A Place To Bloom

My Culture

We had to choose nine of these seventy-seven men for our team.

Outside, the sky was dark purple, and the castle gate had been closed for the night. Inside, bright paper lanterns decorated the walls, with candles on every table.

The back of the mess hall was filled with people. We'd invited the men we'd taken out for training, and they brought their friends, who'd brought their friends. Native women, veterans, sekɪwa and their vɪta'o, and all the recruits spilled out through the row of stone arches that sufficed for a wall. One of the conscripts tried to fit through a different arch, only to flail his hands about in front of him trying to pull the spider web from his face.

Bilal had several men clustered around him. I didn't see Ta'o, but his notebook was on the table beside Commander Gaedi. Commander Gaedi reclined in her husband's chest while his arm snaked around her body and reached beneath the silk flap of loincloth covering her lap. The goatherd's daughter who'd spent the evening talking with Geraln when I first came down from the mountains was in the corner talking to one of the recruits. Does she know Geraln was killed?

Among the recruits, Dax sat at one round table with Segay, Wan, and several other Kyoni. Jorven, Hereim, and the other Falcons clustered together, but while the Cougars occupied a few tables, Haron sat alone.

Blue laid his neck across my table with his lizard face turned sideways and jaws open showing triangular, serrated teeth. His breath filled the air with coconut liquor. Miyani pursed her lips at him and shook her head.

I'd asked John to sit with me. I wanted him on my team. Something about him, about the way he questioned things, his alertness, his focus, humility, his drive, as far as I was concerned, we only needed eight other men. Presently, he'd put his silver Wolf's head pin on the table, allowing his dark hair to cascade past his shoulders. He buried his face in his hands and rubbed his eyes.

Rolon sat to my right. "I learned to shoot like that from my step-dad. My mum she was working on the nut farm, trying to get by and we was getting by. This guy, he does deliveries, he takes the goods and carries them off to wherever the Baron tells him. Runs a bison train, he's pretty big he's got maybe twenty bison, he's the guy I was telling you about who was trying to get into cheese, that's my step-dad. Some of his stuff actually turned out pretty good. We got real sick that one time, but most of it was OK."

"Hey man," John leaned into me. "Is it alright if I go lie down for a bit? I've got a headache."

"Of course," I said, and he left his hair pin behind.

"Alright, listen up!" Gaedi stood in the center of the room with Ta'o's notes in one hand; she was short enough that she had to stand on the table to get everyone's attention. Her husband's hand trailed off from hers, only for her to hook her finger onto his before letting go. "I wanted you all here because as I was reading through this, I realized these were things you all needed to hear. And if you want to stay alive—"

"Excuse me," Ta'o and Iyemi squeezed through. Wherever they'd been, they came in holding hands and with glowing smiles. The big red-and-black striped lizard Kadelou followed, and they sat down with Shoyi and the other sekiwa.

Commander Gaedi smiled down at them. "Actually no. Get up."

Ta'o looked confused with his hand over his chest.

"Everyone," she raised her voice. "Right now, everyone, stand up. Good. Now, find a new table, but here's the rule: you are not allowed to sit with anyone you know. Let's go."

We all looked around. Miyani gave me a hug. Blue chirped and made a most peculiar squawk, and she answered him. "Yes. You too."

Kadelou and the other vita'o went around the room as well. I grabbed John's hair pin and snaked through to a table off to the side. Finn sat there; he was on my first shit pit shift, so I kept looking. I bumped into Rolon, who shrugged. "I know everyone here!"