Chapter Thirteen

D ante tried to vanish into a corner of the crowded conference room. Two dozen Kowri exalteds, the captain, Ter, and Bevit who had been called in to discuss the medical peculiarities of Ter's species, all vied to be the loudest. Or at least it felt that way. Regi's mother hadn't yet spoken a single word, but there were still far too many opinions for one room. So far, the "trial" had been hours and hours of Kowri asking the same questions over and over.

Dante had expected something exciting. Maybe terrifying if they found Ter guilty. Instead, Gimi a'Onidba asked a question, and then Leevshi a'Dicia would ask the same question in a sharp, disbelieving tone and then Dwill a'Itzpach would insist that something was impossible before Bekdi a'Gavd rephrased the question in a blatant attempt to catch Ter in a lie.

Over and over and over again until Dante wanted to beat his head against the table so he could fall unconscious and escape the monotony.

Sometimes Nuruti a'Asza or Nawr a'Ectipic would interject, but the anti-outsider crowd dominated the questions, trying to catch Ter in a lie or undermine Gimi's logic. If not for Ter's detailed insults, it would have been unbearably boring, even with the fear the Kowri would condemn Ter to death.

They were stuck on a loop for literal hours until Regi's mother took control, shouting over Bedki. "The behavior is one of permissive raising, and the temple has clear guidelines!"

Bekdi had been in the middle of asking about Ter's discipline as a child for the third time, but now he glowered at Minait a'Otutha. "I require information."

"You have information," Minait snapped. "We have listened to you ask the same questions so often that the gods are likely annoyed with your inability to listen the first five times you hear a relevant fact!" Nawr a'Ectipic appeared amused and Bekdi glared at him for a moment before turning his attention back to Minait.

"He is not Kowri. The failings of those who raised him are irrelevant, even if he did not contradict himself when describing—"

Gimi interrupted. "The temple rules do not allow adult punishments for one raised badly." She leaned back with a smile far too sweet for this room where so many Kowri were fluffy with rage. Bekdi looked like a stuffed toy that had been attacked by static electricity.

"The outsider is not a Kowri youth to be retrained." Bekdi slammed his hands down on the table.

"Kowri have only one set of rules to serve justice," Minait had snarled back, all her teeth on display. The small snake on her shoulder raised his head and sent his tongue flickering into the air. Dante could see how those with sacred animals small enough to take into meetings had a real advantage. It wasn't as though Bekdi could fit a cranky pebafri into a meeting room. Minait continued after taking a deep breath, her voice slightly more measured. "We do not invent new rules for new situations."

"And the outsiders have committed theft of technology! That calls for death!" Bekdi's upper lip kept creeping up, revealing white teeth.

Minait stood. "The outsiders reacted to your inadvisable decision to invade their ship against temple advisement. You were told to keep your adherents away from the outsiders, and you issued orders in contradiction of the temple. If you wish to use a person's actions as evidence of wrongdoing, you may not commit wrong first!"

"Exactly," Gimi said with unforgivable cheer. "A person who would never break a law will react oddly in times of fear or stress. We see it often with children. Lord Gyrity of psychology had led to many an investigation into the phenomenon. I do admire the exalteds of Lord Gyrity. They are friends of Lady Onidba." She nodded, and it took Dante a second to realize what she meant by staring at Bekdi. She was calling him a fearful child, and every bit of Bekdi's hair stood on end. Dante had seen southern women like her. Sweet. Polite. Able to emotionally eviscerate a person without ever raising their voice.

"But he's an outsider," Leevshi cried.

Dante got the feeling he was the youngest exalted here, and Gimi muttered something about his logic being as brittle as the crystals he worked with. Dante was seated next to her, so only he heard her. Gods willing.

"It is decided," Minait said. "This is not an issue for full debate, and Ter will lose his adult status and be demoted to his Father's Years. He will not be promoted to Temple years until he can control his temper."

