“For the sake of the people we have left here, Jules, talk to the Tehkohn Hao.”
“Form an alliance with him?”
“Yes, if he’ll co-operate.” He would try. Surely he would try.
“And if he won’t?”
“Then we have no chance. You know it. We can’t fight either tribe alone. We can’t even run with both tribes considering us fair game. Not that we’d know where to run anyway—to avoid running into people worse than the Tehkohn or the Garkohn.”
Jules sat staring downward at his clenched hands, and Alanna imagined what he must be feeling. The Missionaries looked to him for leadership. They had ever since he had brought them together as a colony. He had always been much aware of his responsibility to them. Now the best he could do for them was choose which of the many dangers he would expose them to. And he had to choose quickly. His prime prisoner might escape even that night.
“Jules, I’m pushing, I know. I have to push. Will you see the Tehkohn Hao?”
He sighed. “Tell me about him, Lanna. Make me understand why you trust him so much.”
If only she could, she thought wearily. But no, the half truths had to go on. “I trust his ability to handle his people,” she said. “If he decides we’re worth helping, we’ll get help.”
“One Tehkohn,” said Jules. “What would it take to make some other Tehkohn challenge him and get rid of him?”
“The same thing it would take to make you overrule the Bible words of Jesus Christ.”
“Alanna!” said Neila, shocked.
“The Hao are not overruled except by other Hao. And the only other Tehkohn Hao is old and not active in governing the people any longer. Diut’s word will stand.”
“His kind are considered gods?”
“No. The Kohn don’t pray to him. They don’t expect him to perform miracles—exactly. But they obey him as though they thought he was a god. Even the Garkohn are glad to obey him when they can. It’s more… more comfortable than disobeying. He’s like a symbol that God or fate or something is on your side if you have him.”
“A walking good luck charm.”
“Maybe. Whatever he is, his power is in the natural reaction of the Kohn people to blue—to that special kind of blue. No Kohn other than the Hao can attain it and all Kohn seem to be in awe of it.”
“But if the Garkohn are in awe of him…”
“But he’s not their Hao. In things that don’t matter much, they’ll obey him, honoring his blue. Remember when they were knocking some of their prisoners around just after the raid? He told them to stop and they stopped.”
“I saw that. I wondered about it. And they wouldn’t let my men paint him.”
“It would be sacrilege to mar the blue.”
Jules looked at her strangely. “Yes, that’s what they said.”
“They mean to have that blue for themselves. They intend to keep him—damage his legs so that he can’t escape. They might not force the meklah on him, but they would call him Garkohn Hao. A captive Hao doesn’t lead unless he renounces his former people and shows that he has joined his captors. But whether that happens or not, his presence gives his captors unity and strength that they’ll turn and use—in this case, against the Tehkohn. Diut won’t let that happen. And he’s a man in need of allies now, Jules. Even if he breaks free, you can be of use to him, and him to you.”
Jules was silent for a long moment. Finally, he said, “I’ll talk to him, girl. I won’t promise anything or bow down to his blue, but I’ll talk to him.”
“Nobody bows. They call him Tehkohn Hao instead of his name and they look at him. No more formality than that.”
“What do you mean, they look at him? What’s special about that?”
“It’s insulting to look away from him when he’s talking. What he’s saying with his coloring can be as important as what he’s saying with his mouth. Even if you don’t understand, it’s best to look at him.” This was a small thing. Diut did not demand it of his close friends or his family. He would not have demanded it of Jules. But he would notice if Jules seemed to be refusing to look at all—as Jules surely would without this warning. The Hao appearance took some getting used to, especially at close quarters, and for the sake of the colony, Jules had to get used to it quickly. If he did not, Diut would sit and talk to him and listen and learn whatever he could about the Missionaries. He would behave with respect as Kohn custom demanded that he behave toward the father of his wife, but he would promise Jules nothing. Eventually, he would make his escape and abandon the Missionaries to their fate.
CHAPTER FOUR
Alanna
My first memories as I came out of withdrawal were of pain, cold, hunger, and thirst. Someone gave me water—not enough. Someone lifted me and carried me to a place that was warm.
Someone tore my filthy ragged clothing from my body and washed me. I felt as though I was again under the care of the Verricks and the Mission doctor—as though I was reliving my first hours with the Missionaries. I kept listening for Jules’s voice or the voice of Dr. Bartholomew. But the voices I heard were strange to me. They spoke in a language I could not quite understand. Then I remembered that I had been captured, that the speakers must be Tehkohn. I couldn’t see. My eyes were swollen shut. I was able to take a little more water though, and something that must have been a kind of soup. Finally, I fell asleep under the care of my captors.
When I had slept for a time—I had no idea how long—I was awakened by people talking near me. I tried to open my eyes, found that I could, a little. The swelling was going down. Through the blurred screen of my own eyelashes, I could see two Tehkohn. Cold dim light came from patches of luminescence scattered on the wall
