CHAPTER 21 The Calm before the Change

Ilena woke up and stretched. For the first time, she felt like she was in her place. Her bed, her tent, her husband by her side. She breathed in the cool fall air, still holding the chill of the night. Under the heavy blanket it was warm, though, and she wiggled her toes in delight and snuggled down into the soft cloth to enjoy it just a little longer. She brushed against Obi as she did so, not really paying attention. A hand snaked over her belly and she instinctively went on alert. Sure enough, the fingers wiggled and she was suddenly tickled on her ribs. It was brief, not even enough to get her to laugh, though she did smile at the old familiar tease he enjoyed first thing in the morning.

Lips were pressed to her shoulder. "Mmmm. Is it morning already?" he asked sleepily.

"Yes," Ilena said.

There was a pause as Obi yawned. "Oh. You're happy this morning." He'd lifted his head enough to look at her face. He lay his head down on her shoulder, snuggling in closer to her. "That's good," he murmured, a slight smile on his own face. His tickling fingers tickled her one more time, then caressed her, running from her breasts down to her belly again. He rubbed her belly a few times, slowly because he was still waking up. "I think I'm glad to have woken up happy also," he said, pausing to yawn one more time. "The best pillow in the world is finally in my bed with me again. Do we get to be lazy?"

Ilena listened to the sounds of the camp around them, and to the sounds coming from the large tent south of them. "Not much, I'm afraid," she finally admitted. "Rio and Justinian just agreed on what we're wearing today." Obi sighed regretfully. Ilena slid her fingers along his jaw, loving the feeling of it against her fingers again. She leaned down and pulled his lips to hers, though it was a bit uncomfortable because he had slid down so far into the covers to keep more of him warm while sleeping. He was often more cold than she was, surprisingly. She liked waking up to the chill air, where he liked to hide from it, it seemed.

"It's been a long time since I've heard the quiet, homey sounds of a camp waking up in the morning," Ilena reminisced. "It's part of the overall relaxing part of being here in Tarc for me, I think."

"I think it rather amazing that you can still call this place relaxing, when you only spent about the first third or so of it happy," Obi commented, waking up enough to slide up. A stretch overtook him as well, as hers had first thing, and he arched his back and pushed his hands and feet out, like a cat, even curling his fingers at the end of it.

Ilena looked at him, her pleased half-smile still on her face and her eyes sparkling. "It actually is more like home to me than perhaps any other place." At his faint frown, she ran a hand through his hair. It was even slightly longer now than it had been the last time she'd seen him. He could almost get away without Petroi's hair and just let the markers dangle a bit. "I don't remember the castle in Selicia very well. I shut out those memories for so long. It's the same for the last half of being here. The only ones I left alone were the happy ones at the beginning. I wanted to treasure them. ...I still do." She smiled at him, "Like the ones I treasure since you found me again." She could see she had used the bright smile again. He was drinking it in, his eyes bright and hungry for it. She held it until he looked away with a sigh.

"To have lost so much of your life, though," he said with soft sadness.

"Just the bad bits, Obi," she shook her head. "We all forget as we grow older and the new memories crowd out the old. I do still have the same little vignettes everyone has of their childhood that were happy times. Seeing Master Zen's blue eyes for the first time. The way his tiny fist reached out and held my finger tightly. How I felt so safe hiding behind Liam. How my heart raced when I looked at your face the first time I saw you look at me with those same hungry eyes you just looked at me with." She kissed him gently. "I think you wanted me before I wanted you. I knew even if you couldn't come with me, I would be coming back to you, because you had asked so desperately for me to. I couldn't say 'no'."

Obi blinked at her. "Do you remember what happened?"

Ilena shook her head. "No. Only your eyes, your hand holding mine tightly, as if you didn't want to let go, and my heart promising itself to you. You would have to ask Petroi. He was watching over me by then. A bit of that memory is that he was there with us, but that's all I remember."

"Haaah. Well, I don't remember asking, but thank you for coming back," he kissed her and sat up on his elbow. "You can come in," he said, making sure to keep her modestly covered. Rio and Justinian both entered and quietly placed their burdens in their proper places.

"I'll wait outside," Justinian said softly and they both bowed themselves out.

Ilena did her best to not rise to Obi's last kiss, keeping it just as chaste as the rest of that morning, lest they not be able to exit the bed. Obi slipped out of the covers and headed for the inner room. Ilena sat up, ran her fingers through her hair at the scalp, lifting and loosening it, scratching a bit at the scalp as she did it. It was sort of a way to wake up the brain for the day. As he exited the inner room and she headed for it, they slipped hands across waists and exchanged one more quick kiss, then both sighed at the same time after a few more steps away from each other. Ilena giggled and she could feel Obi throw a smile at her over his shoulder as she slipped out of his sight.

"What game will we be playing today?" Obi asked her, his tone light as he slipped his pants on.

She reached for the clean underpinnings Rio had brought and thought as she pulled them on. "I think we can show them these faces for now, though if things get difficult we will have to become more...well...I'll follow your lead. I know I tend to get too serious too fast." She turned to him. "If you want me to lighten the tone a little, then reach for my hand or touch me. That always does it for me, you know."

Obi nodded, then looked at her a bit teasingly. "If you get long winded, can I put my finger to your mouth, gently of course, and get a hidden kiss?"

Ilena looked at him with a pause and blinked. "Well, if you're going to put it that way…, but if you do it too often I'll lick it and then we'll have to be chased out for public indecency, since I won't be able to stop."

"Oh? Are you resisting already?" he eyed her with eyes that undressed her, and she hadn't even gotten far enough into dressing.

Ilena turned away from him, fighting the heat. "Of course. Just because we're trying hard to learn to be good doesn't make the mornings any easier, really."

Obi sighed. "Ah, I'm sorry. I crossed that line just now. I shouldn't have." Justinian walked in the door silently and began helping Obi with his jacket without comment. It was the distraction they needed.