Ter was trembling with either rage or frustration, and he surged out of his chair. "I am not a child, and there are not more than five hundred active brain cells among you!" Ter snarled before he lurched for the door. Regi leapt to his feet, but then he hesitated before staring at his mother who sank back into her chair.

"I will not have the outsider on my ship," Bekdi a'Gavd snarled, "and if I am forced to accept him, I will ensure he learns manners. The idea that species excuses rudeness is absurd." He strode toward the exit, and several exalteds followed. Most of them, in fact.

"Perhaps rudeness is natural to more than one species." Nawr said, touching his thumbs to his temples as he glanced at Minait. Like Gimi, he seemed amused. He grabbed his rolling bar and pulled himself to his feet, and the few remaining exalteds aside from Minait and Gimi followed him.

Gimi a'Onidba touched her own temples. "Minait, your reputation has been well-earned."

She seemed to sag. "I have always respected the exalteds of Onidba. To embrace logic over one's own needs is a burden I would not be able to carry."

Regi gave his mother an incredulous look, but then Dante had heard enough stories about how Minait a'Otutha always put her goddess before anyone's needs, including her own. Dante could guess what Regi was thinking.

Gimi inclined her head toward Minait. "I thank you for listening to logic rather than hearing only the loudest voices, particularly when those individuals appear to have closed their ears to our gods."

Minait sucked in a quick breath and her ears went back.

"I offend you," Gimi said.

"Merely surprised me," she said. "Regi, perhaps we can speak before you must resume your duties," Minait said.

"I shall excuse myself, then," Gimi rose and offered a two-thumb salute to first Regi and then Dante before she left, her smile now a smug grin.

Regi's shoulders tightened and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end, which signaled unhappiness. Dante was getting quite good at reading Kowri body language, or at least Regi's body language. Minait was still a complete mystery.

"I cannot be spared from my duties for long," said Regi.

His mother tilted her head in Regi's direction. "Then I shall endeavor to be concise in our communications."

"I'm sure that Vk can cover any security duties that require your attention this afternoon," Captain Cota said. He brought his hands halfway to his temples as though he would make a Kowri gesture before deciding that he shouldn't imitate them. "I appreciate your assistance," he told Minait.

She grimaced.

"Captain," Regi said in a tense voice, "I should contact the temple and request information on which ships are currently seeking crew and would be willing to take an outsider."

The captain winced. He might have accepted the sentence in order to avoid Ter being sentenced to death, but he wasn't happy. Dante wondered if the captain would get in trouble for doing a better job of protecting his engineer or if the Coalition would blame Ter.

Regi's mother scoffed. "I believe we both know which Kowri ship you intend for him to serve on," she said.

Dante looked to Regi for his reaction. If Regi did have an ally on some Kowri ship, Dante didn't know about it. Of course, there was no reason for Regi to tell him everything.

"He will serve on whichever vessel the gods lead him toward," Regi said, his voice sharp.

She narrowed her eyes. "As I said to Bekdi during the debate, the gods do not always speak."

Regi stiffened and pressed his lips together until the fur at the corners of his mouth stood on end.

"Come, let the three of us speak. You and your huuman can return shortly." She left the room, stumbling when she stepped through the door. The odd angles caused by the ship being tilted did make walking difficult.

Regi turned to the captain. "There are many security concerns I should see to."

"You have trained Vk. If she is not capable of taking lead, perhaps she is not as ready for a promotion as you implied in your last review of her work." Captain Cota said.

After a few seconds, Regi huffed. "Do not allow Ter to terrorize anyone into retaliating," he said before he turned to follow his mother. Dante fell in next to him.

"What do you think your mother wants?" Dante whispered.

"I cannot predict the actions of Minait a'Otutha any more than I can read the mind of Divashi." Regi marched down the corridor like a soldier going to his death in the climax of some dramatic war movie.

