Free Necessity's Child (Liaden Universe®) by Steve Miller, Sharon Lee

said, accepting the mug from Kezzi’s hand.
    “But does Udari of the Bedel make an end to the sad gadje ’s pain, and afterward feed the furnace? He does not. Instead, he brings the gadje to Silain, our luthia .” Alosha paused, sipped, and allowed another sigh to be heard.
    “Well! Udari has a soft nature; he is devout. And we are taught that the luthia ’s blessing is required to smooth the way to the World Unseen.”
    Kezzi poured the dregs of the kettle into her mug and squatted by the fire, listening.
    “But does the luthia then release the gadje ’s spirit into the next world? She does not. Rather, she undertakes a healing, for no reason that I can understand. Luthia , teach me. I ask it.”
    There was a small silence while Silain sipped her tea.
    “There are those things which are given to the headman’s authority and understanding,” she said at last. “And those things which are given to the understanding and the authority of the luthia .”
    “So we are taught, and so we believe,” Alosha acknowledged.
    “So we are taught, and so we believe, and so the universe is ordered ,” the luthia said, which was the fuller answer.
    She shook her hair back and looked across the fire to the headman. Kezzi could see that she smiled.
    “Sleep well and dream richly, Alosha, headman of the Bedel. The universe is ordered, and all is as well as may be.”

CHAPTER NINE

    “Good morning, Grandaunt.”
    Syl Vor waited just inside the door to the morning room for Grandaunt Kareen to acknowledge him. He had taken particular care with himself this morning, brushing his hair until it lay flat, and choosing for his costume a white shirt, an embroidered vest, and soft dark pants. Of course, he was too young to have formal calling clothes, but he thought he had done rather well, given the resources available to him.
    Grandaunt looked up from her book, one eyebrow lifting as she surveyed him. Syl Vor raised his chin and met her eye boldly. Grandaunt did not approve of meeching manners.
    “Good morning, Child Syl Vor,” she said. “I hope I see you well this early in the day?”
    “Indeed, I am very well,” he answered, which correct response she herself had taught him. “May I hope that you are the same?”
    “I enjoy my usual robust health, thank you.” She closed the book and tucked it between her hip and the arm of the chair. “May I deduce from your attire that you have on purpose sought me out?”
    “Yes, ma’am,” he said. “I have—if you please, Grandaunt—a question of protocol.”
    “A pressing question of protocol, I apprehend. Very well, child; you have my attention. Stand forth and ask.”
    Thus encouraged, he came an additional six steps into the room and bowed as one grateful for a kindness.
    “I have been reviewing the forms,” he said, which was perfectly true. “And I find that I—that my understanding founders on a matter of timing.” He paused, in case she wished to comment on his preface, or perhaps to praise his diligence.
    Grandaunt merely moved a hand, inviting him to continue.
    “I wonder, ma’am, what is the proper waiting period, when one party has said to another that a face-to-face meeting is required?”
    Grandaunt Kareen considered him blandly. Syl Vor folded his hands and composed himself to wait.
    “That is a question which cannot be answered before the sub-questions it spawns are properly retired.” She raised her hand, thumb extended. “Are both parties on-world?”
    “Yes, ma’am, they are.”
    Her index finger joined the thumb. “Have both parties agreed to the necessity of this meeting?”
    “Yes.”
    Middle finger. “Is there any necessity of clan or survival which prevents one party from attending?”
    This was where he had stumbled in his own analysis. Surely, if there was some danger in the city that prevented his mother from arriving home, the House would have heard—and acted. And yet, he was only just learning melant’i and form. There well could be