Ilena picked up the next article of clothing on her stack, shook it out, then sighed with a bit of frustration. "You two, we are trying to help them get comfortable with having a woman in the clan council for the first time. Will you explain to me how a skirt is going to help with that?"

"Master Zen's orders," Justinian said quietly.

Ilena looked up at him quickly in surprise. "Really? Master Zen? ...I wonder what he's thinking…?" She mused, becoming lost in thought of the possibilities.

Justinian, done with Obi's jacket and having handed him his sword, walked over to Ilena and took the skirt from her hands and held it at her feet. She absently stepped into it and he lifted it to her waist. She held her arms out of the way, but was still not really paying attention. By the time she returned, she was fully dressed and Obi was buckling on her sword belt for her. "Why did you only do this part?" she asked him distractedly.

Obi looked up at her in a bit of surprise. "You actually have some awareness, then?"

She blinked and looked at him, then nodded. "The sense of smell doesn't turn off. That's what I use as my warning." Obi nodded and went back to the final fastening of the belt. He put his hands on her waist and gave her a kiss. She came back to the present very quickly. He had become the Consort rather suddenly in her mind. She had to fight the urge to step back and bow to him. He felt it, though, the minute changes in her muscles. He pursed his lips briefly, then put an arm around her back to hold her in place. He ran the back of his fingers on the other hand over her forehead, brushing her hair back a bit.

"Was that what I think it was?" he asked her in soft accusation.

Ilena sighed. "I'm sorry, but yes. I wasn't expecting the shift to Lord Consort and that was the natural instinctive reaction."

"Ilena, is this our tent?" There was a slight emphasis on 'our'.

"Yes."

"And am I your husband?"

Ilena bit her lip lightly. "Yes."

Obi shook his head. Ilena dropped her head, not able to continue to look him in the eye. She closed her eyes and took a clearing breath, sending out the knot that had formed in the middle of her belly and focusing on calming until she was floating without a persona attached to her. "Who should I be, when you are like that in our tent?"

"Always the Lady Wife," he said quietly.

Ilena gathered that part of herself up, knowing that what she had been just before the shift was most of it - that part that was "just Ilena" and was his favorite. Then there was just enough Princess, the kind and benevolent parts, though there was the aspect of expectation of obedience and strength as well, but not the harshness that would presage the Queen. It was warmer than the Naluk', who was coldly impartial as far as Ilena felt her. The part of the Naluk' that danced and sang was actually the Child. The final piece was the Partner. That was what let her walk at his side with calm grace and showed all the world they were connected as one, indivisible, even if they were being gracious hosts across the room from one another. That sense of always knowing where the other was and what was going on with them, inside and out, so they could assist each other immediately if the need arose. When Ilena had put them all together, as if dressing the inside now that the outside was dressed, she looked back up into his warm golden eyes again.

She tried to stay sober, but the smile wouldn't stay out of her eyes. He didn't mind today. His eyes smiled back and he gave her a kiss on the tip of her nose. She blushed slightly. He raised an eyebrow and grinned, then rubbed her head. She shook her head and wrinkled her nose. "You don't rub the head of a Lady or a Lord, Obi," she scolded him.

"Oh, right," his grin decreased down to a proper smile and his eyes sparkled at her. She smiled happily back. A brush appeared between them and Obi let her go. Somehow, they both got a brushing at the same time, as Rio had been the one to come in and interrupt. Justinian used the opportunity while Ilena was being happily groomed to be the one to take to Obi's hair. Obi was happy to let him since he hadn't gotten to watch Rio brush Ilena's hair for over a month now. Ilena was aware it was one of Obi's little pleasures, to watch her enjoy being pampered, so she decided not to mind that she wouldn't be braiding his hair today.

She sighed as the last of the snarls was worked out and the brush was able to move smoothly through her hair from the roots to the ends. Rio had perfected the long strokes necessary to do it all in one with her long hair. In some private part of her, she kept it this long just so she could enjoy Rio brushing it. Obi had been learning it very well, though he was often still just a little too gentle at it. With hair this long that snarled easily as she slept, she had a tough scalp now and a proper massaging brushing was done with a kind but firm hand. She had mostly closed her eyes and they rolled in ecstasy and she purred a hum in pleasure. Something bubbled below it because not only was she pleased, she was happy and contented as well.

Suddenly the brush was not going through her hair anymore and she paused in her purring to sigh. She heard Obi call her and she opened her eyes. He was crouched down in front of her where she was sitting for her hair to be done. His eyes were direct and his face still pleasant, but she recognized the look. "Yes, Obi?" He was concerned about something he didn't want to concern her about. She was still feeling pleasantly content, so she smiled at him to reassure him.

Obi reached up a finger and touched the back of it to her cheek gently. It wasn't wet so she wondered why. "Ilena," he said hesitantly, "can you hear yourself?"

"I was purring...or humming, I suppose," she answered. "It didn't seem any different than normal, though."

"Aahhh," he sighed, "well, I wonder…."

Petroi's shadow darkened the door and his eyes were wide. Obi looked over his shoulder at him. After a pause, where Petroi and Obi exchanged a look, Obi said, "I think...it's because she released her restraint yesterday and sang." He looked back at Ilena.

"It was loud?" Ilena asked. "I'm not sure I'm capable of humming loudly," she protested.

"Well...perhaps 'loud' is not the best description," Petroi said, walking into the tent, Thayne following. "More like it 'carries'." He went down on one knee in front of her, next to Obi, so he could talk to her face-to-face better. "You know how you practiced the whisper so that we could hear it in the tents at the distance, and then you have taught the same to all of the Children?" Ilena nodded. "You use that same modulation in your normal level of humming and singing, so it carries even farther. It is likely so learned now that it will be difficult to not have it happen."

"Ohhh." Ilena said, enlightened. She thought about it for a moment. "Did I ever do it in Selicia?" she asked him.

Petroi opened his mouth, then closed it and sat back on his heel to consider it. "I have always wondered how you knew how to do it." He was very focused on his thoughts in his expression. "I also have occasionally wondered how you knew what they were saying in the taverns when you couldn't get in."

