I was conscious that the past day or so had been a real detour from the reason I had originally come to the Arellian Wastelands - to find Melonaitopila. But the discovery that my sister had been here was too much of an opportunity to pass up. If it was a toss-up between finding the target (and keeping my job) and finding my sister, well, my family just had to come first. I swore to myself that once the feast was over - and I had sufficiently questioned the entire village about my sister’s time here - I would return to the task at hand.
The feast itself began in much the same way as dinner in Te’r’ok had. All the villagers sat in a circle, with a designated few serving the food - this seemed to be the way it was done in the Arellian wastelands. In Nu’r’ka, however, the town was populous enough that there were several circles, with the inside circles on lower ground - so that all participants still had an equal view.
The Arellian who announced the feast, who I had correctly determined was one of Nu’r’ka’s Elders, instructed me and Te’rnu to sit in the central circle, right next to the now blazing fire. This seemed like it was the prime placement, reserved for anyone held in high esteem - but, not being used to this warmer climate, I could really have used being further away from the fire. I kept this preference to myself, and hoped nobody would notice - or failing that, hoped nobody would care - about the sweat building up on my back.
The food, here, in Nu’r’ka, was absolutely incredible. It was similar in consistency to the food in Te’r’ok, but the flavour here was so extraordinary you could even taste it on the air floating up from the bowl. I tucked in, hungrily, and was pleased to see my bowl get refilled several times.
I could get used to this whole ‘being treated like a queen’ thing, actually.
When I had eaten all the food that I could possibly stomach, I returned to the matter at hand: it was time to ask about my sister. I turned to the Elder next to me, leaving Te’rnu alone, licking his lips as he ate his meal.
‘I was hoping to ask: what exactly did Leya negotiate for you that she is revered so much?’ I asked.
‘Have you seen other Arellian settlements?’ the Elder asked. ‘I say this not out of malice - we were once like them - but they have little food or resources, or even time for themselves. Their existence is a basic one.’
‘And now…’
‘And now we have more food than we know what to do with.’
‘Hence the feast,’ I added.
‘And,’ the Elder continued, ‘We have some of the Iyr’s spare technology, which Leya taught us to fix, to maintain. Some of us are so well-versed in these devices that they are even improving them. As far as I am aware, we are the first Arellian village to have an Elder of Technology.’
They pointed across the circle to an Arellian who seemed to be wearing some sort of device on their head.
‘That is them, over there.’
Yeah. With the thing on their head. Got it.
‘All of this… we would not have if not for your sister. She came here, she saw how we were living. Then she spent time here, understanding our lifestyle. Once she realised that it was the Tradition which was stifling our lives, she went to the Iyr, demanded a negotiation.’
‘And how did she convince them?’ I asked.
‘We know not of this. These negotiations were done in the Stronghold, where we are - still, even now - not allowed to travel.’
‘You don’t have an inkling, even?’
‘What is this? “Inkling”?’
‘You don’t have any idea? Whatsoever?’ I asked, rephrasing.
‘If we did, we would tell you. We would tell anything to the sister of our Saviour.’
Leya being called a saviour was really starting to get annoying.
I could be a saviour too if I wanted to.
‘So… her negotiation means that you don’t pay tribute any more? You just keep all your food to yourself?’
‘Why?’ the Elder asked. ‘Do you think that is selfish?’
‘No, not at all. As far as I’m concerned, if you guys are farming it, putting all the hard work in, then you should be keeping it.’
The Elder smiled. ‘Good. We don’t keep all of it, however. When the Mutation begins-’
The Arellian cut themselves off.
‘You know of the Mutation?’ they asked.
‘I do,’ I assured them.
‘When the Mutation begins, and the Iyr come for the dying, we pay the Iyr the tribute then. But only then.’ They paused, grinned at me. ‘You are lucky. To have family like this.’
I pursed my lips. ‘I don’t.’
Te’rnu, now finished his food, turned to listen in to the conversation.
‘You do not?’ the Elder asked.
‘I haven’t seen her in years. Nobody knows where she’s gone. In fact, we assumed she’d been dead, she had been gone so long.’
There was a moment of silence, the two Arellians acknowledging my pain.
‘I am sorry she is missing,’ Te’rnu offered me.
Another silence.
‘Do you…,’ I began. ‘Do you know anything? About where she might have gone?’
‘We know little. We know she was looking for someone, as you are doing for her.’
‘Looking for someone? Was it our Dad?’ I asked.
The Elder shook their head. ‘I am afraid we know not. It could have been, but she did not say.’
‘So that’s why she was here? She was looking for them on Z’h’ar?’ I pressed.
‘On our planet? No. She was here for something else.’
‘Do you know what it was?’ I asked.
The Elder shook their head once again. ‘I wish we could do more to assist you in your search.’
Te’rnu put his hand on my arm in
