<h2>Planet 5 / Ch. 35: Camels</h2>


    </a>The village of Nazik, Central Caneth


    Assistant camel herder Hwalf looked away from his game into the distance, hearing a stranger''s voice, and so lost. That was no surprise anyway. Hwalf usually lost, it made the others happy.


    [Hello speaker of a strange language,] he thought back. [Where are you?]


    [In the leeward kingdom of Kanuga. I am called Tuga.]


    [Ah. Not on another planet then.] Hwalf thought [I have wondered if I''d ever be called from another planet.]


    [It is possible it will happen. Your game seems complicated.]


    [It is simpler than life, but more complex than most games.]


    [And you let the others win?]


    [Of course. It would make people suspect the impossible if I did not. Thus I play a harder game than them.]


    [Ah. They do not know?]


    [Would you tell anyone?] Hwalf asked.


    [I kept the secret a long time, and then told my pastor at church, and he wanted to become famous because of me. So I ran from there and rejected the gift. But the world has a need for the gift, and yesterday God reassured me I had not sinned in running from using the gift, and returned it to me.]


    [How do you run from hearing? And what is the need when rumours say the gift of Tesk is back?]


    [Hwalf, my friend, you can do more than hear, did you not know?]


    [I can see the dots, I know.]


    [And you can talk to any who have the gift of Tesk as I call you now.]


    [And who would welcome this intrusion?]


    [My wife is pleased to hear my thoughts, and your own princess-regent Esmetherelda is praying that there will be someone with the gift of God who will contact her.]


    [Why don''t you call her then? You seem comfortable to do so. I do not like the idea of secret conversations with a married woman.]


    [You are not married?]


    [No.]


    [Then be brave, Hwalf, and call out to Isthana, and learn of the need your country has of your gift.] Tuga said.


    [Why must I be brave?]


    [Because some in your village are followers of dum-semb, the religion of the doom-guard.]


    [And that is news?] Hwalf said cynically.


    [I told ambassador Hayeel, a friend of Esmetherelda who will be empress of Dahel, about five hours ago, so it is probably not news to Esmetherelda, but I only thought to her a map of dots, no more.]


    [You know important people.]


    [They are just people, their lives are complicated too. Now, talk to Isthana, who has no husband or boyfriend. I have checked for you.]


    And Tuga stopped talking.


    “Hwalf, why are you staring at the horizon?” his victorious opponent said, “There''s nothing there.”


    “Yes there is,” Hwalf said, “See! A thunder-cloud.”


    “Rain will be good.” Huthal, his companion said.


    “A storm might scare the camels,” Hwalf pointed out. Pessimism came easily to him.


    “We could hobble them. You should pray for rain, Hwalf. If it rains, I will listen to what you say about God.”


    “Why don''t you tell God that yourself?” Hwalf suggested, “If you want the rain so much. My bruises from the last time we hobbled the camels are just healing.”


    “The cisterns are almost dry, you lazy lizard! Pray to your God!” Huthal demanded.


    “Ha! So you do admit that God is in charge? Then I win this hand, and we will both win the next, you more than me, if you listen carefully to what I say.”


    “What do you mean, we will both win?” Huthal asked.


    “Because if you listen, I will win a brother in faith, and Huthal will become son of the king of kings, with the right to make petitions in the throne-room where even emperors bow.” Then he prayed, “Almighty God, this unbeliever says he will listen if you send rain. Wash away his stupid excuses, God. Please make any bruises I will get from the camels and men be worth it, and let the storm come. And father, you know the other thing on my heart. Help me to be patient.”


    “So now we wait and see if your God answers,” Huthal said.


    “Now who is the lazy lizard? You ask God for rain but don''t prepare for it? I  will start hobbling camels, then if any run off when the cisterns fill up, it will be your fault.”


    Five minutes and one bruise later, Hwalf focussed his thoughts lightly on a woman called Isthana. He was sure he''d heard that name before, but he couldn''t remember where, was she a government minister? Isthana was playing a musical instrument, and was sad. [Do I call at a bad time?] he asked her.


    The music stuttered as she looked around.


    [You won''t see me, I''m in Central Caneth. Don''t stop playing for my sake, please. It is a beautiful sad song.]


    [You have the full gift of Tesk.] Isthana thought back to him.


    [The gift of God, yes. I hear I''m needed — Ow! — to do more than be kicked by camels.]


    [You are. How much to you know?]


    [I know I hate camels who kick me. The person who told me to call you said he had given a map to a friend of the princess-regent, showing there are followers of dum-semb in my village. That I know well. He told me you had no husband or boyfriend. Is that right? It would not be right to have secret conversations with someone''s wife.]


    [I''m no one''s wife. Are you anyone''s husband?]


    [No. Nor potential husband. I''m just Hwalf, who no one looks at.]