Ilena closed her eyes, trying to remember. "I remember my mother singing to me - just the hum or the sound of the song, and trying to imitate it. It is one of my earliest memories." She frowned. "And I remember trying to hear another voice that was deeper, like a man's voice might be, I suppose, and I kept trying to hear that one better." She lifted her head, her eyes still closed. "I would listen for it and then listen harder and harder." She listened now, in her memory, trying to reach it. Someone entered the tent. Leah. Ilena could tell by smell and sound. "Leah, who is Tati Canori?"*

"Heavens," Leah said breathily. "You even sang it." Ilena opened her eyes to see the amazement in Leah's face. Ilena waited. "That was your father's nickname for your mother and he would sing it to her when she was singing to you...before you were born. When you were very little, we thought you might be mute because you would open your mouth but nothing would come out. It took a while before you made the normal childhood noises. Your mother would come in to feed you, saying you were hungry but we hadn't called for her yet. She was never wrong. You were always ready to nurse. When you finished, you would look up into her face and smile at her and move your mouth and she would say that you were singing to her, but we never heard anything."

Ilena's mouth dropped open. "A-amazing! ...Now I want to do research on just how long before birth we are aware of the things around us."

*Hah!* Obi burst out with a laugh. "That's the first thing you think of?" He chuckled, shaking his head.

"Well…," Ilena was still having troubles wrapping her brain around it, "if I learned to sing and hum that long ago, I probably can't unlearn it. It must be how I learned the hearing, also. I remember continuing to listen very hard - in the way I teach, that is - because then I knew where people were around me. It always made me more content to know that Mother and Father were talking to each other close by. Their voices would help me fall asleep."

"That was two rooms away," Leah said, "down the hallway and through rock, since they use rock to build with there."

The others nodded. They already knew Ilena could hear that well. "Well," Ilena sat back and folded her arms. She grinned at Obi and Petroi. "Well, now we know." Obi grinned back and Petroi nodded, his grin kept to his eyes, though his face lifted. "Ah, as to the other question, I guess we'll have to put me back into training until I learn the correct 'carrying' distance again, or at least the new range."

Petroi nodded and rose. Leah bowed, "I've actually come to let you know Master Zen is ready for the meeting, and breakfast is also ready to serve. Mistress Shirayuki will allow it to be either a very fast breakfast, or the meeting may begin if it goes on too long."

"Is my hair done?" Ilena asked, looking for Rio.

Rio jumped and turned pink, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Mistress. The brushing is done, but I haven't learned the braids."

Ilena noticed that both Obi and Justinian lit up at that. Laughing lightly, she held out her hand to Obi for him to help her stand. "I think there are two here who can do it quickly enough once we are done with breakfast." There was a slight movement and Ilena looked over. Petroi was looking away. "Ah, make that three. Between the three of them it will be no time at all, I am sure." Rio bowed and Petroi looked better. Ilena sighed to herself. It was almost getting too hard to keep track of them all. She raised an eyebrow at Thayne. He smiled and winked, then shook his head. Ilena nodded back at him in relief. Four sets of hands at her head might be too much.

Obi tucked her hand into his elbow and she gladly held on to him, giving his arm a squeeze. He calmly looked at her, then gave her a gentleman's kiss, not holding it too long. Ilena took a breath, reached for the Lady Wife and settled it on her shoulders like a cloak. When she was ready, she looked into his beautiful eyes and smiled.

-o-o-o-

"So...how was your wandering in the wilderness?" Zen asked Shirayuki. She had arrived early the previous morning, the main set of tents coming later that day behind her. He'd decided to move ahead with the soldiers who were cleaning out the last of the spies or other random Tarc to keep their arrival secret. Mitsuhide and Kiki had gone with him, staying in the smaller tents on the way. He and Shirayuki continued to talk long distance each morning, particularly since they didn't want to interfere with evening reporting still going on. Ilena and her group had stayed back with Shirayuki as well, to continue training her and her guards, and because Zen hadn't wanted her to be in the line of fire either.

Zen's own paranoia had to be assuaged somehow. All four Wilant royalty were now in Tarc - for all intents and purposes enemy territory. If something stupid happened, his brother would not be happy at all. If both men were at the front and already behind enemy lines, the women at least needed to be far behind those locations and well protected. He'd had time to think, as usual, and for some of that time he had conversed with Ilena on the Laws. The P'rathna had decided to stay with the tents as well, since the Lieutenants needed to learn the language and Zen was sure it was more interesting for him to see with his own eyes the two beautiful women, including the Sun, so Ilena would ask him for the finer understanding of the Law and tell Zen as needed. Still, he'd missed them and was glad to finally have gotten to spend the night with Shirayuki again.

Shirayuki considered his question. "Well, it is certainly peaceful, if you don't count all the noise from the horses in motion. The plains don't vary much, which is so different, but at the same time I can see why Ilena finds it soothing. I suspect that she enjoys the visual simplicity because her mind is so busy. But where I see just grass, she sees so many other things. We were riding a few days ago and she was pointing out the birds, the way the grasses move in the wind, plants that disguise themselves, and the patterns in the clouds." Zen watched the smile on Shirayuki's face as she reminisced. "It's been nice to see her so relaxed and childlike again, though," Shirayuki returned to the present to look at him, "it was surprising. I really expected her to be much more stressed about coming here to the Marluk'nak'."

"Maybe it's that we were finally in motion," Zen said. "I know that was helping me, like Obi said before." He'd just finished pulling on his boots and was reaching for his sword belt.

Shirayuki nodded. "Perhaps that was it. How was she yesterday?" She was brushing her hair and tying it up with a ribbon. She only let her maids do her hair here if she had to have it up formally.

"As intense as ever, and perhaps darker than normal, but she was in fighting mode so it's to be expected, I suppose," Zen said. "She was pretty upset about the deaths in the Snake Clan, and wasn't pleased with how many male non-combatants decided to fight against the Change. Did you pace that trench yesterday afternoon." He raised a teasing eyebrow at her.

