Karinna sighed in contentment as she stretched lazily. Choran's idea of taking an outing on the edge of the lower meadow had been excellent; for it had been a long time since she had been completely free of her duties as Healer. She rarely was able to get away from the influx of Halidu Healers that continued to stream into Rhyls'hyl for training against the surprising debilitations of Thara's Test. The psychic illness was sweeping through the mountains as a result of forced contact with the telepathic minds of the thatz.

"You do realize people are beginning to talk, don't you?"

Karinna looked at Choran from where she sat against the trunk of a thuli tree watching Ryhl's clumsy attempts to toddle across the uneven surface of the meadow. "I know," she answered simply.

A long and comfortable silence fell between them, and then he asked in the same tone, "Does it bother you that they are?"

Karinna took her time answering. That was a question she had been asking herself for weeks. "No," she finally admitted, as much to herself as to him, "I suppose I don't mind that much. Do you?"

Choran stuck out his arm and caught Rhoma as the tiny toddler stumbled over a clump of grass and began falling face-forward. "You know the answer to that as well as I do, Karinna; we've talked about it once or twice." He set the girl back on her feet and aimed her in the general direction of her brother. "You never have given me an answer, though."

"I know," Karinna sighed, plucked a blade of grass and wrapped it around her finger absently. "I'm just not sure..." She looked over at the handsome young Halidu who had attached himself so firmly to her side without asking. It had taken very little time for her to become accustomed to having his company and to miss it whenever he had to travel outside the ryhl. There had never been any question about the reaction of the babies - he had been helping her with them for months, and they ran to him for help or comfort almost as often as they did her now.

Choran scooted across the blanket to Karinna's feet, pushing aside the bundle that was the lunch they had packed before coming to the meadow. Although well aware of her dislike of being touched too often or for too long a time, he reached across her bent knees and took hold of her hand. "It's time we had this thing out between us and made our decision. You know that I want you to marry me. Please," he shook her hand gently in emphasis, "I need to know what you are thinking and feeling."

"It's so hard," she began in a pleading tone, throwing the tattered blade of grass aside. "Chlin..."

Choran reached over and grabbed her other hand. "I'm not Chlin!" he insisted urgently, shaking the two hands together. "How many times must I tell you that? I'm not a drunkard. I don't go from place to place causing trouble." He looked at her in anguish. "I love you, Karinna; he never did. Is it so hard to imagine yourself being happy with me?"

Karinna stared at their hands, clasped tightly over her knees, and said nothing for a long moment. At first, Choran was encouraged by the fact that she was not trying to pull herself free of his grasp; but as the moment stretched out longer and longer, he began to lose hope again. Just as he was about to let go of her and drop the subject, Karinna looked up timidly and said, "No."

He dropped her hands as if they had burned him. "No what?"

"No, it isn't so hard to imagine myself being happy with you," she admitted softly.

Numb with disbelief, Choran slowly reached for her hands again. "You mean it?" he whispered, again daring to hope.

A screech from Ryhl as he tackled Choran from the rear, nearly knocking him over into Karinna's lap, broke the mood. Karinna reached for her son and dislodged his fingers from Choran's tunic. "I mean it," she said quietly from over the top of Rhyl's head. "Marrying again frightens me like nothing else has in a long time, except perhaps losing you because I refuse to make a choice."

Choran's right hand reached out to trace the line of her chin ever so slightly, his fingers only barely touching her skin. "You don't have to be frightened, n'ainya - not of me, not ever." Karinna busied herself with Rhyl, embarrassed at herself for disclosing so much of her private thoughts and still unsure of herself. Choran gave her a few moments to collect her thoughts by pushing himself to his feet and chasing after Rhoma and carrying her back to the blanket.

Karinna looked up and watched him carry her flame-haired daughter toward her, and she felt the familiar tug on her heart as she watched Rhoma wrap her arms around Choran's muscular neck. To distract herself, she looked up into the sky and assessed the time quickly. "We had better think about getting back. You know how our fathers get worried when anyone is out too late into the afternoon."