    [Just so I''m clear... there''s no girl in your past who might suddenly come back?] Isthana asked.


    [No. No one looks at Hwalf, Hwalf is just assistant camel herder, Hwalf is boring, Hwalf loses almost every time he plays Inek, Hwalf shares no gossip, Hwalf has no prospects, Hwalf does not stand out, or live in a big house like the judge who is priest of dum-semb, and he does not start fights or win bribes. But sometimes he wins souls for God. Please pray that the cloud I see will bring rain; the cisterns are almost empty, and my friend who I let win at Inek might believe if God sends rain.]


    [I will pray, good Hwalf. Do you know why there is a map of dum-semb?] Isthana asked.


    [The army will be coming?] Hwalf asked.


    [The penalty for involvement in the religion of the doom-guard has been the same since the Windward Emperors were killed. Optimistic rulers thought it had been destroyed. Ignorant people forgot dum-semb was that religion. Either soldiers or judges and soldiers will be investigating. But there is urgency. Eradication of dum-semb cannot wait even five years.]


    [One more death is too many.] Hwalf thought to her.


    [Yes, and more. If dum-semb is not eradicated the aliens will not come, and we need them to come.] Isthana thought, [Otherwise we have no future.]


    [There is danger?] he asked.


    [The flames in the sky are not really flames, but they will grow stronger, and blow away the air we breathe.]


    [We need the aliens to come, and you think they will count dots?]


    [Count dots?] Isthana asked, confused.


    [Look for people who have sacrificed someone.]


    [We assume so, yes. They will find some, who have rejected that past and now trust Jesus. On Tesk, if someone has repented before their trial and started to trust Jesus, the courts do not condemn. But there were hundreds who have been condemned. They would like to know if they have more to offer repentance to before they die. We hope the aliens will think of that.]


    [That is another thing to pray for, then.]


    [Yes.] Isthana agreed.


    [Can I ask why you play sad songs, Isthana? Because of dum-semb?]


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    [Because for years I have hoped that a certain man would look on me with the hopes I looked at him with. I had not seen him for some years, and I did not know, but he was close to another young woman, and then she admitted she had no faith, and so they broke up a few months before I next met him. We talked, he did like me. But then, the other girl found faith, and joyfully ran to tell him, ''now there is no reason we cannot become engaged''. I heard his thoughts, Hwalf, he likes me and does not want to hurt me, but his feelings for her are stronger than for me, he has more memories of her, more joy in her smile, more pain at her tears. I had to tell him so.]


    [No wonder you are sad. May I ask your age?]


    [Twenty five, and you?]


    [Twenty six.]


    [But still unmarried? Is that not unusual in Inner Caneth?]


    [Yes. My mother despairs, but no one looks on me with favour.]


    [Are you so ugly?] Isthana asked.


    [My mother says I''m handsome, who am I to judge? Girls do not reject me because of my looks. I do not like to trade, there are too many lies, so I watch camels. It is not an impressive job, but there are always camels. I do not learn secrets I must hide when there is no one around, and It gives me time to think interesting thoughts about aliens and the lights in the sky, dream of beautiful songs I cannot play or write, only think.]


    [I could try to write them down and play them if you like.]


    [You would do that?] Taking a risk he added [I also dream of meeting a woman I could think with.]


    [I''m the first you''ve thought to?]


    [You are the third person I''ve thought to at all. The other two were men. There are only two of us who can do this.]


    [Ah. I''ve thought like this across a room or through a door to my sister and to Hayeel, never to a man. There are no men with the gift of Tesk. It is a new experience.]


    [Yes. I could come to enjoy it, I think.] Hwalf risked thinking.


    [So could I, I think.]


    [You said about the law in Tesk. What about in Caneth?]


    [In Outer Caneth, there has only been one person found in a hundred years who was part of dum-semb, and she was a citizen of Tesk. She was returned there for trial. We did not know it was present in Inner Caneth. I''ll have to ask Esme what the law says about those who have turned from their sin.]


    [Who is Esme?]


    [My sister, crown-princess Esmetherelda.]


    [You... you are a princess?] Hwalf asked in shock.


    [You didn''t know, friend Hwalf? Do not let that stop you from talking to me, please, nor from thinking to me your beautiful songs.]


    [I may let it stop me thinking hopeful thoughts.]


    [Then I will only be able to play your hopeless and sad songs, won''t I?]


    Hwalf was confused by her tone. It seemed annoyed and teasing at the same time.


    [My songs are hopeful.]


    [Then you cannot think them to me, if you refuse to think hopeful thoughts to me.]


    [I did not mean like that.]


    [Esme will have questions to ask you, Hwalf, but she is in a meeting right now.


    Will you think a song to me while you are kicked by camels and wait for the the first drops of the storm?]


    [You are sure, princess?]


