Hanani ducked her head to cover her smile. Wanahomen at last unfolded somewhat. He touched her hand where it rested on her thigh, then ran his fingers down her leg, tugging up her skirts. She blushed when she realized what he was looking for: the amber anklet, which she still wore. At the sight of it he looked pleased, then closed his eyes in a heavy sigh.
“Don’t run from me again, Hanani,” he said, his voice almost a whisper.
She put her hand over his. “I won’t.”
“And you’ll be my firstwife?”
“I—” That made her start; the implications of his having no other wives had bypassed her. “Firstwife? But I’m not highcaste. I have no important connections, my wealth among the Banbarra is a pittance by Gujaareen reckoning—”
“I don’t care.”
“But—”
“Woman, I do not care. But if it will satisfy you, the common folk should be pleased that I’ve taken a lowcaste firstwife. That will make it clear I haven’t forgotten who helped me back to power. And our marriage can symbolize reconciliation between the Hetawa and the Sunset, or something.” He made an impatient gesture. “Now: your answer?”
She could not make herself speak. There was a tightness in her throat, but this was not caused by sorrow, so instead she nodded. He let out a long, heavy sigh, the last tension easing visibly from his body.
“I’ll arrange a ceremony, then. Something quick, lest you change your mind, and with plenty of wine, since I know the Banbarra will make a madhouse of it. Perhaps two ceremonies: one in the city so that the templefolk can attend, and one here …” He trailed off, thinking. “Would you rather live in Yanya-iyan or Kite-iyan, after?”
It surprised Hanani how easy that decision was. Or perhaps it was only easy by comparison. “Put your other wives in your palaces. I’ll stay here and be healer for the Banbarra.”
“Stay and be—” He stared at her, incredulous. “A Prince’s firstwife should not sully her hands with labor.”
“A Prince’s firstwife who was born farmcaste, and has been reared by the Hetawa, and is an ally to the Banbarra, would naturally find fulfillment in labor that serves the Goddess and others. Will that not please the common folk too?”
“But what if I want to see you, for nightmares’ sake?”
She shrugged. “Then come here. It’s no longer a journey than to Kite-iyan, is it? Though here, you may have to forego servants: this ledge isn’t wide enough for another tent—”
He groaned loud enough for his voice to echo off the far canyon wall. “Demons and shadows, you truly are the strangest woman I’ve ever met! It makes no sense at all that I want you.”
“I’m glad that you do,” she said, very softly. He looked at her, and the anger faded from his face. Then he took her hand again, and she did not pull away.
They watched the shadows lengthen down the red walls of Merik-ren-aferu, in silence. A suitably peaceful transition for the start of a new life. Then Hanani got to her feet, offering Wanahomen a hand up. He glowered at it in mild annoyance at first, then finally took it and let her help him.
As the last light faded from the sky, she led him into her tent, where he pulled her close and there was more silence. This was pleasing to Hananja, for even the smallest act of peace is a blessing upon the world.
Glossary
Acolytes: Boys of between twelve and sixteen floods who have elected to pursue the service of Hananja, but who have not yet sworn themselves to one of the four paths.
Age of adulthood: In Gujaareh and Kisua, four times four, or sixteen floods of age. The age at which young citizens are granted legal and all other rights of majority, and may be confirmed in their choice of vocation.
Age of choice: In Gujaareh and Kisua, three times four, or twelve floods of age. The age at which young citizens are counted old enough to pursue a chosen vocation, court a spouse, or undertake many other significant decisions.
Age of eldership: In Gujaareh, four times four times four, or sixty-four floods of age. The age at which citizens are counted old enough to hold positions of leadership or esteem. In Kisua, citizens are deemed elders at fifty-two years of age.
Anzi Seh Ainunu: A general of Kisua, assigned to oversee the occupation of Gujaareh.
Apprentices: Youths who have passed the age of adulthood and begun higher training in one of the four paths.
Aureole of the Setting Sun: Symbol of the authority and divinity of the Sunset Lineage. An emblem consisting of alternating plates of red and gold amber arranged in a sunburst pattern around a central gold semicircle, which sits atop a staff carved from white nhefti.
Banbarra: A desert race, longtime enemies of Gujaareh. Consists of six autonomous tribes that dominate trade in the Empty Thousand. At feud with the Shadoun.