Choran glanced up. The sun was nearly touching the top of the easternmost peak, and already the temperature of the meadow was beginning to drop perceptibly. "Today I almost don't care," he responded pointedly, and was rewarded with a blush from Karinna. He put a complaining Rhoma back down on the ground and reached out a hand to help Karinna to her feet. "Come on, then; up you go."

Obediently, Karinna held out her hand for Choran to grasp and pull, and she came to her feet quickly with the help. As if part of the same action, Choran did not release her hands, but pulled yet again on them and pulled her to him gently. "Tell me you aren't going to change your mind the moment we get back to the ryhl," he whispered into her hair.

"I'm not going to change my mind," she repeated quietly, finding the embrace not at all unpleasant. As if giving up a long- fought battle, she slowly relaxed in Choran's arms and eventually her own arms snaked around his waist.

They would have stayed that way a little longer, but both Rhyl and Rhoma decided to take exception to their mother's giving her entire attention to someone other than themselves. Both children sat down dejectedly on the blanket and began howling their displeasure. Karinna looked up from Choran's shoulder, and the two adults chuckled companionably at each other; then Choran gave Karinna a gentle kiss on the lips before letting her go to tend to the distractions at their feet.

x

The Fromu Khyl looked up from the road in front of him and saw that the end of his journey back into the Halidem Mountains was no longer very far away. The twists in the road were familiar as those only a little to the west of Rhyls'hyl. "It's not far now, Lady," he said to the person walking at his side.

"Thou art sure?" Malishar had continuously amazed the Fromu with her ability to keep pace with him without getting out of breath any more than he did. Her sandy-brown robes showed the dust of travel much less than did his black ones. "It will be a welcome change to rest beside an established hearth rather than light and heatstones." The twisted and gnarled staff she had insisted on bringing with her tapped its regular beat on the gravel of the road.

"Indeed," the Fromu agreed with her. "I should have brought more of the stones had I known that there was a way into the mountains that passed by most of the halls and homesteads." He shook his head once more at the recollection. "How in the name of the One did you know of that path?"

Malishar had given up wearing the veil that hid her face from the black-robed priest, and so the Fromu was able to see the pleased grin that lit her wrinkled features. "In the days of my youth, it was sometimes necessary to pass through the Dragon's Teeth," she replied without explaining. "My memory remains sharp - thank the Nameless Ones! - and so it was that I could lead thee on the path of my youth."

The old woman shrugged and settled the heavy bundle she carried into a more comfortable position on her back, something she did with great regularity, and touched the honor-strands of her sidoran as if it were an amulet. The Fromu looked ahead at the final twists in the road, having in his mind some small idea of the reaction the sight of such a formidable weapon in the hands of a mere woman would cause in the Halidu hall. He too shrugged his bundle onto a different muscle of his shoulder, having learned from Malishar the benefits of not allowing the weight to bear for too long in one place.

Thuth had warned him to expect the unexpected from his old teacher, but the Fromu was truly amazed at the amount of knowledge he had garnered from the days on the road with Malishar. Much had been common-sense traveler's knowledge; but what had surprised him the most was the way in which the Hmorou mystic seemed to be in tune with her environment - whether the familiar desert of the Wastes or the rocky and steep wilderness of the western Halidem. If he had been sure that the choice for a tutor for the young d'Ganech children before, he was even more so by the time they had traveled but two days in the mountains.

The two topped a slight rise and began down the other side where, just beyond the fork, Rhyls'hyl sat against the side of the mountain proudly. The green on the Halidu summer had not yet begun to fade, and the fields below the hyl were verdant and lush. Here and there the Fromu could see the tiny figures of the clansmen working the fields, harvesting the grain that grew only sparsely on the less fertile slopes. Along the sides of the grain fields, however, he knew that the nutritious tubers were planted; and the Halidu people had developed many delicious ways of preparing the fibrous roots. The fields themselves were separated one from the other with low walls of small boulders plucked from the fields during plowing by generations of clansmen.

