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obehiD:
There was a tiny voice in my head still telling me not to trust it. The voice told me I was a fool to leave Nebula with Juke and other nobles I could not fully trust. It was harder to trust, to shut that voice down, but I did. I placed Nebula on the foam ground under Juke’s tree and told the uspec to play. It ran over to Juke and the look of happiness on both of their faces was so young and innocent I wondered how I could ever have doubted Juke.

I nodded, turned and left. Fabiana’s tree was my next stop. Fabiana’s tree was like mine, with the okuns. It was kneeling over a coffer when I walked in.

“Sirga!” It jumped.

“Were you praying?” I asked. Once I would have scoffed, but I understood now when it nodded. “I did not mean to interrupt.”

“Chuspecip lives in you sirga, and so I see talking to you as almost equivalent to praying to it.”

I laughed. Then I sat on the foam ground beside it and stretched out my legs. “I will leave soon.” I stated.

Fabiana nodded.

“I do not know if I can trust the nobles that remain. Not Juke, I clarified. The others.”

“They’ve all subjected themselves to an inquest. Juke begged me to use pansophy to siphon through its thoughts and memories. It wanted to prove its innocence to me. When the other uspecs heard of the treachery, they did the same. Neither Musa nor I found any treachery in their thoughts. They had no knowledge of the plot and no desire to join it after they’d learnt of it.”

I was relieved. I had made the choice to trust Juke before hearing Fabiana’s words, but this last betrayal stung so much that I did not even trust myself to make the right decisions when it came to trusting others. I was happy that their innocence had been proven without a shred of doubt. The other uspecs did not have pansophy, they could not have hidden their thoughts or memories from Fabiana if they’d wanted to. In fact, none of the fourteen that had kidnapped me had pansophy so those ones could not have taken the memories away from the others. But others could have. Jukien could have placed a trigger in Juke’s brain to only reveal a specific memory at a particular time, as Gerangi had done to me.

“Am I making a mistake Fabiana, leaving my offspring here alone with these uspecs?”

Fabiana looked affronted. “I am here Nebud. Or do I no longer have your trust?”

I frowned at it. That was not what I meant. “Of course, you do.”

“Then have no fear. I will watch over your offspring as if it were my own. No harm will come to it. And though you do not like the imps, most of them like you, all of them worship the memory of your line. They will watch over Nebula too. Leave with a clear mind, my friend.”

Why did people keep saying that I did not like the imps? I did not like Halima, but that imp had insulted my offspring and then tried to convince Musa to join Permafrost. Was I supposed to like it? “I do not trust Halima.” I said.

Fabiana chuckled. “I know. It told me.”

I glared at the uspec. Its affection for imps was disgusting and I told it that. It just laughed and I found myself laughing to. Who was I to judge? I had risked my life for Musa and would no doubt do it again. And even now, that wretched imp Chike, was crawling into my affections. Caring for imps was an affliction we both shared. But if they took care of my offspring, then I would reward them. I would give them all their freedoms. That way I wouldn’t need to have them staring after me all the time hoping to see Calami or Calam in me. It was exhausting having ancestors with such a reputation. I smiled to myself. I was proud of them. In some respects, I wished to take after them.

“What is Matiu’s story? Why is it here?” Matiu and Fabiana were the only uspecs in my honoraria who remained and had the skill to fight. Matiu was not as bulky as Darlin, but it could hold its own in a sparring match. It had fought and survived the battle with the plenum so that raised it in my estimation. But it was quiet. It had never dined with us in the entertaining room in my dwelling and it had never sought to spar with me.

“It comes from good stock. Sensu’s line. I believe Sensu is familiar to you, a companion of Calami’s?”

I nodded. Sensu was the uspec who Calam had entrusted with my safety. Sensu, its imp, and Chike. Now Sensu was probably dead, or still buried deep in Chiboga. “That reminds me.” I said. “Please, send a missive to Arexon. Sensu is hiding underground in what used to be the serf’s camp in Chiboga. Please have Arexon bring it out and care for it. It has grown old and infirmed.” Fabiana nodded. “Is Matiu Sensu’s offspring?” That didn’t make sense though. Matina was Matiu’s younger, and it was too young to be Sensu’s.

“No, they are offspring of Sensu’s cognate. Their presence here, I believe, is a duty to their line. They are trying to reinforce the bond that their line once held with yours.”

I nodded. “You trust them?” I asked.

Fabiana nodded. “I scanned their minds and found no treachery. Plus, they are from good old loyal stock. Loyal to your line as well as to the founder. Staunch Uspecipytes, though they were forced to declare otherwise during Salin’s inquisition. I see no reason not to.”

“Then I will leave and leave everything, and everyone, in your care.”

Fabiana bowed.

I stood up. After that, making the preparations to leave was easy. I was as confident of the uspecs I left behind as I was ever going to be. I’d expected to have to fight to tear Musa from its imp Halima, but it had already been expecting to accompany me. They had a relationship, Musa and Chuspecip. I did not know what it was, but I knew that it existed.

We packed enough grains, dried meats, and caked for a month, much more food than we needed. We also had leather bags of okun. My travails in Nefastu had taught me to travel with liquid.

It was done quickly and Musa and I were standing in front of the exit to our paradise not too late into the night, with Mara and another smoke bear beside us. The road to the portal could not be flown. Chuspecip did not share that until we were about to leave. It would take a whole day to ride there.

We bid farewell. I asked for Nebula to be kept away. I’d said my farewell to my offspring in private, without it knowing that it was farewell, for a little while at least. I did not want it asking to follow me. Chike was with Nebula. Everyone else stood in front of us. They bid us farewell.

“We await the founder’s return.” Fabiana stated solemnly.

“The founder’s grace be with you, sirga.” I think it was the first time I had ever heard Matiu speak.

I nodded to the uspec.

I was about to leave when I felt little hands wrap around my belly. I smiled. “Please be safe,” Juke begged.

I patted the uspec’s head. There was nothing to fear, I would be back.

Juke released me and Musa and I left.