She shook her head. "No, when the wounded began coming, I went to the medical tent and kept myself properly busy and helpful. But when you were reaching the last battle, I sent for the horses. Even with being busy, I couldn't sit still until I saw all of you." She reached out and passed a hand over the bandage still on his forehead. "The wounds that arrived from that battle were worrisome."

Zen lightly caught her hand and kissed the palm. "With Mitsuhide and Ilena both there, I wasn't even allowed to fight after that for the rest of the battle, except to give enough of a distraction to one that wanted to take Kiki down. Then she pushed me back as well. 'Thanks. Get.' That sort of thing." He mock frowned.

"Well, I'm glad that they prefer to keep you safe," Shirayuki scolded him lightly.

Zen lifted the lock of her hair that always escaped Shirayuki's ponytail and smiled. "I'm sure I do as well. It's just, being in front of the Tarc witnesses, I felt it a bit too much protection at the time. But what is done is done. ...We are likely to have a long day today, what with one hundred thirty-six Laws to go over and more suggestions I have."

"That many!" Shirayuki's hands tying her shawl stopped briefly. "In one day?"

"Well...we won't change that many. I just feel like it might be appropriate to ratify the ones that can stay. I suspect it will take a minimum of three days. If there's a lot of discussion it will take at least five. I'm hoping it won't take a month, like it might if we were to do it at the castle with all the lords. There aren't that many - meaning over one hundred - here that all have to have their say. Ilena says she was able to find a way for them to go back to the twenty or so they should have in a way they wouldn't find disconcerting. I am pleased with that."

"That's good," Shirayuki said. "She really does understand them, doesn't she?"

Zen nodded. "It is a good thing for us. We wouldn't get half so far without it, I think. ...We still could be at war in the end if the council doesn't go well, but the two princes are on board for now." He chuckled a little then sighed. "She says not to expect things to stay smooth. Things change for them every year, depending on how the clans merge and split, so each Marluk'nak' is kind of a regrouping to learn how the new situations ended up and to figure out what might happen next. I'm glad it is her and not me, really. I think I would go crazy. I've been trained to monitor things on at least a monthly basis if not more frequently. She says she plans to keep that close an eye on things, but to only get concerned if she has to, and only put her foot down that once a year unless things turn sour. She doesn't expect that though, just the normal pace and flow of the country. It seems to have really helped her to have spoken to the brothers. She was much more relaxed just before we left her."

Shirayuki nodded and grinned. "She was very exuberant, even for her, when we met up again. ...It was good to see everyone safe."

Zen took Shirayuki's hand and helped her stand, pulling her into an embrace. "Yes. It was. Thank you for supporting us."

"You're welcome, Zen." She kissed him, then blushed a little. She wanted to be loving, but it still made her feel a little uncomfortable to be the one who was forward.

Zen put his hand to the side of her head and looked into her eyes, drinking in the sight of her, then he let his hand caress her as he took it back. He pulled gently on the hand he was still holding. "Shall we?"

-o-o-o-

They all met in the formal room of the palace tent for their breakfast and morning meeting. Obi and his three, with Ilena's help, had taken down the smaller tent and it was stowed in one of the smaller storage rooms of the larger tent. They began with pleasant conversation, but it did turn to the day's business eventually, beginning with Ilena's question: "Master Zen, why a skirt?"

"Because I wish to make the point that they need to learn to have their women by their sides. Now that they have accepted you as a clan head in your own right, you can push the point that you are female. It's a simple statement that they can understand, I think, without us having to actually say anything. We will say enough, after all." Ilena nodded. They certainly would, and even touching on that topic.

Zen reviewed the topics he expected to discuss for the day, then turned it over to Ilena, who was somewhat the Master of Ceremonies for the day. She handed out the orders. "Leah and Justinian, you'll come with me to the Marluk'nak' to help see that it's prepared properly before we invite the clan heads. We'll take with us enough soldiers to protect it again and to help us carry the chairs and tables we need. Please bring the book, ink, and pens I had us bring. You'll be scribe again, Leah. The usuri will be the scribe for the clans." Ilena looked around. "Rio, you can stay here, or go and help Mistress Shirayuki. The same with Delia and Maria. There are plenty of wounded that need assistance."

"We probably won't know to break, but we will want to stretch our legs and breathe the air, so if we could have lunch announced. Justinian, you may take point on that again after we have the Marluk'nak' set up. Marcus and Henry, make sure he has several to watch over him."

"Does he still need watching over?" asked Thayne.

Even Justinian nodded, somewhat regretfully. "He's the closest to the other four of us that they can get to and he's become very popular. Already he's a prince to them, as surprising as that is." Ilena answered Thayne.

"It makes it difficult to get my work done when I'm in the tents," Justinian said. Thayne patted his shoulder and Justinian grimaced at him.

"Justinian, how goes the preparations for the ritual burning?"

The manservant's face fell to sorrow. "The bodies have all been gathered. I'll need to take clansmen and women out to prepare the bodies today, and the land, but many are willing to go with me to help."

Ilena nodded. "You may take them there and leave them with Children watching over them as they work. ...Stop by the Halter clan and pick up the researcher on your way after you're done at the Marluk'nak'. That's something that will occupy his time. Try not to answer too many of his questions, but his muscles can help while his mind studies and his eyes observe. He has to come back with us, not run away, so be careful around him. We need him at the castle."

Ilena paused, also a little sad. "We'll have the funeral service and cremation of the warriors who fell in battle tonight. The Clan Heads will participate and we all count. Even more than that, we'll start it. We'll review the ceremony before then so we have all the words fresh in our heads, but I would like to request that Mistress Shirayuki be allowed to participate." Ilena ran her hand over her braids, uncomfortable. "It is based on the four deities and clan members would play the roles of the four. We are here - we may as well do it this once for them since we've brought the Chaos and Change to them." She blew out a breath, then waved her hand.

