“I am pleased that you have brought your mate and offspring. We will have a naming ceremony for your daughter that she knows this part of her line as well, and we will feast for many days to celebrate return of our favored young.”
She glanced fondly at Larth as she spoke, reminding Veral that his cousin was from the eastern holdings, though their fathers were brothers who left the Galithilan. The male smiled at the elderly female, not even bothering to restrain himself. Dreth and Malraha seemed to be the only ones uncomfortable amidst their far-kin, but that would ease as they become accustomed to the ways there. Even the dorashnal could be seen wandering with their bonded Argurmas rather than confined. Although the people held to very strict traditions, they were freer of themselves with their kin.
Veral had forgotten much of this himself. He had been away long before he even left Argurumal, and his programming had been resistant to the culture of his father’s mother-kin. Although it had become a second home at times, he had never really understood it and had eventually immersed himself in his official training, which took him further and further from the Galithilan. Eventually, he left the Quarnet’safet of his mother-kin altogether and resided for a time in Ki’karthilan for the final phase of his warrior training. Returning to Galithilan, he felt like he was experiencing it viewing recorded data of a fragmented memory.
He turned away and gathered his mate under his arm to follow as Mahame directed them deeper into the canyon where the house rose, carved from the rock itself. The long stretch of the cavern in front of it was an enormous courtyard filled with dragnars, dorashnals, Argurma offspring chasing each other. Malraha and Dreth may have been close behind him with obvious desire to avoid the male and female warriors scrutinizing them, but Veral was not concerned.
They would become accustomed to it.
“This place is incredible,” Terri murmured at his side as the entered the cool, dark interior.
Despite the dark stone of the corridors, the walls were rough, and rather than polished to high shine to show of the minerals in the most elegant way possible, they were brightened by woven tapestries and lights. Some of the path lights were from the market, but there were also simple candles made from the raw material extracted from the vansik colonies. With a slightly sweet fragrance, their warmth was not only from the light they sustained but also from the rich perfume that released as they heated.
“Okay, no offense, but I’m not going to lie. I kinda wish we came here first,” Terri admitted in a hushed whisper.
Mahame chuffed happily ahead of them.
“You found a good mate, Veral,” the elder observed. “Not many would appreciate the beauty of our halls, preferring the sterility of endless dark stone. The flatter and darker the walls, the more they like it. I have been to the Monushava House once, revolutions ago, with my daughter’s son, and it was like living underground.”
Veral had never seen the house from that perspective, and he wondered if that was how Terri thought of it, too. She had never showed any comfort or true admiration there as she was now. In fact, as he thought back on it, she had almost shrunk back from everything there except the courtyard gardens. Here, she was looking at everything, her expression lit up even though the corridor was still dim. He had to admit that it did not have the endless dark, sleek beauty of the Monushava House. Instead, it was comfortable. Perhaps that was the appeal.
Someone grunted skeptically behind him at Mahame’s observations, clearly not of a similar mind, but he did not acknowledge the response by so much as turning around to discover its source. His kin were content to ignore it, and so Veral chose to as well, rather than give anyone an opportunity to make a complaint. The time for changing their mind had long come and gone. They were all going to be guests for the next couple of weeks while Harahna weathered her final tiani period. After that, she would no longer be too vulnerable to remove from the planet surface and his mother-kin would be able to return to their regular lives.
They arrived at a set of doors and his great grandmother squeezed a lever on the door handle and pulled it open. Electricity was limited there so it was natural that they wouldn’t waste it on something like sliding doors. The rough-hewn door was heavy and formidable and, in many ways, Veral felt safer with it separating him and his immediate line from the rest of the household. It would take considerable effort for anyone to enter uninvited.
Stepping inside, he was immediately engulfed in the sweet smell of gardna blooms that grew near the groundwater springs and the spicy bark of the lanik. Someone had picked the fragrant herb and placed it throughout the room to freshen it. A happy sound escaped his mate as she sighed and drew in a deep breath. This scent pleased him, but even more so because Terri obviously enjoyed it.
Mahame paused by the door, her vibrissae swelling with pride.
“I see that these chambers are suitable. Good. The preparations for the feast have already begun, but it is not yet time for Harahna’s presentation and naming. Our gazthi will let us know when she is ready. You will be retrieved then.”
Veral inclined his head in respectful agreement, herding his mate deeper into the room as the door was closed behind them. At his side, Terri let out a low whistle as she looked around. She patted Harahna’s back as their daughter tugged curiously at her long, yellow hair.
“They’re really going to have a full ceremony for Harahna? Why does this feel like it’s more than the meet-and-greet after her birth?”
“It is different,” Veral agreed as he settled into a large chair, moving his foot just in time to avoid Krono’s weight sprawling over it. He opened his arms for his daughter, taking her up against his chest. She was so tiny against him, fragile and dependent on them to care for and protect her—even with the symbiont. Strong emotion rose through him as it did every time he so much as looked at her or thought of her.
He suddenly understood his mother and father very well. He would not survive being separated from either his daughter or his mate. His daughter would never be processed and have her unique identity destroyed.
Pulling free of his thoughts, he continued with his explanation. “Harahna’s presentation was mostly symbolic and to welcome our daughter to the house. This time, she will be presented by the gazthi, the spirit speaker of the line. She will present our offspring to the gods and spirits of the house and conduct divination to foresee her fortunes. The feast is a symbolic one that is shared with the gods of the house, recognizing the bond between the living members of the house and those they have with the gods and ancestors,” he elaborated.
“You seem to know quite a bit about it,” she observed.
He grunted in agreement.
“I was present for two naming ceremonies when I was a young male, still early in my training. They are strange rituals, but important ones among my kin.”
His mate hummed thoughtfully.
“You respect their beliefs even though you don’t share them.”
“I do not know what to believe. Belief in an unseen world is illogical and self-deceiving.”
“But…?” Terri prompted.
A low hiss escaped him. He hated to admit to anything that defied logic.
“But in the Galithilan, or even among the dunes of the Quarnet’safet, it is more difficult to dismiss the possibility of such beings. I am not programmed to believe. My processors struggle with it,” he admitted.