Above it all, Rhyls'hyl rose in grey splendour, its many windows looking out over the fields and across the narrow but deep gorge that cut between the hyl and the main road. Like most of the Halidu hyls, Rhyls'hyl was set flush with the mountainside and rose five stories high. The builders had used boulders to make a flat courtyard in front of the main doors and to surround the courtyard with a high wall to protect the whole. A hardy mountain vine had been planted at the base of the wall and allowed to throw its tendrils in vein-like lines from one end of the wall to the other. The lines were punctuated at various points with bright purple spots where the drooping bunches of lirdat flowers hung from the sturdy vines.

Even as the hyl came into the sights of the travelers, the voice of the watcher on the wall rang out announcing their impending arrival. "They watch carefully their roads," Malishar commented, not without approval. As well as giving her more intensive practice with the Thaelu language, the Fromu had taken great care in explaining the political situation in which she would find herself immersed. "They expect us not, however. Art thou sure we will find welcome?"

The Fromu nodded with certainty. "Once one of the clan chieftain's family looks out and recognizes the robes I wear, we can be assured of a good Halidu welcome."

Malishar's fingers touched the dangling bits of silken material on her sidoran, and Fromu realized with a start that the gesture was the only visible sign of her nervousness that she had allowed show in the entire journey. For a very brief moment he wondered what it was about those strands that made touching them a comfort. He wished that he dared ask her about them, but Thuth had warned him that such a question was something that the Hmorou considered the height of bad manners - if not a strong insult. Instead, he again shifted the burden he carried and made his way forward.

Malishar could see the interest and curiosity in the face of the priest and was amused at the way in which he tried valiantly to bury it under a facade of disinterest. She could almost hear the warnings Thuth must have told this one - not to ask about this or that in case of giving offense - and smiled to herself at the thought. She too had learned much about the priest and his people just by watching and observing his manner and had come to have a new respect for the beliefs of the Nameless One which had come to the black-robes under the guise of Thara.

She looked up from the road once again and studied the formidable construction ahead. The Fromu Khyl had done his best to tell her as much as he could about these people, but even he had acknowledged that the amount he did know was hopelessly little. Only the repeated visits from the Nameless Ones who gave her glimpses into the future at times of stress had made it easier to accept the task they - not the Fromu - had set her. As she watched, another figure joined the one on the wall; and she knew for sure that they would be welcomed once inside those thick walls.

Larm turned and told the watcher to find his father, Gyrl and Karinna, and then he turned back to watch the priest and mysterious other figure walk closer to Rhyls'hyl with a disconcerted frown. Neither Karinna nor Gyrl had received any visitors from the lowlands since the day the strange black-robed master-priest had come to witness the birthing. From this distance, he couldn't tell if it was the same priest as the last time or a different one; but he was sure that the person walking at the man's side was anything but a lowlander. The color of the robes seemed to have an uncanny ability to blend right into the landscape of rock and gravel that surrounded it. The stranger's ability to seemingly disappear and reappear again a little farther along the road was truly disconcerting. Larm knew from experience that lowlanders preferred brightly-hued robes that made them stand out, not ones that would hide them.

Gyrl was the first to join him on the ramparts and then to follow his pointing finger to where the priest and stranger approached. "That's the Fromu Khyl!" he whispered, shocked.

"Is that the black-robe that was here before?" Larm asked, curiously.

Gyrl nodded, and then strained against the distance that separated him from the visitors with a squint. "But I can't seem to see who it is with him," he commented in puzzlement.

"It's no lowlander, surely," Byrol asserted, coming up behind the two of them, making the small platform on the ramparts almost crowded. He looked at Gyrl. "What would that priest be doing here at this time of year?"

Gyrl shrugged. "We'll find out soon enough, I wager."

The trio watched from the top of the wall until the approaching pair had crossed the bridge over the little gorge, and then they climbed back down the narrow ladder and waited for the gates to open and let the strangers in.

Malishar's fingers played amongst the honor-strands, and she gave in to the temptation which had been plaguing her the last few paces to again cover her face with the over-large hood of her outer robe. The Fromu moved through the gate with the easy assurance of one who was sure of his welcome, turning only when he realized that the seemingly assured old woman who had been his travel companion all these days was no longer quite so assured. The sight of the hood was startling in itself.