"Ah, one reminder to you five," Ilena looked at Shirayuki's guards. "The women will try to get you to take them under your wing, particularly those who no longer have a Clan Head, if you go walking about. Please resist with all your might. General Sirius you should also warn your men, if you haven't already. If any of the men from Wilant or Clarines take up a woman, they must stay here and become a clansman. There will be no variance from this. The clans need warriors more than Clarines needs Tarc to invade by being birthed within its own borders. They are not prostitutes who can be left behind. They are prostitutes who will bring even more prostitutes until there are more women than men in the tents and the clans will have to band against us to chase us out of the country in order to take them back. Thus I will leave the men behind to pay the price."

"That sounds like a rather harsh thing to call them," Shirayuki scolded.

"It's because of the concept of multiple wives along with the concept of property. When they are spoils of war, they are passed from clan to clan in large numbers, being mostly wives for the clan heads and his warriors. Right now, all of them belong to Master Zen." Ilena looked at Shirayuki, who was trying to understand. "If it helps you to understand just a little more, I have set a night watch on our tents in double layers." She turned to Sirius. "How many were turned away from my tent last night?"

"Twenty."

"And from the palace tent?"

"Fifty."

"And from Master Zen's tent?"

"Nearly one hundred and fifty."

*Gah!* Zen choked. Shirayuki paled and her curled hand went to her heart.

"The numbers are similar for all of the tents of Clarines, I'm sure," Ilena said. "It should taper and decrease as we show our determination, but we may have to sneak out at dinner time the day we decide to leave...or at dawn. If they know the last night we are going to be here they will come as one in one last effort of desperation. ...Unless they figure out how to settle back into their clans after we have set them again and are seeking out their own clan head by then." Ilena sighed again. "That was perhaps my least favorite job every night. He would call for the one to three he wanted, but then I would have to turn away another fifteen sometimes. Whenever the number went over seven I moved my bed to be in front of the door so they had to pass over me. I learned to not be gentle with women at that time, and was glad I had wrestled to the point I could best Zerak'."

Petroi, Thayne, and Justinian nodded. "There were nights we would sleep all three of us in the doorway and take turns sending them back out. It is one of the oddest of their traditions." Petroi said.

The others had great difficulty believing it, but agreed to be careful. "Ah," Obi said, "one of the things we learned was that if we all hinted that we were all husbands of the Naluk', they would leave easier. Somehow the reverse situation seems just as plausible to them. You could all hint that you are reserved for Mistress and they should leave you alone."

"It also might help the soldiers if they use the other thing we did, which was to say that they can only accept women from their Clan Head. As long as Master Zen doesn't actually tell any of the women to go to the camp, they understand that the bondsmen have to be obedient." Petroi said.

"Oh, that would be very convenient," Sirius said. "I'll let the men know right away to use that, and make sure they understand the threat of banishment from Clarines for disobedience." He looked at Ilena. "What about your men?"

Ilena smiled a hard smile. "I let them know before we left Wilant, when we were recruiting, that if they slept with one, they had chosen death. They wouldn't stay anyway, I don't think, if I had given them the option. The plains and tents are very different from the streets and cities they understand. Already many want to return as the wide open space makes them nervous." She got a musing look on her face. "I would like to read the full history of Tarc. I've been suspicious that it began as a penal colony of Wilant or Clarines. The way they behave is so much like the nightwalkers, after all, and many of the Laws are restrictive in the way it is necessary to be to keep them under control." Ilena shrugged.

Zen raised an eyebrow. "Actually, that would explain it, wouldn't it?" Sirius nodded, agreeing it was plausible. Ilena looked at Zen, done with her part.

"Sirius, if you'll please go and get the men gathered, and the things we need carried to the Marluk'nak', we'll go as soon as they are ready."

"Yes, your Highness," Sirius rose and bowed himself out of the tent.

Ilena looked at Leah and she also rose and bowed herself to go to the rear of the tent to collect the writing tools, including the fancy book Ilena had brought for the Law to be recorded in so that they would have a copy written in Clarinees to take with them. Shirayuki sent Maria to fetch her medical kit and things for going to the medical tent again.

-o-o-o-

Other than Shirayuki and their guards, they went as a group into the tent city. When the main group arrived at the Marluk'nak', Ilena immediately got the soldiers tearing out the 'throne' of the ex-Lord of Tarc and setting up chairs and tables in the center of the open judgement area at the bottom of the room.

Another table was set up in front of one of the first benches. Leah set up her place there, leaving room for the Naluk's Usuri to sit as well. When the soldiers were done with the setting up, they would stand around the central area to provide a protective barrier around Zen and the others. Once they were started setting up the way Ilena wanted, she sent Obi to stand up at the top of the room.

When he was in place, Ilena looked up from the judgement floor and smiled at Obi. Obi, this is a whisper. It rang lightly through the whole room. ...Obi, this is the original code song. It sounded like she was speaking to the room, though it was musical rather than spoken. Obi nodded after each one. Ilena grinned. "Obi, this is my normal quiet voice." It echoed and bounced around the room, filling it with powerful music. "I guess I won't sing. That is loud enough. I'll just assume that the whole of Tarc could hear it. We will have to recalibrate in Wilant. Likely only the entire castle would hear it." She tipped her head in humor and Obi chuckled as he walked back down the stairs to rub her head.

The Naluk's Usuri arrived shortly thereafter and they watched as he opened a vault in the eastern part of the Marluk'nak' and pulled out the written text of the Law of Tarc. "Are there any other written texts?" Ilena asked him. "In particular, we would like to know if there is a written history of Tarc."

The usuri rubbed his head, his eyes going misty as he considered it. His eyes drifted around the room, until they reached the equivalent position, but on the west. "Maybe...," he said slowly. They followed him over to that place and he tapped on a few blocks, then pulled on one the same as he had opened up the eastern wall. It slid, though not so easily, and Obi reached in and helped to carefully wiggle it free. Behind the stone were three very old and nearly crumbling texts.