Body wrap: A garment worn by men and women in Kisua. A woman’s wrap is usually ankle-length; a man’s wrap may be knee-length or shorter and accented by a shoulder-drape.
Caste: The social/vocational classes of Gujaareh and Kisua, assigned at birth. An individual may transcend his or her assigned caste only by entering public service (such as in the Hetawa or the military).
City of Dreams: Colloquial name for the capital of Gujaareh. Also known as Hananja’s City. Officially, the city’s name is simply “Gujaareh.”
Collar: Decorative item worn in Gujaareh and occasionally in Kisua. Consists of a band around the neck and dangling ornaments that drape about the chest and shoulders.
Council of Paths: With the Superior, the governing body of the Hetawa. Includes senior members of the Sentinels, Teachers, and Sharers, as well as one (non-voting) liaison from the Sisters. Out of courtesy, Gatherers operate under the authority of this body, although they are officially autonomous.
Donation: The monthly offering of dreams required of all citizens of Gujaareh. Donors are referred to as tithebearers.
Dreambile: One of the four dream-humors that form the basis of Gujaareen magic. Culled from unpleasant dreams, it is useful for discouraging harmful growth and destroying unnecessary tissue in the body.
Dreamblood: One of the four dream-humors that form the basis of Gujaareen magic. Culled from the final dream that occurs at the moment of death, it is useful for bringing peace.
Dream-humors: The magical energies culled from dreams, used by Sharers for healing.
Dreamichor: One of the four dream-humors that form the basis of Gujaareen magic. Culled from ordinary “nonsense” dreams, it is useful for repairing damage in the body.
Dreaming Moon: The mother of all gods and goddesses save Sun and Waking Moon, and mistress of the sky. Also called the Dreamer.
Dreamseed: One of the four dream-humors that form the basis of Gujaareen magic. Culled from erotic dreams, essential for stimulating growth that ordinarily occurs only in the womb (e.g., new limbs).
Easternese: Collective term for people from lands to the east of the Sea of Glory.
Empty Thousand: The desert that stretches from the southernmost edge of the Gujaareen Territories to the northernmost reaches of the Kisuati Protectorate.
Endless, The: The great ocean to the west of the Sea of Glory.
False-seeing: A dream that appears to be a vision of the future or past, but is too distorted for interpretation or is simply inaccurate.
Flood: An annual event in which the Goddess’s Blood river overflows its banks and fills the Blood river valley, renewing the fertility of the soil. Also: the marker by which valley-dwellers count perennial changes, such as age.
Founding Sages: The founders of Gujaareh, foremost among them Inunru.
Four: The number of bands on the face of Dreaming Moon. A holy number, as are its multiples.
Four-of-four: Four by four by four by four, or two hundred and fifty-six. A holy number.
Gatherers: Those in one of the four paths to the Service of Hananja, responsible for enforcing Hananja’s Law.
Goddess, The: In Gujaareh, an alternative term for Hananja. In Kisua, may refer to any female deity.
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Goddess’s Blood: A river whose source is in the mountains of Kisua. Its mouth is along the Sea of Glory in northern Gujaareh.
Gujaareh: A city-state whose capital (also called Gujaareh, or the City of Dreams, or Hananja’s City) lies at the mouth of the Goddess’s Blood along the Sea of Glory.
Hamyan Night: The shortest night of the year, when dreams become so sparse that the Goddess Hananja starves.
Hanani: A Sharer-Apprentice of the Hetawa.
Hananja: One of the divine children of Dreaming Moon and Sun. The goddess of dreams, also associated with death and the afterlife.
Hananja’s City: Alternate name for Gujaareh’s capital.
Hananja’s Law: The body of law that governs Gujaareh. Its principal tenet is peace.
Hananja’s Wisdom: A collection of proverbs, prophecies, and other lore that faithful Hananjans must learn.
Healing: Any non-magical healing art, including herbalism and surgery. In Gujaareh, these arts are practiced primarily by Sharers of Hananja.
Hekeh: A fibrous plant native to the Blood river valley, cultivated in Gujaareh and other river nations. Useful in making cloth, rope, and many other products.
Hetawa, The: The central temple, and physical center of spiritual life in Gujaareh. The Hetawa oversees education, law, and public health.
Hieratics: A shorthand or “cursive” form of the Gujaareen written language.
Highcaste: The Gujaareen royal family, shunha, and zhinha. In Kisua, highcastes include the sonha and hunters.