When they exited the ship, the yard was eerie with the long, looming shadows of the enormous Gavd ships cutting the hard ground into odd shapes, and the planetary ring glowing red with the setting sun. Even the bird cries had shifted to something more haunting as the day drew to an end. Minait stood in the shadow of the next ship in the yard, two Kowri at her side. Even before they were close enough to recognize them, Dante guessed these were her husbands—Regi's two fathers.

Minait's husbands stood close, each with a hand on her back. Dante knew Regi's family had problems, but he still felt a frisson of jealousy at the overt affection. His own parents had been cold to each other, and after his mother's death, the rare touch on the shoulder was all his father offered.

"Minait, did the temple reach an agreement?" Pertin asked.

"Gimi convinced them that espionage was highly unlikely given the outsider's arrogance, and impossible to prove given Bekdi's bad behavior, so he was entered into the rolls of the guilty only as one who would cause bodily harm to another. It was a compromise given that those allied with Bekdi would not allow the outsider to escape all punishment."

"You convicted him to politically soothe Bekdi?" demanded Regi. They glared at each other.

Dante's stomach soured. Family drama had never been his forte. In fact, he tended to put family drama right next to trigonometry on his list of things he would like to never do again.

Minait broke the silence. "His sentence is lenient enough to count as ineffectual. I know you plan to argue that he is currently serving on a ship parked on a Kowri world with two exalted in residence, making it a Kowri ship." Her tone was disapproving.

Regi didn't deny it. As plans went, that was brilliant, assuming they stayed. If the gods decided to let them fix their ship, there would be a problem. Captain Cota would want to go back to the Coalition, and Dante had a feeling that Bekdi and his ilk would object. Worse, Dante had a feeling they would prefer to shoot Coalition ships down first and ask questions about what the gods wanted in some distant future.

Minait squared off against Regi, her ears pushed forward as she stared at him. "I assume you can use the threat of a transfer to teach your crewmember some manners. The doctor may be convinced that this rude engineer is biologically prone to fits of excitability because of his endocrine system, but we are more than our species, are we not? When you left Kowri space, I seem to recall you saying as much."

Regi's laugh was low and unhappy. "I recall you telling me that I was hopelessly na?ve for that belief. If I recall correctly, you informed me that no matter how far or fast I ran that I would always be Kowri and that leaving the sanctuary of the gods would not change that."

"It appears your mother was not wrong," said Rel. Pertin put his hands on his husband's... co-husband's... brother husband's... arm.

"Rel," Pertin whispered.

Regi sighed and ran a six-fingered hand over his face before scratching the back of his head. "I do not wish to continue reliving the conflicts of my past. Did you need to speak with me about some temple issue?"

Pertin stepped forward. "Can't we speak as family? Does the temple always have to be in the middle?"

"My mother chose the temple when she decided that her goddess was more important than the people in her life."

Rel's ears went flat to his head and Pertin winced. But it was Minait who stepped forward. "I have always tried to protect you, to raise you to be a strong Kowri. I respect that you are honoring your vows to the outsiders by protecting this crew, but if you do not teach that engineer some patience, he will not survive on a world where all of us are subject to the whims of the gods. Patience is survival."

"Perhaps that is why I chose to leave the Empire. Perhaps I do not value patience as much as you do," Regi snapped. That seemed a strong reaction when his mother was right—Ter had anger management issues.

"Enough," Rel said. Minait had been about to turn away, but he caught her by the elbow and forced her to turn back towards Regi. "You two are both so stubborn that you require more patience than the gods could dream of demanding. She has never put her goddess before you, Regi. But you see only what you wish to see and discount all other evidence."

Regi bristled, growing fuzzier by the second. "I remember how every trip we ever took was interrupted by a midwife emergency. I remember our lives being planned around a midwife schedule. I remember days leading into weeks where she would not appear at all. I remember how you and Pertin would distract me with pretty toys and trips, just the three of us. I remember how during my Mother's Years she would forget to take me, leaving you to care for me. I remember how others stared at me with pity because I was far too young for my Father's Years and yet my mother did not wish to have me around. I remember enough. I certainly have sufficient evidence that she chose her goddess over us." Regi spat the words out, and Dante took a step back, wary of his fury.