Ilena drew a breath. "It looks like it's been forgotten long enough that a few generations of history is missing, but this may tell us what we need to understand." She looked at the usuri. "May we take them for only long enough to have them rewritten so they won't die to time? We may already be too late for the oldest. It is looking very bad. Then perhaps you and Banak' together can write what has been neglected. It would be sad for this time to not be recorded for posterity, when it has been predicted since perhaps the oldest of these books first went into this place."

The Naluk's Usuri's eyes watered. "Head Clan Head...it is against the traditions to remove the texts from this building except at the time of the Marluk'nak'...but no one remembers these are here. If you can save them and will return them again, perhaps we will not walk in so much darkness. Surely there must be a reason we have forgotten to read them and have come to this time."

"Thank you," Ilena said, her gratitude strong. She carefully unwound a cloth from her waist and used it to pick up the tomes very gently. "The oils on our skin will make these papers disintegrate even faster." She sat on the floor and wrapped the books gently in the cloth. Calling one of the soldiers to her, she ordered, "Take this to the tent of the High Lord's Usuri. Have him work with the translator to get these rewritten in both languages as best possible in order to preserve the knowledge contained in them. Any word that is not translatable in our day should be written exactly. The Dean at the University at Lyrias is a linguist. He will be able to translate them for us." She looked at the Naluk's Usuri. "We will keep a copy in our own language so that it won't be lost again, and so our own children may understand also who they rule over." She handed over the precious package and stood again. Obi put the stone back into place and they returned to the floor of the Marluk'nak'. The look Zen gave her was as nearly excited as she was. To understand the history of a people was to understand the basis of nearly everything about them and their way of life. Not to mention it might give him pry bars he might find essential to getting the clans to move in ways he wanted.

-o-o-o-

The evening before, the five witnesses had walked all the clans with Obi, giving their witness to the Hunt of the High Lord and to his strength and the strength of his bondsmen. Clan Head Obi had given the orders to the clans to counsel together and determine a select number from each clan that were sufficient to sit in the Marluk'nak'. If they already had a clan head and council, they were told to come. If they didn't, like the clans of the Sleeping Cat Clan, the Mouse Clan, and the Star Clan, Clan Head Obi had done an interesting thing. He had looked at his Seconds - one over each clan - and asked them to point out who should come, and who should be set over the clan until a clan head could be selected by the High Lord. In each case, the Second immediately pointed out two or three, saying they had been careful in their thinking and wise in their speech. That had been fine. Most clans had not complained. But when they reached the Star Clan, Petroi had been the Second there, and he had pointed not to three men, but to two men and one woman, and the look in his eye at pointing at her had almost been evil. She even had protested, but Petroi had insisted and Clan Head Obi had ordered she appear as well, particularly upon hearing her name.

When the three were ordered, like at all the other clans, to sit as the heads of the council and see to the daily affairs of the clan until things should be set by the Change, the Star Clan had stiffened. Before they could rebel and be punished for disobedience, Prota stepped forward. "Does not the High Lord have two women Seconds who sit in his council to advise him? While we find it odd, it is the time of Change. If this Second of the Head Clan Head has heard Wisdom from the mouth of a woman, can you do any less to listen to her than to listen to the Wisdom that has come from the mouth of the Moon Clans Head since she entered Tarc at the age of seven? Surely this is temporary to keep order within the tents of the High Lord. Abide and be obedient." The clan had settled, but not necessarily easily.

After the morning meal was completed, Prota and Zerak' looked at each other, then agreed. "We will go in advance," they told the Fox Clan council. "There is a task we need to accomplish." Since they had been called already for many things the previous day for the High Lord, they weren't questioned. They were able to quickly find a Child of Chaos and Change since they were moving outside the time of gathering. They asked to be taken to the Moon Clans Head and after a moment of consideration, they were led towards the Marluk'nak' itself.

-o-o-o-

Reynold Tennyson, singular Clarines researcher of the Tarc peoples, sat in an out-of-the-way place in the clan council tent. He had followed the men of the Halter Clan here, it being their agreed upon arrangement, that when they went after the morning meal he could go and observe and listen. Most of the news was here, particularly at the time of the Marluk'nak'. This Marluk'nak' had been big news for nearly the entire year, and most particularly since the new Candidate Clan Head had come. He'd missed that, to his sorrow at the time. They'd been as close to Wilant as they ever got in their wanderings of their feeding grounds, so he'd gone into his home country to purchase supplies. Paper, pen nibs, and ink weren't to be found among the clans who had only oral tradition.

The traversal across the border had felt a little eerie this year and he'd almost held his breath on the way back in, hoping he made it back into Tarc and the Halter Clan. Out hadn't been quite so bad, but he'd heard rumors when he arrived that Wilant activity was higher than normal around the garrison and along the border. He'd been allowed to pass through and return to the clan. The news that a new Candidate and two Seconds of another had come by had been rare. Even Reynold knew that the High Lord Saddle Clan Head was making it difficult for new clans to rise and even new Manak' to reach their potential. The most distressing thing about missing them was that the rumors in the clan were that they might have been the Manak' and the Seconds of the Naluk'. He'd listened avidly to the witnesses and stories of the time the men had been there and then also to the tales of the lore of Tarc, writing them faithfully.

The excitement in the clan as they arrived at the Marluk'nak' at learning that the Candidate Clan Head had visited almost all of the clans made him even more excited himself and he'd walked the market listening to as many rumors as he could, stopping anyone who would talk to him and answer his questions. He was barely getting any sleep at night for trying to get it all written down. Then, he'd seen them pass by in the market on their way from one place to another and he'd frozen. He knew one of the Seconds. Long black hair that hid the braids and markers almost. Since that time he'd not left the Halter Clan tents, only getting his stories from the clan itself as they brought the news in from the outside.

