--Chapter 10--

"These are for you" she began, holding up the pair of Bantos rods carved in a warm-brown wood. "I found them in my room, and these decorative markings, in Athosian?" He nodded in understanding. "They mean strength, loyalty, bravery, speed" she explained, indicating each character. "In order to give the holder such traits." Turning them over, her voice dropped to a whisper, as if she was suddenly shy. "This sentence says "may the ancestors protect you, beloved." There was silence, as he took them gently to admire them a minute, and then he put them carefully on the bed.

Turning back, he began to speak. "The unique thing about the Satedan script is that the individual meanings of words can be put together to form a whole."

He picked up her left hand wearing the bracelet. She did not resist. "Beauty and Grace form your name. You never knew that." He held her hand gently in his left, and traced the symbols with his right, explaining them. "the gift can also mean 'for you'. Fire is 'sun,' and here is dawn. It, uh, makes the sentence" he looked her full in the face.

"Teyla, for you the sun rises"