"Don't say that," Pertin snapped.

Rel moved toward Regi and now they were nose to nose, both furious. "Your mother was called to the temple as a surrogate, not a midwife. She bore child after child only to hand them into other Kowri arms. But when you were born looking so much like us, like your family, that she refused to hand you over."

"Enough," Minait said, but Rel didn't stop.

"She said she would endure the displeasure of any god but that in her heart you were her child, and she would defy every god to keep you."

"Enough!" Minait shouted. "This is about the engineer and Regi's refusal to see the foolishness of the outsiders." She pulled away from Rel and strode off, her movements jerky. Pertin stared after her for a second before he glared at Rel and then took off after her. Rather than heading toward town, she moved toward the forest where long, dark shadows made it look foreboding.

"What are you talking about?" Regi asked in a confused tone.

Rel lifted his lip at Regi before answering. "She sacrificed everything to that wretched goddess of hers so that the gods would not take her impiety out on you. But you never returned her devotion with anything but rancor." Regi's fur rippled as it tried to stand on end and lie down at the same time.

"What?"

"She loves you. She loves you so much she defied her goddess." He snarled, and Dante inched away. Regi didn't need an audience for this.

"Why would you never tell me?" Regi asked in a pained voice. He looked toward the edge of the forest where Minait had vanished into shadow.

Rel sighed. "It was not safe to tell you, she said. Knowledge of wrongdoing is enough to attract the displeasure of the gods. But we did not understand you were so unhappy as to consider leaving the Empire. We did not understand that you felt so neglected, and by the time we did..."

"Your logic fails. If the gods did not punish my mother, why would they punish me for learning that she had defied them?"

Rel's fur rippled. "The gods did punish your mother. Otutha watched her so closely that her life became the temple's and not her own. Anyone who wished to have the goddess oversee their birth need only request her because the goddess never took her eyes from Minait."

Dante winced. Considering how the Kowri interacted with the gods, he could imagine people in power would take advantage of anyone who had that much of a god's attention. He'd seen Kowri kneel for hours in the temple. He'd seen people in ratty clothing offering expensive foods to temple animals.

When the silence continued too long, Regi shook his head. "She could have refused. Even when she was young, she forced older and more experienced exalteds to back down. I remember her carrying a dafs corona with her to intimidate others."

"She lacked those skills when you were born," Rel said. "She was not long out of her own years, and Pertin and I were recently joined to her. But when she refused to relinquish you, she lost all the freedoms that she had enjoyed. The exalted of Gav'd had to assign a ship to her because so many called her to other planets to attend those births."

"She could have refused."

"And the gods would have turned away from her eventually. But she may not have survived the goddess's attempts to move her. We may not have survived. Just as the crew of that ship you defend was in danger because Divashi watched you, our family could have been destroyed by one slip of Otutha's mighty hand. Your stubbornness comes from her as does your ability to mis-assign blame. But in Minait's case, she assigned the responsibility for all this to herself, not to the temple exalted who asked her to be surrogate for a fourth child within five years. She let you blame her because she assigned fault to herself when all she did was love you."

"I need to talk to her," Regi whispered.

"You need to give her time to mourn the relationship she hoped to regain when she heard you had returned."

"But—"

"Leave her for now," Rel snarled, his canine teeth on display. He took a step back and looked at Regi from head to toe and back before he turned and walked away, heading the opposite direction that his husband and wife had gone.

"Crap," Dante said softly in the awkward silence that followed. Regi stood in the fading light of day, his form more silhouette than color as the red faded, replaced by a deep purple sky with streaks of black and blue staining it. Stars twinkled, and the dim glow of the city created an unnatural aura faintly illuminating trees and ships from below.

Regi turned to him. "Do you need the facilities for biological waste elimination?"

Dante sighed. "Nope, just the psychological waste elimination."

Regi huffed. "Kowri lack such a logical facility." He turned and headed back to the ship.