Beads

One is for your eyes.. so you may always see true.
One is for your mouth, so only good things pass though it.
One is for your ears, so you always hear those approaching
One is for your hands, so they know when to be gentle and when to be strong.
and one is for me. So you know how grateful I am for the chance you have given me.
-Sakmeta

I am tired. Though that is nothing new. The Salt Hunter has reported a find and the celebrations go on still throughout the camp. There will be no more rationing and the stores will be returned to each family who brought forth seven fold. That means I will give each family who listened to my directive and brought their private stores forward seven times what they gave. The more they gave .. the more they will get in return. Those that held back out of fear will not get this reward.

My nights at the fires lately have been mostly silent. I am too tired to initiate conversaton and it is probably obvious for not many try to strike one up with me. It is not a bad tired .. just a tired fueled by preparations and the usual insomnia of a man avoiding dreams. Though a few words of teasing have left my mouth .. sometimes it is too much fun to resist.

When Sakmeta asked if I had gotten the beads I realized I had been remiss in not thanking her for them. They were exactly what I wanted. They spoke the moment my hands held them. My favorite stories were the ones of the Tribe who had handled them. They were the newest and brightest of the voices within the stones. Quieter and more faded were the ones that stretched back through the seasons to times before Tuchuk and times before Turia and times before the Plains themselves.

They were braided into the white strand of hair that I have. I like their stories. To pay Sakmeta for them and the ones I allowed T'zuri ... I sent two of my own treasures from the Spex wagon. One was a large piece of jade .. the other a large hunk of rose quartz. To thank Sakmeta I began a talisman for her. One of my own. I also sent two red wagon bosk to her mother and father as a token of my appreciation of the work she was doing at the First Wagons. Sakmeta is very beautiful .. I wonder if her father intends her for the love wars. Though I would think she would have been a little more spoiled to bring out the brazen taunting that makes a woman on fire when staked. I must speak to Dash about her nose ring. Which reminded me I had not spoken much to T'zuri after her nose ring was placed. Well .. save for the words of the lash. I needed to broaden my strictures a little. The rules for an unringed girl are different than for a ringed woman. This guardian thing is a hell of a lot of work. I intend to father all boys.

As I started collecting the things for the talisman I remembered the one I did for Falon. How long ago was that? It seemed like a long time but in reality I supposed it was not so long. Things seem to change and shift and grow quickly when you look backwards. Though at the time they crawl so slowly.

Tonight when I ride with the herd I will listen to a story of the beads and perhaps it will soothe the pestering of the dreams and the riddle I have yet to figure out.