Reynold rubbed the thumb of his right hand on the thumb of his left as he held his hands clasped together in front of him, head bowed, not seeing or hearing really, just not-thinking. He needed to decide what he was going to do. He'd been told when he was brought here to study the Tarc that he would have to give a repayment. He was required to return to Wilant with the knowledge he'd learned and serve the Regent. The man he'd seen had made that agreement with him and brought him. For him to be here now...and the supposed Second of the Naluk'...it was both disturbing and confusing. For all he'd been soaking up the news, trying to understand, there were still too many holes. And within himself was a traitor. He'd come to respect the Tarc too much. He neither wanted to go back, nor did he want to help Wilant enter Tarc and change it. It was almost a primitive culture and for them to have lasted this long without allowing external influence was a marvel of the current age. They were strong willed, strong of heart and back, and their ways were different, strange...but not wrong. To make them change to fit the modern ways of life would certainly be a crime.

The puzzle pieces said that they had come to fulfill the lore, that they were the forces of change. That it was his own home that was making it come to pass hurt him for the hurt it was going to do to this people. Even if the clans agreed that it was necessary to have the Change to heal their land, they had no idea what that meant. Not really. Reynold felt he had a pretty good idea, and he didn't want to be a part of it. The only thing he could think of was that if he had to go back, he could lie and make it as difficult as possible for the Regent to work in Tarc and to make changes there. He could even go so far as to create a war that the Tarc might win...might. That was the problem. The witnesses last night said that it was a slim hope. His heart had fallen further and further as he'd listened. At least for the next year it wasn't likely they'd try to fight Wilant again, and that might just be long enough for the clans to be changed irreparably...or at least sufficiently that they wouldn't be what they had held on to for so long.

The next few days - the Marluk'nak' of Change - would probably solidify it. It was the perfect opportunity for the Regent to set her laws. To make all of Tarc live as Wilant and Clarines did. The Queen wasn't known for kindness and was notorious for her strictness and lack of tolerance, though she did win the hearts of those who believed she had the best interest of her people at heart - in Clarines. Which this wasn't. The only thing that was difficult to reconcile there was that the Queen was more likely to just barge in and take over, not try to send in emissaries and pander to the lore of a backwater country like this. So that was another question he really needed answering. He leaned back a little and sighed lightly, his spectacles catching the light briefly. The only people who could have answered that one had refused to talk to him the day before. He was rather confused why so many people of Selicia were working for Wilant, too. The Candidate Clan Head, the Second, and the other one they had called a Clan Head and hinted might be the Naluk' were all of Selician descent.

Tiredly Reynold rubbed a hand on his face. He felt like he should know that one from somewhere, but it just wasn't coming. The soldier of Wilant had called her 'Princess Ilena'. There was no princess of Wilant and he wasn't sure if there was one of Selicia, though perhaps there was. Maybe it was a joint operation between Selicia and Wilant. He'd heard a few rumors that the High Lord Saddle Clan Head had taken Selicia, but they were often scoffed at. That would make sense as to why they had come first - operatives to make sure the Tarc could be taken. But that conflicted with everyone's stories that the Naluk' had been there as a child.

Suddenly his attention was caught by what was being said in the council tent by the Clan Head. He was talking about the Naluk'. As Reynold listened with growing amazement, he heard the story retold of that same creature. Her story from the beginning. When it was done, he touched the Kir'nah he sat behind. "I missed the beginning, I'm sorry. Can you tell me?"

"It was told by the Head Clan Head herself at the Alliance Dinner last night," that one said quietly to him. "She was born a Princess of the ruling family before the Saddle Clan Head set them to warring. Her family as a whole was killed, including her mother - a princess of Clarines - and her father - a prince of Selicia. She came to the tents of the Saddle Clan Head first to learn her enemy."

Reynold put up a hand. "I heard after that, thank you." The Kir'nah nodded. He thought quickly, then in a moment of quiet, asked, "Clan Head, will you tell me, when the High Lord of Wilant entered the Marluk'nak', what did that one look like?"

"I've seen him since then," the Halter Clan Head said quietly. "I was in his tent in the afternoon." His. "He is young, eyes the color of the sky, hair the color of the clouds. The eyes are piercing and see much and his ability to plan for battle is different but excellent. He spent the Hunt learning his enemy until at the end he was able to overcome an entire clan's worth of bondsmen, Seconds, and Clan Head in only a thumb-width of the sun falling, using his own bondsmen with great effect. Besides the Naluk' and Marluk' he also has two other Seconds, a male Left Hand who fights with a blade that cannot be seen with great strength of arm, and a female Right Hand whose expression is as ice and who fights with her left hand. The Naluk' said last night that she is the only heir to a Clan Head and must fight for her right to fill that position, but that of all women she knows in Wilant, only she and the Naluk' herself fight as if they are men."

Reynold thought his jaw would hit the floor. The All, the High Lord of Wilant, wasn't Queen Haruto. It was her youngest son, the Second Prince, Zen. He was already given the Regent's seat? Reynold shook his head. "Thank you, Clan Head," he said as he sunk into thought again. That might explain the patience in coming here more strategically. Prince Zen might even listen to the desires of the Tarc, where Queen Haruto wouldn't, though he would be restrained to follow his own orders. There were obviously things that had happened in Clarines he hadn't bothered to keep up with. Now he wished he'd asked for more news when he'd been there three and four weeks ago. And now he knew why the Naluk' was called Princess by the soldier, and looked Selician. He went into deep thought, putting in the new pieces he'd just learned.

A light touch fell on Reynold's shoulder and he looked up. He blinked. This person should not exist. Not in the tents of the Tarc. Reynold looked around to see if he was the only one who saw this person. There were others looking at him, so he must be real. Reynold looked back up into the face of a man that was more feminine than most Tarc women and likely a good percentage of Clarinees women as well. He swallowed, "May I help you?" It came out in Clarinees.

A smile that made Reynold blink and almost blush. "Yes," it was answered in Tarcian. "I've been tasked with overseeing the building of the burial fire for tonight. They thought you might like to come and help while you observe how it is done." The tongue of the Tarcs made Reynold realize there were braids and markers on this one.

