breaths, deliberately relaxing.

Daria felt his body's tension ease, and put an arm around his
shoulders. "That is better, ruhar. I have heard of marriage, though it
is not a Traiti custom. Adopted or not, you are part of the clan, and
you are adult. Any ruhar can share bodies with you, in full honor."

Any--? the Ranger thought blankly, then he realized it made sense.
With their sex ratio and limited fertility, the Traiti couldn't pair up
as Terrans did. Hovan and the five he shared young with should have
made that obvious. But she was still a priestess . . .

Daria answered that unspoken thought, startling him. "The Lords do not
forbid their Speakers sharing of bodies or young--if they did, none
would serve them. There are no barriers, es'ruhar, except those in
your mind."

She was silent then, letting the man absorb her words and her unspoken
caring, as some people drifted out of the room and others drifted in,
to sit near them. The emotional storm Steve was generating, and its
texture, let the clan know his First Sharing was near, and that he
needed support to make it what it should be.

Daria remembered her own First Sharing, a good eighty years ago, and
recalled that she had been a little apprehensive herself, even though
she had grown up seeing the adults sharing bodies. She had only
relaxed when her best-loved es'ruhar, he who had given her life, came
to give her this gift as well. And those who were with them included
her other closest n'ruhar.

Now the ones Steve knew best were here to show their approval and joy.
Daria regretted that he had no one really close to him for this, but
with Hovan and the others around them, she was sure he would take some
pleasure in it, and he would be unaware of how much he was missing.

Tarlac felt the presence of his n'ruhar, male and female alike, in a
perception that was a glow of warmth. They were his clan, his family.
And yes, he was es'ruhar to Daria. He looked up at her, reached to run
his fingers softly along the side of her face. "Ka'ruhar," he said,
almost whispering, "I will . . . I will be proud to share bodies with
you this night."

When Tarlac woke the next morning he felt good, almost euphoric, eased
of a tension he'd lived with for so long he'd forgotten he had it.
Daria was also awake, he realized, and those who had been with them the
night before were now gone. He put his arms around her.

"Ka'ruhar . . . it was unbelievable." He reme