    [If you call me by name, I am sure. Isthana can play songs for hopeful camel herders. I don''t know about princesses. I might need to find out if I can call you a little-known composer first.]


    [Entirely unknown.]


    [How could you be otherwise while you hide your dreams and gifts and talents from the girls in your village?]


    [Those my age are all mothers. Those not even engaged are half my age.]


    [So think me a song, Hwalf, and I will try to not be harsh if I do not agree they are beautiful.]


    [Now?]


    [You might never think to me again, and I will be left wondering about your camels and your beautiful songs and about the storm that I ask God to send to fill your cisterns and wash away dum-semb from your village. Show your power and judge that false judge who defies you, father. Do not let the murderer of Hwalf''s cousin claim to have brought rain.]


    [Amen.] Hwalf said. [How did you know?]


    [The thought came to me, I don''t think it was from you, I guess from God. So urm, if the first raindrop that falls washes your head, Hwalf, tell your friend that God has heard and the false judge will face justice, and if it doesn''t then you''ll know I''m just totally confused about where that thought came from and what''s happening.]


    [I will think to you a song, Isthana. Perhaps what is happening is stray thoughts from me. I thought of it a long time ago:


    God please send comfort, I feel so alone.


    God please send water, the cisterns are like bone.


    Will anyone love me, or must I play dead?


    Will I grow my beard? Who will wash my head?


    But I do not matter, my saviour my God,


    You are the master, you hold the rod.


    God please send justice, Honour the dead,


    God please send hope, The sands are so red.


    Please send me courage, your word to speak,


    God please send rainfall, the children are weak.]


    [Growing a beard is a sign of marriage? I don''t know the custom.]


    [It is a sign that a girl has asked you to grow it for her, to show she is interested in you and if you are sufficiently old to marry. Perhaps she will say it must be a certain length before it is time for the marriage. Or perhaps she changes her mind and after a week or a month she says, start shaving again. But if not, the father of the girl washes the groom''s head, welcoming him to the family, and the man and wife decide if he will keep his beard or she prefers him without it.]


    [So it would be a strange thing for a girl whose father lives to say that God will wash your head, then, before you have started to grow a beard for her.] Isthana pointed out.


    [Yes.]


    [But I can play your song.]


    [Oh that one is not for playing, Isthana. That is for explaining. Move you stupid camel, Sorry, that was not to you. This is for you. I hope you can play it, and you like it. I call it ''Desert Sunrise''.]


    And she listened, in rapt attention, to the music that he thought to her. Just as he reached the end Hwalf hurriedly said, “Sorry, I cannot talk more, Isthana. I must give your message to Huthal, my friend. I have just been hit on the head by a huge raindrop.”


    Isthana''s mother came in when she had written the song down and was half-way through playing it for the second time.


    “Where did you learn that piece, Isthana? It''s beautiful.”


    “I know,” Isthana said, “it''s by a composer called Hwalf from Central Caneth.”


    “It''s a lot happier than what you''ve been playing recently. You''re just practising it?”


    “Yes.”


    “Is he still alive?”


    “Yes, mother, he''s about my age.”


    “What a shame,” her mother said.


    “Why shame, mother? Why under heaven is it a shame that he still lives?”


    “If only you''d known him when he was younger you could have snapped him up, but he''s sure to be married by now. Especially with a talent like that. They all marry young in the desert. Has he written any more?”


    “I think so. But this is the only one I''ve heard. I''ve only heard it once, too, so I might not remember it perfectly.”


    “Well keep practising, and keep your ears open for more. It''s much nicer than all that sad stuff.”


    “Mummy, I''ve heard something about girls asking boys there to grow their beard. Do you know anything about that? If he isn''t married, should I ask him to, just as ''you''ve done something that makes me notice you'', or does it mean more than that?”


    “Ooh, that''s a real village custom. I doubt a composer would bother with that.”


    “But what does it mean, mummy?”


    “It means you''re at least a bit interested. Are you?”


    “He writes beautiful music while watching camels in a village. No, sorry, he thinks of beautiful music. I don''t think he writes them down. He called me from Central Caneth half an hour ago. He''s not married, he didn''t think it would be right to talk to a married woman, so he brought up that subject. Someone had told him to contact me, about dum-semb. He was embarrassed that he''d dared speak when he learned I was a princess. His cousin was sacrificed to the doom-guard religion. He plays Inek, but deliberately loses to keep his gift a secret. You said I should snap him up. Should I?”


    “I was joking, Isthana.”


    “I''m not. He thinks beautiful music, he has faith, he has the full gift of Tesk or the gift of God, as he calls it.”


    “So why wouldn''t you want to notice him?”


    “He''s an unadventurous camel-herder, who no one ever showed an interest in?”


    “He said that?”


    “Yes.”


