Page 78 of I Married Amreth

I spent my last week on Kestria going over additional training on the Kreelars creating their own detection tests, treating infected patients with supervised cases of people deliberately consuming the berries. Mehreen and Ernst agreed to remain until everything was done, which would likely take at least another three months.

However, I volunteered to take part in the follow-up check-ups which would take place every six months for the first two years, and then once a year for the next three, with a final visit in the tenth year. With the relay satellite, they now had a direct method of contacting us for help should anything go awry in between check-ups. Naturally, Amreth would escort me on those visits. It was less to protect me than to hang out with his new buddy. If I didn’t like Aku and Vala so much, I’d almost be jealous.

The day of our departure wrecked me. I always felt a little emotional when leaving a mission, but this one took it to another level. Vala, the healers, and Adhias I worked with came to see us off. Seeing Muti and his two children blew me away.

The entire village gathered in the square. To my shock, they formed a perfect circle around Amreth and me in multiple concentric rings. Every person held the hand of their neighbor and intertwined their tail with the one from the person in front of them, in the smaller ring. As the inner rings counted lesspeople, one person out of two would have their tail intertwined with two people. Vala, Aku, Enre, and two Adhias surrounded Amreth and me as we stood face-to-face.

I held both of my mate’s hands. While his tail was intertwined with Aku’s, Enre and one of the Adhias wrapped their own tail around each of Amreth’s calves, while Vala and the other Adhia did the same with me. Every single person in the village was fully connected, hands and tail, forming an unbroken circle.

As one, the Kreelars began to sing a haunting melody that had chain goosebumps erupting all over my skin. From time to time, the Adhias would speak words in their language while the people continued to sing. I didn’t know what they were saying, nor did I need to. Aku mentioned they wanted to cast the blessing of a traveler on us. But at a visceral level, I believed it went far deeper than this, that they were making us official members of their tribe.

Amreth had described a somewhat similar scene at the temple when he first flew over there to scan for infected animals. That they would involve us in a ritual that clearly was sacred to them moved me to my very core.

When the singing ended, people dropped their hands and tails but remained in a mostly loose single circle around us. Muti and his offspring approached us. My throat tightened as he handed a beautifully embroidered folded fabric, which turned out to be a blanket with various symbols, including the emblem of the Jaln tribe.

“My beloved and I made this for you. She wanted to be here, but she is still recovering,” Muti said with a voice strained with emotion. “I weaved the blanket, and my Ranae embroidered it with the symbols of life, love, and happiness, because that’s what you gave back to us. Every time you wrap it around you, know that it is our arms and our hearts hugging you.”

“Thank you, to both of you,” I said, my throat almost too constricted to speak. “Helping you is a great blessing in and of itself. I will cherish this gift.”

He placed his palm on his chest and bowed his head. To my surprise, each of his children in turn grabbed my right hand and pressed their foreheads to its back. Simultaneously, they wrapped their tails around my calves. It was brief, and they immediately released me before taking a step back and beaming at me with their adorable little faces.

I returned their smiles, my heart filling to bursting. The family retreated when Vala and Aku moved forward. They each held one of those ornate bead necklaces their people wore, although they weren’t just beads. They resembled sculpted stones with crystals or precious gems trapped inside. I wouldn’t compare them to geodes as their exteriors rivaled the most polished pebble, and the interior crystal or gem was much too clear, smooth, and iridescent.

The necklaces also seemed far more elaborate and luxurious than the ones the tribemates commonly adorned themselves with on the daily.

“This is anondishae,” Vala said, holding the necklace before me, while Aku did the same with his before Amreth. “It is both an important identity symbol and community bond. Every Kreelar receives one the day they are weaned from their mother or wet nurses, around the ages of seven or eight. In the years that follow, as they form close relationships with others and carve their place among the tribe, so will theirondishaegrow.”

“Grow?” I echoed with curiosity.

“It has two parts. Theondi,” Aku explained, removing the central part of the necklace, which turned out to be a single chain with a string of seven larger gems. “And theshae,” he added, showing the other, much larger part, which had four chains, each one adorned with countless small, sculpted stone-gems.“The first stone of theondirepresents the tribe you belong to or were born in, while the others indicate the other tribes that claim you ask kin or friend.”

I pressed a palm to my chest as his meaning sank deep. Seven gems… Seven tribes claimed us.

“Theshaeare tokens of friendship from people whose loyalty, respect, or love you have earned by some great deeds,” Vala continued. “They’re not given lightly, as the entire family unit must be in agreement before it can be bestowed, which represents on average between four to eight people who must all concur it is warranted. Yourshaeseach count one hundred and twenty-seven stones.”

“We have no words,” Amreth said, his voice filled with the emotions I felt.

“No words are needed,” Aku said in a slightly teasing tone. “One is not expected to wear theirondishaedaily. As it is heavier, theshaeis usually displayed in our homes in a place of honor. But it is common to wear theondias a necklace, wrapped around our bracers, or integrated into our belts.”

He raised his forearm in an ostentatious fashion. Only then did I notice that he indeed had hisondinicely secured to his bracer. I previously simply thought he had adorned it with embedded gems.

“This is a present from all the Kalds and their tribes for what you have done for us. You are Kreelars, if not by blood, at least in heart. You will always be welcome here,” Vala said in a solemn voice. I mumbled a thank you as she clasped the necklace around my neck. Although not uncomfortable or painful, it was undeniably heavy, which explained why no one would wear it daily—assuming they received this many tokens. It struck me then that it acted like a charm bracelet, but where good deeds potentially earned you a new one.

To my surprise, Aku placed theshaearound Amreth’s neck, but bound theondiaround his wrist. Vala drawing me into her embrace reclaimed my attention. She hugged me in an almost maternal fashion, even though she struck me as potentially being a couple of years younger than me. I returned the gesture with the same affection.

She released me, kissed my forehead, then took a step back. “May the divine lights always shine on you the same way you cast away the darkness that suffocated us. Until we meet again, Sister, may your days with your mate be filled with all the happiness you deserve, and more.”

“Until we meet again, may all darkness always stay at bay, and may you and your people receive every blessing,” I said.

Just as we were readying to leave, Aku pulled out a blowpipe from his weapons belt along with a pouch. Once more, I was stunned by my lack of observation skills. The same way I’d missed hisondion his bracer, I hadn’t noticed that he was equipped with a second blowpipe and extra dart pouch. He extended both to Amreth, who took them with a raised eyebrow, his air inquisitive.

“You may not call yourself a skilled hunter until you can defeat your prey using nothing more than your blowpipe and your natural physical attributes, excluding psionic powers,” Aku said tauntingly.

Amreth snorted as he accepted the gift from him. “Is that a dare?”

“It is,” Aku confirmed with an almost malicious grin. “When next you visit, we shall see how you fare against a Murthis.”

“Challenge accepted,” Amreth said with a smugness laced with a hint of arrogance. “Make sure to invite plenty of other tribes to join the feast that night. I will bring back enough meat with that little blowpipe to feed at least five of them.”

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