“There will be more fish,” Pasek yelled. “Get up here.”
I didn’t reply to him as I pulled in the fish and unhooked it. I held it up to admire it. Ah, it was a beauty indeed, but I wouldn’tbe keeping this one. I carried it out to waist-deep water and let it go. It hung motionless for a moment, then wriggled off, back into the dark water.
“I’m coming,” I called up.
He was waiting in the front room when I came in, dripping water on the floor. He looked at the floor, then at me and sighed. “Go get cleaned up” he said. “You smell like fish.”
“Fine.” I sounded irritable but went to the washroom, to wash, get dressed, and make myself look presentable.
“You may want to wash off that scowl, too,” he said through the door. “One would think that you don’t want to do this today.”
“I do,” I said loud enough for him to hear me. “I just wish there was less ceremony involved.”
“It is literally a ceremony,” he replied. “The whole village has been planning this for months. Aila made Silli take a bath last night and let’s just say, she was exhausted afterwards. Our special guests made a special trip for this, and Braija has been roasting thatpindlokspecial for you. You should be more grateful.”
“Iamgrateful,” I groused. “I could be grateful with fewer people watching.”
“Sorry, but this is how it’s done,” he said. “The whole village gets involved. I’d hurry up, if I were you. If you’re late, she might change her mind.”
She wouldn’t. I was sure of it, but I hurried up anyway.
The village had changed in six months. Rebuilt, mostly, and better in some ways. Maive had approved a new dock design the fishermen had wanted for years and the communal hall had the additional meeting room that had been discussed since before I arrived. The fire damage that remained was minimal, and the newer stonework was already beginning to weather into the older material.
Anlara walked beside me for part of the path.
Every step she took was upright and regal. She was taller than I’d expected the first time we met and that still surprised me occasionally. The mountain Runams had sent a delegation for the ceremony, fifteen of them walking with us in their layered earth-toned clothing, and the sight of them alongside the coastal Runams had become familiar over the past months, which was itself remarkable. Knowledge shared, food exchanged, technology in both directions. It had taken centuries to begin and was now moving with a momentum neither community had anticipated. The mountain Runamsreallyliked fish.
“Nervous?” Anlara whispered to me.
“No,” I said.
She snorted.
“Somewhat,” I said.
“Good,” she said with a smile. “She’s extraordinary. Nerves are appropriate.”
“I’m aware of what she is,” I said.
Tregen walked on my other side without saying anything, and Pasek was ahead of us talking to someone from the mountain delegation. I didn’t need to hear the conversation to know he was entirely at ease. Pasek simply had never met a stranger.
I heard the music before I saw the gathering. Nothing like the festival drums. This was slower, more deliberate, with a stringed quality I hadn’t encountered before, and underneath it was the scent of flowers and thepindlokBraija had been roasting.
Then I saw Maive.
She stood near the rebuilt dock with Salie and Aila and Braija and the other women of the village. Aila stood beside Maive in a pretty new tunic that matched Silli’s dark purple fur. The little creature lay sprawled in her arms, looking sleek and shiny in the aftermath of his bath. Maive, however, looked like royalty in a long dress in deep purple that reached the ground. Herlong ropes of green hair were up and secured with gold clips. Jewelry winked at her neck and wrists, catching the morning light. She was looking elsewhere when I first found her and then she turned, as if she knew, and her eyes found mine across the distance.
I stopped walking for a moment without meaning to. Then I continued toward her and everything else faded to dull colors and soft edges. It was onlyherthat was in perfect, sharp, stunning focus.
She took my hands. Or I took hers. I’m not certain which. Her fingers were warm and her grip was certain and she looked up at me with steady focus. Her eyes said,are you ready?I nodded in silent reply. Someone, I think it was Salie, made some remarks about the joyous occasion of this Devotion Ceremony, but I wasn’t really listening. My hearts pounded and my head buzzed, but I knew when it became quiet again that it was my turn to speak.
I had thought about what I wanted to say on this day for a long time. I’d worked through all the words, trying to find a combination that adequately described my feelings.
“I came to this planet because the fishing looked good,” I said. “That’s true. I was looking for quiet, and I found it, and then you showed up and told me to leave.” Her eyes narrowed, but I held her hands firmly. “I didn’t leave. That was probably the first genuinely wise choice I had made in years. Possibly longer.”
A few soft sounds from the gathered village. Maive’s mouth curved.
“You are the most capable person I’ve ever known in a long life of knowing capable people. You’re also kind when you don’t have to be, and patient with those who need it, and you make things in your kitchen that I think about at unreasonable hours of the morning.” I paused. “I didn’t come here to belong toanyone. I didn’t think I was someone worth belonging to. You proved me wrong about that. So I stand here today to say I’m yours, Maive. Whatever I can give you, whatever that means for however long we have. I don’t intend to waste a day of it.”
