the lady said at last, looking at Annyka and then Nathaniel, “Akohsi Ada’ii”

Her voice had a fluidic quality. It was commanding, and yet gentle on the ears.

Nathaniel looked to T’shan to translate, but she remained silent.

“I don’t speak your language,” he replied.

She gazed into his eyes. There was something about her that seemed so wise, and ascetic, that it demanded respect, even though she was a heathen. She smiled at him plainly, though something about her face gave the impression of deep thought, and of a calculating analysis.

She broke her eyes away from him to look at T’shan and said, “Mahimoh na kahmo sulti.”

“May I present our sacred mother,” T’shan said to Annyka and Nathaniel, gesturing at the lady. “You...

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