"Fromu Khyl!" Byrol boomed, extending his hand. "It is an unexpected honor to have you with us again."

The Fromu took Malishar's elbow in a gentle grip, hoping that it would give her some courage to know he understood. "I thank you for the welcome, Lord Byrol. I trust your health has been good since last we spoke?"

"Indeed it has, priest." The mountain Lord looked at the short robed figure that stood quietly at the Fromu's side. "Might I inquire as to who it is that travels with you this time into our mountains?" The sight of the strange and deadly-looking weapon the stranger was carrying made Byrol's tone of voice less than warm.

"I am Malishar, Lord Byrol," said a gravelly voice in heavily accented Thaelu. "I come from far to offer thee and thy guest Karinna my services."

The Fromu looked at Gyrl, his expression begging acceptance for Malishar. "She is a friend from a people on the desert side of the Halidem," the priest explained to all of the men.

"What does she want with Karinna?" Gyrl asked, not entirely sure he wanted to trust the Fromu's sponsorship.

"What is this thing?" Larm asked, reaching out towards the dangling honor-strands of the sidoran. Malishar twitched stiffly, moving them out of the young man's reach, and the Fromu caught at Larm's hand before it could follow them.

"I wouldn't do that, lad. I was told that even asking about them was a great offense among her people, and touching another person's sidoran without permission was an insult that many would kill to avenge." The Fromu released Larm's hand, which was retracted by its owner quickly.

"HER people?" Byrol was aghast, and even Gyrl was astonished.

"No people live in the desert beyond these mountains, honored Fromu," Gyrl said decidedly. "We all know that."

"My people want nothing to do with thine," Malishar spoke in her own defense. "Thine only wish to conquer, mine only to live in peace as the Nameless Ones bade us."

"Gyrl," the Fromu insisted quietly, "Lord Thuth grew into his youth amongst these people. If I hadn't heard what few stories Thuth told of his childhood, I wouldn't have believed they existed myself."

"Let us leave the questions of her origins aside for the moment," Gyrl frowned. "You still have yet to answer what her business with Karinna is."

"Whatever it is, it can wait until these tired travelers have had a chance to rest and freshen themselves," sounded Falina's angry voice, which made the men in front of her start and whirl guiltily about. "Shame on you! Does hospitality no longer apply in these troubled times?" Hands akimbo, Falina's eyes shot sparks at Byrol in particular. "I can forgive Gyrl for not knowing our ways. But you, husband?"

Byrol was tempted to argue with his wife, but instead nodded as the sense and reason in her words broke through the presentation. "My apology, Fromu, ah... Malishar."

The Fromu bowed stiffly, accepting the apology. Malishar weighed her thoughts, steeling herself for what she knew would be the only way to break down the distrust her sidoran had caused, and then threw the hood back to reveal her silver hair and wrinkled face. "I can understand thy caution and accept thy apology," she stated regally.

Something in Malishar's tone and bearing made Byrol less begrudging of having apologized; and with a more open frame of mind, he escorted his newest guests into Rhyls'hyl. If we house too many more outlanders, Byrol thought wryly, we may no longer find ourselves considered Halidu at all!

x

Malishar waited until the door closed behind the wife of the Lord Byrol to turn and study what would be her new environment. She was astonished that, amidst the barrenness of the mountains, these Halidu people could tolerate such barrenness within their homes as well. Hmorou chatorii walls were covered with bright weavings and tapestries that gladdened the heart; the walls of her Halidu room were the same stone-grey as the peaks that surrounded the hall. Only the rich, deep-blue bedspread showed any signs of color other than grey.

She went to where a Halidu youth had placed her two bundles and dug in the one tied with the red tassels from her old chatori's supports. Within she knew would be the large bag of honeywood and the censor that had stood for so many decades before the memory-script honoring her husband's brave deeds. A low chest, against the northern wall, would make an ideal place; and she set the items there and carefully placed a small pinch of the resinous wood on the coals she had lit with a flick of her fingers. At once, the familiar smoke brought about a feeling of hominess and comfortableness to the strangeness of the stone walls; and she was able to relax a bit.

