[Previous session]

A healer arrived, examined the sick man found in the desert, left instructions for treating him (more of what the young women had done so far), and promised to return in a couple of days.

The next day, Naima, Laylah and Darra explored Tel Talib. Laylah spent much time in thought, as close to the oasis's water as she could. When they all returned to the house, Afla told them she had sent word to Ruqayyah's teacher, Qutaibah, and that he would arrive the next night at the earliest. Afla left to run more errnads, and they spent the day resting and practicing.

Late in the afternoon, a moan came from the sick man's room. He was twitching in his sleep and muttering in about "sun" and "water." When the caracal touched his hand, he went rigid, opened his eyes, and yelled, "uncle--uncle--NO!" before going limp again. Ruqayyah and Naima did not recognize the dialect of the Desert Tongue he was using. A lullaby from Laylah made his sleep more peaceful after that. Laylah and Ruqayyah stayed with the man that night. He did not wake, but his fever had dropped by morning. When Laylah finally allowed herself to sleep, she dreamed of a man in desert robes petting a caracal.

The next day, Afla tried putting a bowl of milk before Ruqayyah before meditating, but the cat did not drink any. She erected a screen over the sleeping caracal, then left.

That afternoon, after Laylah had returned to his side, the sick man woke. Darra explained to him where he was, and because Laylah has only just started to learn the Desert Tongue, he thanked them in accented Krithian. He gave his name as Ayyub. Using the chamberpot (with Laylah's help) exhausted and mortified him, so he went back to sleep after takign a little water and broth.

As evening came on, the women heard a growl in the street near the building. Ruqayyah looked over the edge of the roof, saw a man by the door, and jumped down to him. Afla let him into the building, and introduced him as Qutaibah, "a Duz of our tribe," and Ruqayyah's teacher. Qutaibah healed some of Ayyub's wounds, then asked for more details about when and how his student became trapped in cat form. With Afla translating, Laylah told him of her visions involving the Cat Tribe. He and Afla agreed that the other Duz should know of these warnings, and promised to arrange a meeting. (Laylah was grateful, but found the prospect of meeting authority figures overwhelming.) Qutaibah would try to restore Ruqayyah to human form, and asked her friends if they wished to help.

That night, Laylah noticed when Darra abruptly got up from meditating, took a quarrel out of her pack, and began praying (?) over it. When Darra noticed her, Laylah asked about it, and received some confirmation to her guess that Someone had spoken to Darra. [They talked at length in private later, but the others do not yet know about their conversation.]

The next morning, Qutaibah and Afla instructed Darra and Laylah how to help during the ritual. Afla noticed Darra's distraction, and a quick spell revealed that Darra was magic resistant, so would be a liability during the ritual. Qutaibah and Afla began their dance, while Laylah sang the cadence and Ruqayyah tried to match the dance in cat form. After an hour of ritual, Ruqayyah was restored, but she acquired another cat-like feature: her skin and hair was colored to match a caracal's markings. Ruqayyah used her magic to restore some energy to her drained teacher, and profusely apologized for putting him through that again.

They tried to give Ruqayyah a summary of what she missed while in cat form. When the meeting with the senior Duz was mentioned, she began begging to get out of that. Qutaibah stopped her by pointing out that Laylah would be scared too, and needed her friends at her side. They would have a few days, at least, for Ruqayyah to recover more fully and prepare herself. They would discuss her future path later.

Ruqayyah borrowed Afla's room to inspect her new markings in privacy. They covered her entire body. She decided to redesign her dancing clothes to better display them, but started being even more careful keeping herself fully covered when not performing.

She and her friends decided to spend the days before the meeting giving Laylah more language lessons, tending Ayyub, and composing themselves for the meeting itself.

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Copyright 1999 Timothy E. Emrick. | This page last revised 2/25/2000. | time@neu.edu

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