Hipstraps: Straps used to hold loindrapes in place.
Hona-Karekh: The realm of wakefulness.
Ina-Karekh: The land of dreams. The living may visit this land for short periods during sleep. The dead dwell here in perpetuity.
Indethe: Sua word for attention/honor/love.
Inunru: A great and honored figure in the history of the Hananjan faith.
Jungissa: A rare stone that resonates in response to stimuli. Skilled narcomancers use it to induce and control sleep. All jungissa are fragments of the Sun’s seed, fallen to earth from the stars.
King: In Gujaareh, the most recently deceased Prince (may he dwell in Her peace forever).
Kisua: A city-state in the mideastern region of the continent, motherland of Gujaareh.
Kite-iyan: The Prince’s alternate palace, home of his wives and children.
Loindrapes: A garment worn primarily by men in Gujaareh, consisting of two long panels of cloth (knee-length or ankle-length) linked about the hips by straps of leather or metal chain.
Loinskirt: A garment worn primarily by men in Gujaareh, consisting of a knee-length wrap of hekeh or a pleated drape of linen.
Lowcaste: A member of any of the castes at the bottom of the Gujaareen social hierarchy. Includes farmers and servants.
Magic: The power of healing and dreams, used by Gatherers, Sharers, and Sisters of Hananja.
Manuflection: A gesture of respect offered only to those who bear the gods’ favor. The supplicant drops to one knee, crossing forearms (palms outward) before the face. A lesser version of this (arms held parallel before the chest, palms down, with an included bow depending on the depth of respect shown) is offered as a routine greeting or gesture of apology in Gujaareh.
Mark-cords: For Banbarra women, a decorative set of cords worn to mark the stages of life: menarche, loss of virginity, childbirth, menopause.
Merik: One of the divine children of Dreaming Moon and Sun. Grinds down mountains and fills valleys.
Merik-ren-aferu: A valley to the west and north of Gujaareh’s capital, on the edge of the Empty Thousand. Home to the Yusir-Banbarra tribe.
Midcaste: A member of any of the castes in the middle of the Gujaareen social hierarchy. Includes merchants and artisans.
Military: Like the Servants of Hananja, a branch of public service in Gujaareh, and a caste into which one may be born or inducted.
Mnedza: One of the divine children of Dreaming Moon and Sun. Brings pleasure to women.
Mni-inh: A Sharer of the Hetawa.
Moontear: A flower found along the Goddess’s Blood that blooms only by the light of the Dreaming Moon. Sacred to the Hananjan faith.
Narcomancy: The Gujaareen skills of sleepcasting, dream control, and the use of dream-humors. Colloquially called dream magic.
Nhefti: A hardy, thick-trunked tree that grows near the mountains of the Blood river valley. Its wood is amber-white and pale when polished. Used only for holy objects.
Nijiri: A Gatherer of Hananja. The blue lotus.
Northerners: Collective term for members of the various tribes north of the Sea of Glory. Polite term for barbarians.
Numeratics: Graphical/symbolic depictions used in mathematics, said to have their own magic.
Physical humors: Blood, bile, ichor (plasma), and seed.
Pictorals: The glyphic/symbolic written form of the Gujaareen language, based on written Kisuati. Used for formal requests, poetry, historical annotations, and religious writings.
Prince/Lord of the Sunset/Avatar of Hananja: The ruler of Gujaareh in the waking realm. Upon death he is elevated to the throne of Ina-Karekh, where he rules at Hananja’s side until a new King comes (may he dwell in Her peace forever).
Protectors: The council of elders that rules Kisua.
Rabbaneh: A Gatherer of Hananja; the red poppy.
Reaper: A narcomancer whose soul has been devoured by the lust for dreamblood. Possessed of great power, and great corruption. Abomination.
Sanfi: A man of the shunha, father of Tiaanet.
Sentinels: Those in one of the four paths to the Service of Hananja. They guard the Hetawa and all works of the Goddess.
Servant: In Gujaareh, a member of the lowest social/vocational caste. Servants are not permitted to accumulate wealth and may select their own masters.
Servants of Hananja: Priests sworn to the service of the Goddess.
Shadoun: A desert tribe, once enemies of Gujaareh, now allied to the Kisuati.
Shadowlands: The place in Ina-Karekh that is created by the nightmares of all dreamers. Those who die in distress are drawn here to dwell for eternity.