Looking more carefully at the construction of her room, she noticed finally the small pegs in the wall which had an obvious purpose of holding up anything that the occupant might desire - and scrutiny of the other walls found several more at discreet distances from one another. So, she mused silently, These Halidu do not live with barrenness but carry their happinesses with them, as I did this time. She then chose the peg over the hearth for a resting-place for her sidoran as the one spot in the room that could hold the most honor. The memory-script then found a home on the peg behind where the censor wafted the fragrant scent into the air, and an ancient, much-treasured power-weaving found sufficient room in the spaciousness of the opposite wall.

It wasn't much, but already the room looked more like a home worth defending, Malishar thought critically.

x

Karinna's hands moved automatically in the task of changing Rhyl's wet napkin and gown for his supper, her mind still in the sunlit meadow with Choran. The memory was so strong and pleasant that she had to shake herself almost physically to become aware of the fact that her young son had nearly thrown himself from the low dresser that served as a changing-place. "Rhyl," she admonished with guilty worry. "Stop that!" With a final tug, she pulled his fresh gown into place and swung him down to a chair at the low table where he shared his meals with his sister who had already been changed and waited for him less than patiently.

It hadn't taken much more urging from Choran to make her realize that she did indeed love the young mountain man - something she had decided she would never allow herself to do. But now that she had, and openly admitted it to herself and to Choran, she found herself lost in the wonder of the warm feelings that were flooding through her. No longer did she wonder about the silly look that would come over Darla's face when she spoke of Banl even after they were formally sworn together and had a child. What was more, she wondered for the hundredth time that she could have lived the lie of a marriage to Chlin for so many years.

While she had been busy with her son, Shora had come into the nursery with the tray holding the twins' evening meal. It had been an easy habit to get into for the serving woman to bring Karinna her children's meal straight from the kitchen so that she would be able to take her own meal with the rest of the adults a little later on.

If it were not for the antics of Rhyl and Rhoma eating their supper rather messily as usual, Karinna would have found it quite easy to lose herself once more in her daydreams. As it was, the children kept her mind in the real world. Rhoma had recently developed a habit of waiting until her mother's back was turned to feed her brother before spitting out something she didn't like - usually mashed tubers in chiva butter. Rhyl didn't help matters by setting up a howl when Karinna didn't give him her undivided attention. As Karinna cleaned up the third mess Rhoma had plopped on the little table, she agreed ruefully with Falina's critical assessment that she would have to begin to discipline her children more, or they would become little monsters.

Shora's knock came at just the right time, and Karinna had already gathered the dishes together again on the tray. The young woman's eye quickly found the remaining traces of the latest battle at the table and chuckled in sympathy. "Who won?"

"I'm not quite sure yet," Karinna chortled tiredly. "I'm never quite sure who wins these battles anymore." She took the cloth bibs from under Rhyl and Rhoma's chins and tossed them on the tray as well. "Tell Cook that tubers in butter is not the answer." She disengaged Rhoma from the seat and cuddled her daughter close. It was during these quiet, close moments just before bedtime that Karinna allowed herself to become the Healer for her own children, quickly extending her consciousness into the body of the toddler she cuddled to assure herself that there was nothing that could threaten her health.

Shora, knowing that something other than just love was being exchanged in such moments, waited until Karinna had carried Rhoma into the other room and deposited her in her crib before commenting, "Lady Falina wanted me to tell you to be sure not to miss supper with the family tonight. Seems there's someone come to see you."

Karinna sighed as she reached for Rhyl, who perversely squirmed. "More Healers, I suppose," she nodded to herself as she cuddled him down close. The vaguest shimmer in his sinuses, signaling the very beginnings of a cold, was quickly sent into the void with a sure touch of Karinna's mind.

"Not this time," Shora shook her head after Karinna had tucked her sleepy twosome into their beds. "I saw this one from the window when she came with that priest who was here for your children's birthing."

"The same priest? Are you sure?" Karinna turned about sharply from Rhyl's crib.

"Yes, Lady. And this one who has come to see you is like none I've ever seen before." Shora's eyes were wide with curiosity.

