Free Empire of Bones by Liz Williams

right?" EsRavesh asked with mocking solici-tousness.
    "Perfect, thank you," Sirru said icily. Thinking fast, he considered his options, then sent a shower of instructions to the scale, which obediendy broadcast the lie: lunworthinessl respect for superiorsloverwhelming sense of gratitude !. Either the scale's lie was successful or the khaith's arrogance was such that Sirru's message was accepted with barely a flutter of doubt.
    "We understand you are honored," EsRavesh allowed gra-ciously.
    Sirru had one question. "When do I leave?"
    "As soon as possible. There is a raft leaving tonight for an orbital; translation will take place from there."
    Life has to change , Sirru thought angrily, but why now ?
    Useless to speculate on the laws of the world; he was well aware that he had no choice.
    "I have affairs to put in order," he told the khaithoi , and then permitted himself to ask the question which he was pri-vately dreading. "How long am I to be absent?" The scale sent /hope for an honorably lengthy appointment/ , concealing Sirru's true feelings.
    "Translation, of course, will take no more than the usual instant," EsRavesh said, and the petaled mouth unfolded in a fleshy smile. "But mediation will take—well, as long as it takes for us to decide whether or not the project has been suc-cessful."
    "I see." Sirru lied once more: /relief/surrender to superior's wishes/ .
    The 'thaith rose from his mat and came to stand before Sirru. EsRavesh was a head or so shorter than
    Sirru, and stout where Sirru was lean. Folds of pale, mottled flesh rippled be-neath the khaith's robes.
    Sirru stared down at him, giving nothing away. He could feel the khaith's efforts to influence him.
    Beneath the scale, his skin flushed dark with sudden un-wanted arousal.
    Sirru. found düs gratuitous sexual harassment irritating. He could feel the quills at the back of his neck beginning to rise, but a mistake now could cost him and the rest of his caste dearly; it wasn't worth the momentary satisfaction of a re-sponse. The scale kicked in, clamping his system into calm-ness. The tip of a dark brown tongue fluttered briefly between the khaith's petaled lips, and then EsRavesh turned away.
    "Go back to your temenos and your clade. Explain the dig-nity that has been conferred upon them.
    Present yourself at the landing ledge"—and here he pressed his palm briefly and with distaste against Sirru's, conferring coordinates and time—-"for translation." The rest of the khaithoi stirred briefly. A ripple of communication, too advanced for Sirru to compre-hend, passed between them, and EsRavesh turned his back in dismissal.

    Once out of the chamber, Sirru paused and leaned against the wall. Beneath the scale, his skin crawled with agitation. It was difficult to believe this was happening. Suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to leave the Marginals. He switched off the hot scale and in a swirl of robes strode through the labyrinth and out into the day. First to the temenos, and then to see Anarres, if her damned house would let him back in.
    The problem is status. Status and caste . His life, and all their lives, were governed by it. Quite apart from any fyaithoi scheming, it was the main reason why his clade had to take what they could get and why he would be compelled to leave mat and home and new girlfriend and traipse across the galaxy to sort out somebody's long-dormant planet.
    At that point his epistemic suppressants kicked in, causing a sharp neural twinge, and Sirru winced.
    Tekfiei's only got one moon and a couple of seas , he thought in exasperation. It isn't even pretty . It seemed such a dull little world.
    But then again, so had Arakrahali.
    THE TEMPLE OF DUMGA
    i.
    4ranasi
    _*Jp*The Temple of Durga—the goddess known as the JjjkjPl Terrible One—red as old blood, rose above the noisy m't streets of Varanasi. Its tiers crawled with monkeys, which m9 chattered and shrieked at anyone who came too close. j3 The temple had been closed for several