"Yes, Sectuib."

The wrinkled hands loosened and fell away, asleep almost before they touched the quilts. Dazed, Valleroy followed Klyd and Denrau out of the chamber.

Outside, the channel, exchanging relieved glances with Denrau, leaned heavily against the closed door. The Companion glanced at Valleroy, and then he said to Klyd, "Solid nager! / could have felt the oscillations all the way across the room! Klyd, he's senile."

"I know. I thought he'd never make me promise!"

"You handled him just right."

"Nobody handles Grandfather. He's still got the best mind in Zeor. Hrel conducting Feleho's funeral!"

"I admit that's pure genius, and it might even work, but by tomorrow he'll have forgotten who Hrel is."

"That's why he requires you, not Charnye."

"Are you sure you want to risk traveling like this?"

"I don't see any other way. We'll be back in plenty of time to take all precautions with Yenava."

Denrau shrugged. Then he turned to Valleroy and said in nearly flawless English, "I don't think we've been formally introduced, but Zeor doesn't practice much formality."

"So I noticed. I'm very honored to meet you."

"And I, you." He indicated the Arensti folio he'd picked up inside. "I'll take this to the mill office. It really is one of the greatest pieces I've ever seen. A sure winner."

"Thank you. I hope so... for Zeor's sake."

Denrau headed for the colonnade, but just at the hangings he turned and smiled. "I'll be looking forward to your pledge party. It should be quite an affair." Then he left.

"I get the impression," said Valleroy slowly, "he doesn't have much faith in me."

"Neither do I at the moment. Listen, Hugh if you want to complete your assignment here, you'll have to master that fear reaction. Here..." He took Valleroy's hands, twining tentacles around the Gen wrist. "You see what I mean?"

Valleroy flinched away from the Sime's hot touch, his heart again racing painfully. The muscular, handling tentacles were covered with an incredibly soft, dry, smooth skin like a velvet sheath over steel. They left a lingering sensation on Valleroy's skin that made his hair stand on end.

"Hugh, I'm only reading the gradient... without even token lateral contact! What could you possibly be frightened of?"

Valleroy tried to force his heart to slow down.

"If you're going to travel as my Companion, you're going to have to get used to touching me."

"The Householding rule is to avoid contact..."

"That's for untrained Gens. A Companion is supposed to know when it is permitted and when not... without being told."

"Well, I'm not trained."

"So, I'm telling you. Because of your... accident... you and I are in-phase. As my Companion, you'll be entitled to the same liberties as Denrau would."

"I don't know how to behave like a Companion."

"For performance in front of the juncts, there isn't much to it. Just stay close. You'll learn."

As he followed Klyd down into the court, Valleroy wasn't at all sure he wanted to learn... but he wasn't sure he didn't want to, either.

CHAPTER FOUR.

Count the Days of My Death as I Counted the Days of My Life

DAWN FOUND THE CENTRAL COURTYARD OF THE HOUSE of Zeor filled with the largest gathering Valleroy had yet seen there. He thought all four hundred-odd members, all their children, and most of the candidates were there. But the mood was somber, infused with a smoldering indignation held in check only by the over-whelming grief... Feleho had been a greatly loved son of Zeor.

Very conscious of the Zeor crest ring now weighing down his right hand, Valleroy shared their feelings. Strictly speaking, he wouldn't be entitled to that ring until he'd donated to Zeor through Klyd. Privately, Valleroy still doubted if he'd be able to do it. But, because of the ring, those around him assumed that he'd returned a formal pledge, joining his life to Zeor forever. That awakened in him the same thrill of daring excitement that Feleho's greeting as Naztehr had.

It felt good. But at the same time it made him feel guilty. One ought not to feel good on such an occasion.

Resolutely, he fixed his eyes on the casket that lay on a hastily constructed bier in the center of the court. It was draped with a cloth of plain blue... Zeor's blue. The sun was already rising into the clear sky.

Hrel stood beside the bier. He was draped in an ankle-length cloak of Zeor blue richly embroidered with the Zeor symbols. He read from a prepared text. "This is the dawning of the First Day in the Death Count of Feleho Ambrov Zeor. Let it be recorded that he gave himself in an effort to save a donor from the pens. Let it further be recorded that he died because his laterals were severed above the..."

Hrel choked on the words, and a gasp rippled through the audience. Valleroy saw mothers clutching their children as if to protect them from a like fate.

Klyd stepped forward. He laid a hand on Hrel's shoulder. Hrel coughed once, cleared his throat, and continued. "Since the time of Rimon Farris, atrocities have been committed upon us to keep us from attaining our goals. To the roll of martyrs, the name of Feleho, who of his own free will became Ambrov to Zeor, is added. Let not his death break our spirit. Let us lift his burden and carry it on so that his death will be imperceptible to his enemies."

There was a moment of silence. Then, in various places around the court, soft chanting began. It was a melody filled with all the grief humanity had ever known.

Valleroy couldn't made out the words until those near him took up the song. It was a single refrain repeated over and over to variations on the basic melody.

"Today is the First Day in the Death Count of Feleho Ambrov Zeor."

As the sun cleared the roof, sending its first rays probing into the courtyard, the bearers lifted the casket. In orderly rows, the crowd followed the draped coffin through the buildings, along the same route Valleroy had followed the previous morning just before meeting Feleho for the first and last time, and then out into the freshly harvested fields.

It was a long walk, farther into the Householding grounds than Valleroy had yet been. He hadn't realized how extensive the lands were. They passed the factory complex and emerged onto a dirt road that led through cultivated fields, mostly barren now after the harvest. Topping a gentle rise, the procession entered the cemetery of Householding Zeor... a much larger area than a group of four hundred ought to need. It was a well-kept spot, shaded by tall trees and guarded by a neat white fence with a arched gateway.

The grave had been freshly dug the night before and a marker had been prepared. Surveying the neat rows of graves, Valleroy saw that about half the markers were of the three-lobed symbol like Feleho's, but the others had only one lobe.

Each of the mourners deposited a shovel of dirt over the coffin. Then Hrel and Klyd finished the job together, heedless of the flying dirt that speckled their clean blue cloaks.

Valleroy stood aside while Feleho's widow, a homely but well-scrubbed, hard working Sime, thanked Hrel for officiating and took her three-year-old son back to the Householding.

She was allowed to walk alone before anyone else left the cemetery. Valleroy thought it must be the loneliest walk of a lifetime, and he resolved to kill the man who made it necessary if it took the rest of his life.

The widow's distant form was swallowed up by the hulking shadows of the factory complex. The others began to stir toward the cemetery gate after visiting the graves of others who had been dear to them. One by one, they offered a few words to Klyd, pledged undying loyalty to him, thanked Hrel, and left, walking that dusty trail alone or with small children.

At last, Hrel turned toward Klyd to speak the words of the pledge, but Klyd held up a hand, tentacles gesturing toward Valleroy. Having listened to several hundred repetitions, Valleroy managed to get through the formula without stumbling, but while his words to Klyd were spoken with real sincerity, they became meaningless noise when spoken to Hrel.

The Sime didn't seem to notice. His whole attention seemed to be turned inward even as he pledged his loyalty to Klyd and took the trail homeward.

"I see what you mean about Hrel," said Valleroy when they were alone at last. "It just might work. But does he know that he may have been the cause of Feleho's murder?"