Karinna nodded. "Alright, Shora. You may go and tell Falina that I'll be down shortly." Shora nodded and left the nursery with her tray, and Karinna waved the small lightstone near the hearth into a soft, low glow before picking up the larger one and carrying with her out into the hall. She knew it would not be long before Shora would return to sit outside the bedchamber and listen for any cries from the children while their mother enjoyed her meal.

x

With an impatience that was foreign to him, Choran paced the landing of the staircase waiting for Karinna. Before the meal began, he wanted to make sure she would be willing for him to announce to the rest their intention to become sworn mates as well as once again making sure that he had not again lost his elusive prize. It had taken months of hard work to make her trust him enough for him to even approach the subject the first time; and now that she had admitted the depth of her feelings for him, he was not about to wait too long before making a formal announcement.

Karinna, coming to the head of the stairs, saw Choran waiting there and blushed slightly as she again felt the warmth of her emotions. Even though her footsteps were almost inaudible, Choran turned quickly and saw her standing there looking at him with a gentle smile; and with an answering smile of his own, he extended his hand to her. Karinna gathered her skirts and stepped quickly down the first flight of stairs to join him and allowed him to pull her into a quick hug.

"I was waiting for you," Choran said, stating the obvious and then feeling foolish about it. "I wanted to ask you something before we joined the others."

Karinna had returned the hug, almost surprised at herself to find that she no longer wished to shrink from his touch. "And what was that?" she asked while still in his embrace.

He set her far enough away from him so that he could look at her directly to see her reaction. "I wanted to know if it would be alright with you if I made the announcement of our intentions tonight after our meal."

Karinna paled and then blushed. She had anticipated this, but still found herself breathless when it actually happened. But, she scolded herself, it is what you want, isn't it? She nodded. "Of course it's alright, Choran." She looked down the final flight of stairs and off toward the diningroom. "And the Fromu Khyl is even here, and if he agrees to remain long enough, we can send a message to Korans'hyl and Jedhs'hyl to have guests for the ceremony."

"I love you," Choran breathed into her hair, hugging her close again.

"And I love you," Karinna answered with much more sureness every time she repeated the words.

"We can send off the message to the Rhyl Clan spirit-talkers then," Choran added as he looped his arm around Karinna's waist and began walking down the stairs with her, "so that we can be married in both traditions."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," Karinna agreed. From their place on the staircase, they could hear the sounds of the meal already in progress: voices mingling in a pleasant cacophony, dishes and utensils rattling and clinking together, and the sound of chairs being dragged across the floor.

Enough people were curious about the stranger seated next to the black-robed priest that most missed Choran's and Karinna's entrance - most except Gyrl and the Fromu Khyl, who looked at each other knowingly. Gyrl bumped Byrol's elbow to get his attention, and the mountain Lord then listened to Gyrl's lowly-spoken words and looked over at his eldest son with Gyrl's daughter.

Choran and Karinna did not notice their fathers' interest in them, looking only at the tan-robed old woman who sat quietly and, it seemed, uncomfortably at the Fromu Khyl's side. Malishar felt Karinna's gaze on her, and for the first time since entering the room filled with mountain people, raised her head to look at someone directly. Karinna was sensitive enough to know that the old woman's scrutinizing glance had swept through her entire body like a Healer's would, only on a level she herself could never reach. Malishar closed her eyes as if something she had seen just then was somehow painful, and then declined her head in a seated bow. Karinna moved away from Choran and seated herself on the opposite side of this enigma, where Falina had diplomatically left two seats vacant for the late arrivals.

Barely trusting her voice to be steady after the mental intrusion, Karinna leaned toward the old woman on the pretext of asking for one of her favorite dishes. "You must be the one I was told had come to see me."

"If thou art the mother of the twin children the Fromu Khyl has told me so much about," Malishar admitted between small bites of the unfamiliar food, "then I am indeed that one."

Karinna frowned at the heavy, melodious accent that colored her mother tongue of Thaelu, which she had used automatically with someone who had come with the Fromu. "You are not Thaelu."

"Nay, I'm not of thy people." Malishar shook her head. "But I am ready to be of service to thee and thy family."