When the words finally sank in, he started. "Ah, yes, I would like to come." He'd been at a few burnings already, but this one was for the Hunt. It was different. He rose to his feet. He wouldn't be allowed in the Marluk'nak' anyway, for all he really wanted to be there. He wasn't a Manak'. He'd refused to take a wife so couldn't enter. This year made him want to change his mind suddenly. Still, he would hear from the Clan Head and council members. Besides, maybe this one would answer his questions.

"This clan is where you earned your Kir'nah? The Halter Clan?" the slight man asked him as they headed away from the center of the clan and towards the edge of the encampment. He stood just a little shorter than Reynold, who was short for Clarines, but he was stocky like the Tarc so it had been a good match, where this one was as slender as the youth of the clan.

The researcher nodded. "As one of the oldest clans, it is from the era when the Clan Heads were selecting items made by their hands for the horse, or even parts of the horse were selected. The Saddle Clan was formed in that same era."

"Mmm...I see. So the bird clans are from the same era, and the animal ones from another, then?"

"Yes, and the weather clans from in between, with the bird clans the oldest of those three."

A nod. "Interesting. You can date the clans. I didn't know that."

Reynold paused, reading the other's braids. His brow furrowed and he reached out for the man's Kir'nah braid, then his bondsman's braid, and then the Manak', which made him frown more. It was accepted patiently, but before he could ask his question, the other man got in one more first. "What is your name?"

"Ah... Tennyson, Reynold Tennyson, court baron of Wilant, Clarines."

"Pleased to meet you. I am Justinian, manservant to Baron Obi and Treasure to the Ki...Father and Mother."

Reynold looked at him for a bit, trying to understand the strange title. "Pleased to meet you, Justinian, of the Clarines name. Why are you here wearing braids with markers that don't exist in the clans?"

Justinian smiled slightly. "They do now. The Sleeping Cat Clan Head was acknowledged in the Marluk'nak' the seventh day. The Manak' from the Full Moon Clan is also from a clan accepted by the council of clans now."

"Why do you have a Manak'?"

Justinian put a finger to his own mouth. "I'm not supposed to answer too many of your questions. It will only confuse your data. Continue observing mostly for now. It will eventually be made clear just by that, I would think."

Reynold sighed in irritation, pulling at his hair. "But there are things I need to understand. ...My own emotions are interfering."

Justinian immediately looked at him with concern. "Well, I think if I could help with those...then maybe. But I'll get in trouble if I say too much."

Reynold looked away, then nodded. "I'll take what I can get, and I understand I need to observe."

"Okay," Justinian held up a hand. They'd reached the edge of the encampment. "Just so you know, you can't go out here, not on your own. Look." A light sound came from him and three, then a fourth, creatures popped up from the grass, looking like mounds of grass with faces that leered at them. "They are tasked with keeping everyone inside the Marluk'nak'. Since the time of Chaos is over, they might not kill now, but they still might. They're rather used to it and not really trustworthy." He made more light singing noises. Reynold didn't like the looks they were giving Justinian. They'd marked him, but Justinian they looked hungrily at.

"Um...do they in particular want to eat you? It looks like they could care less about me."

Justinian looked out at them again, then sighed. "Well...yes. As I said, I'm the Treasure. They like to steal treasure. But I'm also protected, so if they touch me they die. They might hurt me in between, though. So I do this when I have to go outside." He whistled a horse call, surprising Reynold. "You can't do that either. Only those of the clans of the Head Clan Heads can right now."

Reynold nodded absently. "Are these creatures what the clans have been calling the Children of Chaos and Change?"

"Yes," Justinian answered just as absently. He was looking southward.

Reynold turned to look that way also and froze. A Tarc horse was on its way to them, but that's not what caught his attention. It was the oval tent of deep blue with the moons in its phases going around the sides and the falcons on the roof. And behind that some distance the white tents of the soldiers of Wilant and Clarines, the pennant of the Regent flying over the top of the largest one. His heart sank. "They're really here," he whispered.

A warm, soft hand entered his and clasped on firmly. "Yes," Justinian said softly. "The Head Clan Heads are the gateway and the protection. That's why their tent is in between and opens both ways."

Reynold started and tried to take his hand back, but couldn't and when he looked into Justinian's eyes he couldn't move at all. "Protection?" he finally managed to get out.

Justinian nodded with a smile that was like the sun for all it was gentle. "Mistress Ilena loves the Tarc. Master Zen has allowed her to protect them. When he learned that the Saddle Clan Head was behind the death of her parents - his aunt in particular - and was the source of all the horrible things that had happened to her, he would have come and done much worse, though his mother would have been even worse still. I don't think he's told her we're here, even, or why. Of course he doesn't have to since he's the Regent now." He stopped to put out his hand in greeting to his horse, burrowing his fingers into the curly hair. She walked up and rubbed him and he put his face into her neck and rubbed her the same way she had greeted him.

Reynold blinked. "A child of the horse."

Justinian's head snapped up and his startled eyes looked at Reynold before relaxing into smiles. "So I've been told. Yes, Bea is my mother. It's taken me a long time to not be afraid of horses, and I'm still nervous around the tall ones. Come on," he tugged on Reynold's hand and kept hold of Bea. Together they stepped out into the plain of grasses bending every now and then in the wind.

"What are you?" Reynold asked him quietly.

Justinian looked back at him, opened his mouth, then closed it again. "Well, I've answered it, but if you still need to ask that, then you need to observe more, I would guess. You can ask the other clanspeople you'll be working with. I can't stay long, since I'm also the head cook for the Head Clan Heads and have to get back to make lunch, but I'll come back after lunch to work with everyone and fetch you back to the Halter Clan. Don't leave the burning site on your own, okay? The Children of Chaos and Change are watching everyone there, even if you don't see them."

Reynold nodded. There would be plenty to do he expected and if he could ask even more questions to people who were allowed to answer, then that would be fine.

*uccelli canori (f) - Italian for "songbird". "Tati" would have been a shortened form of Ilena's mother's name (Tatiana).