'But you can graft without the ripeness?'
'With the ripeness, there is fruiting. Without the ripeness only pleasure.'
'Very strange,' Duwan said.
She turned in his arms, lay facing him. Her soft arms went around him.
'You saved me,' she whispered, 'and I have nothing to give you in return except myself. If I can give you pleasure —'
He felt her bud point swelling, opening, a ripe, warm, soft pressing against his stomach. He felt his body stir and his blood sing in excitement. He told himself that it was the custom among these strange Drinkers in the Land of Many Brothers. He was alone, far from home. He was discouraged. He was warmed by her, and he felt himself begin to open and then, as if by signal, the whisperings came to him from the ancient brothers, a mixed, incomprehensible murmuring that grew and grew until, not in words but in pictures, he saw a flowering land of virgin green, saw Drinkers, strong, active, happy, and he knew that he was looking into the distant past.
Then, as his body burned, as Jai pressed herself closer, as her face touched his and her lips were warm and moist on his, he saw a vision of the endless tall brothers of the far north, and, as if he were a bird, he was soaring over the land of the snows, the land of the big waters, into the barrens and in the distance he saw the smokes of the land of fires and soared past them, high, to look down into the valley in the time of the long light. There were his father, his mother, his grandmother, all the Drinkers. And there, sitting alone, was Alning.
He clung to the vision and communicated with his mind. 'Brothers,' he said, 'who among you has seen this? How can you show me this?' And from the whisperings in his mind there emerged a clear voice.
'None have seen save you, brother.'
And then the whisperings were incomprehensible again and he was gently pushing Jai away. 'You have offered me something of great value. Do not be insulted.'
She, trembling, tried to touch him at the bud point and he caught her wrist and held her hand away. 'Sister,' he said, 'I do not reject you, for you are sweet and precious. I reject an act that is against my code, my teachings.'
'I understand, Master,' she said, trying to pull away.
'No,' he said, 'stay. Give me your back so that we can share warmth, for after the rain the night will be chill.'
He awoke with the light of Du strong, with birds singing in the tall brothers overhead, but it had been a noise not in keeping with the grove that had awakened him. Jai lay by his side, facing him, one of her legs thrown across his thighs. He pushed her away gently so as not to awaken her, rose silently, reached for his weapons. Again there came the sound, and he flowed in smooth, silent motions toward it. Someone was coming toward him, not being too careful about being quiet. He hid himself behind a large tall brother and waited. The intruder was walking swiftly and as he neared Duwan sprang out, longsword raised. He halted the downstroke in time to avoid splitting the head of Tambol the Hunter.
'Master,' Tambol gasped.
'You have narrowly escaped death,' Duwan said. 'In future, should such a need arise, it would be best to announce your coming.'
'Forgive me, Master,' Tambol said. 'I have traveled hard, and throughout most of the night to overtake you.'
'For what purpose?'
'I will go with you,' Tambol said. 'I will hunt for you, prepare your food for you.'
Duwan laughed. 'Would you have me become as skinny as you?' Tambol lowered his head. 'I can but do my best, Master.'
'So you will go with me,' Duwan said. 'And yet you know not where I go.'
'No matter. I am sick to death of hiding. I will fight by your side. I will die as a Drinker, for after you left I questioned the elders and now I am convinced that you speak the truth, and that this land was once ours.'
'Perhaps it will not be necessary to die,' Duwan said. He motioned Tambol forward, and they joined Jai, who was just awakening. 'Sit, and we will eat,' Duwan said. He gathered food, came to sit facing Tambol and Jai, placed the good, green life organs in Jai's outstretched hands, then gave a portion to Tambol. 'To be with me,' he said, 'it will be necessary to open your eyes and your mind, to cast off the misinformation that the Enemy has used to poison your thinking.'
Tambol's face went slack. He lifted a bit of food and sniffed it, saw Jai eating eagerly, watched as Duwan munched. He lifted his face and was, obviously, praying to some du. Then, eyes closed, he ate. Surviving, he obeyed Duwan's
