow up toward the sky.
Dnoc began to gesture and speak, and Jylyj again translated his words for us.
"We offer our thanks for another bountiful day, and our hopes for a peaceful night. The people are one with the land, and the land nourishes and protects
the people. We ask for blessings on our women and our children, and good weather and luck for our hunters. For the respectful strangers who have come
to us, we ask your care and guidance."
Dnoc ended his short speech by tossing another substance onto the flames that this time produced a sizzling burst of golden sparks. This seemed to
signal the end of the formalities, for the tribesmen began moving around and speaking among themselves, while the women retreated briefly into the
shadows before they returned bearing baskets and platters of food, which they spread out on the hides.
Several of the women brought food over to us, and shyly handed each offering to me. I thanked each female using the words in oKiaf that Jylyj had
taught me, which seemed to please them.
After helping themselves to the food their mothers had set out, the tribe's children all left their family groups and gathered around an elderly male, who
shook out a hide and attached the carved wooden rings sewn to its upper corners to two of the prong weapons that had been driven into the ground. I
watched, fascinated by the firelight that played over the fur, which seemed to shimmer with its own light.
"May we go closer to the old one?" Reever asked Jylyj, who nodded. My husband held out his hand to me, and helped me up from the hide before we
followed Jylyj.
We stayed at the edge of the group of children, some of whom gave us curious glances before turning their attention to the elderly male. From here I
could see that the symbols rubbed into the hide had been also painted with different colored pigments that contained tiny particles of a reflective material.
"The old male is one of the tribe's storytellers," Jylyj said. "Everything he says is also recorded on the hide. This is how they teach the young ones to
understand it."
"What story is he telling tonight?" Reever asked.
"Chetere's loneliness."
The name seemed familiar to me, although I didn't know why. "What does Chetere mean?"
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