    [Who are you talking to, Isthana?] Hwalf asked.


    [My mother.] She replied.


    [About me?]


    [Yes.]


    [You''re embarrassed.] Hwalf said.


    [I''d just called you unadventurous.]


    [I''m having an adventure now. What do you call it when you move through water without your feet touching the bottom.]


    [Swimming.]


    [There''s another word. When you can''t breathe.]


    [Drowning. You''re not drowning, I hope?]


    [I hope not. God has sent a lot of rain, Isthana. A camel panicked and fell in a cistern. We are trying to stop it drowning. It is the cistern of the priest, though, the judge. so it won''t poison anyone if it does. He is dead, his big house was hit by lightning, the wall flew apart and he was hit by pieces of stone, and then crushed by a wall that fell on him.]


    [And your friend?]


    [Wants to know how he can be saved. Ah! Got it. I''ve got the rope under the camel.]


    [Do you wish to shave tomorrow, Hwalf? I am not certain what I feel about you, not at all, but I think I''d like to talk more and work it out. If that''s what asking you to grow a beard means, then I''m asking.]


    [But I''m unadventurous. It''s true.]


    [And write beautiful music.] Isthana pointed out.


    [We will never meet, princess.]


    [God is in charge of never. And Esme has plans for a conference. What is your village''s name?]


    [Nazik.]


    [Where the camel market is?]


    [Yes. I am assistant camel herder at the market.]


    [When people ask you who you grow your beard for, say ''Who knows, the unmarried princess who will come to the grand conference with her sister might like beards, and might want to play Inek against someone she can beat.'']


    [They will laugh and ask ''What grand conference?'']


    [The one in three weeks, where every year the camel traders and perhaps some village heads discuss whether Central Caneth should be able to set its own taxes and send a letter to father, inviting him to attend next year.]


    [The moot? You will come to the moot?]


    [There are some people in Nazik I want to meet face to face. Are there other dum-semb believers in Nazik?]


    [Yes. I will count them. Oh! There are just two! In the ruins of the big house which falls apart. Perhaps they had a meeting when the storm struck. The judge said something about others as he died.]


    [You were there?] Isthana asked.


    [Yes, because Huthal did not hobble this camel, and we had to chase it. It jumped sideways when the lightning hit the house, right into the cistern.]


    [The trapped people are hurt?]


    [Probably, the house is a slowly falling to pieces. I think he didn''t expect the wadi would ever fill up. There''s only two walls upright. I should try to arrange a rescue for them, perhaps?]


    [Perhaps there are people who are not of dum-semb also?] Isthana suggested [Do not leave them to die if there is no one else who is in danger in the village; perhaps they will repent if they live.]


    [I''ll have a look for more people in danger. I think I should talk to you later.]


    [Will you grow your beard for me, Hwalf?]


    [I call you and ask in the morning if you''re sure, if I may?]


    [Certainly.]


    <hr>


    </a>The throne room, Caneth


    “Esme, I''m coming with you to the Nazik moot,” Isthana said, thinking firmly that she didn''t want Esme to listen to her thoughts.


    “Oh yes? That''s a little decisive.” Esme said.


    “There''s a camel herder I need to speak to, he lives in Nazik.”


    “Why do you want to talk to a camel herder?” Hal asked.


    “He''s a composer and I''ve just asked him to start growing his beard for me.”


    “Isthana,” Esme said, “I can tell you''re happy, which is a nice change, but did someone spike your drink?”


    “I''m excited, Esme, not drunk.” Isthana replied.


    “You''re not making much sense.” Esme accused.


    “Stop being dense sister, and put together the clues.”


    “Clue one, Isthana''s happy.” Hal said, “and wearing a prettier dress than normal. I think that means she''s not thinking about being sad and lonely.”


    “Clue two,” Isthana added, “I''ve been talking to Hwalf the assistant camel-herder in Nazik, where God has just acted in judgement and mercy, killing most of the dum-semb group including the high priest during a thunderstorm that filled dry cisterns. Hwalf has rescued a camel and now he''s going to try to work out how to rescue some people without letting on about his gift. Oops, you were supposed to guess that.”


    “Hwalf has the full gift of Tesk?” Esme asked.


    “He calls it the gift of God. It''d be wrong in his eyes to have secret conversations with another man''s wife, so he got told to call me by Hayeel''s map-source. He was a bit surprised when he realised I''m a princess, poor man. I think he thought I was some junior minister or something.”


    “And you told him to grow his beard? As in you''re claiming an interest?”


    “I asked him if he would, with me not being really sure if I like him or just his music.”


    “Ah yes, clue three, you said he''s a composer. Nice music?”


    “Very.”


    “You can tell him Hal and I are attuned if you like,” Esme said, “So it won''t be a secret conversation.”


    “Why would I want to do that? I like thinking to him.”