“I just can’t wait for Belcose to pledge to me,” one high, feminine voice remarked. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for so many nights!”
“Well, you and Belcose belong together, Belka,” another female voice, this one somewhat lower remarked. “But I thought your sire didn’t approve of the joining?”
“He didn’t,” the first girl said. “But then Belcose preformed an act of daring to prove his worthiness and my sire agreed he might pledge to me.”
There were Ooos and Ahhs, from the assembled females in the small, crowded hut and Molly, who was listening quietly from where she was sitting in the corner, could imagine the other women crowding around the speaker, eager to hear more of her romantic entanglements.
Braxx hadn’t wanted to leave her here alone with a bunch of strangers, but Molly had assured him she would be all right. After making her greetings and explaining that she couldn’t see, she had been led to a soft cushion in the corner and had been made comfortable while the other girls got ready for what was clearly some kind of a mating custom.
The Tal’ossi women seemed to take her blindness in stride. Maybe because they were used to the Deep Dwellers, who had a community near their village and whose eyesight was notoriously poor—at least in the light.
Though Molly missed having Denise to whisper in her ear about the body language and facial expressions of the other people in the room, she didn’t feel uncomfortable. She could imagine the women as Braxx had briefly described them before leaving her—all of them with long, purple hair, their blue skins glowing softly in the golden luminescence of the light crystals hung at ceiling level.
The women were all wearing negus as she was—she could hear the silky rustle of the long grass skirts and she could smell the sweet powdery scent of what she thought was some kind of cosmetic being applied as they talked and gossiped together. They had all sung a greeting to her and one or two of them had asked her questions about her home planet “among the stars” but mostly they seemed too excited about tonight’s mating ritual to pay much attention to an off-worlder.
Molly had turned on her small handheld recorder, glad it had almost unlimited storage capacity, and listened with interest to the preparations going on around her.
“So what kind of act did Belcose perform?” one of the other girls asked eagerly. “Did he go to the Cha’llah flow in the caverns of the Deep Dwellers?”
One of the other females snorted. “Of course he didn’t! No male but the Deep Dwellers can go there—they are the only ones who can see in the deep darkness.”
“Actually, Belcose went to the Heela crags and caught my mother a jubjub avian,” Belka said. “My mother made a beautiful amulet from its feathers. I’m wearing it tonight—see?”
“What? He only caught a jubjub?” The first girl sounded disappointed. “Anyone can do that!”
“They can not!” Belka snapped. “Jubjubs are known to be fierce and vicious predators. Why, they can peck out your eyes with their beaks if you’re not careful. Leave you as blind as a Deep Dweller!”
There was a pregnant pause in the room and Molly could almost feel them looking at her.
“Belka,” someone hissed under her breath. “You shouldn’t have said that! Molly from the Stars cannot see. And you said—”
“It’s all right,” Molly said loudly, smiling in the direction of the voices. She was used to sighted people feeling they had made a social blunder when they somehow referenced blindness around her. “I’m not offended, Belka,” she hurried to assure the girl. “But I am interested to hear more about these, uh, acts of daring. How do they work?”
The girls crowded around her, the mingling scents of their perfumes clashing in her nose and their voices talking over each other.
“An act of daring is what a male does to prove he deserves you.”
“That he cares about you and wants to claim you.”
“The more daring the act, the more impressed everyone is.”
“And then he can claim you and own you for all to see.”
“That’s…amazing,” Molly said, trying to smile at all of them and hoping she was succeeding. “And how exactly does he, uh, claim you?”
There were girlish giggles all around her and she thought she detected a hint of embarrassment in Belka’s voice when she answered.
“Well, first he pledges to you…and then he marks you with his scent and you mark him with yours,” she told Molly.
“Forgive my ignorance, but how exactly does he mark you?” Molly asked but the only answer she got was a lot of embarrassed giggling.
“Tonight at the feast you’ll understand,” Belka said primly. “Is that big handsome male going to claim you?”
“Who—Braxx?” Molly felt her cheeks get hot, though she attempted to retain a professional demeanor.
“No, not that one,” Belka said impatiently. “He never seems to want to claim anyone. I’m talking about Drogor the Deep Dweller! I heard he was telling people at the male’s hut that he was in love with your scent, Molly from the Stars. Scents are all the Deep Ones care for since they do not see as we do.”
“Oh…” Molly was momentarily nonplussed. “Well…”
“Didn’t he say he wanted to claim you?” Belka demanded. “He told my Belcose he’d said as much but that the other male with you tried to block his way.”
“Well, I—”
“Ooo, could you imagine being stolen away by a Deep Dweller, like the mother of the Wise One was?” interrupted another girl. “Just imagine going to live in the Depths where everything is dark and cold all the time!”
“But you’d have a big male like Drogor to keep you warm,” Belka pointed out. “It might not be so bad. So, Molly from the Stars, do you think he’ll claim you? Down in the Depths, your lack of sight wouldn’t matter,” she pointed out.
Of course, this would have been insulting back on Earth but Molly didn’t think the other girl was being inflammatory on purpose—she was stating what she genuinely thought was a fact to be considered.
“I’m really not here to be claimed by anyone,” she said carefully. “And while I’m sure the Depths and the Deep Dwellers who live there are wonderful, I prefer to stay here in the lighted world and learn about the People—the Top Dwellers.”
“Well, but you’d have to go if you were claimed,” another girl protested. “I mean, you don’t have a sire here to speak for you and forbid it and no mate either. That means you’re ripe for claiming.”
Molly wasn’t sure what to say to that but just then the door of the hut swung open with a squeak and someone who sounded like an older woman said that the Feast was about to begin.
“Ooo goody! Come on, Molly.” Belka took her by the hand and led her out of the hut while all the other girls crowded around them, trying eagerly to get out and chatting excitedly at the same time.
It was something of a confusing crush but once they got out of the hut it was a pleasant walk to the center of the village. There was smooth sand and lush grass underfoot and Belka was a surprisingly good guide.
“I have some kin who are Deep Dwellers,” she explained to Molly, when she commented on it. “Some of them have poorer eyesight than others. Though they can get around fine in the darkness, too much light confuses them and I have to help lead during the day.”
“Well, you do an excellent job of it,” Molly said, thinking again that the Tal’ossi might almost have been tailor-made for her to study.
“Now here we are by the crystal fire in the center of the feasting ring,” Belka told her in a low voice. “Who do you want me to seat you by—the male you came with or Drogar?”
“With Braxx—the male I came with, please,” Molly said quickly.
“Are you certain? If he’s not interested in pledging to you—”
“But Braxx has already pledged to me,” Molly told her, suddenly thinking of the way the big Kindred had taken her hands in his and promised to protect her with his life. “So we should be together.”
“Oh really?” Belka still sounded doubtful. “He doesn’t act with you like a male who is pledged. But if you say so…”
She led Molly over to where Braxx was already sitting by the side of the fire, made a short singing greeting to him, and helped Molly sit down beside him.
“Thank you, thank you,” Molly sang to her. “It was so nice to meet you,” she added. “I hope I’ll get to speak to you again soon, Belka.”
“Oh, well… that depends. I might be away for a while after tonight if Belcose claims me and carries me off.” She giggled shyly. “But I hope to see you again before you go, Molly from the Stars.”
“I hope to see you too,” Molly said, smiling up in the direction her new friend’s voice was coming from. “Have a good time at the feast tonight.”
“Oh, I will!” Belka laughed again and then left them, after singing a brief goodbye.
It was time for the feast.