The Fromu noted the two women speaking and leaned toward them. "Karinna, allow me to present Malishar of the Hmorou people." He cleared his throat rather clumsily. "I know you have been away from your training grounds in Tithede for a long time, my dear; but I hope you remember that there were many times when we were led in our actions by messages from Thara herself?"

Karinna's frown grew even deeper, and Choran leaned closer to his beloved in an anxious attempt to listen in on the conversation that seemed to be upsetting her. "What are you talking about?" Karinna asked the priest sharply.

Malishar held up her hand and effectively silenced the Fromu's explanation, something Karinna had never seen anyone be able to do before. "Ask thy questions of me, young Karinna. I too received messages from my people's Nameless spirits, telling me to expect a black-robe who would take me to a far-away place where I would undertake the first training of two rather extraordinary young children."

The Fromu finally managed to move around Malishar's still-upheld hand to make his comments. "Do not set this lady aside too quickly, Karinna. Among her own people, she is of the same status as I am in Tithede. She does you much honor by simply agreeing to come with me to offer you her services."

"Already thy children show signs of needing a firm hand, do they not?" Malishar asked evenly, making Gyrl draw in his breath sharply in wonder that she knew so much about Karinna and her children at such short acquaintance with only the mother. Choran put his hand comfortingly on Karinna's arm in case the question was more upsetting than he thought it was, and Karinna appreciated his concern and support.

"In many ways, I suppose, what you say is true," Karinna admitted slowly.

"And," the Hmorou mystic continued in her gravely voice, "in addition to simple discipline, there are other happenings that indicate that there is more developing in them than in normal children. Tell me I am mistaken?"

Karinna could not, and shook her head. By now, the conversation had become the center of attention for everyone at the table, something that bothered Malishar more than Karinna. "Perhaps," the old woman stated with a glimpse at those who stared so disturbingly at her uncovered face, "we could continue this discussion after the meal? After you have made your announcement and all is settled?"

Byrol caught Falina's eye and forestalled her exclamation at the revelation the old woman had just made, but answered the questions in her eyes with a simple nod. It was well that Karinna nodded her agreement to Malishar, for Gyrl did not wish to remain silent about what he and Byrol had seen at the diningroom door. "What announcement?" he asked in a tone that carried throughout the room.

Choran blushed, and Karinna wished that her father was less brash at certain times. This was not the way she had thought the announcement would be made. She looked her apology at Choran, who smiled an embarrassed forgiveness and then looked at Karinna's father. "Lord Gyrl, Karinna has agreed to be sworn to me as mate; and I now ask your permission for the bonding."

Gyrl let out a hoot of delight, and Falina and Byrol clasped hands at the opposite end of the table in equal happiness. Gyrl controlled his emotions enough to look over at Karinna. "This is truly what you want, Kiki?"

"Yes, Father," Karinna replied with a steady, sure voice that made Choran's heart nearly stop.

"Then you have my permission, man; and my congratulations!" Gyrl stood and stretched out his hand to his son-in-law-to-be. While straightening from having shaken Choran's hand, Gyrl looked down to where he was leaning over the Fromu Khyl's place. "Perhaps, honored Fromu, you could perform the ceremony?"

"I wish I could..." began the Fromu in real regret, but the weight of Malishar's hand on his arm stopped him. He leaned closer to the Hmorou mystic.

"I suggest that thou doest the ceremony, honored Fromu." The whisper was urgent. "Give them some happiness in the time that is left."

The Fromu looked sharply at Malishar, who nodded sagely in a way that left no doubt that she was sure about something that he was not. "On reconsidering," he began again after straightening up in his seat, "if you can call together all your guests in the next two days, I think I can remain here long enough to perform the ceremony according to the tenets of Thara."

Byrol pounded the table happily. "And I will see to it that there is a Halidu spirit-talker present to seal the bonding in Halidu tradition." He raised his goblet of mimosia into the air, and gradually the rest of the seated diners raised theirs. "I toast the soon-to-be marriage of my son Choran with the Lady Karinna. May all the spirits look kindly on them."

Karinna looked at Choran and gave him her hand, and together they accepted the toast in true Halidu fashion.

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