Sharers: Those in one of the four paths to the Service of Hananja, responsible for the health of the city. They use narcomancy and occasionally surgery and herbalism.
Shunha: One of the two branches of Gujaareen nobility, whose members claim to be descended from liaisons between mortals and Dreaming Moon’s children. Shunha maintain the customs and traditions of the motherland (Kisua).
Sisters of Hananja: An order (independent of the Hetawa) consisting predominantly of women, who serve Hananja by collecting dreamseed in the city.
Skyrer: Nocturnal birds of prey who hunt the Empty Thousand. It is an ill omen to see skyrers by day, or away from the desert outside of the rainy season.
Slave: In Kisua, captive enemies, debtors, the indigent, undesirable foreigners, and criminals sentenced to involuntary servitude. Slavery is illegal in Gujaareh.
Sonha: Kisuati nobility, who claim to be descended from liaisons between mortals and Dreaming Moon’s children.
Sonta-i: A Gatherer of Hananja; the indigo nightshade.
Soulname: Names given to Gujaareen children for protection in Ina-Karekh.
Southlands: Collective name for the various tribes beyond the source of the Goddess’s Blood river, many of which are vassal-states of Kisua.
Sunandi Jeh Kalawe: A woman of the Kisuati sonha, assigned to Gujaareh as governess and Voice of the Protectorate.
Sunset Lineage: The royal family of Gujaareh, said to be descendants of the Sun.
Superior: The administrative head of the Hetawa, whose decisions are made in conjunction with the Council of Paths and the Gatherers.
Surgery: A dangerous but periodically necessary healing ritual, which only the most advanced apprentices and full Sharers of the path may invoke.
Teachers: Those in one of the four paths to the Service of Hananja, responsible for education and
the pursuit of knowledge.
Territories: Collective name for the towns and tribes that have pledged allegiance to Gujaareh.
Tiaanet: A maiden of the shunha, of Insurret’s lineage.
Timbalin: A popular narcotic in Gujaareh. Allows uncontrolled dreaming.
Tithe: A Gujaareen citizen’s due offering to Hananja.
Tithebearer: One designated by the Hetawa to receive Hananja’s highest blessing, in return for a tithe of dream-humors.
True-seeing: A dream-vision of the future or past.
Umblikeh: The tether that binds soul to flesh and permits travel out of the body into other realms. When severed, death follows instantaneously.
Una-une: A Gatherer of Hananja, recently deceased. Ehiru’s mentor.
Voice of Kisua: An ambassador of Kisua. The proper title for a Voice is “Speaker.”
Waking Moon: Younger sister of the Dreaming Moon. Visible only shortly before sunrise, and after sunset (until the Dreaming
Moon appears).
Wanahomen: A son of Eninket, heir to the Sunset Lineage.
Yanya-iyan: The Prince’s main palace in the capital city, seat of Gujaareh’s government.
Zhinha: One of the two branches of nobility in Gujaareh, whose members claim to be descended from liaisons between mortals and Dreaming Moon’s children. Zhinha believe Gujaareh’s strength lies in its ability to adapt and change.
Acknowledgments
As with The Killing Moon, my thanks here are more for resources than people—but in this case people provided the resources, so they deserve a special shout-out.
In 2004 I won the Gulliver’s Travel Research Grant, offered by the Speculative Literature Foundation (SLF). The grant was small, only six hundred dollars at the time, but it allowed me to travel to Canyon de Chelly in Chinle, Arizona, within the Navajo Nation. I’d done some research that suggested that the civilization of the Anasazi, the ancient pueblo people who were the first to dwell within the canyon (the Navajo occupy it now, but pay respects to its previous tenants), may have collapsed due to a sudden and drastic religious upheaval—either a foreign religion migrating up from the south, or some internally developed new revelation, striking at the same time as a terrible long drought. At the time I’d had a vague idea of writing a fantasy set in a culture wrestling with such an upheaval. Those ideas sort of dissolved and distributed themselves among many novels and short stories in my head, but the part that stuck to this book was the canyon itself, to which I’ve attempted to pay homage in the form of Merik-ren-aferu. The Yusir-Banbarra’s cliff-village is based on the Anasazi villages I saw, which were routinely positioned a thousand feet or more above the canyon floor. So thanks, SLF, for giving me the chance to see that.
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